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Trying out something that Dana had used on her blog.

Several have asked what is wrong and why have I not been blogging. Welllllllllll, the truth of the matter is I am kind of burned out with blogging although I will post an entry every now and again. The other truth of the matter is I am in a lot of pain and have not even been able to sleep lying down for about a week now. For the last 5 or 6 nights I have averaged about 1 to 1 1/2 hours of sleep per night. I am so tired I don't know which end I am on.

The problem? My back has slid and is pinching nerves again and it hurts......., a lot. I received a shot in the hip yesterday to kill some of the pain but the major problem is taking a little longer to correct and is a little more complicated. Right now it hurts like crazy to set in this chair and type. Cheryl knew something was wrong when I turned down a couple of bus runs because I really enjoy doing them.

I have taken so much Percocet that I am rummy. Yes, I know, I am rummy without any medicine. Anyway that is what is going on. Cheryl is busy canning all sorts of goodies and it makes me feel bad, real bad, that I cannot be out there helping her.:))) I will force myself to enjoy the fruits and veggies later.

It turned warm again. It must be at least 80 degrees.

Our children made it to Oklahoma safely, thank goodness. They are finding it quite warm and humid. Of course having the effects from hurricane Ike dropping on them adds to their misery. All in all they are doing okay though. I think I will go call them to see how today is going.

That is all for now. Back is hurting too much and the only place to give me comfort is my recliner. It is now my bed, table, tv chair, actually my home right now.

Have a nice day everyone.

Well, it is fun Monday and I don't know who is doing what. I normally check Pamela's blog to see where to go but she is taking a rest from blogging.

Foam tell me it isn't true!!!!! I enjoy your blogs and will miss you. Darned fickle artists anyway.

Mercy, what a week we just finished. I had runs every day and believe me I am tired. To add to that our one daughter and her family are moving to Oklahoma and they have been staying here for a while. Our garage and other storage areas are full with their stuff which they say they will come and get in a month. That would be nice since I have plans for garage usage this winter.

Cheryl has been canning, canning, canning. She is such a hard worker. Now if she could only fish. Actually she has wanted to go fishing this summer and I have been the one to drag my feet. Too many projects and too little time. Now I am back to work with less time.

Did I mention we inherited two ATVs? Yep, Kim and Robin left their ATVs here and we get to use them. Cheryl is ecstatic, Tim has to get them repaired first. I love my son-in-law but he breaks everything. As they were unloading their stuff into the garage I would ask about this item or that item and the answer would be pretty much the same. Well, it is broken. He is trying to move to Oklahoma with a vehicle that has expired license plates. Just didn't get around to taking care of the problem.

Anyway they are gone and I will miss my grandchildren. This was the closest family to us and that little blond headed granddaughter had grandpa wrapped around her finger pretty good. Now she will be a blond Okie.

Cheryl is so tired today that she is just lying on the bed listening to a book on tape. I have partially vacuumed the carpet and must get away from this computer and finish my job.

Have a nice day everyone.

OK. This is fun Monday and the host is asking for a picture of the area where blogging is done. Whooooooooo boy, I don't think so, so I will pass this week. Thank you Pamela for the information and you will be missed but I will keep checking for when you do post.

Hi to whoami (I hope I said that right)and thank you for commenting on my blog. Always good to see new faces (in a blogging sense of the word.) Gwen, you rascal, how are you doing? I have not heard anything from Australia for a long time. I thought maybe it had reverted back to being a British possession.:))

An update on Cheryl. She is doing fine. A little behind on her chores so she is not allowed to go out and play until she catches up. I even had to revoke some of her phone privileges.

Mercy it has turned cold overnight. Yesterday it rained and it was so refreshing although the grain farmers probably don't think so. Today it feels like snow in the mountains. I visited a couple of fishing places and they are nothing but puddles right now.

