70 Things

70 Things About Me

1. Initials: SSP

2. Name someone with the same birthday as you: Eric Anderson (Friend), Robbie Kenievel (Son of Evil Kenievel), Tracy Lords (Actress), Rondell Jones (Former Broncos Safety), Johnny Unitas (NFL QB), Peter Il'yich Tchaikovsky (Composer), Louis I (King of France)

3. Last thing you ate: Bagle w/ cream cheese & tomato, Yogurt.

4. For or against same sex marriage: against them but thats for God to judge

5. Are you homophobic: no

6. Do you still watch cartoons: When I can :)

7. Do you believe in God: absolutely

8. How many U.S states have you been to: 49 (Only missing Hawaii)

9. How many of the U.S states have you lived in: 7

10. Ever lived outside of the US: no

11. Name something you like physically about yourself: My perfection once we get in heaven! :)

12. Something non-physical you like about yourself: Organizational Ability

13. What is your dads name: Lawrence

14. What is your dream car: Anything Brand New! :)

15. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Hawaii, Cancun, Bahamas (Got the theme?) :)

16. Favorite type of food: Lasagna

17. Favorite holiday: All of them

18. Do you download music: I have

19. What illegal things have you done: Shoplifted a GI Joe Braclet at age 11

20. Where would you want to go on a first date: Picnic on the beach would be cool

22. Has anyone ever sang or played for you personally: not that I remember

23. Have you ever cried for no reason: Nope - gotta have a reason

24. Do you like President Bush: Yes

25. Have you ever bungee jumped: No

26. Have you ever white-water rafted: No

27. Has anyone ten years older than you ever hit on you? No

28. Last person you hugged: My Wife

29. Have you met a real redneck: Oh yeah - I live in redneck land! :)

30. How is the weather right now: Cold

31. What song are you listening to right now: Olympic Theme! :)

32. What are your current fav songs?: Starship "Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now."

33. What was the last movie you watched: Saint (Val Kilmer & Elizabeth Shue)

34. Do you wear contacts: Not anymore thanks to Lasik

35. Where was the last place you went besides your house? Restroom in warehouse in Kendall, FL

36. What are you afraid of: hmmmm... Familiy hurting

37. Have you ever been hit-on by someone of the same sex: We moved two 'gay' couples with United and I'm sure at least one did. Aye, yai, yai!!!

38. How many pets do u have: None, yet

39. Have you ever loved someone: Yes

40. What really turns you on: Yes! :)

41. What do you usually order from Starbucks: Can't stand paying $4 on a cup of coffee!

42. Have you ever fired a gun: Oh Yes!!!

43. Are you missing someone: My Papaw (Died in '92)

44. Say something totally random about yourself: I Love Life!

46. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celeb? Yeah, Wesley Crusher on Star Trek Next Gen

47. Whats your mom's name: Jerilyn

48. Who would you like to see right now: Who I am seeing, my family - our friends in CA, Eric & Holly!

49. Are you comfortable with your height: yea, except I have for female cousins my height and taller.

50. Dogs or cats: Dogs

51. Have you ever been caught doing something you weren't supposed to? In academy can you say, "Social."

52. Favorite flower: Roses

53. Butter, plain, or salted popcorn: Yes!

54. What books are you reading: Louis Lamour

55. Have you ever ridden in a limo: Nope

56. Has anyone you were really close to passed away? Yes, Grandfather

57. Do you watch MTV: Nope - no cable

58. What's something that really annoys you: Being Late

59. What are some things you really like doing: Geocaching, watching football or sports in general

60. Do you like Michael Jackson: Like a few of his songs but not him as a person

61. Can you dance: Never really tried, goofed around a bit and freaked my family out! He, he, he!

62. Favorite basketball team: I pic a favorite for the playoffs, don't really have an NBA favorite.

63. Favorite cereal: Fruit Loops

64. Do you drive: Yes, and then some!

65. What's the latest you have ever stayed out: Waaaayyyy tooo late/early!

66. Last time you went bowling: Aug

67. Were you ever rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room: Yes, after being robbed while working at convenience store.

68. Who was your last phone call? Work voice mail.

69. Last time you were at work: This morning at 1 am.

70. Whats your favorite state to be in: Colorful Colorado

Superbowl XL Thoughts

So, this was a decent Superbowl. It wasn't 'great' because, obviously the Broncos weren't in it. I enjoyed it though.

I'm glad I got to see it! I left on a trip Sat night with 6 stops in Kentucky. We ran 'em all, plus got a decent nap and I missed getting home and seeing the kickoff by like 3 minutes. Not bad. We were running hard heading home though. Didn't even take any potty breaks! He, he, he! We had some good friends over, some yummy pizza and snacks and of course a bowl full of a bunch of different flavored snack cakes! :)

The Steelers beat the Seahawks. Cool. That's who I was hoping would win. Doreen and I like Coach Cower and the owner, Mr Rooney. These guys have stood by each other in the good and bad times. Very unusual for today's sports climate. Typically, a bad season comes along and wholesale changes are made by ownership, or the coach or players jump ship for a better situation or more money. It's good to see this kind of committment! That and, as long as it's not the Raiders playing, I'll typcially pull for the AFC team. (Broncos = AFC West *GRIN*)

The game itself definetly had it's moments, but not the best. (Which game can top the Broncos getting their 1st Superbowl win XXXII, '97, by hanging on to beat Green Bay in the last :28 sec of the game. Not many, I'll tell you that! *GRIN*)

I was a little bit perturbed by some of the officiating in the game, but then I read this ESPN article by Gene Wojciechowski - Sorry conspiracy buffs, a loss sometimes is just a loss, and this is a guy I rarely ever agree with. (He kinda reminds me of the Denver Post Columnist, Mark Kiszla, the same attitude - negative about almost EVERYTHING, who I don't enjoy reading either.) He was right on here!

The commercials, as usual, were pretty good. The group we had here at our place, laughed heartily at: Ameriquest's 2 Ads, 'Doctor' & 'Fly the Friendly Skies,' (he, he, he), Bud Light's 2 commercials, 'Secret Fridge' & 'On the Roof.' We awed at Bud Light's 'Clydesdale American Dream' and were wowed by Bud Lights 'The Wave.'

