Thursday

With June almost here, the plans for next month are another trip to Bush Gardens, a work conference, Danielle's graduation, Father's Day, a couple of weekends with Sean, and a trip to Pennington Gap with Walter to attend the family reunion. If June is anything like May it will just fly by.

The deer jerky came out terrific. I turned it off this morning and we tried it out this evening.

I caught the new program Starter Wife, it seems like it may actually turn out to be a halfway decent program. But then we really had some fun - House came on. The whole purpose for watching late night television.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: “If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed.” —David Viscott

Wednesday

I've got the sliding door open this morning - the birds are calling to one another in the trees, there is a crisp coolness in the air; there is still dew clinging to the blades of grass around the patio. Hmmm, what a great morning.

I caught this mallard walking around in a local parking lot. How odd, for him to be there.

Then there was this terrific moon rise...

Walter and I spent a little while this evening putting together some deer jerky. I'll be taking it out of the dehydrator in the early morning.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: Nobody is bored when he is trying to make something that is beautiful, or to discover something that is true. - William Inge

Tuesday

Time to begin a new work week. The three-day weekend was nice, I've not had one in so many years I forgot what it was like.

I snapped this little fellow on the patio this morning.

Walter's going to the orthopedic this afternoon to have his wrist looked over, this is the same one he injured when he wreck on his bike riding to work back in January. I do hope that they are able to quickly figure out what's going on with it, so he can get himself somewhat back to normal. Not that it slows him down that much, but it does cause him trouble and pain.

This afternoon, Heather & I ran out at lunch to do some flower shopping. She's getting married at the end of June and needs a bouquet. We found some nice dried flowers at Michael's, but the whole concept is still in the "working" stage. We've got a couple of ideas and since she only needs two bouquets, her and her bridesmaids it won't take long to put together.

Walter checked in and it looks like his wrist injury from January is going to require surgery to get it repaired. He'll know more next week after he has an MRI.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: “For what avail the plough or sail, Or land or life, if freedom fail?” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday

This morning Carla and I have been enjoying listening to the birds at the edge of the woods. It is still quite and still here. The only real movement is the wildlife. There's not a soul out that I can see. Most are probably taking the opportunity to sleep really late. I slept in until 8 a.m. and of course that is really late for me.

I'm heading out in a couple of hours to pick up Sean, so that we can go to the Grindin' N Grillin' at Mom & Dad's house. Dad's got a bunch of deer to grind and since it's Memorial day; and they have a new deck to break in what better opportunity for us all to get together to help and have some great burgers.

The visit was great. Everyone showed up. Dad can really cook some burgers and hot dogs. There was a game of volley ball in the side yard, while more grinding was going on in the kitchen. Mom & Dad's deck is coming along nicely.

I believe that Sean had a nice time visiting with the relatives.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty." - John F. Kennedy

Memorial Day

Sunday

The repairman is coming this morning to fix the air conditioning. I'm looking forward to having it all fixed up before the true heat of summer hits, it'll be nice to sleep comfortably tonight.

I've done a few sketches this morning based on the photos that I have from Italy. I'm working on the fields and olive trees. I have the 'creepy Italian trees' down, and am pretty sure that the mountains are going to be great. The vineyards and olive trees still need work. It feels good to be sketching again. The creative muse is beginning to work a bit.

My A/C is all fixed! The gentleman who came by and check it out, turns out there were some insects that had gotten into the workings and caused the unit to continue to run without putting out any cool air. Now that it is all clean out is works wonderfully. This problem also explains why my electric bill for the first couple of months was so high. It should drop dramatically this month, even though we are moving into the summer months.

Carla has truly enjoyed laying out on the patio, rolling in the grass this morning and generally following around the repairman. This afternoon she's watched out the door to see what is going on in the world.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: "I should like to enjoy this summer flower by flower...." - Andre Gide, French writer

Saturday

I hope that Danielle's concert went well last night. Walter and I kicked off the SUMMER with a cook out last at 8:30 p.m. After we got back from the grocery store, Walter brought down his grill and loaded it up with charcoal and "ligher fluid". The flames we thought were going to be spectacular turned out to be anti-climatic, they just started out slowly and spread quite predictibly. No need for the fire extinguisher. :)

We fixed grilled corn, vegetables and Beer Bratwurst. Walter the ever excellent chef produced a fantastic meal. Then we splurged for the evening and watched Monk, Law & Order, and had a terrific time watching House. House even met someone worse than him. It was so funny.

This morning I'm contemplating painting, building a set of shelves or just doing nothing. The shelves seem to have the strongest pull right now. That would be the most practical, but then again I do want to paint, but the absolute inspiration hasn't struck yet.....We'll see before the end of the l....o....n....g weekend.

I got the shelving finished. I've got a couple of things I need to pick up, but that won't take too long. Then I can "finish up" the patio and enjoy it for the rest of the summer without worrying about stuff falling on my head from above. The folks that live up there walk out with really dirty boots and stuff is forever falling through the cracks. I'm going to end that mess today.

