What Kinda Car???

You Should Drive a Saturn Sky

You're sleek and smooth, and you need a car to match your hot persona. Besides, sometimes you want your top up - and sometimes you want it down.

What 2007 Car Should You Drive?

I can go for that!!! :)

Contract

Ok - so today, we visited a home For Sale By Owner not once, not twice, but three times.

At 10a we went to take our first peek inside the house and assess whether we liked it or not. We liked it, so we called Doreen's folks, (Who are still in town by the way because their truck keeps leaking Anti-freeze fluid - they're ready to get back to work now that Sandra has her medical release.) to see if they'd come down and give us an unbiased assessment.

So at mid afternoon, they arrive and we go for our second walk-through, warming up to the idea of the place and batting around some ideas of some things we'd like to do to it before we move in, and then make an offer.

Early afternoon, they flat out accept our offer.

Late afternoon, after a quick meal at El Matador, where the waiters sang "Happy B-day " to Larry (the big 60)and put a silly looking sumbrero on his head and some whipcream on his nose, He, he, he - by the way, and then we all chowed down on the huge sopapilla with honey, cinnamon, whipped cream, chocolate dribbles and a huge 'blob' of vanilla ice cream in the center, we ran back home picked up a checkbook, the out to the house to sign a contract on the place and leave some earnest money and all. (Had to get it done because they had it listed in the newspaper this weekend and we didn't want them 'giving' it away.)

As we left, the owner's wife said, "We're glad you came back by because now when people call on the place, we can say it's 'under contract' and won't get an offer for $$$'s (She mentioned the full price number.) Sounded to me like she wanted us to have it. That's kinda cool.

Anyway - Monday we finalize the whole process with our mortgage company and try to get the deal sealed!!!

This 2nd week of 3rd trips at work is kinda wearing me out. I got back this morning and crawled into bed at 5am. The last two drops my body felt like a rookie again cuz it was feeling sore. That's just because I'm tossing/catching and extra load for the week, that's an extra 40,000+ pounds of snack cakes. WOW!!!

Sure glad the weekend and Sabbath is here. Time to rest!!! :)

Have a GREAT weekend!

Steve-ology

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Steve!

1. If you break Steve, you will get seven years of bad luck!
2. Steveology is the study of Steve.
3. Wearing headphones for an hour will increase the amount of Steve in your ear 700 times.
4. Steve can sleep for three and a half years.
5. Originally, Steve could not fly!
6. In his entire life, Steve will produce only a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey.
7. The National Heart Foundation recommends eating Steve at least three times a week!
8. The eye of an ostrich is bigger than Steve.
9. More than one million stray dogs and half a million stray cats live in Steve!
10. Twenty-eight percent of Microsoft's employees are Steve.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Adventure Angels

For the Adventurers Sabbath, the Little Lambs told the children's story. Of course it was about Daniel and the Lions Den. Jannah (L) and Joelle were the Angels who were protecting Daniel (Ben) and keeping the lions mouths shut. They did a GREAT job!!!

Oh My Goodness!!!

This weekend we kid-sat for some friends. Joelle's friend brought her 'Princess Dress' and they pretty much played dress up all weekend. Of course they swapped dresses.

When Joelle put this 'white' dress and 'crown' with the 'veil' thingy on, I couldn't help but think, "Dang, she's not supposed to be getting married for at least 20 more years. What is this???"

I had to take this photo, cuz I've got a feeling that in approximately 20 years, (and preferably give another 5 - he, he) she'll have something similar on and I'll bring out this photo and all the memories that it will bring up! Hopefully it'll be a very, VERY good experience! :)

Girls

Here's my girls getting into video games. I think the were playing Galaxian together. One was steering the spaceship and the other was pushing the fire button! Cute!





Joelle & Natalie are very patiently waiting for breakfast, of course being extremely cute!!!

Thievery

A BUNCH of my stuff has been stolen lately...

...by my wife. Boy, it's gonna be bad when my girls get older.

Doreen, for Christmas, bought me this cool Geocaching long sleeve T-shirt. It's black with a silver logo on the front and silver www.geocaching.com down the left arm.

I've worn it, maybe twice since I've gotten it. She's wore 8 to 10 times. Everytime I go to get it, it's dirty or she's got it on. Ayi ayi ayi!

