Mother's Day

I've had 43 Mother's Days. This year just about wins the prize for the mother of all Mothers' Days.

Tarzan said, "Do you want to do something for Mother's Day?"

I said, "Not if I have to plan it."

Tarzan, "Oh."

End of conversation.

About two hours later he called me back and said, "We have a date at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Is it okay to celebrate Mother's Day a day early." "Sure." I say.

Then I start thinking about it, Saturday at 5:15 is the Laker's game, I bet we are going to a sports bar.

Maybe he is taking me to Circle K for hot dogs--but that is another story.

Hmmmmm, what could it be, I resist the temptation to ask.

Saturday morning we got up early and started working in the yard. Several times during the day he reminded me we had to leave before 5:00 p.m. Then I started wondering if someone was coming to the house and he was surprising me.

I still did not ask.

At 4:45 exactly, we were cleaned up and in the car. We started to drive and conversation ensued. Finally, I said something that made him casually say, "Oh, I'm taking you to that Puerto Rican restaurant I told you about."

Wow. What a night we had and to make it even more impressive, he was willing to completely miss the Laker's game to be with me (but because I am a good wife, I recorded it and we watched it when we came home--he was pleasantly surprised).

This place is in a guys home. He doesn't provide a menu, you just pay $15 a person and you eat what he and his wife cook. When they run out of food, they quit serving. You have to have a reservation.

We had an awesome authentic Puerto Rican meal. I would try to explain to you what it was, but I can't think of anything to compare it to so you would know what I'm talking about. One thing I can explain. There was something like a tamale, except it was not made with maza, the outside was mashed plantains. The stuffing was pork and it was to die for, then there was a rice dish -- oh yum. It was cooked in a banana leaf.

When we left, I had to take half of mine home, so he put it in a to go box and stapled the paper sack shut. When he handed it to me, he said, "I have put a little something in there for both of you."

Sunday morning, I opened the bag to finish my dinner for breakfast and he had put two breakfast rolls on top for our breakfast. When I opened the to go box, he had carefully wrapped everything back up in the banana leaf so it would stay moist.

We are going back on the 29th. We already made our reservation.

Then each of my children called me, each shared their love for me and each made me so happy to be a mother. I know I am blessed.

And you should see our yard!!!

Anniversary-Monday Memory

I remember 11 years ago, standing next to the man I love and saying "I do."

Saturday we celebrated by going to the Bourbon Steak Restaurant. Wow, what a lovely evening. We sat on the patio and the weather could not have been better. Tarzan had steak, I had lobster pot pie (2 lb lobster in a pot pie) yum. It was expensive, but worth every bite, every minute and every year of celebration. We talked it over and we like being married to each other.

Kinda nice, don't you think?

Holey Joes--Tuesday Tip

This is a silly tip...it's actually more like Tuesday Trivia, but whatever...

You know those "Ineroffice Envelopes"? Like these? Welllllll, here is some funny trivia for you.

These were invented by the military (of course we believe it was the Air Force that invented them).

In the Air Force they are referred to as "Holey Joes." 'Cuz of those holes.

Did you ever wonder why they have holes in them? Well, I just found out today from Tarzan...

When the military was passing top secret information around the office in these Holey Joes, they needed to be sure there was nothing left in the envelope, thus, the holes.

Isn't that kewl?

Languishing--Thursday Thought

"Sometimes, languishing in the arms of your sweetheart for an extra half hour in the morning is the best way to start your day."

Sandi Grandberry

Things I need to say. If you are not interested in my personal life, don't bother to read this.

There are different personality types in this world, we each have a type.

There are many tests that will tell you what "type" you are.

These "tests" may or may not peg you right, but if you are aware at all, you recognize your own strengths and weaknesses. If you don't recognize them, ask a close friend and when they tell you the truth, nod your head and say, "thank you"--don't argue with them because they are probably right and if you start to argue with them, they will not give you a true picture of yourself. You can think it over later and dismiss what you think is way off base.

As for me, I have a personality type that does not let people get too close. I dismiss people from my life when I move to another town and I do not keep close friends. In fact, I would say I have only had two close friends in my life, one recently passed away--we had only communicated 2 or 3 times by email the year before she died, and I only talk to the other one maybe twice a year.

Not a good thing.

