This is an interesting picture. See Natalie in the background just chilling out while all this is going on. Joelle is crying but doing very, VERY good. Doreen's helping her be calm and the nurse is doin' a pretty good job of getting the cast off quickly. Me, I'm just standing aorund takin' pics! :)

Here are the two pins that are now out and on our desk at home. Sort of a reminder. Don't want to keep the stinky cast! :)

Two Weeks and Counting OR Down to One Cast

Hey y'all,

How are ya??!!

It's sure nice to have my wife back. She really enjoyed the MOPS Convention and learned lots of good stuff and was blessed by the musicians they had every night. (Point of Grace headlined the event then they had Erin O'Donnell and another group - don't remember the name) The only complaint she has was they ran the 6,000 attendees ragged, hustling from one seminar or meeting to another going to late at night and up early starting over again. On Sunday after she got home, most of the afternoon she slept, the girls played with their toys and I watched football. Oh yeah! :)

Well - as of Tuesday (Sept 28) it's two weeks until our fall vacation in Colorado for 9 days. (We arrive on Oct 12 and leave Oct 21) Yeeeehaaaawww. I can't wait to get my first altitude headache! :) I can't wait to relax. We've got TONS of things going on, and to just be away from it all will be VERY cool. Hope to play a round or two of golf - to go to Ouray and swim in the hotsprings - maybe visit Telluride again to ride the gondolas (that's so relaxing and peaceful) - to watch a Bronco game - watch a few of my brother-in-law's movies I've not seen Scott - and to just CHILL. Can't wait for the cousins, Brian, Bekah, Emily and Sarah to get to enjoy time with Joelle & Natalie. I can't wait to fly out there. I LOVE flying - so any trip I can fly is enjoyable, even though we've got a layover in Chicago at O'Hare Int'l Airport - which I have heard is hard to get through. Oh well! We're 'a' comin' guys. See ya soon!

Joelle got her 1st cast of on Tuesday. The little trooper did GREAT! She'd been saying the day or two before that she 'can't want her cast off.' That's Joelle'ze for don't. She did great right up until we got out of the car and just before the door to walk into the clinic. She started crying and Doreen calmed her down and we went inside, checked in and they sat down to watch some cartoons. Then we were called back to the 'room.' The nurse walked in and Joelle started crying again and cried the whole time they were cutting through the cast with the saw/vaccuum. (that can't cut through skin) After the cast came off she was fine until the tech walked in to pull the tow pins out of her elbow. More crying as he pulled the pins out. The thing was she cried - but that WAS IT. She didn't fight, flail or scream bloody murder. The tech told us that Joelle was one of the best of 'her' age to have something like this done. She was very brave. He cleaned up her arm and Doreen and Joelle went to x-ray while Natalie and I waited in the room. They came back and Joelle was fine. She was talking and laughing and really seemed to enjoy having her arm free of the big bulky cast. Occassionally her arm would float up to her head without her realizing it - that was hilarious to watch!

She's doing great now and really getting used to being back to normal. Her 2nd cast comes off Friday, Oct 8 - the Friday before we leave for Colorado - so that is a GOOD thing!

Well, that's about all for now!

See ya 'round like a donut!

On Being A Single Dad

My wife has left me...

...for the weekend to attend a MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers Convention). Basically it's just a bunch of moms who get together once a month and have a time of worship, a social time and a time to have the kids babysat and just chill. It's a pretty good deal - anyway, Doreen was invited to one of the National Conventions this group has - that was in Nashville, TN this weekend. So she and 3 other ladies left out Thursday afternoon.

I talked with Doreen this morning and she said that the meeting the night before was awesome and that the musical group, Point of Grace were fantastic in person. We've got two of their CD's and she got 'em autographed. Pretty cool eh?!!

They had a bunch of seminars they were going to attend today and another meeting with another group of singers tonight - so she is really enjoying her time...

...now for me on the other hand :( ...

...just kidding :) - I am enjoying my time with the girls. And for the most part they're being little angels. Though, we're all looking forward to the time Doreen get's back late Sat night though.

My girls are "Mama's" girls at heart, but they're doing all-right with just Dad around.

Although - today was pretty 'hairy' there for a bit.

My in-laws came over to see some pics I took yesterday of the blocks that make the foundation for the studio/apartment we're/they're having built in Chattanooga.

I was actually down there to spend the afternoon at Southern Adventist University representing LifeTalk Radio at a "Meet the Firms" fair. Basically Juniors and Seniors were walking around looking for internships and/or job possibilities after graduation. They had quite a group of businesses represented there and a BUNCH of students came through. I almost had laryngitis at the end of the day from talking so much. Good thing I didn't have to say a word on the hour trip home. Just listen to my Sirius radio and drive. It was a good experience though, especially since it looks like after we move the LifeTalk Radio Network from Vonore, TN to the campus of SAU after the first of the year, I'll be in charge of the 'internship/practicum' program. It'll be good to help students get some quality 'hands-on' experience.

