No Pollen!

Well, the week is coming to an end. It seems the days just fly by. AJ continues to get stronger and seems to do anything he feels like ... climbing, jumping or walking. He celebrated his first birthday on Tuesday and as usual destroyed a teddy bear cake made just for him. Wild Mom is doing well and getting ready for the wedding party to be held later in May. Her camps went well and the woods were left in one piece. Though most of the animals evacuated to safer areas. Peanut is well and looking for a new job. Interviews are coming but nothing yet. #1 and #2 continue to spin their wheels when it comes to interviews. Makes you wonder what is wrong? Starr is working and doing well. She is still recovering from the other week but getting stronger every day. Lew and Lil Princess will possibly be here this weekend, at least we are hoping so. We haven't seen them in almost two weeks and feeling some withdrawal pains. Lady is doing well but asking about a weekend vacation in a month or so. We are still trying to figure out if a trip to Indiana is possible in May. Do you realize we only have about 8 months till the next cruise? Ginger (the cat) passed this week as Age caught up to her. It seems different without her but she is better off and who knows ... maybe someday in the future we will see her again. For now, the memories are rich and many. I wish we had a few pictures of her as reminders. I managed to get the front yard cut but already it is in need of another one. What is the downer is that this is just the start of the growing season. Maybe winter will hurry back and stop the growing.

Work is the same ... busy and steady. Yes, "Can't Fix Stupid" reigns supreme. Now we have a new antenna in Aberdeen MD to get fixed up to our humble standards. We have a satellite feed now from Today's Christian Music (TCM) and I like it. I sure wish the station would put it on the air. It sure makes the time pass and the music isn't half bad. Sure beats what we have on the station on the weekends.

Anyone tired of Hockey Playoffs, Basketball Playoffs and the NFL Draft? I am. I am surprised there isn't any other sports news to focus on.

My rating of Obama's first 100 days --- "C" though I do give him an "A" on Personality. It is amazing how the Democrats with no plan or good ideas can win you over with words and personality while the Republicans have a solid plan but are inept at selling the idea to you.

Easter Pics

Lil Princess

Lew

Who can avoid saying yes to either of these kids?

Big #1

April 28, 2009

Happy Birthday ... The Big #1 .... to Aiden James Mellott ...
better known as AJ.

His recovery from surgery has been great ... first doctors report is Good.
His First Year has been very eventful.

Another Piece of Our Heart

Goodbye ... Ginger (the cat) ... she will be missed after all these years.

Warm and Lazy Day

Should be a great weekend. The temperature should be Mid-70's and sunny. Just what I wanted so now I can do the yard work that is needed. AJ is doing great. He is almost his old self. He still gingerly uses his arms but after last night and his climbing I feel those days are past. Peanut is doing well and already starting to job hunt. I wonder if I could hire her to train #1 and #2 how to find a job. You would expect pride to kick in soon and motivate them. Wild Mom is off again at Camp Bluebird. She has been there since Wednesday. This afternoon she gets home and tonight she will head downtown to a church retreat. It must be nice to be on the go all the time. Not, I am glad to be a homebody for a while. I miss the food, my bed and the little ones. As far as I know Lew and Lil Princess will be over for the weekend. Ginger the cat isn't doing so well. I am afraid her time is measured in days and they are only a handful in number. She has a mass on her shoulder and isn't eating or drinking very much. She basically just lays around sleeping. Starr is doing well and hopefully going to be more involved with her firefighting buddies. National Certification is the goal. Lady is well though she is fighting the sniffles. Hopefully this warm weekend will help her get ahead of this stuff. Maybe we just need to go for a quiet get-a-way somewhere? ChincoTeague or Cheat river?

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If a town passes a law with a 72% majority ... where does a Judge get off declaring it unconstitutional? He should administer the law equally and fairly as the voters determined. The voters have a right to determine how they want their town run. If a small percentage of voters don't like the new law ... then move to somewhere they agree with! Since when did the Minority run this world? This is a great reason for term limits for a Judge. After awhile some of these Judges seem to get arrogant and think they know best.

Government Motors (GM), err, the old General Motors should just cut their losses and move on. Lets quit bailing out a sinking boat and do something with our money that has a better future. The Unions deserve what they get. They have raped the industry for 50 years for their benefit ... it is time for them to bend over and get a good dose of their medicine.

Don't you just love it when Tiger falls short and the person the Media does give a chance of winning ... wins. If Tiger wants to be great ... let his record speak ... not the Media trying to hype up the ratings and create a story to report.

The Conclusion draws Nigh

Tuesday, April 21. The trips are over and now it is time to get back to work. AJs surgery went very well and it did not take nearly as long as they thought. Which is good. We now are awaiting his return home and have our fingers crossed that will happen today. I was told they will release him once he starts crawling and walking. I can imagine the little guy is pretty sore, I know I would be. Peanut is fine knowing her little guy is ok. These past two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and hopefully now things will settle down into a dull roar. Well, after 6 weeks, Wild Mom is back in Florida though she won't be there long as more planned trips are upcoming. No one can ever say she just sat still and did nothing exciting. She did manage to get some shopping done in Pigeon Forge and naturally the car was totally packed for the rest of the ride south. There was an antique auto show in Pigeon Forge and both sides of the street were packed with antique cars. I could easily believe they stretch for about 9 miles through town. Did I ever see some nice ones, good thing my checkbook was at home. We left pigeon Forge after having breakfast at The Apple Barn and a side trip to the Old Mill Candy Factory and then went straight through the Smokey Mountains. I love that drive though it does add some time to the trip. We stopped in Woodstock Ga. and picked up Starr for the ride south. That was a lot of fun and we were able to spend time and chat a lot. It is fun listening to someone talk about their dreams and plans. The excitement and hope just oozes out as they do. Something that we haven't had the luxury of in a long time. All is well and full of dreams in Woodstock. We stopped in Montgomery Al. at a BBQ place and it was very good. It did make the rest of the ride hard since my body wanted to rest and not drive. After a quiet Sunday in Florida, I headed home on Monday. The return ride home was long and uneventful. I dropped Starr off in Woodstock and finished the last 11 hours by myself.