All right I have to ask the question: How many of you have read or are reading the "Twilight" series of books? I hate to admit it but I have read all four of them although, from a man's point of view, I did not find them all THAT great. Who in their right mind would want to be a vampire? However, I can think of a few necks that I wouldn't mind sucking on. (Yes, I am a dirty old man)

I have got to quit and get Cheryl moving. She is laying in bed reading "Fablehaven" and "I" have not been fed yet. Looks like another day of grounding.

Have a nice day everyone.

Cheryl likes moose and I like bears.

An update on Cheryl and I since some of you read my drivel and that is how you keep posted on us.

Cheryl is doing much better. A couple of weeks ago she got tangled up in a dog's leash and fell. Now when Cheryl falls it is like watching a sack of grain hit the ground... one big splat. She has no coordination to help herself. I don't say this to be mean or nasty, it is just fact. Anyway she is a mass of bruises on her right side and her knee was not doing too well for a while. She is now walking much better.

I think the whole town knew that she had fallen 'cause I was trying to get to her but my feet were all tangled up in the dog's leash too plus I had grandkids under my feet and I didn't want to trample and hurt them. All I could do is stand there and cuss and I did a fine job of it.

The other day Cheryl's left shoulder and arm started hurting real bad and she could not lift it much past her waist. I sighed, I cussed, I took her to the doctor. Turns out she developed a case of bursitis from canning (I think) and had to have a shot in her shoulder. She is much better now.

Me, I just keep plodding along. Nuff said about that.

Foam, that statue is interesting, not very flattering though. Personally I prefer the breast to be firmer and pointing upwards, the hips slimmer and streamlined and the butt a tiny bit smaller. I knew a West Virginia man who always claimed a woman was not worth marrying unless she was two axe handles wide. His wife was skinny as a rail. I have decided that to be a school bus driver one of the qualifications for a woman is she MUST be at least two axe handles wide. Mercy, there are some huge women driving buses. Men, they just need an overhang that prevents them from seeing their toes or other parts of their anatomy. I know some of them have not seen parts of their bodies for many, many years. Nuff said about that.

Pamela, I sure would like to be involved in some of your Monday and Wednesday blogging but am not sure how to go about it, plus I am not sure a man is too welcome. I thought the trivia thing was kind of neat. Who decides and who lets you know what is coming next?

I am trying Facebook.com. A friend of ours got us interested so I thought what the heck. I have some lippy nieces that post on it, they live in Utah and Oregon. Our friend lives in Reno, NV but we don't claim to know her if asked.

Ahhhhhhh, school is going and the bus is rolling and I am a happy, but tired, man. I have today off but the rest of the week is busy. Our neighbor wants me to work on his genealogy but he doesn't understand I have a life as well. He is always over here checking to see what I have done. Maybe he will get tired and go away. (In my dreams.) He is such a pest in town that he has been banned from most of the business's.

Guess I will close for now. Told you my blogs were boring.

Have a nice day everyone.

Ok, I will give this a try. Mamadrama is hosting the Monday thing and it is about trivia learned while in school. The one that comes to mind is from my old electronics/music teacher who used to say, "When you get to thinking you are too important or too good for everyone around you, stick your finger in a glass of water and see how large of hole it leaves when you pull it out. That is how important you are. "

Having never tried this Monday thing before I hope I did it right and will be considered a part of the group in the future.

Have a nice day everyone.

I ran and ran and ran but I couldn't outrun the long arm of western law. They hauled me off in this modern paddy wagon and I have not been heard from since.

Several people have asked me why I have not been blogging lately. Truthfully, I am just burnt out on blogging. I like reading some of my favorite blogs but I cannot think of anything creative to say. I will try and insert a blog or two every now and again but cannot promise how often it will be.

I have enjoyed blogging. I originally started so my kids would know what Mom and Dad were up to but they never read the blogs so why bother.

Awww the blessed school year starts for me on Friday. I take the volleyball team to a contest. Saturday it is the soccer team to one of their contests. It will feel good to be back to work again.

