Some Thoughts for Your Day

Some of these I've seen before and others I've not. I pretty much got a chuckle out of 'em all though. Hope you get a kick out of them too!

Have a GREAT weekend!

Birds of a feather flock together... and then crap on your just washed car.

A penny saved is a government oversight.

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid, the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.He who hesitates is probably right.

Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are " XL."

If you think there is good in everybody, you haven't met everybody.

If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.

There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt.

Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words "The" and "IRS" together it spells "Theirs."

Doreen took the girls Blueberry picking this last week. Yummmmmy! Here's Joelle and her friend Jannah picking a blueberry bush clean!

Here's Natalie concentrating so she can pick that perfect blueberry. Judging from the taste of them - she did PERFECT!!! :)

Now, I'm not sure if more blueberrys got eaten or picked for bringing home that day. I'll have to admit from my own personal experience - (Picking Bing cherries in Michigan when I was little) that more got picked and eaten than brought home!

Here's me gettin' all ready to 'blast' some nasty weeds that have grown up that a regular weed-wacker string can't take down. Look at that blade on that thing. yowza!

Kids say the funniest things

Hey y'all,

It's been a while - just haven't felt like posting, or been to busy to care! :) I look at each of my friends and family blogs each day, and then take a look at my unchanged site and say to myself, "Time to post." "Time, when do I have time?"

Well - I'm makin' time right now! :)

Before I start, just a quickie recognition of thanks to my wife who writes these things down on our calendar so we can remember them when we're old and can't remember anything! :)

My kids, as well as 99% of them out there, sure say some of the funniest things...

At our 4th of July picknic in the park, I took Natalie to go the restroom - she had to go poopie. Of course with thousands of people out there, we had to wait in a short line. (Isn't it amazing how much shorter the men's restroom lines are than the women - ALWAYS!!! ***GRIN***) By the time we got in and got her sat down - you guessed it - she didn't have to go anymore. So when we got back Natalie walked up to Doreen and said, "Mommy, my butt didn't work in the potty!"

Waaaa ha, ha, ha, ha! :)

The other day I was squatting in the door way of the girls room helping Natalie put her shoes on. Joelle wanted to shut the door for some reason or other, so she said to me, "Scootch your big butt out of the way daddy, please."

Hooooooo ho, ho, ho, ho! :)

One afternoon while the family was hanging out in the living room, Natalie's tummy was making some noises. She said, "Did you hear someone laughing in my tummy?"

He, he, he!

Kids say the funniest things! :)

Have a GREAT day!

Friends OR 12 Years OR A Converted Pickup

Hey y'all! How are ya?!!

We're doing good.

A great weekend is the responsibility of that!

Friday afternoon Iggy got converted. It's now a Tennessian - although as you can see in the pictures - it's still a Coloradian at heart! :) It's always good to get stuff done. And registering a vehicle is not always the most fun - but it went relatively smoothly!

It was the weekend of friends. Some old, some new, all friends. Friday Doreen got to visit, and I got to meet, a classmate that Doreen was in 3rd grade with here in TN. It was fun watching them catch up on 20 years of living. (She also ran into another elementary pal at church - so I'm sure they'll be spendin gsome time together soon too!)

Sabbath we went to 1st church, then Sabbath School. In between the two - I ran home to put the lasagna in the oven and turn on the time bake - we had forgotten to do to that before we left! OOps!

After 'church' we ran home and changed and then 6 more adults and 3 more kids showed up and we had a wonderful meal talking time. It was great. We spent a bit of time outside so the kids could expend some energy and the adults kept right on 'a talkin! :) Most every one left, but one couple and we stayed up till almost 12:30am just talking. It was good - very good!

Sunday morning we did some little piddly things around the house, ran a couple of errands and small things. Watched Tiger Woods win the British Open and an update on Tour de France.

