Go West Young Man...

As it turns out, Horace Greeley didn't coin the phrase he is credited with, but I did it anyway.

Without retelling my last post, i'll say that this move came on short notice and everything had to fall into place just right for it to come off reasonably smooth. It didn't, it wasn't, and it still isn't, but i'm gaining on it. Now here are the facts: 1500sqft 3bdr apartment in Garland => 370 miles => 1600+sqft 3bdr apartment in Amarillo. The biggest truck U-Haul has, two teenage boys and half the offensive line, bundles of boxes and a refrigerator dolly. Two sheep to get butchered, one car to get fixed, one week to pack, and a whole bunch of friends to say goodbye to.

Okay, so the last week in Garland, Donna had my car in Amarillo, i got the sheep to the butcher, and all i had to do was pack. Firstly, this left me without a car. Thankfully, i have a couple of friends, Julie and Tina, whom i love terribly, who didn't allow me to want for anything. I really do Thank You Guys!!!

At this point all i really had to do was pack. I set a goal of ten boxes a day over and above whatever it was i did during the school day. I'd love to say this was a good plan, but i can't. One kid packed and watched TV at the same time and the other packed with one hand, the other one was needed for texting. I just love teenage boys. I mean i really had a plan on how things needed to roll out and it got started off wrong and got worse. Donna flew back in on Friday night and we were supposed to go eat dinner afterward. Naturally, her flight was delayed and she got home late. We still had dinner, but it was during the time we were supposed to be doing something else. Ugh!!

On Friday, i picked up the truck and the boys from school. They were amazed that i could drive it around town. I never really thought too much about it. I had errands to run and it was transportation. The only time things got a little weird was when i went to take our mechanic friend some money for the car and had to negotiate that monster through his neighborhood, but not a problem.

Saturday morning, i backed the truck up in the only place i could get it. It was about sixty yards from our apartment. There's nothing like lugging stuff for a move, unless you add a hike to it. The football players showed up en masse and i thought all right, we're going to get this knocked out in no time. OOPS!!! silly me, what was i thinking. They carried the boxes one at a time instead of using the dolly because they said it was easier. The funny thing is two of them would carry a box and two more would walk with them to the truck. Kind of funny, but kind of annoying. Then my worst fears about the Tourister Luggage Ape came true. Among other things, they dropped my wife's Lane chest, her cabinet Victrola, and a box of green glass. I just cringed and went on. It's not like i could yell at these kids, they were doing us a favor. Then the most remarkable thing happened.

First i have to say that during the week i went to the dollar store and bought fifteen rolls of that cheap cling wrap. You know the kind that doesn't stick to anything but itself and i wrapped everything i could with it. Including my chest of drawers that all my office stuff and sewing patterns are in. Okay, now for the remarkable part.

One of the kids decided to use the dolly to move things and he started with my chest of drawers. I'm standing in the back of the truck watching him come down the side walk, attended to by two other boys, and i noticed that my chest looked funny. So, i looked around and found a good place to put it in the truck and in they came. My chest was on the dolly upside down????????????? Oh Lord. The only way to keep from completely screwing things up was to roll the chest end over end to right it without losing everything in the drawers. I really wanted to scream at this point. So, as we promised we took the kids to Ci Ci's Pizza and let them chow down. I took a xanax and a nap.

It was too late in the day, so we stayed over and left Sunday. Everything was going fine and we stopped in Decatur for lunch. I remembered that my crochet bag was in the back of the truck and i needed my glasses for driving in the dark. So, while we waited on our food, the boys went out and got in the back of the truck to get my glasses.

What happened next, seemed to happen in slow motion. The boys were rooting around for a bag that was on the top of the small filing cabinet at the very end of the truck. Something they futzed with moved my wife's three foot statue of the Virgin Mary and it fell out of the truck. I was looking on in Horror. I know how she is about that statue i gave her many years ago and there wasn't a damn thing i could do about it. I went to get up and she was standing at the table, frozen, grey, and tearful. I went out and picked up the three pieces of Mary and put them back in the truck. Both of the boys were crying and i assured them i could fix her. That remains to be seen. Then i picked my bag off of the filing cabinet and closed up the truck. Lunch was kind of sad and quiet with lots of assurances all around.

We made it to Amarillo and i parked the truck. We kept the truck an extra day and got everything inside our new place. For the next eight days i only had one of the eight Chicago Screws i needed to put our bed together. We found the other seven and it took us a day or two to find the one i had. The boys got their own rooms which puts me without a sewing room, which in turn means there is a lot of boxed and tubbed crap stacked about, but i'm gaining on it.

So far my only complaints are the stove, which is a nightmare and they've assured me they will fix or replace and the water which smells like something i would mop with. YUK!!! However, it is quiet and Donna's commute went from forty five minutes to just five. The kids start school Monday and i'm looking forward to that. Now all i have to get used to is paying three fifty for a gallon of milk instead of ninety nine cents. Well, that and being cold all the time.

Until next time, Peace be with you, Dave

Donner makes Director in Yeller Texas

For a number of years now, my wife and I have been trying to arrange things in such a way as to get moved down to the Canyon Lake area of Texas. What's that saying, "If you want to make God laugh tell her your plans"?

My wife has worked for the school she is at for about a year and a half. She put in just over seven at her previous school. In all of this time she has had good days and bad, much like you'd expect from any job. Believe me when i say, there were more bad days than good at all of her previous schools. On the other hand, the school she is currently at is everything she could want in a job other than the job title and the privileges that come with it. However, laying that aside, she absolutely loves her job and when she loves her job everything works well at home. Looking back, that was the quiet before the storm.

Sometime around the first of November, an executive recruiter called her to see what her job status was. During this call, he determined he had a position that would be perfect for her and asked if he could put her in for it. She said yes. It's not like the first time she's received a phone call promising the moon and nearly always they are either somewhere we just won't live, the money is terrible, or both. ( See also Hayward, California for 60K, for those that don't know, that's just not a good deal even if you are willing to live there)

Within forty eight hours of his putting her in for the job she had a telephone interview. It sounded more like a round table for business strategies than an interview. Two days later, she was at the corporate office meeting all the suits there and being interviewed. The following Friday, she flew to Amarillo for a tour and a face to face with the President of the school. The following Thursday, they made an offer, she countered, they answered, and she took the job. That puts us at the beginning of this last week. Wow Dude!!! There's no grass growing under this deal.

Now here comes the fun part. We have two boys in High School: a Freshman and a Sophomore. We talked to them about this and they were really good about the move. The jock wanted to make sure his new high school was 5A because of college recruiting and the brain wanted FFA. Well, there is only one High School in Amarillo that accommodates both, but there is one.

Now for the funner part. She starts work there on the thirteenth. The kids get out of school for Christmas on about the nineteenth. Then there are two sheep that prematurely get to go to the butcher on the sixth. Then there is all the packing and everything else that goes along with a move. So, i may or may not blog again before we move. I probably will, but if it seems like i have dropped off of the face of the earth just know it's only because we are moving.

By the by, i figured that pizza and sodas are cheaper than Bekins, so the jock's invited the team over to help load the truck. Suddenly, I'm seeing flashbacks of those old Tourister Luggage commercials with the ape. I better pack well.

Please, join me in congratulating a fine strong woman as the Director of Education!!! Well done Donner!!!

P.S. For those interested, we currently live 502mi. from Alpine. We are moving 372mi. closer, but will still be 417mi. away. Only in Texas.

Until i find you again, Peace be with you. Dave

Oreo and Milky move in

Occasionally in life you find yourself on the wrong side of the equation and if you're lucky someone or something will reveal to you the other possible points of view. I was reminded of this Monday afternoon.

