I had to laugh at David yesterday morning. He dispatches for 15 trucks. I have no idea how many grain brokers and other guys like that he talks to, but there is a number of them. There is one company he hauls for that he has hauled for exclusively the last 2 years. He doesn’t wait for them to call him. He calls and gets bin measurements, and that tells him how many trucks he needs to send them. He has taken good care of this company, and they know it. Above and beyond. The main guy he talks to — Claudio — called David yesterday morning and gave him heck (in a friendly, laughing manner) for not sending him a hat. (ball cap — with our company name on it). We finally broke down and bought promotional products this Christmas, and all of our drivers got hats. Claudio was “offended” because our drivers got one, but he didn’t. David had intended to give him one anyway, but he for sure will. Just has to decide which driver to send it down with.

Since Ethan has decided that he is not going to college next year, he is considering his other options, and has contemplated a sales career. He has proven himself as a “people person” at the grocery store that he works at. Most people complain about the high school kids that work up there, but I have never heard anything bad said about Ethan. People have told me that they will wait in line just to have him check them out. In a small town like this, if he was being rude or not being courtesy to the cusomter, we would have heard about it. He has alot of options to consider, he has his whole life ahead of him. I’m sure he will struggle at first. We watched all of our kids struggle. But they finally got it figured out and all of them are doing OK. I’m sure Ethan will too.

We probably should have done this differently. And yet, buying the LCD TV for David for our annivesary, wasn’t a “whim” purchase. It was bought with gift giving in mind, so I suppose it doesn’t matter if it was for our anniversary, or for Christmas or for a birthday. We got through Christmas OK, but I was totally at a loss of what to get David for his birthday, which was yesterday. Two days AFTER Christmas. We finally decided on some overalls (he wear bib overalls all the time, except for church and special occasions) — a new watch, a new wallet, and some shotgun shells for the new gun he bought last week. Not very exciting gifts, like a new TV, but things that he needed, and will use. What do you buy a guy who has everything, and anything he wants, he usually goes and buys himself? I need to get more creative and get his figured out. Course, next year … might be a little bit easier. I know I am “throwing him a party” of some kind. He turns 50. It will definately not be a day that goes unnoticed.

“To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go”

Just 2 more days. Christmas. Its hard to believe its here already. We have kept it fairly simple this year. There are a couple of things that I would have loved to have gotten David, but it would have required fast cash payday loans and my paydays these next couple of weeks are going to be on the light side. I don’t get holiday pay, so with Christmas and New Years Day, there are missed days. And I’ve pretty much decided not to work Friday either … so, 4 missed days in two weeks, will hurt just a bit. Nothing drastic, esp. if I leave things the way they are, and not go overboard with gift giving for David.

Every year, our town merchants participate in a “contest” called “Christmas On Us”. When you buy things at their place of business, you get tickets, which are put in a huge hopper. Then on the designated day and time, everyone in town who has been collecting the tickets, gathers together, and the merchants draw out the lucky tickets. There are 2 $1000 winners, and 5 $250 winners. You don’t win real money, but rather “Burlington Bucks” — i.e. … if you win, you spend that money at the particapating merchants. We gave our tickets to our son because most of our tickets came from the grocery store — which is where Ethan works, and so, if we had won, we would have been disqualified. This is a good way to circulate money within the county, and gives a few lucky people some extra money. Families that might have had to gotten cash loans to have had Christmas. The only down side to it is that its a “December” event — and it is ALWAYS very very cold, and its an outside event. Downtown. They give away hot chocolate and hotdogs, but still, most of the time, I have always found it too cold for me, and after Ethan started working at the grocery store, I lost interest in going.

When we are talking about teeth and dental work, most people are suprised that David doesn’t have bottom teeth. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t have any teeth at all. Over the course of a few years, he had them all pulled, and now has both top and bottom false teeth. His top plate fits fine, but the bottom one never did, and he very often would take them out and put them in his overall pocket. That is, until he was helping a friend move furniture one day, and he had the couch close to his chest, and pop, he cracked/broke his bottom plate which was in his pocket. $500 gone, just like that. Maybe he should consider Washington DC dental implants. It might have been cheaper. But, instead, he chose not to get them fixed, and he just wears the top plate. But, with his mustache, and the fact that he doesn’t smile very often, you really can’t tell that he doesn’t have a full set of teeth in his mouth. As a matter of fact, it was quite the opposite. When he wore both plates — top and bottom, you knew something was … “different”. He talked differently, and with difficulty sometimes. He is comfortable with how he talks and how he looks without that bottom plate, and that is all that matters, right?

David works in a unusual situation. He’s not self employed, he dispatches for a guy he went to school with, and the owns 15 or so trucks. Its up to David to keep all those guys rolling down the road. The maintenance and such on the trucks is somewhat of a gray area. We do take them to the shop quite a bit. But there are tires to be changed, and stuff like that. David doesn’t HAVE to work weekends, but does seem to work quite a few of them. But, most of the time, if he has something going on, he can work around it and do what he needs to do. He doesn’t have to ask for permission, he doesn’t have to schedule it. He pretty much can do what he wants, when he wants. But, by the same token, that sense of committment and work ethic, makes him work a whole lot more than is expected of him, and more than what anyone should work in a work week. But, thats how he was raised, his dad is the same way, so its the only way of life he knows.