So far today, I've repotted the hostas to spread them across the whole back of the patio. The umbrella as dry rotted - hmmm, so it is going to be replaced with a tarp roof, but I haven't gotten to it yet today. I'm picking up my plant hook from Mom & Dad's so that I can hang up a plant next to screen door. I also potted several other plants to sit on the patio just behind the hostas for some color.

I did get the shelving put together in the storage area. I will have some extra room in there once I get all the scrapbooking supplies over to Danielle. My plan is to get them to her when she brings me my ticket to get into the graduation ceremony.

Carla has enjoyed the indoor/outdoor rug that I put down on the concrete it gives her something to lay on that doesn't make her cold. The concrete does suck the heat out of her when she lays directly on it.

Walter came down this afternoon to see the progress I have made and I took a break. We've been watching Silence of the Lambs. A real thriller. I haven't seen it in years.

I still need to go out and get an additonal small bag of dirt to finish potting the dogwood tree, but on the whole all the plants are taken care of.

Well, my plans to attend church tomorrow have been changed...the air conditioning in the apartment has gone out and they are coming first thing in the morning to repair it. The temperature is running around 85-degrees inside right now, so sleep is not going to be pleasant. Wish me luck in getting some rest this evening.

Email & Newsletter Gleaning:

Thought For the Day: If you drink don't drive, do the watermelon crawl - Watermelon Crawl, by Tracy Byrd

Missing Words

SHALL WE HIRE A MONUMENT ENGRAVER TO GO TO ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY AND ADD THE MISSING WORDS ?

A MESSAGE FROM AN APPALLED OBSERVER:

Today I went to visit the new World War II Memorial in Washington , DC I got an unexpected history lesson Because I'm a baby boomer, I was one of the youngest in the crowd. Most were the age of my parents, Veterans of "the greatest war," with their families. It was a beautiful day, and people were smiling and happy to be there. Hundreds of us milled around the memorial, reading the inspiring words of Eisenhower and Truman that are engraved there.

On the Pacific side of the memorial, a group of us gathered to read the words President Roosevelt used to announce the attack on Pearl Harbor:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941-- a date which will live in infamy--the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked.

One elderly woman read the words aloud:

"With confidence in our armed forces, with the abounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph."

But as she read, she was suddenly turned angry. "Wait a minute," she said, "they left out the end of the quote.. They left out the most important part. Roosevelt ended the message with "so help us God."

Her husband said, "You are probably right. We're not supposed to say things like that now."

"I know I'm right," she insisted. "I remember the speech." The two looked dismayed, shook their heads sadly and walked away.

Listening to their conversation, I thought to myself, Well, it has been over 50 years she's probably forgotten."

But she had not forgotten. She was right.

I went home and pulled out the book my book club is reading --- "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley. It's all about the battle at Iwo Jima . I haven't gotten too far in the book. It's tough to read because it's a graphic description of the WWII battles in the Pacific.

But right there it was on page 58. Roosevelt 's speech to the nation ends in "so help us God."

The people who edited out that part of the speech when they engraved it on the memorial could have fooled me. I was born after the war.! But they couldn't fool the people who were there. Roosevelt's words are engraved on
their hearts.

Now I ask: "WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THE WORDS OF HISTORY?????????"

People need to know before everyone forgets. People today are trying to change the history of America by leaving God out of it, but the truth is, God has been a part of this nation, since the beginning. He still wants to be...and He always will be!

Friday

Well Friday is here. The weekend is upon us, a holiday weekend at that.

I had a great meeting out this morning - conferences are not as hard as they have been portrayed. We're going to do fine. Just a bit of juggling to figure out exactly what has and hasn't been done up to this point. It will most likely take about a month overall to get up to speed - I'm sure we'll even have a question or two later on down the road, but it's going to work out alright.

I ran by the Toyota place this evening for a state inspection. I need rear brake pads, a windshield wiper and a light bulb. Not too terribly bad considering no one looked at the car prior to the inspection.

Danielle is performing in her final concert this evening - I wish her an extra strong voice as she sings her solo. Go Danielle.

Walter & I are heading out grocery shopping this evening. I haven't really gotten any groceries for about a month now, so I've to put something in the house to eat.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: Smith and Wesson or a Colt always beat four aces.

Thursday

Morning All,

This evening I'm heading off to the high school to see Danielle perform in her final concert. I know that she'll do a wonderful job as usual.

Photos from Danielle's concert - It only took 7 years of chorus concerts to get a couple that were good of her performing. Danielle had her first solo at this concert. She did an excellent job - projecting very well.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.

WORRY

Is there a magic cutoff period when offspring become accountable for their own actions? Is there a wonderful moment when parents can become detached spectators in the lives of their children and shrug, "It's their life," and feel nothing?

When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital corridor waiting for doctors to put a few stitches in my son's head. I asked, "When do you stop worrying?" The nurse said, "When they get out of the accident stage." My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.