I have a fear of telling anyone how much I appreciate them and love having them in my life for fear they would soon leave and then I will be stuck with words hanging out there that have no meaning.

When Tarzan and I were dating we met with the Stake President. President Pease asked Tarzan how he felt about me and then they just sat there and talked about me like I wasn't in the room. Tarzan told President Pease how lucky he was that I came into his life and how wonderful I was and how blessed he felt that I am with him. President Pease looked at me and said, "I think you need to stay with this man." You have no idea how that made me feel to simply have them say all these nice things about me, right there in front of me. It was surreal.

Tarzan and I got married 10 years ago and in that time, he has told me, hmmmm, I tried to count and I can't count the number of times he has told me how glad he is that I came into his life. How lucky he is to have me. How blessed he is that we are a couple. How fun I am to be with. How satisfied he is with his life. The first time he did this was on my birthday. We woke up early and he laid there in bed and told me just how precious I was to him. I couldn't ask for a better gift.

There is nothing better than getting a phone call in the middle of the day and have Tarzan tell me what a joy it is to have me as a wife.

This makes me try harder to be a wife worth the compliment.

Don't think by this that we have a perfect life. We agree that sometimes we drive each other crazy and irritate each other, but on the whole we really love each other.

I have learned to say, without fear, how much I love and appreciate him. He has helped me open my heart to others and, without prejudgment, just accept people for who they are and let them into my life as good friends. Perhaps not always life-long friends, but giving them a place in my heart, a place I didn't know existed.

Perhaps if you told your spouse how blessed you are to have them in your life, you would get a similar response, but you have to mean it when you say it.

A Happy Father--What I saw Wednesday

For Father’s Day, we went to a million star hotel

Notice, there is only one sleeping bag. Tarzan was going to sleep sitting up (suppressed laugh). I ended up unzipping the bag so we could both be covered.There was a fabulous nail salon
We had a gourmet dinner and ate outside on the “patio.”
For breakfast, we prepared a meal in the kitchen in our suite
And ate on a lovely dining table with a fishing theme for the center piece
Later, we discovered there was a swimming pool (I love this picture)

And Dottie took full advantage of it.

The resort had a special diet for Dottie and Lucy
We found time to lounge in the shade. Well, it was shady when Lucy fell over asleep.
We visited a museum
With antique farm equipment
Tarzan found time to hunt for dinner where he first found bait and then a meal
Happy Father’s Day doing just what we wanted to do.
(And then there was my hair, yikes)

Unity of Purpose--What I Saw Wednesday

I start with a quote from Tarzan "This is something to put in your fricken' blog."

It all started when Tarzan decided our son-in-law needed to borrow his tractor. We had no idea how difficult it would be to get it there. After two days of phone calls and being told repeatedly that the cost would be over $800 or that--what we wanted to do was not allowed--he finally made a personal trip to U-Haul and was assured that his pickup would pull the trailer they rented him and that a 1,000 pound tractor added to it would be fine--all for just $90.

Are you getting the picture?

When I got home from work Friday night, Tarzan had our little 6-banger Dodge pickup loaded with the tractor strapped down on the trailer. We packed up some food, drink, ice, and dog (Dottie) and started on the short and familiar 4 1/2 hour trip.

We were not able to go over 45 miles per hour. Each time we approached 45 mph, the trailer started to sway left and right. It was like being on a ride at Disneyland only scarier because we had so little control.

I hope you can picture it in you mind--freeway, large semi's going too fast, impatient fellow drivers in cars, trucks and motorcycles, honking and waving at us inviting us to get off the road. We left home at 6:00 p.m. we arrived at the half way point at 1:00 a.m. 7 hours and we were only half way on a 4 1/2 hour trip.

We stopped and spent the night at a truck stop motel. We took Dottie into the room with us and didn't ask permission. Tarzan went out and hunted for food while I crashed in the room. We were still speaking to each other.

Here is an interesting little tidbit about our weekend. I forgot to bring any hair products including a pick so not only did I have dirty hair, I had tangled hair. Stopping at a drug store was not on the list of possibilities. AND we could not turn on the air conditioning because it took needed power from the engine AND it was over 100 degrees all day and just barely down to 100 after the sun went down. Are you getting a better picture now?

Saturday morning we started out at 5:00 a.m. and another 7 hours later, the pickup decided it could not possibly pull the tractor another inch. I tried praying and repeating "I think I can, I think I can" but the answer to our prayers came in the way so many prayers are answered, someone came to our rescue...

