Okay, okay, okay and this is mainly for Alice Price who lives so far in the Canadian woods that she only sees a man once a year and then only if she has been good and Santa comes to visit. I now know what a "budgie" is although for the life of me I don't know why Canadians can't call them parakeets like the rest of the world.

I received a most interesting cyber Christmas card today. I think it came from Canada also.

I now know what a "Toastmasters" club is. It is a group of women who don't get enough talking in during the day so they meet at night just to listen to each other talk some more. The subjects they choose are from outerspace. If a man was part of any such group he would talk about sports, sex, food, sex, beer and more sex.

Oh, by the way my Canadian friend did you see what countries are considered the most desirable to live in? The top 5 included Australia and Ireland but not even an honorable mention of Canada. Hmmmmmmmmm.

Hooray, hooray, hooray we are getting some snow as I write. Not that I enjoy driving in the snow but we need moisture so badly. Even the fish are saying daily prayers for more moisture.

Yep Foam old (er young) buddy we are both looking forward to Yellowstone and promise to take pictures. Nothing like a Grandma with a camera.

Jeralee I am with you when it comes to snakes. No snake could actually kill me with it's bite because my heart would give out long before any venom reached it. They petrify me.

This is for my friends down in Australia. I know you don't have Thanksgiving but do you guys celebrate Christmas? Bwahaaaaaa or however you write a hearty laugh.

Got to go. I must get my sleep in since I have to take the girl's basketball team to a game tonight.

Have a nice day everyone.

Well Thanksgiving is over for another year and Christmas is roaring toward us like a freight tain that has no engineer. I refused to go to the stores on "black friday" since it had to be pure mayhem. I already have my gift for Cheryl and she even knows what it is and cannot wait until Christmas to receive it. I have reserved us a room for two nights in West Yellowstone, Montana where we will board a snow coach and go see Yellowstone in the winter. Now if we could just get some very needed snow. I am hoping the animals will all be out and moving. Anyway that is my gift to her this year. I already gave her a new camera so she can take lots of pictures.

We were privileged to attend our two granddaughters baptism into our church and that is always special. The kids are so sweet (when they are asleep). Las Vegas is a town that I cannot understand why anyone would want to live in that part of the country. It is nothing but sand, rocks and cactus. One lady was telling us of the tarantula invasion they had where she lives. I guess they were everywhere and it was nothing to have one of them crawling somewhere in her house. I can just imagine what I would be like to wake up feeling one of them crawl across my face; yuuuuuuuuuuck!! Then she got talking about the scorpions and other creepy things. Luckily she never mentioned rattlesnakes or I would have been out of there.

I hope anyone and everyone who reads my drivel had a good Thanksgiving. I know my Australian friends don't celebrate this day but I am sure they have equal days. It always amazes me how people drive on these holidays. It is like they got up and decided to tempt fate and drive in a suicidal manner. We saw two very bad wrecks and I couldn't help but think how sad that their holiday was ruined, who knows how badly, by a second's decision on someone's part. I am just grateful that Cheryl and I made it home with no problems.

Guess that is it for today.

Have a nice day everyone.

Isn't that just like a couple of women talking to each other. We men suffer sooooooooo much.

I am thankful for... baked turkey, baked ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, hot rolls, dressing, pumpkin pie or cherry pie, olives, carrots (raw), celery sticks with peanut butter and all else that goes along with a yummy Thanksgiving dinner. Of course there is FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL. Most of all I am thankful I have a family to share it with. We are going to Las Vegas tomorrow to spend the holiday with our daughter and her family and while there we will attend the baptism of two of our granddaughters. Should be a very special weekend.

I have truly missed Pamela and her comments and I hope she is doing well.

Since this is the Thanksgiving time I want to thank all who read my drivel for reading my blog and I hope you have a great weekend with your loved ones. Remember Friday is "Black Friday" so be careful with your spending.:)

Have a nice day everyone.

I am grateful for............... A free country to live in. I know this sounds corny but I truly am grateful for my country even with it's problems. I don't see soldiers walking the streets with guns and checking for papers or etc. I can get in my car and travel anywhere in the US I want without fear of being stopped and accused of doing something against my government. I can go fishing whenever and wherever the season is open and am not regulated to a certain spot at a certain time... I LOVE MY COUNTRY.


Just taking a few moments to do a little blogging before I go back to bed. Cheryl is out in the kitchen fixing breakfast, she had done the laundry, she has cleaned the bathroom, she started a fire so I would be warm today, and all this before 7:00 am. I don't know what she has been doing the rest of the time but I know she is capable of accomplishing much more; the old slacker.



Got home about midnight last night from taking the girl's basketball team to their latest defeat. They played good for a quarter and a half then fell apart. Oh well.