Anyway, I've digressed a bit! :) After the in-laws visited for a bit - by the way, they've been home from 2 weeks - they drive for FedEx Custom Critical an expidited rig. They're doing great and seem to really enjoy what they're doing. They've been there 3 years and just this season were made part of the 'white glove' division. They do some pretty exclusive stuff. Last year when they New Jersey Devils won the Championship in the NHL they hauled 3 pallets of Devils Championship hats the night before the final game was played. I asked why they didn't try to snag a hat or two at the origin - but they passed on that chance. Bummer I say. But anyway, they're headed to FedEx Custom Critical HQ in Green (Akron) OH - to take training to haul explosives and nuclear stuff. WOW.

Doh, that's digression #2! I'm getting bad in my old age! :)

After they visited, i had to swap carseats in vehicles and zip the girls over to a babysitter so I could get to work between 11a and 1p - when I help co-host a live radio program. It's a lot of fun, but it makes my Fridays a nightmare when things are out of the ordinary - like when Doreen's at a convention! :)

So I got to work, tried getting all caught up - and preppin for the show and then afterward doing 2 things I HAD to get done, then getting back and getting the girls and heading home.

Both of them pertained to getting things finalized for an LPFM training session we're having on Monday and Tuesday. LPFM is Low Power FM Radio. We have 5 new stations coming on by the end of October and so 11 people from those 5 stations will be here to learn how to operate a radio station. It's basically a crash course - a cram session - and then most will spend hours with us on the phone once they get back home and get the station on the air. :) Most of us at LifeTalk teach these new people "our" expertise at LifeTalk - so I teach them from 8a to 10a on Tuesday the editing software. They make spots, record stuff in and learn the basics of editing and try to do some 'hands-on' stuff with the software to get comfortable with it... it's a challenge - but fun to teach.

Dog-gone-it - digression # 3! :)

Well, back to my day, the night before, Joelle woke up at 1op and was restless, crying for Mama and needing to go potty and water until 11:30p - so both our sleeping was not as quality as it could have been - so we all took an hour and a half nap. Both that felt so good - I didn't want to get up - but I did, cuz it was time for supper and time to get Joelle up so she'd sleep tonight - of which she's have a struggle actually falling asleep right now! :)

After supper - we went to the park to get some wiggles out. That helped!

Bathtime was a nightmare - can't just throw both of them in one tub and wash 'em down right now cuz Joelle's gotta to have 'bags' on her casts and gotta keep Natalie from pouring water down her arms. So I did 'em separately - Joelle watched Care Bears and I cleaned Natalie, then Natalie watched Veggie Tales while I bathed Joelle in the tub with the bags and then washed her hair in the the kitchen sink.

A good day - a challenging day. Makes me thankful for a spouse to help 'wrangle' our kids. I don't think I could do this single parent stuff too much. I'd have a nervous breakdown. It also gives me great respect for those who end up forced into single parenthood. It's a little different for those who choose it - #1 What in the Heck are you thinking for A- Yourself and B- your kid, it's too much. #2 It's just a HUGE responsibility to be everything to a child.

God knew exactly when he made parents a pair.

Anyway - y'all have a VERY good weekend!

I know people like these! :)

Stupid Quote
New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when asked about the upcoming season:"I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first."

Fact of the Day
Thomas Edison, lightbulb inventor, was afraid of the dark.

Crazy Law
It is illegal for a man to kiss his wife on Sunday in Connecticut.

Dental Medication Hangover

Oh man,

I tell ya - I'm not sure which is worse right now... the headache from having the filling come out of my cavity or the headache from having a Kenworth Parked in my mouth for 45 minutes, with laughing gas (which is not so funny by the way when you're getting shots in the mouth LOL) and having my teeth contorted in odd ways and stuff.

I just hope it'll feel better tomorrow and then no worries about it after that! :)

Doreen left for the Nominating Committee a few mintues ago and just called and asked how fast we usually travel down this particular road? She said 55 right? Frankly - I don't pay attention, I just drive! :) Well, she got pulled over for going 55 in a 35. When the cop asked for her license, registration and insurance she got flustered and a 'bit' emotional finally found it for him. He looked it all over and then let her go with a verbal warning.

Doggone-it, that's gender profiling??? Why couldn't I have had a female cop let me off instead of met getting a $90 ticket? Why, why, WHY????