Overall, it was a good Superbowl!

Most Amazing Ad

So, since the Broncos didn't make the Superbowl this year - but ohhhh sooo close - I've been giving some thought to the game. It should be a good one and I'm gonna pull for the Steelers to win. But I've also been giving some thought to the Ads that are going to air this year. I don't know how much they'll cost the company for airtime, but you can bet it'll be a pretty penny! :)

That line of thought also jogged a memory of a GREAT car commercial - never seen over here in the US. It aired only in the UK and on the internet - where I saw it.

So this evening I did a quick Google search on it and wanted to list it here for you to check out if you've got a moment!

Honda Cog Commercial

Some interesting facts...

Remember the popular children’s board game, Mousetrap? The game centered on the ability of an assembly of levers, chutes and ramps to send a plastic trap over a toy mouse.

Segue to a $1 million commercial produced by Wieden+Kennedy UK for Honda. The spot, dubbed "Cog”, features 85 car parts linked in a mesmerizing symphony that culminates with the introduction of Honda's new Accord. No product shots; no Celine Dion; no warnings about professional drivers on closed courses. Just a collection of ball bearings, wiper blades, tires and mufflers seamlessly “interacting” with one another to form a true piece of art.

“Cog” took five months of production and design work before it was ready to be shot. And after 605 takes, the dominos fell as they were meant to.

Work, work, work

The last three weeks have been very busy for me. The nice thing about where I work - is they allow, no, they encourage us to get overtime when orders are up and they need to get product out.

So, I've been taking an extra trip every week for the last three weeks and I'm wore out!

It's great to have, but I've got to pace myself as well. So I'll still be taking extra trips, but on a more regular basis with breaks in between to allow for rest and recovery! :)

Although it's wonderful - I took a trip last night. Left out at 7 and back home, in bed, by 3:30am. If I figured things right, for that trip I averaged $43 per hour. I'll take that anyday! :)

Work has been a joy lately, and it's gettin better. A brother of a guy I went to college works at the same place, and we're going to run together as a team for a while to see if it works out. (I told Doreen I feel like I've gone back to 'dating' again.) It's actually a good way to partner people together - it just feels so 'high-school.' He, he, he!

Things are good, Guuuuuuuuuuuud! As Bruce Almighty would say!

Home Sweet Home

We just got a call from our mortgage company, everything looks great. We should be going to closing next Friday. P!T!L!



So I get a call from dad on one of my trips, wanting to know a bit about the house and wondering why I hadn't posted any photos here on the site yet.




Well, I've just been a bit busy! :) So now that things have slowed up, just a hair - here's our soon to be new home. It's a split level home (They LOVE those things here in the south for some reason!) that was built in 1972. 1 1/2 baths, 4 bedrooms, Living room, Eat in kitchen, family room down stairs and a one car garage. Approx 1800 sq feet. It's on a nice sized lot in a nice subdivison, 5 min from my work, 20 min from Doreen's school, 10 min from church, 15 min to the mall and kitty corner from the babysitter.


The people we are buying it from, bought it as a repo and have done a major renovation to it, new flooring, cabinets, bathrooms, windows etc. We're just going to have an 18x12 deck built on the back with a french door access through the kitchen, and have another wall between the dining room and living room removed to 'open' things up a bit - all before we move in hopefully!


Anyway, here's our new home - anyone who wants to come help us move is MORE than welcome come moving day. We'll even provide pizza as sustinance! :)

Mr Mom

Remember that movie with Michael Keaton and Terri Garr, where he loses his job, so she finds one easily to 'bring home the bacon' for the family. Funny movie.

Anyway, I've kinda taken on the part-time role of Mr. Mom. Doreen has classes on Tuesday and Thursday, so when I'm not on a trip, the girls stay home with me and we hang out together. We'll play around the house, have meals, clean up, do shopping, go swimming (right now, indoor of course), go to the mall and play at the playplace, and go geocaching. (I've taken care of them twice, no three times [???] can't remember which now.)

It's been good to have some quality Daddy, Daughters time. I've really enjoyed it and I believe they have as well. I've had to come down on them a couple of times for not eating at lunch or not getting their toys picked up. Overall, this has been, and will continue to be a very good experience for us!!!

Of course, I've got the best of both worlds, a good job with enough time off to be a Mr Mom! :)

Geocaching Milestone

I've been wanting to go Geocaching lately, but just haven't found the time.

Well, as I said in my previous post, I've had more time with the girls lately, so yesterday morning we decided to go treasure hunting. We found 3 caches, two that were extremely easy and one really, REALLY difficult one.

I stepped over the spot where this blue container was hidden under a bunch of leaves twice, then Joelle yelled, "Daddy - I found it." Sure enough, she wiped the pile of leaves on it clean and there it was. What a very, VERY cool experience!



So, with that find, we've hit a milestone. Thepesters4 has found 50 hidden caches. We've got some friends who have a bit more time on their hands and they are well over 160, but with two kids etc, I'm proud to have tracked down 50 of these buggers and can't wait to find even more! (Of course, we need to take the next step and hide a couple of caches, but one step at a time!!!) Hip hip horray!

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! :-)

Long Trip OR I Need Your 'CB Handle' HELP!

