Hello, blogosphere, it's been awhile.  Lot's has gone on since my last post to the small world I call blogging friends.  Haven't visited this site for a while, but here it still sits waiting for the day to enter it's realm of words that get rarely read.  I was reading some of my older posts (last one circa 2010).  I have a son entering kindergarten, an adult married daughter who has now made me a grandmother and the most adorable grandson!  I have decided it's time to start putting thoughts to the lonely world I call my blog.  Hope you enjoy your visit and come back daily for updates.  Welcome to my world.  Tomorrow I will start on the new journey of my blogging world.  Now that they changed the dashboard on me I have to figure out how to get in and edit my page again.  Some updates are definitely needed.

Parker's story

“There’s something wrong with his brain.” Those were the words my wife shared with me on the telephone more than 6 years ago. Her Dr. had called 2 days after a routine ultrasound to give her the bad news. Actually there were a bunch of somethings wrong with his brain. My wife bravely relayed the medical information to me. But of course all I focused on was “THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH HIS BRAIN.” I tried to remain calm and reassuring, reminding her that people would pray. God was in control. But as soon as she hung up I startled my co-workers with my sobbing. I couldn’t talk I was so overwhelmed. All I could get out was “There’s something wrong with his brain.” I was 38 years old and this was my one chance to be a parent. My wife had already had one miscarriage and the Dr. told us we would not be able to conceive again. And then, miracle number one, we did. Now it seemed it was all slipping away. But it didn’t, it just got more difficult. Most things in life worth fighting for are more difficult. There were multiple ultrasounds, MRI’s , heart monitorings, surgery consultations. Our son had more doctors than the state of Kansas and he wasn’t even born yet. And we weren’t sure he ever would be. But you know the rest of the story. Six years ago today, after a long and arduous pregnancy, my beautiful wife gave birth to our son Parker, miracle number two. Then came every miracle after that – sitting up, crawling, feeding himself, walking, talking. The miracles have become too numerous to mention. But we must mention them. People say God only performed miracles in the Old and New Testament. They are wrong. God still performs miracles today. I have one living in my house. He calls me “Daddy.” Maybe the reason we don’t see more miracles is after one tough phone call, we abort the miracle process. And when we do it’s because there’s something wrong with our brain.

Too Funny not to share

If you are at least 30, or older (like most of us), you might think this> is hilarious!>> When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious> diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what> with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill...> Barefoot... BOTH ways… yadda, yadda, yadda...>> And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in> hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how> hard I had it and how easy they've got it!> But now that I'm over the ripe old age of at least thirty, I can't help> but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I> mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to> say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!>> I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to> know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up> ourselves, in the card catalog!!>> There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a> pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in> the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10> cents!>> Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a> matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to> kick our ass! Nowhere was safe!>> There were no MP3's or Napster or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music,> you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!>> Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ> would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no> CD players! We had tape decks in our car.. We'd play our favorite tape> and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone> rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig?>> We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone> and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it!>> There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house,> you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be> out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOD!!! Think of the horror...> not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there's TEXTING. Yeah,> right. Please! You kids have no idea how annoying you are.>> And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had> no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss,> your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't> know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!>> We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with> high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like> 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy was a little square!> You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple> levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever! And you could> never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and> faster until you died! Just like LIFE!>> You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!> You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off> your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!!> Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!>> There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on> Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK> for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-finks!>> And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had> to use the stove! Imagine that!>> And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh,> no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside...> you were doing chores!> And car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung> on. If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the> last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the> dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first> place!>>> See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it> too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five> minutes back in 1980 or any time before!>> Regards,> The Over 30 Crowd> (Send this to someone you'd like to make smile)>

Don't know who wrote it but it is soooooo true!

Taggers

Yes, that lovely art work you see all over the place, adorning train cars, street signs, freeway signs, houses and fences. Driving down Roseville road seeing the train go by or the train cars at the rail yard is a common occurrence. The house across the street from us is empty and constantly vandalized. Even when we were buying our house 2 1/2 years ago the for sale sign was tagged. Why do people tag? Boredom I suppose. One thing that has occurred to me is some of these people that do this are actually talented and should probably figure out how to use that talent in a more productive manner. They could possibly be fine artists. Until they get that message though we will continue to see the handy work pretty much anywhere we drive.

Pan Handlers

They have always been around but as the economy has gotten worse they seem to be around even more. You can't seem to get gas, step out of your car at the store or drive by any corner anymore where there is not someone asking for money. I was approached twice in the last 3 days. I do not give these people money(maybe once or twice I have but no more). You don't know if they are scamming, if they are going to buy drugs and alcohol or what. If I have food on me I will give them food and have driven through the drive thru at Taco Bell and got someone a taco once.

I have a feeling though the numbers of these people are just going to increase. Just yesterday I had a woman approach me with a sign "3 kids no money" she was pushing a child in a stroller. This was at Costco and she was approaching everyone in the parking lot. I can honestly tell you I tell these people " I don't carry cash" and I don't that is the convenience now of ATM/Debit cards.