My son, Zeke, joined FFA (Future Farmers of America) this year when he entered High School. We talked at great length about the commitment involved in raising a show animal and the challenges that each one brings to the table. Things like: Sheep are dumb and act like cats, Goats are a pain in the butt and are true escape artists, Pigs are really smart and you can teach them to do anything a dog can do, but if they are used to you doing something for them and you miss a day they get their feelings hurt and can be hard to deal with, Steers are big and they eat a lot, but they end up being really big puppy dogs and the really bad news, he isn't raising a pet.

After much discussion, he decided on a lamb. Since this is an Agri-business project, I bought his lamb in exchange for his raising a feeder lamb for me. It's a nice cooperative approach and he saves the cost of his lamb at market.

Okay, so the day the lambs arrived i went with him to drag the feeder to the barn while he dragged his show lamb. We didn't really drag them, but they weren't too keen on the halter to say the least. When they picked their lambs, there were twenty kids and he drew number "2". What a great place in the order for picking. He took his turn and i really liked this smoky colored one, but he picked this white lamb i wasn't too keen on and then he got the one leftover lamb for our feeder.

So, we get them back to their stall and get them all fixed up and go home.

We quickly fell into the routine of going to the barn, mucking the stall, dragging them for exercise, halter feeding them, and going home. However, we did have a bit of a rough start getting our son to be proactive in taking control, especially haltering them. I showed him how to corner them and grab them, squeeze them between your legs and halter them up. So, about the third day i haltered the feeder (Oreo) and tied him in the run. Then i watched as Zeke chased the big one (Milky, his show lamb) around and around the stall. It looked a lot like Tom and Jerry, but wasn't at all funny to me. After all, he's about 5'7" and 150 and this lamb is about 100lbs. I got irritated at him dallying with the damn thing and grabbed him abruptly and barked at him. I told him if he didn't take haltering his lamb seriously he could get hurt and not to underestimate it because it's so cute and cuddly. He gave me one of those teen looks of terror and bewilderment, so i showed him again.

There is a two step riser in the corner for them to stand on, with their front legs, while they eat in their stall. Yeah, you know what's coming. I grabbed that woolly bugger and ended up straddling it on the top tier of the riser. With it firmly between my legs, i went to halter it. As i reached with the halter, the damn thing bucked and i went flying.

When i found my feet again, they were straight out in front of me. My butt bone hit the ground, my back hit one step and my neck hit the second. Now i have been knocked silly a time or two in this life, but that crap hurt. I swear this wasn't two minutes after i told him not to do the very same thing. ACk!!! Karma is a mother.

I didn't break anything, but i bruised more than my pride. On the upside though, Zeke has taken control of the lambs and is handling them like a pro.

I wonder if that's what they mean when they talk about sacrificing for your kids??

Till next time, watch what you say, it might be good advice.

Dave

Pen Pals are not Anachronistic

A few weeks ago i got an email through Facebook from a Japanese woman i knew from my days at the University of North Texas. She said she was doing a project that involved the mail and if i wanted to participate all i needed to do was send her my mailing address. Now, we've all gotten those emails about our rich uncle from Nigeria that left us ten million dollars and we just need to get it to an American bank or some such crap. So anytime someone i don't see or hear from regularly wants my mailing address, i'm a little skeptical. After all, i do place a premium on my privacy and afford some level of due diligence to protect it. Then again, i knew from the moment we met that she was a good person. So i took a chance and sent her my mailing address and waited to see what would come of it.

A couple of weeks later, i received a postcard in the mail from Chofu-Shi, Tokyo, Japan. A plain little card, stark white on both sides with her name just above mine. On the reverse, there was a brief little paragraph being guarded at the corners with watercolor koi fish in hues of aqua and violet. A reconnection made across a four year lull. One she closed simply with, "Hope to see all of you one day". What an offering of love. I have said it many times, but it is just as true each time i say it, "A letter is an act of genuine love, for there is nothing on this earth more precious than our time and to give our time freely with no concern for compensation is nothing short of a gift of love. Unconditional, open and free".

The next day i got out my collection of stationary and picked one that was simple and muted. Bone colored paper with stencils of something like sandy colored birch leaves across it and i began to return the love. I closed mine as simply as she, until we meet again, peace be with you.

In a world so full of complexity and demand on the spirit, don't lose sight of the joy simplicity can bring you. Surround yourself with love and that is what you will receive.

Until we meet again, Peace be with you,

Dave

The Mosque, The Wall, and what the Faux News Saw.

I have yet again found myself in, i would say Dutch, but that might raise some one's ire, trouble with a few of my contemporaries over my political views. Let me preface this by saying that i would never assume the position of being any better than they, nor am i any less. The current offense is somewhat connected to an aging one; The Mosque that is going to be built near the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks that took place in New York and the fence or wall to be or being built to separate the United States from Mexico. Lovingly referred to as "The Tortilla Curtain".
I have been branded a Liberal. A bleeding heart, commie loving, anti-American sap that is enabling those who drain the life force out of our country one entitlement at a time. Here, i will attempt to explain why i am not a bleeding heart Liberal and i'm not a Democrat and i'm not a Republican, nor am i aligned in a straight party manner with anyone. I am, however, a free thinker and i believe as i believe. I am a Christian, though i'm a Catholic and there are those that just don't see the two as being connected. As far as being a Catholic, no, i don't uphold all of the beliefs the church would have me to. Finally, Yes, i am a man. I know i don't have cocktails with the guys at topless bars or watch sports or never let anyone see me cry. If that's what it takes to be a man, i wouldn't want to be.
So, let's get to it:
Death Penalty: There are some people in this world that probably should be put to death, but that job was filled well before any of us got here.
Abortion: The argument over this only concerns the two people involved and the person providing the service. Imposing your beliefs on someone in the name of God, negates the very thing you profess.
Governmental Size: Yes, i would like the size of the government to be scaled back. A bunch.
Right to Bear Arms: Unless the Constitution has changed recently, it's the right to bear arms in a militia. I don't see anything wrong with Deer Rifles, Shotguns, even most pistols, but who needs a weapon designed to kill people en masse to go hunting.
Gays in the Military: It's an all volunteer military. If they are willing and do their job, then that is all that should matter. (side note: women in combat rolls. Same rule, if they are willing and they can do the job, Hell Yes!!! see also: Lyudmila Pavlichenko)
Gay Marriage/Civil Unions: Here again, this only concerns the people involved and the person officiating.
okay, so you have an idea of where i'm coming from. Now for the official reason behind my opinion on the tortilla curtain and the NYC ground zero mosque.
The Chinese built a wall to keep the hordes out. While it makes really nice post cards, the invading hordes got over the wall. OH Wait, correction, they didn't make it over the wall, they walked in through the gate. Don't believe me though, google it. Okay, so how will they walk through the tortilla curtain?? Yeah, like none of us ever drank before we turned 21. The prevalence of false entry documents will go up to a point where they (the U.S. Government) will more than likely issue us citizenship cards. You know the kind with biometric information or DNA or at the very least something trackable. Okay, now i'm a nut, a conspiracy theorist of the first order. They have tried before to give us citizenship cards, but don't believe me; google it.
As for the Mosque, is it better to not build it so close to where so many died at the hands of Muslim Extremists? Is it really a slap in the face to all those people that died that day? On the other hand, is it a much larger statement to the world by building it? Would we not be showing those extremist factions that our core belief in the Freedom of Religion has not been corrupted by them. That our resolve to live in a free society can not be brought down by zealotry and murder?
Maybe now is the time to remember to turn the other cheek and one of my favorites, Luke 23:34 Judge not...
It's for the record, i'm just sayin.
Be good to each other even when you don't understand what the other person's problem is. Dave

Brain Surgery for Luck

You know your day is going to be outside the norm when you are met first thing in the morning with, "Will you give me a Mohawk today?". Being the guy i am, i was suddenly swept away to The Last of the Mohicans. You know that scene when Daniel Day Lewis and Wes Studi are eyeing each other on the cliff. If you haven't seen it, it's still a great movie and i highly recommend Netflixing it.