Well - I just got back this morning from my longest trip yet. I left Tuesday morning at 7a and got back this morning (Thur) at 10a. The great thing is - I'm done. Ain't gotta work anymore this week! Where did I go - well, let me list some 'songs' and see if you can figure it out! :)

Amarillo by Morning - George Strait (also a movie, which I didn't know)
If you're Gonna Play in Texas, You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band - Alabama
La Grange - ZZTop
Yellow Rose of Texas
Deep in the Heart of Texas
San Antonio Stroll - Tanya Tucker
San Antonio Rose - Willie Nelson
That's Right (You're not from Texas) - Lyle Lovett
"T" For Texas - Jimmie Rodgers
Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughan
Waltz Across Texas - Ernest Tubb
Dallas - The Flatlanders
Heaven, Hell Or Houston - ZZ Top
Galveston - Glen Campbell
El Paso - Marty Robbins
Amarillo - Emmylou Harris
Streets Of Laredo - Buck Owens
Just Like a Texan - Laurie York
Lone Star State of Mind - Nanci Griffith
All My Exes Live in Texas - George Strait
Price of San Jacinto - Reverend Horton Heat
Texas Rock-a-billy Rebel - Reverend Horton Heat
People in Dallas Got Hair - Waylon Jennings
Abilene - Waylon Jennings
T for Texas (also called Blue Yodel No. 1) - Waylon Jennings
Amarillo - Sideways Forest
San Antonio - Frank Black and the Catholics

Houston (Means that I'm one day closer to you) - The Gatlin Brothers is actually the city that we delivered to. It was a good trip. Two trucks ran together there, then we split up, they got drops on the west side and ours were on the east. We met back at Beaumont - had lunch then convoyed back to the bakery.

It was a good trip - all in all - except after a rest period in the bunk - I woke up with a sore throat and throughout the rest of the trip I kept feeling sicker and sicker. Glad to be home to recoup! :)

Hey - I need your help. We, my temp partner, and I were 'communicating' with the other truck as we were traveling and everyone - except me - had a 'CB' handle. There was 'Tater-tot,' 'Smarty-pants,' and 'Paw-paw.' In the different times of my transportation career, I've been around 'Engine kicker,' 'Mad-medic,' ummmm, man - I've forgotten many of them.

Anyway - my partner said to the other 'truck,' "Steve's handle is 'Steve.'" That was kinda akward.

So I need some suggestions from ya on a 'handle' I can use when I'm on the CB after I've 'Hit the Road, Jack." So y'all come back with some suggestions and I'll let ya know what I end up going with! :) Can't wait to see 'em! HE, he, he!!!

If I don't get a chance to write between now and then - (Confetti gets thrown into the air, noise makers start making noise, a big beach ball is bounced around the group...) "Happy New Year!!!"

Football stuff

Well - this week I watched the last Monday Night Football on ABC. After 35 years they're giving it to ESPN. How sad, very, very sad that this strong tradition and game time has been given away. I'm gonna miss it. Really, REALLY bad! It's like a pick-me-up on a Monday evening that helps maybe after having a rough beginning of a week.

It's sad too - they're turning their backs on the loyal regular Broadcast fans that have supported it, by watching for years and years and even more years. Oh well. This too shall pass.

So this is the last weekend for the NFL regular season. What a great season it has been. Lots of fun games!

The beloved Denver Broncos have made it into the playoffs this year. GREAT. Now just as long as they can keep from getting 'blown out' of them like they have the last couple of years and win a couple of games, they have a better than average chance of making it to the Superbowl. It'll be interesting to see! GO BRONCOS!!!!

Our families annual Pig Skin pick-em will crown a champion at the end of Sunday. Guess who it's gonna be? Unless I blow my 5 point lead over my wife or the 7 point lead over my dad - I am looking to be the Nelson/Pester family back to back to back to back Pig Skin pick-em challenge! Dude - that just rocks! :) Of course to put it in perspective - on ESPN's Pick-skin Pick 'em challenge overall leader-board page, I rank 11,365th. Ok - I pretty much suck at this compared to the other 11,364 others in front of me.

Anyway - Long live the NFL.

Merry Christmas is Over - Now Happy New Year

Man - what an awesome weekend!

Friday, the in-laws came down with their FedEx truck and we cleaned out the storage unit. Dang - all of us were suprised how much we had jammed into that little room. We were all too pooped and lazy to unload it - so we just left the truck sitting in front of the garage and did other things. I had to run to the store for some last minute Christmas stuff. I tell ya - they had ALL their registers open and no line was shorter than 5 people in it. So finally I got checked out and had to stop and get some gas before getting home - had to wait in line there too. I tell ya, next year, the week before Christmas - I am NOT going out to do or get anything! :)

Sabbath was a beautiful Church service with music and reading etc. I was blessed.

We got home - whipped up lunch - my in-laws arrived and we ate and ate and ate. Then had a piece of cherry and pumpkin pie for dessert. Yummy.

We chilled a bit to let lunch settle, then headed over to some friends house that we're taking care of their critters. While we were there, Doreen snagged a 'fireball' outta the candy jar and I was laughing as she continually was holding the thing in her teeth wheezing as she breathed cuz of the hot. Waaa ha ha ha! I suppose I'll have to eat one to show her how it's done! ;)

When we finished up there - back home, piddled around until after sundown and then started the maddess of opening presents. The girls went NUTS tearing into everything. Very - VERY cute.

They cleaned house with a ton of cool things from us, the grandparents (on both sides) and aunts and uncles. Doreen got some neat things and I cleaned up with 3 Garfield books to add to my collection, 2 geocaching t-shirts that rock, a football shirt and 2 escape hammers. (They help ya bust through windshields/windows and cut through seatbelts in the event of an accident.) Doreen got me one for our pickup and one to haul with me on the truck. Awesome.

We assembled everything and the girls went wild playing with everything. They couldn't figure out what to play with there was so much stuff! Course it took a while to get it all out and assembled! :)

Off to bed with the girls, then we watched 'Greenfingers.' A great movie inspired by actual events. The language was a little rough, but a great little flick.

Then off to bed with us!

The next morning after breakfast and the kids opening their stockings, we headed out to the garage to empty the storage unit stuff into it. We finally got it all done with only one mishap. The 2nd from the last item was a huge, heavy (even though it was empty) filing cabinet, going up the step into the door fell and the thing landed on him. He was ok - so we finished up and chilled.

The in-laws left later that afternoon, the girls played with their toys. Doreen and I watched some football. And then day over. Girls to bed, Doreen and I watched "As Good As It Gets." Then to bed.

I just finished reading the book, "Sweet Success." A biography of O.D. McKee - the founder of the bakery I drive for. Man, he went though a bunch of tough stuff to get it started. But he was persistant and creative and look where it is today. Amazing!!!

