I know just how this boy feels. Who said Santa Claus was dead? Cruel, just cruel.

First to my Australian friends.... Blogger has been a real pain as of late. I have tried to post comments to Jen and Cazz but was rejected each time. I want you to know I listened to "G'Day, G'Day" in its entirety. Interesting, most interesting. I also liked the "Monkey" video clip and found it hilarious.

Pamela I have tried to post a comment to you as well but again Blogger would not let me. There have been others but at this moment I don't remember who. I sure miss Schaumi though.

Not much to report here today. It was colder than he... well, let's just say it was very cold last night. I took a bus load of girl basketball players to a school that is out in the boondocks and talk about a cold wind blowing. The temp had to have been around 5 or 6 degrees but the wind was blowing about 20 mph and the wind chill factor was just plain miserable. Wah, wah, wah. It looks like snow today.

I have managed to piddle away this day. I am supposed to be making calendars for my kids and their families (something I do each year)so we can keep track of birthdays, anniversaries, as well as telephone numbers and addresses. My heart just isn't into it today so will go and take a nap to see if that will help.:)

Hope you are all having a good day or G'day. Luce hope your day is better. I can't believe I, a Mormon, gave you advice to pour yourself a cold one, eat chocolate and just relax in front of a nice fire. We don't drink and shouldn't encourage others to do so but what the heck, if it makes you feel better go for it. Anyone who lives in Texas deserves something to make them feel better.

Hey, how do you put a counter on your blog so you can see how many hits it has?

Blogger is giving me fits this morning. This is mainly for UKBob and Claires Garden or anyone else who would like to comment about my predicument.

When I moved into this house the yard was in sad shape and had not been taken care of in a long, long time. The lilac bushes had gone wild so I took a saw and leveled them to shoulder height. My wife thinks I have ruined thema and they will not produce leaves or flowers. I need to know if this is true or are they okay and just need time to look nice again.

Thanks to anyone and everyone.

This Christmas picture didn't turn out as good as I wanted but the thought is still there.

Yesterday I asked for responses about Christmas traditions. I thought I would tell a couple of ours that we have done for many years. What Cheryl and I are finding that as we get older and the kids are no longer around we have to change some of the things we do. Bummer in a way.

One tradition I started when we first got married was putting a small gift for Cheryl in the tree. The kids would all know about it and it was as much fun to watch them trying to keep a secret as it was for Cheryl to find it. She was a pretty good sport about not looking until Christmas morning. The kids would all watch and do the warm, cold, hot thing as she looked. Some years it would be earrings, another was a ring, one was a watch. I have not kept this tradition up too well so maybe this year there will be another item in the tree.

Each Christmas eve we would all gather around and I would read the Christmas story from the Bible, we would sing some songs and have goodies to eat, then we would get in the car and drive around looking at Christmas light displays. Being a young father I never realized at the time how much fun it was. Now that I am older and the kids are gone I kind of miss it. Cheryl and I still go around looking at lights.


Another tradition that I started (and sometimes wish I had not)was one where I would tell or read The Night Before Christmas but... I would insert songs throughout the story. Personally I thought it was rather dumb and the kids would tire of it quite easily, such was not the case however. One year I had no intentions of reading and singing but the kids put up such a squawk that I continued with that tradition. Now they think I should do it for the grandkids but so far grandpa has vetoed such actions.

So those are some of our traditions. I do hope some of you will respond. Last night we had a group over to our house and we discussed this very item. It was interesting what their parents did when they were children and what they did with their own families.

Go to go. It is supposed to snow more today and I need to rest up for all that shoveling Cheryl will have to do.

Hot dog it worked. Thank you Tiger Sue and Schaumi for helping me.

I know all of you have seen this picture before but this is the one I want on my profile if I can now figure out how to do it. Handsome pair aren't we.

It is cold and wintry today. Snow has been coming down off and on and the wind bites right through you. I was out putting up some Christmas lights and decided we have enough for this year. Cheryl has the house looking really nice. It is amazing how the Christmas season brings out a warm comfortable feeling. I can't help but feel for those who are in the war zones and having their families destroyed by evil forces.

