Tree Time 2007

Yesterday I got the tree out for the girls and they worked on getting the arms out.

Was suppose to put the lights on tonight but I just did not have the energy.

New Paint Job!

Gwen taped the living room and dining room yesterday. This morning Abbie, Sandie(?), and Gwen painted the two rooms.

Here is the living room.





Here is the dining room. This covered up one of our daughter's infamous whirling of a used tea bag that spatted the wall in this room.

Looks great doesn't it? :)

What A Teddy Bear!

Found this teddy at the Angelo Mall. See the girls to the left of the teddy? :)

Review: A Series Of Unfortunate Events (A Bad Beginning)

Emily brought home "A Series of Unfortunate Events: A Bad Beginning" as one of her library books for the week. She wanted me to read it and let her know if she should read it or not. I told her to start reading it and if she was not comfortable reading it then she could stop. But she did not like that idea. So I read it.

Though I have only read the first one this is very much like a "serial" installment for a pulp magazine.

The story is about the three Baudelaire children who one day had their world came crashing down around them and they go from one unfortunate event to the next. The story does not have a lot of unnecessary and uncalled for language like the Spiderwick series. But it is a tad scary due to Count Olaf a distant-distant cousin adopting them and then basically threating to hurt or kill the children so he can get his hands on their inheritance. It appears that the threat of Count Olaf hangs over the whole series.

The narrator tells the reader often that this book does not have a happy beginning let alone a happy ending. And that if you want a happy story or ending that you should put the book down now (at a happy-ish spot) and pretend they live happily ever after. :) So you are warned sufficiently enough.

Of course the children, who are basically honest and good, have to resort to lies and lies of omission to counter Count Olaf at times. But in this first book they basically are honest and up front with Olaf much to their regret.

Only one part caused me to pause. There is henchman for Olaf who finds the oldest (12 years) daughter to be pretty and sorta leaves things with innuendo. And Olaf strangely sorta does something similar. He is an evil man.

So far it appears the book is cleared for Emily to read if she wants to but with the scary parts who knows.

The story is engaging and appears to be a good read for Emily though we will take each one book at a time.

Los Alamos Snow!

From The Bomb Town Observer. They estimate six inches for the first snow of the start of the winter season. Luckily we are in Texas. But I hear it is coming our way. All around us but not in Angelo yet.
Glad I got the yard done last weekend! :)

Thanksgiving Pictures

The family is not real big anymore so with the five of us (two are kids) then we do not need alot of food. Texas Grandma had Thanksgiving lunch called in from Luby's. It was very good. Turkey, Ham, green beans, mashtaters, stuffing, gravy, carrot cole slaw, and cranberries. Emily was excited because it turns out she loves turkey. Surprise surprise. Sugars from Mom ain't bad either ALittleBit says. ;)



Driving around Angelo I found this eating place which TK says has been here for a good bit. I found their sign a bit bold. :)








Cotton flower in the cotton field next to the cemetery.
Pretty flower.

Weather Machine!

I gather it might'a snowed in Los Alamos area yesterday. And that today and Saturday it will snow more in New Mexico. But hopefully it will clear up enough for us to come home on Sunday though. :)



Have a look at the Weather Machine that LANL runs:

The Weather Machine (LANL)

Movie: Flywheel!

Flywheel is made by the same folks who made Facing The Giants. It is their first film and is pretty good for a first effort. Gwen, Emily, and myself really enjoyed it. We rented it but are going to buy tomorrow if that is not a good endorsement then I do not know what one would look like at all. :)

The Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia braved making Flywheel and Facing The Giants with digital video maybe even pioneering its use. I would say they made two quality movies this way on a small budget and a non-professional troupe of actors. In Flywheel I could tell it was done in a way that looked like video at times but in Facing The Giants I really thought I was at the movie theater.

In the August 2008 they will release their latest movie, Fireproof, which has a big name actor -- well at least a recognized actor -- in Kirk Cameron of Growing Pains and the Left Behind movie series. We can't wait to see it. Fireproof Blog

Thanksgiving Football

Green Bay win! Well it took them a bit to get going. Note the size of the TV vs the VCR sitting on it. :) Football!



Boys win! I had a video for them too but it would not finish processing. Oh well.

I gathered it snowed in the surrounding counties today. Interesting.

I have some pictures of the feast but they are too large and I do not have any software on this computer to edit them. More later.

"Mr. Whipple" passes on

An icon of American TV culture in from the 60-80's passes on. Time passes on too. A piece of my childhood passes on too.

