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!!

Nature abhors a vacuum. So does my sister’s dog.

This one reminds me of one of my favorite t-shirts!

One Colorado ski resort opened for business today on the earliest day of the year in 40 years thanks to an early cold snap. Another will open Friday, the earliest opener in the resort’s 60 year history. (Clicky clicky)

Also, an Idaho school district has had its earliest “snow day” closure in the history of the school district. (Clicky clicky)

Maybe the Global Warming hoax is a conspiracy hatched by ski resorts and a snow-plow drivers’ union. That’s the most sensible explanation I’ve heard yet.

Here’s a previous post that takes a more serious look at the matter.

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.

If you learn nothing else from this blog, learn this: Never refuse a breath mint. And now for today’s white board quip.

Dude. Tic-Tac.

Honda, using technology gleaned from their Asimo robot, have trumped the Segway and I WANT ONE!

Honda has introduced the U3-X. It weights around 22 pounds and is about the size of a large skate board, small enough to be carried around. (It even has a handy dandy carrying handle.) It’s not as fast, (only about 4mph). But what makes the U3-X really cool is its omni-directional travel. It looks like your just floating around.

The bad news is they don’t have any plans to sell them. I’m guessing partly because they’re worried about exposing their technology and partly because they would cost eleventy-billion dollars each.

But seriously. C’mon guys! If I can’t have my flying car, at least give me a shot at a floating chair!! Then again, you could argue that this puts us one step closer to being the gelatinous blobs from Wall-E (clicky). [Edit: LOL!*After* I posted this, the original article was updated with a pic from Wall-E. THEY STOLE MY JOKE!!]

You can read the complete article. (Clicky clicky.)

The article had a better video from the press conference when I first read it, but it seems that video is not working now. [Edit: They replaced it with MY Wall-E joke!] So here’s a promo I found on YouTube:

A single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic.

Why is that? I know why. I could tell you, but it would mean spending the first part of my day composing a long and vividly articulate post. I will do that eventually, but today I’ve got code to write, so it will have to wait. But if you see me out and about and really want to know, ask me about “Monkey Space.”

Seriously.

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.

Ahh, junior high band concerts. Great times. Great memories. Great googly-moogly, that sounds horrid!

If you hate your dog and/or your ear drums, crank your volume up to eleven for this one!!