All-Blacks Win!!! 13-9 over Oz

Well we made it to Colorado safely. It was a nice trip driving up thru the middle of Colorado instead of up I-25.

I will head home Monday morning. The girls will most likely stay for the week.

More later.

New Playland

Gwen set this little playland up on the back porch for ALittleBit. Emily enjoys it too. They both have been out there playing most of the day. It makes for a good place for them to get outside when it is raining.



We head to Colorado for this weekend.

All-Blacks Win!!! No.2

The All-Blacks beat the South Africans 35-17 in Wellington.

Two down four to go in the Tri-Nations.Tri-Nation Standings





We are having an interesting summer here. If the sun is out then it is hot but we get some relief from the daily rain storms coming over and it cools down a good bit.

The Schmidt's and Nate were over for dinner last night. We enjoyed the evening and even had a nice rain just at dark. We cooked some Swan's steaks and some of that Snook sausage. Lisa made an awesome salad for us. Of course the Nolen's were on our minds and several of their present UK experiences were part of the discussion. Nate had to leave early for the Jemez...said something about having to meet a girl about a horse. :)

Well just sitting here enjoying the last time-trial of the Tour de France. It should be exciting since Floyd Landis is in third place overall, 30 seconds back, after an incredible mountain stage where he made up an incredible seven minutes to win the stage going away and get back in the hunt for the GC and the yellow jersey. He has been a better time-trialer than the two riders in front of him. Now it will be interesting to see if he can make up the 30secs to have the yellow jersey going into Paris and win the Tour. Only the third American to win if he can pull it off. LeMond and Armstrong are the other two Americans. Floyd starts the stage at 8:09am..in about 13 minutes. :)

UPDATE: Floyd did it! He came in third in the stage but out did both leaders by enough time to take the overall lead in the GC and will be in yellow tomorrow. Now they ride into Paris and it is done. :)

No More Rat Poison!

At least for awhile...God willing and the creek don't rise.

Took my last pill of Warfarin (aka Coumdin) last night. It has been six months and now I have to be careful and hope my body does not clot my legs any more. Legs have been hurting more than normal since I took the trip to Texas. They may never be the same again. Amazingly I ran out of medicine exactly the day I need to stop which is interesting since I have been using an odd combination of dosage and it was not planned to last 6 months.


On other notes...one of Elizabeth's favorite phrase is "NoTankU". Which is very polite but she loves using it even if it does not apply to her directly. I say, "I think I am going to get up and get a drink from the kitchen"....ALB says, "NoTankU". And then she does not want you to get up and leave her. Or say, "We are going McDs for lunch"...ALB says, "NoTankU". "Elizabeth, put that down please."....ALB says, "NoTankU". It goes on and on. If she does not want something anymore then she will hand it to you and say
"NoTankU".

Trip Home From Texas

The trip went well. Just a long drive as always.

One funny but sad sweet thing happened. We were going thru clovis (running late Mrs. Nolen so we did not stop) and
needed to pull into the DQ for some promised ice cream for Emily. As we pull in there is this good sized playground right in front of us. Elizabeth started yelling in her little voice, "Oh Tank U, Tank U, Tank U!" We had to sadly tell her we were not going to stop at the playground. :( Broke our heart to hear her enthusiasum for the playground. We had already stopped a couple of times and could not afford to stop again. She can be so sweet and lovable it melts our hearts.


Oh!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY APRIL!

A Texas Word: Barditch

I have heard alot of speculation to why Texans use the word barditch for the ditch on the side of the road. Like they BARrow the dirt from the side of the road to build up the road leaving a ditch.

I have found that in England long ago there was a ditch around the town of Boston which was called a barditch.

Boston Barditch

"1200 There are the first references to the Barditch, the boundary around the east side of Boston. Consisting of a ditch and internal bank, the earthwork was probably constructed some time during the twelfth century. The ditch presumably surrounded the twelfth century settlement although during the thirteenth century and later, property was held outside the Barditch, indicative of urban expansion. It is not clear whether the ditch had any defensive purpose but it is more likely that the bridge across the Barditch would have provided a suitable collection point for tolls from those visiting the fairs or markets. The length of the ditch was used as an open sewer and rubbish tip. It may not have been until the 16th century that the ditch was made to ebb and flow with the tide in order to keep it comparatively clean and it was the responsibility of the frontages along the Barditch to scour away the filth."