I don't know whether it was old fashioned day dreaming or shock, but i didn't answer fast enough to keep from hearing the word "Dad" being repeated over and over again. I somehow found my way back to reality. I'm laying in bed looking up at my son and his big smiling face with my brain screaming, "are you insane??"

At this point, my head is echoing the word NO, no, no, no, no, and i opened my mouth and said, "Why??" Talk about your disconnects! I felt like two people trapped in one body. I may have been saying "no" on the inside, but he sure heard the "why". "It's for good luck in football this year," he said. Oh Joy of Joys, This is where being an old school dad would have paid off. I could have said no and that would have been the end of it, but i like to have reasons for the decisions i make involving my kids in the hopes that they will show their own children some reason in decision making. I just couldn't dream up a good enough reason to not do it. It's not like school has started yet and his hair grows like his mother's, which is very fast. So, i just couldn't come up with any reason that didn't sound any less retarded than giving him the Mohawk. I thought, you know, we'll talk about this later. If we talk about this later, chances are i'll find a good reason for not doing it. Naturally, i said sure, we can give you a Mohawk. I don't even know how that happened. I'd like to blame it on being somewhat still asleep, but nah. He's fifteen, if he's ever going to do something ridiculous with his hair, now's the time. Besides, the likelihood that i could do it was pretty low and i figured i'd end up giving him another Army haircut after i messed up the Mohawk and he'd be satisfied we tried.

Okay, later in the day i was sitting at my table and i started looking up information on how to cut a Mohawk. Yes! I know how ridiculous this sounds. I watched a couple youtube videos and a how-to i found through Google and thought, i could probably do this.

We cut his hair.

Fortunately or unfortunately, i did it. Let me tell you, it isn't quite as easy as you might think. There is a strange bit of geometry there. A couple of degrees one way or the other and, well suffice it to say the only thing worse than a Mohawk is one that isn't lined up straight front to back.

So far, a half dozen of his friends in football have followed suit. I think it's kind of cool that there is this weird kind of solidarity between these teammates. I have to tell you though, most of the comments over this have been both positive and benign, but good old Coach Steel had the best comment. He simply looked at him and asked if he had had brain surgery. I loved it. It really made me laugh.

So that's what has been going on in my world. Well, maybe not all of it, but definitely the cutest story of the week. I am nearly satisfied with my tortilla recipe and i'll probably post it in the near future for anyone so inclined to give it a whirl.

Till then, you guys have some fun, life is serious enough,

Your friend in the shadows, Dave

Asian Chicken in a Crockpot

Okay, i have been promising to give this recipe to a friend for what seems like forever. Well, today is the day. All i can say about this is that it makes a lot of food. I have two teen boys and there is usually enough for two meals. Don't sweat it though, the leftovers keep like spaghetti and it freezes and reheats just fine. If you try it, leave me a comment and let me know what your experience was like. One other thing, if you want to make a smaller batch, you should be able to half the recipe with no problems. Remember, when it comes to flavor it's what you like not what i like that counts. So, go forth and Asian Chicken till you are blue in the face.

Until next time, Provecho, Dave

Asian Chicken in a Crockpot

about 4 Lbs of Chicken, 12oz jar of Teriyaki Baste and Glaze, 20oz Can of chunk Pineapple, 3T Garlic Chili Sauce, 1T Sriracha (Rooster Blood) hot sauce, 1T Sesame Oil, 5T Lite Soy Sauce, 1T Garlic Powder, A good Finger of Fresh Ginger, 1/2 a Medium Onion roughly chopped, 1/2 oz Toasted Sesame Seeds, 4T Jelly or Jam*, 2T Roux**

Peel the Ginger Root and cut a section out of the middle equal to about 2/3 of your finger of ginger. Rough chop the ends and julienne the center piece (cut like little match sticks). Drain the pineapple and reserve the juice. I make this in the crock pot, but i guess you could make it in a dutch oven or other large pot. Empty the contents of the Teriyaki Baste and Glaze in the crock pot. Swirl just enough water in the bottle to get most of what is clinging to the sides. In a blender combine, the rough chopped ginger, 1/3 of the chunk pineapple and its juice, chili sauce, Sriracha, Sesame oil, Soy Sauce, Garlic powder, 1/2 the Sesame seeds, Jam, and Roux and blend until foamy and pretty smooth. Add to crock pot and stir together well. Add chicken to crock pot by pushing each piece down into the sauce until you have it all in or full. You should still have the reserved 2/3 julienne ginger, 2/3 of the pineapple chunks, and 1/2 of the sesame seeds. Cover these and put in the refrigerator. Cook on high till internal temp is at least 180F. I generally put this on in the morning and it's done when i'm ready in the evening. Fifteen minutes or so before serving, add in the reserved Ginger and Pineapple. Serve over rice or noodles and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Makes quite a lot of food.

*Jam note: use most any of the lighter colored or citrusy(citrusie, citrus-ish) jams or jellies, apricot, plum, even marmalade, but stay away from strawberry and grape YIKES!!!

**Roux: mix equal parts of flour and oil in a skillet and brown the mixture on medium heat. This takes a little while, but don't rush it. If you don't want the hassle just add plain flour to the mix when it's cold, but then again it's only in here to give the sauce a little more body.

Well there it is. More often than not, i'll make this up in my crock pot the day before and throw the whole thing in the refrigerator. The next morning i'll pull it out and turn it on. It sounds like a lot of hassle, but it really isn't. Just remember to throw the reserved pineapple and ginger in before you cook your rice or noodles and then everything will be ready together.

If you have a problem or don't understand something let me know. Please, do comment if you give it a whirl and let me know how it turned out. Hell, leave me a comment if you don't or if there is a different recipe you are looking for.

You guys be good and enjoy, Dave

Ugly Blog

It's been a few days since my last post and it feels like a year. I swear, so much has gone on in the last couple of weeks that i'm not sure where my mind was when i left off. We had a full week of family vacation, a vehicle failure, a date, another car failure, and a whole pile of memo boards and bread. I will try to explain some of this, though if you don't understand take comfort in knowing i was present for these events and i don't understand either.

I should preface this paragraph with the declaration that; i love my wife. Yes, of course, there is a but coming, so please try to be patient. Donna K and i have been together for many years. Some of them have been good and some have been less than ideal, but most have been horribly comfortable. She gets up and goes to work and is a brilliant tyrant all day. I am acclimated to this arrangement and definitely have my own routine. Okay, get ready for that But. BUT, when she goes on vacation and we are all together for a week, our world is total chaos. She doesn't know what to do with herself all day and my routine is just blown. There's simply no hope for me doing any of my normal things when she's home. This year was made worse by her car deciding to go on holiday as well. So, as far as our going to New Braunfels or Alpine went; it didn't. We did some stuff locally, but i really wanted to get away to a place where i could no longer see concrete and asphalt. Football starts for the guys next week, so this summer is gone. So much for i'm going to make it to San Jacinto this summer if it kills them all.

At some point here in the last week or so, i decided i needed a memo board to hang in my kitchen that i could put my master bread recipe on and shopping notes and stuff like that. Well, i found one of those memo boards and couldn't believe what they cost. The other thing is that they are so plain. It's like you have two choices, black or white. If you are lucky, you might find one that's more of an ecru. ACKKK!!! I took a good look at the damn thing and said thirty bucks my ass. Instantly, i could see it. Foam core, cotton batting, half yard of fabric, ribbon to match and some buttons, oh and that all too important appliance, the hot glue gun. The first one took me about two hours to make. I no sooner finished it and Donna K had to have one, then we added one more for "The Ridley" and i was done. Okay, so maybe not quite. Her boss saw them and had to have one for her daughter. Okay, so that's four. Well, i turned my sewing room around so make that five. They really are pretty easy to make, they just take some time.

Our fifteen year old son went out on his first date last Friday. Oh he's been out before, but it's always been for an occassion like a quinceanera, or a party or something like that. This time it was just him and this nice little girl. I guess this ushers in a new era in our house. I hope i'm prepared for this one. I know one thing is for sure, he better keep making his grades if he wants to keep going out.