Today marked a special day in history, my history that is. I finally come to grips with a problem I have had for many, many years. I scheduled an appointment and had my hearing tested which included me getting hearing aids. My family has been begging me to do something like this for years but what it took was me finally realizing I was having a hard time hearing. Previously I told everyone they were mumbling and to speak up. I guess I am officially a senior citizen complete with hearing aid.

Got to go. The boss, Cheryl, has called me and I must respond or pay the consequences. She is so mean to me.

Have a nice day everyone.

Got this from my niece and had to try it out.

What Your Feet Say About You:

You are pretty average in your expressiveness. You can express yourself well, but you don't always want to. You are a very passionate person. You are highly charged and easily inspired. You are an assertive and aggressive person. You are determined and not likely to ever give up. You take a while to fall in love, but once you do, you stay pretty attached to your partner. You are not afraid of anything. You are brave and courageous, even when most people would be terrified. You are very practical and down to earth. You're more concerned with action than thoughts. You are an amazingly hard worker. You aren't spoiled and you don't mind getting your hands dirty. You are easily influenced by other people. You're quite impressionable, so you should only be around people who are a good influence.

What Do Your Feet Say About You?

I am trying to post some pictures from our trip to Yellowstone but am having problems so bear with me.



A couple of comments. Foam, you are a very pretty young woman. I don't know why you try to hide your face all the time. I see nothing to cause embarrassment or keep hiding. Now if you looked like this ugly old man you would want to destroy all cameras in the world and make everyone blind.

Sarah, I have got to go through the papers you sent and show you where I felt we hooked up. I don't think it was close to Daniel Lewis but I really don't remember. I think Daniel was a cousin to your line.

Have a nice day everyone.

Just received this and thought it too good to not pass on.

Sorry, no pictures yet. Should finish my project this week (knock on my wooden head) and then will do some things here that I would like to.

Going to be another warm one today. It is only 8:00 am and I have shut the house up to keep as much cool air in as I can. Got to go and pick up Cheryl and her sister in a little bit and bring them home. All my peace and quiet will be gone, gone, gone.

I have been sitting at the kitchen table watching my little flying friends come and go to the feeder. I don't know why it took me so long in life to realize what a small pleasure it is to watch the small animals and birds. Too busy thinking like a hunter and not realizing what I was destroying. We put a new feeder out by the plum tree and the song birds are just now realizing we have it full of thistle seeds and they are flocking. This morning had the prettiest yellow bird.

I was thinking about some experiences in my life that were interesting, if not amusing. One was a situation with a snake.

I was about 17 at the time and spent my summer logging in Island Park, Idaho. We stayed in a tent for a week at a time and came home, or to see our girl friends, on the weekends. My friend and I were always jangling about this and that, in a good natured way, and our boss had just about had it with us. One thing we always argued about was who got to set by the window in the truck when we went back to camp or wherever.

One day we were walking down the hill to the truck and doing our usual harping when our boss stopped, bent down like he was tying his shoelace and then continued on after us. These were his words. "I am so sick and tired of you two constantly bickering over who sets where. Get in the truck and I don't want to hear another word." Well!! We were surprised by that attitude to say the least.

My friend, Garl, jumped in the middle and I had the door. I had just barely closed the door when our boss jerked open his door, threw a snake in on us and said, "Now let's see how fast you can get out!" That darned Garl had that snake land across both of his forearms and he just kept it moving over to me. My feet hit the dash and I about tore that door off trying to get out of there. I thought our boss was going to die from laughter. I cussed him for over a half an hour and I could cuss real good back then. Poor old snake just slithered out the door and went on about his business.

So that is one of my experiences from my youth. I have a deathly fear of snakes and that did not help me overcome it.

Got to go.

Have a nice day everyone.