Another Boston Barditch Reference

A Bitterweed To Swallow - Tickle The Tongue

Bitterweed washes used to be pretty common sight when I was a kid in sheep country. Trucks going into this pasture or ranch had to be washed down to keep from transporting the weed/seeds into the pastures.



Sometimes these postings were accompanied with extra tall fences to keep other animals like deer from moving it into pastures.
Those tall fences are now associated more with the deer management industry and trophy deer/wild game hunting but there were times when they were setup to help with bitterweed transport.



Tickle Tongue was/is pretty common around the Sonora, TX area. Dad would always grab a leaf and start chewing on it for fun. Then handed me one so I could enjoy the tingling and numbing effect with him. :) It did not taste bad nor good just different.
For some reason there always seemed to be a wild persimmon bush nearby which was a weak spot for Dad. ;)







This did not even include Locoweed. I do not remember what locoweed looks like or even what color it is....white maybe purple. And no we did not taste it. ;)

Midnight Swim In The Cement Pond

We got in a little late to Angelo but that did not stop Emily from wanting to breakin the new "cement pond." Luckily no bats were thristy last night or Emily might have jumped out of the pool.







Elizabeth, like Emily at the same age, loves looking for trains. Luckily there are plenty to see on the way to Texas.










Elizabeth enjoyed this little red rocker at the Nolen's. Thanks for the hospitality Mrs. Nolen!

Crazy Like A Fox!

Yesterday, around 3pm, while pulling into Sudan, Texas I saw something flash across the road about 100yds in front of me. I could not see good cause the contacts I was wearing are an old pair. It just looked like a small dog flying across the road from my side to the other. I did not give it too much mind since I was so far off. But then I noticed it did not keep going on into the barditch but it turned and started running on the shoulder with the flow of the on coming traffic. And it was not slowing down a bit. No biggy it is on the other side of the road.

I started to say to Gwen, "what the heck is that dog doing" when it turned and started quartering toward my truck like it was going to play chicken with me from the oncoming traffic side. And it still had not slowed down. I start to slow down which I had to anyway pulling into a town. Then when it was about 20 yards from me it decides to turn across in front of me and head back into the my barditch. All this happened in just a matter of a couple of seconds. When it turns to cross in front of me I realized it is a red fox and I was hitting the brakes to really slow down now. I just did not know where it was going next but it hit the barditch and hightailed it into a overgrown parking lot and kept going. If it had cut it any closer I would have hit it.

It was one of the weirdest things I have seen before. It was broad daylight and a train was running parallel to us about 75yds across the road. There was lots of traffic and activity. It almost looked like the fox was running in a circle like my dog does in the back yard. Just had so much energy it did not know what to do but run and run in a circle. :) It may have been scared from the train blowing it horn or something....rabies maybe. Just weird.

It happened so fast that even if I could have seen better I am not sure I would have realized what was going on til crossed in front of me that last time.

It got my heart pumping that is for sure. It was a pretty fox too.

On another note we had a very nice visit with Mrs. Nolen when we came thru Clovis.

DB

Overdue pictures and more.

Here is the waterslide at the Water Park in Alamosa. Gwen went down it almost as much as she does roller coasters rides. Alot. :)











Talk about "A Little Bit" of camper. Took this shot outside the hotel in Alamosa. I had never seen one this small before. It did not appear to be able to extend up or anything. I think you just crawl in and sleep.









Here are some fireworks just for the Nolen's who missed the Fourth of July celebration this year.







Finally here is the infamous swing set. It finally is in the ground and has had several kids playing on it after less than of a week of opening. :)







Looks like the pool in Tejas is going to be ready for Emily by the time we get there. ;) Heading out tomorrow (Tuesday).

All-Blacks Win!!!!!

Tri-Nation Test:
New Zealand 32 - 12 Australia

Thanks to the cat unfortuntely trying to throwup at 2:30am I was fortunte enough to pick up the Test just past half-time and stayed with it til full-time over the internet. :)

It's Almost Ready

Emily is ready to get to Texas. She just hopes that the pool guys get the job done before she has to leave Texas. :)







Saturday morning at 1:35am MST the All-Blacks play the Wallabies in the Tri-nation opener. That is 8:35am BST Saturday morning....maybe it will be on TV in England. Too bad the Nolen's do not have a TV yet...Steve would be set. ;) Somehow I still don't think so though.