There we were stopped going up hill (only 5 feet from the top) and the clutch started to smoke. The truck was going nowhere but backward down the hill. I called the kids to let them know but lost reception before I could tell them. Tarzan, got out and put rocks behind the wheels of the trailer so it wouldn't roll back down the hill. I got out and directed traffic.

The hill curved right at the bottom and left at the top, there was a double yellow line and people were just whizzing around us with no thought of what was coming over the hill toward them. I saw two near accidents. I began stopping traffic coming up behind us when there were cars coming over the hill toward us and averted any incidents.

I no sooner stepped out to direct traffic then our son-in-law came down the hill. He may as well have been on a white horse wearing a coat of armor. However, if it had not been a Clydesdale it would not have been an answer to our prayers. He has a big, high powered, SUV and they had just put a hitch on the back of it the day before.

The two men unhooked the trailer from our pickup and you could physically see our pickup bounce into position with relief from the load. We were able to move the pickup and hook up the SUV. It easily pulled the tractor over the hill and the final short distance to their home.

Another 7 hours and Tarzan and I were still speaking to each other.

We unloaded the tractor, played with the grand kids, hugged the kids and took off for a faster trip home.

But wait, not so fast--literally.

We still had the trailer connected to our truck to be returned to the dealer that evening. If we were dragging an elephant before, we were now dragging at least a hippopotamus. We never were able to get up to 70 mph and we didn't realize how exhausted we were.

We stopped after less than 100 miles. We decided we needed to get rid of the trailer before we ruined the clutch on the pickup. However, U-Haul had no interest in a return to a location where we did not pick it up and were going to TRIPLE the charges for renting the trailer if we left it there rather than drag it all the way back home. We left in disgust and decided to chance it with the trailer.

We knew we couldn't make it any further that night and got another motel room. We dragged ourselves to dinner and crashed at 8:00 p.m. We slept through the night without moving, even Dottie was worn out but we were still speaking to each other.

We got up and started home at 6:00 a.m. I had washed my hair with the shampoo and creme rinse in the room and combed through it with my fingers. Now, I had clean hair but with windows down, I soon looked like a crazy woman from a silent movie. We started out with, what would normally take us, just over 3 hours left on our trip. It took 6 hours to arrive home and we were still speaking to each other.

When we have a unity of purpose, we both have the ability to put everything else out of the picture and focus on what we have to accomplish and remember our family motto "If we are not having fun, why bother."

We are home safe, still speaking and even laughing at ourselves for making such a dangerous trip. One of Tarzan's fishing buddies called us while we were on the road and after Tarzan explained what we had been through, he asked to speak to me. He said, "I want a woman like you." I can't type the rest of what he said but in his way it was a great compliment to my ability to take what Tarzan dishes out.

Happy Anniversary

10 years.  Thank you for making me laugh.  I love you babe.

Someone said that if you can't have perfect, you could settle for cute.  

On a cute meter from 1-10 Tarzan is a 12.

88 ounces

So, last week I went to the doctor and he got all excited about some little thing and ordered --- A FULL BLOOD WORKUP --- said with a deep and anxious voice.

Today, I went to get the blood workup---3 tubes of blood later...

The wait in the lab was very short so, I called Tarzan...

Me: "Hi, I have an hour to kill. If you are in your office, I thought I would come by and visit with you."

Tarzan: "I'm here."

Me: "Be there in a minute."

Wasn't that a romantic exchange?

My plan was to buy a soda for Tarzan and surprise him. So, I stopped at Circle K where the line was longer than at the lab and bought him a 44 ounce soda and me a 44 ounce soda. After maneuvering my way out of the crowded parking lot (which is also in a terrible location for ingress and egress) and on to the road, I drove the few short miles to Tarzan's office and about 100 feet before the turn into his parking lot, I hit a hole in the road and both sodas flew out of the cup holders, one on the passenger side, and one on the driver side and emptied both cups of soda onto the floor of my car.

Tarzan was outside to greet me, wasn't that sweet? I didn't say anything, I just handed him the empty 44 ounce plastic soda cup. He looked at me with questioning eyes as we walked into his office. I explained what happened and he chuckled (he learned not to laugh at me from the last accident I had).

