Therapeutic Blah

Thanksgiving...forget it!

2011-11-27T20:25:00.003-07:00

I think it is already becoming the forgotten holiday. Don't believe me? Go to Walmart or any other retailer during the week of Thanksgiving and what do you see? There are no displays or even merchandise that is out that supports the holiday. Food doesn't count. Food is always there. No, really... go to a retailer, any mega mart, the day before or even the day of any other holiday. Valentine's Day, Independence Day or Halloween. If you go to Walmart then, you will still see flower's and hearts for February 14th, fireworks and red, white and blue items being sold the day of July 4th and Halloween will have costumes and candy for a week following the holiday. This year my wife wanted to have Thanksgiving themed plates, napkins and the like for our meal. Even 2 or 3 days before the holiday she could not find anything that resembled autumn, the harvest time let alone Thanksgiving. So we ate off of Christmas themed paper plates. I was disappointed when I cleared the mashed potatoes off my plate to see a smiling snowman staring at me.

Unfortunately for many, the reason for the holiday has changed. Families still get together and hastily put together the obligatory turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pies. But their fervor and passion are being channeled into the night of Thanksgiving. Taking a page out of the NFL, families get into a huddle around the table to make their plans. Ads are being scrutinized, lists reviewed, prices compared, maps are drawn and strict time schedules created. People put more care, planning and emotion into their shopping itineraries than they do in planning a family vacation.

Thanksgiving used to be important. Now it's only important because it acts as a vehicle for Black Friday. The shopaholic's needs are sated during a 15 hour shopping marathon as they adopt all the pleasantries and politeness of a hockey match. Christmas is all about giving and sharing and all kinds of happiness. However, we tend to start the season off with shoving, pushing and arguing with our fellow man all to make sure we get the Silly Sally doll on sale.

I understand that people like to be able to get together and shop together. I understand that the Thanksgiving holiday allows these moments to come about. My question is does Black Friday have to start on Thanksgiving Thursday? Can't we just leave the fourth Thursday of each November alone? In my opinion, it is time we give proper thanks for the proper things on the proper day. If we could do this, I would be even more grateful.

Snow Job

2010-01-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

One thing is for sure, snow is not my favorite thing in the world. I can take the cold but I am not too fond of the snow. Maybe it's because I don't do anything with it. I don't ski or snowboard and I don't own a snow mobile...all I do with snow is shovel it. Well, there is one other thing, check out the video and see what I love to do in the snow.
Many times as I drive to church, which is just around the corner, I will swerve and weave back and forth. Ridge just loves it. When it is snowy or icy I will power brake around the corners and such. Ridge will tell me to "go crazy" when he is ready for a little wild driving. We got a bit of snow the last couple of days and I thought I would take the kids to Walmart this morning. We got on the I-15 and it was covered in snow, you couldn't see the blacktop at all. I got a big laugh when Ridge said "Go crazy, Dad! Go crazy!"

One Tough Chick

2009-07-23T22:58:00.000-06:00

A few months ago our family was at Shane and JoDee's house. Shane had just bought 3 small chickens. They were older than the cute and fuzzy stage. They were more the scraggly, ugly, looks-like-they're-molting stage. Ridge went crazy for them. He and his cousin played with the three chicks all night, they even put them on the trampoline and jumped with them. Shane was gracious enough to let us take one home with us. We named her Dora.

The day after we took Dora home Ridge played with her. He put Dora on the top of the bunk bed with him and then, without letting Dora know what he was going to do to her, he threw her off the bed. Dora ended bleeding and had a broken leg from the crash landing. I should have told Ridge that Dora was still to young to fly.

We just knew Dora was going to die. We did the humane thing...put her out in our then empty chicken coop with water and a bowl of dog food. We were prepared for her impending death.

Dora lived! They next day we found her kind of rolling around because she had no use of the broken leg. We filled her dishes with more water and dog food. Ridge was so excited when he found out that Dora was still alive! He ran out to the coop, scooped Dora up in his arms and put her down on the lawn to play with her. A silvery-gray blur flashed past and Dora was gone! Lucy, our weimeraner (a german bird dog, go figure), had grabbed Dora in her jaws and began to gnaw on her. Ridge stood there, screaming in terror as our back door neighbor came to Dora's rescue and pried her out of Lucy's mouth.