As I look back over this weekend - it was a blessed Christmas weekend!

Don't know when my trips go out this week, and really don't care - just thankful to be able to enjoy good quality family time!

Hope your Christmas was greatly blessed!

Out!

Zoom, Zoom, ZOOOOooooommmm

Hey y'all,

We are cookin now!!! After talking with some friends, we've decided to go with a VoIP for a home phone. We can have high-speed internet service, free long distance, 3 way calling, call waiting etc, etc for the same price as we were paying for dial-up and a normal phone line.

Oh man - it is so sweet to have high speed at home now. For the last two months Doreen and we've been surfing at 19.9 on an old dial up and boy was it torture to wait for pages to load.

Now, WOW. 100 meg and we're just zoomin. AWESOME!

We've also updated and added a cell phone. Doreen didn't have one, per-se, so we updated and made mine a family plan and added a phone for Doreen so we can keep in better touch when I'm on the road and she's out and about. Helps both of us feel a bit more secure when I'm away from home.

Doreen spent a lot of time pulling all this stuff together while I was on a trip to Georgia yesterday.

Another 'great' Christmas present!

Have a happy Holiday Weekend!

Whirlwind Pt 2

Well - it's Sunday and the Broncos won yesterday evening. That makes it a GREAT Sunday! :) That and I get most of today at home. Makes for a great weekend.

I leave out tonight at 10p for St Petersburgh, FL and I'll be back late, late Mon night. Then I leave Tue evening for Columbus, GA and I'll be back Wed evening sometime and then I'll be done with any trips until the next Monday. How awesome is that??!!!

This afternoon we're going to an Adventurers & Family Christmas party. Should be lots and LOTs of fun.

After the party I've got to get all my ducks in a row for our Christmas Presents to those we send 'em to, so Doreen can send it all out on Monday while I'm gone and hopefully everyone will get it by Christmas! :) Yeah - we got a late start this year, with the job stress and job change, closing on properties and helping my in-laws get things done on the property here - well - Pre Planning for Christmas got put on the back burner and now we're struggling to get it done. YUCK! Gotta plan better next year! Much, MUCH better!

Right now as I write this journal, I'm going through and making a copy of all the 'information,' credit cards, membership cards and personal stuff that I carry in my wallet. I've heard somewhere, that is a very good thing to do incase of a stolen or lost wallet. Since I'm all over the country - I figured it'd be a 'safe' thing to do in case I left it somewhere - so... voila!

We closed on our Illinois property after 4 years - HALLELUJAH! I can't believe it's finally done. We've waited so long and prayed that it would close and it finally has. WOW!

So we left at 6a on Thur - drove 6 hours to Benton, IL - ate a quick lunch, signed a bunch of papers - got the check, (VERY Important) and headed back down to an appointment in Nashville. The drive between Benton & Nashville (3 hours) took longer, it seemed, than the whole morning trip! Aye yai, yai! We made our appointment we had there, then ate at Taco Bell and headed over to the Grand Ole Opry Hotel and convention Ctr to see the Christmas lights. Beautiful. Amazing! Wowzers!

The hotel has a 15 story atrium (I think they said it covers 4 or 5 acres) Through it they have a 2 1/2 foot 'river' with 450,000 gallons of water snaking through it.
It's $12 bucks to park in the Hotel parking lot and so we circled 4 times trying to figure out where to park, then saw some people walking through the trees on a sidewalk and realized - they're parking in the Opreyland Mall parking area - so we drove over there and saved that dough, then decided to spend it on the boat ride around the atrium - definetly worth it!

It was amazing how they had this place decked out. It was flat out beautiful. They had a HUGE Christmas tree that I don't think anyone could have squeezed another light on it. They have a fountain at one end and every hour they have it do a 'dance' to some awe-inspiring Christmas music.

We walked around seeing more of the sights, then headed back to our motel to crash for the night.

Got up the next morning - had a great continental breakfast with 'fresh' waffles, cereal and stuff then drove back to Grandma March's place to get her to sign some paperwork and to put our 'check' in our account and then stop by home to do a couple of things then up to Larry & Sandra's for Sabbath. It was a long day and it seemed like we were running behind the whole time - but we got just about everything done.

Sabbath was a beautiful day with a wonderful music Christmas service.

Hope you had a great weekend. Blog ya before Christmas sometime. Doreen finishing wrapping some Christmas presents and I've gotta change for the party. Then watch some football this afternoon!

Have a 'great' week y'all!

What a Whirlwind OR WOW!!!

Well - it's 1am and I just got back from a working trip. It was a busy one! :) Good to be home once again - for oh 6 hours. :) At 6am, we hop in the van and head North to Southern Illinois. The guy who we've held the contract for 4 years on the property up there is gonna pay us off. Yeee haw. PTL! So - Tue I talked with the Lawyer drawing up all the paperwork for us and he wanted the closing at 1p Thur. Right after talking with the Lawyer, I called my trip box at work and found out I was headed to New Orleans, LA and wouldn't be getting back until 11a on Thur. OUCH! So I talked with some folks there and they kindly worked a couple of things around so we could leave early and get back in time for me to go to IL with the family.

Needless to say - things are a whirlwind right now! I had to get on the computer to finalize a couple of things before we leave, so I wanted to leave a post.

I tell you all - the situation in New Orleans is amazing. I drove right through the city (New part, not the French Quarter - couldn't fit the truck there! He, he) The devastation down there is still very, VERY apparant. Houses with tarps over the roofs, downed trees everywhere. (Although it is interesting to note all the HUGE trees that are still standing tall and stately - even though they're looking a bit 'weathered'.) We passed sections of town that they're just tearing everything down, other sections have things being completely gutted and rebuilt. There is trash EVERYWHERE you look. We saw a couple of dealerships with cars that were obviously completely covered with water and probably destroyed.

At one location we saw rows and rows of TV's lined up to be carefully disposed of. Thousands of them.

My partner running this trip with me - I was driving and having a hard time of it because I was trying to take it all in, and not run anyone over! *GRIN* - was tired and wanted to crash, but he wanted to see the city as we passed through. We both couldn't stop pointing things out to each other as we were amazed by what we were seeing. This hurricane set this city back years! It is amazing the resiliency and how fast it is getting back to normal though. They still have a ways to go - but I hope to have a number of trips down there to watch the progress!

