Help! It's Been Too Quiet, Too Long

Susie and I took Amber up to BYU Idaho on January 2 and returned on January 4 to an empty house.  It's just the two of us now.  Empty Nesters.  I've been concerned for 33 years that we wouldn't know how to get along when it was just the two of us again.  Amber must also be concerned.  She has been the sole excitement in our lives for the past 6 months.  Amber called and said she was coming down for the three day weekend, and bringing two of her roomates.

I think Amber is trying to break us in slowly.

Today is Monday.  Amber, Brittney and Liza are leaving this afternoon and rather than risk putting us in shock with a quiet house again. They've obviously conspired against us.  Justin, Pam, Joel, Bailee, Sydney, Aubrey, Cory, Stacey, Emily, and Katie all crashed our house this morning.

Never a dull moment at our house when the kids are home.  However, although Susie may have a different view,  I don't think that the two of us are really that dull.  There's got to be a little spark somewhere.

http://www.maylin.net/Fireworks.html

2011 In Review

A new year brings the opportunity to review the accomplishments of the recently expired year.  Here's some statistics for your leisure time review.

Family Statistics

• Number of Children:  6
• Number of married children:  5
• Grandchildren:  12
• Grandchildren born in 2011:  2
• Sequential years with a new grandchild: 9 Years & running

(Do we need to draw straws to see who will keep the trend alive?)

2011 S-10 Pickup Statistics
Miles driven:  12560
Gas Purchased:  579 gallons
Cost of Gas (it wasn't priceless):  $1953.26  (Avg $3.37/gal
Miles driven to work:  4,800
Fun Miles:  3286

• Grand Canyon:  1208 miles
• San Juan River:  827 miles
• Zion girls trip:  821 miles
• Zion Virgin River Trip:  746 miles
• Boise Trip:  686 miles

Miles Driven to who knows where: 4,480

My Personal Exercise Statistics:

Activity          Miles Time    Rate
Bike                 609   37.5   16.2
Run                  109   15.9   6.9
Walk                105  30.1   3.5
Hike          128   67.7   1.9
Swim                1    1.2  .95   (new PR for rate)
Boating             121   36.7   3.3
(Some rates are off due to rounding errors)

Campout Statistics
Number nights trying to sleeping out:  36
Ambien Pills required:  36
Ambien Pills available:  35
The cost of 1 Ambien Pill on a sleepless night - Priceless

Racquetball statistics
Racquetball games played:  89
Games Won:  81
Games Lost:  8

Cutthroat games played:  25
Games won:  25
Games Lost:  0

Estimated calories burned through exercise:  170975
Calories per pound:  3500
Theoretical fat burned off:  48.85 pounds
Actual weight lost:  8 pounds

Thank goodness for junk food.  If it wasn't for the junk food, I would have wasted away to a mere 152 pounds.

Happy New Year!

2001 was a fantastic year and a lot was accomplished, personally and as a family.  Amber finished her first year at BYUI.  We had a fabulous family reunion in Southern Idaho.  We welcomed, not one but two new additions to the family - Aubrey and Marcus are definitey keepers.   Susie was able to spent 3 weeks in Arkansas with Melissa and family.  I was able to do my outdoor things.  All in all, a pretty good year.

The Plan
We had big plans for the end of 2011 and the start of 2012.  A day off on Friday, Saturday (New Year's Eve) we drive with Amber to Boise and participate on Sunday as Jason and Kim bless their new little son.  Then on Monday, we drive to Rexburg and spend a few days visiting family and dropping Amber off at BYUI for her second year.  Ah - such nice plans.

What Really Happened
Wednesday, Dec 28 Amber has three wisdom teeth removed.  Thursday Susie comes down with a cold.  Friday she passes it on to me - we cancel the Boise part of the trip.  Saturday (New Year's Eve) Amber's face turns yellow, Susie gets worse and I'm trying to fight off a sore throat.