After about 2 minutes,

Me: "Well, I guess I should go clean it up."

Tarzan: "Right now?"

Me: "Is there a better time?"

Tarzan: "I guess I better clean the car for you tonight, or maybe you should just go get it detailed."

Not wanting to belabor the fact that Tarzan is a procrastinator, I said, good idea and drove straight to the car wash.

Feel the Love Day 7

What is our favorite thing to do as a couple?

Hmmmm, hmmmm, hmmmm, hmmmm. Let's see. Ummmmmm. Gee whiz. What do I put here?

It doesn't matter what I think of to put here we like to do it together. :-).

Feel the Love Day 6

What does Tarzan do that surprises you?

Tarzan is not big on holidays. He has difficulty giving a gift because somebody said he had too (Hallmark). He surprises me with gifts on OFF holidays. He surprises me even more with gifts ON holidays.

He will vacuum and rearrange the furniture if I am gone all day.

He calls me to tell me something funny.

He tells me he loves me when I least expect it.

He calls me and asks me to get tickets to the theater.

I especially love it when he calls and says, "Let's go out tonight, just the two of us, I need to have you all to myself." After ten years, he hasn't had enough of me?

And then the most special of all is occasionally, when we wake up on my birthday, he tells me in great detail how lucky he is to have me and how glad he is that God sent me to him.

Feel the Love Day 5

Where are some of Tarzan's hidden talents?

Tarzan is:

• a great cook
• a genius with little children
• always able to make me laugh
• good at getting people to lighten up
• softhearted
• good at handling a tractor
• interested in what you have to say
• a good storyteller
• a good business partner
• good at surprises
• fantastic at grocery shopping
• a news fanatic

Feel the Love Day 4

How long was the engagement?

Less than one year. See Feel the Love Day 3
I kept waiting for a ring, but instead I got earrings. You can't say Tarzan is not creative.

How long have we been married?

10 Years on April 10th this year.

We got married "before the turn of the century." I love the way that sounds. I feel so retro, so antique, so old school. I wonder if the year 2100 will have people looking back and saying -- "Things were much simpler then." or will they be saying "How in the world did they survive without an implanted flux-capacitor?"

Feel the Love Day 3

How did Tarzan propose?

I was proposed to twice. I accepted both times :-).

The first time, we were cleaning out my playroom closet. We were both up to our eyeballs in dust and boxes and he said, "Hey, will you marry me?" I said "Yes" and we finished cleaning out the closet. That was sort of his way of putting me on hold while he went off doing his own thing.

The second time, he was in Milwaukee being an Engineer on a train. His run was between Milwaukee and Chicago. It was January. He was on a particularly long train, about 2 miles long. It had been snowing like crazy and someone pulled an air-something-or-other and alarms went off on the engineer's panel. It was his job to find the problem and fix it.

He got off the train and the snow was waist deep. He walked the entire length of the train and when he got to the end, he was so cold, he couldn't even feel his hands. He then had to walk all the way back to the engine and off they went.

When he got to Chicago, he checked into a hotel for the night, called me on the phone and told me the story. He then said, "What do you say -- I come home and we get married? It's awfully cold here." I said, "Okay."

He came home a month later. We were married one month after that.

Feel the Love Day 2

How long did you date?

We met in 1995 and married in 1999. Most of our dating was done long distance. Tarzan lived in California, where he remodeled a house; Kansas, where he went to railroad school and became an Engineer; and Wisconsin where he was an Engineer for the Soo Line Railroad, during our dating years. We didn't have access to cheap cell phone bills then and we each sported a phone bill around $400 a month. We still communicate best over the phone.

While we dated, we tried to break up with each other several times. My favorite is the time he drove me 2 hours away into the mountains to break up with me. What was he thinking? The mountains would be a more romantic place to break the news? Break up with a woman and then ride in the car with a angry female for 2 hours. I don't think so. He couldn't do it so he was saved from his stupid move. When I realized the purpose of the trip, I said, "Did you really bring me up here to break up with me?" He got that cute smile he flashes and admitted that he had, but he couldn't do it because we were having so much fun.

The best date was once he told me to get all dressed up and then he took me to Circle K for dinner. We sat on the cement blocks by the gas tanks and ate. He got me TWO hot dogs a drink and chips. Then we went up on Lookout Mountain and kissed, looked at the lights and did a lot of people watching.

