Made it home...

The trip home today was pretty uneventful. My classes wrapped up at 1PM and I caught the shuttle back over to the air terminal. After getting a little lunch, I settled into a chair for the hour wait for my flight. I'm happy to report that I visited airport restrooms in 2 states today and not a single person tapped their foot at me.

That reminds me of the first and only time I've ever been propositioned by a prostitute...

Back in 1993, I had spent 2 years at Louisiana Tech and had decided to move back home to Lafayette to transfer to USL. They were starting a new degree program in Insurance & Risk Management, and since that seems to be the family business, I figured that beat the Accounting Degree I was pursuing at Tech.

When I got home, I needed to get a job for the summer to put a little cash in my pocket. I called one of the guys at the plumbing supply house I had worked at in high school to see if he knew of anyone looking for a grunt. I knew it would be dirty work, but I also knew it would get me more hours and better pay than waiting tables. Within a day or 2, I was working as a helper for a 3 truck plumbing company. We worked on the plumbing for the TGI Fridays in Lafayette and had several jobs lined up rehabbing the plumbing in some pretty rough looking houses on the bad side of town. These were so rough that you had to lock the truck while you were working in the house or all of your tools and supplies would be gone

We typically met around 6:30 each morning at the supply house, replenished the truck with the stuff we would need for the day, and were headed out to get to work by 7:30. One morning, we were in the area in the Southeast corner of University Drive and I-10, before 8am. We pulled up to a stop sign and this rough looking black woman came walking up. She had the look of a crack whore all over her, and she looked like it had been a long night. She walked up to the truck and said "Hey, Baby. $20 and you pay the room at the St Francis Motel."

Now, I grew up Southern Baptist. My Dad was chairman of the Deacons at our church. I duck hunted with the pastor each year. I was not an angel, but you could say I had been sheltered. I didn't catch what she said and asked her to repeat it. Oh, My... I said no and Carl drove off. When the shock of what had just happened wore off, we couldn't stop laughing. Carl told the rest of the guys and they teased me about it for the rest of the summer.

There you have it. The first time anyone had offered me the "all access pass" and it was some strung out crack whore.

What a weekend this has been...

I started this weekend with everything in an orderly fashion. On Thursday evening I got a haircut so I would look presentable for my trip. On Friday morning I dropped all of the dry cleaning at the cleaners so I would have freshly pressed clothes ready for the trip. Friday evening I put a few last minute things on to wash.

Saturday morning, we had a leisurely morning at home. My flight was scheduled to depart at 2:00, and since I was not planning to check a bag, I planned to leave around 12:15 or so. Right at 12:15, I was packed up and Shelly logged onto Continental's website to print my boarding pass for me. When she did, she noticed that my 2:00 flight was now a 1:15 flight. CRAP!!!. That's just over an hour away, and the airport parking is 25 minutes or so on a good day. I packed up the computer, grabbed the boarding pass, put my stuff in the car, and took off like a shot. I won't say how fast I drove, but it's safe to say I was "hauling the mail". 15 minutes later I was getting onto the shuttle bus in the airport parking lot.

As I boarded the bus, the driver asked which terminal. I told him terminal B, and my flight was at 1:15, about 30 minutes. He said it was going to be close, at which time I said "Yes, but I have faith in your ability to get me there on time." He wasn't facing me at this point, but he held his hand out in my direction and said "I might be able to work something out..." a little greenery his direction, and we were off. I guess money talks because there were 2 pretty large women with suitcases 15-20 feet from the bus heading our way when he closed the door and took off. They looked a little pissed...

He got me to the terminal quickly and I grabbed my bags and headed for security. After practically getting naked and sending my bags and half my clothes through the conveyor, I cleared security and headed off through the terminal. Of course, when you are running late, your flight will be leaving from the absolute farthest gate from the entrance to the building.

I made it with less than 5 minutes to spare, boarded the plane, and sat to catch my breath. The flight was uneventful, except for the most unfortunate looking Asian woman seated next to me. She had a LARGE, dark, hairy mole in the end of her nose, just between her nostril openings. After takeoff, she immediately closed the window. I hate not being able to see out. Then she proceeded to close her eyes, lean forward, and look like she was going to be sick for most of the 2 hour flight from Houston to Greensboro. I spent most of the flight prepared to jump out of the way in case she lost her cookies. Thankfully she kept it together and we landed in Greensboro without incident.

I got checked in, watched a little TV, then headed to the bar for a little dinner. On the way back to the room, I stopped by the front desk and was told that our group would have a continental breakfast in the conference room at 9:30, with the class set to begin at 10:00 am. I showed up at 9:40, ready to get something to eat, only to find that there was no breakfast. The guy at the front desk was wrong. Damn.

When we finally broke for lunch at 1:30, I was starving. They announced that there was a lunch buffet set up in the next room. Sweet. Food at last. Upon entering the next room, I see the buffet. It's a table filled with 3 or 4 types of sliced bread and trays of cold cuts. You gotta be friggin kidding me. Half the morning session was wasted by a guy that knew what he was talking about, but he was completely unprepared to give the presentation that we had materials for, so he spent his entire allotted time plus 30 minutes of our lunch break rambling on about similar information, but not from the outline.

All-in-all, the seminar isn't bad for what the subject matter is - trucking insurance. Anything you want to know about truckers, cargo insurance, etc I can probably now tell you.

I returned to the bar this evening for dinner and then retired to the room to watch TV.

Tomorrow is about 4 more hours of the same, then I have a flight heading back to Houston around 3PM.

I try to give a recap tomorrow evening when I get home.

The wait is over... (update from Chris)

It is finished...

These were the words of Jesus Christ as he died on the cross.
Cindy went home to be with Jesus at 10:17 this morning. Her final hours were comfortable and she died with me holding her hands. Dora and Linda (her mom and my mom) were there with her.

I know many of you will cry when you read this and I am crying as I write it. I have both deep sorrow and some relief. We lost a delightful, beautiful and wonderful wife, daughter, sister and friend. At the same time, the battle is over. I can picture Cindy getting to heaven and saying "Holy guacamole! This is great! What was I thinking?" I am sure that she was received into God's open arms in heaven with angels celebrating. Jesus came and died so that we will see her again someday.

A few weeks ago, Cindy and I agreed that this was a win-win situation. Paul said "To live is Christ and to die is gain". Cindy said that if she lived she would be forever changed, and if she died she will be in heaven.

Father God, thank You and praise You for Cindy. I am blessed to have loved her and made her my wife. Thank you for the time we had together. Thank you for having me there to walk her home. I am forever changed. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Logistics...
We will meet with the funeral home tomorrow morning and I will know more about the schedule then. Mom, Dad and I will stay with Dora until this afternoon. We have some things to do. I will post more details on the funeral tomorrow.

In North Carolina...

Made it safely to Greensboro. After I eat a little dinner I'll post about what a day this has been.

Everything else left him, but the music remained...

Ever have one of those days where you hear a song in the morning and it's with you the rest of the day? I had that happen today. It's a song I was introduced to many years ago, and I didn't appreciate it then. The artist is long gone, and you rarely hear the song these days. When I hear it now, I stop what I'm doing and listen to the music.

Deep within my heart lies a melody...
A song of old San Antone...
Where in dreams I lived with a memory...
Beneath the stars all alone...

Some of you will recognize the lyrics. It's San Antonio Rose. I guess I should have researched it to know for sure, but for my memories it is a Bob Wills song..

Papaw was my Dad's father. He had Alzheimer's and died just before Christmas in 2005. Years before he ever got sick, he played the song for me. Bob Wills was his favorite. Years back, he had played for a dance in Kirbyville, Texas, where my Grandparents lived. Mamaw and Papaw went and danced to Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. It must have been really special because it was one of the last things he remembered

Over the last several years of his life, Papaw lost the memory of many things. He didn't know who we were and he couldn't remember the names of things. What he did remember was the music. I remember going over there, and he put the Bob Wills record on the player and started dancing around the living room to San Antonio Rose. It was one of the few things he found comfort in. When Shelly and I got married in 2001, he was still able to function in public to a certain extent, but crowds and unfamiliar settings really bothered him. I know he was uncomfortable at our reception. One of the first songs after our first dance, we had the DJ play San Antonio Rose. Papaw grabbed Mamaw and they danced. He didn't know much about what was going on, but for a few minutes, I imagine he was transported back in time to a familiar.

After his funeral, we joked that instead of the usual funeral songs, we should have played San Antonio Rose as a fitting send off. He would have liked that.

As far as I know, the only things he remembered were the woman he had loved for more than 60 years and the music. He never forgot them.

Update from Chris...

This man has my admiration for his unwavering faith and trust in God. I hope if faced with a similar situation my faith will be as true and strong as his.


Cindy woke up with me this morning. We prayed and she said amen. She still kisses and smiles. I didn't know if she would make it through the night.