We did get get to play yesterday, we took a road trip, ended up buying a vehicle (we have been actively looking, so this wasn’t a total impulse buy), visited his daughter, and did some Walmart shopping. In other words, he took the day off. First Saturday he hasn’t worked for quite awhile. Its mid afternoon Sunday now, and he attended church, ate dinner, and is now playing chess on the computer. He really does need to do more “down time” like this. It was a highly stressful week (due to a war of words with one of his drivers), so being on his own time this weekend is a good thing. But, he said he is going to leave in just a little bit. He needs to go out to the office to check the paperwork so its ready for me to do the billing tomorrow. He also wants to go check the led light bulbs on one of the trailers. The driver mentioned that there were a couple of them burnt out, and he didn’t have time to change them out, and wondered if David would. What choice does he have? You don’t want to send the trailer to the shop for something simple like that? And the bottom line is, thats what David gets paid for. And what he does, does have its perks from time to time. So, if checking lights is part of the job description sometimes, then I guess it has to be.

I’m thinking ahead to this May, or at least this summer. When I look around and see what all is Ethan’s, I’m thinking we are going to need several moving trucks to move Ethan to where he will be living. Granted, I think we need to go through all of his stuff, and that he not move what he won’t use there. But, nonetheless, by the time we decide what is his, what is ours, I have a feeling quite a bit of our furniture will be going as well. Actually, though that might not be a bad thing. Declutter, less furniture, would make a huge difference around here. And, the messier areas around here seem to be where Ethan has been (image that), so maybe, just maybe, the house will stay more picked up once he is gone. Not that we are pushing him out the door or anything ….

We are looking for another car. Yes, the questioned has been asked “why”. Our Ford Explorer still runs good, and has not given us any problems. But. I am ready to change vehicles. And our daughter wants to buy our Explorer, so we are pretty much set to go. Its just a matter of finding the best buy out there. We drove a station wagon that I really liked, so that gave us a direction to look in to what we might want. We didn’t buy the one we drove because it had more miles on it than we were comfortable with. But, we’ll keep looking, and we will find just that “right” vehicle, and I will fall in love with it, and that with be that.

I do really good through the week, but the weekends tend to do do me in. Maybe if I could find the best diet pill the market has to offer and just take it on the weekends, it would help curb those cravings I have over the weekend. If I did a little more research, maybe I could find one that would be compatible with my A-fib condition. But I am a little hesitant to mix any thing that isn’t prescribed by my doctor with the blood thinner and heart pills I take. I don’t know what mixes well and what doesn’t. And every time I talk to any of them, from my primary doctor to my cardiologist, they suggest more drastic measures like weight loss surgery rather than any kind of pill. I’m still considering all my options, and not moving forward in any direction. Taking some kind of pill would be so much easier!

Brrrr. It is cold today. But its mid-November, so I know it is to be expected. This is the time of year that I truly do not like. I don’t like the ice and snow that present dangers at every corner. Cold and me are not good friends, and you will often find me, covered with blankets and a hot cup of tea or cocoa always at hand. This is the time of year that the mind often takes Disney vacations to get away. To where its warm, and people are enjoying the fun and sun, as well as time away from the pressures of their jobs and every day life. A time with family and good time. The mind is a wonderful place, when you close your eyes and go anywhere. Which is good, when its snowing and blowing outside and you want to be somewhere else. I have many “Calgon, take me away” moments during the winter months.

We were invited to our granddaugher’s birthday party last Saturday (she just turned 13) — and I was wanting to get Ethan some shirts for his senior picture shots. We have one “department” type store here in town, so if we want any kind of selection, we are forced to travel out of town or order on line. Going to Topeka for the birthday part was a good excuse to also go shopping. I was wanting to buy some shoes as well, but something tells me that WallyWorld doesn’t carry
Manolo Blahniks or any other kind of name brand shoes like that. I had to resort to whatever brand they carry — it was after 8:00 pm that we were able to do any shopping of any kind. We did get what we wanted though, and was home at a respectable time. I just wish we didn’t have to travel 100 miles to buy anything more complicated than milk and bread. But, thats the breaks of living in a rural midwest town, and by doing so, we do have other things that do work in our favor living in a small town, and I woudln’t trade those things for anything. So, I need to look at traveling out of town to shop as an adventure and enjoy being able to do so.

There is an old saying, but my guys don’t care, and say it often … “If Mama ain’t happy, no one is happy”. Even though PMS is behind me, and they aren’t trying to find ways to slip me more progesterone , i do have to admit that I am usually pretty easy going, and I am not moody too often. But when I am… watch out. Its like I have let it build for so long and then … KABOOM. Not a good deal. I don’t get physical or anything, but I do get irrational, and just convinced without a shadow of a doubt that I AM right, and nothing you say is going to convince me otherwise. Of course, when I calm down, and look at whatever set me off rationally, I see that maybe, just maybe, I might have been wrong, and that I just let hormones or whatever else take over. Aren’t we glad this doesn’t happen often? I know my guys are.

At church, we have a program called “Sisters In Christ” — and every 6 months, we are paired up with another sister. My “sister” this time around loves to scrapbook, and I would love to get with her sometime, and just have a scrapbooking day. I have a ton of pictures that need to be added to the albums. The one on the top of my list is the one of Ethan and the Barbershop Chorus he was in. They perform for the public in a major show once a year. (They do lots of church appearances and stuff like that throughout the year, but this once-a-year show is a big deal). They were tuxedos and everything. Needless to say, they are a fine looking group of men, all decked out. And their singing isn’t half bad either [grin]. I have the right paper and stickers and decorations to do their page … I just need to find the time to sit down and get it done.