Then in a Bubbie box, she sent a tan colored light jacket. So I hung it up on the coat rack to use occassionally, and it's been nabbed. In fact, she had the audacity to take it off me after I'd put it on the other day so she could wear it. Ouch!

And finally, today, she was going to school and decided to leave me the car and she took my pick-up. (Although I warned her not to hit anyone else with it!!! *grin*) Oh man. She's stealin it all...

...especially my heart! :)

:)

Family Day

What a good day to spend a Monday.

Today we looked at 5 homes. One we loved, turns out, already had the beginnings of a contract on it. (We're hoping that the contract falls through, then we'll snap it up!) 3 of them were, well, junk!!! Really awful. One was great, except to, TOO small.

We ran some other errands, shopping, etc and then came home and pretty much all afternoon, my girls and I played. It was very, VERY nice.

I gave them a bath, getting them ready for bed, Doreen did some studying, then worship and beddy bye for our two precious girls.

Doreen and I talked and other things, then watched one of what is becoming quickly one of our favorite showes, How I Met Your Mother. (Yeah Scott, just catch it when it comes out on DVD, I think you'll really like it!)
Then we flipped in Four Feathers from . It was a very, VERY good movie. Both of us HATE movies that end bad, and the whole way through Doreen said, "He's gonna die - isn't he." Of course neither of us knew, cuz we hadn't seen it - but I ended up really, really liking it!

Oh yeah - work? I was on 'stand-by' (on Call.) I was scheduled to fill in for any drivers that called in sick or other emergencies that wouldn't allow them to make it to work to take the trip. But, luckily - I wasn't needed. After running 3 trips last week - an extra day at home this week is very nice. That and I get to take care of the girls tomorrow while Doreen's at school. I'm gonna try and plan an interesting day for us!

Now I'm done watching all the extra features on the movie, (And I'm glad this one did. The last one we watched "Must Love Dogs" had zilch! That is just wrong!!! What is with that? Are they just waiting to come out with the special edition, deluxe edition, collectors edition to put all that stuff on. Aye yai, yai!!! What a rip of - but I digress...) surfing the web and blogging. So since it's about 1 am eastern, I'm gonna crash!!! :)

Boooo Hoooo Hoooo

Today, the Broncos lost. Actually they got beat, and beat soundly. The Steelers offense was just too much for the defense to handle and the Steelers defense was just too much for the Broncos offense. I didn't get to watch the game. We finished unloading in Chilhowie, VA at 2:30 pm and it's about 4 1/2 hours home from there. So I listened to it on my Sirius - while I was glad to listen to it, it's just not the same as watching it.

As I listened to the game, I had 'flashbacks' to the late 80's when the Broncos made it to the Superbowl 3 times and lost all three of them. Good in regular season and even ok in the playoffs, but in the end just got man-handled by a better team.

Well - Pittsburg is my choice on who I hope will win the Superbowl. Owner Rooney and Coach Cower deserve one!

Hope y'all had a great weekend.

Now, have a GREAT week!!! :)

Comings and Goings

Hey - did y'all have a good week? Aren't ya glad it's over? I am, I really, really am!

In an effort to get a few extra dollars to catch our budget up in a couple of areas, I took a 3rd trip this week. So I left Sat night, home Sun night, Left Tue am home Wed am, left Wed at midnight and home this afternoon. So even though I worked extra, I was still home with the family, Sat, Mon, Wed and Fri. That's much, MUCH better than my old job.

I figured it up as I was driving back to TN this morning at 4:30a. (And man, that is a tough hour or two to drive in the day.) This week I handled over 120,000 pounds of sweet yummies. Dude, that is a LOT of cases and I touched every one of them!

So the owners of the house we made and offer on countered, and tomorrow night after sundown, we'll counter the counter and keep negotiating until hopefully we can strike a deal. A couple of things may be happening in the near future that it would be EXTREMELY helpful to be in our own home - but we'll see how things progress. Please keep praying for us!

Well, the "battle" for the laptop has begun. :)I told Doreen I planned to lay in bed and blog tonight, and she said "Hey - that's my laptop." So I kinda put on a guilt trip saying, "I haven't been able to purchase my Ipod yet." It worked (probably the only time. he, he, he) She's at the desk on the compter and I'm lounging in bed typing this post up. As soon as I'm done, she can have it though!!! It technically IS her laptop!