Saturday evening I go to the store to get a movie and snacks. - we're not going anywhere, might as well enjoy the time at home.  At the girl's request, I pick up Sarah's Key from Redbox, then I go into Walmart and pick up some Red & White Sparkling Grape juice, gluten free potato chips and Peanut M&Ms.  I poured the girls each a glass of grape juice and presented them with their movie and snacks.  Amber couldn't eat the M&M's - duh, she just had her wisdom teeth out.  Susie couldn't eat the M&M's either - she's allergic to peanuts.  Did I mention that one of the bags of potato chips were Jalapeno?  That didn't go over very well either.

Then I went back upstairs to grab some cheese cubes.  You know that I love cheese - so soft and smooth - just like, ah never mind - lets just say that I love cheese.  I took one bite.  What's that crunchy stuff in the cheese?  Warning! Warning! crunchy stuff doesn't belong in cheese.  As I'm spitting the cheese out, I feel this hole where one of my teeth is supposed to be.  Oops, that temporay crown that was put on two weeks ago just cracked in half.

So here we are. Sunday morning, just the three of us.  Susie has her cold.  Amber's face is yellow and she has hives.  I have a sore throat and a sensitive mouth.

I sincerely hope that 2011 was an enjoyable and rewarding year for each of you.  As I look back on 2011, I see growth in each member of the family and I know that you certainly had a positive impact on my life.  I am very optimistic that each of you will have a happy, rewarding and thoroughly enjoyable New Year!

The New Year is here! 

Forget the Aches, Colds, Allergies.  

It's time to PARTY! 

Merry Christmas to All

Christmas is here - well almost.  It's 8:00 in Utah on Christmas Eve.

Last night Amber, Susie and I went to Salt Lake for the Mannheim Steamroller concert.  This is the second time we've gone.  We went two years ago and enjoyed it immensely.  Last year we went to the Delta Center to see TSO (Trans Siberian Orchestra).  It was fun, but the mood wasn't the same and I much preferred Mannheim Steamroller.  I like TSO's music, but I didn't care for their performance.

About noon today I read an email that Mel sent me on Thursday.  She had already run about 13 miles.  I hadn't run anything - well that's not quite true.  I played 3 games of racquetball and shot hoops with the young men for about 2 hours.  Some stop and go running in those events, but nothing close to what Mel did.  I also did a 4 mile walk on Wednesday during my lunch hour.  I'm into a little cross training, don't want to get to sore from just running

I responded to Mel's email with my own stating what I had done during the week.  An hour later I got a message that she had just finished up a 5 mile run in 51:10.  Way to go MEL.

I've been a competitive guy lately, it runs in the family.  I think I got it from Justin and Jason.  When we lived in California I took Mel with me and the scouts on a hike up Mt. Baldy (10,068 feet) when she was no more than 9.  All the boys took off, Mel and I just hiked at our own pace and we caught up to the troop when they all stopped at a creek for a break.  Mel wanted to keep going, so we did. Half of the scouts jumped up and ran to get ahead - can't let a 9 year old girl beat them to the top.  As we continued to hike & climb, we passed more and more of the boys.  By the time we got to the top.  The only boys that were ahead of us were Justin and Jason.  I think they would have rather died than to let their little sister beat them to the top.

So I packed up my stuff and headed to the base gym.  I spent 29 minutes on a treadmill (lots of motion, no progress - felt like a squirrel in a cage) before it crapped out so I switched to running circles around the indoor track (10 laps for 1 mile).  Now I'm making progress and running in circles is a little bit better than running in a squirrel cage, but harder to keep my speed constant.

Final result, I ran 6.3 miles in 58:10 miles.

Thank's Mel for the motivation.

Merry Christmas Feliz Navidad

Where has the year gone

It's December 11, the month is nearly half over.  Where did 2011 go?


It's been a delightful year.  Two new grandchildren has blessed our lives and only our own precious little baby is still at home (sorry Amber, could resist rubbing it in a bit).  Amber will be off to school in a few weeks and then it's just Susie and I.


Susie, Amber and I went to Boise on Dec 3rd and met Marcus.  Cute little guy.  Definitely another keeper!  Twelve grandkids and they've all  been keepers.  They've been fun too.  If I'd known the grandkids would be so much fun, I would have had them first.
As most of you know, I spend a fair amount of time at the gym, trying to stay in shape.  This last week while I was working out in the gym when I spotted a gorgeous young lady.  I asked the trainer who was near-by: "What machine should I use to impress that sweet thing over there?"