No more visitors please...


Cindy is getting very weak and basic things take an extraordinary amount of effort. It takes a lot of effort for her to sit up and acknowledge someone. I told her that I was going to tell everyone that and she nodded "yes".

She has the hiccups again - sometimes for 30 minutes at a time. they hurt when she was in the hospital but they don't hurt now, they just make lots of noise. She sleeps through the hiccups, but I don't. It is strange to pray and ask for the hiccups to stop and ask for no more hiccups. She is not eating anymore - it just takes too much effort and hurts as it goes through her system. She is also not needing much medication anymore since there is little pain. We still give her schedule medication, but nothing else is needed.

God will take her soon. I don't know if that means today or in three days, but it will be soon.

She is ready to go.

For planning purposes, we will have a funeral at South Park cemetery in Pearland (on Hwy. 35 between Beltway 8 and 518). Obviously, we do not know which day it will be. I will try to schedule it in the afternoon around 3:00 p.m. We will not plan to have anything else by way of a viewing before or fellowship afterwards, so family and friends are free to get together in separate groups after the funeral. Thanks for understanding. This has been a difficult battle starting over 2 years ago.

Thanks for the prayers and food. It has all been wonderful and timely. I know I would not be as strong or as caring if I didn't have so many people lifting us up. With God's hand on us, we will make it through this storm and Cindy will be in heaven soon.

Update from Chris...

I debated whether or not to keep posting these updates, but I've asked you to pray for my friends, so I'm going to keep sharing them with you (feel free to sign up to receive the updates straight from the Care Page if you want to.)

Here is Chris's post from this morning:

Cindy slept most of the night last night. Praise God. I think we've got a medicine cycle that works for her. She is only coherent for a few minutes at a time and sleeps the rest of the time. Dora and I think she may leave us any time now. It could be a few hours or a few days. We don't know.

Thanks to everyone that has visited and offered food and rides and gifts. We appreciate it. I know Cindy sees them and appreciates them even if she cannot express it. We are limiting visits to family and very close friends and only a couple of people at a time and only a few times a day. Please forgive us if Cindy leaves before you get a chance to see her. We have so many friends and family, it will be impossible for everyone to visit. It is a blessing to know that Cindy touched so many people and had so many friends.

Cindy is uncomfortable with her body and being alive now. She says she doesn't know what to do with herself. She asks how she can make it go faster and asks for help. We have to tell her that there is nothing else we can do but wait. At the same time she wants to go, she doesn't want to leave me. We tell her it is OK to go when she is ready.

Father God, please make Cindy's passing comfortable and without fear. Please take her soon. Please send angels to help her go and give her a glimpse of heaven so she will want to follow them. Please pour out your grace and mercy on her. We love her and we do not want her to suffer any more. We love You and we trust You, God. In Jesus name. Amen.

What's the fascination with Europe?

This has been going on for years, and it pisses me off. Have you ever noticed how many products on the market have "Euro" as part of their name? Is that supposed to make them better? Of course, these are not European products, they are just marketing to the more "progressive" among us that think Europeans are somehow more advance than Americans.

Of course, this is bull. Americans are light years ahead of most of Europe. When I think of Europe, I first think of France. Sure, France has been settled longer than the USA, but what do they have? Wine? Cheese? What else? Sure they have Peugeot and Renault. Yes, those are 2 automobiles known for their quality. They don't sell them here anymore because they were CRAP.

just tonight I saw a commercial on TV for a children's cough syrup. It was a good ad until they said that this product is the same product used by mothers in Europe for more than 30 years to treat kids coughs and allergies. Excuse me? Medical advice from Europe? They send all of their medical students here to the USA to learn modern medicine.

Does this bug any of you? I actually make it a point not to buy any product with "Euro" in the name. Probably makes no difference, but it does make me feel better.

another update from Chris...

I can't even begin to imagine how hard this week is and will be for Chris. These updates are dufficult for me to read, and post here without tearing up a little.

Here is Chris's latest update:

Yesterday was a bit of a circus. We woke up in a hospital room after a long and confusing night. Dora (Cindy's Mom) came to the hospital and shortly after that we talked to Dr. Murray. He explained the same thing that Dr. Gonzales explained the day before.

We are out of options for fighting the cancer. We can treat Cindy's pain and nausea at home through hospice care. We needed her to agree to a DNR order. Up until now, Cindy has always said she wanted to be kept alive so she can continue to fight. We explained to her that they don't have a liver machine. Dr. Murray explained that all a DNR (do not resuscitate) order means is that if she has an acute event (heart or breathing stops) that no ambulance would come and put a tube in her throat, beat on her chest or otherwise shock her body into working for a little while longer. He said that it would not be a good thing and they would have to do that That was a nice way to put it. The hospice care can get her home and comfortable, but then need a DNR order. Cindy agreed. We went home.

I should say that I realized yesterday what a hard job Dr. Murray and his staff have. That goes for Dr. Osborne and his staff at Baylor as well. I've been critical of them in the past - sometimes rightly so - but I have the utmost respect for them and their professions. They have to figure out a disease that nobody else has ever figured out. They have to give people drugs that are going to make them sick and may not work. They have to balance quality of life with quantity of life. Then they have to tell people on a regular basis that they are out of options. I could tell that Dr. Murray was very sad yesterday. He has a lot of those days.

I should also say that once we made those decisions, the staff at MDA and the hospice agency moved quickly. They got her pain meds and sent her home a couple of hours after that. I know that things can move slowly in a hospital and I thank God for things moving quickly yesterday.

My mom and dad came to Houston yesterday. They will help us through this. Thank you to all of our family, friends and church family for prayers and visits and wanting to help.

Travelling Man...

This is shaping up to be yet another busy week, with no rest for the weary.

The weekend before last, I loaded the Lackey crowd, Jonathan, Matthew, Shelly, and Sweetie the Chihuahua, along with Shelly's friend Janice and everything you need to feed and entertain such a crowd for a weekend and headed to the ranch. The Expedition was crammed full, and I had the hitch haul on the back to carry the cooler that didn't fit inside the truck.

Last weekend, we spent the better part of Saturday at a Fall Festival put on by the company Shelly works for. After the festival, Matthew and I headed back out to the ranch on a quick trip to replace and fill my deer feeder. As you probably remember me complaining about last week, the cows or some other critter broke the motor off of my deer feeder and completely destroyed it. My choice was to spend $150 for a new motor (solar powered charged with a pretty fancy digital timer) or to send the old one back with $25, which would cover rebuilding it, changing out the rechargeable gel cell battery, and return shipping. Bonus that I bought the one with the lifetime warranty to be able to get the cheap rebuilds. Unfortunately, the rebuild will take 8 weeks to get it back. In the interest of time, I borrowed a motor from my Dad that he's not using, and Matthew and I set out to install it. No problems, just a quick trip out there and back. One small duffel bag and we went in the Altima instead of the Expedition. I like that car more and more these days (29 mpg average for the entire trip, with my heavy foot).

This week is busy at work, then I leave Saturday for a conference in Greensboro, NC. I always laugh about my work trips vs the ones the owners take. They take several trips per year to places that have the word "Palm" or "Island" in the name. I've been to Chicago, Dallas, and the Airport Marriott in Newark, NJ. I'm about to add the Airport Marriott in Greensboro, NC to the list. Not a golf course in sight, and I don't even leave the airport grounds. Also, the things I attend are actually learning deals where you spend all day in a hotel conference room, not boondoggle trips with golf, fishing, etc, etc. This one is a deal about trucking insurance. If anyone reads this and lives in Greensboro, feel free to pick me up and take me out Saturday night so I'm not eating dinner in the hotel bar - you don't have to buy, just provide transport and company. I believe my flight gets in mid to late afternoon on Saturday.

I think I have one weekend at home after that, and then we get into deer season and the holidays. Buy stock in the major gasoline distributors now, because we're going to burn a few gallons between now and the end of the year.

Because I've been asked for it, here is a link to the Care Page that Chris updates regularly for Cindy. Because Chris and Cindy appreciate all of the prayers offered on their behalf, they have made this page and the information contained in it public.

http://www.carepages.com/carepages/CindyBrown/updates/1765380

You will need to create a sign in, but it is secure, so you won't be a part of some crazy mailing list. If it asks you for the name of the Care Page you are looking to join, the name would be CindyBrown (no spaces). If you have any trouble, leave me a comment and I'll see what I can do to help you gain access.

Update, not the news we were hoping and praying for...

Many of you will remember my post on October 10th about a friend of ours, Cindy, that has cancer. In the last month, Chris has been turning over every stone he can to help Cindy continue the fight after her doctor gave up and said he was out of options. In the last month, Cindy has had 2 operations, one to put a stint in her kidney, and one last week to put a catheter in her liver.