When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little chair in a classroom and heard how one of my children talked incessantly, disrupted the class, and was headed for a career making license plates. As if to read my mind , a teacher said, "Don't worry, they all go through this stage and then you can sit back, relax and enjoy them." My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.

When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime waiting for the phone to ring, the cars to come home, the front door to open. A friend said, "They're trying to find themselves. Don't worry, in a few years, you can stop worrying. They'll be adults." My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.

By the time I was 50, I was sick & tired of being vulnerable. I was still worrying over my children, but there was a new wrinkle. There was nothing I could do about it. My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing, continued to anguish over their failures, be tormented
by their frustrations and absorbed in their disappointments.

My friends said that when my kids got married I could stop worrying and lead my own life. I wanted to believe that, but I was haunted by my mother's warm smile and her occasional, "You look pale. Are you a all right? Call me the minute you get home. Are you depressed about something?"

Can it be that parents are sentenced to a lifetime of worry? Is concern for one another handed down like a torch to blaze the trail of human frailties and the fears of the unknown? Is concern a curse or is it a virtue that elevates us to the highest form of life?

One of my children became quite irritable recently, saying to me, "Where were you? I've been calling for 3 days, and no one answered I was worried." I smiled a warm smile. The torch has been passed.

PASS IT ON TO OTHER WONDERFUL PARENTS (and also to your children. That's the fun part)

Wednesday

It's the middle of the week again. SO much to do, so little time. But it will get done...I'm just keeping a steady pace what I'm doing.

The upcoming weekend promises to be relaxing. I'm planning on doing some painting this weekend. That would be a great way to spend the weekend - painting on the patio.

However, until then...

It's been a busy day. Heather & I have hopped all day and it looks like the rest of the week is going to be equally as busy.

I got an interesting voicemail this afternoon from Ms. Danielle, she has a concert tomorrow night and she has a ticket for me.

This evening I headed out and visited with Mom & Dad for a short while. I took Miss Carla with me and she had a great time getting out of the house for a while.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. -Max Ehrmann

MAN...I'M GETTING SO FAT I CAN HARDLY SCRATCH MY OWN BUTT!!

Tuesday

Looks like we may be in for some sunny Summerlike weather today. The temperature is climbing into the 80's today. I'm looking forward to catching a few rays this afternoon, perhaps even having dinner on the patio. I know Carla would really enjoy it.

Walter & I are going to do some laundry this evening as well. It won't take too long this week, no sheets on this trip.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: "My friends are my estate." - Emily Dickinson

Monday

My day started out a bit abrupt this morning. I forgot to change my alarm to 'work time' and truly surpised myself when I woke up at 6:54 a.m. Now I normally leave at 7:08 a.m., so you can only imagine how rushed I was this morning. I made it out on time, looking decent and got to work on time too boot!

Birthday Wishes to Maxine

I had a mini-brain glitch once today, I was reminding someone of an appointment next week on the 30th and told them that it was on April 30th instead of May 30th. I lost a whole month - May has flown by and here it is almost June. Before I blink again it will be September.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: You will have good luck and overcome many hardships. - fortune cookie

Three Things

Three things in life that, once gone, never will come back -

1. Time
2. Words
3. Opportunity
   

Three things in life that can destroy a person -

1. Anger
2. Pride
3. Unforgiveness
   

Three things in life that you should never lose-

1. Hope
2. Peace
3. Honesty
   

Three things in life that are most valuable -

1. Love
2. Family &Friends
3. Kindness
   

Three things in life that are never certain -

1. Fortune
2. Success
3. Dreams
   

Three things that make a person -

1. Commitment
2. Sincerity
3. Hard work
   

Three things that are truly constant -

Father - Son - Holy Spirit

Sunday

I got up this morning ready to get ready for church. I couldn't roust Sean, he was pooped out totally. I finally got him moving around 10:00 a.m., but we both are moving slow. I do believe that all the G-forces that we experienced yesterday caught up with both of us.

Sean took part of the afternoon to play computer. I watched Fried Green Tomatoes. I tried to take a short nap and enjoyed the afternoon.

Walter dropped by for a short visit after he got back from his trip to Lynchburg this weekend. He and Patrick had a great time.

Dean came by to pick up Sean and had dinner with us. He and Sean went home about 6:30 p.m.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For The Day: It is more fitting for a man to laugh at life than to lament over it.

Immigration by the Numbers

Aunt Barbara sent this along - it is quite an interesting and eye opening piece. If you can not see the video below just click on the title above and it will take you to the videos site on Google.

Bush Garden Adventure

Sean and I headed off to have the car inspected this morning before heading off to Bush Gardens for the rest of the day. W didn't get the car inspected...the mechanic hadn't come in by 10:00 and I figured that he wouldn't show for the rest of the day. So after a couple of false starts, and getting Carla to Mom & Dad's for the day. We finally got on the road.