The trainer looked me up and down and said: Try the ATM in the lobby."

Sounds like I have a lot more work to do to get in shape.  I just looked at my numbers this afternoon.  I'm now up to 161,316 calories burned off this year and I've done at least one workout every week.  Yeah! if I can just hang in there for 3 more weeks, I will have been successful in meeting that objective.

I must admit that a lot of my calories burned comes from my activities in the backcountry.  Fun things, like floating the San Juan or Green Rivers in a kayak, or hiking in Zion or Grand Canyon National Parks.  I always try to be safe, particularly in the backwoods because you never know when you might come across a bear or cougar.  Since Susie got after me a few years back for doing a solo hike on Mt Borah, I've tried to keep safety in mind.

When it comes to bears, my personal favorite bear defense gun has always been a Beretta in .22 short!   I've found over the years when hiking in bear country I never leave without it in my pocket.  Of course we all know the first rule when hiking in the wilderness is to use the "Buddy System".

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this it means you NEVER hike alone, you bring a friend or companion, even an in-law, that way if something happens there is someone to go get help.

I remember one time hiking with my brother-in-law in southeast Idaho, up near the Tetons.  Out of nowhere came this huge brown bear and man was she MAD!  We must have been near one of her cubs.

Any way if I had not had my little Beretta I am sure I would not be here today.  Just one shot to my brother-in-law's knee cap and I was able to escape by just walking at a brisk pace.

Sorry about that.  Susie told me that I need to focus on the topic at hand and quit telling stories. However, there is a risk that if I don't pass on the stories from my internet friends I'll start telling stories about my own family.  And that might be embarrassing.  Like the time that ... ah, guess I'd better stick with the internet stories - they're safer.  Besides, I don't want my grandkids saying the same thing about me that Justin has said about his grandfather.  Before Justin got married, he told me that he needed to apologize to my dad.  As the story came out, it seems that everytime we went to Grandpa Brown's place, Grandpa told the same stories (Ah yes, I remember those stories).  Then, when Justin and I were putting a new roof on our house, Lamar, an older gentleman in our ward, came by to lend a hand.  The reason for the apology -   in less than an hour, Lamar had told Justin the same story four times!

The List

About November 1st of each year, Susie has taped blank sheets of paper on a wall above the stairs. Each member of the family had their own sheet with plenty of space to list the things they were thankful for.  We were supposed to write one item each day.  Susie thought it would be a great way to reflect on what we were thankful for.

I HATED THAT LIST!

Why, only once a year, did we celebrate Thanksgiving and why did I have to list the things that I was thankful for on this silly list?  Didn't my actions demonstrate the things that I was thankful for?

 I wrote on the paper - but not every day!  Sometimes I would write a whole weeks worth at one time.  One year, I filled up the entire page on Thanksgiving Eve.  Perhaps it was my way of protesting.  I wrote the obvious things like:  Susie, the kids, the church, a job, home, peace & quiet, etc.  ( I even itemized the kids names, it filled up 6 lines instead of one.)

WHY DID I HATE THAT LIST?

This year, there is no list.  Five of the six kids are married and gone.  Amber is claiming to be an adult, but she lives here while on break from school.  Justin, Pam & family have moved out.  When Amber goes back to school in January, Susie and I will be on our own for the first time in 33 years.

WHERE'S THAT SILLY LIST WHEN YOU NEED IT?

• My Parents - they did their best with what they had to work with - Sorry about that mom & dad.
• My Wife's Parents & Grandparents - I never met Susie's mother, but I know she is a wonderful person.
• Six Fantastic children that have taught me what it means to be a dad.  Why don't children come with a parents manual?
• Two very special women that my sons married.
• Three exceptional men that married my daughters.
• Twelve grandchildren, unique in their own way and each bringing a special joy into my heart.

And last but definitely not least:

• A wonderful wife that truly believes "Always & Forever & No Matter What."  She has put up with a lot over the past 34 years and loves me in spite of my faults and has always been very supportive in everything I've done.