They located, applied for, and were accepted to take part at a clinical trial at a hospital in San Antonio, with plans to begin last week. When they did all of their lab work, her creatinine levels were too high to begin. Potassium and sodium levels were also low. She was sent home with some instructions on things to do to try to get the levels within an acceptable range to start the trial this week.

This is an update I received from Chris this morning (he posted it last night):

My heart is very heavy tonight. Cindy is not doing well and getting worse. Today was perhaps the most difficult day of my life. I know there are at least a few more difficult days ahead.

Cindy was confused last night so we called San Antonio to see what they said. We took her off the morphine and had her drink some water and eat a little. If it was medication, it should get better. She woke up this morning more confused. Confusion (dementia) is not usually good news for a cancer patient. We went to the emergency room at M.D. Anderson and they admitted her.

Some good news - the CT scans of her head and chest were OK. Her heart is OK.

Bad news - her liver and kidneys are not doing well. Her ammonia is very high. Her bilirubin is higher than it has been - even after we had the catheter put in. Her creatinine is higher - indicating poor kidney function. Her sodium is dangerously low. She is weak, confused, in pain and nauseated.

We won't be going to San Antonio for a clinical trial. M.D. Anderson wants her to stay in the hospital tonight so they can try to get her ammonia levels down and sodium levels up to alleviate the confusion. They will start paliative care - which treats the symptoms like nausea, pain and confusion - and recommended hospice care starting tomorrow at home.

Hospice care. I thought I was prepared for today. Cindy is going to die - at least according to M.D. Anderson and Baylor. She was very close to dying when we brought her in this morning. Cindy doesn't want to stop fighting, but we don't have any options left. They said she has days left. They wouldn't say how many. My impression is not many.

She still smiles when I wink at her. I love her more than anything. This is definitely the hardest day of my life.


At this point, we're still praying for a miracle for Cindy, but Chris could use a little extra boost himself. I don't think anyone is ever really prepared to lose a spouse, but having to prepare while still in your prime has to be almost impossible to face.

Train Wreck...

I'm not a huge sports nut. I do like to watch NASCAR, but I've never been overly interested in stick and ball sports. As a kid, I tried soccer, football, t-ball, and pitch baseball. I SUCKED at all of them.

That was until I met Shelly. I'm still not a sports nut, but I do watch Aggie football. Shelly is an Aggie, her brother is an Aggie, and her dad is an Aggie. He was even in the Corps of Cadets. Yep, I was done for. I'm not an Aggie (I'm a Ragin' Cajun), but I had to convert if I wanted to fit in. Shelly had season tickets to the Aggies when we met, and we renewed them every year. Every year, that is, until this year... It turns out we made a pretty good choice.

Our tickets have been getting more and more expensive each year. When I first started going to the games, RC Slocum was the coach. They did ok, but never beat Texas. A couple of years later, they decided to go big, and stole Coach Fran away from Alabama. My friend Katie almost didn't speak to us for a couple of years there since they are Bama folks. Well, it turns out that we did them a favor and took that joker away from them. After a few years of stinking up the place, Fran was out and the Aggies hired Mike Sherman away from the Houston Texans.

Each week this season, We've either watched the game or checked the score periodically. Last weekend, they played Oklahoma State, we didn't bother even looking at the score until Sunday. I can't tell you what it was, other than they got beat, and it wasn't by a slim margin.

Here are my thoughts (from the shower stall this morning)...

The Aggies weren't doing that well under Fran, but most of his losses were at least close. He never lost a home opener, and he beat Texas the last 2 years in a row. This year, the Aggies got spanked at home for the season opener. I don't remember how long it's been, but it has been a LONG time since the season opener was lost in Kyle Field. When they got rid of Fran, it was expected that the 12th Man was going to dig DEEP and hire a top name.

Instead of hiring a top name college coach, they hired Mike Sherman. Sherman was the Offensive coordinator and asst head coach for the Houston Texans. Let's get this straight. You have the money and the fan bast to hire a proven winner, and you hire the guy that is offensive coordinator for the Texans? Their best season was 8-8. They kept David Carr and drafted Mario Williams when they could have picked Vince Young or at least Reggie Bush.

I'm not an expert, but I've heard and read enough to understand that college and NFL coaches rarely have much success when moving from one level to another. Why would the Aggies think that they could hire an offensive coordinator from an NFL team that has NEVER had a winning season and have success?

As an Aggie fan, I HOPE that Sherman can get things going, but at this point, the future looks a little bleak.

Back from the ranch...

Weekends just aren't long enough. We headed out Friday evening for a weekend at the ranch. One of Shelly's friends went with us, and it worked out great. It was nice for Shelly to have an extra set of hands to help with Jonathan while I was out on the ranch with Matthew.

Matthew and I filled the deer feeders, checked the deer stands, rode the ATV, and fished in the pond (caught a small catfish). We also got to go watch the caretaker kill a wild hog that had been trapped on a neighboring ranch. Matthew is only 4, but he was enthralled seeing that wild boar in the cage and watching Ron shoot it. He then watched intently while Ron cleaned it. The little guy also watched while I cleaned deer last fall. Maybe he'll grow up to be a doctor?

All was not perfect on this trip, however. Something, I assume it was a cow, got into the pen that holds my deer feeder. When I built the pen, I only used 3 strands of barbed wire, and since I am not a professional fence builder, the wires have loosened up considerably in the last 5 years. I just used a single corner post at each corner, instead of the "H" or similar posts that allow the wires to stay tight. The cows also push against the fence, causing it to loosen (corner post being bent in slightly. Anyway, whatever it was, my feeder motor had been knocked off the feeder and completely destroyed.

We generally have the cows on the South end of the property, and most of the deer feeders are on the North end. After hunting season, we open the gates on the cross fence and let the cows move to the North end. After I replace the feeder motor, I guess I'll start taking it off after hunting season to keep it from getting broken again. It is a little disheartening that I spent a weekend and the expense of a trip out there and was able to fill every feeder but my own.

Around mid-day today, Matthew figured out we were packing up to go home. He was a little sad and said he didn't want to go home, he wanted to stay at the ranch. I felt the same way, but unfortunately, I haven't figured out a way to live there and still support my family.

Probably won't get invited back...

OK, it's been a couple of weeks since the last post. Lots of stuff has been going on, but very little of it is blog worthy. Work is busy, as you would expect after losing almost a week of working time, but still having the same amount of work to get done. Also a little bit of drama around the office (actually sort of stupid crap), but nothing really to blog about. I've also got this rule about blogging either about company business or on company time.

Our Sunday School class at church has been doing "small groups" for about a year now. Basically, several people open up their homes to meet periodically in smaller groups for a more in-depth type bible study and also to build closer friendships with each other than you might be able to in a class of 70-80 people. Nothing is assigned, you just pick the one you want to go to based on location or how often / when they meet and show up.

I've been resisting, because I think we're busy enough. There is also the issue of a 4 yr old and a 5 month old that spend all day in daycare. It seems a little unfair to me to pick them up and immediately leave them with either a sitter or a grandparent. Well, one of the couples that is now hosting a group has an infant and they started a more informal group and they encourage you to bring the kids. So, we went tonight and took the kids. Sounds good, right?

One of the other couples there has 2 boys, I believe they are 5 and 3. Bookends to our 4 yr old, so that part was fine. They played well together and shared toys really well. Our hostess had baked several great desserts for us to enjoy while we were there. One of which was a chocolate cake with sort of gooey icing. There was also an assortment of fresh fruit. All of this was in the kitchen, and we were meeting in the living room.

Once we got things going, the kids went into the kitchen area to play on the floor, while the adults were talking. I went in to check on the kids, and Matthew wanted to eat some fruit, while eyeing the cake on the table. I set him up at the end of the dining table with some grapes on a napkin, and told him he was to either play on the floor with his toys, or eat the grapes at the table, but he was not to touch any of the other desserts. I repeated it and got him to respond to me that he understood.

All was going well for 20 or 30 minutes. Every little while, one of the parents would go in and make sure the kids weren't destroying anything and to settle them down a little, but they were fine for the most part. Then, as we were wrapping up with a prayer time, Shelly leaned to me and said, is that chocolate around Matthew's mouth? Oh, no. The kids were coming into the living room, and not only did Matthew have chocolate around his mouth, he had it all over the front of his shirt. I took him out and made sure there was no mess in the hosts kitchen / dining room, then I got a wipe from Jonathan's diaper bag and cleaned up his face and hands.

No obvious damage done, we returned to the group. Things were wrapping up, and we started visiting amongst ourselves, while the kids played in the living room. Kids are fast, and before I knew it, Matthew climbed on the ottoman in front of the sofa and jumped from the ottoman to the sofa, and back to the ottoman. (the chocolate was kicking in, the kid was starting to bounce off the walls, so it was time to go). I grabbed Matthew, sat him on the ottoman with the order to settle down, and I turned around to get his shoes and socks. Just as I turned back to him, he coughed, sputtered, and chucked what I can only surmise was his last drink of apple juice along with some remnants of chocolate cake onto the hosts ottoman. I wish I could say it was leather... Luckily it was a stain resistant cloth, and brown in color, so it cleaned up really well with a damp cloth.