Now it is back to work, yard work and paying for these little jaunts across the country.

He is Alive!

Another week and this one will prove to be a tough one. AJ has his surgery on Friday and it is something we all dwell on. Sunday, we had the whole church pray for him and that helped knowing others will be praying for him on Friday. Peanut is worried and that goes without saying. Also this week contains Tax Day. I finally finished Monday night and will file it tonight. Another task finished for the year. Yes, I paid for several people on welfare. It is sad when some welfare recipients live better than the taxpayers. After 40 days with no caffeine, I am able to drink coffee and tea once again. Actually, several times I have found myself drinking water instead of coffee or tea. What did I gain for the sacrifice? Well, I have a few new insights and feel better about a few things. Friday night is also when I will take Wild Mom home. After 6 weeks, she is ready to get back to her house and friends. We will miss her but I also understand the desire to "get home". I will even get to spend some time with Starr as she rides down to Florida with me. Could it get any better? The job situation for #1 and #2 remains in a frozen state -- no change. Lil Princess, Lew, and AJ looked smashing in their Easter outfits. Of course, the chocolate face and hands went without saying. Doesn't the Easter Bunny bring anything else than chocolate? The dining room was full Sunday with all the grandkids and family. How can we be so easily changed to let the family meal time around the table be taken from us. Those moments are precious and full of memories. I am so thankful that for just a moment in time we shared that time. Though the sleep monster held Peanut and #2 back from the Easter Sunrise service they battle through and made the 11:00am one. For that, thanks, it meant so much to share that time together. Also this weekend we watched the movies Fireproof and Flywheel. They are awesome and I challenge you to see them if you haven't. This is our second time and it was still great. The message they bring is timeless and really tugs at your heart. Are you right with God? Hmmm.

Nationals are 0-7 ... surprised? I am not. The basketball and hockey seasons are ending, now the never ending playoffs start ... Ughhhhhh. Dancing with the stars this season will never be the same with Holly and Steve gone.

Springtime Daze

It is back to the grind as the vacation season ends. The trip was great but now comes the ugly part ... paying for it. Plus to make life worse I am doing my taxes. It is a double dose of bewilderment of how to make things stretch that far. I sure wish bowling would hurry up and start again. There are a few things I want to try before I forget them. We always end early when the Ladies State Tournament comes to town. The Youth bowling doesn't start until after school ends. The next big event will be AJ's surgery on the 17th. After that I will be taking Wild Mom home to Florida with a swing through Pigeon Forge. By then she will have been here almost a month. Life will never be the same. With Easter just days away I am looking forward to seeing the kids dressed up in their new outfits. Lil Princess is sure to get the second looks. Though AJ and Lew will be cute in their clothes. I wonder how many of the older kids will make it on Sunday Morning? Lady is recovering from the time-off and getting used to the work schedule. No changes in #1 or #2 job situation. They have had some nibbles but no bites. Peanut is slimming down. Sure hope she doesn't fly away in a strong breeze. Can't wait till the bikini gets pulled out and tried on.

Baseball season is here and the Braves are 2-0 while the Nationals are well on their way to another bad season. Tomorrow is the first round of the Masters and I am looking forward to seeing and sleeping through so of the days. Cheng is out till next Tuesday so work will be a special challenge.

The End of the Adventure

Well, the adventure is over. We arrived home last night about 0200 am. It was a long drive but a lot of fun. Will I do it again! Heck yes. We had lunch and a great visit with Lady's parents in Indiana. Her niece was there and we wrestled and tickled and put ice everywhere. She was so full of energy and hopefully I wore her down a bit though sometimes she put up a really good effort. Seeing lady's mom and dad was great especially since it has been a while. We talked and laughed about many things and memories. The food was great and lady managed to bring home a bagful of homemade noodles. Enough to do some serious damage to a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy. We managed to stay just ahead of the weather though sometimes when we stopped long enough it would catch up. The ride was accident free but the traffic jam in Columbus Ohio was enough of a headache. Now that we are home, we will have to readjust to reality and get caught up on some of the things we have missed while on the adventure.

AJ's surgery is on April 17 with about 6 weeks of recovery. That same day after the surgery, I will head to Florida to take Wild Mom home. We need to get her home so she won't go into debt paying the phone bill. She is ready to get home and get ready for her next adventure ... Keren's wedding party and Camp Bluebird.

I went to work today and nothing has changed ... well it was worth a wish.

This years trip was a success and well worth it. I just wish it could have been longer and others come with us. Let me see ... where will the next adventure take me too?

If you had one wish ... what would you wish for?