Hey, have you ever used your cell phone as a flashlight? I have a couple of times in the last couple of days. We were looking at a house with a realtor and the girls had run off with the flashlight I brought along. So I whip out my phone, flip it open and the screen put off enough light I could see what I was straining to see before. Then last night in the bunk of the truck, I was wanting to look at the a/c-heat control panel to make an adjustment, but not wanting to flip on the HUGE light and blind myself. So I grab my phone, flip it open and boom - I can see just fine, make the adjustment and quickly fall back to sleep. Cool idea eh??!! :)

So as I was driving early, early this morning, I was listening to the 80's music channel on my Sirius Satellite Radio. On comes Michael Jackson's song from 1984, "Thriller" and it brings to mind a crazy memory. We were living in Montrose, CO on Gunnison Rd. We'd all (My sisters and I) heard the song and liked it, yet it kinda freaked us out just a tad. I mean, Vincent Price's laugh at the end is just menacing. So, our folks went out for the evening and we were to get ready for bed and the actually go to bed. Well, like usual we didn't obey. We flipped on the tube and watched for a bit, then flipped it off and turned the radio on. After it got dark, each of us in turn called the local radio station and asked the DJ to play, 'Thriller.' He was kinda annoyed we all called - but ended up playing it. I remember the three of us dancing around like goons in the living room as the song played. We laughed with Vincent Price, then went to bed.

Strange how a song can trigger a memory from long ago like that eh??!! :)

This weekend is it. The NFL Conference Championship games. Goooooooo Broncos! :)

Well - my eyes are about as heavy as bowling balls, gotta get some quality sleep before I head out again tomorrow (Sat)night!

Construction or Previously Exsiting

We need to move out of my in-laws place soon and into our own home.

So, we're in the 'gathering' information stage. Do we build or do we buy?

We've got 1.1 acre in the same subdivision of my in-laws and we own it free and clear.

The problem with construction is the cost of a driveway across a pretty big ditch and the probable over-runs of the bids of the sub-contractors. Plus the headache of dealing with the mortgage company on the construction loan and their requirements, then rolling it over into a permanent home loan.

The pro to construction is, we get a new home, built to our specs, in a great location to the girls babysitter and eventual school, Doreen's school, our church and my work.

The con with buying is the price range we have to look for requires us to look at kind of older homes. The two we looked at lately need quite a bit of work to bring it up to our standards etc. We're having a bit of trouble finding one in a good location to schools, church, and work.

The pro is it keeps life much more simple. Once we find one, the move will be pretty quick. And hopefully we can find one in a good location.

What to do, what to do!!!

Well - we'll gather info, look at homes, get bids on all the work and then decide I guess! :)

Pray for us!

Back to School

Yesterday was Doreen's first day back to school, in like, 12 years! Wheeewww - can't believe its been that long since we were in school.

In our long-term planning, Doreen has been thinking about a part-time job for once the girls begin school themselves.

She was looking at Medical Technologist jobs, her previous degree, and not sure she wants to get back into that line of work. She didn't thoroughly enjoy the job before, plus the hours that are available for a Med Tech really don't work into that plan. So she started looking for something else to do. She decided on becoming a Dental Hygentist. Good pay, flexable hours (no weekends or nights), and a more rewarding job.

So, starting yesterday, she's back to school, part-time, for 2 years to become dental hygentist.

This sememster, she's taking Nutrition and A&P 1 plus the lab. She goes to classes on Tues and Thur, and we've got a friend who's willing to babysit when I'm not home and on a trip.

So we'll see how it goes, but I think she's going to do a 'GREAT' job!!!

Wish her luck!

LOVE driving the Truck.

So yesterday, I had a trip to Alabama. We left in the morning and it was my job to rest first, which was fine with me. I crawled into the bunk and rocked gently to sleep as we traveled from Chattanooga, through the upper tip of GA and down to the Tuscaloosa, AL area. (I practically bounced all the way through Birmingham, they've got AWEFUL roads. *grin*) The Volvos we drive are very comfortable in the back and ride nicely.

Then we got up unloaded, lunch, drove, unloaded, then my turn to drive and I had to back into a warehouse, unloaded, then drove back to the bakery in Collegedale.