OK, I'm at my whits end by now. We've got to get out of here. I put Jonathan in his car seat, grab the toys we brought for Matthew and tell Shelly we have to go. As we're going into the kitchen to get Shelly's purse and the diaper bag, the hosts are in there telling everyone goodbye as they leave. They are great folks and tell us that they understand kids are kids, and they hope to see all of us next week. Then I noticed the cake. What was once a cake, perfectly iced and smooth as glass, now had almost zero icing left on it, and the few patches remaining had the marks of little fingers running through them. We're talking half of a cake remaining...

Well, folks, I think that just about does it. No more of these adult get togethers at other people's houses that allow you to bring the kids. I appreciate that they are doing what they can to accommodate those of us with kids, but it just doesn't work. A couple of kids can destroy a house in a short amount of time if you aren't watching them like a hawk. If you are watching them like a hawk, you can't really participate in what's going on with the rest of the adults, meaning, you might as well just stay home.

Next week, we just stay home. (probably much to the relief of our hosts.)

Man, what a day...

OK, I enjoy time off from work as much as the next guy, but enough is enough. We still don't have power at our office, but the boss managed to get the phones forwarded to his house. Good, right? Well, as I do a good amount of the underwriting for our company, many of the calls are customers looking for quotes on stuff I'm working on. I can't tell you how many calls I got from the boss yesterday wanting me to call somebody back and handle something. If I have to keep answering the phone, I'd rather be at the office.

So, I sent the boss a text message this morning offering to go over to his house and man the phones if he had something else he needed to do. As it turns out, he located a generator that we expected would operate the necessities at our office. He wanted me to meet him up there to get things going. We spent all day trying to get things going with half of the stuff running from a generator, and the other half running from the generator in his father's big diesel RV. I think we just about have it whooped. Hopefully we'll be up and running first thing in the morning.

Also, I nearly witnessed a beat down at the gas station this morning. With power out all over town, people are either staying with friends or family, or they are surviving with generator power. This increases the need for gasoline. Couple that with only about 25% or less of the gas stations being operational, and you have a mess. It generally takes about 30 minutes of waiting in line to get gas. This is the primary reason why I stockpile gasoline at the beginning of each hurricane season. I keep 30+ gallons handy, and next year I might keep double that amount.

Anyway, after filling the generator at the office this morning, I took the empties up to the station to fill the jugs again while we were waiting for the electrician to show up. The stations generally set things up where all of the entrances but one are blocked and everyone lines up to get in. When you pull up, everyone pulls up in the same direction, and which side of the pumps you pull up to depends on which side of the car your gas cap is. I was just thinking that everything was running really smoothly, and everyone was cooperating patiently, when a car with 3 LARGE women of another race drove up in a car with 4 kids. They whipped in through a closed driveway and pulled the wrong direction to a pump, blocking one of the lines from going anywhere. They then proceeded to belligerently cuss at everyone that they were cutting in front of. They kept yelling that they were "fidden" to run out of gas and they had kids in the car. Boo, hoo. Everyone in line was there because they needed gas.

Of course, most of the people in line that just got hosed were either white or Asian. I was just waiting for another large black woman to emerge from somewhere back in the line that had been waiting patiently. Unfortunately, none came forward. Whites and Asians will generally yell back at the offending parties, but won't get in a physical altercation. A person of the same race as these women probably would have administered an ass whoopin. That would have made my day.

Let me be clear, the vast majority of the people from this race are decent people, but how come every time I've witnessed this same type of deal (jumping lines, whipping into a parking space you are pulling into, etc, etc, it's always LARGE female members of the race with generally twice the number of butts in the car as there are seatbelts?

Back home with a funny story to tell...



Today was one of those days. After the crap yesterday with the power being back on, loading up to head home, and then figuring out the power was still out, and having to return back to the parents house, I was ready for a few things to go my way. We got up this morning and after breakfast, I helped my Dad with a few things around his house. When we got that all squared away, Shelly and I loaded Jonathan up and headed to town to her parents house to borrow their generator to keep our freezer going another day. Pretty much everything in the refrigerator was junk, but the freezers were fine with a couple of hours of generator usage each day.



SO, we got there, loaded the generator up, and headed home to run it. I unlocked the front door, and as I was walking through the kitchen, I noticed the fan in the kitchen was running. Woo HOO!!!, the power was on at our house. The phone service also came on a couple of hours later. It looks like we're back in business. I'm thankful for that, although there are a few grocery items like milk, eggs, and butter that we had to throw out and won't be able to get replaced for a few days. Oh, well, I'm not going to complain too loudly over that when there are lots of people in much worse shape.

Ok, now for the funny story...

As it happens, living in the 4th largest city in the USA, you take things for granted. I can now tell you that Houston this week is like living in a third world country. You pretty much live in a hut with no electricity or other services and no availability of any supplies. The only real difference is that our huts are a little more plush, but they are not set up to operate without electricity.

Part of the deal is that employers need to get things up and running, but the schools have basically shut down for the week. Our daycare has closed through Wednesday. What to do? The in-laws own a veterinary clinic, and they are doing what they can to get that business up and running again. My Grandfather has had 2 carotid artery surgeries in the last month, and he rotator cuff surgery last week, so my mother is keeping him this week.

I mentioned to my parents this morning that they might need to be our daycare if Shelly and I both have to go back to work this week before the daycare opens. My Dad reminded me that my Mom sort of has her plate full with Grandaddy. I told him she was pretty tough and efficient, and I was sure she could handle all of them. He told me to think again, that Grandaddy can't even pull up his pants by himself. I answered that surely he could take care of that duty on his own.

Just as I finished saying that, Grandaddy walked into the living room, completely oblivious to our conversation. His right arm was in his sling, and he was holding up his pants with his left hand. He walked towards where I was sitting and told me I needed to get up and help him buckle his pants. Nothing but laughter from the kitchen (My Dad, Shelly, and Staci). Point proven... (Grandaddy is hard of hearing and had no way of knowing what we had just been talking about)

Luckily, Shelly called into her office and was told to take care of the family first and come back when she can. The company I work for is sort of a small company, and consequently, everyone there is pretty much considered a "key employee". I'm supposed to call in first thing in the morning to see if our office is up and running. I could use a little more time around the house to get things squared away, but at the same time, If my office isn't running, we're not making money. We HAVE to get running in the next day or so, from my kitchen if we have to, to keep things going. I guess we'll see if the power is back on at the office tomorrow morning.

Damn. Just Damn... Damn...

The in-laws decided to stay at our house tonight since our power was back on. We were loading up to leave my parents house to head home, so the in-laws decided to head over and wait in the driveway until we got home. Well, we loaded all of our crap, the kids, and Sweetie the Chihuahua up and were on the way home when Doc (father-in-law) called me to say the power was out at my house. Damn.

Shelly was in her truck ahead of me, so I called her and had her take the next exit while I called the neighbor to get the scoop. Apparently the power was on from about 4:30 until 8:30, then out again. To top it all off, while we were sitting in the edge of the Home Depot parking lot, the rent-a-cop came up and reminded me that the area is under curfew and we would have to move along. Damn.

So, we're back here at my parents house. Luckily, my sister let us have the bedroom back that we had been staying in. Normally we would each have a room, but my grandfather is here and he outranks us all in the bedroom pecking order.

Oh, and to top it all off, Shelly had to take Jonathan to the walk-in-clinic today. Pink-eye. Damn. A 4 month old crammed in a house with a total of 7 adults and 5 kids and he has pink-eye on top of the cold he already had.

I can't wait for the fun to be over so we can get back to normal.

One of my neighbors just sent me a text message that the power came back on. What a relief...

My Dad and I had gone up to my house for a couple of hours with his generator to keep the freezer cold. After running a little while, it was obvious that the generator had a problem and would not get the job done. Time to drop back and punt. Not knowing how long it would be out, I was about to get in the truck and head to the ranch. We have a 6000 watt and a 10500 watt generator, along with several large containers for gasoline storage. I was dreading making a trip there and back tonight.

I'll post more once we're back home and running there.

Just a quick update for now.

The power went out just after my 5am post. The wind was incredible. It was actually blowing rain in between the seams where the glass in one of our windows is adhered to the metal framework of the window, While I was standing on a ladder in the stairwell at 5:30 AM with a tube of caulk trying to stop the water, the lights went out for good. Not long after that, I looked out the window and the back fence had given up the ghost, along with one section of the side fence.

About the blades on the ceiling fan on our patio. I went out after daylight this morning to pick them up, and could see no obvious signs of damage. Then I noticed a screw laying on the ground. I actually found 9 of the 10 screws that hold the 5 blades on the fan. How crazy is it that all of the screws would back themselves out. I KNOW they were tight because I put them on there myself.

