Happy Holidays

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. As you can see, I have gotten into the holiday spirit. I hope when you are looking at lights, you all will ride by and stop for a visit.
I started out with the intentions of going all way around the house. But after working on it all day, I got lazy and decided maybe next year I'll do that.




Alissa came over to help with the tree, and we couldn't find her Santa and Frosty. I found them later and when she came back over we gave them to her. She found them last year and wouldn't let us put them outside. They had to stay in the living room.
I have been working on painting the house for nearly a year now. Some things are real hard to get motivated to do. Seems like I hunt excuses not to paint. Now I can't finish because of the lights on the eaves.
Miles has been painting Mothers house while she was in the hospital. He did a really good job. The new paint made the flooring in the living room look bad, now we are going to put down hardwood flooring. Hope to get'er done before Christmas. Mother came home last Friday and seems to be doing well. I think the hospital was starting ot get to her. She really likes her new TV in her room. She can read the captions without her glasses. It is mounted up on the wall, and is tilted toward the bed.

Good luck to all.

Robin's Bad News

We have all been waiting the results of Robin's test after her surgery.
Sometimes you don't want to know what you need to know. Robin called Phyllis this morning and told her that the tumor was a stage 4 cancer. This is not good. It is also one of the worse types of cancers that you can have. Robin will have to undergo radiation and chemo therapy for the next few weeks. Tomorrow, she will go home for a few days before her treatments. Phyllis was at her Doctor's office when she called me. I met her there and then we went to her mother's house to tell her. I called David to see if he would go with us. He did and I am thankful. Sometimes you don't know how much having a church family can mean to you until things like this happen. Right now all we can do is pray for Robin and Bill and their two sons Trey and Chase. I know without asking that all of you that read this will do so. It seems a shame that the surgery went so well, and things were looking up for Robin and then we get this kind of news. Please remember us all, Thank You.

Ramblings

Well folks, the auburn tigers done it again, that's all I care to say about that. Since I last wrote, a few things have happened. We went to the Smokies a couple weeks ago, Joseph was able to go along with Alissa. I think we all had fun. While in Gatlinburg, Alissa wanted to go to the haunted house. I warned her that it might be scary like the earthquake ride she rode last year, she said that then she was younger and now it wouldn't bother her. We went through it, and she enjoyed it. I was afraid she would have to sleep in our room, but she slept in the living room on the sleeper. The cabin we had was nice, it had 2 bedrooms and a sleeper with a hot tub and also a whirly tub in the bedroom. It was amazing to see the cabins built on the edge of the mountains. Some of the fondations were 40-50 feet high. Must cost a fortune. We came home on Monday through Cherokee I always enjoy that drive but it is longer that way.
>I have continued to paint the house, Looks like this is one of those never ending projects. I washed the house down last spring to paint, by the time I started, I had to wash it again. I a sprayer for the siding it looks a lot better. If I had known it was so quick, I might have sprayed it sooner. Joseph helped me with the trim in front. I want to paint the front so I can put up the lights for Christmas. Saturday I started on the lights, but it started raining and had to quit.
>As usual, Phyllis had to put the tree up Friday after Thanksgiving. My job is to set the tree up and the lights, and then get out of the way. Alissa came to help and they worked on it most of the day.
>Mother is still in the hospital I think she is getting better, she is able to get up with just a little assistance and I think she has regained some confidence.
>Miles and I put in a 32 inch HDTV in her room for her to watch, now she won't need her glasses. I don't know when she last wore any anyway.
>Robin is to have surgery Tuesday. This is serious, there are 4 spots in her brain from the stroke that have to be fixed. I wish for all to remember her in your prayers.
>This surgery and the problems with Phyllis's parents is causing Phyllis a great deal of stress. I think she has held it back for some time now, and as usual when you hold something back, it hits, and hits hard. Today was not a good day for her. We left church, and stayed home for the rest on the afternoon.
>Well I think I have rambled along enough. Does anyone remember the Rambler automobile? I never know just how to end so Good-bye
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and has a wonderful Christmas.

PONDERISMS

I got this in an e-mail today, Just thought I would give yall something to think about.

Ponderisms:

I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

Garden Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?

In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?


Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?

Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

Do you ever wonder why you gave me your email address?