Well - I gotta get to bed and at least a few moments of rest before running again. Say a quick prayer for the families in New Orleans who don't have homes to go to. I will be!

Home

Home is such a cool place. It's warm in the winter, cool in the summer - great for opening windows in the spring and fall. It's good to be home.

I had a "long" trip Wed leaving out a 5p and I got back home Friday at 3a. Long trip. But good - very good. Traveled to Homestead, FL. Had rain ALL the way down and ALL the way back - but while unloading Thur morning, it was Mostly Sunny and 70. Felt great. I'd love to have that run permanetly in the winter! :) Not so much in the summer.

I'm kinda tired, but wanted to post something since it's been a bit. So --- "Hi"

More later Alligator.

In-Law Garage Fire Update

After




After-After and Much Better!

LD Driver Transportation Banquet

So tonight, we're going to the LD Transportation Banquet.

Actually, Mrs M started this banquet to say 'thanks' to the spouses of the drivers and transportation office staff for putting up with all that they have to with the weird hours we work.

They provide a 'great' meal and then the Cumberland Playhouse will present "A Sanders Family Christmas." Doreen and I are really looking forward to that performance.

The setting is Christmas Eve 1941 at the Mt Pleasant Baptist Church with the play including Christmas carols in the form of bluegrass and gospel music!

We've got some friends babysitting the kids for the night - should be lots and lots of fun! I'll have to tell ya about it later!

Theory of Kids and Sleeping In.

So I have a theory - it correlates to parents being able to sleep in with the direct porportion of the automatic waking time of kids.

Here's the restults of the study I conducted this week.

On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday (got home about 5a and jumped into bed for a short rest), I was off and we had the 'opportunity' to sleep in. Each of those mornings, my daughters woke up at 6:30a - or earlier.

Then on Thursday I had to leave for the Bakery at 8:15a - they did not get up until I was ready to leave.

So my theory is - if parents get to sleep in, kids wake up early. If parents have to get up early, the kids sleep late.

YUCK! :)

A Walk through Bethlehem

Last night we had a couple of friends call to see if we wanted to go to an outdoor "Walk through Bethlehem" at a church in Ringgold, GA.

It was aweome! Absolutely awesome! When we got there we got 'herded' into the sanctuary, that was absolutely packed - standing room only, and got to enjoy some great 'live' music while we waited.

During the time we waited, a black choir from a nearby Baptist church performed - and they were awesome. They were singing and Joelle was really getting into the music. One of the choir memebers noticed and stopped to say "hi" to her on the way out after they finished their 'set.' It was cool.

Then our group was finally called up - and we got in line and went on a 45 minute walk through Bethlehem. It takes 225 people to put this event on. We went though the 'gate' into Bethlehem - and had to pay a tax (A shilling they gave us as we gave them our ticket) and then through the shops of the period and then on into the Inn where there was "no room." And into the field where the shepherds were keeping watch on their sheep (Actual sheep) and we got visited by some angels who sang to us and then to the stable where 'Jesus' was born, we ran into the wisemen with camels as we left the stable and then we 'time-warped' into the future with Jesus talking to the disciples and then to the cross and then the empty tomb.

It was just really cool and a great way for our girls to actually experience the Christmas story live - rather than just hear it.

Most definetly cool!!!

Home More

Man, this job is great. No stress, no pressure (except trying to get a big-rig turned around when my lead driver gives me bum directions - he, he, he) and get in get it done and get home. Not to mention - I get all the LD cookies I want to eat free. (Gotta be careful with that one though - wink, wink, wink)

The best thing about it though, is that I'm home much, MUCH more while the girls (and Doreen) is awake. It has made a huge difference in how they relate to me. They're much more lovie dovie with me. They're much more likely now to let me comfort them when they accidently get hurt. They just seem to enjoy having me around more and I love that!

This job change has been a good thing, a very, VERY good thing!!!

Calling In All Our Notes

So Friday was a nutty day talking with a real estate agent, lawyer and the buyer of our Illinois Property. Turns out that our closing for our Vonore, TN property is going to happen this coming Tuesday. Because the newness of my job - I can't be guaranteed - yet - to be here to sign the papers - so they're going to send us the closing papers, I'm going to sign them and if I can't be home for the signing Doreen'll take the papers with her - sign them there and get our money. YES!!!

Then the guy that we've been holding the 'note' on the property in Illinois called and wants to pay off early. So we called the lawyer in Illinois and he's getting the paperwork started and once he gets that done, we'll take a quickie trip up to Illinois (6 hours) and sign the paperwork and get a check. Woooo hooooo!

Now we get started on getting things together to get financing and permits and material to get 'our' house built.

Talk about an early Christmas. Awesome! Just what we needed!

Web-blog Problems OR Days at Home

How are ya?!!

I've been doing GREAT! I had a run out Sat night with a great driver. We got the job done and home by bathtime Sunday night. Put the girls to bed - enjoyed an evening with Doreen and crashed myself. I've been home ever since. I'll probably be headed out tonight, but it's been great being home - helping to get errands done, getting small things done at home etc. I'm gonna like'a this'a new job! :)

My mother-in-law, got her casts off yesterday. It is a HUGE relief for her. She's got a little more movement and independence now. She's got splints on both arms - but they're removeable - so she can shower completely now.

Took the girls to Chuck 'E Cheeze last night. They'd been wanting to go and it has been quite a while - so we all went there after the Dr appointment. They had a blast - and so did the adults as well! :)

I don't know if you all are having a problem seeing my web-blog. Every time I pull the page up all I see is the background. Odd!

I've not changed anything - I hope it still works!

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Truly Thankful and Stuff

Well - Thanksgiving has come and gone once again. My how time flies. Interesting - I just skimmed through my journal pages from a year ago. Wow - lots going on, our first Geocache found, the beginning of 'hatred' of my former job, a fun family visit and dealing with colds. I probably wouldn't have remembered a quarter of what I journaled. It's nice to be able to go back and read through that stuff and remember the good and the bad.

