Well, there is an old saying that all good things come to an end. The Holidays will come to an end tomorrow. It was good to have all the kids and families except for Steve here for a short stay. We now await all the football games on Monday. The only one that matters to me is the Razorbacks. Sure hope the Hogs are ready.

Today while watching the ceremonies honoring President Ford on his death, I reflected back on the number of Ex-Presidents that have died in my lifetime. There were a total of nine. I am in awe of the respect we have for our Presidents who have passed on. It brings tears to my eyes to see the protocol carried out by our country and especially the Military. Regardless of Party, when it happens we give honor to all who have served as our Commander and Chief and that is the way it should be. I suppose the most vivid that I have recalled is when President Kennedy was assassinated. This was I suppose with the ability to cover everything by Television. I go back to President Roosevelts death but everything was by radio. Anyway, we are fortunate to live in a country where by we can feel a part of the life that these great men have shared in service.

Also today, watching the Ceremony at the airport in Palm Springs for President Ford, it brought back memories of my visits to that same airport on several occasions. It was June 3rd, 2003,at about 3:00 am I received the call from my Daughter that my Granddaughter was critically ill and had been air lifted to the Desert Regional Hospital in Palm Springs. I flew to California with my 2 Grandsons and stayed with the family about four and a half weeks. Thanks to the Doctors at Desert Regional, and the power of prayer by people worldwide, they pulled Wendy through that ordeal when even the Doctors were not sure she would make it. During her days while in a coma, one of her specialist commented that there was a improvement or gap as he called it in her progress that they could not explain medically. We have first hand knowledge of what prayer can do. Today, that beautiful young lady is in her second year of college.
Its amazing how one picture you see on television can carry you back to days past and you relive moments in time. Some good memories, some not so good but what is important is what we make out of those memories.

Well, today is our 62nd Wedding Anniversary. We really celebrated by staying home and trying to get things ready for the Holidays. This is the time we really look forward to. Someone asked recently how we managed to stay married this long. When we celebrated our 25th, we made another vow. We agreed that the first one that decided to pack up and leave would have to take all the kids. Apparently this worked and we were able to raise 5 without too many problems. We are proud of them all and wish their marriages to last for many years as ours have. We especially look forward to time together during the Holiday Season and really long for the day when the gathering will be complete. 

Some more thoughts on peoples actions during the Holidays. Why do some folks get so uptight when they have to wait in line at checkouts? I know I do when stores are so busy and all the checkouts are not manned. Another gripe is waiting behind someone especially a lady who waits till everything is checked and looks over the sales slip before looking in her duffle bag for a check book and pen. While waiting in line a couple of days ago, the clerk while finishing with the person in front of me politely placed her closed sign at the register. The man behind me hit the ceiling first and I followed. Anyway, there was enough verbage forth coming that they had her stay till we were checked out. This is when i want to seek revenge. Do any of you out there have a revengeful feeling at such annoyances? I sometimes would like to slap a skillet of hot water out of somebody who have no regard for other people. However in some cases revenge is sweet. I like this little story.
This should make you smile.
After 17 years of marriage, a man dumped his wife for a younger woman. He wanted to continue living in their downtown luxury apartment with his new lover so he asked his wife to move out and get another place. His wife agreed to this, provided he would give her 3 days alone at the apartment to pack up her things.
She spent the first day her belongings into boxes, crates and suitcases.
On the second day she had the movers come and collect her things.
On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their beautiful dining table by candlelight, put on some soft background music, and feasted on a pound of shrimp and a bottle of Chardonnay. When she had finished, she went into each room and deposited a few of the half eaten shrimp shells into the hollow of the curtain rods. She then cleaned up the kitchen and left.
When her husband returned with his new girlfriend, all was bliss for the first few days. Then slowly the apartment begin to smell. They tried everything; cleaning and mopping and airing the place out. Vents were checked for dead rodents, carpets were steam cleaned. Air fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were brought in to set off gas canisters, during in which they had move out for a few days, and in the end they had to pay for having all the expensive carpet replaced.
Finally, they could not stand it any longer and decided to move. They could not find a buyer for their stinky apartment so they had to Borrow a huge amount of money from the bank to purchase a new place.
The moving company arrived and did a very professional packing job, taking everything to their new home... including the curtain rods.
THIS SHOULD TELL US , DO NOT MESS WITH A WOMAN.


This brought back a reminder of the dead squirrel in Scott and Tracys dryer vent that had caused one dryer to go bad and Sears replaced it. While they were at work, I set out to find the odor in their laundry room. Between gags i finally got the squirrell out. Also the dead rotted possum underneath Lydias floor that i had to remove.

Continuing with thoughts on the days prior to Christmas, the cartoon says a lot about some of our frustations. It reminds me of my trip to West Memphis not too long ago to pick up my 1957 style Chevy cafe booth that I had made. After loading the booth and table by the fellows at the Company, I headed back toward home. Just after getting back on I-40 I heard this noise and looked in the rear view mirror and saw one section of my booth in the left lane. Just as I pulled over a tractor trailer demolished it. After loading it back on the truck I headed back to the company that had made it. Before getting back to the company I was stopped by a State Trooper who said he had a call that I had a wreck. He looked the truck over for damages and finding none, he accepted my version of the situation but he wanted me to wait for another Trooper who had taken the call. Anyway after a couple of hours with the Troopers I made my way back to the booth manufacturer. The Manager there stopped a crew of workers and had them make me a new section at no charge. This time, everything was anchored down tight enough I don't believe a tornado would have caused any problem. During all this time I was devastated to the point that my wanting the booth was not important anymore. But, after the kind actions of the Company and their willingness to help me made a world of difference. Probably, we let things upset us at Christmas time that are really not that important. We let impatience interfere with our lives to the extent it nearly ruins our Spirit of The Season. I know I speak for myself, but I also observe the actions of people who need to calm down and just enjoy Christmas. Remember, life is too short for ordinary jewelery to which i am sick of hearing. 