We arrived at Bush Gardens just a little after noon. It we spent a little extra and parked in the close lot - it was really nice being that close to the entrance. It was nice having the tickets already downloaded when we arrived. All we had to do was swipe the ticket and proceed to the gate. Our passes don't have pictures, but they use fingerprints to identify the ticket holders. There definitely is on one of each of us. We made a stop in England for our ticket lariats (which were free).

We started our day out by riding "Escape From Pompeii" - WOW, fire and water. We got wet, but not too bad at all. We headed on over to "Apollo's Chariot" and hardly spent any time in line. Sean reminded me of Danielle - he wanted to ride, but then didn't - after we were on the ride and part way through he was saying, "I got to do this again!"

We hopped onto the Roman Rapids ride - which wasn't very exciting, especially after the two previous ones, but it did pert-near drown both of us. My sweater was pretty much useless for the rest of the day. I didn't even get completely dry until around 10 p.m.

As we hurried along to 'Germany', Sean grabbed some cotton candy and I was able to get a picture of him.

We got in to line to ride the Big Bad Wolf, which wasn't too terribly long, but it was a great ride. Sean was having a great time. Always the "lets do that again!" We started to do a couple of things, but the draw to the Griffon was strong... As we were heading that way Sean, weinnied out so instead we turned at went to 'Scotland' to ride the Loch Ness Monster.

We went into 'Ireland' for lunch. We went to Grogan's Grille for some really good food. Sean had a really good looking club sandwich, with waffle cut fries, and a parfait for dessert. I had a stuffed baked potato (stuffed with corn beef and cabbage) and a slice of carrot cake. We enjoyed our lunch under the arbor outside the restaurant sitting a picnic table. It was a very pleasant place to sit and enjoy lunch.

Sean was real sweet and posed at the entrance to the Leprechaun shop. One of other other shops yielded a really neat Father's Day present for Sean to give to Dean. It is something that we both thought that he would appreciate.

We decided to ride the Griffon (again) and caught the sky ride in 'England' to take us to 'France' so that we could get into line. The view was beautiful. I have several other aerial views - one of Ireland/Scotland and a bunch of the roller coasters.

When we arrived in 'France', the line for the Griffon was all the way back to the exit of the sky ride, and having heard rummor that the wait was nearly 3 hours we decided to head over and ride the Alpengeist. We waited there for about an hour, but it was a terrific ride - all the loops, twists, and inverted sections.

The day had gotten long - just from standing in line and Sean wanted to ride Apollo's Chariot again, so we were making our way there when we decided to take a break by taking the Rhine River Cruise. This really did turn out to be a great idea. It gave us a chance to sit for a short while and rest our feet. What turned out to be so special was the American Bald Eagle that was flying around over the dam at the end of the cruise area. Way cool. I did get a photo, but the eagle is small (and I haven't worked with the image yet). The picture here is of Sean in 'Germany' standing in front of the fountain there.

We made it back to 'Italy' and got back in line for Apollo's Chariot - the line was almost twice as long as the first time we rode. The good thing was that the line moved quickly. Sean decided that he wanted to ride in the front row, so it took us a few extra minutes to wait in that line, but he had to do it.

T-shirt Thought For the Day: Excellence is a decision that you make every day.

We re-rode Escape from Pompeii, and it was horrible - it broke before we went though - no fire (pout, pout). It was about this time that Sean had actually garnered enough courage to ride the Griffon. I wasn't in a mood to walk back that far so we hopped the train to France. We got into line and were told that it was about a 90 minute wait. Well the wait ended up only being about 50 minutes. Earlier in the evening, Sean had stated that he wanted to be riding a ride in the dark, well as we moved into position to be able to actually get on the cars it had gotten dark. So Sean got his wish. A awesome ride after dark!

Now not being one that normally purchases the pictures of people riding the ride, I promised Sean he could have this one. It did turn out fairly well and several people commented to us that they couldn't believe how "calm" we looked. Great ride would definitely do it again. The view from the top is spectacular. Sean got a souvenier t-shirt to commenorate his spectaular ride. It gives all the statistics on the Griffon on the front: Speed: 75 mph; Height: 205 ft.; Max Gforce: 4; Length: 3100 ft; Max Vert. Angle: 90-degrees.

Finally time to head home. We hopped the train over to Scotland. On the way out I broke down and purchased a t-shirt as well. The first time I had been warm for quite some time. Then we headed on to the car and home. I stopped and pick us up something for a late dinner outside of Williamsburg. The trouble with that was that Sean ate about half and went to sleep on me....That's a hard drive, when you are tired, listening to someone else snore and have no one to talk with. Stinker. We did stop by and pick up Carla before finally getting back to the apartment. A LONG...but extremely fun day.

Bush Garden Animals

Saturday

Good Morning!

Sean is still sleeping this morning. I'm not been up too long, but he has such a pleasant look on his face. He must be having a very nice dream.

Last night we stopped off and picked up some movies on the way home and then watched for quite sometime. We really enjoyed laughing together.