This year we had a GREAT thanksgiving. We had my in-laws and Doreen's great grandma over for a meal and everyone pitched in so one person didn't have to do it all - that's truly nice! It was delicious (2 pumpkin pies, one apple pie, [fake] turkey and stuffing dish, peas, cranberry sauce, real mashed potatoes and cider - I'm getting hungry again thinking about it! **GRIN**) and the company was great.

Got to watch some football - Go Broncos - beating Dallas in overtime, barely. But a win is a win! :) Just got to be a bit sharper!

Today we lazed around a bit. We put up our Christmas stuff. Ate at our favorite restaurant in Collegedale, Raphaels. (They make a mean pizza and some great sandwiches and stuff. Good grub for a very fair price. It ain't Taco Bell $$$'s - but it ain't TGI Friday's $$$'s either.)

Got back and Doreen and her Dad began painting a primer coat on the garage interior. The sheetrock is hung and the mud dried and sanded - we're trying to get the place done. I stayed outside with the blower and pushed leaves out of the flowerbeds and driveway into a pile and outta the way. Got a LOT more to do - but it's looking better. Much, MUCH better. We actually have a driveway now, that's visible!

In our prayer at our Thanksgiving meal we all went around and said what we were Thankful for. It was cute, Joelle said, "And Jesus I'm thankful that it's Christmas time." She just LOVES this season and thoroughly enjoyed putting up our tree today. She loves it all!

I am extremely thankful for my new job. It's been a challenge to learn - but I'm getting the hang of it and love having NO stress. My last trip out was not the best - but compared to what I was dealing with before - well - this is just a snack cake! :)

I thoroughly enjoyed driving out Tuesday night. I mean after the fireworks. I had called in at 3pm and the voice express said I was headed out at 6:30a on Wed. to Georgia. Cool I thought. Then while making my lunch for the next day, I decide to catch my log book up in prep for the next day and so at 8:20p I call voicemail to get all the info on the voicemail and hear that my load leaves out Tuesday at 9p headed for Hickory, NC. WHAT??!!! (Later on I found out the key for not letting that happen again! GRIN) So I rush around get stuff together and hustle to work to get there with a bit of time to spare.

As I was headed out of Atlanta on highway 85 and getting out into nowheresville, GA I was watching the stars a bit as I drove - got to see about 6 shooting stars. Very AWESOME!

When we got back Thursday morning - it was 3 am and we were the last truck, and I do mean last truck in before the entire Bakery shut down for the holiday. We had a mechanic and a coordinator waiting our arrival so we and they could wrap everything up. I hated being the last in - especially since we could have been in much, MUCH earlier, but that's another story for another time. :) But I guess someone's got to be last in. It was cool seing the entire trucking lot full to overflowing. Tractors were parked 4 deep in the lot. Every trailer parking space was filled - all the docks had trailers. They're gonna have to get some more space if they intend to continue to expand the fleet! :) It's mondo crowded.

Found out one other bit of .news that's interesting. Little Debbie is teaming up with the Wood Brothers in NASCAR to sponser 19 races as the primary sponsor of the #21 Ford. (I'm disappointed it's a Ford, but beggers can't be choosers.) That is just awesome to me. I wish I could drive the Transport - but that's probably out. Oh well - I just have to pull for Kenny Schrader to win some races with Little Debbie on the hood.

Well, I head out Saturday night at 11:30p for a 650 mile KY run. On stop in TN, 3 in VA and one in KY before getting back home. Looking foward to it.

You all have a "Happy Thanksgiving" weekend!

Blessings all!!!

Introducing...

Here's the latest 'Pester-vehicle' family memeber. :) Goldie! Gotta take it in to the shop for a few small things - but it'll be a good replacement for Iggy! :)

Yeeee Haawwwww

In a recent "Bubbie Box" Joelle found this pair of boots and she absolutely loves them. She's my little cowgirl and very, VERY precious! :)

Latest Pester News Flash...

A TRAINEE NO MORE...
As of Thursday morning at 5am (my last time at work) I have been released to the fleet. I am no longer in training and I'm ready to rock and roll. Or just drive and toss cookies - whichever! :) The interesting thing is that I ran into the other 'trainee' coming back from a trip at the exact same time. We both pulled up to the fuel islands and unloaded our rollers, fueled and cleaned the trucks simultaneously and chatted. He's headed out with another trainer next week. I wished him well! (Didn't tell him I'd been released from training.)

So I called in at 5p tonight and my first official trip as a full-fledged (but still gots lots and lots and lots to learn) LD driver is to Lima, OH. 1,100 mile round-trip run with 4 stops (cities), and a bunch of cases of snack cakes to toss, and a back haul to bring back to the bakery. I leave out at 8am Sunday. Should be good - I hope! :)

IGGY PUT OUT TO PASTURE (OR UP FOR SALE)...
So this afternoon the family and I drive up to Madisonville to meet with the in-laws for a bit and to pick up a new pick up. (Sorry no photos yet.) Iggy has some serious things going wrong with it and it'll take some serious money to just keep it running in the near future - so we decided to try and sell it. Well, since our land sold (hoping to close before Thanksgiving, but if not definetly after!!!) we're paying off our car and our loan and a couple of other small things, we had enough left to get a nice used vehicle. Larry found a great 1999 Ford Ranger with the extended cab - so the girls 'can' sit in the back for short trips! :) It's even got the 1/2 doors on it to get in and out thatta way. It's gold and in very, VERY good shape with the 6 cyl and auto tranny. We picked it up for a steal - cuz of the high gas prices people are sellin their big SUV's and these little things are becoming in much more high demand. We made an offer yesterday and last night the owner when to another auction and came back and Larry overheard this morning, while he was having them get the paperwork together for us to come up and sign, him saying to a salesman that if this little gold pickup deal falls through to raise the price cuz he can't get them for the price he used to get 'em.
Cool - talk about timing! :)

3 YEAR OLD PICS...
Took Natalie to the photo place to get her three year old pics today. It didn't go very bad - but it didn't go good either. We couldn't get the girls to 'smile pretty." Either Natalie didn't feel like smiling or she'd put this face smile one that looked more like a grimace. Joelle was trying but the smile she'd put on just looked fake - so we labored our way through 7 poses and picked out the best. Ahh - to have that done! :) I'll post a couple when we get 'em back the first part of Dec.