When the wind and rain let up enough to survey the entire outside of the house and the immediate neighbors, I found out that we're the only ones on the block without roof damage. Some neighbors lost shingles and felt with nothing but plywood showing. That was some incredible powerful wind.

Power at the house is still out, so after hanging around all day, we came down to my parents house to spend the night. They are actually a little farther South than we are, but their power came back on this afternoon. My father-in-law stopped by and in exchange for the loan of my chain-saw, he brought his generator and we let it run long enough to bring the temp back down on the freezer and fridge to make it another day. I'll borrow my Dad's generator tomorrow when I head home and run it long enough to re-freeze my freezer and also let a couple of my neighbors plug up also.

I'll post some pics later tonight or in the morning after I've showered and eaten.

Damage report

4:30 am, just looked out on the back patio. All 5 blades of the ceiling fan are on the ground. As the wind is hard from the North, and that's the way the patio faces, I'm not opening the door to retrieve them yet. The power has blinked a couple more times, and all of the commercial areas surrounding us have seemingly lost power, our neighborhood is still lit up. The sounds of some of the gusts are incredible. We're safe and secure as the winds aren't high enough for structural damage, and being in a development about 10 years old, none of the trees are large enough to cause damage.

I'm tired, but as you can imagine, it's impossible to sleep (although no one else in the house is having any problems sleeping...)

5am, just lost part of the back fence. 4x4 posts cemented into the ground snapped, starting at the corner of the yard. I think about 3 of them so far and the fence is laying down. I expect the other ones will fail as that leaves alot of pressure on the remaining ones. I hope the side can hold out, but without the back tied into it at the corner, it may fail also. Winds are still getting stronger.

Here is a pic of the fence I took a couple of hours ago.

Still here...

Tried to update earlier, but power kept blinking, then couldn't get back into blogger to post.

3:45 am and we're still with power. The winds and rain are pretty impressive. I think the blue flashes in the area are transformers blowing, so I expect we're on borrowed time for electricity. Hopefully our luck will hold out. I've grown accustomed to having A/C. I'll post again in the morning if the Luck is still holding.

Still no damage that I can tell, but the poor trees are going to be a little naked. Matthew is scared, so what little sleep I've had has been with him in his bed.

Here we go...

The sun is going down, and the wind is starting to pick up. It's gusting to 40 or 45 mph now, maybe higher. We're just sort of hanging out, watching the news on TV. We went out in the front yard a little while ago and visited with some neighbors. It looks like no one on our block scrammed from the storm, so we've got plenty of company if we all get wiped out.

One neat website that the City of Houston has running is http://www.houstonhidefromthewind.org/. We're zip 77064. Looks like 81mph winds expected as of right now.

Time to get dinner wrapped up and get the kids bathed and ready for bed. I'll try to post again later if the power (and cable internet) holds out.

Took a little drive around...

After getting everything around the house squared away and eating a little lunch, Shelly wanted to take a little ride around the local area to see what was what. There were several other people doing the same thing. It was strange to see all of the stores deserted. It was funny that pretty much the only places open were the liquor stores, and they were all doing a brisk business. Surprisingly, probably 1 in 4 gas stations seemed to still have gas as there were people getting gas.

Now that we're back home, the wind has really started picking up a little bit. I'll need to clear out the chip in the camera and I'll take a couple of videos at intervals through the storm and try to show them later.

Now, we're doing pretty much all you can do when you are hunkered down. Watching TV and doing laundry. I've also been teaching Matthew how to cast with his new "Bob the Builder" fishing pole.

I'll have to download the pics in a minute. he just walked through the living room on the way to the back patio. He was wearing a t-shirt, underwear, and blue rubber boots. No pants, and he was carrying his fishing pole. Man, that kid sure does make life entertaining sometimes.

Battening down the Hatches...

It looks like Ike is going to give us a fairly good bit of wind and rain. I am happy that the storm shifted slightly and it is going to pass just to the East of us. That should give us a slightly easier hit than we could have gotten, although this is still going to be a big deal. We're fully provisioned, we have the batteries and flashlights and plenty of stuff to eat and drink. I'm hopeful that if we do lose power that it doesn't stay out very long.

In watching the news reports, they are very concerned about Galveston and the areas around Galveston Bay being swamped by the storm surge. I received an e-mail alert from CNN that said people staying in low lying surge zones faced certain death. Wow. That's pretty direct. The local news station said that the entire Galveston island could be completely covered. They are telling people that insist on staying to make sure to put some sort of identifying mark on themselves so after the storm the authorities will be able to identify their body. We're still several hours away from landfall, and parts of the island are already under water.

I'll post a little later as we start seeing the effects of the storm, but after that, I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again due to power and internet access issues.

If anyone wants a text update later, drop me a line to melackey73 at yahoo dot com and I'll give you my cell number.

Gonna get some weather...

I'm watching a press conference hosted by our mayor and a county judge. From the sounds of things, Houston is about to be wiped off the map by Hurricane Ike. Of course, the track keeps shifting, and we have about 40 hours left, so this thing could still miss us by a long distance. The current track takes this thing right over my house on the Northwest side of Houston. This should be interesting. We have the necessary supplies, and I'll be securing all loose items tonight. Hopefully this thing doesn't do any damage around here.

One thing I think the local leaders figured out is that evacuating Houston is pretty much an impossible task. At this point, they are asking everyone but those on the coast and those in the low lying areas to stay put. When Hurricane Rita was heading this way a couple of years ago, Katrina was fresh on the mind (most of those people were still in shelters here in Houston). The freeways were clogged, and there was no gas to be found anywhere. Some of our neighbors left that Thursday morning and returned home that evening, 8-10 hours later having driven only 10-12 miles.

I'll post more later, gotta go to work now.

This isn't supposed to happen, not to people I know...

Today was a rough day for me. I'm just a bystander, not even involved. I can't imagine how Chris and Cindy are feeling right now. Chris and Cindy are friends of ours. They go to our church and are in our Sunday School Class. Chris has gone on the men's retreats with us each of the last 2 years (Weekends of the HAM).

Cindy has breast cancer. I didn't really understand that at first until I heard the story. I THOUGHT she had liver cancer until Chris told the whole story. Cindy had breast cancer a few years ago and through treatment and surgery came through. About 2 years ago, they found a tumor on her liver, some on her shoulder, and a couple of spots on her spine. They have been aggressive with treatments, and things were looking better, until earlier this year. Some drugs didn't work as well, new drugs were tried, hair was lost, and things were difficult. I knew some of this, but not much.

Perhaps I should have inquired how things were going more often. I sort of feel like a not so good friend. I didn't know how bad things were getting until Chris asked us for prayer late last week because things were getting worse. I got an e-mail this afternoon telling about their visit with the oncologist today. My friend's wife is dying. Dying. That is hard to get your arms around. They are our age. Mid 30's and so much life SHOULD be ahead of them. Apparently the doctors are giving up. Let that sink in. You are 36 years old with cancer, and you are not through living yet, but the doctors in the city with the largest medical center in the world tells you to consider hospice. Follow that up with a nurse that indicates you have weeks, not months.

I just told Shelly that I hope and pray (selfishly) that I'm not in that position. Please pray for healing for Cindy. Please pray for Chris. Here is a guy just a couple of years into marriage with a beautiful woman facing the prospect of being left alone, and quickly at that. Please pray for the guys that surround Chris, that we would be able to relate to him and provide support and friendship, even in the face of something that we in no way can relate to.

I'm sorry this post isn't the usual fun post, and is sort of rambling, but loss is something that I have a hard time relating to and knowing how to handle. It's tough to know a friend is suffering and not know exactly how to relate to them. Perhaps just showing up and not doing anything other than being there for them is good enough?

Radiant Barrier...

We had a radiant barrier installed / applied in our attic last weekend. Energy costs are nuts, and we're trying to do what we can to lower utility costs at our house. While Shelly was on maternity leave, we had to cool the house all day long, and let me tell you, that wasn't cheap. We about cried when a $502 electricity bill arrived. At 2400 sq feet, our house isn't huge, and 74-75 isn't exactly arctic temperature.

Last year we started replacing light bulbs with the little curly compact fluorescent as the old ones burned out or as I thought they might make a difference. We started with the lamps by the bed, then changed the kids closet lights since those are used as night lights sometimes.

After living here for a little over 7 years, I also finally programmed the programmable thermostats. Man, I should have done that sooner. I no longer have to remember to run them up during the day and then have to go to bed sweating because I forgot to turn the upstairs unit back down in the evening.

I had been hearing about radiant barriers, and from what I understood, the theory was sound. My in-laws had it done, so we had the guy come out and measure ours and talk to us a little about it. They installed it, so I guess we'll see how well it works at helping reflect heat.