Mercy, I don't even have a decent picture to post. I have been so busy with a special project concerning genealogy that every possible minute is spent on the computer typing in names. Right now I am up to 13,200 and still climbing but I think I see a speck of light at the end of the tunnel. I am shooting for the goal of having all these names indexed before I go back to work.

My darned Internet supplier has been screwing with our service and I have not had Internet for about two weeks or better. The original company sold out and the new company has totally gone downhill. I am hooking up to another company this Friday so hopefully things will be better.

I have missed everyone. I see where Foam has been skinny dipping, Pamela described a rain storm so beautifully that I could almost feel it. Dana posted a thing (can't think of what it is called) about a wildlife preserve near her home and the pictures were beautiful. Foam talked about going skinny dipping, oh I mentioned that. hee, hee, hee. My poor brain cannot remember who else is doing what. I know those Australian women are still telling good jokes.

Cheryl has a sister from Florida visiting which is keeping her busy. Right now they are camping and they keep trying to tell me they are having fun in this heat. Right!!! All I know is the house is nice and quiet, the air conditioner is working just right and I am getting lots done on my project.

Our tomatoes are producing like crazy and so is the squash. Cheryl canned some pickled beets from the garden and they are delicious. Of course they always are when they are your own.

Would you believe that I have done so much typing that my fingers are actually sore.

How is everyone doing? Any new trips this summer that were fun? I get an email from Alice in Canada every so often and she is a hoot. Still looking for a man but apparently all the good ones are taken. Oh yeah.

Oh, did I mention that Foam said she is a skinny dipper? Where did I hear that from? Racy German lady anyway. We have a German lady that lives here. I will have to find out where she is from and let you know. She is a character also.

Would you believe that I have not even been fishing this year. When I get this project completed I am taking some time off and enjoying what I want to do without a deadline.

Enough of my sniveling. Hope this finds everyone well and happy. Have a nice day everyone.

Sorry, but no picture today. We just got back from a lovely trip to Yellowstone Park and I have not downloaded the pictures as of yet. We had such a great time. I have never seen the mountains look so beautiful. The wild flowers were in rich abundance and painted the mountainside with blues, yellows, whites and pinks plus throw in some red Indian paintbrush and it was an artists dream. The lakes and rivers and streams were full and clear. We seen bison, elk, deer, bear, moose, in fact the only major animals we did not see were the wolf and bighorn sheep. We even saw a bald eagle and a golden eagle plus several osprey. The eagles were no big deal to us since we have both species around here and it is quite common to see them but it still was neat.

Cheryl and I probably averaged 25 - 30 mph at best even though there were many who insisted on driving much faster and missed so much.

Following Yellowstone we traveled through Grand Teton National Park. It has been called the Matterhorn or America. All I know is this year was especially beautiful. As a kid there was a common saying in the valley where I lived, "If there is snow on the Grand Teton at the beginning of July then it was a good year for water." There is A LOT OF SNOW on the Grand as well as the whole range. Mt. Moran looks like it might start forming another glacier if the winter keep up the good work.

The only down part of the whole trip... too many Utah cars. I was very good and didn't let them get to me.

People do some silly things though. All kinds of warnings about approaching animals but I guess we have a literacy problem here in America. We came across a bear cub, people jumping out of their cars and approaching it very, very closely without giving a single thought that Mama bear might be near by and she would not be happy. Bison have a reputation of suddenly attacking without any warning but that didn't stop people from approaching them. They look so docile. Hmmm.

The bottom line is we had a great time. I wish everyone could visit Yellowstone this year and experience the beauties there.

Have a nice day everyone.

Back in the earlier days of where we lived there was this band of hooligans that roamed the country putting fear in everyone. They were dangerous to say the least. Today they are scattered to the four winds but their shenanigans still live on, except for the parents of course. From left to right, in the back, the names are Katherine, now in Pahrump, Nevada, Michael, now in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the head of the clan, Tim, now in Downey, Idaho, don't you just love the mustache, Kip, now in Bakersfield, California. In the front we have Kimberly, now in Trenton, Utah, the worst of the bunch is Ma, aka as Cheryl, now in Downey, Idaho, and last but not least we have Leslie, now in Provo, Utah. It makes me shudder to think of the crimes this bunch has committed.