We just knew Dora was going to die. We did the humane thing...put her back in the empty chicken coop with water and a bowl of dog good. We were again prepared for her impending death.

Dora lived! She continued to live and survived another round of Lucy treating her like a limping, feathery chew toy. Day after day we were amazed that this bird continued to live. Day after day we fed her water and dog food. Day after day she limped a little less, became a little more mobile.

I remember the day when my family was out of town and I was in charge of Dora. I walked out to the coop to give her some fresh water and replenish her dog food when I found an egg! I was so excited. She seemed a little small to be laying but I had the evidence in my hand. When I spoke to Shauna that night, I told her of Dora's first gift. Shauna laughed and informed me that Ridge put that egg out there himself days and days ago. Maybe he was just trying to get her jump started. I don't really know.

The day came when we finally filled up the coop with more chickens. Eight hens and a rooster moved in with Dora. I steeled myself when my friend informed me that there really is a 'pecking order' in the poultry world and that the newcomers would probably pick on the weak and still gimpy Dora.

Dora stayed in her corner, not straying far from her roost. They left her alone. All was well. The chickens were getting along just fine. A short time later, a couple of the new hens began to lay eggs. Dora became more mobile. She would get down from her roost to roam the run area. I don't know if the others were just toying with her? Making her sweat a little? Maybe gray chickens hate white chickens like Dora. Maybe it was a fowl initiation into chicken gang, maybe the rooster was trying to impress the other ladies. I don't know but the day came when one or all of them pecked, scratched & beat the crap out of Dora leaving a big hole in her side.

We just knew Dora wasn't going to die. We did the humane thing...put her in the empty dog area in the garage with water, chicken feed and some cilantro-lime rice from Costa Vida. We were prepared for her impeding recovery.

After coming back from seeing the sixth Harry Potter installment, Shauna asked if I could smell 'that' in the garage. Smell what? I asked. Dora. Her flesh was rotting and there were insects or maggots or something eating and living in the open wound in Dora's side.

We just knew that Dora was going to die. We did the humane thing (thanks again, Smith) and now Dora, Dora, Dora, is no more-a. (Sung to the tune of Dora the Explorer.)

Dora, you were literally one tough bird. Thanks for being part of our family.

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?

2009-07-21T23:04:00.000-06:00

So, tonight I needed a snack. After opening the fridge, freezer & pantry doors at least 5 times each to stare at nothing that looked good, I opted for some Instant Breakfast. I grew up on the stuff.

Anyway, it was a new container, not a box of envelopes but a bulk sized container that you scoop out into your glass. That is where my "Are you freaking kidding me?!" comes into play. I opened the bulk container of Instant Breakfast & stirred the powder around looking for a plastic scoop. There was none. All right, all right, that's forgivable to an extent. I am thinking hmmm, I guess I need to find a measuring cup to portion my snack appropriately. I become dumbfounded when I read the directions & find out I need a 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon for my milk. Are you freaking kidding me?! I need two utensils every stinking morning? Bullcrap!

I know that I worked for Nestle' in the past but I can't believe that they can't put a scoop in their product.

Thanks for letting me vent.

2009-07-10T17:30:00.000-06:00

First and foremost, let it be known that Shauna was home and in charge. The kids were home and messing around. Shauna happened to look outside and saw this:

All we can figure is that Ridge went out to the garage, climbed in the corolla and took it out of gear. The car then just rolled out of the garage, down the driveway, across the street, up over the sidewalk and partially in the field. Thank heavens no one was hit and hurt. Ridge came back into the house telling Shauna "I can't drive it back." What next?!

Laughter in the Rain

2009-06-18T11:13:00.000-06:00

Every now and then I plan on putting a little bit of my past as one of my posts. The first one was a couple of years ago. It was a rainy Sunday in July 2oo7. We sat on the back patio to listen to some music while watching the rain.

The kids got bored and then a little more interactive with the weather. They ended up in the gutters using wheeled toys to splash and romp. Don't ask me how a can of whipped cream ended up on Ridge's head but it did.

Introductions

2009-06-18T10:58:00.000-06:00

Please allow me to introduce myself,
I'm a man with 4 kids and a wife.
I've been around for 38 long years,
So many a thing i'll tell about my life.

Please to meet you,
Hope you blog my name.