life changes

here I go again...life is about to change, yet again.
embarking on a trip with good friends at the ripe old age of 43 as my wife tells me...your the old guy...she's right. I am the oldest of the group. So here is the old guy telling you this; life changes as much or as little as you want it to. I want it to change, grow and prosper.
My flight leaves at 6:00AM...i have lived for this type of adventure and yearn for it.
get out and often. couch it no more. see, feel, taste, touch and smell the adventure.
what will i experience, what will i feel.

enjoy the day wherever you are.
live today for today...not tomorrow; for today.
what tomorrow brings...if it should be brought...ahhh then you have another fantastic opportunity.
see you in a week.

Thanks Fred

as mentioned....been a bit stressed , going away and all. lots to do...figure out etc and then the mail came.

In it was a picture of the Grand Tetons and a note from one of my campanions, Bill;

SOON

And God said, "This is very, very good." Come & see My wonders, My creation, see My kindness and my strength. This is for you to enjoy and to see that I care so much for you. See that I am so in control. See that you are part of My creation, but you are my very best!

breathe deep...God loves you...my worries are His.

gone in 60 seconds

looks like i will be out-of-town for the next 7 days...enjoy yourselves.
i will have ZERO internet acccess in the wilds of the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, i'll be lucky if the cell works.

been a bit stressed....gotta get rest and PACK

eyes open

and the last sentence in the liner notes is....
Mums and Dads of the world be patient with your children.

Question of the Morning

And now for today's early morning question...

Name your all-time favorite flavor of Water Ice.

It Happened

Amazing was right, it didn't happen exactly the way he said, but it was close.

I have not played the guitar for about 8 days and I have picked my guitar up a few times in the last week, but I haven't played for a stretch. I have been itching to play...it feels great when I play and I enjoy learning the craft.

So I got up extra early @ 5:50AM to prepare for a day in NYC at the National Stationary Show, more greeting cards then you would ever want to see. More Blackberries and Treos then you would ever want to see...we do lead a busy life, don't we?

I came home to an empty house. I watered my garden. My favorite daughter came home snuck up behind me whilst I was watering the garden and freaked me out. I ate an apple. I checked and responded to my emails. I looked at the mail. I got changed and I picked up my guitar...it needed tuning and during the tuning process a string broke. I replaced the string and being fully in tune began to play. My daughter was in her room and she was also doing some wash so she would go by me from time to time. As is customary, she ignored my playing. In my daughter's presence, for some strange reason, I play best. I unabashedly play and sing for no fear of criticism. My wife, the beautiful one doesn't critique my playing nor does anyone really, but when my favorite daughter is "in the house" while I play...I play confidently.

I played some Springsteen and another song or two as I leafed thru my song listings and then I came to Heroes. I love to sing this song while I play and I really get into the singing portion of it. I also have the chords down fairly well and when I was just over 1/2 way thru the song my favorites daughter's boyfriend, "Bad News Johnny" walked in....BTW---He isn't really "bad news" we just call him that. I continued to play acknowledging Johnny visually and him me. I could tell he was enjoying the song and the next thing you know...he sat down and listened to me complete the song and was tapping his foot. Thank God for small miracles.

mondays and tuesdays and wednesdays et al

so begins another week as another weekend comes to an end.
what a life we lead.
lets see....friday and saturday----race day in the pine barrens
Sat nite @ Moes!! HOT---HOT---HOT

Sunday----worship God and jump out of my box with a bit of a prayer request---Aub's and Dawn were in town...really, really sweet having them here.

Mon AM drop off two cars at the repair shop....can't wait for that to complete :(

Forgot to add that I stopped at an awesome garden ctr on Sat....got some really cool plants at good prices.

Life is good.

Visitor from corporate today and a trip to NYC tomorrow.
All the while....may Christ shine out from me during all this.

True intentions
What matters
none of this save leading others to know and live for Him who gives life.

I hope and pray that my example reflects that.

in closing----the sky is awesome the temps are sweet and i feel that sometimes I really need to do a reality check.

testing 1 2 4

test___

life is NOT a test of the Emergency Broadcast System so don't be idle...be proactive

enjoy-
love one another
be kind

E. Vedder once said: There are no rights and wrongs only good and bad

Be good.....K?

Love ya!


tater

yesterday

alll I can say is....I am glad yesterday is over....
phew....unreal day.
Situation after mind numbing situation

retail....it's what I do
hire---fire---discipline---

LEAD and INSPIRE

time to go do it again!

TWO PARTIES UNITED

The Repubs and the Dems woking together to form a united union that does not stand against them. I have been a registered voter and registered for the draft since February 9th, 1981, my 18th birthday. I took great pride in voting in my first presidental election as much then as I do now. I was a registered Independent. Not of the Independent Party mind you, just an average john doe that did not align with any major party, namely the Republicans and the Democrats for reasons of which I will spare you.