The other thing i did besides give the mechanic all of my money was to pull "The Bachelor's Guide" out of moth balls. TBG is a cookbook i have been working on for years. It's not your typical recipe book like so many others, but instead it's more of a reference for the kitchen. Ideally, it's most applicable for people with marginal to adequate skills in the kitchen. It shows you how to save time, money, face (in some instances), while improving your overall skill set with confidence. It's not finished, so that's not a plug!!!

I've been teaching my boys how to do some cooking using the book as a guide. It's hard for me to stand by and watch someone do something, i do regularly, struggle at it. I know they can't learn if i don't let them struggle along the way. It's just one of those things that's hard to do.

UUUGH, i'm hating blogger today.................... I want to use word and have my pictures migrate too. Someone pleez, tell me how you get everything to sit the way you want it to. I'm posting this and i am only doing it to get out of this endless loop of fix a problem and get two more.

I'm going to post that promised recipe next, so stick around. D

a few thoughts through bloodshot eyes

Hello Cheery Peoples,
I am reminded of the great Earl Pitts as i sit here pecking out this first thought. I can imagine his wildly ethic accent bellering, "You know what makes me sick?? You know what makes me want to gouge out Shamu's eyeballs and glue them to my forehead before i head to the pool??". (((If you aren't familiar with Earl Pitts, STOP HERE and search him on youtube.com and come back.))) Well, i'll tell you what makes me sick. It happens nearly everyday. I will check my email and see something like the following in my inbox; Fwd: fwd: FwD: fWd:fwd:fwd:fwd:fwd: etc...
I hate forwarded emails. There are a couple reasons for this. More often than not, it turns out to be some joke someone found amusing and felt they'd share, a human interest or politically oriented chunk of malarkey that a simple fact check shows to be erroneous at best or some seemingly harmless prayer gift or request that requires you to pass it on to six hundred others or you will be damned to an eternity of fire. Generally, i just delete them, but i always look at the beginning to make sure i'm not missing anything important. It is a horrible nuisance. Now i know what you are going to say and i hear it often. "Dave, they send these to you to let you know that you crossed their mind". Okay, so that may be true, but if that is the case i'd rather get an email that simply says, I thought of you today. That would mean more to me than all the joke email in the world. However, the type of mail that gets forwarded isn't the only thing that really bugs me. When people forward emails, they simply click forward, click on the people they want to send it to and then click send. This sounds simple enough and it is, but it comes with a price. I value my privacy and i live a pretty reclusive lifestyle. Personally, i play my cards close to my chest. I don't put any more information out there than necessary. The people that have my contact information have it because i hold and cherish them as friends and family and i trust them to not share it. I know i wouldn't share their information with anyone. It's a trust issue. Then again, i'm talking about forwarded emails. This week, in the forwarded mails i received i gained the private email addresses for two County Sheriffs, my dad's boss, three policemen, the assistant railroad commissioner, a priest from our old diocese, and a whole host of names and email addresses of people i have met over the years. While the vast majority of these people are just plain old good people, it only stands to reason that there are some that aren't. So, i'm asking each of you, avoid the possibilities and delete the old recipients from those forwarded emails. Fact checking for the ones that fact checking would apply to would be better, but at the minimum, you owe it to your friends to delete their addresses off before you send it on. Remember, i rarely send on a forwarded email, but when i do i remove the prior recipients and i do it for you, all i'm asking is for the same consideration.
One more thing, If you don't smoke, drink, or work as a consultant, don't ever complain to me about how much you pay in taxes.
My next post will be a happier one, i promise.
Till then, enjoy each other, Dave

Chasin' the Dogs Off with a Stick

I am sure there are many of you that at one time or another have uttered the phrase, "when it rains, it pours." You are not alone. Though, i can't really say it's pouring here, rather it's more like i have a pack of Chihuahua sized Hell Hounds nipping at my heels. After battling these little buggers, some of them for years, i made a concerted effort this week to chase a great many of them off with a broom.

As you can see in the picture on the right, i haven't shaved in weeks. No, i can't grow a beard and yes i should resign myself to that fact and just shave like the rest of the world. Fair enough, i'm going to make a regular practice of shaving at least once every other week or so.

It has been my experience that familial ties are strongest when you are needed the most. This of course is trumped by relatives that live two blocks away from you. In all actuality i guess it does seem logical to expect a person eight hours away to be more available than the idiot down the street. Maybe in your world, but until Captain Kirk gives me transporter privileges you'll just have to settle for what you can get. Unfortunately, that includes the idiot down the street being too tired to help.

After weeks of hemming and hawing, my smart ultra flabby child went to his first day of football practice. The king of the half pushup had a load of fun and is looking forward to going again tomorrow. Kudos little man for not quitting. I was hoping not to have to whack you with the tenderizing mallet. I have hopes he finds his place and i won't end up bashing him with it in the near future.

My best good girlfriend with the twin girls brought up the notion of participating in that two thousand year tradition of Baptism for her girls and naturally i will be making the sweetest little gowns for this. She also brought up the Godfather thing. Initially i was a little hesitant. Well that's not entirely true, i was pretty much mortified by something that is an honor to be a part of. I have agonized over this and have come to the following conclusion. I would indeed be honored to be "The Godfather" and i promise to do whatever Dave would do in whatever capacity when called upon.

As for going to Alpine this summer for a visit, it's still up in the air. I have to tell you, i'm just not into going. I love the country and i have several friends there including one that's been gone for fifteen years and is now back, that i'd love to see. There are a couple in particular that i'd like to sit down with, split a beer, and talk treason till the wee hours of the morning, but it never works out that way. So the best i can muster on that subject is, i'll either do that or pull out my fingernail with pliers. It's a coin toss at this point.

One final thought, I have an oil leak on my Trooper. It's a '91 and as far as i'm concerned it's a classic. I LOVE IT!!!!! Be that as it may, the oil cooler adapter thing that bolts to the engine has a super weirdo gasket on it and i can't seem to find one. This due to Isuzu not selling the Trooper in the US anymore. Though, one of the dealers i called told me there is good news on the horizon, Isuzu will start selling the Trooper again in the US in 2012. Just how in the hell is that good news. I asked the guy to put a finger in his ear that he wasn't using for the phone so that i could ask my question again. He asked me why and i told him i didn't want the question slipping out the other ear again. He hung up. Some people's children. Interesting twist though with the other dealer i called, he asked if i had a Chevy engine and i do so he told me to go get one for an old S-10 pickup. I'll let ya know how that one turns out.

Well the sun is up and the sleepers awaken,

As always i wish you peace, Dave

Hotdogs and Nutella

Hello everyone,
I remember cooking dinner in my thirties and wondering what the big deal was with all of the people i heard complaining about always eating the same old things every night for supper. I thought, hell as long as i can get my hands on a chicken i'll never be one of those. Alright now, slow down a minute, you know what's coming, so wait for it. Gasp and Swoon!!! I have become one of those that i swore never to be!!!
Okay, so Thursday night the boys asked what was for supper. This question comes at me so regularly you'd swear it were an illness from elementary school in January. So, being the guy i am, i quipped back, "Hot dogs and Nutella". And a great silence fell over the land!! Well, for about five seconds anyway. Then, the little one asked me if he could toast his bread. Okay, Tilt, at that, overcome with a sudden out of body experience, i considered whether or not one should toast the bread. Now while in deep contemplative thought and with my head still spinning and my ears buzzing off of my head, the big one asked if he could still have hot sauce with that???? Holy Shit Batman, how the hell do you spell aneurysm??? Toast, nutella, hot dog and hot sauce???
Suddenly, i remembered Pizza Hut. Travesty averted. Oh, and yes, the big one did get his hot sauce. I guess it's time for me to go back to the beginning and remember how i began ruining chicken dinners in the first place. Who knows, i might even get inspired to do something radical like cut one up for myself again.
You know i am thankful for the entertainment i have surrounding me daily, but i sure do miss the wonder and mystery of cooking when it was new.
Until next time or Chicken A La Nutella, Y'all enjoy each other, Dave

Make that Fifteen for Bucketface

The calendar page fell and the temperature went up. June came in like an Acme Anvil from the roadrunner cartoon. Now i ask you, what would the world be like if the spring football game were played on a temperate afternoon instead of a blisteringly hot one?? Even being particularly susceptible to heat stress, i wouldn't have missed it for the world.

