Checking In

Well, as I too often write things have been very busy at Hide Manor. I apologize to both of my readers that I have been somewhat lacking in my posts, but I have been extremely busy. I am hoping that things are going to slow down a bit in the near future, but I am not going to hold my breath as the summer business is starting to pick up.

Major breaking news would be that my job is probably going to make a big change in the next 6 months or so. I will probably be losing my big cookie van and start doing more of a pre-sell type of sales and service. I will go to the stores and write the orders and then the truck will deliver it a couple of days later. There will be a learning curve, and I am not sure what kind of time adjustments I will have to make. I know there also will be a change in commission - lower - but it is supposed to be off-set by additional acounts on my territory. We will have to see what exactly happens. Just keep it all in prayer for me!

Jessica will be going to camp this week, and she is very excited. I can't blame her! I wold love to go to camp for a week too. Zach is looking forward to a wekk of being the only child too. I think that next year we are going to take off and go to Mackinac Island while the kids are both at camp. That way we will finally be able to be up there when the lilacs are in bloom, and Tammi will not have to spend the week at home alone. Our babies are growing up! (Soft sniffling sounds)

Anyway, I need to sign off. I know that I do not write often or much, but I do what I can. This past week it was painfully obvious to me that I am stretched too thin. It is hard to be all I "need" to be for every person who knows me. It leaves me some weeks feeling like I have to make my own wife and kids take a number to get a few minutes with me. That is what this week was like. Very draining on the body, heart, and mind. They say that those things that do not kill you will make you stronger, but sometimes you just have to think, "I have a peaceful eternity ahead of me, so can I go now?"

Well, Take care, I still check in on the blogs that I know of. Ric, if I am not meeting the minimum posts to stay on your list I understand, and will not be hurt if I am cut lose into that great wateland of cyberspace. I leave that decision in your hands. Glad to hear that you might be getting out of maintenance.

Goodbye, and God bless!

Tom

I will leave you with this:

Home from the Windy City

Just got back from Chicago, and I am now sure that there is no better place on earth than my own little piece of real estate far from all of that stupidity. The traffic down there was beyond crazy, and I am pretty sure that I paid the annual salary of at least one highway worker with all of the tolls I was forced to pay for!



Seriously, we did have a good time, and got to see a lot of things we had never seen before. We also had the opportunity to spend an evening with Tammi's cousin who lives south of Chicago. We love our trips, but we both thought that we crammed too much in to this little trip. Next time we will take smaller bites and chew carefully rather than swallowing the entire Cook County area in three big bites.



Here are a few of our pics from the trip.

That's all for now. Things are very busy. I will drop a line sometime soon if all goes well!

Time for a quickie!

Okay, maybe that was not the best choice of words to use for a title, but that is about all I have the time for tonight. I have received loads (1) of requests for an update as to what is going on in my life, so here is a quick run down.

Vehicles

Well, Blaze went and cost me money. I had finally gotten the gas tank fixed and took her out on a run to TC. Tammi and I were buzzing along about 60mph on Hammond Road and had a ball joint separate. Managed to hold her on the road, but she was in a bad way. Got towed and fixed to the tune of $1,000. One week later the mini-van locked up a front caliper and we had the pleasure of handing over another $360. These items were definitely not expected or budgeted, and the nice little nest egg that we had built up ripped out of the checking account faster than you can say (insert favorite "faster than you can say thing" here).

Work

Things have been slower the last few weeks. Gas prices are a big part of it as well as the time of year. I have had about 8 voice messages so far this week (it's Monday) telling me to get my volume up and quick. It is funny how they never give us a call when things are going really well to say how amazed they are at how much I am selling!

Kids

The offspring are doing very well. Zach is finally starting to get the hang of his teacher I think. She is just different than anything he has had before. He's got a little stubborn streak that does not want to change just for her, but he is coming around. Jessica is doing well in school, and she is starting a 4-H gardener's program that I am helping with on Tuesdays after school. (yep, I needed another thing to do!)

Tammi & Me

I just have to tell you that there is nothing more wonderful that I have been blessed with than my wife. I have to tell you partly because it is true, and partly because she reads this thing! We just finished repainting and working over our bedroom decor again. It is a very comfy and relaxing green and tan. It feels so good to go there and curl with a book before bed.