Fourth of July Weekend

Well, we thought of going up to Colorado to spend the Fourth with Bob and Gale but decided against since we plan to go to Texas next week and then to Colorado at the end of the month for Bob's 75th Birthday.

Instead we did an overnighter to Alamosa, Colorado to stay at the Rio Grande Inn which has a water park inside. Nothing more than a pool with a giant slide along with an interesting kiddy pool. Did not seem like much but Emily really enjoyed it. The pool never gets deeper than 4 foot..so no diving. The Grahams met us up there and they went to the Great Sand Dunes National Park too. We enjoyed swimming and dinner with them Saturday night.

Luckily we came back just after noon on Sunday to Los Alamos since I got sick to my stomach which is still pounding me this Monday morning. Since all I could do was lay on the bed and wait til I had to get up and go to the bathroom most of yesterday then I decided to put some overhead slides together about MC++ to use as a training tool for the new folks on our team. Sixteen slides so far. I did not know I had that much knowledge of this code in my head at all. ;)

The past week or so has been a good bit cooler since a cooler front has come in giving us bits and pieces of rain everyday. One night it was so cool we had to close up the house to stay warm. I was afraid I might have to turn the heater back on. :) It was a relief compared to the Los Alamos hot week about the time the Nolens left for England. Instead of 90-100 degrees it is more like 60-80 degrees. Yea!

I am taking today off as my Friday off...might want to redo it as a sick day. And tomorrow is the
Fourth and a holiday. This week is being chopped up a good bit.

The Nolens have four posts on their blog about their adventure over to England. Good fun if you ask me. :)

Like Father Like.......

Daughter??








After seeing dad raise up his cereal bowl to drink the leftover milk, Elizabeth decided that it looked like a good idea and buried her face in his cereal bowl which is dry of milk and has just cereal. LOL. She thought it was funny and was giggling the whole time.

A Little Bit of Family

Bob and Gale (Colorado Grandparents) came to visit for several days and it was so good to see them. They made it on home and reopened the Colorado house.








Bob and Emily cutting up.









One of the last meals at the Nolen's before they left for England. Caleb, Audrey, and ALittleBit who slipped into the picture.








Gwen and Emily off to the Santa Fe Opera tonight. Leaving ALittleBit and myself to fend for ourselves. I am sure the opera was wonderful. The Magic Flute.

What's Happening

And no I do not mean the TV show. :)

Well this last week was a bit of a strain. The Nolens got off to the England on the Wednesday and made it safe and sound to their short stay at a cottage. The're fixin' to have a wonderful time. See their blog. About 180 days to go before they return. :)

On another note we got a pretty good hail storm on Thursday, much like last years storm. Thick, heavy, and long. I had to run between two buildings using a trash can lid for a shield. I got nailed on my lower back calf by one that made me miss my stride, like that has not been missing for years now, and nearly go down in pain. ;) It stung to say the least but it feels good to be living on the edge sometimes. LOL.

Work was good. Joe, Nate, and I got started picking up where Steve left off. We made good progress. I decided to work on Friday to get a lot of clean up work done so Monday I could start on the new part of our work we proposed before Steve left. I got an email late Friday saying that we were not to work on this new stuff at this time. So much for coming in to work on Friday. I should have stayed home with my family. Oh well lesson learned.

I move to the new building next Friday so I will pack up on Wednesday since the network will be down for most of that day. Joe and I are thinking of moving Nate with us next week since he has so little to move and we all want to be co-located sooner. We will see. Early morning move is in our future. Will have to go borrow the Nolen dolly me thinks. ;)

On another note by being at work I missed some manual labor here at the house. Gwen and Ruth straightened up the garage so as we can get the car in it again. :) Also the tree guys showed up and removed the dead bark beetle tree and sprayed the others ones. I have got to find the instructions now and get the swing set in the ground so the fun can begin.

Bob and Gail got home ok and found a nice clean house to come home too. I gather Mark and his crew went over and cleaned up. I hear Andrew, our nephew, is thinking about the possibility of working at the lab as student worker. I will have to call him soon to visit.

Well I pretty much did nothing yesterday except take the girls to breakfast at Viola's. Gwen got a good bit done on the laundry. I spent a lot of time reading the book Deadline by Randy Alcorn. A very engaging book. It sure does put things, like life, in perspective that is for sure. And it is a mystery too.