Thank you.  

You are what makes Thanksgiving special to me.

I love you

Where did the summer go?

It's now Oct 2, 2011.  Summer is over, where did it go?

It's been a very active summer time, hopefully the autumn season will be just as busy.  My activities during the 'summer' include:

1. Whitewater rescue course on the Green River (3 nights), May
2. Joel, Annaleise, Madison and Brianna's birthdays (3 of them on the same day)
3. Overnight backpack on Indian Trail (1 night), June
4. Kayak trip down the San Juan River (4 nights), July
5. Green river canoe trip (4 nights), July 
6. Katie's birthday, July
7. Zion National Park (Subway, Kolob Arch) (4 nights), July
8. Burley Spudman, July
9. Family reunion (3 nights), August
10. Bailee and Pam's birthdays, August
11. Bike the Bear (1 nights), August (I made two loops for a century bike ride)
12. (I'm over 55 and had physical this year, do I need to add a special test for over 50 males?)
13. Zion National Park (Virgin River, Angels Landing) (2 nights), August
14. McKenzie's birthday, September
15. Justin, Pam and family moving from our home to Bountiful, September
16. Keith and Sheria's visit from Texas (& 2 new family members), September
17. Nampa, (3 nights), September
18. Aubrey's birth, September

Upcoming Activities include:

1. 4th Annual Columbus Day Hike (Lee's Pass to the Grotto)
2. Float trip down Desolation Canyon
3. Emily's birthday
4. Thanksgiving and lots of birthdays in November, along with our anniversary.
5. Christmas and more anniversaries and birthdays in December
6. Grand Canyon trip (Hermits Rest to Monument, Indian Gardens, Phantom Ranch)

Can I squeeze in a skiing trip?

Many of these activities have helped me in achieving one of my goals for this year.  This goal was to have at least one workout each week.  Thus far I've been able to achieve that goal.  A few weeks were a little iffy, but I was at least able to get at least one, one hour walk as a minimum. I've kept a activity journal and have included in the journal an estimate of the number of calories burned for the activity.  The number of calories comes from the Food and Exercise Diary and while I can't guarantee it's accuracy, at least it is pretty consistent.  Thus far this year, I have burned off over 122,000 calories.  It's a good thing I eat a lot!  If I didn't eat so much, I would have wasted away to nothing.  At approximately 3500 calories/pound, I would have burned off over 35 pounds.  For each of the last 3 years, I've averaged over 121,000 calories burned through my workouts.  That's the equivilant of about 105 pounds of fat.  If I lost that much, I'd be under 100 pounds.  (I'm not even close to 100 pounds).  

Unfortunately I also struggled to keep my weight in the neighborhood of 200 pounds.  What am I eating and whatever it is, it must be way to much.  In late August, I did another bodpod test.  I'm down to 24% pure lard.  That's a big improvement from the over 26% fat from my first time in the bodpod.  After getting this number, I decided to use the diet portion of the Food and Exercise Diary.  I didn't create a diet, I just started keeping track of what I eat and logging it in every day.  Once again, I don't have a lot of confidence in the exact calories recorded because I had to make estimates on the quanity and content of some of the foods, but once again, I think it is close. Once I finish deso trip, I'll make another appointment for the bodpod and get some updated numbers.

Happy Birthday Boys

February 19, 1979 - Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS
This morning at 3:15 and 3:44 my twin sons were born. A momentous occasion which will have a lasting impact on the rest of my life. Justin was born first and weighs in at 5 pounds 12 ounces and Jason was born 29 minutes later and weighs in at 4 pounds 1 ounce. It was a bit scary having the twins this early - they were due on 31 March. As soon as Justin was born they whisked him away and when Jason was born he was also whisked away. However, I saw them both a short while later and both are doing fine (Susie fell asleep after Jason was born and spent the next 24 hours sleeping in recovery). I counted all the fingers and toes (a grand total of 40). They are perfect in every way.