Went to Preston, ID over the weekend and watched the light parade and the bed races. It was fun to say the least although a bit on the cold side. Cheryl and I finished up our shopping for the holidays and then went to our daughter's place for her husbands birthday. He is an OLD 29 years. How would it be to complain about being 29. Actually I am very happy with my age. I can flirt all I want and no one takes me serious, foolish females anyway. heh,heh,heh.

Tonight our little town is having its lighting ceremony (whoopteedoo) and then a bunch of us are coming back here for hot chocolate and cookies. Should be fun. Hey, I was wondering what the Australians do for Christmas. It is not the time for snow down there so do you pray for a Christmas rain? Santa has to put on his speedo's when he goes down there.

Does anyone have any Christmas traditions you would like to share? I might have asked this before but I find it interesting what others do that is special for the holidays. (No, Luce and Schaumi, wild office parties do not count as tradition). hee, hee.

Guess I will close and go take a nap. I mean I have vacuumed, put up lights, had to fix my own lunch and the list goes on. I am pooped.

Have a nice day everyone.

After these many years of telling us that wearing seatbelts will prevent us from being hurt in an accident, officials have figured out that not only will they prevent us from being too seriously hurt but... they will prevent accidents also.

For some reason I got to thinking of snakes. Now why in the name of common sense I would think of snakes is beyond me because I hate them with a passion and am scared to death of them. I have always maintained that a snake could not kill me because I would have a heart attack from fear first.

When I was 17 or 18 years old I was logging for a man in Island Park, Idaho. This is where I had the encounter with the bear and I wrote about it about a year ago. I was working with another young man and we stayed up there in the woods for a week at a time. The boss, Lee Kaufman was his name, put up with us two knotheads and was very patient. Each night when we would leave the work area we would ride in Lee's pickup down to where we were camped. Garl, my friend and co-worker, and I would always get in an argument, friendly of course, about who was going to set by the window in the pickup.

One day we were going especially strong as we descended the hill to get in the truck and we noticed Lee stop and was doing something with his shoe. We just figured he was re-tying his shoelace. He stood up and growled, "I am sick and tired of hearing you two argue now get in the truck and let's go." Well, okay Mr. Huffy.

Garl jumped in the middle and I got the door. I had no sooner shut the door when Lee opened his door and threw a snake onto us and said, "Now let's see how fast you can get out!" The snake landed across both of Garl's arms and he just kept it coming my way. I about tore the door of the truck off trying to get out. Poor old snake landed on the floor and slithered out onto the ground. I wouldn't even ride in the cab that night I was so shaken up. Danged onery Lee anyway.

I don't know if you have read the story from Reader's Digest about Snakes in the House. Made me shiver for a long time just to think of what those poor people went through. This fall there have been two instances of the same thing happening near the small town of Sugar Salem, Idaho. In the first story the people discovered them in the basement and in the ceiling. The second story they were found in the laundry basket curled up in the laundry. There many others discovered in other places as well. Can you imagine that poor lady when she flipped her laundry and there lay several snakes? Holy Moly I would have screamed like a little (kid) and would have refused to sleep in that house again.

Mw wife likes to tell the story of me and the snake while we were living in Riggins, Idaho. I had gone out to the garden, we had a beautiful garden, to check something and my oldest son, Kip, had toddled along after me. I seen that snake slithering in the grass, screamed and then told Kip to go get the gun. He ran screaming to his Mother and she brought the gun thinking I had been attacked by an anaconda. I blasted that snake to smitherines while my wife walked back to the house in disgust. Listen, a 12 inch snake can be deadly 'cause size doesn't matter. Turned out to be a harmless garden snake but it looked like an anaconda to me.

Okay, enough of the snake stories. I have the shivers just thinking about them.

Hi everyone,
A very quick and short blog today. I appreciate Tiger Sue and Schaumi for telling me how to put a picture on my blog. Right now I am so tired that I can't think straight so will try later. I took the varsity girls basketball team to play a game and it consisted of a 300 mile trip. I got home at 2:00a.m. and needless to say I am tired. At 5:00 a.m. a certain female whose initials are Cheryl Delaney awoke and just had to tell me about her day yesterday. Groan... I think I will go back to be right now. Have a great Thanksgiving.




MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY, MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.
MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP,
MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS,
MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER
STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS.
Happy Thanksgiving

Okay, will someone please help this poor stupid man? I want to put a picture in my profile. I have the picture in my computer and on Yahoo pictures. How do I get it from one of those to Blogger so it shows up each time someone reads my blog? I think the Irish want to disown me over this.

I know I posted this picture last year but it still rings true.

I never have claimed to be a smart person and sometimes my actions prove me right beyond all words. Last Friday Cheryl and I went to the LDS temple in Logan, UT. Afterward we were kind of hungry so we went to Wal-Mart where a Subway sandwich shop is located. They have pastrami and we both love pastrami so we ordered that meal. For a drink they had Vault energy drink in their fountain and having never had Vault I ordered a 64 oz. cup. Tasted real good so I had another as we shopped Wal-Mart. We were both in a gazing mood, which is highly unusual for me, and we took over an hour just putzing around. Time to leave so we went back to Subway and refilled our drink; #3 cup of Vault energy drink.

We returned home, put things away and settled down to watch Ghost Whisperer, Close To Home and Numbers. Time for bed so we said our prayers, turned off the lights and prepared for a good nights sleep. Right? Wrong!!

That lucky Cheryl went to sleep immediately but me, oh no, it was more like this:

Me: "Close eyes and let's get some sleep."
Eyes: Blink, blink.

A half hour goes by:

Me: "Come on eyes, I am tired and I have to get up early."
Eyes: Blink, blink.... blink, blink.

An hour goes by and Cheryl is snoring with the best of them but me...
"Please eyes, close and go to sleep."
Eyes: Blink, blink, blink.

Two more hours go by and I have tossed and turned while Cheryl continues her snoring.
"Eyes will you PLEASE close and let me sleep."
Eyes: Looking around in the dark counting the white spots that float by, blink, blink, blink.

Finally about 4:00 am they close a little and then flutter finally letting me get some needed sleep. 5:00 am Cheryl rolls over, "Hey, are you awake?" I almost made her eyes go blink, blink from something poking them. "Boy", she said, "I sure slept good, how about you?" Once again I had to hold my hand back from poking her in the eye with my finger.

Energy drinks and me just don't get along.

Well Thanksgiving is just around the corner. The forgotten holiday. I guess everyone can think about the PS3 they didn't get or the Wii. Me, I don't play those games so it didn't matter to me. Looks like Cheryl and I are staying home and having dinner for just the two of us. We bought the DaVinci Code and will watch that. All of our kids are going somewhere else. This is the first year we have faced not having them around and I don't think we like it too much. The price we pay when they grow up and parents from the other side of their marriage want them to come and visit, or they live too far away. Hope everyone and anyone who reads this dribble has a very nice Thanksgiving day.

Do they celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia, Scotland, England, Canada or Texas? Sometimes we Americans get to thinking the world does just like we do.

Time to close.

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike

English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

"House" for instance, is feminine "la casa."

"Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz."

A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"

Instead of giving the answer,
the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female,
and asked them to decide for themselves whether
"computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun.

Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that "computer"
should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora"),
because:

1. No one but their creator
understands their internal logic;

2. The native language
they use to communicate
with other computers is
incomprehensible to everyone else;

3. Even the smallest mistakes
are stored in long term memory
for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make
a commitment to one,
you find yourself spending
half your paycheck
on accessories for it.

(THIS GETS BETTER!)

The women's group,
however, concluded
that computers should be Masculine
("el computador"),
because:

1. In order to do anything
with them,
you have to turn them on;

2. They have a lot of data
but still can't think for themselves;

3. They are supposed
to help you solve problems,
but half the time
they ARE the problem; and

4. As soon as you commit to one,
you realize that if you
had waited a little longer,
you could have gotten
a better model.

The women won.

I was going to say this reminded me of my daughter in law Audra but after much more consideration I could see the resemblance of my daughter Katherine when she comes home from the hospital. If you look closely you will see the steam coming from the nostrils much the same as a puffer billy would do. Ha, ha, ha, ha. I am so funny I crack myself up.

Not much to say today. It is cold and I am cuddling up to the heater until the house gets warm. Cheryl just called me for breakfast. Only food will drag me away from the heater.
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Have a nice day.