Feel the Love Day 1

I am jumping on the bandwagon, because I love the music they are playing :-).

How did Tarzan and I meet?
I was working for a law firm and had a friend who was working at the same law firm, she lived way north of me, we only socialized during work hours because of distance. Tarzan worked at MCI and had a friend, she lived way up north of him, they only socialized during work hours because of distance.

My friend and Tarzan's friend lived in the same apartment complex. One day they were both in the parking lot at the same time and they met. They were instant friends and went to Tarzan's friend's apartment to visit. While they were there, Tarzan call his friend and said, "Hey, I just broke up with my girlfriend and I need someone to date." His friend turned to my friend and said, "You want to date Tarzan, he's a good friend of mine?" My friend said, "No, I don't date black men, but I know someone who might want to date him." She knew I didn't have a problem with race.

They gave him my phone number and he called me---and he called me---and he called me for over a week, we talked on the phone. At first, I was a little put off, because he ask very direct and personal questions that I was not comfortable answering and I told him so. "I don't think we know each other well enough to share that kind of information."

Finally, I told Tarzan that either we needed to meet or quit wasting our time talking on the phone. He agreed to meet me at McKinna's. We agreed what each would wear (he lied) and a time and date to meet. I didn't want him coming to my home until I met him personally, the world is full of weirdos, you know.

I showed up looking mighty hot, I must say. I stood by the door and waited. Soon, a black man walked up to me (not wearing what he had said he would wear because if I was a dog, he was going to just not say anything and leave) and asked who I was waiting for. I said, "Are you Tarzan?" He replied, "No, I'm not, but if I was, I sure wouldn't leave someone as fine as you standing here waiting" AND WALKED OFF.

He went back to the bar where he had been watching for me. The man he was visiting with asked if I was his blind date and he said that I was. The man at the bar said, "Man when I have a blind date, she always turns out to be a dog. You better go over there before she leaves."

Here our stories differ slightly, however, this part we both agree on. When he returned, I doubted his truthfulness and he offered to show me his driver's license. I didn't have my glasses on -- he could have been Jack the Ripper and I wouldn't have been able to tell. We had a short evening and he was going to leave, when I said, "That's it? No dinner, no movie, nothing, just hello, a drink and goodbye?" He said, "Well, I guess I could take you out to eat." He did and the evening was very enjoyable--dinner sealed my fate, I chose a small hole-in-the wall restaurant instead of an big, expensive, fancy place. He was in love.

And that is how we met fourteen years ago.

$600 later, I can smile about it...

Tarzan and I are on a very strict budget!!!

We each have a Paypal card with spending money on it. If we run out of money on our Paypal, we have to wait until the next payday to get more.

So, today, Tarzan had several packages to mail to the grandchildren (okay I had a couple also) and I very generously said, "I'll take them by the UPS store on my way to work." To which he expressed his deep and profound gratitude, but did not offer to help pay the postage. Actually, this strict budget thing is so new to us that I didn't think of it either until...

Mr. Brown (aka the UPS man) rang up the total and it was $5 more than I had in my Paypal account, yikes. Mr. Brown put my order on hold and I drove off to work with the promise that I would stop by after work and pay for the shipping.

Just as I passed the CVS Pharmacy, I reached for my cell phone to tell Tarzan how picked on I was because my allowance was smaller than his when I misjudged how close I was to the curb and ran over -- oh, how can I explain this, there were 4 cement thingys with a sidewalk in between and I ran over all of them...

Can you say blow out?

There was a hole big enough for my fist to fit in on the right front tire.

I called:

1. AAA
2. Work
3. Tarzan

Tarzan laughed at me.
I hung up on him.
Tarzan called back and made me feel better.

I called my crazy sister--she always helps me see the humor in any situation and after I got through telling her with both of us laughing until we were out of breath, she said, "well it could have been worse..."

It seems she got in her car once, in a huff, and backed up and hit a pole--she hit it so hard her wig fell off. Now, that would be worse. At least, I still had my dignity.

Camping with Tarzan and the Boyz

This weekend I realized, that I do not just casually experience life. Rather, I see events. I see big happy occasions, and devastating sad occasions. I see happy things as more than passing moments, but stories to tell, stupid things as funny or irritating and story worthy. I also see the actions of others as great or even pitiful. With that said, let me tell you about fishing with Tarzan and the boyz.