Well, I'm glad we didn't get smacked cuz out pocketbook couldn't have taken another 'hit' like that one! :)

To Pull or Not to Pull, That is the Question

Get this,

Sunday evening I was flossing like a good boy. As I pulling the floss out from between two teeth, it hooked on a filling I've got and pulled it half-way out.

YUCK.

It didn't hurt, but I felt really funny. I finally got it 'bit' down to where it didn't feel weird, and yesterday morning I called my dentist and got an appointment for this afternoon (Tue) to fix it.

That is about one of the yuckiest feelings I've had. I've been getting really irritating headaches over the last 5 days or so, soooo I'm hoping that it is due to the fact that this filling was starting to come loose.

I guess we'll find out after it's fixed.

Thursday, I've got to go down to the campus of Southern Adventist University near Chattanooga, TN and spend the afternoon at a Job Fair they're having called, "Meet the Firms" to represent LifeTalk Radio.

We don't have any jobs to offer or any other opportunities, but management sees it as good PR to be there to hob-nob. So I gotta spend the day in a suit and a tie talking with soon-to-be college graduates. Hope it's fun.

While I'm at Southern, Doreen is taking off for a weekend at a MOPS (Mothers Of Preschoolers) convention in Nashville, TN. She's going to drop the kids off at a babysitter and I'm going to pick them up as I return home.

Should prove to be and interesting end of the week and weekend! I'll let ya know how it goes.

Can't wait to get to the dentist! Chop, chop!

We're Back On-Line FINALLY

Our computer is back from the hospital and completely healthy and bug free.

THANK HEAVENS.

This weekend was absolutely awful. Every evening I check my e-mail and blog and family blogs to just keep up on everything and I couldn't do that - it was torture. I just ended up wandering around the house looking at things trying to figure out what to do.

I went to bed early EVERY night, in fact every night I got 8 or 9+ hours of sleep. Man that felt great - but I MISSED MY COMPUTER.

One night I wanted to check the weather and the other I wanted to check my Pigskin Pick'em team to see how I was measuring up (I tied with first with my Bro-in law Bro Tim) and I'd sit down at the computer and nothing, NOTHING. AAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

We'll it's back now and I can get back to a NORMAL life. Wheeewwww!

Later y'all!!

Good News

We had a Dr's appointment with the surgeon who put the bones in Joelle's arms back together.

They took x-rays and he says everything is on schedule and looking just fine.

In fact if things continue to progress as quickly and as well as they have then Monday, Sept 27, she'll get her right cast removed and the pins taken out of her elbow.

Can you believe it?

3 weeks to the day from the accident, the broken elbow will be healed and doing just fine, working normally so she can feed herself, get her own drink of water and turn the lights on and off by herself again.

Wow!

I tell ya - these kids heal SUPER FAST!

If I'd have fallen and just cracked bones, I'd be in casts for the next 3 months probably.

Thank God for the quick healing, and the ability of these little ones to bounce back from something like this!

God truly is good!

Have a GREAT weekend!

Ivan & Rain Rain Go Away OR Scardy-Cat Tennessians

Well, Ivan has reached us here in Tennessee. It started raining, a soft drizzle yesterday morning on my way to work at 4:50a. On the way home it turned into a "driving drizzle" but nothing of signifigance. Yesterday evening the wind started to pick up and the rain has become very steady for the last 12 hours. Guess it's supposed to get a little worse and a little heavier today, Friday, but oh well. We haven't had rain in a while, so this isn't all bad. We're supposed to have heavier winds today, but nothing like they had in Atlanta, GA yesterday. A guest we had on one of our live call-in programs said the rain was driving and winds were gusting to 50mph. Wheeeew!

Now, let me tell you about the Scardy-Cat Tennessians we live around. I really enjoy living here. If I can't be in Colorado, I would rank TN in the top 5 of places I'd like to be, but one thing I can't understand about those who live here. ANYTIME bad weather comes through - their is a rush on Bread, Milk & Water at the stores and they start shutting Schools, Activities and the Local Gov't offices down. We've got flood warnings right now because of the rain from Ivan blowing through our area. As Doreen and I watched the Survivor Premier and the Apprentice last night - at the bottom of the screen they started showing a list of schools, gov't offices and activities that are going to be closed or cancelled today due to the weather.

WHAT??????

What in the HECK is that??? It's just RAIN folks! We get it here ALLLLLL THE BLASTED TIME. And sometimes it's EVEN HEAVIER THAN WE'RE PREDICTED TO GET FROM IVAN? Come 'on people get real!!! I tell ya these people are real pansies!