As I was driving back, I kinda reflected on the day. I really missed driving those big trucks. I love sitting up high, feeling the power of a diesel engine pull 40,000+ pounds, preparing for a tight turn, backing the truck and getting it to go right where I aimed, shifting through all the gears and just the whole thing.

I'm actually glad I'm back in the trucking industry! :)

Quick Rant on Smoking...

In my new job I end up around some partners/drivers, who are smokers. Its interesting how different they all are. The most recent guy I went with was very considerate. He wouldn't make extra stops to smoke, and when we did stop, he'd walk quite a ways away to puff. One driver stopped all the time to smoke adding quite a bit of extra, and unnecessary, time to our trip. He'd smoke in the trailer and warehouse. Another driver would actually smoke in the truck while I was back in the bunk. I'd have the temp just right and all of a sudden for about 10 minutes (in 40 degree weather) both windows up front would open up and bring a COLD chill to the cab. It's hard to sleep when every 40 minutes or so the temp would dip to extremes suddenly! (Besides the fact that they are prohibited from smoking in the trucks, trailers or warehouses.)

You know, I just don't understand, in today's society why kids and others pick up smoking. What is it about that habit that is so appealing to so many? It smells bad, it makes their teeth yellow, gives 'em bad breath, bad B.O. and that's just on the outside, it can't be good for the inside.

About the only good thing about smoking is to serve as a distraction to me at night. When I'm driving the truck down the road, occassionally a smoker will chuck his/her butt out the window and it'll hit the ground and sparks will fly everywhere. That is fun to watch!!!

I guess it's just one of those things that make you go - hummmmm!!!

Reconnecting w/ Friends, The Broncos & Life

Howdy, Howdy all!

What a Mmmmmaaavvvvolus Monday! Slept in, got breakfast, hit the bank, video store, shopping, lunch, house hunting, DVD, dinner, baths, internet time and soon bedtime. Kinda cool day!

So today, I reconnected with two old friends. Not meaning that they're old in age, well - they are getting up there, just like I am, but I've known them a long time.

The first was Shawnda. The family and I had gone shopping at Wal-mart and came out and were immediately asked by a group of youngesters if we'd like to buy a 'coupon' book to help a gymnastics team raise funds. One of the people standing there was older than the rest and she was wearing a Denver Broncos hat. We declined and kept walking, but I looked back at the hat, then the face and realized I recognized it - from my high school days. Wild, very, very wild!!! We had graduated together from
Campion Academy in 1989. So we walked back, talked for a minute, introduced my family to her, and hope to get together again in the future to chat again. Cool.

In my e-mail inbox was a response to a recent blog from a dear friend from my time working at 3ABN, Bobby. This man has quite a story and we spent quite a bit of time with him. In fact, when I first got there, 3 months before I got married, Bobby, Tim and I would go to a greasy spoon restaurant late, late, late at night, order a meal and a cup 'o joe and sit and talk, and talk and talk. Then I'd have to get to work as a Master Control Operator overnights. Then after I got married, we'd get together and have game nights and various and asundry things. Very, VERY cool.

That was a nice addition to today.

So my Broncos are in the AFC Championship game. Oh yeah! After not being in the playoffs for so long and then getting back to them only to get trounced soundly twice by the Colts, it was great to see them have an awesome enough season to get a first round playoff bye then to play the first playoff game at Mile High (at Invesco Field). Then to win it - well that is just ggrrrrate!

The Broncos have a good chance to advance to the Superbowl, if they can beat the Steelers next Sunday afternoon.

Oh man, after winning two superbowls in the late 90's I wasn't sure they'd make it back in my lifetime! :)

But they might - fingers crossed. GO BRONCOS!!! (Gonna have to make sure I have the day off work if they do play at the Superbowl!)

So I've already taken one trip this week, leaving out for another one early, EARLY this morning and that'll be my week. I've requested a 3rd trip to make some extra money, to catch up on some things that have come up through this whole job change and the holidays and a car engine blowing up etc! So, I'll probably do that, but only be away from home for 3 days this week - that's better than at my previous place of employment.

Anyway - I'm gonna crash early so I can get up early and get to work.

Blessings y'all!