We had this picture taken when we visited Virginia City, Montana many years ago. We had a lot of fun on that trip. We also visited the Lewis and Clark caverns which was really neat, although I get a little claustrophobic in closed situations or around a lot of people.

Anyway, I was looking through some of my memory books and came across this and thought I would share it. I was actually looking for my birth certificate which I just knew where it was, but it wasn't. Cheryl had to come along and help me out and of course rub it in a little that I cannot find anything on my own. Harrrumph.

I don't know what the rest of the country is like but it is a tad warm here. Tomatoes are growing like crazy and so are the pickle plants. Normally I have a rough time with pickles but hopefully this year will be a bumper picking. Squash is like a weed. It just spreads all over the place.

We watched the movie, The Notebook, the other night and it reminded us of our life in a way. Cheryl was engaged to another fellow when I came into the picture. Her parents were very much set against me which caused us to elope. I have always regretted that my wife never had a real wedding but she did get a REAL MAN!!! Okay, enough laughing if you please.

Guess I will close for today. Tomorrow we leave for Star Valley, WY to attend the funeral of my brother in law. Kind of gets your attention when someone passes on who is only a few years older.

Have a nice day everyone.

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING A message every adult should read because children are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say. When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one. When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals. When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make my favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life. When you thought I wasn't looking I heard you say a prayer, and I knew that there is a God I could always talk to, and I learned to trust in Him. When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing, and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don't. When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have to take care of what we are given. When you thought I wasn't looking I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn' t feel good, and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up. When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry. When you thought I wasn't looking I saw that you cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be. When you thought I wasn't looking I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up. When you thought I wasn't looking I looked at you and wanted to say,'Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking.'

Just a quick howdy doody to one and all. Hope all of you are well and happy. I am doing nothing but being lazy this summer and I LOVE IT. With gas costing so much we just don't go anywhere since both of us are unemployed until school starts. Unlike some eastern school teachers we don't get a high pay to carry us through the summer. By the way Foam I liked the classical music you had on your blog. Frequently I enjoy listening to that kind of music although I prefer full orchestras.

Have a nice day everyone.

NICKNAMES
If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and Sarah ..
If Mike, Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla and Four-eyes.

EATING OUT
When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in £20, even though it's only for £32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.
When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.

MONEY
A man will pay $2 for a 1 item he needs.
A woman will pay $1 for a 2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale.

BATHROOMS
A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel from M&S.
The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337.
A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.

ARGUMENTS
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

CATS
Women love cats.
Men say they love cats, but when women aren't looking, men kick cats.

FUTURE
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

SUCCESS
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

MARRIAGE
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does.

DRESSING UP
A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the bins,
answer the phone, read a book, and get the post.
A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.

NATURAL
Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

OFFSPRING
Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children.
She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favourite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.
A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
A married man should forget his mistakes.
There's no use in two people remembering the same thing.

OK Pam, can you identify this bird? I called it a spinner.

Here is something for most women to consider. Someday you will be a mother-in-law. Maybe you are a mother-in-law. Perhaps you will or do have sons who have a mother-in-law. Consider the following carefully.

An old woman has three daughters. One day she decided to test her sons-in-law. She was walking alone at a lake shore with the first son-in law. Purposefully, she fell in the lake and started yelling for help. The first son-in-law jumped in the lake and dragged her to shore. The very next day he found a brand new Ford Focus in his driveway with the words "Thank you, your mother-in-law loves you very much."