I think I have mentioned that my wife belongs to the Red Hat Society and I thought this picture depicted what they are all about. Are any of you ladies a part of the Red Hat Society?

I have this tune which keeps running through my mind so I guess if I write it down it will leave so I can listen to something else.

"Down by the station early in the morning. See the little Huff and Puff all in a row. See the station master blow his whistle. Huff, puff off they go." Now I know this is not exactly how the words go but for my purposes this is how I sing it. Why do I do this? Well....

I have this daughter named Katherine although she goes by Kate all the time. Now Katherine is an unusual girl. She sometimes gets upset over the most trivial things and she really does start to huff and puff like a locomotive. The only person in her life who can control her huffing and puffing is her Father. I must give her credit though, because at times she can get even quite well.

I used to play pranks on her by calling where she worked and saying I was from the police department and we had a warrant out for her arrest. I would tell her employer that she was considered dangerous and to not let on that we were looking for her. I never did have an employer not say something to her. Once she heard that someone called and asked about "Katherine" she instantly knew it was her Dad. I have never been one to call her Kate. I named her Katherine and that is how it should be with the middle name of Huff and Puff. So her name is really Katherine Huff and Puff Delaney.

One of my other daughters named Kimberly got me good in church one day. She was visiting and I was introducing those who were visitors. When I came to her she stood up and told her name and that her parents were Mom and the "Old Fart" harassing everyone. I thought everone was going to split from laughing.

Well, Cheryl is telling me to do something constructive so I better close for this day.

Woke up this morning and started humming a tune. "Looked out my window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree." However I had to change some of the words to this, "Looked out my window and what did I see? Snow a sagging from my apricot tree." Yup, it snowed last night oh lucky us. Actually I am glad it did. This has been a dry summer and we need moisture in the mountains to supply needed water for the coming year. I just don't like to drive, work, walk, shovel or any other chores I can think of that would require me to be in the snow. To think that at one time in my life I loved the snow for the snowmobiling, skiing, snowballs and other great fun times. I used to go out in the shed where the cattle were bedded down from the storm. I would snuggle up against one of the cows and be toasty warm and just watch the blizzard rage.

Just got back from a trip to Boise, Idaho. I took student body officers from three high schools to a convention that included all schools throughout the state. I must admit these kids that I had were ladies and gentlemen. Not a problem of any sort. Coming back my bus developed an oil leak and I put in 11 gallons of oil just to get us home. Cheryl did not go with me since she had to work one of the days I was gone. She also felt she should be here for her Red Hat meeting. Probably just as well that she didn't go since she would have made me take her shopping. As it was I got to watch tv for a little bit.

Yesterday was church and I had to speak on a subject that is definitely not my strong point. Home teaching and missionary work. I don't like to do either one.

Oh, Gwen if you read this please make a comment so I can get your blog site again. Same with "little Jen". For those of you who do not know, both of these ladies are from Australia and are a couple of hoots. Schaumi I really enjoyed your blog about your mother. Let's have some more stories. Luce are you behaving yourself?

I have got to remember to write some stories about Huff and Puff.

Have a nice day everyone.

Those darned aliens struck again only this time with my daughter Kim. Amber are you loose and tormenting people? It is a good thing they don't know where my daughter Katie lives. Even that picture would scare me. She WAS abducted and they did strange things to her 'cause she sure is strange. I keep asking her mother who the real father is.:)

It is football season and it reminded me of another story from my past. My home town and community was quite small. Our graduating class from high school was a total of 54 and it was considered quite large. Most of the students were involved in some kind of activity whether it be sports or music or whatever. I wanted to play football but my freshman year I had an operation which removed about six inches of bone marrow from my left leg. It was used for my sister, who had polio, and had lost the use of her left arm. They placed the bone marrow in her arm hoping it would restore some use to it and it worked. Of course it worked!! Consider who the marrow came from. Irish people don't do things that don't work. Anyway that shot down my football playing that year.

My sophomore year I played but was not very good due to being behind so much.