THANKSGIVING PLANS...
Every driver (300+) in at the Collegedale Bakery will be home for Thanksgiving. For that I am thankful! :) I may get in late Wed or early Thur morning but no matter because no one will have to go out again until Sat night after Thanksgiving. Pretty cool.

We're going to have my in-laws down from Madisonville and Doreen's grandma up from Wildwood. Should be an enjoyable time! What are your Thanksgiving plans?

TURNED COLD...
Last Mon on a trip I was on, I was in shorts and t-shirt. Thur Morning when I was getting home from my 2nd trip of the week we got out at the fuel islands and it was COLD. 30 something. COLD I tell ya! (I had long pants and a jacket on.) Aye, yai yai. Today was cold and I've got a feeling that it's just gonna stay cold. Old Man winter has come to stay!

It feels good though cuz this summer was a SCORCHER - so a bit of cold to off set it does feel good. Just as long as it doesn't get tooooo cold! :)

FORGOTTEN TOPIC...
Awww shucks - I had one more topic I was gonna write about, but forgot what it is. Dagnabbit! Oh well - it'll give me another reason to write another page another time!

Have a great weekend.

3 Yr Check-up OR Going... Going... Gone!!!

Doreen took Natalie to her 3 year old check-up today. She is a perfect specimine of health! :) Not to mention she's cute as a button as well. At the last checkup she was growing like a weed, this check-up has her growing at an average rate. Which is good. I don't want her growing up to fast because except for some very whining moments - she's incredibly cute! She did great today at the Ped. He 'stuck' her finger for a blood test, she was brave and didn't even cry. Precious! She and Joelle are growing up so fast - I can hardly believe it. I'll have to post a photo soon, but in the most recent Bubbie-Box (A box my grandma sends with all sorts of clothes, shoes and goodies) Joelle found a pair of cowgirl boots that fit her perfect. She's been wearing those things everywhere!



Friday while were headed up to Dollywood, we got a call from our realitor who has been trying to sell our 3 acres in Vonore. We'd gotten an offer. He offered nearly $5,000 under our asking price. NO WAY. So we countered and faxed the offer that evening. Monday I called to find out what happened with our counter offer. Turns out I ended up talking with the owner of the realistate company and she tells me
that she told the realitor to hold off on the counter offer for the moment because someone else has entered the bidding fray. Hallelujah - two someones are interested in our property. The 1st countered to $3,000 of the asking price - but the 2nd person offers to pay full price if we'll pay all closing costs. So we counter with $1,000 less than the original asking price offer and they cover their own closing costs. They accept and put down $1,000 earnest money. Oh yeah! Now we can pay off that land and our car and then dig our vehicle maintenance column in our budget out of the hole. Thank the Lord!


So my two runs this week were/are leave out Mon night at 7p and deliver to 11 doors in 4 cities and then back home by 11a on Tue, then leave out at 1p on Wed run to SC and E GA and then back home by early, early morning on Thur. That's my week. Turns out every week I'll handle almost almost 80,000 lbs of product and rollers per week. No worries though mate - no stress, no stupid boss, just drive, relocate snack cakes and sleep and home with family! Ahhh - now this is the life! :)


C Ya Later!

How Much is this Blog Worth???

My blog is worth $1,693.62.
How much is your blog worth?

Dang - that's pittance! :) I've got a friend, Jerry, who's blog is worth almost $12k.


Interesting thing to try anyway! I bet Scott's is worth a bundle!

Aaaaaahhhhh....

...what a great LONG weekend.

We started it on Friday going up to Dollywood to enjoy the Von Trapp grandkids. (These are the grandkids of the 'boy - Kurt' in the Sound of Music movie. They did all right. Nothing awesome - and we probably wouldn't have been interested if it weren't for their heritage - but it was still fun and very relaxing.

Dollywood has the entire theme park decked out in its Christmas best and Joelle was amazed at every little Christmas thing she saw. Very precious.

We hung out at and with Larry & Sandra's this weekend. Went to church at Athens. Enjoyed a great potluck, watched 'A Lot Like Love' with Amanda Peet and Ashton Kutcher. Not bad.

Dollywood has the entire theme park decked out in its Christmas best and Joelle was amazed at every little Christmas thing she saw. Very precious.

We hung out at and with Larry & Sandra's this weekend. Went to church at Athens. Enjoyed a great potluck, watched 'A Lot Like Love' with Amanda Peet and Ashton Kutcher. Not bad.

At home we filled up when we saw that gas was $1.96. Suprised it was under $2 I couldn't help but stop and fill the tank that was about 1/4 full. Now the question in my mind becomes, how far down are they gonna let it get? Can't be too far. Although if you ask me, the farther below the $2 mark the better!


Helped a friend in Madisonville move this weekend. Originally her e-mail said it was a packing party. That to me says we're packing things in boxes. But my assumption was really, REALLY wrong. It was a 'loading' party. You know where you load furniture, boxes and junk in a truck to move it. Guess what job I got stuck with? That's right - loading the truck. In fact the son told me that Sandy said that nobody was to 'touch' anything until I arrived. Aaarrggghh. I thought I was out of the moving business! :) I really like my job now of UNLOADING boxes that average 18lbs. We can #1 - use rollers and #2 don't have to load it, #3 have to worry about things getting damaged etc. Oh well, we were done by noon and got fed pizza and those cool new Pringles chips with the fun trivia questions imprinted on each chip and some excellent Keebler cookies! She did end up giving us a 'grill' she didn't want to move to SC - so I guess it was a fair trade! :)

So what is it about our 'church' leaders shipping 'crap' leaders/pastors off to different assignments in the denomination??? You know I can see giving these guys one maybe two and possibly three chances to get in the right situation - but dang, it's like an unwritten code in our denomination to never fire anyone Even complete losers. They just "PASS THE BUCK" to another church or ministry or conference or position. I mean come on people, if these people can't cut it - GET RID OF THEM. I heard at least 3 stories about my former boss. And these weren't flattering stories. These stories came from 3 different sources on two different days with many hours between each story. This guy should have been washed out of the denomination, as it turns out, YEARS ago. This also explains how he got shipped to the former place of my employement from being a Conf Prez. My experience working under him (and the wifey) also explains why so many positions were 'open' at that Conference.