Church

As always, things are busy here. We had the egg hunt, then a wedding, next week a tea, then a Trout Festival Firework thing, then a Men's retreat, then one week off, then a work day. That is what I am doin on my Saturday's for the next little bit. I do try to set aside my Sunday afternoons for a bit of peace and quiet watching 43 cars rip around while turning left. I am still teaching Sunday School, and this next week we will be starting a new study on Nehemiah. I am really looking forward to it. We just finished James, and it was very good, but time for something new.

Well, I guess that is enough for now. I have a checkbook to balance! Talk at you all (both) another time. I'll leave you this little funny that made me chuckle.

How ya'll doin'?

Howdy! I am trying to make the effort at being more regular on this! I had a bunch of stuff planned that I was going to do tonight while the kids are at AWANA, but I left some of the more crucial things at home, soooooo.

We had a nice weekend here. The weather the last few days has been better than great. We have seen temps in the upper 40's and lower 50's. Tomorrow is supposed to be the last day of that and then we will slide back into the normal temps of upper 30's and low 40's. It was nice working today with just a light jacket on.

Blaze will rise the day after tomorrow. We got the tank sealed over the weekend, and today I put the undercoat sealer on it. Tomorrow night I will put it back in and then on Wednesday I can finally put some gas in it and go for a ride! It has been too long, and I am really looking forward to having something besides the minivan to drive!

Just have a couple of things to get fixed and then I will drive it for a while and see if anything else pops up. I am getting some very nearly new tires from my brother-in-law and then I need to get a rear-wheel bearing replaced I think. It seems like I am fixing a lot, but when you consider how much I was going to have to put into Black Beauty to get her through the winter, and the fact that Blaze was a free gift, I am still WAAAAYYYY ahead. Besides, I think I have a cousin that will help me out with some labor on the wheel bearing for the price of some cookies.

It was kind of funny the other night I was talking about the work I was doing on the Blazer and Jessica said she hoped that someday I would have a truck I would be happy with. It gave me a chance to talk to her about the difference between coveting and being content. I told her that I would really like to have a nice new GMC Sierra 4-door 3/4 ton burgundy with a lot of chrome (not that I have put much thought into it), but that I didn't need it. God provided the Blazer, and I am very grateful to have it. I know that I do not need that big new truck. I am more concerned with taking care of what I have and thanking God for the answer to prayer. I think she got it, but we will know more later!

Anyway, I guess I will sign off now and work on something else for a little while. Take care and I will talk at ya later!

I'll play nice

I just wanted to take a second and apologize to Icepac for letting him get under my skin. I know it seems like a trivial thing, and I did not get angry about anything he said, but I did get a little petty in my comments. So, I apologize, now let's all get along!

Pulled the gas tank out of Blaze today. She's got two little pin holes right in the spot where they put that nice little plastic shroud to protect the tank. Funny how in the design process (done in Michigan) that they have not yet figured out that when you create a pocket that can hold salt and gravel and water you have created a breeding ground for rust. The rest of the tank has no rust on it, but everything behind the protective plastic is rusty. I guess I'm missing something!

Anyway, tomorrow I will start the repair work and the resealing of the tank. Then after a five day curing session I can put gas in the tank and (trumpets sounding) Blaze will ride again! I am saving about $150 by repairing my tank rather than replacing it, but it is taking an entire week rather than about three hours.........

Busy week this week. Work was very nice and I finished with about 15% more in sales than I thought I would pull off. I also had jury duty on Thursday, so I didn't have to go to work. I did not get picked for the jury, so I had almost the entire day off to spend at home with my sweetie! We had a very nice day.

Well, I am going to go tuck the little monsters in and then sit down and watch a movie. Later!

What????????????

Well, my friend took the bait and posted another comment (see previous post). I wanted to prove that I am not a "terrorist" to this poor misguided soul, but I do not understand why he lumps gays and liberals in with people who like that flick. I guess I need to get my finger back on the pulse of today's culture or something like that.

Anyway, I hope this serves as a lesson to all. When you blog you will get the occasional wackadoo (isn't that a fun sounding word?) who feels they need to stomp across what you write. Remember to try not to offend, but stand your ground. Thank those who created blogger for the capability to moderate comments!

Until we talk again, I leave you with these words of wisdom...

"We all will have suffering in our lives. Misery is an option."