My junior year I was really looking forward to football but.... I was finishing helping a friend put up his hay. We were bringing in the equipment and my cousin and I were riding on one of the tractors. Actually he was driving and I was riding. It was one of those tractors that did not have fenders over the wheels and I was standing on the axle next to the wheel. Being knotheads and such we of course had the throttle wide open and were barreling along when we hit a bump in the road. It knocked me into the wheel which caused me to lose my balance and I fell right in front of the wheel when I hit the ground. Instantly I rolled because if I had not my head would have be squished and I would be new road kill. However my feet had caught on part of the tractor and I was bent in a backward position where my feet were coming over my head backwards. You know that hurts just a tad.

Luckily my cousin had quick reflexes and stopped the tractor before it had a chance to break my back. I do remember yelling at him to get that *&^%$#@!!! tractor off of me. He backed up, called the ambulance and they hauled me off to the hospital. I was very fortunate. The flesh from my ribs had been scraped off, my back had been traumatized (for lack of a better word) and I hurt, oh did I hurt. The worst part of the whole ordeal was the nurse taking alcohol and cleaning my ribs. They had dirt and gravel imbedded quite badly. Needless to say I did not play football that year either.

I was so far behind the other kids that by my senior year I was like a freshman starting out. So that is my story and I am sticking to it.

There Katie are you happy?

Have a nice day everyone.

This is a picture of my son in law. Proof that aliens DO exist.



Of course his wife (my daughter) was abducted and they did wierd things to her and this is the result.



But look what they did to my pretty little granddaughter Rylie.

Have a nice day everyone.

These are hats that I make for the fun of it. Most of them are toddler hats but I have made them for youth and adults. What do you think? I make white hats and Cheryl makes booties for newborns for their blessing outfits if the parents wish.

I am in love with a man. I guess I lived in California too long. Believe it or not it is a Black man I am in love with. Maybe I should enlighten everyone more. I am actually in love with the product he endorses. The George Forman Grill. I have never found anything that cooks bacon as well as the George Forman Grill. It comes out just perfect and crunchy and yum, yum, yum. Even Gus, our cat, likes bacon cooked in the George Forman Grill.

The other day I took some chicken breasts, fondled them for a while for a cheap thrill, (I can't believe I just said that), cut them into strips and deep fried them in the deep fryer (hence the term deep fried) but only after I had coated them with onion ring batter. Talk about good. The meat was so moist and delicious plus the batter tasted better than anything the Colonel has produced.

Cheryl has been gone for a week that is why I am cooking.

This has been the week for me to leave computers alone. A lady asked me to install a program on her computer and it would not accept the program. In the process of trying to figure out why I managed to blank out her monitor and cause the Windows operating system to repeat itself over and over and over. Hmmmm, to the repair shop we went. Turned out to be a corrupted file on her computer but I just had to be the lucky one who it turned on. Oh lucky me.

Then I went to the local Family History Center to help a man understand the name extraction program. While helping him I noticed that the fonts on the computer were very small and hard to read. Well, I knew how to fix that... I thought. In that process I managed to get the monitor to read upside down and I didn't know how I did it. Called the help desk and I think they are still laughing over this one. Turns out that if you hit CTRL, ALT and the arrow keys at the same time you can turn your monitor screen sideways, upside down and etc. Now this is not good since part of the extraction program calls for those commands CTRL, ALT and the arrows to move a highlighter around in the program. Oh lucky me again, but at least it is fixed. I think I am banned for life from the local Family History Center.

The whole problem is that I have not been working that much this week. I am in the lull while athletic teams are going from football to basketball. I expect in the next couple of weeks I will be running hard and fast again. Too much time on my hands to think about why a computer will not do this or that. Many times I have been told, leave it alone. Hmmmmm. Oh well. Guess I should go rake leaves.

Have a nice day everyone.

This says it all!

So here we are ready for the big Halloween day in the United States. What am I going to do? I am locking my doors, turning off my lights and hoping the little witches and goblins and other kinds of monsters leave me alone. Cheryl is the one who gets into this trick or treating thing. Me, I am using my Halloween attitude to prepare for Christmas; BAH HUMBUG!! For some reason I never have enjoyed Christmas like a lot of others do. Besides, NCIS is on and I don't want to miss one minute of it.