In the cleaning out of my old mail I came across the formal letter from my county, there has been a change in the law. Law, P.L. 2005, C. 153; the category of "Independent" voter has been eliminated and since I am a voter who chooses not to affliate with a political party or group I will now be considered an "Unaffiliated" voter.

YOU KNOW WHAT? I like being unaffiliated and I like it a lot.

Hey lawmakers!!! Can you hear me???? I want more then two "viable" choices!! OK?!
Spread the love or in this case the money to other parties so I can pick an unaffiliated person.

Sorry folks....I just want to create a Disney everywhere till I get to heaven.

'nite- tate

QOTD

Today's question is brought to you by "coffee, the drink of choice"


and now here's the question of the day....

your favorite nite time talk show host is ____________ ?

oldies on the radio

Why is it that the oldies on the radio....ya know the local oldies station no longer plays oldies! Now they play the tunes I grew up with....now called oldies. What gives?

I guess I am getting older.

DUDE!!!!

like the mail just came and I love getting the mail.....something about "the unknown" and lo and behold a small manilla envelope, possibly a disc....now I ebay quite a bit and my memory did not recall me waiting on anything but what the hey....Hand-written, to me from the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver....hmmmmm.......not even sealed....hmmmm....yes, a disc....

DeVotchKa!!!

Their newest disc.....yowza!. Hold onto your horses folks!!

New devotchka!!! STRIKE UP THE BAND----
gotta listen----later

BTW----It was totally--totally FREE

peace out

LIKE OK--DeVotchKa is also playing the Northstar on 6/22.
now I just need an enthusastic partner to attend :(

the disc sounds good...much slower then previous stuff...more subtle, ballad-esque. have not fully LISTENED yet.

vegetate

for the last two days I have been taking a respite....today will be the final day of the respite and tomorrow the rains come....4-5 solid days of rain.I have spent the better part of the last 48 hours working in Shangri-La, that's right friend---PARADISE. I listened to a lot of ipod music and essentially did nothing but plants plants and move rocks around----pure bliss. Shangri-La is looking real good, in-my humble opinion. So I have been vegetating...seriously vegetating. Its been great! So great that I wish I could get a FT job vegetating!
I am going to go get ready to go out now....I s/b picking up some more granite slabs from the old LB pavillion. I may be posting my "handcuff" story now that it is in the past and I can laugh about it (trust me I laughed within 10 minutes of being uncuffed).

and as a final thought here is today's question....it might not be what it appears to be so be careful reader....

Are all dogs black?

the coveted trip

Every year my friend and fellow hot pepper aficiando Bret and I head out to Cross Country Nursery north of Trenton NJ and buy exotic hot pepper plants. This grower bills herself as having the world's largest selection of chile plants....I think she has over 400 varieties. Its about an hours drive and when we are done our selection process we head down to New Hope PA and have Mexican food at the local Mexican eatery. Today's trip was, as always, exceptional. Bret and I usually refuel our minds on this trip and discuss church, families and life in general. I think Bret bought 12 types and I got about 14 of which I have given some to Darrin, Vince from Moe's and Rebecca at my daily coffee shop. This year I purchased six ornamental varities and will be putting them in my rock garden....I have already planted all but four of these plants as well as my annual basil supply.

When I was gardening I remembered why I garden or where I got my start. It was my Aunt Mim. She was actually my great aunt and she was a very influential person in my life and well as my siblings, my niece Emily is named after her. Aunt Mimi was an incredible person and my fondest memories of her were when we would pick a green bell pepper from the garden and she would encourage me to take a bite, which I would....it tasted like summer. I miss her and I miss talking with her. She was serious family to me. I wish that I could tell her that, that I miss her and love her. She often called me Mary with my long hair in the mid 70's. She walked a lot and drank a lot of water. She never married, I never knew her to drive. She made living working for a cigar factory. She was born in 1908 a time that today seems long ago. I time when cars were not something everybody had. A time of no computers and no TVs.

Today we watch the world progress and we don't even realize the progress. I still remember the first time I saw a color TV...it was Fred Flintstone and I never knew Dino was purple or that Fred's "dress" (?) was orange. It freaked me out. I remember when man walked on the moon....it was a big deal.

Well the family has returned from Moe's, I skipped; I was still full from lunch.
Remember to tell your loved ones that you love them. Life is short.

Don't Give Up...

Words of wisdom from a great christian sister....don't give up on them....be it your children, co-workers, parents, freinds...whomever it is....believe in them. Encourage them.

When you stand with someone the confidence and encouragement that someone gets just from the knowledge of knowing that you stand with them is second to none.

There are times when we want to give up on people.
There are times when all seems hopeless.
Sometimes people even give up on themselves.

Don't you ever give up.
EVER.

drumroll please..........

and now for the highly sought after QOTD!!!!

ketchup or not w/the fries?

Todays blog is brought to you in part by "Friends of the French Fry", because the potato is your friend

and now these three remain...

faith, hope and love.
The greatest of these is love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Word, I'm out!