I guess Steve's parents got the SUV over at Steve and April's house yesterday. I never heard from them. I will drive by and look today after church.

Well it is Sunday morning and time to get ready for church. It already does not feel quite the same knowing that for many more Sundays the Nolens will not be here. But hey God is blessing them in the UK so what more can we ask for. :) Hopefully we will get to hear all about their first Sunday in England, maybe they have the energy to go to church today already.

Well Elizabeth is up already and I need to get cleaned up and dress before I pull her out of the crib. She is so much fun to start the morning off with. All smiles and hungry.

Southern Hemi 9 - Northern Hemi 1 !!!!!!!

Test (International) Rugby of course. The northern hemisphere toured the southern the last few weeks and only came away with one win.

The French (playing their only test in the south) bet the South Africans. The French always play well. This means that the UK got swept downunder so to speak so they will be in a bit of a foul mood.

Of course the All-Blacks won their three tests...one of them against Argentina with a totally different starting XV than what bet the Six Nations Champs Ireland twice. So here are the results......

Oz 34 - England 03
Oz 43 - England 18
Oz 37 - Ireland 15
SA 36 - Scotland 16
SA 29 - Scotland 15
FA 36 - SA 26 (ding)
AB 34 - Ireland 23
AB 27 - Ireland 17
AB 25 - AR 19
AR 27 - Wales 25
AR 45 - Wales 27

This is fun but it really means nothing on who will play well and win the World Cup next year. The All-Blacks are showing they can win Test rugby with two or three different starting XVs which is actually very impressive and showing they are building incredible depth and experience with their Test side.

Of course this is not sitting well with the Kiwi traditionalists who say that winning an AB test cap (meaning a spot on the ABs) has much less meaning and it is degrading the AB jersey and legacy. But it seems to be helping the ABs regain a bit of the dominance they had over the world before professionalism took over. Being a small country they need to build depth, which they have plenty of, and experience, which is hard to do on a small island.

The English (reigning World Champs) did come down to Oz with a much younger and inexperienced side than before. The Irish looked very good as did Argentina. Of course the Irish were not playing the top XV of the ABs but still the ABs had a strong Test side.

Next up is the Tri-Nations where NZ, Oz, and SA all play each other in their now annual tournament. This year is different though. They will be playing a different format than in the past. In the past they play each other twice...basically four tests per team. This year I think they are playing six tests per team or each other three times. It should be interesting and tiring. Here is the schedule: Tri-Nations Schedule and Standings

GO ALL-BLACKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom's new pool.

Mom is putting an exercise pool in what remains of her backyard. Perhaps some relief from the Texas summers?

I think Emily is ready to head back to Tejas. :)
Maybe after Independence Day.




On a more "interesting" note here is a picture my sister, TK, took of a sketch that she drew. Here is the caption from her flickr page.

"something happened to the photo for this day, so i drew something for you. this is me and one of my cats walking through the living room. i thought about drawing furniture so you could see that it is a living room, but that's just too much trouble. and i know that the cat looks like a little dog, but trust me, that's a cat without a tail."

As with the furniture I guess she is leaving it to our imagination which of her cats that is in the drawing. :)



On another note: Five Days til the Nolen's leave.

A Special Place - Closing Today! :)

Well today, at 9:30am, we close another chapter in our family's life. 4 Timber Ridge will no longer be ours. We really love that place and will miss it. We thank the Lord for that Blessing and many more. I walked around the place for the last time this morning just cleaning and cleaning out. I have to say I have not felt that way since I walked around my Grandparents place in Sonora for the last time.

"A Special Place"


On another note, Gwen and I got to take April and Steve out for dinner last night. We went to the Steaksmith in Santa Fe. It is a very nice place and the food was worth many more visits. It was so nice to get out without our kids and have adult conversations. It was so good to be with April and Steve especially since they will be living the country next Wednesday the 21st. They all will be missed by us and many others but it will be another fabulous adventure in their family's life. God willing and the creek don't rise they will return in December. They will be home for Christmas. ;)

Many thanks go to the Schmidts and McCulloughs for watching our kids. Not to mention Ruth who had signed up to watch ours until we decided to give her a break too. Thx Ruth. ;)

Sherwood Courthouse

Sherwood, Texas (Irion County).