Sean and I caught up on a few thing:

school - he is really enjoying the new school, grades are climbing and I can tell that he has a whole new attitude about school in general.

summer job - Sean tells me that he has been looking around for a place to work during the summer. He has a couple of places that said that they would hire him, but I believe that he has to go ahead and get a work permit before they can actually 'employ' him. He is making plans for the earnings, save it until it is time to get his license. He'll have an "insurance nest egg" all ready to go.

I had my teeth cleaned at work yesterday...what an experience. I have never had such a thorough examination of my teeth. Michelle was so efficent and positive I could hardly believe it. The whole office just oozes with a positive energy. Everyone is enthusiastic about the practice and the work that they do. But back to my 'cleaning', she really did a great job! Every detail was explained - now I have gone to the dentist (not Dr. Martin) on a regular basis, but I've never had it explained to me before. Ususally when I have my teeth cleaned I come out feeling like someone tried to pry my gums out of my mouth and eating isn't a good idea until a couple of days later. No such result this time! Michelle was so gentle and thorough she even noticed several things about the condition of my teeth that had not never been brought to my attention before - I grind them, most likely the result of a whole lot of stress. She even told me that I could break my molars from all the pressure. I have been given a new mantra, "teeth don't touch". In all seriousness it isn't just a little flippant saying. Everytime I go to bite my teeth down, without eating, I hear Michelle in my head repeating over and over, "teeth don't touch" in a very concerned and understanding voice.

Before too long, I'm going to rouse him so that we can head out to Haley Toyota so that I can get a state inspection for the Camry. Should the weather continue to improve we are going to go ahead and head on down to Williamsburg to Bush Gardens for the day.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: “If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed.” —David Viscott

Attitude

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, "I don't get it!

You can't be a positive person all of the time How do you do it?"

He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood

I choose to be in a good mood."

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins..Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked

He continued, "..the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said John. "She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'"

Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

Am I A Fireman Yet??

In Phoenix , Arizona , a 26-year-old mother stared down at her 6 year old son, who was dying of terminal leukemia.

Although her heart was filled with sadness,she also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent, she wanted her son to grow up & Fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible. The leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son's dream to come true.

She took her son's hand and asked, "Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up?

Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with Your life?"

Mommy, "I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up."

Mom smiled back and said, "Let's see if we can make your wish come true."

Later that day she went to her local fire Department in Phoenix , Arizona , where she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big As Phoenix .

She explained her son's final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her 6 year old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.

Fireman Bob said, "Look, we can do better than that. If you'll have your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make him an honorary Fireman for the whole day.

He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, Go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if you'll give us his sizes, we'll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat - not a toy -- one-with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots.

They're all manufactured right here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast."

Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck.

Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station.

He was in heaven.

There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day And Billy got to go out on all three calls He rode in the different fire engines, the Paramedic's' van, and even the fire chief's car.

He was also videotaped for the local news program.

Having his dream come true, With all the Love and attention that was lavished Upon him, so deeply touched Billy,That he lived three months longer than any doctor Thought possible.

One night all of his vital signs began to drop Dramatically and the head nurse, who believed In the hospice concept - that no one Should die alone, began to call the family Members to the hospital. Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a Fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and asked if it would Be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital

To be with Billy as he made his transition. The chief replied, "We can do better than that. We'll be there in five minutes.

That there is not a fire? It's the department coming to see one of its finest
Members one more time. And will you open the window to his room?

About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck Arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder up to Billy's third floor open window--------16 fire-fighters climbed up the ladder into Billy's room. With his mother's permission, they hugged him and held him And told him how much they LOVED him.

With his dying breath,Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, "Chief, am I really a fireman now?"

"Billy, you are, and the Head Chief, Jesus, is holding your hand," the chief said.

With those words, Billy smiled and said, "I know, He's been holding my hand all day, and The angels have been singing.."

He closed his eyes one last time.

FRIDAY

Friday is here already. Mr. Sean is coming over this evening for the weekend. If, and I only say if because of the weather, it isn't raining or we don't have horribly bad weather on Saturday, he and I are heading to Bush Gardens for the first trip of the "Summer". If Bush Gardens doesn't work out we'll just back up and punt and find something else interesting either to see or do.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: "Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.” — Augustine of Hippo

Thursday

What a change in the weather! It is comfortable though.

This evening a group from work is getting together for a "Girls Night Out", as it stands we're not sure where we are going but it will be a nice get together. We had a really nice time visiting and getting to know each other better. I'm looking forward to another outing sometime in the future.

I found this nice little surprise in my mailbox this evening. Mrs. Danielle will be Graduating on June 8th at 10 a.m. I thought the ceremony was earlier in the day. I guess I got to find out with everyone else.

Good Luck and Best Wishes!
Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: “Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country.” - Noah Webster

Wednesday

Wonderful sleeping weather last night. Nice breeze this morning. It looks like is going to get hot though for the day. I'm going to leave the a/c on just in case it gets 'stuffy' in the apartment. No need for Tweat & Carla to suffer while I'm gone.