Yes, the frustrations have begun again for another Christmas season. Traffic and shoppers everywhere looking for bargins. But afterall, its the season of the year when we all should be in the right frame of mind and expect the hustle and bustle that normally takes place. I just wonder how many gifts that will be purchased for someone to take back to the stores after Christmas. It seems that I never get the right size or the right color and so on. Anyway I enjoy Christmas because it is Family time. There is always plenty of food that helps us to add to the waistline. The sad part of the season is all those in the world who do not have the opportunity to enjoy all the things we are blessed with. I look back to the past and recall the Apple and Orange that was my gift to enjoy. However, I don't feel that I was short changed in any way because I have received more blessings in my life time than one deserves. It was probably around the age of 16 or 17 when I really got the Christmas spirit. I owe that to my wife of almost 62 years now and her family for helping me to understand what Christmas is really all about. Since then, I get excited about snooping and trying to find out what I am getting for Christmas. Then I also begin to realize it is not about me and what I will receive, but what can I share with others. Hopefully, we can in some small way make someone else's Christmas a little brighter. Maybe, in the next few days I can write about what I would like to have for Christmas and the next year. So as you all get caught up in the hectic shopping days ahead, just remember to show kindness to those like the one in the cartoon. 

In my last post I mentioned the hectic week we just experienced and was in hope of having a much better week this week. Well, it has not started off well at all. One of our Central Arkansas Christian School's Math teacher and Basketball Coach died just before noon today. Andrew Brady, 33 years of age had been diagnosed about 2 weeks ago with Leukemia. He was in the process of starting treatments but was still participating in coaching our girls teams. While at Carlisle Arkansas yesterday with our Jr. girls he became ill. While in route to Little Rock, he passed out and never recovered from excessive bleeding of the brain. This morning he was removed from life support after a scan showed no brain activity. He died shortly after. Andrew grew up in the Sylvan Hills Congregation and his parents are still active members at S.H. His funeral will be held at CAC Hi School either Tuesday or Wednesday. Andrew was a CAC Alumni and came back to teach after getting his degree. His mom Paula has been a Kindergarten teacher for CAC a number of years. Needless to say, this has really had a traumatic impact on the campus as well as the church. This was evident yesterday when I arrived at the hospital and witnessed at least 150 plus students teachers parents friends and relatives waiting and praying for his recovery. Please remember the Brady Family in your prayers. Ashley, Andrew's sister is also a CAC alum.

The other sad note is the Razorbacks loss to Florida last night. We shot ourself in the foot on several plays. However the Hogs will be going to the Capitol One Bowl. I was hoping for the Cotton so i could go but I will be rooting the Hogs on to beat Wisconsin. I have one concern. I never want to hear Verne Dumquist call another Razorback game. Maybe he will lose his voice and no one will have to sit thru his tirades.

Well, after a hectic past few days I thought i would come back and kinda catch up to date. We had a good Thanksgiving and probably had too much to eat. This was not a traditional day for us. Instead of turkey, we grilled steaks and also had ham. We are not really enthused about turkey or leftovers. Thats probably why we ate too much. Our Razorbacks played on Friday and lost a heart breaker to LSU. However Arkansas won the west division and plays Florida tomorrow for the conference championship. I'm scared but win or lose we should go to a good bowl game. We got to visit for a little while on Saturday with Scott, Tracy, Chloe, Cassie and Shala who spent Thanksgiving in Russellville and were on their way back to Texas. We had a good visit with Steve on Sunday.
Monday evening I got the call that my friend and fellow Elder had just passed away. We knew it was just a matter of time since he had battled cancer for about a year. Carroll and I had made 6 trips to Russia and Siberia together and had worked together 29 years in church work. His funeral was on Thursday.
Tuesday was my 79th birthday and was just a normal day. Kathleen and I did go out for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. That night was spent at a CAC Board Meeting. This School is an important part of my life so I didn't mind spending it at the school. Last night I worked at the concession booth at the school gym. The Ortho Diagnostic tournament is going on. I was happy to see our CAC boys team beat Sylvan Hills in overtime.
Thinking about age I suppose it has effect on most people. I met a fellow I have known for years and we were good friends. While visiting, I told him I could not remember his name and to tell me what it was. He glared at me for several minutes and then replied, "How soon do you need to know?"
Now, its time to start the Christmas Season. It will be a busy month but we are approaching it gradually as we feel like. We can't go for hours on end like we used to but a little shopping etc daily will get the job done. We look to the Holiday Season as family time together. We know everyone can't be here at the same time but we do look forward to having all our kids and grandkids here. We will enjoy the time together and especially this year since Mom is feeling much better than last year.