That evening some old college pals arrived from visiting family in S Georgia. They were on their way home to N. central Arkansas and stopped by for a quickie visit and a place to bunk for the night. Some other college pals who live here came over and we had a grand old time catching up. Their was 8 adults and 11 kids in our house. Some chaos - but lots of talk and laughter! :) Everyone left about midnight and we all crashed.

They left Monday morning - after I had gone to work. I got of work a little early cuz yesterday was a very special day - Doreen and I have been married for 12 years. Oooooohhhh weeeeee that's a long time. And that is good!

So - since we'd had lots of friends over and lots and lots of fun, Doreen, the girls and I went to McD's for our anniversary. (It was raining cats and dogs out). We ate at home, but got a couple of McFlurries (M&M and Oreo) and a Hot fudge and caramel Sundae and a couple of orders of french fries to chase the ice cream down. Then the girls played on the indoor playplace a ton while Doreen and I sat and talked and watched. It was a good anniversary.

We stopped and rented a video to watch to celebrate as well - "In Good Company." But when I opened the DVD case, inside was a movie called "Cursed." Doh! Now I'll ALWAYS check before walking out the door!!!! So, we had no interest in that flick - so I ran it back, they were out of our 1 st choice so we ended up watching "National Treasure." Which turned out to be a VERY good movie!

All in all it was a very, VERY good weekend. The only thing wrong with it - it ended!

Have a great week!

Iggy has been converted. (See the license plate)...

...but you'll notice that Iggy still sports the colors of it's home-state with lots of pride!

Some old friends and families.

These are the offspring of 4 families that went to Southwestern Adventist University together. (5 of us were communication majors) Wow, that's a LOT of production! :)

Catching up with some Very good friends - the Leukerts.

Our kids and our friends kids. (L to R - Michael, Joelle, Matthew, Natalie & Greta)

Joelle & Daddy watching the British Open, wishin' we were watchin the Broncos play! :)

A daddy and a Natalie cuddlin on an afternoon!

Cool Sportz Stuff

Got lots of cool sports stuff going on right now that is lots of fun to watch.

- The Broncos are doing some pre-pre season stuff that is interesting to follow, gearing up for the season.

- The Tour de France is 2/3rds of the way through and Lance Armstrong is in the lead. Awesome. I only wish I could ride a bike a hundered miles. They go over 2300 in the time it probably would take me to 50! Waaa ha, ha, ha! It's awesome to watch the stragety, the strength and the endurance to win a Tour de France. It's amazing he's won 6 straight with a good chance to win his 7th.

- A PGA Major, the British Open is half way through and Tiger's got a 4 shot lead. He's got 10 majors under his belt chasing the record, Jack Nicklaus aka the Golden Bear, for 19. This also happened to be Nicklaus' last PGA event. A golfing icon is moving on. Touching.

- The MLB played their All Star game this week. Fun to watch. The American League hitters are just awesome.

- Finally, NASCAR is closing in on the race for the championship. My guy, #24 is having his worst season ever. Six of the last seven races he's finished 30th or worse. Ouch! Still enjoy watching cars run over 100mph around a track.

Sports are a welcome distraction from some of the more unenjoyable things of life!

Have a GREAT weekend!

Universal Coolness Number

F37723277J

Can you figure out why this serial number from a one dollar bill got flagged in wheresgeorge when I entered it?

It has a Universal Coolness Index of 97.3%

What's a Universal Coolness Index?

The Universal Coolness Index (UCI) is a formula that evaluates each number

according to its interesting properties. The UCI has a maximum of 100.0, and

its minimum depends on the number of properties being tested. Currently, the

lowest UCI on record is under 12.5%. A number cannot score 0% on the UCI

because, by definition, it becomes cool as soon as it is identified as the

"least cool" number.

Cool Numbers currently defines six tiers of coolness. The tier

that a particular number falls into depends on its UCI score.

Extremely cool (Hall of Fame material): 99% or higher.
Very cool (Gallery material): 95.0% - 98.9%
Cool: 90% - 94.9%
Almost cool: 75% - 89.9%
So-so: 50.0% - 74.9%
Definitely uncool: 49.9% or lower.