I checked in with Sean this morning, he is feel much better. He still has a stuffy nose, but otherwise okay.

Walter's dropping by work this afternoon to have Dr. Martin check out his front tooth and see what he can offer as a solution to even them up. I don't know if he'll get the work done, but at least he'll know what can be done. I know that he would really like to get them evened, ever since one was chipped it has bothered him. I've got my own cleaning visit on Thursday - I'm taking an early lunch (9 a.m.). Fun, fun...

Walter got to meet the crowd at work. Now he knows why I have so much fun there. He was smiles as he was leaving. He forgot to get his cookies as he left so I'm going to get Connie to fix him a couple in the morning.

I stayed over at work this evening until a little after 7:00 p.m. We were doing some audio recording. I've got some editing to do over the next few days, but it is really some great information.

Walter had dinner with me tonight - I had put some stuff in the crockpot so we ate a late dinner. We had fun discussing his visit to the office and his day in general.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence. - Samuel Johnson

Disturbing News from the Weird, by Chuch Shepherd:

"A Scottish funeral-home director admits, that for years, they've used excess cremation ashes (that won't fit in the urn) to kinda salt the sidewalks around the building when they got icy."

15th Already

Where has the month gone? In fact where has the year gone? It is truly hard to believe that it is already the middle of May, before I know it Summer with be gone and the Fall will be upon us. I did notice the blossoms on the blackberry bushes outside beginning to turn a little - which tells me that it is just about time for our "Blackberry Winter", before we are hit with full blown Summer. I'm just enjoying the cool mornings and evenings on the patio.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: Don't complain because you don't have. Enjoy what you've got.

Monday

I awoke this morning to the sounds of the birds singing at the edge of the woods behind the apartment. No traffic, just the birds. Even now they are carrying on so that the low rumble of traffic is just that a distant sound. The temperature is just over 45-degrees and is wonderfully pleasant. It looks like the forecast is for near 80-degrees. Wonderful weather.

I'm going to get to sleep with the windows open again this evening. Yippee. It is such good sleeping weather.

I put the finishing touches on a couple of advertisements that are going to be running in the local paper. It is so nice to have completed a project and be able to see it 'out there'. I'm looking forward to seeing it in the paper on Wednesday.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” — Theodore Roosevelt

To All The MOMs

Splendid Sunday

What a storm we had during the night! It actually was such a soothing sound. It really made for great sleeping. The temperature drop significantly and is very pleasant. I've even opened the window and door for a while this morning.

Well the morning started off with a little accident. The keyboard drawer dropped off the railing and the guiding rail poked a hole on top of my left foot. I probably should have gone to Patient First and had it stitched up (most likely about 5-6 stitches), but it is Mother's Day and who wants to spend half the day in a waiting room.

After church today, Walter took me out for Thai food at the Siam Paragon. We had a delicious meal as usual. This time however, they shared a sampler of hot spices with him. He kept adding spices to his meal - which took it up to about a level of 10 or 12 from the usual 4 or 5. At one point I was waiting for his head to go POOF! And a nuclear cloud to appear instead. Our running joke now is - POOF!

On to doing the laundry and puttimg my feet up for the rest of the afternoon & evening. Dean brought Sean by for a few minutes this afternoon to drop off a really cute Mother's Day card that sings. What a neat card. They didn't stay too long at all. Sean had phone calls to make and they had places to go.

Mom sent me these photos of the Mother-Daughter Banquet last night:













These are the three that I liked best of the bunch that Mom sent over. I was having such a good time with Miss Faith. She was playing with the silverware and the really cute 'door prize' that she got.

It's hard to believe that Danielle & I have the same hair color. How neat!

Laundry went well this evening - and the weather has been beautiful. It is so nice to have the door and window open and allow the fresh air in. I've parked Tweat out on the patio in her cage. She has really been enjoying the outdoors. Her biggest entertainment is looking at herself in the mirror. Carla has also been hanging out on the patio some, especially if she thinks that anyone is going to look at Tweat. Protect her bird at all costs.

The foot is going to have an ugly scar - but it does kind of look like a waxing crescent moon. Hmmmm.

This evening I spent watching a couple of good movies, Armageddon to name one. Of course, the foot is beginning to feel rotten, so I'll be hitting the Advil again here at any time. Carla got to meet Mary, a friend of Walter's, this evening. Carla really liked her.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: Don't let the day end without expressing your love to your Mom - there may never be another day.

Internet Joke

Customer: "I want to download the Internet. Do I need a bigger hard disk?"

