Hot days are comin', I think...

Well, I suppose I am feeling a lot better this weekend.

I guess I got a good dose of life and friends and that's about what it took.

A wonderful friend from my college days got ahold of me about a month or two ago and it was great to catch up. Then, about 3 weeks ago I drove up to the Hillsboro, OH, are and visited him and his family. He is starting a dairy farm and has a great little place. Then, this weekend, our whole family went up there and spent a couple nights. I drove the kids (as well as my mom) around in their big tractor, a 150 HP Deutz-Allis.

The picture isn't "thier" tractor, but it is exactly the same, and theirs looks just about as good. It was lots of fun.

Then me and Troy (my friend) had to unload a wagonload of hay and put it up in his barn. That was great fun, too. I did a lot of that work when I was a teenager and early 20's, and I miss it. The kids had a wonderful time with their dog, Floppy, a Basset-Beagle named for obvious reasons. And Nathan and Alia took off exploring all through thier unplowed fields. They were having a wonderful time petting the cows and running as far as they could stand without worrying about cars or people or anything. I was wonderful to see.

And Nathan decided that he loves running. He ran more on Saturday than he has all year put together. Which is great because there was a time when we were very concerned that he had breathing or chest problems. Every time he would run a few yards he would complain about chest pains. But I think he ran about 2 or 3 miles total on Saturday and there was not any problems at all. His new saying was like this:

Nathan: "Are we going back up to the barn?"
Dad: "Yes"
Nathan: "Are you walking all the way there?"
Dad: "Yes"
Nathan: "Well, I'll be running."

Then we'd be going to the pond or something... "Well, I'll be running." He is so funny.

Then today at home I got a lot of work done. Mowed my grass (again... 3rd time this year already). It was 92 degrees. Then I busted up the rest of the sod for my garden area. I was using a shovel, but then I found my sister's maddox, or pick-axe, or whatever you want to call it. So, I spent about an hour and broke all that up. Then went for a run... didn't wanna run too far with the bad heat and me not being used to it yet, so I ran a couple miles, ssssllloooowwwww. -ly.

THEN, went out and bought some petunias for my flower boxes on my front porch. Then, just put in some laundry and chilled out till Shannon brought home Papa Johns.. which was a great supper after a great day.

So, we'll see if I can keep up on this blog better nowadays. I think I am over the funk of being here and not up North... not completely, mind you... but feeling better about things. It has not been an easy adjustment, but with good weekends like this with good friends, things might start lookin' up.

Snow Daze

OK... so I have had the best week since I have moved here...

it's simple... just get a couple inches of snow, and some ice, and lots of power outages, declare a state of emergency, and...

viola!

5 days off of school!!!

Yea... that's BY FAR a record for me... the most I have ever had was 2, but this is Friday, and it is my 5th day off...

life is tough here in the Southland.

ROFL!!!

a bit better

Well, things aren't so bad now... I guess I just had to adjust.

Christmas was good; kids had a wonderful time. Christmas break was excellent. I went to Tawas for a couple days. Saw some good friends and spent some time with a cousin I haven't seen in years... nice to see him. Shannon and the kids stayed here, her dad is still not doing good.

I asked my students today if it ever gets cold here or if it ever snows here. Living in the Big Snow Country for so many years has really made me expect snow more than I thought. It has been 60 during the day and 60 during the night for a couple days now... one day was supposed to hit 70, but it didn't. I slept with my windows open again!

Back to school today... not very exciting, but a man has to work, at least until I can find a way out of it.

Hope everyone is doing great... my love to all who love.

PS, got a fish tank. I love it and the kids think it is the best thing since square butter.

AWESOME!

Got to talk to my long lost friend tonight... what a blessing! I didn't expect to hear from him; I was on skype and he happened to log on and we finally got to talk. Man, what an encouragement it was for me... it was like a blast of fresh air to hear the voice of my true friend.

Don't shave... don't cut your hair... looks great.

Nuff said...

snow day

You guys would laugh... about 1/2 to 1" of snow... and it is not even cold enough to stick to the concrete or the roads. So, imagine snow in the grass and a wet driveway. "School closed due to inclement weather".

Life's pretty easy here, I gotta tell ya. I have never shoveled. I scraped my windows a couple times... but that was easy, too. I walk to school every day now... 2 miles each way. I can't tell you how many people have tried to give me a ride... at least 5 in one day when it was "raining". Everything is close, anything you would want... any food you would want (although I can't eat it)... and 500 churches to choose from.

Could life get any better? I submit that it can NOT!

lol... just a little BR sample...

birthday

Well, had a nice B-day... 39. One more year and I am rolling over the hill... I hope it is just a cliff and make it quick! LOL!

The family took me out to Texas Roadhouse (steak house in the area) and I had one of my favorites... T-Bone steak! It was very good! and then the kiddos got me some of my special treats: peanut M&M's, pistachios, and A&W Root beer.... they are so cute. But they made sure that I would share them with them! They are funny little tikes.

I guess they are really getting into the Fattest City in the world thing! HAHA! (Not really, they are still eating their halloween candy... one piece a day (at most!) So it will last for QUITE a while!