It’s November 10th.

On this day in 1483, Martin Luther was born.

On this day in 1775, The United States Marine Corps was founded at Tun Tavern in Philidelphia by Samuel Nicholas.

On this date in 1924, Russell Johnson (A.K.A. Gilligan’s Island’s Professor) was born.

On this day in 1954, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicated the USMC War Memorial (Iwo Jima memorial) in Arlington National Cemetery.

On this day in 1956, Sinbad, the actor and comic, was born.

On this day in 1969, the first episode of Sesame Street aired, sponsored by the letters W, S, and E, and the numbers 2 and 3.

In honor of this last one, I’m wearing this shirt today.

Tammy got me this shirt for my birthday. OH! That reminds me. I almost forgot.

On this day in 1973, I was unleashed on an unsuspecting world!

Thanks to everyone for all the well-wishes. It feels good to hear from so many friends. Then again, it reminds me what a rotten cad I am for not doing the same for all of you. I need to work on that!

P.S. If you’d like to send a belated gift (I don’t mind!) you’ll find my T-Shirt Wish List at the top of the sidebar.

My brother-in-law made the front page of the Amarillo news paper today. He received a big-time award for his work on the Amarillo SWAT team.

In January of last year they cornered a crazed gunman in an apartment complex. The guy fired dozens of rounds from an AK-47 through the front door of an apartment when Kenny and another officer tried to enter. It was a real God-thing that no one got hurt. That is, other than the wanna-be cop killer. He got a well deserved lethal lead lobotomy.

Congrats Kenny!!

Clicky clicky for the complete article.

Regardless of what the big retailers would have you believe, it is NOT Christmas yet.

I used to be a real stickler and say that Christmas can’t start until after Thanksgiving. You can’t start playing Christmas music, you can’t put up Christmas decorations, and you certainly can’t start Christmas shopping until the Friday after Turkey Day.

However, I have now been married over ten years to a wonderful woman who sneaks Christmas songs on her iPod in April. Who, if you pay attention, can be heard quietly humming “Frosty the Snowman” in mid-summer. Who’s face lights up like the Griswold’s house at site of the first Christmas decorations in the mall (which is now reaching into September… *groan*).

So, I will make this small concession. I will allow that the Christmas Spirit may be on the loose before Thanksgiving. I will do my best not to grumble and curse when jolly songs and snowmen appear at the mall along side Jack-o’-lanterns. BUT!!! You can NOT call it “Christmas Time” until after my birthday on November 10th.

<ThinlyVailedExcuseToPanderForGifts>Speaking of my birthday…</ThinlyVailedExcuseToPanderForGifts>

…I just updated my T-Shirt Wishlist. Go check it out!!

I had a good run. I should be thankful. I made it through the whole summer without getting sick. But last weekend, it caught up to me.

Tammy and I drove to Amarillo to celebrate her granddad’s 90th birthday (and spend some quality time with her fam). While there, I started feeling really weird. We blamed the dry climate and that’s probably at least partly true. But by the time we got home, I was full on icky.

I worked from home on Monday, rather than risk spreading the ick. But Tuesday, I was just plain sick. I slept most of the day and finally managed a full night sleep. All that sleep left me feeling strong and rested this morning, so I’m in the office. That may have been premature, though, as I’m still showing a lot of symptoms. I probably won’t stay all day.

No, really. Fair! Just keep reading. It’ll make sense later.

Sunday, our church had a big celebration for our pastor’s 30th year. Pastor Dennis is amazing and it seems like he knows everyone. Seriously! He got letters from Nolan Ryan and George W. Bush and there congratulatory videos from James Robison and Mike Huckabee. (Huck spoke at our church before his presidential run.)

They wanted to make a DVD of the event, and I got tapped to be a camera man. And not just a silly old handicam. I got to run a real TV camera, with handlebars! It was great fun.

The State Fair of Texas opened this weekend. (I still think the name is really presumptuous. Like the “University of Texas.” *Pfft*) and we were eager to go. So after church we headed out.

Tammy’s ankle is healing remarkably well. She’s got a bright (and by that I mean **BRIGHT**) pink cast. To our happy surprise, the doctor gave her a shoe that fits over the cast and instructed her to quit using the crutches. She’s been walking on it for a couple weeks now. She was really brave and tough and walked a good ways before relenting. I insisted we rent a wheelchair.

We didn’t go on any rides. We’ve both developed a healthy fear of any ride that is packed on and off a trailer every week by carnies. (Small hands. Smell like cabbage.) But we were eager to try out some of the fried fare.