Download the Internet here

Saturday

I've had a busy day so far. Carla and I headed out a little before 9:00 a.m. to get to the Post Office to pick up a package that has been waiting on me for about a week. (It wouldn't fit in the mailbox). Then on to the DMV what a wait just to change my address, although I did go ahead and renew my license which will now not expire until 2013. I also got the address on the Camry changed and my voter registration changed as well. It accomplished a lot, but the wait just to get to a window was terribly long. Next on my journey was a trip to the bank to put some money in to CD's, that way it is out of the way of temptation and will start working for me. I was heading out to Alice's when the Sean called - they had just come through the bank drive thru - so I stopped down the road and visted with them for a short time. Dean had shaved off his mustache. It does make some difference, but it was already light in color and it doesn't make that dramatic of a difference. Funny though - he' had a mustache for as long as I've known him. <~deleted~>....I made my stop by Alice's to pick up a computer disk, and visit for just a little while. While I was just standing there talking to her and the kids I found five four-leaf-clovers. I checked in at the Toyota dealership about getting a state inspection, but they were booked for the day On to the Dollar General Store for a few items then a quick stop at the apartment office (I was checking on the pool passes for the year - they aren't in until Memorial Day. I bet there will be a long line that day.)

I broke down and purchased our tickets to Bush Gardens Europe for the summer. Sean is excited about getting to go. He even is already to head out there next Saturday. Which does look doable, since the car inspection appointment is for 9:30 a.m.

This evening I'm headed to the Mother-Daughter Banquet being put on by the WMF at Richmond Christian School. I invited both Mom & Danielle to go with me, but Danielle is going with her mother-in-law instead. I hope that I'll be able to see her, but I'm not expecting to...her choice.

Well, Danielle did show up and she even brought Miss Faith with her. She and Leslie sat with us. I was able to have a little time playing with the little princess. Here she is walking around the dining area with her 'door prize'. She seemed to really enjoy playing with it.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: “Public opinion sets bounds to every government, and is the real sovereign in every free one.” - James Madison

Friday

Well it is Friday and I've been really busy for the last few days.

I went out with a bunch from work on Wednesday night. We all went down to Havana59 in Shockoe Slip. It was a really neat place. Open air, with ceiling fans, great music and atmosphere. We tried out a few dishes that may be served at a company gathering in June. Delicious grouper and swordfish. The grouper actually could have melted in your mouth.

Later on we were checking out a number of other places around the same area and saw some really strange sights. There was one teenager, turns out she was 17, so drunk that she turned in to a real exhibitionist. Pulling up her top, then her skirt. Not too much later have her "show" she ended up being assalted - some guys busted up her face and stole her purse and got away. I will say Richmond's finest showed up to deal with the situation quite quickly. They were able to get her to the hospital for attention, but she wasn't very cooperative with them even though they were trying to help her. Being silly is one thing, but she pulled out stupid and had a party with it. If it were so disturbing and sad, it could have almost been comical. I feel sorry for her.

Today, we got out right at 5:00 p.m. I spent the time potting a few plants and cleaning off the patio. Carla played out in the grass. She certainly loves to roll in the grass.

I received and interesting "polling" phone call from a Harvard polling group - boy did they get an ear full. Alice was on the other line with me and I'm sure was about to roll over some of the answers that I gave to them. At the end they asked if a reporter from the Washington Post could call me, I told them sure. There are just not may opportunities in life to actually tell a political reporter what you think. Could be fun :)

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: You have a friendly heart and are well admired.

Singing Fish

Jimmy: 'Hey, Mike! How's your new pet fish doing? You told me he was really something special.'

Mike: 'To tell the truth, I'm really disappointed in him. The guy who sold him to me said I could teach him to sing like a bird.'

Jimmy: 'What? Let me get this straight... You bought a fish because you thought you could teach him to sing like a bird?'

Mike: 'Well, yeah. After all, you know, he's a parrot fish.'

Jimmy: 'Now listen, Mike, while you might be able to teach a parrot to sing, you're never going to get anywhere with a parrot fish.'

Mike: 'That's what you think! It just so happens this fish CAN sing. The thing is, he's terribly off-key and it's driving me crazy. Do you know how hard it is to tuna fish?'

Aviation Aptitude

It seems that a young man volunteered for military service during World War II. He had such a high aptitude for aviation that he was sent right to Pensacola skipping boot camp.

The very first day at Pensacola he solos and is the best flier on the base. All they could do was give him his gold wings and assign him immediately to an aircraft carrier in the Pacific.

On his first day aboard he took off and single-handedly shot down 6 Japanese Zeroes. Then climbing up to 20,000 ft. he found 9 more Japanese planes and shot them all down, too.

Noting that his fuel was getting low, he descended, circled the carrier and came in for a perfect landing on the deck. He threw back the canopy, climbed out and jogged over to the captain. Saluting smartly he said, "Well sir, how did I do on my very first day?"

The captain turned around, bowed, and replied, "You make one velly impoltant mistake!"

Wednesday

There is an overcast look to the sky this morning. Carla is still sacked out on the sofa, which looks like an great way to spend a potentially rainy/stormy day.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: Difficulties mastered are opportunities won. - Winston Churchill

This from my fortune cookie: You have a friendly heart and are well admired.

Tuesday

It looks like it is going to be a nice day today. Perhaps I can get the 'roof' on my room this evening and be prepared for the coming rain towards the end of the week.