I'm going to stray from my narrative briefly, but i hope at least one of you can follow what i'm saying or perhaps even how i feel. For all intents and purposes, i'm a Catholic. I am not however a strict dogmatic Catholic and there are many notions the church has that i just don't hold in the same regard. If the truth be known, i'm about half Catholic and half Buddhist. At any rate i don't hold life to be man's dominion, but rather the dominion of God. That being said, (just to clarify that i'm not speaking of abortion) i am neither for nor against abortion. As with all things in life there are decisions to be made and repercussions surrounding those choices. As for what i am saying, God may not be overtly present in every moment of my life, but there are times when i know with a certainty that i've had help.

So, there i was with my wife and youngest son at the spring football game. My son, in the picture, was playing. He's too thin to be center, but he started every game this year, save the one he was out with the flu, and has already been given the starting center spot for next year. While it is true he's pretty much a big dumb jock, we have worked together to make him stronger and more academically sound.

This year was his Freshman year. Going in he had a history of being a "C" student and always on the verge of summer school for TAKS test remediation. I, like any parent, poured a lot of blood, sweat and tears into making himself more confident and raising his awareness that school and mom and dad are only temporary. I worked hard at convincing him he wouldn't always be a kid and that being grown up meant he was going to have to figure out what he is best at and what he loves to determine a career path. Over the year, his grades improved and he came up nearly a hundred places in his class ranking. I'd like to take credit for this but it wouldn't be fair. He did it. He was moved out of his normal English class and placed in English Honors/Pre AP. He has a wonderful written voice for someone so young and a grasp of story elements that amazes me. The only other thing he did that really stood out this year happened during the Track and Field season. He was the only Freshman from his school to consistently compete. Now before you think "hey, he must be fast" let me share with you that he competed in Shot Put and Discus. These are strength events. Although he didn't place a single time and this causes him some angst, most meets he was the only Freshman throwing against mostly Juniors and Seniors and the important thing to consider is: He was competitive.


He turns fifteen this week and after the effort he made, he ended the year as a "B" student, i pierced his ears for him. Which leads me to the point of all this drivel. I Love him as i do all of my children and i do anything i'm able to help them realize those things they want as long as they seem reasonable and their rationale is sound. The only question i've ever had, other than am i doing all i can, is do they understand why i'm so hard on them and am i a positive influence on their lives?? (So that's like three questions, but it's my blog and i can cry if i want to.) Then just when i think i'm beginning to see my kids pull away from me, God drops by to let me know what's really there. Rarely is there an instance when i can share these moments of grace with anyone. However, there was one of those moments of grace at the end of the game the other day and Donna caught it. Maybe God caught it. Who am i to say? All i know is the result is the following picture and there are no words needed to know where i stand with him. Equally, there are no words needed for where he stands with me. He's just beautiful and is going to make a fine man.


A Note to my Son:

Son, I don't give a hang if you are a Model, Wrestler, Actor, English teacher, or Tattooist in this life. Ultimately, i only want your life to be rewarding and for you to be happy with the "Skin you are in".

I Love you Bucketface, Happy Fifteen



To the rest of you, that's all the sap i have at this moment. My tree has once again gone to winter. Until the next time we meet, take a moment to notice the grace in your world

Be Very Well My Friends, Dave

Bi-Polarism and the unresolved symptoms

Hello Everyone,
I hope that y'all are doing well and you haven't had too much severe weather where you live. Save for a few fast moving storms the weather here has been pretty nice, but we haven't had the wind we look for this time of year. Ya see, when we aren't shooting up heroin or smoking crack (I'm Kidding Of Course!!!), we fly kites this time of year. This year has had the lowest average daily wind speeds, in our area, for more than twenty years. Which leads to some pretty miserable outings if you expect to fly that day. All things considered, it's probably just as well in some regards. For those of you that don't know, i have, for brevity's sake, Bi-Polar Disorder. Now, in as much as I'd love to say i have a garden variety case and it's well managed, i can't. In true Greyeyes Family style, i am so far out on that branch, treating me is an exercise in resolve, patience, and forgiveness for my doctors, close friends and family.
I have been battling, as of late, with the thought that we will never find a drug combination which will either arrest my BPD cycles or at least slow the rate of them down to a point where i will be able to return to some sense of the life i once lived. I'm reasonably sure someone reading this will tell me not to give up and advances in neuroscience happen everyday, but i have already been told twice that there are only a few meds left for me to try and i shouldn't give up hope, but i shouldn't be looking for that silver bullet either.
This subset of meds that i haven't given a try are the new anti-psychotics. I just love that term! Although, they don't call them that, they call them mood stabilizers today. Such a handy little euphemism isn't it?? Out go the anti-psychotics and enter the mood stabilizers. ACK!!! The problem with these pills, for me, are the side effects. I mean have you ever seen a commercial for a medicine and they list the side effects and while they are reading them off, do you hear yourself saying, "Geez! the side effects are worse than the disease." Well i know i have. In this, lies the problem. I need to supplement what i take now with a "mood stabilizer", but i want to avoid the major side effects and i just haven't found the right one yet.
This may seem a bit personal, but I'm pretty clear headed this morning and i thought i would put it down before i forgot what i was thinking.
You know there was a long time when i didn't put too much credence into BPD and the progression of symptoms during a lifetime. I remember a time when i went about a year without any extremes, neither up nor down. Sadly, that med combination only made it about three years before i, rather suddenly, nearly stopped responding entirely.
I have been actively treated for this for nearly fifteen years. Add to that a hit or miss, as symptoms arose dosing practice for another decade and it's little wonder why there are so few meds left to try. It's not all bad news though, as of today, i am nearly weight neutral. Trust me, that's a tremendous step. In the last fifteen years i have gained about a hundred pounds. It would make me ill if i thought about that part much. I have also managed to get my extreme depression under pretty good control. So what's left you say?? Only the anxiety, poor sleeping, and the ever present threat of losing control into a rage filled state. Okay, so i need a "mood stabilizer" that aids in control of anxiety, in sleeping, and arrests the bouts of rage with a minimum of weight gain and no link to type II Diabetes. I guess that's not hoping for too much.
I have a son going to a special high school next year and is in a program called Medical Academic, who's curriculum is specifically designed for kids who want to grow up to be doctors. Maybe one day he'll find my pill or your pill. At the very least, i would hope he never loses his kind demeanor the way so many of us have by the things that jade our lives.
I bid y'all a pleasant day filled with satisfaction and gratitude. Dave

Truculent @ 45

Today is my birthday and i'm forty-five years old. My sense of humor betrays me as the phrase, and that about sums me up, screams for me to splice it to the end of the first sentence. Truly, is that how i feel? Is that the value i place upon myself? Well, i just don't know. I'm beginning to believe "not knowing" is the stem from which i wilt.

I want to go fly fishing again.