I’ve been jonesing for a corn dog since the first fair ad I saw on TV. So we started there. Safe, reliable, fair corndogs. And they were great! Then we got adventurous. The fried pork chips were awesome! Think thinly sliced pork chops in a spicy, shake-n-bake batter. For dessert, fried cheese cake and fried peaches-n-creme. YUMMY!!

The cheese cake was wrapped in a light tortilla-like-thing, so it looked like a chimichanga. The cheese cake was warm and mushy inside. But, it needed some fruit topping or something. Still, good.

The peaches-n-creme (the award for best taste this year) was little more than canned peach slices, fried and served with a sweet creme dipping sauce. Simple, but very tasty.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, yes. The diet has been “on hold” for a while now.

Life is pain. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.
– Dread Pirate Roberts

I have so many good things to tell you guys about, but there’s just no time. Life is treating us very well lately. True, Tammy’s had surgery and is coping with life in a cast. True, I’m outside my comfort zone sleep-wise, having to get up before 5:30 AM to drive Tammy to work. True, it’s been raining here for the last three days, making the job of keeping Tammy’s cast dry a real challenge. But even with all that God is so good to us!!

We have a beautiful new home to keep us warm and cozy. We have an amazing church family that has stuffed our shiny new refrigerator to capacity with yummy dinners. We have an awesome, reliable truck that can haul us all over town in all kinds of weather with no worries. And we finally have a FREAKING AWESOME 4-channel DVR that is nearly overflowing with all the shows we’ll get to catch up on after this ordeal is over. Seriously, I am giddy about finally having a DVR. Thank you, AT&T U-verse!

Live is tough. Don’t let anyone tell you different. But when you’ve got faith in the Most High, there’s nothing you can’t handle.

My family (immediate and extended) has been doing a great job over the last few weeks of keeping our doctors in business.

Tammy’s ankle surgery went very well this Thursday. She had plenty of tendon in place to do “option one” (as opposed to the tendon graft that was “option two”). She spent yesterday on the recliner, but is in very little pain. This morning she made her first solo trip to the bathroom, requiring no help getting out of and back into her nest of pillows and blankets on the recliner. She’s also telling me, as I type this, that she’s ready to get up and go out for breakfast. She’s either a real trooper or has a terminal case of cabin fever. Probably both.

Tammy’s dad had heart surgery Friday. They expected to do a quintuple bi-pass (that’s five blocked blood vessels) but after getting in there and finding the tissue very weak, they stopped at three. I’m not sure what the plan is for the other two.

There was some concern last night because he was not breathing steadily enough on his own to remove the ventilator (which means he had to keep the hose down his throat and needed to be sedated).

But this morning we got news that he’s off the ventilator and talking. (PTL!) He’s still in a lot of pain and he has a historical problem with medications making him sick. The search goes on for the right pain medicine to keep him comfortable and not make him sick.

My Aunt Martha, is home (sort of) after open heart surgery. Her recovery has been slow and difficult, but she moved from the rehab center to a room in her daughter’s basement yesterday. She lives in Beaumont, Texas, but all this has taken place in Maryland. She’s far from home, but at least she’s “home.” If you know Martha and want to follow her story more closely, my cousins, Kathy and Daina, are keeping a blog of her recovery.

Ok, all you prayer warriors out there. I’ve got some requests for you.

Tammy’s getting her ankle rebuilt (again) in about a week. She’ll be in a hard cast for 6 weeks beginning Labor Day weekend. Pray for peace.

Tammy’s dad is facing heart surgery somewhere in that same time frame. We’re hoping he gets to come down and see the house before then. Pray for peace.

My aunt is recovering (slowly) from open heart surgery. (You can follow the progress here.) Pray for peace.

My mom and my sister have some issues that could use prayer. (In Baptist land, we call these “unspoken” requests.) Pray for peace.

There are countless people in my church family who are struggling with unemployment. Pray for peace.

We’ve had some soldiers close to us come home healthy from the Middle East. We are grateful, but we know there are a lot of folks still in harms way over there. Pray for peace.

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The to-do list at the house is getting shorter every day. But it’s still pretty long.

This weekend…

Hung the climbing wall. (Hooray!)
Parked one car in the garage. (Double Hooray!!)
Took delivery of the “snuggler” and end table, the last of our living room furniture.
Hung the whiteboard in the office.
Purchased and used electric hedge trimmer to cut the bushes away from the front windows. (They were scratching into the window screens.)
Purchased and used lawn mower and weed whacker to manicure the lawns.
Purchased and used a garden hose to bring some life back to the flora until we get time to figure out the sprinkler system.