I had a headache for three days last week and needed some true down time, when I didn’t think about (in alphabetical order) car trouble, children, church, cleaning house, dogs, etc., grandchildren, health, heat, money, redecorating, rental property, work.

Tarzan was going fishing with the boyz this weekend, so I asked if I could go. I said, “I either need to go away with you this weekend or I need to get a hotel and watch old movies while I eat ice cream and pizza.” He said I could go.

I went out to get in the truck after packing up a few things, putting together four meals to cook for the group and packing some kitchen items to cook with. He had put everything in the CAR not the PICKUP with no plan as to where we would sleep. I threw in two sleeping bags and an air mattress.

We started out at 6:00 p.m. and Shirley, his GPS system, told him we had 300 MILES to go. I thought we were going to Blythe, about 1 ½ hours away. First choice, get up tight because I have a five hour drive ahead and knowing we won’t get to the campsite before midnight? No problem, I have turned off the world, sit back and relax.

We do travel well together and when we arrived at Moreno Valley, he pulled right into a motel and got us a room so we could get some rest rather than trying to find the boyz in the dark. Good move, Tarzan. 4:00 a.m. wake up call, we took it and fell back to sleep. 6:00 a.m., up and at ‘em. We rushed around, jumped in the car and called Al to tell him we were about 15 minutes away from the lake and ask how to find him.

Al, was at home in bed.

They had not gone out the day before as planned.No rush now, a little Walmart shopping, they are the only store open at that hour, and we drove on out to the lake, got the best spot available in the camp ground and cooked breakfast. Here is my kitchen cupboard.

Here is breakfast, yes, that is a pound of bacon, we expected the boyz to show up before we finished breakfast. When they didn’t the two of us managed to eat the whole pound by ourselves. Oh, yes, and that is the pan that snagged Tarzan. He says he married me for love, but I saw his eyes light up when he say me great skillet.

The boyz showed up around 2:00 p.m. So, we just relaxed until they came. Here is Tarzan playing with his fishing gear.

Then the boyz showed up. Al and Lt.

Al asked if I was ready to fish, but I made it perfectly clear that I was not there to interfere. I was there to relax, I would not be getting on the boat today. They took off with a whirl of excitement while I settled into a day of doing NOTHING. It was so wonderful. Here is what I did all day. Sorry about the bird poop, see my Kindle, Armand is his name, I have actually given him a name label now so I will quit changing his name, see the iPod, see the crochet, see the snacks, you can almost see the lotion and the purple container is the nail clippers so I could cut and file my fingernails, awe, the joy of nothingness.

Oh, yes, and I napped--a lot.

It started to get dark and the boyz didn’t return, so I decided to cook. I really should have taken a picture of the beans. I had made a pot of chili beans for dinner before leaving home. It sat in the sun all day on the ground. I picked up the pot to begin heating it up and OH MY GOODNESS, it was full of ants doing the backstroke. I skimmed the ants out thinking a little protein never hurt anyone and I wouldn’t even tell the boyz, got the cook stove fired up and set the beans on the stove. When I took the lid off the thing was bubbling and it wasn’t from the heat of the fire – it had gone bad in the heat of the day, I guess that is what attracted the ants. Dumped the whole thing in the trash and began cooking the pork chops and potatoes. Everything was cooked and the boyz finally came back. It was completely dark, they had stayed until “the last dog died” to leave the lake. As they got out of the truck, Al said, “We would have been here sooner, but we had to wait for Lee to come back from wherever he went all day.” I said, “Hey, don’t get out of the truck making excuses when you have been out having fun.” Joking is part of being friends with the boyz. I can hold my own.

Had I not cooked dinner these three boyz would have gone to bed hungry, they were exhausted. They snarfed down the dinner I had cooked, and went straight to bed. We slept in the car, he on the reclining passenger side and me in the backseat. Thank goodness for Excedrin PM. At about 11:00 p.m. the spot next to us had a group of young adults move in. They set up bright lights, loud RAP music (mostly about rape and murder) and began to laugh, talk, play games (of questionable value), drink alcohol and laugh-loud. I asked them to turn the music down once, but it was soon back up as loud as ever and they didn’t stop until 3:00 a.m.