In HIS Grip,
Tom

A Rebuttal (of sorts)

Well, apparently my review of Talladega Nights caused a bit of controversy, not becasue they disagreed with my opinion of that movie, but because I mentioned the movie Ishtar in a less than elevated manner. I guess this guy (see comment on previous post) has set up some kind of sniffer to find when people mention this movie that he feels is so great. How many people out there are talking about Ishtar? That has gotta result in like 1 hit a month on a good month!

Anyway, he pretty much said that I am not a very bright person for putting down his flick. I guess I have to to take a cue from a friend of mine (props to you , Ric). If you do not like what I have written on my blog that is fine and dandy. You have the right to your opinion. I just ask you to remember that you are not held hostage here, nor is this blog being sent out in virus form. There are a lot of other things to look at, and some of them may agree with you!

For all three of my regular readers (fiber is good), please disregard the followng paragraph as I am trying to see if that yo-yo is going to comment again: Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar Ishtar. I think that is enough.

Big snow storm coming in the next couple of days. It sounds like the magic oven is going to be sliding sideways down the highway. Should be interesting. well, I am going to sign off now. I wonder if my friend will write back. I felt hurt at first and then went and looked at some of the stuff on his blog. I feel much better now.

I bid you adieu!

Home - Playing Hookey

Well, today I am not going to work! Jessica woke us up at about 4:00am by worshipping at the porcelain altar. Tammi was scheduled to work today, and she was going to be running the clinic by herself, so Dad stays home! I like having the day off, but tomorrow is going to be a rough day now. Oh, well, what am I supposed to do? I know Tammi would rather be home, so we will just soldier on and everything will work out in the end.

I will take a moment to give a movie review here. Make no mistake, I love NASCAR. I would even go so far as to say that up until this morning there was nothing NASCAR that I did not like (with the exception of NBC's NASCAR coverage). This morning I finally had the misopportunity to watch Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. This movie made Ishtar look like an Academy award winner. It was painfully bad. I had been told that you would either love it or hate it, b ut this flick took crap to a whole new low. There, my soul has been cleansed.

Well, old Blaze needs a gas tank repair. She has been hemmorhaging something fierce, and besides the fact that it is not very safe to have a leaking gas tank, it is getting pretty expensive. She can drain a 1/4 tank overnight. So, she sits for now until I can have a little warmer weather to remove and repair the offending tank. Keep her and my wallet in your prayers!

Other than that, the only major thing going on in my life is church. As always there are ups & downs there. We are nearing the end of our study in James in our Sunday School class, and it has been very good - for me at least. Sometime I am not sure if anyone else gets anything out of it. We are going to do a study on Nehemiah next. I have been listening to a sermon series onthe book, and it has really challenged me in a lot of ways to be a better husband, parent, person, teacher, friend, & a whole lot more. I highly recommend it!

Well, take care of yourselves - the three of you that have replied! I hope your day goes well, and until I blog again - adieu.

Still here

Just want to take a second to see if anyone is looking. Life is very hectic, but we are still here. I guess I would like to know if anybody is reading this or even checking it anymore. Please let me know by leaving a comment. I guess that will help me decide if I am going to try to make this a priority again. It is not that I don't want to write, but if I am simply writing for my own amusement then I have other things that I can devote the energy to. IF there are a few people that truly do want that little peek into what goes on at Hyde Manor then I am willing to continue. Let me know!

Just checking in

Hello! Things have been quite busy around here lately. We are all well and everything is going along quite "swimmingly". I am hoping to have some time to check in with a serious blog in the next week. I know that you all are clamoring for news of what is going on in the Tanner household. I will tell you that Black Beauty left today, and though she served me well for over 7 years she will not be missed.

As for the contest for naming my new wheels we had a grand total of one entry and by her own admission her entry was lame. Therefore I think we will give the new steed a name befitting her color and standing as a faithful beast of burden. So, tomorrow I will go out and climb into "Blaze" and make my way to church.

I know, naming a Blazer Blaze is not much better than calling a red vehicle red, but it is my car, my contest, and the only person who has a right to complain is the one who voted! Thank you, Megan, for your participation. Talk to you all later.

God Bless!

What is up for today?

Well, another week is drawing to a close. Last night I had a bit of fun. I had the opportunity to find out how fast I could take the seat out of "Fred" (see previous posts). It seems the power seat switch has a bit of a quirk in it that engages and tries to take the seat all of the way back. By all the way back I mean that if the track would allow it the seat would go out the rear hatch! The switch keeps the motor engaged even though it can't go anywhere which kills the battery. So, I have now removed teh switch and the Blazer is set up so I am the only one that can drive it! (You cannot hear the evil laughter on this blog. That requires a phone call!)