As most of ya'll know I've been really stressed out and have had seen a counselor regarding all the stress - well...I met with him this evening and it is now no longer necessary for me to continue with the sessions. So that is a good deal. No worries there.

I spoke to Alice earlier in the day an her stranded hubby was on the way back home, the road had been opened and they left. It seems that the storm that trapped them on the Outer Banks is coming back; this time much stronger. I had thought about giving Mom a call, but she and Dad are down at the river with friends for the next few days. I do hope that they have a grand time. Perhaps Mom will come back with some interesting photographs.

This evening Walter & I watched Braveheart a good inspiring movie for the evening.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: "Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." - Charles Schultz

I received my "horoscope" in the email this morning it reads: VIRGO - The One that Waits: Dominant in relationships. Someone loves them right now. Always wants the last word. Caring. Smart. Loud. Loyal. Easy to talk to. Everything you ever wanted. Easy to please. The one and only.

Monday

Here it is Monday. The day went great. Nothing too hectic or frantic.

I took these pictures of the patio this morning. I thought I'd show off the artwork that was created this weekend with my boys. Walter was the master architect and Sean & I did lots of labor.

This evening I found out that Troy (Alice's husband) has been "trapped" on the Outer Banks, near Buxon (the Hatteras Lighthouse). It seems that the ferry's stopped running yesterday around 1:00 p.m.; followed by a section of the road closing just south of the Bodie Island Lighthouse early this morning. All this due to a storm that is brewing off the coast (possibly turning into a tropical storm). He and the fellow that he was with were suppose to be arriving back home today before 3:00 p.m. Hmmm...looks like that trip for the weekend has turned into a much longer trip - possibly an extra couple of days, depending on the road.

Drama, drama, drama.

I tried my hand at creating a video this evening at home. I had accumulated enough photos to give everyone a nice 'tour' of the new place. If you are viewing it around 11 p.m. it may not be available (it takes a little while to process). Hope ya'll enjoy it.
Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: Never argue with a fool - they will drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience. - The Fool's Law

Sunday

We stayed up a bit late last night. Walter brought down his Chronicles of Riddick series of movies and we spent the evening watching them (all in a row).

The day promises to be nice, even with the wind. I can hear the wind chimes playing their merry tune accompanied by the the call of the birds at the edge of the woods. There are a number of Robins hunting for worms in the the shade of the building, as well as a few blackbirds coming in to the scene every now and then.

Sean is sleeping peacefully on the sofa (all the back pillows are in the floor giving him a nice 'twin bed' to sleep on). He even has a hint of a smile on his face.

The biggest 'noise' going on in the apartment is the heater. It groans and rattles so, I'm surprised that it hasn't woken Sean up. That is something that I'm going to try to get fixed. It is just too noisy, perhaps all it will need is some WD-40.

Walter, Sean & I worked on the patio for the majority of the day today. The entire screened area of the patio is free-standing. It is not in anyway attached to the apartment structure. It really looks nice. I'm pleased to have a way to open the door and not have to worry about Carla getting out or anybody else's animal getting in. Particularly the neighborhood cats. There are a couple of loose dogs that come by every now and then to sniff around. It is just going to be a nice, cozy, enjoyable place to sit.

We also took time out to go out and do some target shooting. Sean had a great time. I believe that he, Walter and Dad were trying to out do one another. Well....we all know that the 'Master Marksman' (Dad) would have to show everyone else up. He got a bullseye on his first shot.

The boys finished up the evening watching videos on YouTube.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: In the United States, botanists joke that even the greatest oak was once a little nut.

I've been catching up with my email and ran across this blurb in the Patriot's Post:

Georgia may be on its way to a completely new tax code, courtesy of state House Speaker Glenn Richardson, who proposed legislation this week to completely replace the old code. Currently, Georgia residents pay state and local property tax, estate tax, unemployment insurance and worker’s compensation taxes, business and occupational fees, intangible taxes and insurance taxes. All of that would hit the scrap heap in favor of a flat income tax of 5.75 percent and a matching sales tax. The present income-tax rate is six percent and the sales tax is 4.5 percent. - introduced by Arthur Laffer, economist of the Regan Era

Cinco de Mayo

Wow! What an interesting day. We started out stopping by Sean's house to drop off a few things and pick up his computer. The we moved on to the bank, followed by an excusion into Home Depot.

We started to hit home but Walter caught us and we went out to celebrate Cinco de Mayo at the Mexico restaurant.

The outing turned into various shopping excursions - we had a grand time. The boys were really full of themselves. We finally ended up back home about time the rain began. Sean was happy that he brought the computer over and we got him all connected on the network here and he's been playing WOW for sometime now. As for the patio...We accomplished little of anything, but tomorrow promises to be a more productive day.

We've a new cousin to welcome into the family:

Billy & Carol Parsons- grandparents; granddaughter born around 11:30 on 5/05 weighing in at 7 lb 14 oz and 20 inches long

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: Faith is always at a disadvantage; it is a perpetually defeated thing which survives all conquerors. —G.K. Chesterton