A few notes on the Language

I must have been in my playpen, forty some-odd years ago, when the phrase "It's not what you said, it's the way you said it" was introduced to my lexicon. Perhaps, there are those of you that would prefer i use the term Broca's Area, but either way it's where we store our language. The interesting part of this is in the transport and delivery of language. Don't let me lose you, yet! This isn't going to be one of those dry academic things, more to the point it's going to be a quick examination of some language oddities that are on my mind. Oh Boy! I used the word quick didn't i?? Well, like the man said, "You get what you pay for." Back to, it's not what you said, it was the way you said it. Since the transport of our language is a living being, so must our language also be a living being. For instance the devolution of expletives for happiness or joy: sweet, dope, fly, awesome, cool, far out, peaches, berries, capital, and the like. Ah would a rose by any other name... Okay, so chalk that one up to generational catch phrases. How about the way technology has effected the language. if you misspell emulate (to mimic or attempt to pay homage to) you will end up with immolate (to destroy, usually by fire) another good one is rife (meaning a great amount of) and you get ripe (ready for harvest). These two can have overlapping contextual agreement. One could use either word to describe a quantity. Finally, we come to ascetic and aesthetic. The former is a person who trains in self denial and mortification and the latter is of beauty and what's pleasing to the eye. I'm not even sure i can find a parallel for those. Make no mistake, i'm not an English snob. If you look for grammatical problems in my writing, i promise you'll find them. I am the King of the Comma Splice.


All of this has been merely prologue to a few of my personal pet peeves. These are in no particular order and i hope you get some kind of giggle out of these. First off there is "alot". Alot is not a word. It is two and as two it doesn't mean many or several. However, many and several do substitute for alot just fine. Next, I want to remind y'all that y'all is spelled y'all. The argument has been made that y'all isn't a word either and the only reason it is in the dictionary is for common usage. WRONG! If you want to blame someone for y'all, then blame Queen Isabella of Spain. She needed to unite her country and commissioned a man named Nebrija to write the first Grammar. It is in this the Spanish form of the, plural and singular(in some cases) second person pronoun (you) (vosotros) was set down and hence, y'all is ours through assimilation.


Which leads me to my favorite email of the week. Yes! i'm telling secrets out of school.


I received the following:


Dude like my bff and me was hangin at the park just kickin and like her genes ript omg so funny cause her azz wuz hangin out and everything can you sew up her azz call me


In a word, WOW!!! I don't know if they need a geneticist or a seamster. So, i replied to my little friend with the following:


Dude, If she's over eighteen and has a good personality, bring her over and let me see if i can get her under the presser foot.


Remember, it's not what you say, but how you say it. I wonder if she'll want quilting stitches on her azz.......Y'all be great, D

Lactaid and the Humble Little Almond

There are few things in this world i cherish more, food wise that is, than ice cream. It's cold and creamy smooth with just the amount of sweetness you're looking for at any given time. Feel like something gooey, ice cream and caramel. Care for something just a little sweet, with very little fuss, vanilla with a bit of cinnamon on top. Oh, this could take days. Especially, if you've ever seen what they do with ice cream at places like Marble Slab. There's a problem with this picture for some of us; Lactose. For some of us that is the biggest four letter word in our diets, next to cholesterol, trans-fats, and eggplant.

I am lactose intollerant. As near as i can remember, i started having issues with milk and especially ice cream in the Army. I loved my Army doctor. He was a good old fashioned country boy and on the subject of milk, he was like that old joke: Hey doc, it hurts when i do this, and the Doctor says, then don't do that. So, for the most part, i gave up milk. I drank powdered milk for a while, it seemed to bother me less, and i even had goats milk. It just wasn't the same and neither made good ice cream. Now, i must confess, i wasn't ever a huge fan of milk like some people. I generally only had milk with cereal and in ice cream. I wasn't one of those drink from the carton kids.

Several years passed and i got to where i just didn't eat cereal and only ate ice cream sparingly. Some where in there i was introduced to lactaid by a friend. Ah, ice cream, my old friend. For a while it seemed to work fine, but then its efficacy seemed to wane a bit. I could have a glass of chocolate milk, but again, ice cream was my drug of choice you might say. I could eat ice cream with lactaid and it was tolerable, but i'd feel ugly the next day. Preferable to the pain, but not a good fix. Alas, am i doomed to a life without ice cream??

A few months ago, my son "bucket-face", yes i really call him that but it's not his Christian name, was put on a milk holiday to see if there was something in the milk making his acne worse. He's a carton tipper, jug junkie and all around milk monger!!! ACK!!! While he was on this holiday we got him soy milk. There are a few different brands of soy milk and they are all faily similar. He and his 14yr old taste buds told me it was as good as milk, maybe better. I smelled it and it had this machine smell to me. I couldn't drink it. I did try it and like i said we bought a few different brands, but they all had that smell to me and the after taste just grossed me out. I have a thing about smells. Smells can send me every where from lust to hiding under a bridge. So, i couldn't bring myself to eat a bowl of cereal with the soy milk. What this did do however, was make me want a bowl of cereal. I started remembering how i would drag my mondo box of Grape Nuts to the chow hall and suddenly i was struck with a full on craving. Ya see, my regular chow hall in the Army had both kinds of cereal, corn flakes and rice crispies. I liked Life and Grape Nuts. Solution?? Take your own to the chow hall.

Which sort of brings me to the crux of this whole thing. I want a bowl of cereal, but i don't want the after effects of eating it. Oh, what's a forty something foodie to do?? Enter, the Blue Diamond Almond Milk commercial. Now, i went to Germany and have indulged in some of the wondrous things they do with almonds and almond paste, so i naturally thought that either the Germans or George Washington Carver must have invented almond milk. I was wrong both times. Shhh, don't tell anyone. Almond milk enjoys a very long history stemming from the Middle East. This nugget made Donna smile as she is of Lebanese ancestry. Anyway, back to the Blue Diamond commercial. I jumped up and ran to the store to get me some of that stuff. I figured the worst case scenario being, Bucket-face could drink it. Oh, don't tell me you've never bought something, found out you didn't like it and then gave it to someone else. Kids are good for disposing of food that doesn't hit the spot and as far as that goes, Bucketface is the best.

The store didn't have any almond milk. It took a few days, but i found it. It's just under three bucks a half gallon here and here are the results according to my experience and taster. All they had was vanilla, no plain or chocolate. I opened it and smelled it. Weird thing, it smelled a bit like almonds. Go figger, right?? I'm not sure what i was expecting it to smell like, but it smells a bit of almonds. I poured a swallow or two into a glass. Taste, it tastes like a melted vanilla milk shake with a hint of almond. It's absolutely lovely. It's even great on cereal. I had the first bowl of Grape Nuts in nearly fifteen years. In the last couple weeks, i have had it on Cheerios (if you are a sugar hound, Don't Sugar cereal with Vanilla Almond Milk), Life Cereal and i even put it in a bowl with a fresh hot homemade brownie much like you might use ice cream. Excellent! Test number two, if you freeze it, does it separate when it freezes and thaws. Ultimately, i am going to make awesome ice cream with it. It is fairly stable from freezer to thaw and back. It will need some fat to make a good ice cream. Most of the recipes i have found use coconut milk, but i'm thinking avocado. Why not?? Alton Brown from the Food Network makes a cake subbing avocado for both the egg and oil, and it's pretty good. Don't go ew on me just yet, avocado has a very light flavor in comparison to coconut and might more readily lend itself to ice cream. I'll let you know. Till then, don't fear the lactose and don't endure the soy or rice, enjoy the almond. Afterall, would i lie to you??

Y'all take care of each other, D

Sort of an apology blog, an Ablogogy

I started off this year with a goal set to put up a blog once a week. To that end, i have failed miserably. At present i have five drafts in various states of completeness and can't find the words to finish any of them. I guess that's the way it goes at times, but it doesn't assuage my own disappointment. Ya see, this whole thing started with over ten inches of snow and ended up with Kolaches. So, i will try to sum up the whole break into one posting so i can delete all of those drafts. Who knows, i might even make myself giggle along the way.





Draft #1 It Snowed a Really Lot


It snowed. It snowed a really lot for here. It was beautiful.


Snow fall: Ten Hours, Picturesque Winterland: Seven Hours, Sunny and Warm Afternoon: TEXAS!!!!! Heck, that's really not all that cool. Once i saw a rainbow and a dustdevil while playing in the rain under a bright sunny sky. Now i'd like to see you top that one. It's funny though, some people wonder how some Texans pick up the habit of wearing a jacket with shorts. Really?? It seems normal enough to me, but then again i'm crazy so don't take my word for anything.