Well, the week has been fast. It is almost like the last few days haven't really existed. Work has been good, with only a few minor hiccups. The best part hass been all of the time I have been able to be at home this week. The really cool thing is that I will be home Saturday all day!

Well, gonna run! Talk to you later!

What is up with the weather?

Well, it is the 28th of November and today we reached a high of 50 degrees! That is also the expected high for tomorrow. Now, I do not want to sound ungrateful because I am not, but this is weird! It was colder than this a month ago, and we had almost a foot of snow on the ground. If I had known this was how things would turn out I think I would have put off the entire yard work thing! At least it made putting up the Christmas lights a little easier.

So far there have been no takers on coming up for a name for the new ride. I got the last of my stuff moved over from the other care tonight and now I am all moved in! Everything I need is there with the exception of a CD player. I might try hitting some of the junk yards and see what I can find.

I guess that is about all I have to really say today. There are a lot of things going on, but I do not really feel like getting into some of them in the blog - things people write in blogs tend to come back to bite you in your hindparts if you are not careful! Well, take care if you are even there!

The New Wheels!

Here is a pic of my new baby. We are thinking of names for her since we called the old rust bucket "Black Beauty". At this point the best I have come up with is Fred. Any ideas?

Maybe we will have a contest and I will pick a winner from the entries I receive. If nothing else that might get some people to post a comment or two to let me know I get a hit from time to time. I know that some of it is because I do not post often, but I am trying to get better about that. I have a friend who hasn't posted anything for quite some long time! Anyway, Let's say that the winner will be picked on Christmas Eve. Come one, come all! Or maybe just both of you!

If nothing else it would be nice to hear from some people I don't get to see. Fret not, I will still post because this is therapy!

Later!

He had a plan the whole time!

I just want to take a minute and tell you a story. God has just given me a major answer to prayer.

For the last year or so I have been praying for a new truck. My old S-10 was getting ready to take a dirt nap, and I am woefully short in the realm of folding money. I knew that it was going to take divine intervention to make something happen since we are in the middle of trying to get out of debt as it is. We simply did not have the wiggle room to make a payment.

Well, as time went on things were not happening and I thought maybe I was trying to put a limit on what I would accept from Him because I wanted a Chevy! Hey, can you blame me? Anyway I realized that I was letting my own personal desires get in the way of what God might have in store for me and I finally broke down and said that if He wanted me to have something other than a Chevy then who am I to complain about a gift from God?

Time continued to go by and I had an opportunity to bid on some retired work trucks at the gas plant where my Dad works. I bid on three of them and felt quite sure that I was going to win one of them because they were all Ford trucks and God was going to answer my prayer for a truck because I was willing to praise Him for whatever He gave me. Bids went in and were tallied and I did not win.

I was a bit confused, but I just took a minute and prayed and told God that it was OK. I figured that He wanted me to continue to trust Him that my old truck would just keep running until I could get something else or He would provide another way. I started to get ready to put old Black Beauty back on the road.

This past Tuesday my Dad called and asked if I would like to go look at a 1997 Chevy Blazer. I went and after the test drive he asked me what I thought of it. I figured he was going to give me a loan for it and I would pay him back. It was a bit scary because it was more than I thought I would be able to pay off in a short period of time. I told him it would take me a while to pay him back, and then he told me that he was going to buy it for me. You could have knocked me over with a feather! I now have a really nice Blazer that should last me several years, and it didn't cost me anything!

I see now that God had a plan the entire time. I fight with pride quite a bit, and I like to have things the way I want them. There were a lot of times that I wanted to just chuck the whole thing and go buy something and worry about the rest of it later, but God had a plan. He wanted me to learn to rely on Him and be willing to be happy for what I am given. I can honestly say that this gift from my Dad means more to me than anything I have been given by him before. The reason is that I know it was a gift from God and that He used my Dad to do it. I think the best part of it is that at the end of it all I was able to have a Chevy!

So, I will try to post a picture of it later. Things are a little busy right now. Signing off for today!

At the Lodge!