It probably wouldn't bother me that much but every winter we've been here it has shocked the heck out of me when we get a prediction of 2 inches of snow - they practically shut east Tennessee down. A FLIPPIN PREDICTION of 2 inches of snow. NOT ACTUALLY ANY SNOW, JUST A LOUSEY PREDICTION and they practically shut everything down. These people would never make it in Colorado or any of the states North of Kentucky who average a whole heck'of'a lot more snow than that. And MOST of the time, we barely get the 2 inches when predicted. I tell you, it is absoutely ridiculous! Crazy!

Last winter their was a prediciton of snow and so they shut everything down, it was the day we left to spend a week in Central Minnesota with my wife's sister and family. When we got up there 22 hours later they had 9 or 10 inches of snow just laying around, slush on the roads and packed snow on the gravel road back to my sister-in-law's place. I couldn't help but shake my head in amazement at how Tennessians are such cream puffs. Like WOW!

They're stereotyped to be these stout red-necks that can handle pretty much anything, but when it comes to precipitation, especially the white stuff, they're yellow bellied chickens.

My, my, my!

Tisk, tisk, tisk!

See ya!

UNCLE!!!!

I GIVE UP! After battling a week and a half to get some worms and virius off my computer and failing miserably - I finally shut it down, disconnected all the cables and took it into a local computer shop to fix. Man I HATE paying someone else to do it, but I was fighting a losing battle.

It had gotten to the point where I'd get all sorts of warnings that I've got a virus - I'd have to hit the OK button 25+ times for it to go away, and then 3 sec later it'd pop up again. Then I went from having 2 critical problems, to 4 to 6 to 12.

So I know when I'm whipped - I took it in and should be getting it back, virus free, today or tomorrow.

Then I can get back on-line at home so Doreen can enjoy the internet and I can keep connected! :)

It's been a rough two days. Typically, after we put the girls to bed - I'd jump on the computer and check up on the e-mail and stuff and haven't been able to do that. So lately, I've been wandering around the house wondering what to do. Sad - I know! :)

Some PUNS for Your Day

Hope these bring a smile to your face (or maybe a grimmace!) :)

I took a part time job as an opinion poll sampler.

On my very first call, I introduced myself, "Hello, this
is a telephone poll."

The man replied, "Hello. This is a street lamp."

Relief: What a tree does in the spring.

A bill collector knocked on the door of a country debtor.

"Is Fred home?", he asked the woman who answered the door.

"Sorry," the woman replied. "Fred's gone for cotton."

The next day, the collector tried again "Is Fred here today?" "No,
sir", she said, "I'm afraid Fred has gone for cotton."

When he returned the third day he humphed, "I suppose Fred is
gone for cotton again?"

"No," the woman answered solemnly, "Fred died yesterday."

Suspicious that he was being avoided, the collector decided to wait a
Week and investigate the cemetery himself. But sure enough, there
was poor Fred's tombstone, with this inscription:

"Gone, But Not for Cotton."

A college senior took his new girlfriend to a football game.
The Young couple found seats in the crowded stadium
and were watching the action.

A substitute was put into the game, and as he was running
onto the field to take his position, the boy said to his girlfriend,
"Take a good look at that fellow. I expect him to be our
best man next year."

His girlfriend snuggled closer to him and said,

"That's the strangest way I ever heard of for a fellow to propose
to a girl. Regardless of how you said it, I accept!"

An elephant is drinking out of a river when he spots a turtle
asleep on A log. The elephant ambles over and kicks the
unsuspecting turtle clear across the river.

"Why did you do that?" asks a passing giraffe.

"Because I recognized it as the same turtle that took a nip
out of my trunk 47 years ago."

"Wow, what a memory!" says the giraffe.
"Yes," says the elephant. "Turtle recall.

Back in Time OR Like Father, Like Daughter

My family just scanned and sent me a couple of photos from my past to show Joelle, my daughter.

I can't wait to get home this morning and show her these photos from when I was a youngin'.

The 1st photo was from 1976, (Englewood, Colorado) is from a bicycle collision with a friend in a wagon going down hill. We were both going opposite directions on the same sidewalk and both turned into the driveway to avoid running into each other. I t-boned the wagon and flew over the bike, the wagon, my friend and landed on the concrete and broke my left arm. (This was late on a Friday afternoon while my folks were working on a camper-top for our little Toyota Luv Truck. We didn't realize until HOURS later, (supper time) that I was still having intense pain. So we went into the Doc's office, had it x-rayed and set and cast.