When we got up at 5:00 a.m., I turned on the Andrew’s Sisters mixed with Nat King Cole and a bunch of church songs. My music wasn’t near as loud as theirs, but I figured it was irritating enough. We then commenced to fix a breakfast feast of bluegill caught the day before. The boyz cooked the fish, I cooked eggs and hash browns and we had some of my good bottled peaches. We had a wonderful morning, even though I was eating the fish and saw a funny looking bone and threw it out into the field then suddenly realized it was the temporary cap from my tooth. Lt. did a wind direction and projectile velocity and walked right out into the field and found it. Isn't that amazing

I must say a word about the young adults. They were clean cut kids, obviously had money (or a lot of debt) and they had no clue what life is all about. There was inappropriate activity going on over there, inappropriate talk, inappropriate music and I could go on. The park has a strict rule of no alcohol anywhere in the park. These young folks were having beer for breakfast by the time we got ready to go and they were going to go out on the lake with their jet skis.

We packed up and jumped my car (that is another whole story I won’t bore you with about the day before). As we drove out of the campsite to go to the lake, Tarzan stopped at the park ranger booth and told them about our neighbors. He explained that since we are old folks, we just hunkered down and tried to ignore them, but it was a perfect setting for a serious confrontation. If we had been a young family with babies, he would have (he didn’t tell this to the ranger) taken his shot gun over and blown up the radio like Clint Eastwood and then gone back to bed. There was something about this group of kids that haunted Tarzan and I, we mentioned them several times over the next 24 hours, wondering how far astray they were and if they had a chance at happiness with the path they were obviously taking.

Then we fished.
Here come the boyz to get me.

Here we go.

Al at the helm.
Tarzan seriously fishing.

The first fish caught.
Lt. always catches fish. The fish see him coming and all get together and say, “Hey, Lt. is here, who wants to go first?”
Al caught a few, Lt. caught a few, but sadly, today Tarzan never caught one.
I napped and read. It was great.
We packed up our rods and left about 2:00 p.m. and headed home. What a fun, relaxing two days, I am completely rejuvenated. Come on world, I’m ready to take you on again.

A Big Surprise

I am famous for doing stupid things. It is my great hope this isn't one of them. Tarzan is out of town for 2 days. I had plumbers, dry wallers and electricians all lined up to remodel the bathroom while he is gone.

DAY ONE
Tonight the plumbers showed up, Shad and Rudy.

DAY TWO
Today we had Shad and Rudy, the plumbers, James, the sheetrock man, and Rafael and Rubio, the electricians. I fell asleep at 8:00 p.m. right after they left. I'm exhausted.

DAY THREE
This morning I painted and cleaned and put everything back together. I need a nap. (Click on each picture to see the whole thing.





Whew! Tarzan loves it! I took a picture of him in the new shower, but he made me promise not to put it in the Internet, so you will have to read my private journal to see it.

RAK-Tarzan the Tough Guy

We lost our dogs. They were gone for a week. We thought we would never see them again. Suzi, the young one tears through metal with her teeth and gets out no matter what we do. Dottie follows her.

Tarzan was talking to the neighbor, Bill on the Hill, and told him the dogs were gone. Bill said he would watch for them and left for work. About 5 minutes later, Bill came tearing up the hill and yelled to Tarzan that he had found the dogs. They were with a family down by the canal and they were waiting for Tarzan to come and get them.

Tarzan rushed to the canal and found a family with our dogs on leashes happily walking them. That explained why they didn't come home. They had two small children a girl about 10 (she found the dogs and took them home and put them on leashes) and her brother about 6. When Tarzan showed up the little boy started to cry because he had to give the dogs back. His Dad told him that he knew that if they found the owners they would have to give the dogs back, but a 6 year old doesn't process that information well, so he cried.

Tarzan said, "I know you hate to give up the dogs, but I love my dogs and need to take them home." The boy said, sobbing, "Okaaayyyy." Tarzan said, "Do you like to hunt?" The boy said, sobbing still, "Sooommeetimes." Tarzan said, "Suzi isn't completely trained to hunt yet, would you like to help me train her?" "Okaaaayyyy."

So, Tarzan, the tough guy is committed to work with a 6 year old boy and a 2 year old dog and try to make everyone feel better about life. Tarzan is just like a chocolate Carmel candy. Hard on the outside and gooey on the inside. He does Random Acts of Kindness without planning or forethought. That's the best kind.