Greetings to both of you! Maybe I am being a bit optimistic! Oh well, I write to make myself happy! Speaking of happy, I am! I am on vacation this week, and it is great! I know that next week is going to feel like 5 days of kicks to the groin, but at least right now I am sitting in a room at the Great Wolf Lodge in TC and the best part is I got it for less than half price! Well, I should say that having relatives that can get you a military discount is a very cool thing!

So, since last I wrote there has not been a whole lot going on. I am once again looking at getting a truck to replace black beauty, and it is probably going to be a four-letter f-word. I know, what is this world coming to. Well, it comes down to price and availability. I have little to no money, and that is what these trucks cost, and one might be available. So, I guess I will just look at it as God is teaching me something. Even Naman had to go down into the filthy river in order to receive God's blessing!

The kids are doing well in school, and it has really been a blessing to watch Zach and how he is not afraid to share his faith. He got into a 2nd grade level theological debate with a little Jehovah's witness girl the other day, and he really held his own. I know it made an impression on the little girl because she came to school the next day and told him that her mom said he better not talk about her religion anymore or he would be in trouble.

Couple of things. First of all he did not talk about her religion, he just defended his own and quite well if I do say so. Second, why is it that people do not understand what tolerance really means? I am teaching my kids what the Bible says and part of that is to respect another persons right to believe what they want. We are not to force people into our beliefs, but neither are we to back down if someone disagrees with us. Tolerance is saying I do not agree with you, but you are free to make your own choice. Too many people today think that tolerance means rolling over and compromising what you believe in order not to offend somebody. HOGWASH!

Anyway, it has been cool to be able to see my kids stand up for Jesus now that they are out "in the world". There have been a lot of people who disagreed with our decision to move them to public school, but I feel more and more confident that this was the right thing to do. I am not walking around with my head in the sand. I do realize that there are things that they will come in contact with that I truly wish they would not, but at least when these issues come up they are coming home and talking with us about them. We have had some wonderful discussions at supper about some of these things, and I look forward to more!

Well, gonna sign off now. I hope it will not be another month before I write again! Take care and have a good one!

Farewell, my friend

Well, the dreaded moment came today. Clyde has died. I am just taking a moment to let all (if any) of my readers know about it. I was at a church work day today and when I got home I let him out of his kennel. He was not himself, stumbling more than ever and just not acting right. The stumbling has been expected since he has been losing sensation in his back half. Today it was a lot worse and he was actuallly falling over a few times. I saw the writing on the wall that I was going to have to finally take him to the vet for the big sleep. I figured I would do it on Monday or Tuesday.

Well I had to run back to town to get gas for the lawn tractor, and when I got back he was gone. It happened behind the shed. So, I did what I promised him I would do and I buried my dog. I promised him that I would be the one to take care of him whent he time came, and after twelve years there was no way I could let him down. He was the best dog I have ever owned. He was content to just be with me when i was working in the yard or the garage, and he was ALWAYS happy to see me. I know people say all dogs are happy to see their owners, but we have had 4 other dogs beside Clyde and they never looked as happy to see me as Clyde did.

Tammi and the kids took it well all things considered. We knew it was coming just not when. Zach asked me tonight if dogs would go to heaven. I explained to him that dogs did not have souls and therefore could not just go to heaven on their own since they can't make a decision to trust Christ. Then, and I know this is not something that can be backed up by scripture, I told him that it is my opinion that when a person gets to heaven they can have their dog back if they want it. God made dogs and made them so loyal that I just have a hard time believing that you can't have a dog when you get there.

I know, I know I am a wack job! That may very well be, and I might not believe that as much as I made my son think I do, but I will seriously consider kicking the hindparts of anyone who tries to tell my son he will never see our big yellow doofus again.

Well, I was just using the opportunity to grieve a bit and to let people know that Clyde has moved on. I will try to post a pic of the big fella next time - then you can see why he just has to go to heaven!

Anybody there?

Well, it has been a bit since we last checked in on life here in Hide Manor. There has been a lot of stuff going on that would bear mentioning if I had more time, and even more stuff that I could mention if I felt that it was warranted. So, I will settle for the high points.

Kitchen Report
We have done something that I personally have been trying to fight for about 5 years now and repainted the kitchen. Tammi had painted it with a watermelon theme some years back, and while it looked nice enough I was never fond of it. This was a big shock to her when I finally said it out loud about three weeks ago! Anyway, the only thing that kept me from giving in earlier is knowing how much work it was going to be to not have one of two rooms in our house that simply cannot be closed for repairs. (the other being the Water Closet)

There were some repairs that needed to be made to the walls and we painted the cabinets too. The walls are now "Silverberry" which is a fancy way of saying light purple like you would find on a lilac, and the cabinets are a cream color. I still have some painting to do on the ceiling, and I will probably get that done in the week or so to come.