The 2nd was from 1982 (Miamisburg, OH) - again on a Friday afternoon. Mom was in baking a cake for the weekend, Dad who was an OR Nurse was called in for an emergency surgery. I was out with a friend jumping a ramp. We were in the middle of the driveway and Dad told us to put it away, we did - he took off to the hospital - and we put the ramp back up and commenced to jumping again. The ramp was the problem though. We had two stacks of house bricks, 3 high stacked side to side. That might have worked for a while, but the really bad part was we were using 2 boards for the ramp. Those two mixed together means big trouble!!! :)

I hit the ramp at high speed, the boards split - I hit the bricks which toppled and stopped the bike, and again - I went flying over the handlebars and landed on my arms and face very akwardly. My right arm was a 'compound fracture.' The bone broke through the skin and my left arm I cracked one bone and broke the other.

Mom, rushed me to the hospital where dad was working. (Who did you leave the girls with ma?) He had to come OUT of surgery (NOT A GOOD THING) and come down to the ER. I had to tell him how it happened. (OOPS) Later that night I had surgery to clean the wound on my right arm and to set them both.

I spent the next few weeks as the 'field goal' at our local school!

This was my first broken arm in 1976.

Here I am in 1982 with two broken arms. I'm jealous cuz today they have colored casts! :)

Super Pooper Mover

Hey how was your day? Thankfully ours was uneventful!!!

We had a lot of responsibilities at church - but that’s nothing compared to this last week. Doreen had to play special music with her father, she on the marimba and he on the piano. It was very pretty. I had Family Time (the 20 minutes between SS and Church) that I vaguely remembered was on my responsibility list on Thursday. So I vamped and came up with some stuff on 9/11, the LTR Sharathon Report, news about where we are in building our Low Power Radio station and then showed the new 10 Commandments Flash Animations from the lifetalk.net website. All in all - I guess it was ok. Then I had congregational prayer. It was a good church service then the food at potluck afterwards was DELICIOUS!

Joelle is doing GREAT! She’s off most her pain medication and moving around - tappin’ her casts together and getting back to being Joelle. We’re sure thankful for that. She had a bunch of her friends at church sign her casts today. Too cute.

This evening Joelle has been complaining about a sore butt. We couldn’t figure out why - then realized she’s not had a bowel movement since Monday, the day before her surgery. That’s not good. So I ran to Wal-mart and picked up some kiddy glycerin suppositories. So we gave her one - she didn’t like it too much, but seemed to do okay with it - then all of a sudden wanted to go home. (We were over at my in-laws, next door) so Natalie stayed with G-ma and Papa. Joelle, Doreen and I came home. About 2 minutes later she started running around the house and crying like crazy - then complaining big time about her backside. Doreen asked her if she wanted to go potty - no was the immediate answer. Then Doreen whipped off her shorts and panties and Joelle bee-lined it for the toilet, as soon as Doreen sat her on the stool - explosion.

Well - needless to say she’s feeling a ‘ton’ (pun intended) better!

Poll: INTERESTING or NOT

There's a site called www.wheresgeorge.com that I visit on a regular basis.

Basically, it was built to track paper money where ever it went when someone put the bill's serial number in it. I originally got a bill marked wheresgeorge after buying a pretzel at the Gatlinburg Aquarium - and I was curious, so I entered it. The bill started in Cincinnati, OH, Nov 3, 2001 and went to Sarasota, FL then over to North Port, FL where it traveled to when I bought that pretzel in Gatlinburg.

So since March two years ago, when I get my hands on cash - I try to mark it wheresgeorge.com and then put the serial number on the site then spend the cash when we need to and it's been interesting some of the hits that have come back.

A one dollar bill I got as part of a Christmas gift in 2002 has now traveled to Benton, KY, St Louis MO and Herculaneum, MO. The last hit on it was June 18 2004 it had traveled 415 miles in 1 year 177 days at an average of .076 miles per day. Cool huh??!!

Another bill I put in Mar 28, 2003 after going to Taco Bell & TCBY after a chiropractor visit before going grocery shopping has been to Morristown, TN, Malden, MA and Danvers, MA was the last hit in Dec 03. It traveled 868 Miles in 250 days averaging 3.5 miles per day.

As of Today, I've put in 587 bills that total $2, 462. 84 of those bills have been 'hit' or had their serial number put into the web site since I entered it.

It's been kinda cool.

I have one question for you though - is this an iteresting thing or something totally stupid and a general waste of time. I've had people I know come down on both sides of this and I'm just curious as to what you think???

INTERESTING or NOT???

Thanks!!!!

Normalcy Returneth

Life is finally starting to settle back into normal. Whatever that may be. I think I've forgotten what a normal life is. This week has been one of extremes and I'm thankful the weekend is here to rest and relax a bit - hopefully! :)

Joelle is doing good. She's getting up and down a lot more - on her own. Yesterday afternoon after the medicine took effect she felt good enough to go crazy kicking a balloon around the living room. I guess her arms started to hurt after about 5 minutes and she was saying, "Owie, owie, owie" and then laid down.