The first Saturday in October was the Garrison reunion at Fayette. The Garrison Boys were there, and all looked to be doing well. Uncle Donalds wife Aunt Edith in is poor health and was not able to come. But Uncle Donald was there, as was Uncle Jake, looking good to be 85. Uncle Johnny and Catherine was there also. These are Daddy's brothers. Uncle Clayton passed away about 25 years ago. I had not seen his girls in several years, and it was good to see them all there and doing well. When we left the park, we drove by my grandmothers house, it still looked like it did for years, the same log posts in front and the unpainted block walls. Then we went by the cemetary where mothers parents are buried. I tried to find the cemetary where daddys parents are but missed the turn, They are at the Cleveland Church of Christ near Berry. We would go to church there when we visited Fayette. They didn't have a full time preacher and we would go for Sunday School and communion. Times like this remind me how much I miss not having Daddy around. It still seems a shame that he was taken from us at such an early age. He was 67 and has been gone for 14 years. I still think of him often. I know Mother misses him greatly. I'm sure she would be in better shape if he was still here.
Mother fell last Friday, and bruised herself up pretty good. We went over Saturday night with some potato soup and her favorite Mexican cornbread. She was hurting so bad that she couldn't eat. After supper we helped her get back in bed, and it hurt her so bad, we decided to take her to Princeton. There, the x-rays showed a broken toe, and possible break below her knee. They admitted her to run more tests. She has been having leg pain for some time now, and I think the fall aggrievated it. I hope they can help to ease the physical pain. This past Oct 25 would have been my parents 60th wedding anniversary. Times like this really get mother down. I know that she would like to have daddy around. But that can't happen. For those of you that never met him, he was a good man, husband, and father. I have met many people who knew him and I never had anyone say anything bad about him. I know I am prejudist about this, but it is the truth. He didn't talk much, but a lot of people have told me that he made a lot of sense and when he said something it would be worth hearing. If he didn't like someone he never said anything bad about them, he just wouldn't wouldn't have much to do with them. I wish the grandkids that came later coud have met him. I am sad that they will never know his corny humor and mischevious ways, Mother had been putting a puzzle together and was just about through when daddy put a piece in his shirt pocket while she wasn't looking. He said that when she couldn't find it he would put it in and get credit for finishing the puzzle. He was a good man and is still missed greatly by all those that knew him. Enought for now. Remember Mother in your prayers that she can recover and ease the pain she suffers from. I never know how to end things so Bye.

20 Childhood memories

Thanks a lot Susan, I can always count on you to get things going. I have been thinking about my childhood since I read your post. I too had a good upbringing. We didn't have a lot, but back then it didn't seem to matter. We were happy with what we had. Here are a few memories, in no particular order.

1. Waking up to the smell of bacon frying in the kitchen.
2. Our kitchen had a bar that separated the kitchen from the dining area, I would stand up in a chair and look over it to watch mother when she cooked. I learned all I know about cooking while doing this.
3. Getting to go with daddy to the mines to get his check and then go out to pay bills on payday.
4. Going to the hospital to see Becky when she was born. We couldn't go to the room and I didn't get to see her, but we stood on the sidewalk while mother looked out the window.
5. Looking over the carseat at Becky when we took her home from the hospital.
6. Watching the men use a gas powered auger to put up Mr. Mitchells fence. I was about 4 when they did this.
7. Going to church barefooted on Wednesday nights.
8. Bro. Holley had an oscillating fan on the pulpit that would also hit the front pew. I would sit on the front pew so I could feel the fan. Before air conditioning.
9. Helping daddy work of stuff in the garage.
10. Pine cone battles, don't ever get hit with the green ones.
11. Going to Dixie Jr. High and changing classes for the first time. This is now Minor Community School.
12. Driving to Fayette to visit Grandmother and hearing mother and daddy sing the old songs.
13. Shooting into the sand bank at grandaddy's house, and then digging the bullets out of the sand.
14. Going to the Fairgrounds for a church picnic one Sunday afternoon and getting in trouble because I spent all my money on rides at Kiddie Land. $2.50.
15. Because I was the same age as Mark the preacher's son, when someone would ask Bro. Holley to lunch, I would get to go with them to keep him company. Thanks for the good food Sis. Cagle
16. Saturday work days. When adding on the the Mulga church building. The men would work and the ladies would provide lunch. The old building was built completely by the members.
17. Picking the white roses that Mrs. Mitchell planted on the fence. She told me I could have any that grew on my side.
18. Picking wild onions in the yard for mother to use in the kitchen.
19. Letting Becky sit in her stroller so she could watch me play. For details ask Becky.
20. Playing blindman's bluff and having Becky fall off the bed and knocking out her two front teeth.
21. I would count the people at church to pick the least number there so I could go up and be baptized. I didn't like to get up in front of a lot of people. On the night I was baptized there were 27. It was the 3rd of Jan. and the water was cold.