I noticed on the Internet news this morning that in Australia Santa is banned from saying ho, ho, ho when he greets children. Why,, you ask? Because a very slight minority found it offensive and sexist, or so the news put it. The question I ask myself is how do these people manage to get all the headlines? Now if someone (like the silent millions) said they like Santa going ho, ho, ho there would be not a word spoken about it.



Well, I smell hot bacon cooking in the pan and I feel it my husbandly duty to go and eat it so off I go.



Here is something to think about.



My ex-wife started taking flying lessons about the time our divorce started and she got her license shortly before our divorce was final, later that same year.



Yesterday afternoon, she narrowly escaped injury in the aircraft she was piloting when she was forced to make an emergency landing in Southern Tennessee because of bad weather. Thank God our kids were with me at the Beach House this weekend.



The NTSB issued a preliminary report, citing pilot error: Judy was flying a single engine aircraft in IFR (instrument flight rating) conditions while only having obtained a VFR (visual flight rating) rating.



The absence of a post-crash fire was likely due to insufficient fuel on board. No one on the ground was injured.



Photographs below were taken at the scene show the extent of damage to her aircraft.



She was very lucky.





Have a nice day everyone.

I was reading my friend, Tigersue's Jungle, blog and she had a neat thing she was doing that I thought I would try and imitate. Each day she was writing about 1 thing she was thankful for and why. For instance yesterday's post was about being thankful for warm towels fresh from the dryer and how the smell, the warmth made her feel better about things as well. Even though I am her senior by a few years I have the same feelings about warm towels fresh from the dryer. So here goes....

Since this is day number one of my doing this I will start this way....

I am grateful for... A WARM FIRE ON A COLD DAY.

Today is a cold day and I have yet to start the fire but believe me I am glad I have the privilege and ability to be warm. There are many in this world who have no home, no food, no warmth and no family. I truly feel for them and wish I had the means to do something about it. These warmongers on the earth today cause a lot of needless suffering to innocent victims and then of course there are the disasters everywhere. A question? Would living in Canada be considered a disaster?:)

I hope everyone is having a nice day except for Alice Price who thinks the Irish came from Africa. May she be buried in snow without a shovel.:)

Cheryl met a German lady who lives in our area and she is a character according to my wife. Hmmm, must be something about the birthplace or heritage. I guess I will have to enlist her aide in translating Foam's latest post about WWII and her family. Foam are you sure your first name is not Susan?

Was reading my niece Jeralee's blog and if that girl don't slow down she is going to have a coronary. Mercy!!

Not much to say today so will close. Got to read the latest Australian jokes to brighten my day.

Have a nice day everyone.

I don't know if any of you have seen this picture before but it does answer a lot of questions about why a man should not take messages, especially if he has bad hearing.

Spent three days in Boise, ID last week. I took the student body council to a seminar they have each year that teaches them how to be better leaders. The kids were a very enjoyable group and did nothing to embarrass their school, their parents or themselves. I walked into the convention hall once and talk about noisy. Kids were there from all over the state and many groups were doing chants or whatever trying to outdo the other group doing the same thing. It was funny but oh, so noisy. For the most part they all looked so clean and dressed up. As ususal their were the few that had the grunge look which I am sure their schools could not be happy with.

Each day, or when I can take the time, I try to read Alice's blog if for nothing more than to get the quote for the day. Merle does the same thing plus her jokes crack me up. I have got to find my book of Irish quotes so some TRUE wisdom and great advice can be found.

Well I am supposed to go out and get the camper ready so we can go camping this weekend. Is it cold, why heck yes it is cold, but does that matter to my crazy wife? Why heck no, she says we can just turn up the heater and enjoy it. Have I ever mentioned that I am married to a crazy woman?

I guess I had better go and get busy or when Cheryl gets home she will put knots all over my head. Have I ever mentioned I am married to an abusive woman?

Have a nice day everyone.

Now I don't know how many of you are golfers but this picture certainly adds to the hazards a golfer has to play through. I have had antelope on the fairway, deer on the fairway and of course squirrels and prarie dogs, but never a grizzly bear. Who said golfing was easy?

Speaking of golf I am hoping my back heals enough so that next spring when I begin taking the highschool students to their golfing events I can take an old club and try hitting a few to see how my back holds up. I used to really love playing golf and would like to get back doing it.

This reminds me of a golf story. I was first introduced to golf while living in Greeley, Colorado and each weekend we would be off playing some course in the neighboring area. When I later lived in Rock Springs, Wyoming I played as much as I possibly could and thoroughly enjoyed it. However................., this was also at the time that I had a temper and if things didn't go my way I would become quite irate. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

One day I took Cheryl golfing and I just knew I was going to show her a thing or two. As it turned out my day was horrible. I couldn't hit a ball with a club the size of a barn; nothing was working. One particular hole I teed off and the ball dribble about 20 feet and I exploded, took my club and intended to throw it at the ball. (Very mature attitude... oh yeah.) Cheryl was standing behind me and watching the circus. The problem; the club somehow stuck in my hand, did a 180 degree turn and zipped toward Cheryl just narrowly missing her head by inches.

