Dog Tired

Man am I wiped out! Out of the last 27 hours I've gotten an hour and a half of sleep. OUCH! Can you believe we had an emergency where I work? An emergency. Oy vay!

Tell ya all about it later!

Gotta get some sleep!!!

ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Little or No Stuff

Not a lot going on around here except school and work. That's why no blogs. I've been busy and so have the rest of the family. Oh well - here's a token 'weekly' post to keep somewhat up to date.

Thursday evening, for a Birthday party for one of Natalies classmates, they took us all to this huge play place called pump it up. They've got slides, jumpy things, climby things all sorts of inflatable stuff for the kids to play on. Very nice.









We all did a LOT of playing and now I'm paying for it. I'm sore! Once again I'm a big pansy! :) It was a ton of fun though!




















Tomorrow our church is hosting a P.I.E. in the S.K.Y. event. It's something we've come up with for parenting. It's the "Parenting Idea Exchance in the Support of Kids and Youth." Anyway for this event, those of us helping out each baked a 'pie' to bring. Doreen made cherry and I made blueberry.

Now this was the BEST part of anytime mom made pies when I lived at home. The extra crust was rolled out with butter cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on time and then toasted. YUMMMMMY!

So with our left over crusts - we made this stuff and boy, just smeiling it brings back so many good memories!!! :)

Anyway, got to go to TN, KY & VA tomorrow night. Should be fun! ;)

Regrets??? OR This Week's Numbers

Hey there!

On my trips this week, I've been driving a lot between 6 and 10a. During that time I always listen to my favorite radio show on my Sirius Satellite Radio, Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN. These two guys are a TON of fun to listen to as they talk the sports of the day.

Well, Today I got home, Doreen and the girls were gone to their schools, I had time to jump in the shower change and put my gear away from my trip and prep for the next one before heading to a meeting. While doing the gear thing I watched the simulcast of The Mike & Mike Show on ESPN2.

As I was watching those guys talk on the radio, using the RE-27 mics and cuing stuff up on the computer screen for the next break etc. It just really hit me, I MISS doing RADIO! I really do. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy what I'm doing now, but I LOVED doing Radio and really, really miss it.

The really bad part is, in the forseeable future, I don't see a way, at all, of getting my foot back in the door of doing radio. It's kind of depressing. Now I know that God can work miracles - and if He wants me back doing a radio ministry, I can - so I just think about that.

No regrets, as we were talking with a friend this evening - things would have been tough had I been fired/let go from my last job, but this one was there at the exact right time when I needed it!

So for the time being, I'm going to be extremely thankful for what I am doing now and all the blessings it's bringing me and my family.

Check out this week's stats.

I ran two trips. (They ended up being MUCH longer than I'd do on a normal week.)

I was home, all day Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday & Friday.

I was home half a day on Monday.

I was gone on my trips, Monday afternoon, Tuesday and Thursday.

That makes such a HUGE difference to my family. I was only gone 2 1/2 days and they weren't even consecutively! Wow. I was home 4 1/2 days this week.

On top of that...

I ran 2977 miles, (about 500 more than a typical week)

Delivered 84,000 lbs of product. (Approx 5,500 cases)

Picked up one shipment in Chicago to return to HQ.

Had a truck brake down on the road that cost us two 1/2 hours time.

Ran & Worked in MI, VA and IL.

Then to top it all off, I got my first 'profit sharing' check from the company. This is the 46th consecutive year they've had a profit to share with ALL the employees.

Because of my length of service and my hire date, I only received a 1/2 this year. Still, the really cool thing is it turned out to be a 4 digit number, in cash. Not to mention the 4 digit profit sharing number, (That is the full amount. All employees get the full amount in their retirement account.) that is MUCH larger than the cash amount automically deposited in my 401k we each get every year.

And the company's profits this year reached over a number that begins with a 'B.'

I am so blessed to be where I am today. It is PERFECT for where we are in our lives right now!!

Thank ya Lord!

Sunday Stuff

Finally found out where I'm going on my first trip this week. A coordinator called me about 3 in the afternoon and said, "I've got a trip to put your mind to rest." Ok - I'll take it!

I've had a ton of time today to get stuff done. Doreen's been studying, the girls have been watching movies to keep them still. (More info on that in a sec.) I've been getting some things listed on Ebay to sell, working on putting some info on our Adventurers website, and just a few other misc things on the computer! Awesome!

So I leave tomorrow at noon for Holland, MI. Not a bad trip. I'll take it! Especially since I've been home all weekend. That has been so cool!

Got up this morning and Doreen called her folks who won a gift card to the Cracker Barrel - so we went to breakfast with them. Of course after we finished eating, I took a moment and found the cache that was hidden at the restaurant. Cool!!!

Last night just before bed, Joelle started feeling bad with a fever. Finally she got to sleep and today has just been taking it easy. Turned out it was a nice time to get sick. With Monday being a holiday, both Doreen and the kids are home from school and can just chill out. That'll be good!

Joelle has also been anxious to lose some of her 'baby-teeth.' Well, yesterday, her right front tooth started to wiggle. She's so excited she can hardly stand herself! :) Look for pic soon with Joelle with an extra hole in her mouth! :)

Got a bit of a problem though. The other day, Doreen and I were sitting on the floor looking through some of our photo albums to find some specific pics for an assignment for one of Doreen's classes. Put together a power point presentation called, "All About Me." Basically it's a way for her professors and classmates to get to know each other better!

Well, I was sitting criss-cross applesaus, and when I got up - ouch. I'd gotten stiff. Oy!

Then that evening, brushing my teeth, I was looking in the mirror and noticed something on my sideburns, grey. That's right - grey hair. Oy OY!

Well - guess we gotta get old sometimes! :)

Have a great week!

Famliy Photos

Haven't posted any pics for a while, so here's some shots of us doing various stuff.


Natalie's talking on a 'tree phone' during a rest on a bike ride.














Joelle as a fish.












Here's Doreen bein' my Bubba Girl.













My impression of a boat's anchor! :)

Artsy Fartsy Files v 3

Out for a family bike ride yesterday we stopped for a break at a bench. Next to the bench they had a cool area with an old piece of haying equipment, then we noticed this phone on the tree. Cool idea! Very unique - so I snapped a pic for the Artsy Fartsy Files! :)

Enjoy!

On Call & Still Waiting

I LOVE my job. It's a great job. It's a tough job, but the pay, the extra trip incentives and the home time are awesome.

My only problem is two times a year, each driver has to take 'on call' or 'stand-by.' Basically that means, we're on call and if a driver calls in sick or can't make a trip for any reason, the 'stand-by' driver is called in to fill in for the trip.

So the next two weeks are my on call time.

Typically, by Thur night and definetly by Friday afternoon, I know my 1st trip schedule. Well, since I'm on call, I have to wait until 11p to call in to find out what's happening.

So - I'm just waiting to see if I have to run. I'm still waiting. Argh! It's killing me. Tonight when I tucked the girls into bed Natalie asked if she'd see me in the morning? I don't know! Hated telling her that. Usually I say, "Yup we'll have breakfast together," or "nope, I'm headed to South Carolina and won't be back until Monday morning." Or something like that.

But tonite, "I don't know."

Well, soon enough I'll know and then go from there!

Until then - I'll wait! :)