When I first read Susans blog, I wondered if I could think of 20 things, I could probably think of 100 more, but I won't bore you with it. This is just the first 21 I thought of.

Top Ten Murphy's Laws

1. Murphy's Law
If something can go wrong, it will.
2. Murphy's Law
If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.
3. Murphy's Law
Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
4. Murphy's Law
Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value.
5. Murphy's Law
The chance of the bread falling with the buttered side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet.
6. Murphy's Law
The buddy system is essential to your survival; it gives the enemy somebody else to shoot at.
7. Murphy's Law
Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand.
8. Murphy's Law
The opulence of the front office decor varies inversely with the fundamental solvency of the firm.
9. Murphy's Law
Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.
10. Murphy's Law
The first myth of management is that it exists.

The Night Before Payday

It was the night before payday, and all through the house everyone was wondering if money would be left. I used to pay bills by check, I hated it. Writing all those checks by hand entering the information in the checkbook, and hoping no mistakes were made. Then along came Money 2000 the finance program to end all your worries. Just enter the amount and the checks go flying away. It still meant writing all the amounts and addresses and account numbers and maybe you would have enough money left to eat lunch with. Also, when you paid bills by mail your money would last just a little longer. Later on came internet bill pay this was an even easier way to send out your money. With just a few mouse clicks, you can spend all your money in the comfort of your own home. For a long time I resisted automatic check deposit and debit cards, I liked to see and hold my money. I remember when I was younger, one of the things I enjoyed most during the summer was waking up early enough on Thursday morning and going with daddy to pay bills. This was time I could hang around with him. We would go to the mines and pick up his check and then go to the bank in Wylam. Then actually go to the business and pay the bills in person Daddy worked nights, and I only saw him for a few minutes during the week and on weekends when we were in school. During the summer I saw him every day. I would go just to be with him. This memory maybe why I like to be able to hold money. But like most of us, I found that it was convenient to have it direct deposited and to pay bills online. So now it is the night before payday and I am broke.

A Day in Another Guy's Life

Thought I would bore with a day in my life. This morning I hit the snooze button on my alarm clock at 6:00. Phyllis finally pushed me out of bed at 6:30. I put the dog out, got ready for work, told Joseph twice that it was time to get up, let the dog in and laid the sheet on the bet so Cookie could lay down in my place in the bed. Then I left for work. When they closed most of the employees parking to build the deck, I found that if you are 5-10 minutes late for work, you can get a good parking place. Sometimes I take advantage of that fact. Today I did. Checked e-mail, had work to do on the computer then I had to go to surgery to reconnect the monitor on one of the video systems. Surgery can be an interesting place sometimes, today someone brought in breakfast stuff to eat, I got a large muffin. The other day, they had an ice cream social, but I was to late. At 10:00 we had an all-hands call, this is when the zone vice-president gets on the phone and tells us how good or bad we are doing. Our region was #1 for this quarter. the call lasted for 2 hours, with a speaker phone I could work and listen. Had a late lunch went to McDonalds across the street. After lunch I had to go replace a video cable on the portable Endo cart If you don't know what it is for, you don't need to know. The Doctors here are OK, but some can get upset when things don't work like thay are supposed to. I usually get to the problem after the doctor has left and gotten the nurses all upset. They start trying to fix the problem and sometimes make it worse. But it is hard to think when someone is yelling and cursing because he is running late. Anyway, around 2:oo my boss shows up. He's good at this, I never know where he is or when he will appear, today he was looking for afternoon coffee. I was glad because I wanted some to but was not going to make a whole pot just for myself. I got a new coffee pot at work because the hospital safety officer condemmed my old one because it only had a 2-wire plug on it. We order office supplies form Staples, and I found a good Bunn coffee pot and got it. I never realized that a coffee pot could make that much difference in how coffee tastes. I had to work on an e-stim form Rehab, when I called tech support, I found out it was in warranty, so I sent it to them for repairs. Not much else happened at work, so I left and headed home. Phyllis called and reminded me to go get her dad from day care. Just because I forgot him one day, she won't let me forget. On the way I stopped by to see how long it would take to get a hair cut. I hit it just right, no one was there. Couldn't decide on which hair to cut so I just got them all trimmed. Took Mr. Hill home and then went home myself. Watched the news and then fixed supper. Interesting supper, I made eggs and spam for Phyllis, and I made me some egg spam and cheese Fajitas. They weren't too bad. After that, I got to clean the hardwood in the living room. Yes great fun. Then we added some pictures to Phyllis blog need to find out how to put in one of those fancy slide shows and the blinky things she likes that kind of stuff. Well getting late, and I have to get to work late in the morning so I can get a good parking place. See you'll later.