It is now Feb 19, 2011. The boys are now 32 and each have families of their own. Jason is with his family in Boise while Justin and his family are here at our home. Amber just arrived from school to celebrate the birthdays and enjoy a three day weekend away from school. While she is here, we will also celebrate her birthday (Feb 29).

The grandkids are super excited to see Amber again. It's not like she's be gone for a year or even months. We took her to school on January 1st and this is her second trip home since then.

Another Year Older and ...

I recently had a birthday and a few of my friends welcomed me to the double nickel club. I'm the last of a small group of high school buds to reach this major milestone. Although some were quick to point out that I was the baby of the group (by 13 days), I responded that the day before the big day, I played an hours worth of racquetball and followed it up with a 2 mile run in under 15 minutes. Haven't heard much from them since.

Not only did I reach the 55 year milestone, It's a brand new year. Although I'm an eternal optimist, I've already had a years worth of crap at work. I supervise about 20 employees. All but one are a pleasure to work with. The challenge is my newest employee, the lowest on the rank scale and wants a reserved, designated parking spot. Denied - I see another grievance coming. After a minor security infraction was pointed out, the individual filed a hostile work environment complaint against the person who gently and quietly pointed out the infraction. Another grievance coming? probably.

I've already had one grievance filed against me for putting a letter of counseling in the personnel record. A LOC isn't even disciplinary. It was just documentation of topics we discussed. I'm excited for the next 11 months. I'm sure each month will be something new and exciting on the employee front. This individual has the Obama syndrome.

It's time for an escape. Can you spell Grand Canyon. I don't have permits yet, but a week down the GC is needed. No phones, no internet, no email, no taskers (of course they'll all be waiting for me when I get back). I have a couple of segments on the Tonto trail that I'd like to finish. Now may be a good time.

Things are actually going pretty well. The typical illnesses (Katie has a respiratory illness and Pam has the Egyptian flu - each year since 2002 someone in the family has had this strain of the flu), but otherwise things are going pretty well. Jennifer and Susie are headed off to Arkansas in a few weeks. Amber is doing well at school (hopefully she's doing some studying - it's not all play is it?). Justin's working on his PHD - his family is doing well and doing there best to keep Susie and I active. Jason's fully engaged with his teaching job. Melissa is partying with her family in Arkansas and they are anxiously awaiting Susie's visit. Stacey lives close by and is busily engaged with two delightful little girls.

So all in all - the year is off to an excellent start.

Happy Holidays

For those that know me pretty well, you'll know that I love food and I try to watch my weight. I love to play racquetball, but I also enjoy watching the holiday bowl games. I'm now publishing my Holiday Food Guide (plagiarized of course)which is how I've been able to maintain my youthful shape for so many years - particularly during the holidays. Enjoy!

Holiday Food Guide

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare... You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand and wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Have a great holiday season!!

Happy Thanksgiving

For my anniversary, just a week before Thanksgiving, we received a parrot as a gift.

The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity.

I tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else I could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, I was fed up and I yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. I shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder.

So, in desperation, I threw up my hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer.

For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that I'd hurt the parrot, I quickly opened the door to the freezer.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto my outstretched arms and said "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

I was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude.

As I was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued,

"May I ask what the turkey did?"

I hope ya'll had a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoyed it with people you love.

Dale

p.s. The parrot is in good still behaving itself, but the turkey - that's a different story. (Thanks to the unknown original author for this tidbit)

One of those days or was it a week

Today was the climax of an outstanding week.  It started out pretty nice.  My two sons and their families were at the house for the labor day weekend and they put in the labor in Labor Day.  On Saturday I picked up 15 new trees for around the house and rather than planting them, Justin, Jason and I went to the base and played an hours worth of racquetball.

On Monday, I was up at 6:45 so I could help the scouts get the flags out.  Two boys showed up right on time and we got them planted (the flags, not the boys) in 24:44.  And we only missed one house.  I guess I need to learn how to read though trailer court maps a bit better.  After getting home, from the flags we cut down two old trees that Susie and I didn't like and replaced them with the 15 new trees and fixed a flower bed and sprinklers.  We topped the day off with a BBQ.  Everybody helped out and it was an enjoyable time.