Some have asked how Leslie's surgery went. Not well. They opened her up, took one look at the tumors and how bad they were and closed her back up. The tumors are attached to her female reproductive organs and all would have to be taken out. To remove them would cancel all hope of having more children and the doctors felt she and her husband should talk about what they want to do. She is still in her twenties and wants to have more children soooooooo we wait. Other than that she is doing fine.

Brrrrrrr it is cold here. Last night it was down to about 10 or lower. I turned on the furnace for the first time this year. Now I am spoiled and want to be warm all the time.

I don't know why I thought of this last night, but I will tell the story of how I got run over by a tractor when I was a senior in high school. Maybe I have told the story before and just don't remember. If I have then please forgive me or don't read it or something.

Hope everyone has a nice Halloween day and all are safe. I worry about Luce and the mischief she can get into.:) Merle I had time to just glance at your blog last night and went to bed laughing. You and Jen are quite the characters. Lowa your husband does a great job in pumpkin carving; he is to be complimented. I am surprised that Dana did not do the Halloween meme whatever "meme" means. I still have that scary dream that I actually met Schaumi. Ha, ha, ha just kidding Schaumi.
Tiger Sue do you guys do the trunk and treat down there? Here we do nothing. Nothing at all. Go figure. Life in a small town I guess.

Aleaha write and tell me how the gathering was last Saturday. How is A.J. doing? Did you all have a good time?

Guess that is it for today.

Have a nice Halloween everyone.

This was the scariest picture I could find for Halloween. Scared me anyway.


Tiger Sue did this on her website and tagged me so I will post it on my blog today.

Halloween Meme

1. What's the scariest movie you've ever seen?
"Invaders From Mars" and "The Blob". That "Mars" movie kept me awake for many nights and when we slept outside on the lawn I just knew they were coming to get me. Every time I see red jello I think of the blob. The there was a movie called "Snake Woman" or something like that. I am so afraid of snakes that I had the heeby jeebies for many, many days.

2. What was your favorite Halloween Costume from childhood, and adulthood?
I don't really remember dressing up for Halloween. Our community had a great big social and the 3,4,5th grades all went on a treasure hunt set up by the high school students. It was a riot.

3. If you had an unlimited budget, what would your Fantasy Costume be for this Halloween?
Hmmmmmm, since I am a bit of a dud I am not sure. Frankenstein's monster perhaps, or Homer the hillbilly.

4. When was the last time you went Trick Or Treating?
Never did. Always went to the community programs.

5. What's your favorite Halloween Candy?
Chocolate... any kind of chocolate.

6. Tell us about a scary nightmare you had.
I dreamt I met Schaumi... ha, ha just kidding Schaumi. It might have been the time Amber, the space alien, came and stayed. I guess the nightmares that scare me the most is when snakes come to get me. Cheryl says I start kicking like crazy in my sleep. I HATE SNAKES!!!

7. What is your Supernatural Fear?
That the devil comes to visit me and I can't get away from him.

8. What is your Creepy-Crawlie Fear?
SNAKES, SNAKES, SNAKES.

9. Tell us about a time when you saw a ghost, or heard something go Bump in the night.
While living here where we do we would hear bumps in the night and wonder what the heck it was. We even thought maybe our house had ghosts. Come to find out that it was the apples and pears dropping from the trees and rolling down our roof. When I was young I listened to the radio show, "Inersactum" (not sure I spelled that right) and it would play on your imagination like crazy. I just knew someone was down in the basement and would come up and kill me. I would have the hunting rifles close by, knives under my pillow and they would have a fight on their hands. Sure glad no one spooked me unintentionally.

10. Would you ever stay in a real Haunted House overnight?
It would be interesting since I don't believe in Haunted Houses. Yes, Cheryl would be there to hold my hand while I shook and quivered.

11. Are you a traditionalist (just a face) Jack O'Lantern Carver, or do you get really creative with your pumpkins?
Probably traditionalist but keep hoping some year I will break the mold.

12. How much do you decorate your home for Halloween?
Not as much as I would like. Halloween and Christmas are the two times a year that I like to see decorations. We put up some light for Halloween but it is the inside that receives the most attention.