One thing we've noticed is she's a bit 'moody.' One moment she'll be all lovey dovey, the next she'll be shouting at us. We're trying to smooth that out - but it all goes back to her being 3 1/2 and not understanding this whole process. Doreen took some time and explained that the casts will come off in the future - and that wasn't something that even crossed my mind to talk to Joelle about. I knew that, the Dr knew that and just assumed she'd figured it out they'd come off. Doreen knew that and was the only person smart enough to share that 'encouragement' with Joelle. Wheeewww - thankful for Doreen.

The NFL season started last night. Excuse me for a sec...

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwww!!!!"

...I'm back! :) It's sure good to have a 'real' game back. I enjoy all the sports to an extent, but I LOVE the National Football Legue. The games each week make a difference. Not 80+ games in the NBA, 100+ of the NHL and the 170+ of MLB and even the 40+ races of NASCAR. Rediculous. Those leagues have taken it from a game to nothing but a pure money making scheme. It's no wonder so many of them have dipped in quality. Not the NFL. Did you watch Indy at Pats last night. A good hard fought game. Unfortunatly New England came out on top, but still a good game.

My family every year engages in a fun game on ESPN.com called Pigskin Pick'em. We basically pick the teams we think are going to win from week to week and have a lot of fun trying to see who's gonna get the most picks right each season. I unfortunatly lose my first pick with the Patriots beating Indy, but I'll come back - I hope! :) I was just looking through my files in my desk and found this info.

The first year we played the game 2000/2001 - Scott (my bro-in-law) was the champ.
He also won in 2001/2002, beating me by 4 games. In 2002/2003 a new champ emerged by a landslide- Me! :) I guessed 161 right games and my dad came in 2nd with 147 and Scott was a distant 3rd with 128 correct games. Last year, the 2003/2004 season, I again repeated as champ with 156 correct, my bro-in-law with 154 and Mary, his sister-in-law, taking third at 151 correct games.

This season should be a BLAST. Who knows, maybe Scott will win a third championship, I could however threepeat, or maybe a new champ with make his/her presence known. I'll keep ya up-to-date!

For now, I better get some 'real' work done here!

Have a GREAT weekend!

How Labor Day Weekend Went to Heck!!!

Well, I want to share why I’ve not blogged lately. LOTS of stuff going on and not all of it good! J

Sunday we relaxed in the morning, about noon I headed to the fair grounds to help put up a booth for our church and then my family picked me up and we went on down to some property that my in-laws own in Chattanooga (where my job will be moving to in the next 3 to 4 months) and went to see the work that the excavator did last week. Man he cleaned the section up we requested perfectly. LOOKS FANTASTIC.

We then hit our favorite Chinese place with some other friends meeting us there - enjoyed the meal - headed home and crashed.

Monday - labor day - I did labor. I went to work and then got home. Talked with Doreen, played with the girls - took a short nap, then before supper Doreen and I took turns on the treadmill to continue our quest in getting into shape. Doreen went first and while I was exercising - started supper.

I finished up and then went to set the table, Joelle & Natalie were rough-housing in the living room with the couch cushions and we heard screams from there and in the end Joelle was laying on the floor with both arms cocked at angles arms weren’t meant to bend at. Doreen called 911 then hung up when I said we’d take her - then 911 called back and we decided to have the ambulance pick her up.

The long story short of it is, we went to one ER, had x-rays, saw bad news - put the two broken arms in splints - drugged her up, transferred to a childrens’ hospital in Knoxville, stayed overnight Tuesday morning at 7:30am she had surgery to repair the broken right elbow and the both bones broken in her left forearm and an hour later was wheeled back into her room where Doreen and I were waiting.

Later that afternoon, she woke up enough to eat (and keep it down), go potty and the medication would handle the pain, so they released us and we’re home.

Of course - I pretty much missed most of the sharathon. Missed our goal by $20,000 (oh well), and Doreen and I have had a level of stress and worry in our lives we’ve really not experienced before.

Joelle is doing fine now. The pain is slowly ebing away with less medication necessary. She’s getting up and around on her own, learning how to grab things with 2 full arm casts (I’ll try and post a pic later of me at age 12 with two broken arms! I NOW understand what my parents were going through.) and we’re starting to feel normal - as can be - again.

Natalie loves to pet Joelle’s casts. It’s precious.

Here are some photos for your interest.

Thanks for your prayers! :)

She wanted to walk this morning after breakfast and does so with a 'tilt' off to the right cuz of the heavier cast. Tonight she was doing MUCH better and getting up and around and lots of other things.