Ahhh - the satisfaction of

Ahhh - the satisfaction of a playoff WIN for my beloved Broncos. Yeah baby! :-D Sure makes workin 7 degrees a LOT easier!!! Now 4 AFC Champ game!

The Power of 4

This is a little meme I took from Cheryl.

4 jobs I have had in my life...
Truck Driver (Twice)
Radio Editor, Producer, Talk Show Host, DJ
TV Assistant Director, Graphics, Editor, Producer
Burger Flipper

4 movies I could see over and over
Top Gun
Italian Job
Karate Kid
Short Circut
Star Wars (Any of the 6)
National Treasure
Matrix
Dave...
Oops - it was supposed to be only 4 - He, he, he!

4 places I have lived
Montrose, CO
Alvarado, TX
Benton, IL
Chattanooga, TN

4 TV shows I love to watch
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Amazing Race
Survivor
The Office

4 places I have vacationed
Colorado
Missouri
New York
Florida

4 websites I visit daily
All Family & Friends Blogs
ESPN.com
Drudgereport.com
NetFlix.com
eBay.com

4 of my favorite foods
Mexican
BBQ
Italian
Dessert

4 places I rather be
Colorado
Hawaii
Flagstaff, AZ
GeoCaching

4 albums I can't live without
Chicago 17
Any 80's mix
Truth - Equasion of Love
Bob & Larry's Sunday Morning Songs :)

4 people I'm tagging if they want to be caught
Trailady
Pilgrim
Sharon
Any one else who reads my blog and wants to play... (this means YOU!)

1st Crash OR Kids say the cutest things!

So - I'm on a trip to Bloomington, IN and try to call home. It is automatically forwarded to voice-mail. We only have voice-mail through our VoIP. Our answering machine is obviously no longer picking up. Interesting. So I try Doreen's cell and nothing. I call back to leave a message - nothing.

Later she calls and tells me they were out running a couple of errands and "somehow" her cell phone fell under the seat and it turns out that our old home phone number was 'ported' over to our VoIP so I've got to hook the VoIP switcher up to the cable modem. Easy enough, once I get home. (BTW - it's hooked up now, so y'all can call and say, "Howdy" any time you'd like! :)

We get done working/unloading and start to head home. I get first dibbs at the bunk - to probably get about 4 hours of much needed sleep. So I call Doreen to chat for a minute and let her know when I'll be home, blah, blah, blah. As I'm about to wrap up the call - (I got permission to tell this story by the way!) (Signed release form and all!! *grin*)

Doreen says, "So it was a crazy day today."

Steve - WARNING - RED FLAG - DANGER. My mind whirrs - what's up? What's happened?

DP - "You know Jenkin's road, that turn where you merge?"

SP - Oh my goodness, the car's been totaled. The girls are hurt, what?

DP - "Well, a SUV in front of me merged and I looked back to make sure I could go, I stepped on the gas, and 'whammo.'"

SP - Is everyone all right? Oh now - more money on the car we just had a new engine put in. Aaye yai yai!

DP - "We're all ok, I probably hit that guy doing less that 5 mph, just a few small scratches to our car and a bent bumper and wheel cover on the Mercedes SUV."

SP - Wheeeewwww - they're all right. (Big sigh of relief.) Oh my goodness a Mercedes? Ouch. Insurance isn't gonna like us! :(

DP - The guy just started merging and hit his brakes, and I hit him. Joelle said, "Mommy - that made my tummy jump." Natalie said, "Ouch my neck hurts a little bit."

They exchanged information and he said, "Well - I'm glad you stuck around cuz the last guy just took off on me. Hum - suspecious? Maybe.

But all is well - and hopefully our Ins premiums won't shoot through a roof. Just kinda freaky to hear like that and think about. It could have been so much worse and I'm just thankful it wasn't!!! So - I'm really, REALLY hoping this is the 1st and last auto accident my daughters are in! :)

Ok - kids' say the cutest things.

We skipped baths one night and the next afternoon Doreen took Natalie potty. After they were done, Doreen told the girls to clean the toys up - it was bath time - especially since Natalie had a stinky rear. So, they clean everything up and then throw their dirty close in the hamper and Natalie asks, "Daddy - can you smell it?" "Smell what pumpkin?" She turns around and shows me her naked butt and says, "My stinky rear!!" Waaaaa ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Funny, funny!