One minor complaint that we getting resolved. Those jokers got a little paint happy up in my attic. Of course, they get up in the attic with their hoses and spray guns, close the attic stairs after themselves, and commence to spraying. The paint fumes are pretty strong, so I guess it has to get to them after a while. They painted over the light bulb, and completely painted the speaker for our burglar alarm. It looks nice now, but the whole system is completely jacked-up. Security this week is provided by Smith & Wesson instead of ADT. I called to chat with them about it and you get the idea that it might be a common occurrence because they told me to get it fixed and then send them the bill. Hopefully they make good on it. I guess I can dispute the charge to the credit card if they they to hose me.

So, opinions, please... Am I a Sucker for getting the thing installed, or is it a good financial decision?

One Day, the kid is going to hate me for posting this...

Shelly went to a dinner seminar with her Dad tonight, so I was left in charge of the boys. I did some quick maneuvering, and dropped Jonathan off with her Mom, and I brought Matthew home. The thought being that when the seminar was over, Shelly would be going back to her parents house to get her truck anyway, so Jonathan might as well hand out there with Nana to wait for her. I also have trouble multi-tasking to attend to the needs of a 4 month old and a 4 yr old at the same time, especially the dinner, bath, and bedtime routine for both at once.

Anyway, after dinner, I helped Matthew with his homework. He had to trace a page of capital and lower-case "S" and trace 2 sets of the numbers 6-10. While he was working on his homework, he was recounting the day to me. He told me that at school today, he "took a dump". I said "You did what?" He repeated, "I took a dump, I tee-tee'd and poo-poo'd in the bathroom." Ok, the kid is potty trained and has been for over a year, it's just funny to hear him say he "took a dump." I had to tell him that although Daddy has joked about that, it's best that we not say that anymore. I can only imagine that the teacher will have a double length conference scheduled for us when we get to parent teacher conferences.

If that wasn't bad enough, he is a little boy and has noticed his little boy part... Bath time was one of the funniest things I've ever witnessed, and I'm trying to figure out how best to direct future similar situations...

When he got in the tub, the boy had serious wood going on. He pointed it out to me "My naked is big, Daddy" (he refers to it as his naked).. I said "Yeah, sometimes that happens", praying he wouldn't press with wanting to know "why" it happens. That's another conversations for another day, hopefully a long way off. Bath time continues, he turns his attention to his boats, and things return to normal.

Normal until bath time is over. I start draining the water, turn around to get his towel, and turn back around to see him pulling straight out on the end of his little tally whacker, like he's trying to stretch it. I said "What are you doing?" to which he replied "I'm trying to make it bigger." Oh, boy. How do you address this? I told him that you can't make it bigger, that's not how it works, now get out of the tub. Then, the kid pulls it up one more time, leans over as far as he can and blows at it. Thankfully he can't reach, or we'd have an entirely new problem. I said "C'mon, man, stop that. What are you doing?" He said, "Trying to blow it up, like a balloon ." Ok, I've decided, Shelly is in charge of bath time from now on... I told him "It doesn't work that way, and besides, it's not nice to play with your naked, now get out of the tub."

Now, clearly stalling, not wanting to get out of the tub yet, he rolled onto his side and said "I can't get out, it's drinking the water." As patiently as I could, I told him that it doesn't drink, that's not what it does. He argued that it does indeed drink and he couldn't get out until it drank ALL of the water in the tub.

Luckily the kid has a short attention span. I changed the subject and reminded him that he needed to get out of the tub right now so I could tell him the story of the 3 little piggies and the big, bad, wolf. That did the trick, and nothing more on that subject was mentioned again.

Geez, what a night. I basically ignored and re-directed my way through the events of the evening. The question is, is this a phase all little boys go through in discovering themselves?

Piggy's Bottom...

Since we have another holiday weekend, I decided I wanted to smoke another pork butt to make some more pulled pork. The night before putting the meat on to smoke, I coat the meat with a quite generous helping of a dry rub, making sure to get it into all of the little nooks and crannies of the meat. After coating, I wrap the meat tightly in a couple of layers of Saran Wrap then put it in the fridge to get happy with that dry rub.

While I was unwrapping the meat from the butcher paper to get ready to season it, Matthew asked me what that was. I told him it was a Pig's bottom. Of course, every story we've read and every DVD he has watched lately it seems has talked about "piggies", so Matthew wanted to see the piggy. Not much to see, but he made several comment's about the poor piggy missing his bottom, and how I came to be in possession of the piggy's bottom. The meat market I like to use is near the in-law's house, and I had my father-in-law pick the butt up for me yesterday, so of course, I blamed it on Doc.

I wonder what Matthew will tell Doc next time he sees him? Should be interesting.

Even funnier, Matthew walked into the living room as I'm typing this entry and informed me that he doesn't like piggy hiney, hamburgers, or deer. Sounds like the kid is going to be a little hungry...

Can't take me anywhere...

Shelly asked me a little while ago if I had blogged about what happened at dinner last night. I guess now I have to tell the story.

We were having dinner last night at Macaroni Grill. I suppose they are everywhere, but for those not familiar, it's a decent Italian chain restaurant. Their grilled pork chops with rosemary balsamic graze are excellent, especially served with the mushroom risotto. Anyway, that's what we ordered.

Just after our food arrived, I started to sneeze. I couldn't stop sneezing. I was trying to sort of hold them back, but after 3 or 4 stifled sneezes, all hell broke loose. The last sneeze wouldn't be stifled. It was a big one, so big that the pressure caused another pressure leak. Folks, that was one of the biggest, loudest farts I have let go in a long time, and it happened simultaneously with the big sneeze. Of course, I didn't hear anything but the sneeze, Shelly heard it all. I'm sure everyone around us heard it all.

Of course, Shelly and I couldn't stop laughing. We couldn't even look at each other for the rest of dinner without cracking up.

Sort of embarrassing, but pretty funny as well.

At least it didn't smell....

Already? GEEZ...

I got home from work this evening and cooked dinner. A big pan of chicken enchiladas and some pinto beans. Don't get all excited, I cheated a little. The enchiladas were Stouffer's from the freezer section. They were actually pretty good. The beans were the canned variety. Let me say that the new fangled can openers SUCK. Shelly just HAD to have the kind of can opener that cuts the can on the side, leaving no sharp edges. The advertisements are correct. There are no sharp edges, partly because the darn lid doesn't come off.

Seriously, the stupid thing only opens 1 of 3 cans I try with it. I end up having to get out the old style can opener that cuts from the top and actually does what it is supposed to. Sharp edges? Maybe, but unless you are a complete idiot, that shouldn't be a problem.

What is the title of this post about? After dinner, I had to help Matthew with his homework. Yes, I said homework. This is a 4 year old. What's the deal with homework for a kid in daycare? The kid can barely hold a pencil, and he's already got homework? I guess it's not bad. He had to trace the numbers 1 thru 5, three times each. Then he had a page filled with the letter "f". He had to trace a page full of capital and lower-case f's. I started him with a brand new pencil, but that's a little to hard for a 4 yr old to use. I ended up breaking the pencil in half and sharpening what was left. Much better. The kid did a pretty good job.

Still, isn't 4 yrs old a little young for having to do homework?

NOT AGAIN? DAMN!!!!!

I just got finished with a LONG weekend. After work Friday, I mowed, edged, weed-eated, and swept up in the yard. After finishing, I cooked dinner. Don't ask why I did it all myself, it's a sore subject, but apparently my fault.

I volunteered for 2 different service projects on Saturday, so I was gone from 6am until 4pm Saturday. After I got home, something else was apparently my fault again. Can't win for losing around here. When I got cleaned up, we took the kids to see my parents for a little while, and while they kept them, we had a date night. You know you are an old married couple when your date night is dinner out followed by shopping for kids clothes at the Carter's store and then doing some grocery shopping.

Work is really busy lately. After leaving the office at 6:30 or so this evening, I stopped by the hair cut place on the way home to get a long overdue shearing. When I walked in the door at home, completely beat, I heard it. From somewhere deep in the house, it was a familiar, but dreaded sound. BEEP! You've got to be kidding me... Well, I know which one it isn't. I just replaced the battery in the smoke detector in the office. I guess I'll get busy with the rest of them. I headed upstairs and wandered around in search of the beeping smoke detector.

After checking all of them, I discover that it's the same darn one. It's the one in the office again. I got my chair out and took it off the ceiling, then removed the battery. Surely the battery can't be dead already. I remembered a way to test the battery that I learned as a kid... YOW, there is nothing wrong with this battery. While grouching about the smoke detector, unplugged, and battery free, of course, it beeps again. This thing is possessed. I start thinking that the batteries in these things aren't lasting very long lately. These are hard wired with battery back-ups, so they should last a while as the battery only powers the thing if the electricity goes off. I actually removed the one from Matthew's room a couple of weeks ago when it literally ruined a battery. Made the 9v battery look like a football. I haven't been overly concerned about that one since we have a battery powered alarm outside his bedroom.