Here's Sis, checking out the new appendage covers Joelle has.

After getting home - she just rested with her best friend "Chuck 'E Cheese" and watched her new favorite cartoon - The Care Bears. She watched it in the ER and now LOVES them.

Mommy and Daughter snoozing, the first of exhaustion, the second - still pretty much drug induced from the anethesia.

Here's immediately Post Operation with her new Pink and White casts. (The pink is the broken elbow - the Dr says it should be off in 3 weeks - that area heals incredibly fast. Wow)

A closer look at the arms still laying in the splints, but you can see 'odd' lumps where the breaks are.

Joelle at Knoxville's Children's Hospital ER

What this day COULD have been!

Sabbath is supposed to be a DAY of REST! Today, it’s been a day of severe exasperation.

#1 - For the first night in weeks I get 8+ hours of sleep. I wake up and feel like I need another 10. Yucky feeling.

#2 - The girls were both kinda hyped up before we left for church today. I was laying on the bed for 15 minutes before getting dressed and I became the local sidewalk to walk on, play hopscotch on, and to generally scuff around on. No rest there.

#3 - As I’m coming down the hill in the last quarter mile stretch of road before turning up the drive to the church, a cop pulls out behind me and gives me a ticket for 61mph in a 45. It’s 8 freakin’ miles of 45 with nothing around - just to raise their revenue. There is two hills with nothing around and I was just coasting down the second. Turns out our pastor got a ticket in the same location two Sabbath’s ago, and 3 other people in the last three weeks have been ticketed near the same area. Guess they’re crackin’ down. The guy said to me, “well 16 over isn’t as bad as some I’ve tagged going 70 & 80 lately,” as he’s handing me the lousy ticket - thanks for kind words as your stickin’ it to me buddy! Yuck.

Man, it’s been 8 years since my last ticket -and that was on the truck back in ‘96. I was doin’ 65mph in a 55mph in Oregon cuz they’re predjudiced against truckers in that area. Everyone else can run 70 but trucks can only go 55. What a pain in the backside!!! Anyway, I got snagged there and that’s it.

I really HATE that I got this one because it’s gonna end up costing me $90. If I was just going to blow $90 I don’t have - I’d sure as heck would rather spend it somewhere else!!!! I’ll tell you that!!

#4 - Then to top it off, I get nominated to the chairman for the pre-nominating committee for our church. There’s two reasons this sucks, #1 - I’ve got sharathon this week at LifeTalk radio, #2 - We have to help out at the fair booth this week, #3 - It all just always feels like it’s piling up & #4 - I just got a freakin’ ticket not two hours before and REALLY just don’t feel like it! Oh well. At least I can keep MY name off of the worst of the two - Nominating Committee.

At Sabbath school today - I go to Cradle Roll with Doreen and the girls because we’re the leaders! Yeaaaaa! Anyway, we have some visitors there. Turns out they’re from Daytona Beach and left Wednesday night after getting their house boarded up, to get away from Hurricane Frances. They said Hurricane Charlie was rough, so it taught them this time to just split. So that’s what they did.

Can you imagine having to leave your home because of a storm. So Doreen and I have been talking about this - and just about everywhere you go you’ve got some ‘risk’ involved living there. I mean, earthquakes in CA - tornados in the Midwest - floods in Illinois, Hurricanes on the east coast - and I could go on (But I’m not cuz I’m still really annoyed about that ticket! LOL-kinda)

Anyway, we’re hoping to improve the evening. We’ve got some friends coming over to play games and what not. A good way to end a not so good day!

Have a Great Labor Day Weekend! See Ya!

Great Cure for a Cough

I found this on "ihaveacrazywife.com" and laughed and laughed and laughed. So I thought I'd share it with you in hopes you will laugh as hard as I did!

The owner of a drug store walks in to

find a guy leaning heavily against a wall.

The owner asks the clerk, "What's

with that guy over there by the wall?"

The clerk goes, "Well, he came in here this

morning to get something for his cough.
"I couldn't find the cough syrup, so

I gave him an entire bottle of laxative."

The owner goes, "You idiot! You can't

treat a cough with a bottle of laxatives!"

The clerk goes, "Of course you can!

Look at him; he's afraid to cough."

Worms Eatin' Me Up

Man 'o man! I'm going to put one more day into trying to fix our computer, then if I fail will call "uncle" and take the CPU in to be fixed.

Yesterday did my work thing, then headed home to spend a few minutes with my 3 girls, but my oldest daughter had gotten busted for busting something, so she was put down for a nap. I played with my youngest for a moment or two then talked with Doreen. After I changed my clothes I headed 1.1 mile away to a friend from church who needed help hauling stuff out of the basement for a yard sale today.