Tonight after worship we have prayer and in the middle of her prayer, Joelle says, "Thank you Jesus for bringing daddy home, I don't like it when he's away and glad to have him home. etc" That just tugged at my little heart strings.

It just goes to show - that I made the right decision for our family by changing jobs. You cannot beat a prayer like that!

Have a great weekend!

Aaahhhh - Once again

I was just reflecting on this week as I was going to sleep last night. I was home, Sun, Mon, Wed, Fri & Sat. I've been able to start to get better from being sick. I've been able to help Doreen with the girls while all 3 have been sick. I've gotten other little 'things' accomplished.

Then I got to thinking about the 'stress' before and the 'lack' of now. The only thing I stressed over lately was blind side backing out of a storage unit complex.

Then the thought went through my head - "Ahhhhh - job satisfaction - once again." Dang - that is just like awesome.

So - today was awesome as well. The girls got up 4 or 5 times last night and I was able to 'handle' the situations (potty, water, sore throat, hugs) and put them back into bed so Doreen didn't have to disturb her rest much. So we all just slept in and went to SS and back home. The girls love their SS and they just started a Men's class - so I wanted to get in on the beginning of that and see if it helps me and our family.

Then we came home and had lunch with some friends. The Doreen, Natalie and Tracy ended up napping while Derrick, Dustin, Joelle and I went geocaching. The first time out in MONTHS!! Awesome. We found 7 caches - one was a confederate graveyard where 153 of 155 men were unknown. A tent hospital was nearby and these guys didn't make it. Sad - but neat to find and think about!

Tonight we played a couple of board games. Theirs was called "Loaded Questions" and ours was "Like Minds." They were a lot alike and lots and LOTS of fun!!!

FYI - I did keep 'tabs' on the NFL Wild Card Playoff games - of course!! :)

Lately - sick and all - Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!! :)

I cannot believe how fast my girls are growing. Not long ago, we just had updated pics of them cuz Natalie turned three and, well, just look at them for yourself. Growing bigger and bigger and bigger.












Joelle occassionally has 'pains' in her legs and arms. I tell her both mommy and daddy went through that cuz we kept growing. But if you'll 'stop growing, the owie will stop.' She says, "No daddy - I'm gonna grow as big as you." Precious!

4 Down, None to go

So we've all got a bug of some sort. So, needless to say, things have been challenging around here for a day or two!

It just seemed as things were clearing up - then whammo - the sickness gets its second wind and boy, we all fell lousy.

So - hope all with be right with our health again soon.

This week, we've been to two mortgage brokers trying to find the best deal for a construction loan. Oy vay! Lots of hoops.

We'll let ya know how things progress.

Well - y'all have a blessed weekend!

Quote, "Steve sucks! He's going DOWN this year!!"

How wrong was that prediction? He, he, he!

Ok - it has become official. (Hang with me as I toot my own horn here for a bit!) I am now the 2005 Champion of the Nelson/Pester ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em contest.

You can see from the title that everyone was going to bring their 'A' game this year to bring me down. And boy did they. At the beginning of the season my Sister and Mary were leading the pack. Then for much of the middle of the season my wife, dad and I ran neck and neck. But I just outdistanced everyone again for another season. I say that because this is the 4th year running that I've taken home the Championship. Check out last year's DoJoNa Entry on the topic. I'd like to win next year and make 5 - a nice round number - but I know, once again, the Nelson/Pester contestants will bring it again.

Let's see - here are some interesting things from this seasons contest...

Scott & Sue tied for the best score of the week (13th) when they both picked 14 of the games right.

Dad, Mary and Doreen (my wife) were battling hard for 2nd place unil Mary missed making her picks for week 14 and then dissappeared after that.

My wife, Doreen, came in 2nd for the 2nd straight year.

My Dad and Scott tied for 3rd.

LeeAnne upped last seasons score of picking correctly 108 games to 128 this year. Good job!

Man - it was a good season. Lot's of fun, lots of close picks and lots of good NFL games!

Thanks for playing guys!!!

Good luck next year!

Happy New Year Y'all! Hope

Happy New Year Y'all! Hope you have a blessed 2006! BTW - ribbit ribbit! :-)