Well, I ended up reading the small print at the bottom of the alarm. It seems that you are supposed to replace these things every 10 years. As the house is now 9 years old, I guess it's about time. Problem solved. I got online and ordered 6 new detectors from a company out in California that had newer versions that were direct plug-in replacements for the ones we currently have. Tomorrow, I should have a UPS tracking number to busy myself with. After counting, we've got 6 hard wired smoke detectors in the house, 2 carbon monoxide detectors, and 3 extra battery operated smoke detectors for "just in case" - sort of a belt & suspenders sort of deal.

Did any of the rest of you know that these things only last about 10 years?

It's getting to be that time of year...

Yes, I know it is about time for college football to start. We chose not to renew out Texas A&M season tickets this year. With 2 kids and an 80 mile each way drive to the games, we decided we just couldn't make enough games to make it worthwhile. Especially when you have to pay several hundred dollars worth of "donation" per seat to have the privilege to pay face value for tickets. Still, we do have a moderate feeling of loss about not having "our" seats. Hopefully we can work it out to leave the kids with one of the grandparents and get some tickets from eBay or Stub Hub and go watch the Aggies play. If not, TV is the best seat in the house (I prefer to watch on TV because those crazy Aggies STAND the ENTIRE game.)

I think most of my readers are college football fans (not sure how many, but I think there are a few of you). I think I have a couple of Aggie fans, some LSU fans, at least one Crimson Tide fan, and an Appalachian State fan. Let me know if I forgot anyone... I've even got a couple of t.u. fans that read from London on occasion. (it's 10:53 PM in Houston and t.u. still sucks).

But, as big as football season is, there is one season that is more important to me. Deer season. It's that time again. Sure, rifle season doesn't start until the 1st Saturday in November, but there is quite a bit of preparation that goes into deer season. Doc & Ron will be out at the ranch this weekend to start working on the food plots. They need to be mowed, plowed, fertilized, plowed again, and then planted. Bro-in-law will head up Labor Day weekend to cut down the grass and weeds in the feeder pens, and I'll head up late September / early October to fill the feeders and check the stands.

In addition to getting the ranch ready, I'll take at least one trip to the range and shoot the guns to make sure that they are ready. Once they are sighted in, they go into the cases and aren't touched again. A serious hunter has more than one rifle. I have my primary gun and a back-up gun. I also have a second back-up that I take when Shelly hunts with me. That way, we each have one and there is a spare in case something happens to one of them. The second back-up needs a minor repair, so I need to take it to the gunsmith in the next week or so in order to have it back in time.

About a month before season opens, I pull out all of the hunting clothes and make sure they all still fit, and replace as needed. License tags are also picked up. A week or two before opening weekend, the clothes get washed in scent free UV killer soap, and get packed in the duffel bag. I also pull out the hunting bags and make sure everything is in them that needs to be in them. Walkmans and flashlights get fresh batteries, knives get sharpened. License tags are also put in the bags. I'm not kidding when I say I worry myself to death about making sure I have everything. I'm always scared to death that I'll get all the way out to the ranch and not have bullets, license, or something else important.

Can you tell I get a little excited about hunting? I'm actually sitting on the sofa right now watching a hunting show on the Outdoor Channel. Hey, it's my sport. When I was a kid, hunting was the big thing with my dad and grandfather. We all hunted together until just a few years ago when the land we had hunted was sold. Now, we don't hunt together often, but my Dad and I usually make sure to have one weekend hunting together, and we text message back and forth when we are hunting at our respective ranches.

As we get a little closer, there will be more posts. Who knows, I might also post about football. Maybe there will even be some smack talk in the next week or so between Reggie (Appalachian State fan) and Tommy & Joanna (LSU fans)

Olympic Sports...

I've watched a few Olympic events over the last week or so. I have to tell you, there are some interesting ones out there.

Fencing... Not the construction of a privacy structure, this is sword fighting. Interesting sport. It would be more fun if the competitors either dressed in pirate costumes or started every match with the phrase "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

kayaking... Cruising down a man-made river of sorts going through green or red gates (green heading downstream, red gates headed upstream). Forget the man-made river, put these jokers in some serious rapids. Keep sending them down. Last one standing that hasn't destroyed either their boat or themselves wins... To make it more interesting, put some rednecks with banjos into the mix...

Women's Trampoline... I watched some of this. Strangely, not quite as exciting as one might think it would be... (not quite the same as "Girls on Trampolines" like they used to have on "The Man Show")

Speed Walking... I'm not sure I see the point in this one. Watching a bunch of men in the little shorty-shorts prancing like that... Things such as that are disturbing to the Ladies Man...

Rowing... This is actually a decent sport. The funny part was pointed out by Tommy's wife, Joanna. When watching, notice the coaches and trainers (maybe judges also?) all riding bicycles along the side of the channel. All of them are looking to their right watching the boats, NONE of them are looking where they are going. Sadly, there was never a huge pile-up to laugh at...

Suggestions for new sports...

Men's Cannonball... You have the traditional diving competition, where the plan is to do a trick or two, then make the smallest possible splash. Put a couple of big guys on the high dive, and let us do our tricks and then make the biggest splash possible. I wonder if they make a Speedo in my size?

Lumberjack competition... You've seen this on one of the sports channels. It is guys doing their thing with chainsaws, axes, and saws. Why not put this into the Olympics?

Bass fishing... This sure would increase participation from the folks in the Southeast...

Are there any other sports you guys can think of? Maybe the IOC will find this blog and decide to incorporate your suggestions into the 2012 games in London...

EDIT: Joanna commented on the beach volleyball. I'm adding this so everyone can be in on the story. I had made a comment on Facebook last night about the Brazilian Beach Volleyball team. They had the letters BRA across their chests. I thought it was hilarious, and thought they needed UNDERWEAR written across their behinds.

I'm living in a Seinfeld episode...

Last night, I stayed up pretty late. I was changing the battery in my mother-in-law's car and missed "Ice Road Truckers", so I had to catch the re-air at midnight. Incidentally, did you know that the battery is under the backseat in a Buick LeSabre? You literally have to remove the rear cushion of the seat to get to the batter. In a grandma car, that means remove 2 car seats, remove the seat, change the battery, and reinstall all of the crap again. GM's engineering department was out to lunch on this one... My father-in-law must have me pegged for a sucker because I was changing the battery for him.

Anyway, since Ice Road Truckers wasn't over until 1AM, and I still had a little picking up to do to get ready for bed, it was pretty late by the time I finally hit the rack. I was deep into dreamland around 3Am, when I was aroused from my sleep by a "BEEP" from somewhere in the house. I laid there a little while thinking that maybe it would just be one beep, then I heard it again. "BEEP!" Crap, this thing isn't going to stop. I was so tired, I could barely see strait, but I got out of bed and went in search of the dead smoke detector. I tracked it down to the one in the office. I stood on a chair and removed the battery, then headed back to bed.

No sooner than I had closed my eyes, I heard it again. "BEEP!" CRAP!!! Another one? I got up and stumbled into the darkness again to find the offending smoke detector, thinking, "Tomorrow, I'm changing all of the batteries, but I've got to stop this damn beeping now so I can get to sleep." I walk around the house, and figure out it's the same stupid smoke detector. It's the one in the office I had just removed the battery from. I stood on the chair again, twisted the detector from it's holder, and unplugged it (hardwired with battery back-ups). Problem solved, I headed back to bed.

Ahhh, back in bed, head on the pillow, and eyes closed, sleep was coming quickly. "BEEP!" What the hell?!?!? I thought I must be hearing things, so I stayed in bed. A couple of minutes later, "BEEP!" Ok, this is nuts. I'm so tired I'm getting desperate. I went back into the office and picked up the smoke detector. Unplugged and battery removed. I held it looking at it thinking "Surely this isn't the one..." A red light blinked and "BEEP!" "How in the...?!?!?"

I pushed the "test" button, and it let out one more, but this time sick sounding beep about half the volume of the other beeps, then silence... "Thank you, sweet Jesus..." Back to bed...

My head hit the pillow, still not believing that the stupid detector, unplugged and battery removed could still beep. Exhausted, I drifted back to sleep. "BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP...!!!!" "C'MON!!!!" This time, it was my 7AM alarm clock....

I found all of the 9volt batteries I bought a couple of months ago to freshen up all of the smoke detectors. Maybe tomorrow I'll put them in... (as the detectors are hardwired, the batteries last quite a while, but I do TRY to replace them once a year or so.)

After thinking about this later today, wasn't this a Seinfeld episode?

Losing my mind...

I had another post all worked out in my head, and I remember it was a good one... Now that I have the time to post, I can't for the life of me remember what it was...

I'll think of it sooner or later, and I promise I'll post it.