Draft #2 Finally an Artful Commercial

I loathe the way business panders to the consumer. I know this may not make any sense, but there has to be a way to convince people to buy your product without something like the Buger King. The Burger King is Kreepy or Kreepisimo or even the mostest Kreepiestest ad prop i've seen in my life. Every time i see "It" i want to pick up a ball bat, hunt it down, and kill "It" for the sake of the human genome. It would make me quite happy if i found out that "It" won a Darwin. But on to other things. The DQ chimp riding the dog herding chickens was cute and the Chick-Fil-A cows are pretty cool and the talking butter tub was alright, but you just don't see a lot of art in modern commercials. I believe it was Honda that had one a few years ago where a car put itself together from a stack of parts that was pretty nice, but i hate the ones with kids acting like parents or worse. Now, take the lowly Saltine Cracker. What the hell could you do to sell that?? Make a commercial with splashing soup in vibrant colors set to the tune "Rock You Like A Hurricane". It's beautiful. It is to me anyway. I looked for a youtube link, but maybe i'm the only one that thinks it's so great.

Draft #3 The Desert or The Lake

Typically we spend Spring Break at Canyon lake or in Alpine, that's the desert. Most often, the guys and I will go and spend the week doing knuckle-headed guy things and Donna will join us for the weekend at the end unless she arranges to get the Thursday or Friday off too. To begin with, this year was no different. Before making a decision on which route to take i knocked-up a friend to see if she was going to be in the desert that week. (Get your minds back where they belong, knocking up is a British expression for giving a ring, or a buzz, or a call, an email, some sort of making contact, and it is in this regard to which i speak) She said she would be there the latter half of the week. So, i made a plan to leave on Sunday for West, Texas, not to be confused with West Texas, to get some Kolaches and then on to the tail-race of Canyon Lake for some camping and fishing. Follow that with a days long drive to Alpine and a couple of nights there. Then we'd come home to be here in time to rest up and get ready for my Army Buddy to visit on Saturday. Well... Someone far more famouser than i once said, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans".
On Saturday, the night before we were to leave, my beloved Trooper you see pictured above developed an oil leak that prevented us from going anywhere until i could get my mechanic friend to look at it. Okay, Plan B: Make it up as you go along. Welcome to Spring Break '10


Draft #4 I Just Suck at Laundry???


Since i had nothing better to do over Spring Break, i did laundry. (insert giggle here) As though laundry only comes around at Spring Break or something. Though it did afford me the opportunity to address a growing concern i've had about my big kids socks. As you can clearly see from the picture on the left, there is a problem with his socks. I always ask if anyone needs anything from town and generally i am answered with "no". I guess it's a good thing he didn't need anything from town, you know, like a pair of shoes or something. The funny part of this is, i wondered just how old the nasty damn socks were and as it turns out, those are the ones he got for Christmas. Christmas!?! What?? Three months?? Ack!!! Suffice it to say, new shoes, new socks, timer reset for the next round which should be June?? Give me strength.


Draft #5 To West or Not To West...
Okay, since Spring Break was a bust, i had to try and capture some element of it just so i didn't feel so bummed out. Enter that quaint little Czech pastry, the Kolache.
Just south of here, about thirty miles north of Waco on IH35 is the town of West, Texas. It's one of those blink and you'll miss it kind of towns, but at the same time you drive through it the kids are saying why is Koh-Latch and Bakery on all the buildings. Kolaches are typically made with dried fruits or poppy seeds. Oh, the poppy seed ones are the best. So, in an attempt to capture something of the trip that never happened, i made Kolaches. Yes, those pictured are mine. No, you can't have any they are all gone. Like i tell my local friends, if you want some fresh bread, you have to get here before my older son (the one throwing Shot Put above) gets home. I don't call him Bucket-face for nothing. And before you ask, they were Poppy Seed, Apricot, and Prune. Hey! don't snub the prune. You might even say it's a true multi-tasker and quite tasty too.
I hope you got a giggle or two, until then, y'all take care of each other. D
P.S. Next time i'll tell you why i'll never miss milk again!!!!!!!

Hello all, how do you like the pic?? Donna has flipped her wig. hahaha, i thought it was cute. We were screwing around with the camera this last weekend and this is one of the snaps i took while reading the book. The focus isn't perfect and the depth of field is too deep, but like i said i'm still reading the book.

I have to admit i'm really looking forward to getting back out to the weeds and take some shots that I have taken before, but i like to revisit things from time to time. One of the shots i am dying to take is a reproduction of a post card my grandfather took of my grandmother and i along the river road. I guess i'll take it with just me cause i like the symbolism of it and then i'll take the same shot with Donna and the boys. Then of course, a whole lot closer to home, i'll have to go to LBJ Grasslands every chance i get and i'm going to the San Jacinto Monument this summer if i have to go by myself.

Ya know it has been six years since we went camping on the Guadalupe near Canyon Lake, so i think it's way past time we went back. We used to go there all the time, but our last trip was kind of a bummer and we stayed away for a while. I think we're ready to go back.

One last thing, I was watching TV today and a commercial came on where they are looking for subjects to test an investigational Bipolar medication. They are looking for people between 18 and 50 with depressive episodes that last for more than a month or those individuals that are hypomanic, something else, or have mixed episodes. Now i know that in these studies they set it up so that neither the patients nor the doctors know who is or is not taking the actual drug and who is taking the placebo. This brought a thought into my pointed little head. In order for a person to begin a new antidepressant medication they have to stop the old one. Okay, so that means that some of these people are going to purposefully go off of their meds and get sugar pills instead. I know clinical trials are important, but do you really want to take bipolar people off of their meds on purpose?? I know there isn't anyone i know that wants me to go off of mine, but it would make for an interesting doctors office. You guys be cool, D

P.S. I'm a huge Deadliest Catch fan and i feel like one of those little old ladies that gets misty when a soap opera character dies, but i sure am going to miss Captain Phil.

A Few thoughts on what i know.

My dear old friend Lavender Chick, should i say old??, posted a blog this week about the twenty five things she has learned in her years on this earth. I really enjoyed it. As a friend of mine would say, "It spoke to me". So i have decided to put down a few of the things i have found to be fundamental datums. So, Thanks for the inspiration Lavender Chick and just so's you know, i am using an empty Hummingbird Farms wonder lotion bottle as a dish soap dispenser. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Right??



These are in no particular order, i just put them down as they came to me.



1. Don't settle for something other than what you want. If you want Ro-Tel Tomatos, Del Monte Stewed Tomatos aren't going to cut it.



2. You can be as rich as you want to be in public, but you know how rich you are when you get home.



3. Girls lie, Girls make you feel bad, and Girls can do both at the same time. (If the sexist tone of this bothers you, change gender and see if it doesn't fit)



4. A glass of tea always tastes better when someone else makes it for you.



5. When a doctor gives you advice on the state of things, it is just that; Advice. What you do with it is your choice.



6. Nobody loves the way they look in pictures, just accept how you look.



7. If you like your car and it gets you where you need to go, it's good enough.



8. Nothing is too big when you do it for love.



9. When a child or a parent dies, they are never gone.



10. Rotisserie Chicken, Sun Chips, and Guacamole is the perfect meal.



11. Text messaging is for passing bits of information, Calling is for conversing.



12.Doing something unexpected for someone else makes you feel good.



13. Always have mashed potatos with english peas, the potatos will keep you from having to chase the peas all over your plate.



14. Some friends can be closer than family, they're not a replacement they're a blessing



15. Make time for the things you want to do, nobody else will.



16. Ultimatums rarely work out for those that make them.

17. People are who they are, either work within those parameters or don't, but change is not an option.

18. When dealing with life, the ability to compromise is important, but not as important as not compromising who you are.