Another day she was walking along the lake shore with the second son-in-law. Purposefully, she fell down the lake and started yelling for help. The second son-in-law jumped into the water and dragged her to shore. The very next day he found a brand new Pontiac Sunfire in his driveway with the words, "Thank you, your mother-in-law loves you very much."

The third day she was walking with the third son-in-law and repeated the test, but that guy didn't respond to her cries for help and didn't make a single move to save her. The poor old lady who wanted to test her sons-in-law drowned and died. The next day he found a brand new Mercedes convertible in his driveway with the words, "Thank you very much! Your father- in-law."

Have a nice day everyone.

Oh to be young again. I used to hike up mountains just to ski down them.

My wife and I are at it again. I think we need a divorce counselor. She got all upset with me because when she went to use the bathroom I yelled out, "Turn off the light, the gas will ignite and the house will blow up!" Now what is wrong with that?

My wife is mean and cruel. I am a poor, humble, crippled, pleasantly fat person who is regulated in what he should be doing physically. Does that bother her? Oh, no!!! For the past few days, (thank God for Sunday), she has had me shoveling, planting, watering, spraying, and all other manner of thoughtless work items instead of letting me be like Dagwood Bumstead and enjoy resting.

She claims that my garage is a disaster. Now what right does any woman have to claim the one and only space that a poor man has, that he can claim his own, is a disaster? It might be a little junky, maybe a little dirty but it is organized confusion. Maybe if the little woman would take all her stuff out of the garage (the man's domain) he might be able to move about and enjoy it more.

Did I mention we went camping? All the time there it was, "Get out there you lazy lout and catch me some fish." She don't even like fish. I think she was trying to get rid of me. I had to kneel down and beg her to let me stay in the camper and rest.

I had a poem I was going to write but now I can't think of it. It would have been an original and probably a masterpiece. I could tell the story sent to me by Alice P in Canada but the ending was not a pleasant one and I would be afraid someone might get the wrong idea. What she proclaimed doing to a poor little mosquito was just not right.

Have a nice day everyone.

PS Spraying yourself with Listerine does keep the mosquitoes off.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

OPEC sells oil for $136.00 a barrel.
OPEC nations buy U.S. grain at $7.00 a bushel.
Solution: Sell grain for $136.00 a bushel.
Can't buy it? Tough! Eat your oil!
Ought to go well with a nice thick grilled filet of camel ass!!!

Now I am not a drinking man but sometimes this makes sense.

I am in a LOT of pain today so will be very short. Cheryl and I just got back from her heart stress test and we are both worn out. It has been a long day.

Now for anyone who might be a school teacher I was sent the following from one of my nieces. Enjoy!!

'Late again,' the third-grade teacher said to little Sammy.
'It ain't my fault this time, Miss Crabtree. You can blame this'un on my Daddy. The reason I'm three hours late is my Daddy sleeps naked!'
Now Miss Crabtree had taught grammar school for thirty-some-odd years.
Despite her mounting fears, she asked little Sammy what he meant by that.
Full of grins and mischief, and in the flower of his youth, little Sammy and trouble were old friends, but he always told her the truth. 'You see, Miss Crabtree, out at the ranch we got this here low down coyote. The last few nights he done et six hens and killed Ma's best milk goat. Last night, when Daddy heard a noise out in the chicken pen, he grabbed his shot gun and said to Ma 'That coyote's back again, I'm a gonna git him!''
'Stay back,' he whispered to all us kids.
He was naked as a jaybird, no boots, no pants, no shirt! To the hen house he crawled, just like an Injun on the snoop. Then he stuck that double barreled 12-gauge shot gun through the window of the coop. As he stared into the darkness, with coyotes on his mind, our old
hound dog Zeke had done woke up and comes sneakin' up behind Daddy.
Then as we all looked on plumb helpless ; old Zeke stuck his cold nose in Daddy's butt crack!
'Miss Crabtree, we all been cleanin' chickens since three o'clock this mornin'!'

Oh yeah.

Have a nice day everyone.