Extreme Home Makeover Report
Well, in the spirit of Ty Pennington we have taken our redecorating on the road and spent a couple of weeks doing work at my in-laws house. The walls over there had not been painted since the end of the Reagan Administration. Tammi and her Mom did the bulk of the painting and I did some electrical work and some drywall patching. I was able to avoid the big job of putting in the new patio door. That got left to my brother-in-law and father-in-law with my blessings! The place looks much better and they are expected to have new flooring in the dining room soon which will really help things even more.

School Report
This is a biggie! Our kids will not be going to the Christian school again this year. The biggest reasons are time and money with a close third being getting them out with the rest of the world while we still are able to work with them and teach them how to make the right decisions when things come up that could possibly lead them astray. I know a lot of people are really down on public schools, and I do not think they are perfect, nor would I say that homeschooling is the only alternative. I think the best thing I can do as a parent is to have my kids in a place that allows me to watch what they are doing academically and then push the school to make changes. One thing I am sure of is that I am the one who is responsible for teaching them morals. I am prayerfully hopeful that this is going to bring our family (by that I mean those living in the Manor itself) closer together and take communication to a whole new level.

Financial Report
Well, I will not go into great details here since only the level of panic has truly changed. We are still not where we need to be, but progress has been made. We are currently tracking our purchases in order to see where we are overspending so we can start getting a budget firmly in place. Enough things have changed that we are not in a constant state of fear though. God is blessing and we have not charged anything in about four months. If you only knew how big of a deal that really was!

Church Report
Things at church are going... Well, some things are getting good other things are ... The best thing is that we have been seeing a lot of new faces lately. I have a couple of new faces in my Sunday School class that I have been pushing to come for a long time, and that really makes me happy. Our Pastor is going to be taking some time off to do a benefit bike ride that will take him from Sault Ste. Marie, MI to someplace in Florida that I cannot remember. It is on the panhandle somewhere. We are very excited that he has the opportunity to do this, because for some reason he likes riding a bike that much. Give me something with an engine anyday!!!!!

While he is gone the board is getting a taste of exactly what he does in the church. The man is not paid enough. Pure and simple. It literally is taking 6 deacons and three missionaries to pull of what he does every week. I thank God we have him in our church and that one day he will be rewarded for all that he does here.

A Challenge?
I was listening to a preacher today and he gave a very good illustration that I would like to leave with you. A man was walking down a dock where a bunch of crab fishermen were unloading their catch. He noticed a bunch of buckets sitting there full of crabs with no lids covering them. He asked a fisherman why he would not cover the lid and risk losing some of the catch. The fisherman replied, "One thing about crabs, if one tries to get out the others will always pull him back in."

That is very true in our lives as well. If we let ourselves get tossed into a group with a bunch of crabs we will find it very hard to change our attitudes. Every time we start to realize that we need to change we will be pulled back down by another crab and there we are again. So, do your best to avoid those people who would pull you down then you will be able to be free.

A Joke
A man has an hour before his flight to Los Angeles. He decides to kill some time at an airport bar. He walks in and sits down next to a clearly nervous guy, who has three empty whisky glasses in front of him. The man introduces himself to the nervous guy and buys him a drink.

The man asks, "Nervous about flying?"

The nervous guy replies, "N-n-nervous? I'm t-terrified. I j-just know the p-plane is g-going t-to crash and we're g-going to d-die."

"Is this your first time flying?"

"N-no, I fly c-cross-c-country all the t-time. It's m-my job."

"Why don't you just ask your boss if you can drive cross-country?"

"H-he would never l-let me do that."

"Why not?" asks the man.

The nervous guy replies, "B-because I'm the p-pilot."

With that I will say Goodbye!

Have You Been to TigerTown?

I just wanted to take a minute and tell you that if you have not been to Comerica Park in Detroit then you are missing something. I do not have extensive experience in visiting ballparks, but I have got to say that this place is just gorgeous! I want to take a moment and thank my employers for taking me to the game. It truly was a unique experience, and it made it a whole lot better that the Tigers beat the White Sox! Anyway, that is about all I have for today. Five days to go until vacation! I can hardly wait!