Thursday morning

Not much going on. Robin is still at St. Vincents, but should be moved today to Lakeshore Rehab for therapy. She will be there about 4 weeks. The MRI and arterogram didn't show anything abnormal, which is the case most of the time, seems that most strokes leave no evidence. They still don't know what caused the stroke. Phyllis has been at the hospital the past few days, and is planning to stay home today. Maybe thing will settle down and find aome form of normal. It's interesting how things move along at the same rate and then boom, life changes in the blink of an eye. It is a big reminder that there are no guarantees in life. Ben Franklin said there is nothing certain except death and taxes. How true it is. We all need to live life to the best we can and plan for life after we leave this old world. I guess that is all see ya'll later.

Sunday afternoon

We went to see Robin again today, she is somewhat improved. They took her out of the Insensive Care and put her in room 657. They will start Physical Therapy on her later in th week. Looks oike th estroke affected the right side of her face, making it difficult for her to talk, and her right arm. She has a difficult time ahead of her and continue to remember her in your prayers, as well as her husband Bill and Trey and Chase. It will be a difficult recovery for all of them.

Last night while we were shopping, Phyllis's mom called her and told her that Robin thought she was having a stroke. Robin was on her way home from the ballpark with numbness on the right side of her face and right arm. She made it home and was taken to St Vincents downtown, where the test showed some bleeding in the left side of her brain. She was admitted to CVCU for observation and more test. We are not sure what will happen but we know that this is a very serious situation. I ask for your prayers on Robin's and Phyllis's behalf. When I find out more I will post later.

Fingerprints on the door

Last Wednesday after church, I watched Hanna as she explored the foyer on two legs. It is so entertaining to watch as little ones learn to walk. As she walked, naturally she went to the door and left her fingerprints. Josh said, "now Kent will have to clean the door". It has never bothered me to clean the fingerprints off the door. I wish I could save them as a reminder of all the kids that we have there. All of them have left presents for me on the door. Too soon they will be grown up and then they will "know better" than to make a mess. HaHa. We are looking at the future leaders of our church and our country. With the training they get at a young age, I have no fear of the future of our church. I could only hope that all children are loved as much as those at Sylvan Springs. I feel like they are all mine, and I think that everyone elso does to. They all are definitely "church babies" loved by all. I have great hope in all our young adults in their ability to raise their children in the way they should go. Our future looks bright, as bright as the eyes of our babies as they smile.

Hello World

Hello blogging world. Paul will be so proud of me, I finally started a blog. Problem is I don't know what to say. Oh I know ROLL TIDE!!!! Season starts Saturday night, hope this go around dosen't disapoint like the last one. I am supposed to be checking the pictures on our new computer, it crashed and I ressurected the old one until I could get it fixed, only problem is all our pictures are on it. I took it to work plugged it in and it worked. Has aome viruses on it but maybe i'll get it straight. Today Phyllis got a site local block in her back. this means I got to sit at the hospital all day waiting. Wish there was something that could be cone ablut bad backs. I bouthe a new grill Saturday, and finally got to try it out tonight, had some grilled chicken. Turned out pretty good. Getting late, I may grace all you with some more of my wisdom if you are lucky.Good Night all.