Ice Storm 2007

Well, we've survived another ice storm. I think we got 2" of sleet this time. It froze nicely on the front yard so you can even drive over it and it doesn't crack. Wish we had a good hill around here to sled on. You could really get going on this stuff...

We had a long weekend and decided to camp in at our place for the weekend to avoid the crazy drivers on the roads in their 4-wheel drive pickups and slick summer tires. =) With such little winter weather, people just don't think about preparing for bad weather down here, so it's always a state disaster. Literally. Our Governor declared a State emergency before it even started sleeting. Better quit now or I'll never stop.

Mom, we go the curtain in the guest room hung! How do you like it? We like it a lot. Thanks for all of your help with the decorating ideas! Got the wall-hanging hung as well, but I need to make some changes to it so it's not draping a few inches away from the wall. I guess the curtain-rod idea wasn't the best solution for it.


Addie was enjoying watching me get all bundled up to brave the cold every time our firewood stock ran low in the living room. After a day or two of everyone being couped up in the living room, she decided to dress up like me. You can hardly tell it's not me in these pictures.




And in the last picture, Holly is making a really delicious Chicken Piccata recipe. Oh, man, that was SO good. Please don't lose that recipe, hon. She even improvised, adding sun-dried tomatoes in addition to the capers it called for. (PSA: Capers are a plant blossom, not a fish!) We had it for lunch again today and it was just as good left over. It's easily one of my top 5 favorite dishes of all time. Oh, the picture... Yes, Holly needed a chicken tenderizer and I had just the thing for her. This 22-ounce Estwing framing hammer (recognize it, Sean and Dad?) has been neglected long enough. Time to bring it out and put it to work again! It did the trick nicely after a thorough scrubbing in the kitchen sink.


Well, the long weekend is over and it's back to work in 6-1/2 hours, so I'm going to hit the hay. Hopefully Addie sleeps better tonight than last night. We've already had her up a couple of times to put in eye drops and give cough medicine. I ran out for some Vicks vap-o-rub. We used this stuff all the time when we were kids. Holly had never heard of it, but I think she'll like it considering Addie hasn't coughed in the last 2 hours since we put it on her and put her back in bed. I guess there's a lot of good in those old childhood remedies. When the kids are sick, we'd be willing to try just about anything.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Nelson Mandela Quote...

Admittedly, I know very little (maybe nothing at all) about Nelson Mandela. This quote was sent to me by a Christian Entrepreneur group and I appreciated it enough to pass it along.

"We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us, ALL OF US. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. Tell me who your best friends are, and I will tell you who you are. If you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl. But, if you associate with eagles, you will learn how to soar to great heights. "A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses." The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with who you closely associate-for the good and the bad. The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with the negative thinking and negative acting people. As you grow, your associates will change. Some of your friends will not want you to go on. They will want you to stay where they are. Friends that don't help you climb will want you to crawl. Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that don't increase you will eventually decrease you.

"Consider this: Never receive counsel from unproductive people. Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution. Because those who never succeed themselves are always first to tell you how. Not everyone has a right to speak into your life. You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person"

I'm not sure any further exposition is really needed after that. I sure am grateful for all of the quality friends I've been able to make and keep over the years. Providence Fellowship has facilitated meeting so many more, too, that I look forward to getting to know better in the years ahead.

Old Age

You know, from one birthday to the next most people don't really feel older or notice differences. I saw some pretty significant differences this last birthday, though. Here are a few that come to mind:

My taste in cars has totally changed. Gone are the sports car days and here are the smooth-driving big car days. Well, medium-sized at least. Anything seems big compared to my last little 2-seater convertible. Every day I am SO grateful for cruise control, a really quiet cabin, automatic transmission, and automatic running lights.

I started listening to books on tape! Last year, I think I started 4 books and finished only 1. I've suddenly been hit with the realization that unless I continue to read and learn, I'm always going to be pretty much the same as I am now. I plan to make good use of my library card this year and from here on out. Audio books are such a great way to redeem the time spent driving around town. I've given up on Rush Limbaugh accomplishing anything and even the Christian radio station gets old after a while when you hear the same songs every day. I'm really excited to continue learning in this way. I guess that doesn't really seem like an age thing, but it is because I'm realizing that I have less time to do and learn the important things.

I'm purposely going to bed earlier so I feel better. Call me an old fogey, but I just can't party 'til the early morning hours like I used to be able to. Well, at least I can't stay up late and still function normally the next day. =)

I just bought a "Poker for Dummies" book so I can start my own little home poker game with some friends from church, etc. Picture 6 guys around a table at home playing poker. How old are they? Like 60? Yep, that's me. So much for rollerblading, mountain biking, running, and Whirley-ball. Well, I do still play soccer. Gotta keep these old bones limber somehow. =)

Okay, so I'm not really that old. Thirty-three is the new twenty-three, right? I just started pondering the recent changes and thought it was funny how they seemed all grown-up and old.

Hot Rod of the Week

And now for a little tongue-in-cheek fun... Today's hot rod of the week! This morning, on my way back from giving a private photography lesson, I ran across this red beauty.


There are a few fine points that set this one above the rest. The obvious first is the coffee-can sized tail pipe. You should have heard the rich tones coming from this 1.4 liter 4-banger. It sounded more like a Lambourghini or a Lawn Boy or something. Next, we have the remnants of (what I imagine to be) an Al Gore bumper sticker on a very faded bumper to match the faded red paint. I did not photoshop this picture at all. And finally, the well-placed strip of duct-tape under the left tail light.

I was just glad to have been quick enough to get this picture before the light turned green and he burned rubber out of view.

I saw gasoline prices here dropped to $1.97 today. I guess they know everyone's planning road trips now, so they drop the prices and then raise them as soon as school's out for the summer. (And for every holiday between now and then.)

NPDA Conference

Senior Care, our other family business in Oklahoma, has been involved with the NPDA (National Private Duty Association) since it started 4 years ago. We're charter members and have enjoyed attending every conference so far. When NPDA leadership called a month or two ago to invite me to emcee an open forum of questions and answers, I was a bit apprehensive to accept. Public speaking hasn't really been a strength of mine. One on one, I can talk with anyone, but don't give me a lectern and put me in front of a few dozen people. It's hard to connect with a group and I think that's what gets me. You don't get feedback from the entire group.

Anyway, the conference brochure came out on the NPDA website, so I thought I'd paste my little write-up from page 6 here.
Wish me luck! Of all the sessions I could have been asked to lead, this must be the easiest. I mean, I don't need to prepare or anything! It's just emceeing the questions from the crown and answers from the crowd. Maybe I should look up some crowd-control techniques? =) Seriously, though, it's caused me to reconsider joining Toastmasters to work on public speaking. I understand that public speaking is one of the top fears universally and in my case I'm sure it's mostly just due to inexperience.

We're heading out to lunch with Holly's family, so I don't have time to do it now, but I've been working on my Goals for 2007 and I'll mention some of them here later.

Oh, here's an interesting side-note. Did you know that Google has an alert service that you can use to constantly search for specific terms, like your name or business name? Very helpful! You can see more about it here.