"Mr. Whipple"

"Please don't squeeze the Charmin."

For Cat Lovers ... Well Cat Owners At Least.

Received this in by email. Do not know who to credit for the video. But had to share it with cat owners who read my little blog. If anyone can come up with a reference for whom to credit then please let me know.

This is CandyCane for sure. LOL :)

Emmy's New Video Camera

Here hopefully is a video of Emily's new little digital video camera. She saved money and sold wrapper paper for her school to save up to buy this little guy. You should be seeing some new videos on here soon. :)

The Spiderwick Chronicles

In Feb 2008 the release of the Spiderwick Chronicles Movie comes out. We saw the preview trailer for this at the movie theater a few weeks ago. Yes the books are scary but it looks like the movie will be even scarier. Which is usually the case with scary books to movie translations.

I wrote a "review" of my readings back in September of 2006. See Dr. Bubba's Review: Spiderwick Chronicles.

The movie appears it will be rated PG. I doubt Emily will want to watch it and I am not sure I want her to watch it. The books in my opinion are definitely PG-like appropriate for 2nd or 3rd graders with all the language and poor behavior in it. I will most likely watch it to see what it is like and post a review here.

I noticed on the book shelves at our local book shop there is another series started by the same authors that looks related or similar to Spiderwick.

Interestingly enough there will be a video game: Spiderwick Chronicles Video Game which I will almost never play so no review will be forth coming.

I "Miss" ....

11 April 2007 : For my girls.

I "Miss" ....

I miss your hugs.
I miss your excitement to see me after a long day at work.
I miss how you get out of the car and run to me for hugs.
I miss you watching me out the window.
I miss your waving until I drive around the corner.
I miss holding your hand when we walk.
I miss holding your hand when I put you to sleep.
I miss singing to you.
I miss going to Texas with you.
I miss wading the Llano river with you.
I miss your big kind heart.
I miss you this much!
I miss you lots.

Now replace "miss" with "love". :)

I love you, Dad.

Rescue

Rescue is Emily's fish.
They rescued him from near death.

Belated Happy Birthday From My Girls

Just got it downloaded after a week or so.

You have to tilt you head 90 degrees to the left.

To-Do List Blog - Interesting

This blog was advertised on the dashboard when one logs into Blogger.com. I watched one of the videos and it is interesting what folks come up with that turns out to be fun and interesting. Have a look:

To-Do List Blog

Which Way Did He Go?

I never saw the cow that licked me. :)

The All-Black Haka

Seeing the haka has always made me wish I could have been an All-Black.
Though I do not think I could withstand rugby now, I think when I was young that rugby would have been a natural draw for me.

Forty-Four Years

In the grand scheme of things that does not seem like a long time. Somehow I like the sound of that number. It rolls off the tongue in a pleasant and natural way. Of course it is an easy number to factor .... of course into prime numbers. Eleven and two (twice).

On days like this I often ponder where I am in life and compare where others who are close to me were at when they were forty-four. Most of the time naturally I compare to the men in my family since I am usually wondering how I am doing as on this man/dad trip.

When Granddad (my dad's dad) was forty-four years old Dad graduated from high school and had gone to Kilgore to try a year of Junior College football on scholarship. I gather that did not last too long due to homesickness as the story was told to me. Back in the mid 50's Kilgore was a long way from home. Granddad owned and ran an Humble gas station and had two kids left at home with the youngest being about twelve and not going to be grown until about the time I showed up on the scene in the early 60's.

Dad turned forty-four in the early 80's and I turned twenty that same year and was in college at ASU. Dad worked at GTE as a computer programmer and I worked that year in a cabinet shop and went to UK/Europe on a summer trip with a group from my former high school. Sadly within the month after my 20th BD Granddad died at seventy years old. In a few more years I would finish ASU with an applied physics degree. Talk about a surprise even to myself.

So where am I at now at forty-four in comparison. Well I started my family a good bit later so my girls will not be ready for college until 8 and 15 years from now. I find it hard to imagine life at forty-four where my girls were grown and off to school. I just shake my head. When I was twenty I never imagined that my Dad would get sick and pass on before I ever reached the age of forty-four. I do miss him sorely.

The Lord has blessed me with a great wife who is so wonderful with our girls. The girls are so precious in my eyes that I could not have asked for more. I really appreciate the gifts I have been given. The fact that my mom and sister are still here for me and that I can be here for them. That my kids get to see and be with three of the four of their grandparents. I value seeing and being with Gwen's parents often. I love my extended family and miss them often.

So things are good and "alright" at forty-four. Who could ask for anything more.