Got done with that and headed home for supper then a trip to the grocery store. Doreen told me our computer was fine off-line but when she logged on, it was like it's on super slow motion. After we got back from Wal-mart we simultaneously put the groceries away, emptied the dishwasher and gave the girls baths (divide and conquer is our motto), had worship and put them to bed.

I sat down at the computer and didn't realize I'd finally decide to give up about 1am. But that's what happened. I spent hours on the phone with tech support for Bellsouth (our ISP) and Microsoft's Virus division.

Turns out, talking with Bellsouth we've got a worm. So I call Microsoft and finally can get logged on to a site and do an online scan to find out we've got 3 worms. I clean them all, download window's updates and patches and scan and clean and open and close and do all that stuff and STILL my computer is slower than a Commodore 64 I used in 7th grade. Aye carumba.

When I get home this afternoon - I'll take a short power nap cuz I'm going on 3 hours of sleep - then call tech support again - give 'em my case number and start from square one.

If I ever catch the guy who made these worms, I'm gonna make him eat a gallon of earthworms! :) Well - that's what I'd like to do.

Gotta get back to work!

Later alligators! :)

Final 3rd of 2004

Can you believe today is the beginning of the final 3rd of this year 2004? You remember that most of the prognosticators out there had a hard time seein that we'd get past Y2K. Now, we're well past that and zoomin' on.

Good thing is the 'holiday' season is right in front of us. Lots of good times to look forward to with family, time off work (even though I really enjoy - I gotta get away), my vacation to Colorado the 2nd week of Oct, and the NFL season starts in what, 9 days! Yeeeeee haaaawwwwww!

I love fall! :)

Enjoy the rest of your 'this' year!

Tensions

You know, most everything around us has these 'tensions' that pretty much keep the playing field even. You know like the 'tension' between God and the Devil. The good thing is that one day the devil's cord is gonna snap and he's gonna lose - but that's not what got me to thinking about this.

A friend told me at work yesterday that his DVD/VCR player died on Monday and his warranty runs out today (Wed.) so he had to make sure to get it back to the store, or where ever he got it from yesterday (Tue) so he could either get it fixed under warranty or replaced so he wouldn't have to buy a new one.

Amazing - do they set those things up to die a day or two after the warranty runs out??

This whole computer virus things that's been really chappin' my cookies lately is another tension. Who's out there creating @#$#@ bugs? Is it the anti-virus people so users have to buy latest version of their software or a monthly subscription to catch ALL the new viruses that are floating around in cyberspace? Hummmmm?

How about the companies that make the radars for the Police - are they related to the ones that make the radar detectors? Huuummm? Do they keep coming out with new radar freq's so radar detector user has to buy a new one to try and keep from getting tagged? Hum?

We've got some friends that a while back bought a new Wirlpool Washer and Dryer set and the washer died. The tech that came out to fix it said it' d be cheaper to buy and good used one - plus it'll last a LOT longer.

You know - they just don't make things like they used to - or they make them 'disposable' so you have to keep replacing them.

Sad - sad - sad, and just plain annoying!

40 & Countin

I want to Say "Congratulations" to my Mom and Dad! Monday was their 40th anniversary of the day they said, "I do." Boy a lot has happened in 40 years hasn't it??!! Especially since I've been around 34 of those years and my twin sisters 31. Wow! You know, as I was growing up it seemed to take SOOOO long - but now I'm pretty much 'growed-up' it seems like it was a pretty short time.

Y'all sure did a LOT for me in that short period of time you had. We're connect to a church, you pretty much kept me out of trouble - except the minor house rule violations, you've given me a good base to raise my girls from and now you're wonderful grandparents.

Boy time has sure zipped by. 40 years. It's a good goal for Doreen and I and my girls to strive for. Thanks for leading the way y'all.

WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH. Hope you had a VERY happy Anniversary!



My Folks Chillin!

Today - Addition

Forgot to mention yesterday afternoon, Joelle, Natalie and I went out to pick some tomatoes off our plant. We picked 20 tomatoes. Most of them tennis ball size and bigger. Of course Natalie had to pick one she could reach and it was golf ball size and very green - but it was CUTE! We got 4 bell peppers of our two pepper plants as well. That makes 27 tomatoes in the last 3 days we've pulled off our plant. YUMMY!

Speaking of food, I caught this story this morning and just loved it. A burrito over a mile and a half long!

Yummy! :)


Big Burrito


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=816&e=4&u=/ap/20040831/ap_on_fe_st/big_burrito

Enjoy!