I was so shocked at the events that all I could do was stand there and look. To think of what might have happened was very sobering. I put my club back in the bag, picked all of them up and announced that we were going home. When I finally gained my composure from anger and then fright I looked at Cheryl and said that if I couldn't control myself any better than that then I had no business playing the game. It took quite a while for me to get over this experience but I can assure you I am a lot more calm about things now; afterall it IS just a game.

I went one time with my boys when we were living in California. One particular par three hole had a large mound on the left side of the green and guess who hit their ball in the wrong place. The boys were over on the other side of the green waiting for me to hit but they couldn't see me since the mound was so high. I peeked around to see if they were watching, and they weren't, so I picked up the ball and tossed it onto the green just a few feet from the hole. "Wow, Dad, what a great hit!" were the comments I heard. I snickered about that "great shot" for several greens before I decided to tell them the truth.

My son, Mike, has the unique gift of making things seem believable when they are not quite that way. He and I went golfing one day. He hit a ball that sliced a wee bit and landed by some guys who were getting ready to tee off. I watched him as he walked over to retrieve his ball and noticed they were talking to him. Upon returning to where I was I asked him what they had to say. He told me that they had said if he couldn't play any better than that he should get off the course. I was immediately angry. No one has the right to say that let alone to MY child.

I instantly whirled around and was headed over to the group to settle the issue once and for all. Here comes Mike right behind me, "Dad, Dad I was just kidding. They didn't really say that. They just said hi to me." That made me angrier and I whirled around again, poked him in the chest with my club and proceeded to tell him things that only a truck driver would understand. To this day I think Mike has the impression of that club on his chest. Little s--t anyway.

I have had some good times golfing with my family. I am not very good and since I have been put on depression medicine I have help now controlling myself and am a lot more enjoyable to be around. I just hope my physical problems will allow me to do some of the things I truly enjoy.

Okay, okay that is my golfing blog and I hope you enjoyed it. Oh by the way.......,
Alice you are a poop. Irish came from Africa indeed.

Have a nice day everyone.

These pictures are mainly for my friend who lives near Rifle, Colorado. Show them to your husband so he can remember the good old days near an oil rig. I don't remember where exactly we were when I took these pictures but I do remember it was COLD.

Well the "hallowed" day is over, all the little witches and goblins and angels and whatever all was out there have gone into hibernation for another year. Cheryl dressed up as "The Cat In The Hat" and I spent my evening in the hospital emergency room with an old gentleman who suddenly developed blood clots in his leg. I cannot say who enjoyed the evening more, Cheryl or me. The old gentleman is 94 years young and is a hoot. Cheryl got to be with the candy and maple bars. Oh well.

I hope everyone had a good time last night and there were no bad situations.

Not much to say today so will close with a couple of jokes. Trying to keep up with my Aussie friends you know.
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Two boys were walking home from Sunday School after
hearing a strong preaching about the devil.

One said to the other, "What do you think about all this
Satan stuff ?"

The other boy replied, " Well, you know how Santa Claus
turned out. It's probably just your Dad."
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A very loud, unattractive, mean-acting woman walked into a department store with her two kids, yelling obscenities at them all the way through the entrance.

The department store Greeter said pleasantly " Good morning, and welcome. Nice children you have there. Are they twins?"

The ugly woman stopped yelling long enough to say, "Hell no they ain't twins."
"The oldest one's 9 and the other one's 7. Why the hell would you think they're twins? Are you blind, or just stupid?"

"I'm neither blind nor stupid, Ma'am," replied the greeter. "I just couldn't believe you got laid twice." "Have a good day and thank you for shopping with us."
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One night a guy dropped his girlfriend at her home.

As they were about to wish each other goodnight at the front door, the guy started feeling a little in the mood.

With an air of confidence, he leaned with his hand against the wall and smiling, he said to her "Honey, would you give me a kiss?"

Horrified, she replied, "Are you mad? My parents will see us!"

"Oh come on! Who's gonna see us at this hour?" He asked grinning at her.

"No, please. Can you imagine if we get caught?"

"Oh come on!

There's nobody around, they're all sleeping!".

"No way, it's just too risky!"

"Oh please, please, I love you so much?!?".

"No, no, and no. I love you too, but I just can't!".

"Oh yes you can. Please?"

"No, no. I just can't" "I'm begging you ... "

Out of the blue, the light on the stairs went on, and

The girl's elder sister showed up in her pajamas, hair dishevelled, And in a sleepy voice she said,

"Dad says to go ahead and give him a kiss, or I can do it. Or if need Be, mom says she can come down herself and do it, but for God's sake and all of ours....

TELL HIM TO TAKE HIS HAND OFF THE DOOR BELL ........
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I am not sure but I might have received those jokes from Merle in Australia. I apologize Merle but they were so good I had to have them too.

Have a nice day everyone.