13. What do you want on your Tombstone?
"Here he lies completely dead. The doctors said it was all in his head."

Now I tag Schaumi, Sunshine, Luce, Lowa, Amber, or anyone who feels this would be a fun way to share their Halloween thoughts with the rest of us.

Have a nice day everyone.

Don't you just have a tug on your heart strings for this poor mother duck? How sad.

Okay, since I now have a small world wide gathering I want to ask a question of you all. Is it just the United States that celebrates Halloween or do other countries celebrate it as well? It would be interesting to know what is done in your countries. For those in the United States my question is: what are you dressing up as for the Halloween night? (Please excuse the poor grammar)

This Halloween won't be much for us. Our daughter Leslie is having two tumors removed from her female organs and Cheryl is going there to be of assistance with Rylie. Leslie will lose at least 5 pounds when they are removed since each of them are approximately 2 to 2 1/2 pounds each. She will feel sooooo much better when this is all done. I wish her the best and will be praying for her. I pray for her anyway cause she is a knothead.:)

Guess that is all for today. Snowed last night although not that much. Today is cold and clear. Great day to make a run with the wrestling team again. I want to thank those of you who never make comments on my blog yet I know you are reading them. Some of you have sent me some cool pictures that I like to post and I thank you for that. Merle I am definitely going to post some of Jeanette and your jokes and stories. You Aussie ladies crack me up on your blogs. Schaumi it was nice to hear from you again. I thought maybe you had got picked up for loitering and couldn't find a get out of jail card. hee, hee. Tiger Sue I do print these blogs for my kids to read later although I am about 150 pages behind right now. Too much name extraction, bus driving, napping, napping, napping I guess.

Aleaha sorry we won't make it Saturday. I thought about driving the bus out to your place but I think the school will frown on that. Tell everyone hi.

Have a nice day everyone.

Yup, you DO reach that age!!

A good Monday morning to all of you who read this dribble. I guess the ladies in Australia are into Tuesday morning; talk about fast women.

It is cool and crisp here with snow topping the mountains. The fishing is better than in the summer and football is winding down in the highschools. Now everyone is turning to wrestling, basketball and music.

I am fighting a wee cold but so far it has not got me down. I have been trimming trees, raking leaves and getting the place ready as possible for the winter winds. I like to be like the young man in the story of "Sleeping While The Wind Blows." or something like that.

Not much to tell this day so will tell a story from my past.

I like horses and we had a horse when I was a young lad that I considered my best friend. He and I went everywhere together especially in the mountains. The first deer I ever shot I was trying to load him on the horse when one of the antlers poked him in the ribs. He showed his displeasure by kicking me halfway down the mountainside.

When I was about 15 or 16 one of the sheep ranchers in the area asked me to help drive the sheep from the winter range to the mountains where the summer range was. They gave me an old buckskin horse to ride telling me it was one of the boss's horse and tame as a kitten.

I climbed aboard and went about 100 yards when suddenly that horse's head went down, his feet went up in the rear and I was airborne. "Don't let that horse get away with that. Climb back on and show him who is boss.", came to laughing comment from those who were with me. "Why you dirty, miserable excuse for an animal, I will show who is who around here," was my comment as I picked up my pride.

I got back on and this time I was ready for war. Nothing happened and we proceeded on our way. Just as I began to relax and think all was well, down went that head again and up went those back feet again and I was airborne once more only this time I went a little higher and a little farther.

Why that miserable plug. It had met it's master but just didn't know it. Everyone was laughing at me by this time and all kinds of advice was coming which I did not appreciate.

Back on that horse I went and I had a death grip on those reins and no way was I being thrown again. That nag didn't even wait until I was settled when down went that head again, even though I was trying to keep it up, and up went those feet again. I managed to stay on for about 3 or 4 good bucks and then I went flying higher than ever and farther than ever. This time I landed on a rock and it hurt.

I bowed to the horse who was indeed my master that day. Of course I can't repeat the words I had to say to that miserable creation. I walked 10 miles that day leading that stupid horse behind me. No way was I getting thrown again.

Along came the boss who owned the horse and he crawls aboard and away they went happy as could be. Good thing I didn't have my trusty 30-30 that day.

That is my story for today.

Have a nice day everyone.