19. Always leave room on your list to learn new things.

20.

...for this, I shaved??

I have resolved to be a happier person this year......(internal dialogue, major reminder for the minor minder) Well the 17th came and went and we got all dolled up for Donna's Company party thing they had out at the Hilton on the lake. I have about a million things to spill out here and i'm not sure which side of this bucket has the hole, so please bear with me. I guess first thing would be the dress. On an eleventh hour change of plan, i scrapped the empire waist and went A-line. Still a sweet heart neckline and two into four straps across the back and floor length. All in black. Naturally. However, the shawl had already been completed and she wore it. They went together fine, but i knew the difference. I know it probably doesn't make any sense, but this dress irritated the hell out of me and i missed my own deadline. I had it all set up to go to the cleaners for its first pressing Friday morning, but i ended up doing something else and didn't finish the dress until Saturday. They don't do pressings on Saturday. Water under the bridge. This party was the same as most other company parties i've been too. A whole load of phoneys trying to out phoney each other sprinkled with a few genuine people here and there. At one point, a woman asked me to hold her camera while she and Donna and some others took a picture. Naturally, i held her camera. After their picture was snapped, she looked at me and started yelling, wanting to know why i didn't take a picture. It wouldn't be nice of me to repeat what it was i was thinking at that moment, so i simply yelled back at her to take her camera. At that moment i was holding a shawl, my dr pepper, and her camera. It's not like i had a third arm, but she asked me to hold her camera, not to use it. ACK!!! I don't have to see her again. Woo Hoo!! It wasn't long after that we came home. We scarcely talked to each other the rest of the evening. Go figure, i had to be married for a hundred years to have a bad date with her.
On a better note, my Freshman beast child, a.k.a. Bucketface, is throwing Shot Put and Discus with the Varsity and he's competitive. So, i'm terribly proud of him. Right now he's battling acne, something i barely had, and the zinc alone isn't getting it all. Talked with a doctor friend that suggested a milk holiday as sometimes milk can bring about acne if you have a milk allergy. Evidently, you can have the allergy and still tolerate the milk. So to that end, it's Soy Juice for the kid. Bucketface is not the happiest kid in town over that, but he'll do anything for a clear face.
Further good news. The little one, Cheech, received a letter from the school district this weekend informing him that he had been accepted to the Math, Science, and Technology Magnet School. The really amusing part to this is the letter said that if we accept the offer, we'll have to fill out the application for the program and to just write "accepted" in the blank and mail the letter back. Maybe all of the lectures and redoing homework are paying off for him. I mean he's been in honors classes since they were made available, but he just doesn't get fired up about anything. Well i'm proud of him too. I told him today that you don't have to be a football hero to be loved, you only need to be yourself. He patted me on the head. He's my hugger, or in this case, patter.
Well, school and work return to our world tomorrow and i'll be back to my routine. I still need to get a battery for my car and replace my camera, but eh, i'll get there. In parting let me say this. I have made the dress that i made this time before and i believe i am going to retire it. She got the last one of those i'll ever make. Tomorrow, i'll check her closet and see what she needs and go ahead and make her something new for work. Someday, i'm going to get around to making me that poet shirt i want, but until then i'll just soldier on. Y'all be cool now, D

It's time to start the dress.

Okay, so she's five foot ten inches. Why is this relevant you say?? Well I'll tell you. A very long time ago i made dresses and never gave a hang about the shoes that would go with them. I had this "Positive Shoe Theory". This PST worked fine for a while, but as you know all good things must come to an end. I made a wedding gown once and set my PST as the bride having a three inch heel. I'd seen her wearing such shoes more times than not and just figured that was what she would be wearing. The afternoon of her wedding i was called to the church for a "repair". A very rare occurrence, but i do make myself available on the afternoon of the event for anyone that gets an occasional gown from me. Well imagine my horror to discover that she, the bride, was wearing flats with bangles on them for both the wedding and the reception and hence made her dress a couple inches too long and she kept tripping over the damn thing. What made this really fun was one of her friends had tried to use hem tape and an iron to move the hem up and all she did was make the drape of the skirt twist. One last little detail, i had thirty five minutes to fix it or the day would be ruined. well with about six needles worth of thread and a very hot shower in the rectory, the dress turned out, though the invitees had to wait about ten minutes on the bride. She did look stunning, but again, i think all brides look stunning. There is just something about the way a woman looks that is about to get married, it's happiness, it's promise, hope, joy,... all good things in one package. So, back to Donna's shoes. If she'll settle on shoes, i'll start on the dress and i even have kind of a plan.
Well, I'm going with the empire waist and a very full skirt. It should drape a little heavy, but that seems to be in this spring, especially for her body type. I'm considering splitting two to four straps with them woven across the back and a sweet heart neckline. And, since I'm not a huge fan of sleeveless, it's probably going to get a full shawl. Both will be lined and all the trimmings, now i just have to get my butt in gear. It's for the 17th, so I'm not too worried about it. Now, the hard part of this actually turned out to be color. As i wrote previously, I'm tired of the little black dress, damn utilitarian wonder such that it is. So, i layed out the following, bone white, cream, a silvery gold, a copper, and a very pale olive. And the winner is........................BLACK!!!!! For the shawl, following black was easy, i got a gold lace and a lite gold lining and a cool little gimp for the edge. I have some lead crystal buttons that I'm going to use and I'll end up gathering the straps. All i have left is to find a gold trim for the dress, but i won't add it just for the sake of having it. It will have to work or it won't make the cut. As i get it going I'll see if i can't post a couple pics just to share.
In the meantime, be great and take care of each other, D

My Resolution, Resolution.

In years gone by i have been among the portion of the world that makes New Years resolutions and this year, in a sense, is no different. With that said, this year i am taking a new tack toward a direction that has tortured me for a number of years. You see the thing i forget, and many others i would imagine, is that resolutions are nothing more than goals. Goals, you know, are supposed to be trying, but attainable with an amount of effort. The amount of effort depends on just how trying you want your goal to be or rather on the depth of the lesson you are attempting to learn. On any given year i have resolved to: stop getting irritated at my children for doing stupid crap, stop getting angry at people in line at the grocery store that feel the need to hover over me in line, stop getting mad at people who do not listen and still try to answer the question, stop wanting to park my car on people that don't talk and choose to keep everything bottled up till it boils over, stop getting pissed off at people that put things off until they have to be dealt with, stop getting crazy mad when my own stuff doesn't get done because i was helping someone else... There are others like my weight, smoking, and my growth as a writer, but I'm sure you more than get the point. So, here is my new tack for today and beyond.
I'm going to resolve to be a happier person. Should i become angry over something, I'll address it and regardless of the outcome, I'll let it go. If i miss my Rosary a day or two, I'll pick it up where i laid it down. When i get the person that hovers at the grocery store, I'll remember to smile when i say, "Hey, Scoochass back." When it comes to my growth as a writer, if i can't write at home, I'll just get in my car and go to the park and do it there. I'm just not going to wait on anyone anymore and I'm going to learn the word sorry. Out of all the words i know, sorry is the one i use the least and i probably should use it a whole lot more. I say that not only as "I'm sorry, i did that", but also as "I'm sorry, but i can't help you today."
Today, i am going to start my life. Sounds funny, start my life at nearly forty five, but that is what it is. I have things that have laid fallow too long. I have an Aunt that had a tremendous impact on me i haven't seen in over fifteen years. I don't know exactly how long, but I'd sure like to see her again on this side of the grass. I missed my first novel goal by about ten years and I'm through with that eating at me. There are others, to be sure, and i will take them on the same way i do everything else. For those of you taking notes, that would be head on, one at a time, left to right, top to bottom.
I bid each of you all the blessing of a new day and those things you so richly deserve, D
P.S. My boot heels where dug in, will stay dug in.
"I would give no thought of what the world might say of me, if i could only transmit to posterity the reputation of an honest man." Sam Houston.