Darn it - I wish our denomination would pull it together and use common sense in handling many, many things and not just bumble along blindly. I love the church I'm in, but come on people, get your ducks in line!!!

WOW! Gas in Collegedale is

WOW! Gas in Collegedale is down to $2.00. The big question is will it dip below that amount? Things that make you go hummm!

Bull,s...,oney

Man, I really, REALLY cannot stand these Oil CEOs defend soaring profits!! They are so full of horse puckey - it really ain't funny!!! :)

1st Dental Visit

Natalie had her first visit with the denist today and she did GREAT. She lay there with her mouth open super-wide and was a little angel. It was so incredibly cute!

All 20 teeth were in perfect shape!

Cool!

Ride 'em Cow-Kids

Joelle and Natalie with their cousin Colby were having fun at a park this morning playing like crazy. Here' they're ridin' a set of bronkin tires! Yeeee haaawwww!

Jedi Test Part 2

Jedi Watchman You scored 36 variable 1 and 12 variable 2!

You chose the way of the Jedi Sentinel. The watchmen are masters among Jedi and basically the balance between Force strength, and Lightsaber abilities. Not too strong or too weak on either side. You tend to be good at negotiations and you know what is right and just in the universe. You'll never be able the strongest of Jedi in the universe, but you can hold your own against almost anything.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 84% on Force Power You scored higher than 30% on LSP DSP

Link: The Jedi Test written by Swimstud on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Jedi Fun

Pure Shadow JediI am a Pure Shadow Jedi
"One of a kind my friend! Many people try to have that equal balance like you! Just the right about of good, and the right amount of being bad. You are most likely to help an old woman cross the road but drive off and leave no note to a car that you just hit."
True Jedi Test By Ocean-Saurian and PrincessLeia2
www.princessleia.com

Correction

I just have to correct a comment by my brother-in-law Scott. He mentioned that I'm home 3 of 7 days per week in my new job. Well... sorry man, you were wrong. I was home Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in this 7 day stretch. He, he, he - hate to correct ya man.

I tell ya though - when I'm out, it's driving nights and tossing cookies and I tell ya - when I work, I really, REALLY work my 'arse' off! :) They gotta give us the time off to recoup to run again. :)

Wrapped up!

My two precious little bundles of joy! :)

Post Fire Cleanup

Here's the 'garage pad' with everything cleaned up nice and pretty. Well - it's still black and icky in places where things burned pretty hot. I'll get some photos of the back of the house now that it's been fixed and what Larry did to the garage pad.

:)

Broken Wrist & Torn Ligament

Thought you'd like to see the dock that Sandra fell off. There was no safety chain to warn her or maybe keep her (or anyone) from falling. It's about 4 feet tall and the landing is nothing but concrete. OUCH!
Here's my mother-in-law, Sandra, after we picked her up in Hattiesburg, MS getting ready to bring her home. The trip went well and she was dopped up enough the bumps in the road didn't hurt that much. That and we had all sorts of pillows packed around her to help her be comfortable. Here's the after photo with her arms in casts. The left one (Pink) is broken at the wrist just before the thumb. The right arm (purple) has a torn ligament that needs to be immoblie - so that's why the cast. She'll be in those things for 5 weeks.

The Force was with Me OR I HATE VEHICLES

Hey all - what up?

Got lots going on. Mainly, they're happy enough with me at work that after next week I might be 'released' from training 2 weeks early and be put in the regular rotation. I guess we'll see.

Took two trips this week. One to Battle Creek, MI and the other to Thompson, GA. On the Georgia run, I left at 2am. As I was driving down the road, it came to my mind to give Doreen a call and tell her good night. (She'd been up in Madisonville visiting with her sister and parents - so I'd not talked with her in person for 2 days.) As I reached for my phone I looked at the clock on the dash and realize it was 20 min after 2am and if I call I'm gonna have some unhappy in-laws and an unhappy wife. (Hopefully she'd feel loved though! **GRIN**) He, he, he.

So I'm really hating my car right now. We just put an engine in it. Which seems to be running great by the way - even better than the old one. I must have been getting bad for some time. I went to pass a little old lady driver who was doing 30 in a 40 mph zone and when I stuck my foot in it with the other engine - it would kinda hick-up. This engine just zoomed around that little old lady. Cool. But I digress...

This afternoon after getting gas and driving home - I went to roll the window up and heard this huge "POP" and I watched the window slide down into the door. It was gone. So when I got home I took the door apart and found one of the plastic slides that holds the window and goes up and down in a track broke and so I got the window back up into place and we'll have to take it in to get it fixed this week. Aaaarrrgghhhhh!

Took the girls into Wal-mart this evening for an errand and ended up getting Joelle the DVD of Toy Story, Natalie came away with Princess Stories 3 (They've already got 1 & 2) and the 'Force' was with me and I was victorious and came out with Star Wars episode 3! Yeah baby! :)

This next week I head out for KY Sat night and North Central IL on Tuesday. I'll be done with work either late Wed or Early Thur Morning. Should be a great week.

Hope you have a good one! :)

Out!

Unloaded in Battle Creek, MI

Unloaded in Battle Creek, MI yesterday. 4 Stops (cites) 7 Drops and a bunch of cases of cookies 1st load w/ just me & a co-driver. Touched 'em all Full day!

The day started rainy but

The day started rainy but cleared to be gorgeous.And the beautiful fall colors on the trees were AWSOME!

Old habits, last night after

Old habits, last night after parking in the truck stop 2 hours later I jump in the drivers seat feeling late only 2 find its still sleep time ARGH