Thursday morning Pam called and said that the carpet downstairs was all wet.  Fortunately, I had the van at my office, so I went home to assess the problem.  Yep, it was wet.  Where did the water come from?  Somebody turned the sprinkler on last night and forgot to turn it off.  I think somebody made an EyeDeeTenTee error.  Oops, my bad! 

Well I moved the furniture, pulled back carpet,  blocked it up and got fans blowing under it.  Hopefully it will dry out ok and not stink to bad - sorry Pam and Justin.  (I did sneak another game of racquetball Thursday afternoon while the carpets were drying).  Friday I didn't do much except watch carpet dry and sneak in another game of racquetball.

However I was so tired that I went to sleep early Friday evening and woke up Saturday a.m. when Bailee came running into our bedroom and said something was broken.  We couldn't figure out what she was talking about so we followed her down stairs.  There we found our beautiful 3 year old granddaughter, Sydney, with one of the little brass couch wheels and a glass window that had a hole in the middle and millions of fractures throughout the glass.  The whole thing was just waiting to collapse.  We just had the door put in a few months ago and are now second guessing the wisdom of putting in a door with glass windows.

But all is well that ends well.  All of Sydney's body parts are present and accounted for.  I believe Joel got a short lecture about not hiding behind glass doors when the sis is mad and wants to throw things at you.  It makes life very interesting when there are a bunch of energetic young people mixed in with us older dudes.

However I  can't help but smile when I think of our kids getting some of the same treatment that they gave us.  If you want to know about the earlier generation just ask Stacey about the toilet, Melissa about Shovels, Justin about bricks, and Jason about dancing (to avoid the bricks) or his vocabulary.  However, I can't leave Jennifer and Amber out (I have to be a little cautious about telling stories on Jennifer and Amber - they aren't married yet and I don't want to ruin their opportunities. j/k).  There are some other really great stories that may be posted in the future.  Some of these tales (with perhaps a little elaboration) will absolutely knock your socks off.

Is that all? Nope! Jennifer came home from work early Saturday morning and left a note on the kitchen counter telling us that Justin's car had been egged. Finally, Saturday evening just after writing and posting the original draft of this post, the hard drive on my computer failed.

However, I get to count my blessings because on Monday morning I received the following e-mail from a friend.

"There I was sitting at the bar staring at my drink when a large,trouble-making biker steps up next to me, grabs my drink and gulps it down in one swig.

"Well, whatcha gonna do about it?" he says, menacingly, as I burst into tears.

"Come on, man," the biker says, "I didn't think you'd CRY. I can`t stand to see a man crying."

"This is the worst day of my life," I say. "I'm a complete failure. I was late to a meeting and my boss fired me. When I went to the parking lot, I found my car had been stolen and I don't have any insurance. I left my wallet in the cab I took home. I found my old lady ran off with the gardener and then my dog bit me."

"So I came to this bar to work up the courage to put an end to it all, I buy a drink, I drop a capsule in and sit here watching the poison dissolve; then you, you butt-head, show up and drink the whole thing!

"But enough about me, how's your day going?"

Welcome Katie

She's here.

Katie

Katie was born just before 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 22.  Both mom and baby are doing well and the rest of us enjoying the event and trying to help wherever possible.

I'm grateful that both Katie and Stacey are doing well.  A new baby always brings joy and happiness, plus a little fear and trepidation.  But once again, things went well and both are doing extremely well.

However, I must confess a little concern.  As much as I love and enjoy all of my children and grandchildren.  What's with all the girls!  I know that they are cute, adorable, full of kisses and giggles, but where's the balance?

Katie, Mom, Big Sister Emily, Grandma

My wife and I now have 10 grandchildren.  Eight of them are girls.  Where's the balance?  Is there some unknown formula for producing girls?  Is it hereditary?  My wife comes a family of 7 girls and 1 boy.  She produced 2 boys (twins), followed by 4 girls and now we have 2 grandsons and 8 granddaughters.  Is there a fibonacci sequence that has yet to be identified - or a dominant gene?

Just wondering!

Welcome Katie, you are a keeper!