So here's why this bill scored with a very cool score.

- This bill contains a 4-of-a-kind and 2 pairs. Only 0.15% of 8-digit numbers have this combination.
- This bill has 3 unique digits. In 0.71% of 8-digit numbers, there are 3 or fewer unique digits.
- This bill contains 2 pairs together. Only 10% of 8-digit numbers have this combination.

Awesome!

To look more into this go to coolnumbers.

Feast OR Famine

It's amazing how things happen in 'bunches.'

"Famine" We'll have weekends when no one's around to call, no one calls us etc.

"Feast" Well, this weekend we've got an elementary friend of Doreen visiting on Friday. Sabbath we're having 3 families (6 adults, 3 kids) over for lunch and somesort of afternoon activity. Sunday night old college chums will be visiting from Arkansas and staying the night.

I've got a good feeling it's gonna be a good weekend!

"Famine" No extra vehicle maintance in quite a while.

"Feast" The truck needs the carburetor rebuilt. The altinator in the car dies and has to be replaced. To get the truck to pass emissions inspection it has to have a catalytic converter installed. All those add up to big bucks! :)

"Famine" My boss is around for this week.

"Feast" He's been gone for the last two weeks, home a week and a half, then gone for another two weeks. (I've gotten more done in the LifeTalk video department in the time he's been gone, than in the past 3 months. I hate red tape & micromanaging!!!)

Feast or famine - interesting!! :)

Sabbath went went to some friend's house to see their 8 puppies. They're like a Scottland Sheepdog type animal. Joelle just jumped right in and loved on them all over the place. Natalie took a bit of warming up to 'em.

Joelle just LOVES any animal. She absolutely LOVED holding these puppies. Precious!

Check out that look of concentration. She wanted to hold one so bad, but at the same time really didn't want to. I got her to 'semi' hold this one. Towards the end of the day she was holding one on her own. Cute CUTE!

Joelle trying out a 'real' bike! :)

Downton Chattanooga has been in a period of rebuilding and beautifying. They've added some fountains for the kids to play in, parks, beautiful walkways and whatnot. Sunday we went for a sightseeing tour to see all the pretty, prettying they've done. It is very, VERY nice!

A winding pathway up the hills was beautifully decorated with flowers. Of course both girls beat Doreen and I to the top! :)

A local artist got some pieces of driftwood out of the Chattanooga River and made a 'horse.' The girls loved it!

Here's my girls on a glass bridge staying dry under their umbrellas.

Waiting...

It seems like lately, we're doing a lot of waiting. Waiting for answers and activity on a lot of things in our lives. Is "just wait" not one of the hardest answers to get from a question to God? A 'yes' or 'no' is pretty definite. But a just wait - is really hard to handle, especially right now! :)

We're waiting...

...For our Illinois property payoff,
...For our Vonore, TN property to sell,
...For things to pan out with this job or get a new one,
...For things to come together so we can build OUR home.

So for now, we're just waiting!!! :)

Favorite Movie Music

Last night Doreen and I watched, "Love Actually." It's a pretty good little flick. If they could have not had so much language in it - it'd been a bunch better! :)

Anyway, in the extras - they talked a LOT about the music of the movie. It had some good stuff in it and it just amazed me how much they put in to get the right music for the background. The right music can really, REALLY enhance the pictures, and the wrong choice just kills the scene.

It took me back to the first movie in which I actually noticed the 'music.' Iron Eagle. Man the music in that flick is just awesome.

Other movies that I really, REALLY enjoyed the music are...

-Top Gun
-Dances with Wolves (The score is amazing in this one)
-Romy & Michelle (Sorry, I'm an 80's music fan!! He, he, he)

So I'd be interested in hearing what movie's music really resounded with you???

My daughters re-enacting Gene Kelly in "I'm Singing in the Rain." Toooooo cute!