Well, It has been awhile

Hello to all of my adoring readers. I know it has been some time since my last post, and I can promise you that there are so many reasons for the delay that it would bore the average reader to tears if I were to list the entire collection of mishaps, screw-ups, maladies, and travesties. Suffice it to say that God is good, and even though the last four weeks or so have been very trying, He is still on the throne and watching over us.

I guess the biggest thing that is going on this weekend is that my wife took the kids and left me. Not only did she pack her bags and leave the house, she left the country. (pregnant pause inserted here) Actually that is all true, just a bit out of context. She went with my parents to the cabin in Canada. Talk about jealous! The cabin is my favorite place on earth if I can't be in my own home. They left Friday and will be coming home on Monday. I had to stay home and work - the elfin magic does not work to get extra days off!

Work has been a bit challenging lately. Two weeks ago I took my van in for brakes, and I got the breaks! When they put things back together they forgot to do a little procedure called OILING THE BEARINGS! Funny thing, metal in contact with other metal turning at high revolutions needs some type of lubricant to reduce friction. Evidently when this lubricant is forgotten the build up of heat can be so extreme as to weld the bearings right to the hub! So, I have been driving a loaner for work and it makes the job very difficult. I am praying that I get some really good news on Monday.

Anyway, for my time alone this weekend I have really been having a blast! Yesterday I helped my Pastor move a bunch of boulders. We literally moved at least 2 tons of rock form two different locations to the church where we are building a rock pile ala the Hebrews. Then I went home and cleaned out the fish pond in our back yard. That was a fun and slimy mess! This morning after going into the church to meet someone for music practice who did not show up I rented a Rug Doctor and came home and cleaned all of our rugs. Finally I finished it all up by trimming our amazing wall of hedge. That was about it. I was instructed to go golfing this weekend to have some fun time, but who has the time?

I must say though that I am not complaining about life in general. Of course there are things that get under my skin, but I can honestly say that God carries me through when I get low. I know there are a lot of people dealing with problems a whole lot bigger than anything I have been facing, but the neat thing is that God is still bigger than those problems too. All we have to do is keep trusting Him to carry us. Not to sound sacrilegious, but I think it is kinda neat to say to God sometimes, "OKAY, I AM DOING ALL I CAN. SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO!" I guess the best advice I have to give is to just trust God and ask Him for the grace that you need to get through your problems. He sometimes will even send someone to listen to you at the right time to help you through.

Okay, off the soapbox. (Well it is my blog and I have the right! I mean nobody is being forced at gunpoint to stay here!) I guess I will sign off now as I need to get ready to split the sheets and get some beauty sleep - no laughing just move along. I hope all two or three of my readers have enjoyed my dissertation and have walked away with some little nugget that will act as a bright spot in their day. If not, I offer this:

A cowboy walked into a bar and ordered a whisky. When the bartender delivered the drink, the cowboy asked, "Where is everybody?"

The bartender replied, "They've gone to the hanging."

"Hanging? Who are they hanging?"

"Brown Paper Pete," the bartender replied.

"What kind of a name is that?" the cowboy asked.

"Well," said the bartender, "he wears a brown paper hat, brown paper shirt, brown paper trousers, and brown paper shoes."

"How bizarre," said the cowboy. "What are they hanging him for?"

"Rustling," said the bartender.

And with that I wish you all a good night!

Yep, Still Knockin' Around

Yep, we are still alive in Hide Manor. Life is still hectic, but things are looking up. We have finished the Spring Tea at the church, and the school Spring Program is over. Now I need to get the school yearbook done and then I can get caught up on things that I want to do. I have a few tree stumps in my yard that are calling my name!

Biggest thing going right now is that we are going to be getting rid of the family dog. Polly is a cute, nice dog, but she has never been a good dog. She is too independent and destructive to be a family dog. It is depressing, but this weekend she actually tried to eat my bed, and I can't take it anymore. So, she is on her way to the animal shelter tomorrow and we will be looking for a new pet. We are going to look for a Cocker Spaniel since we really had a good one with Bonnie.

So, like I said thigns are hectic around here. I have only been able to post on average of about once every two weeks lately, but that is about all I can find time for. I'll try to get better in the future. I guess I haven't been missed though! Signing off from Hide Manor.