And I swear it was completely by accident (or perhaps subconscious nurosis) that I bought a yellow garden hose that matches *both* of our yellow cars. (Cell phone pic.)

My Aunt Jill posted this to Facebook. Now, I don’t usually do these things. They’re long, time consuming, and seriously narcissistic. But this one’s pretty clever and… It’s Aunt Jill, so it’s gotta be cool, right?!

I am very guilty of filling out the ubiquitous facebook list of questions, because, well, who doesn’t like to talk (write) about themselves? But many of these questions are somewhat silly and boring, so I decided to make Jill’s quiz. I challenge all 65 of my facebook friends (Not just the ones that always do these, but the rest of you too!!) to fill it out and post it AND add a question (and answer!) not on there. Ready, set, go!!

Jill’s quiz

1. Favorite word: (This is tough!) Auspicious

2. Worst hair style: The bowl cut I had at ages 0 through 12.

3. First movie that scared you: Jaws. That scene where the dead guy pokes his head out of the hole in the boat. Gheh… still makes me squirm.

4. Favorite quote: Are you kidding me? I’ve got over 400 white board quips. You can’t expect me to have a favorite! How about:
“If God had meant people to run around naked, they’d be born that way!”

5. First big purchase: Well, I did just by a house, but… Probably the $400 Canon Rebel G 35mm camera I bought in Colorado.

6. Best place you ever lived: Colorado Springs!!

7. Most people think you are… Either mildly retarded or really goofy.

8. A surprising book you have read: Surprising because I read it, or the book itself is surprising?? Hmm. How about Stephen King’s “Misery.” It was the first of his books I read and so much more shocking than the movie. She didn’t use a hammer on his foot, people. It was an AXE!!

9. Favorite costume you ever wore: Backwards man. It was the last Halloween on which I actually trick-or-treated… in college… I was 20. *shame*

10. If you could change anything about your home, what would it be? I just moved in! I’ve only just begun to change things!!

11. Funniest thing my kid ever said: “Dude! We should tap-dance!” (Yes, Kason, you are one of my many “chi’ren.”)

12. If I was invited to the Oscars, and my significant other couldn’t go, I would go with: How could I say anything but Drew Barrymore?!

13. Brush with celebrity: Cowboys running-back Tony Dorsett, in a gas station bathroom in Dallas when I was 16 and on my first solo road trip.

14. Most surprising skill: I can jump rope and hula-hoop like a pro. (Thanks public school phys-ed.)

15. Favorite thing on your walls: Real theater movie posters from all three Lord of the Rings movies. (Although technically, they’re only leaning against my wall at the moment.)

16. Most frequent (or favorite) vacation spot: Aspen, CO. Only stayed the night once, but made many drives over Indy Pass when we lived in the Springs.

17. Why do you do the job you do? Alt-N has the best culture of any company I’ve worked for (or heard of for that matter). I love figuring out difficult problems and making the website do amazing things. Plus, the better I do my job, the more money the company makes and the more fun stuff we all get to do. (Lake party!!)

18. If you could have a talent you don’t have, what would it be? There are talents I don’t have?! Seriously though, I want be able to play anything I want on the guitar.

19. What decision changed your life? Deciding to move to Colorado Springs and “start over.”

20. One word or phrase that says something about you in each time period that applies — Teens: Stupid, 20’s: Adventurous 30’s: Blessed, 40’s: I’ll have to get back to you on that.

21. Best birthday: 12th when I got my own motorcycle. (Living in the country has its perks!)

22. Best present: Well, there was that motorcycle. But probably the picture frame filled with pictures of a bunch of my “chi’ren” that I got last year. (Thanks, Katie!)

23. Most interesting thing about my siblings is: Sabra is a college professor! She doesn’t seem to like it much, but I think it’s awesome!

24. Place you want to go: Ireland.

25. What would you change about your life? Many times I think about how different my life would be if I hadn’t made so many stupid mistakes when I was young. But, those mistakes led me to where I am and I am very happy. So, I guess, nothing. No! Wait! Washboard abs! YEAH!

Don’t forget to add your own question and answer.
26. Worst mistake you ever made: Getting physically involved with my high school girlfriend… then marrying her out of guilt. Worst three years of my life!