I took one afternoon and waxed Iggy the truck down. Sure helped it look a little better. Still needs a paint job and lots of other body work - but now I can stand to drive it! :) HE, he, he! Course my girls LOVE to ride Iggy's tailgate!

One of the days I took off after being gone two weeks for work was to take the family to Dollywood. After we got there, we realized it was Kids Fest time. So my girls fell in love with the Pink Panther and Clifford. It was a very good day!

I tried not to be too much of a 'back-seat' driver when Joelle drove me around Dollywood! She actually did a pretty good job. :)

Natalie taking her mom for a spin in a '57 Chevy! :)

This is just about the perfect way to spend an afternoon!!!

My inlaws are having a storage shed/garage built here on the property in Chattanooga. It's a perfect place for a couple of little girls to ride their bikes!

I'm working with Natalie so she starts learning how to ride her bike.

At our 4th of July picnic with family, we were at a park that had a HUGE fountain in it that all the kids - and those who wanted to - could run through and get thoroughly soaked and cooled down. (Joelle's standing on top of a turtle that blows water out it's mouth!) It was a fun day!

Wet Little One... Here's Natalie playing in the same fountain just having a ball.

Star Trek Personality Test

Got this from My Bro-in-law.

Star Trek Personality Test.

Here are my results...

Star Trek Personality Test Results: ESTP

This test says you are an ESTP (Extrovert, Sensor, Thinker, Perceiver).* In Star Trek, you share a basic personality configuration with the characters of Geordi La Forge, Montgomery Scott, and Tasha Yar.


Qualities

People like you are generally highly observant and totally present in the moment. You're active and adventurous, so you can sometimes be impulsive, even when confronted with danger. You're not interested in regrets if your impulsiveness causes you to make an error, however. You're a free spirit, even though you may strike others as conventional.

You enjoy taking risks and tend to come down very hard on yourself for any perceived weakness.

You're very adept socially and easily make friends, especially when people are honest with you. You're talkative and adaptive to people and situations, though you prefer to be casual. You can be logical and calm, but you love to have fun. You've got a great sense of humor, and you're charming whenever you want to be.

You're also quite literal, a practical person who makes good use of your intense curiosity.

Goals


Your primary goal in life is the freedom to have fun and to fully experience life in the here and now. Your reward is to be surrounded by people who share your sense of risk and see the humor in life's little situations. You love to play with your children, or with others who are able to relax and be "big kids" themselves.

Work

You must have freedom to act on your impulses at work. You probably do better in jobs that do not immediately serve the public, as you tend to get irritated and even hostile with others when you're under stress. You're quite social, but you can fall out of step with others' feelings if you're not careful.

Relationships

As long as things are casual, you can "go with the flow." But when something is important to you, you're willing, even eager for an argument. It is vital that your mate be able enjoy the occasional heated debate, but beware of the partner who turns all conversations into arguments. You like to experience things fully, including the dramatic and unpleasant. You also get easily bored, though when a relationship is new, you tend to be generous to a fault.

Jobs

Good careers for your type include emergency medical technician, corrections officer, security chief, civil engineer, chief engineer, marine biologist, and developer of electronic games.

Moving

Doreen and some friends were talking yesterday about the number of times they've moved in their lifetimes. So I got to thinking about the number of times I've moved.

The magic number - from the ones I can remember was 19 times.

Englewood to KY
KY to MI
Once in MI
MI to OH
OH to Montrose, CO (Gunnison rd)
Gunnison Rd to Indian Rd
Indian Rd to Lucas Rd
Lucas rd to 58.50 Rd
Moved to Campion Academy Dorm
CO to TX
TX to IL
IL apt 1 to Apt 2
IL Apt 2 to Knob Prairie Rd
IL to Kenworth Truck
Truck to Yakima, WA
Wa to TN Apt 1
TN Apt 1 to TN Apt 2
TN Apt 2 to Twelve Oaks
Twelve Oaks to Chattanooga

My wife has moved 21 times in her life.

How about you? How many times have you uprooted and gone somewhere else??