Grandaddy Update...

Apologies for the delay in giving an update. Grandaddy's surgery last week went really well. All of the blockage was cleared out and he got to go home the next day. I talked to him over the weekend, and he sounded pretty good, just a little tired.

I'm thinking that we might try to make the 2.5 hour run out to see him over the Labor Day weekend.

Thanks again to all who said a little prayer for him.

This just breaks your heart...

It happened again today, and it just breaks my heart. I'm still at the office and I turned on the TV to hear the local news, and I hear that it happened again. What's the matter with these people? It's a child. A helpless child. How could you? How do you forget about a child?

What happened? Someone "forgot" their child in the car when they went to work. Yesterday it was a 3 yr old boy left in the car 10 hours. Today it is another 3 yr old boy, just discovered a short while ago. This person was an employee at a local hospital. According to the news, it was obvious the little boy struggled to get out but wasn't able to.

Both children are dead. Not a chance of surviving locked in a hot car with outside temps in the 90's.

I'm speechless. So many people would trade their souls to have a baby of their own, and the ones that have their own leave them in the car to die. Alone.

Denny's vs. IHOP...

Every time I opened Internet Explorer yesterday, msn.com had a little deal about breakfast wars going on between Denny's & IHOP. This must have stuck in my mind because when I headed out to lunch, something drew me to IHOP. After browsing the menu, I chose an omelet with ham, cheese, onions, and filled with hash browns. All of that goodness was served with 3 buttermilk pancakes. Not bad, eh?

Well, while I was enjoying my lunch, Shelly called. When I told her where I was eating, she told me that she was planning for us to eat dinner at Denny's. There is a Denny's right next to where Matthew is taking swimming lessons in the evenings, and kids eat free on Tuesdays. I chose the omelet with bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc, served with a side of hash browns and a biscuit with gravy.

The verdict? It was VERY close. Almost too close to call. Neither one is exactly "first tier" dining, but both are consistently decent (or at least consistently average). In the end, I think the pancakes at IHOP tilted the verdict in their favor.

In the end, I think Cracker Barrel is just slightly better than the others. I'll have to go there soon.

That being said, I think my breakfasts are better, although I can't seem to make a decent pancake to save my life. I can make some damn good eggs, and I make a mean omelet with smoked deer sausage, grilled onions, and whatever else is available to throw in them. Well, it's sort of an omelet. I'm still working on the folding technique, but the taste is top notch.

On a more serious note...

Those of you who have been reading for a while will remember my grandfather. He is known to everyone as Grandaddy. Grandaddy will be 83 this month, and is still going quite strong for a guy his age. In addition to all of the weddings, graduations, etc that you would expect him to attend, it means alot to me that he was here for the birth of both of our boys and he has made all 4 of Matthew's birthday parties. This guy has done everything you would hope a grandfather to do, plus some. I killed my first deer sitting in the stand with him.

Grandaddy needs some prayers this week. A couple of months ago, he fell getting out of a chair at his favorite little lunch counter (plastic lawn chair broke). He was hurting enough to go to the ER later that day, and figured out nothing was broken, just sore. When he kept hurting, he went to see an orthopedist, who told him that he needed rotator cuff surgery. The surgeon told him that in order to do the surgery, he would need clearance from all of the doctors he sees on a regular basis (heart, diabetes, etc). That Dr doesn't know it yet, but it looks like he might have saved Grandaddy's bacon for another little while.

Long story short, the cardiologist "heard something" in the carotid artery. Several tests and a week later, the word was 90% blockage on one side, 70% blockage on the other. They are going to do surgery on Thursday to clear the blockage. Everyone says it is a fairly routine surgery, but at almost 83, nothing is risk-free. When you have a free minute, say a quick prayer to the Big Guy for the big guy...

Exercise...

Once upon a time, I was a pretty active fellow. In Jr high and high school, I mowed grass for spending money. I generally had 7 or 6 yards on a regular basis and did others on a random basis when people went out of town or were short on time. I high school, I threw in the occasional gym workout into the mix.

Later in high school, Tommy and I would go to Red's in Lafayette and work out before school. Well, we worked out a couple of times. We would generally work out for 30 or 45 minutes, hit the hot tubs, eat breakfast, and go to school. After a week or so, we just hit the hot tubs and ate breakfast before heading to school. We told everyone we went to Red's before school, and everyone assumed you worked out when you went there. Screw that. I got enough of a workout mowing and trimming yards that I ate everything I could fit in my mouth and never weighed more than about 150.

I gained a little weight, but was still fairly healthy at 190. The summer after my sophomore year, I worked for a plumbing company. We're talking 60+ hours a week as a grunt. I drove a shovel like nobodies business, and ended up a pretty buff 175. I was probably in the best shape of my life. Those were the days. An office job isn't exactly conducive to being buff.

Anyway, Katie was talking about being in shape and the fact that in her mid-30's, she was finally able to outrun her dad on one of their recent runs. The topic of sit-ups and push-ups came up. I was challenged to see how many I could do. Well, when the rest of the family was safely upstairs, I decided to see what I could do. Here's the blow-by-blow...

I started with the push-ups first.

1st push-up: Hey, this isn't so bad... I would swear my arms used to be longer, my belly isn't very far from the ground...

2nd push-up: Not bad, I could probably do a few more...

3rd push-up: Crap, I'm heavy, it feels like Shelly and the kids must have jumped on my back.

4th push-up: Your kidding, right? Does it count as 4 if I was able to get up from the floor after this?

Now for the sit-ups. I cleared a spot on the living room floor, laid on my back, and put my feet under the edge of the coffee table:

1st sit-up: Hey, this isn't so bad. I just did one more than a certain someone I know...

2nd sit-up: I seem to remember that you are supposed to touch your knees with your elbows...

3rd sit-up: No, it's physically impossible for me to touch my knees with my elbows.

4th sit-up: Come to think of it, It's been a while since I've seen my knees. Hey, guys...

5th sit-up: Man, that's some strange popping coming from my back...

6th sit-up: Crap, this is hard...

7th sit up: FART... (sweet relief, was sick yesterday, would have been a SHART had I tried this insanity a day earlier)

8th sit-up: WHAT is that popping sound. That can't be natural...

9th sit-up: I can't believe I made it this far, thinking about how sore I'm going to be tomorrow...

10th sit-up: I determined I'd try to reach my knees with my elbows if it killed me... It almost did...

So, the total is 3 push-ups and 10 sit-ups. I'll post tomorrow to tell about the serious pain I'm in...

Dissed by a fortune cookie...

The weather was crappy today, and my boss and I along with the receptionist (who live about a mile from the office) were the only ones that braved TS Edouard to come to work. I drew the short straw and had to make the lunch run to the local Chinese joint for some takeout.

All was going well, until I got my fortune cookie. Most have happy, encouraging fortunes to make you feel good about yourself. I've got quite a collection in my desk drawer. This one I'm throwing away:

"Today, your mouth might be moving, but no one is listening."

Well, that explains alot...

Riding horses... Or not.

Earlier in the year, Shelly and I took Matthew for a weekend getaway at the Hyatt Lost Pines resort outside of Austin. I have to say that although it's not cheap, that is a really nice place. We think it's quite a bit nicer than the Hyatt Hill Country resort in San Antonio. They have all sorts of neat things to do. The pool is top notch with a water slide and a lazy river, the golf course is supposedly quite good, and Shelly gave the spa a thumbs-up. They also have horseback riding.

We didn't have time to ride the horses that particular weekend, but I thought that would be a neat thing to look into on a future trip...until I read the fine print. The horses have a weight limit of 250 lbs. Man, how bad is it when you weigh too much to ride a stinkin' horse. I'll admit, I'm a big guy. I need to lose weight, but horses are BIG animals. Surely they could handle my 270 lbs without that much trouble.

Of course, this is near Austin, which is basically the Texas version of San Francisco. Maybe those horses are not quite as tough as you think...

Bright idea by a dim bulb...

Ever have an idea that you think is pretty slick and have it not work out so well? I do every now and then. Today was one of those times.

I shave with an electric razor. Usually I shave in the car, but today I shaved while sitting on the couch while watching the NASCAR race. I needed to clean the "crumbs" out of the razor. Normally, I tap the razor on the bottom of my shoe onto the floor mat of the car. When in the house, I tap it on the edge of the bathroom sink and then rinse the sink afterwards. Today, I had a stroke of brilliance (be afraid). I decided to tap it on the edge of the commode, with the thought that I could just flush it and not have to rinse the sink. Can you see where this is headed...

One of the taps hit the little button that releases the top of the razor, giving access to the blades. Before I could catch it, the top fell on the water. Thankfully, the toilet was clean and recently flushed, or it would have been a bad situation..

I'm happy to report that all parts have been cleaned and dried, and it still works fine. Mark that down as another bright idea that wasn't quite as bright as I thought.