My “Green” Thought
July 13, 2008 by admin
So, I wonder, should I worry myself about being green? Green, as in environmentally green. I want to care, and I do. I hope that isn’t liberal! Anyway, my green thought of the day, having just read that gas prices went up 1.5 cents this last week (national average), is:
The City of Overland Park should synchronize its lights better.
I am reminded of the last time I got my hair cut (about 4 weeks ago). I drove from College and Metcalf in OP to 162nd Terrace and Metcalf. There are exactly 10 stoplights on the way. Of the 10, I hit 8 of them RED. One of the two I did not hit red was a stop light outside a fire station… it would have only been red if the fire trucks were about to roll. So really, I hit 1 of 9 true traffic lights green. That means I spent a tremendous amount of time stopping and starting at red then green lights. And, mind you, this was without making a turn. If the City of Overland Park could time their lights properly, a lot of gas could be saved. That means less gas consumed and more money in citizen pockets to spend elsewhere.
Of course, the City of Overland Park employs corrupt police offiers (i.e. Officer J. Sheperd), so why would they worry about something that would save the environment like syncing traffic lights?
Well, that’s my green thought. I can’t be green, I guess, if the City won’t be.
Screw OP and screw BO.
–RE
Back and busy
July 13, 2008 by admin
After the LONG drive from California, I decided in earnest to start on the basement to get it ready for company at the end of the month and for Brandon when he comes here for college. Lots to do, but we did get a LOT of stuff out of there today for the extra trash pickup tomorrow. Yes, we are collectors of stuff we realllllllly do not need and stored lots of things for Ryan from baseball, etc, that he probably does not even know still exists. Probably wont miss any of it….
The trip to California was fun but hot. We spent several days at Disneyland. Ashley danced at Spotlight nationals and did very well. She got 2 diamonds, one on her solo, one on a duet, 2 rubies, another solo and duet, and the team got an emerald. So she did very well especially competing with much larger studios from California, etc. Good job Ashley. Stevie had a ball swimming in the Moore’s pool, and doing projects with Fred and Andy. He also enjoyed most of disneyland. He is not really one for the dressed up characters, and Indiana Jones and Snow White were not in his list of do agains. We helped Lynda and Fred celebrate their birthdays, Lynda another major milestone…the big 60. The party was really nice and everyone seemed to have a great time.
Tony had to have some surgery on Friday after the mototcycle accident. The doctors repaired a cut tendon in his left hand. He will have to learn to keyboard on the computer one handed for a while. Thank God that he was not more seriously injured. He also has lots of cuts and scrapes and stitches.
Steve and the girls survived very well with out me, but they say I was missed. I missed them also. Maggie did chew me out a bit, but Sophie just barked to let me know she agreed with Maggie. Sophie has never been a leader only a follower of her sister.
We visited with Braelyn, Ryan and Rebecca on the web cam last night. Braelyn was talking to us in her very cute way. She likes to hear her voice. Funny little girl. Hoover was being lazy wouldnt even wake up to say hi. The other Sophie was not around either. Lazy dogs.
Guess that is about all from here. Think I will go out and enjoy my nice fountain, and relax a bit on the patio.
Have a great week all….
Love to you,
THE MOM
It’s Raining, It’s Pouring
July 12, 2008 by admin
Hoover is beside me, snoring. How clever.
Yep, it’s a rainy morning here in the OP. Wouldn’t you figure? I have absolutely no plans this weekend other than just relaxing and goofing around the house. Rebecca just went to Sam’s Club to get some necessities (like AA batteries, since we are out and it is hard for Spencer and I to play Rainbow 6 on the XBOX 360 when the controllers keep shutting down). I hope it isn’t supposed to rain all day, though it is not like I plan to be outside much or at all.
Braelyn is upstairs in bed, taking her mid morning nap. She didn’t sleep very well last night which is weird because she was tired last night when we put her into bed. We had the Beckners over last night. Erin and Sean brought Lincoln Cade over. He turns one year old in just under two weeks now. He is a cute “little” kid, though I think I saw him making some moves on Lil’ B. It’s amazing how young a kid’s hormones kick in! Lincoln’s going for the younger woman. What really is amazing is to see the things Braelyn will be doing in her next half year. Lincoln eats regular food (he enjoyed one of my hamburgers cut up into small pieces), walks around, tries to get into Hoover’s water bowl, acts like he’s going to throw his sippie cup, and talks a lot. Not real words, mind you, but he does have the “ma” down pretty well. I still am not over him slapping Braelyn’s butt. Actually, he didn’t do that, but he did decide it would be fun to sit in her lap.
The Murphy’s are down at the lake with Stephanie’s family. Hopefully they don’t get the rain we are getting. Gabe called a little while ago to have me tell him how to run my boat and he said it was a bit overcast but not raining. Would suck if they can’t spend much time on the water because of the rain. I think I am heading down to the lake next weekend with a few friends. Will be my last weekened down there for awhile, as Rebecca has my following weekend planned out for me, and then we’re off to Casper the weekend after for some birthday celebrations of my Grandpa (80) and my Grandma (90). Should be a good time. Then, August has quite a few DMB concerts, so who knows how many more trips I will have to the lake this year. Sad, really… summer goes by pretty quick. And then we’ll be in the winter months once again, where we write a big check every month to pay for a boat that we can’t ride. Yeah.
Received a text message last night from my mom. Her week+ venture to California came to conclusion as she arrived back in the big city of Casper last night. She went out there with my sister Stephanie and my niece Ashley and nephew Stephen. Ashley had a dance competition out there, and they all had the opportunity to take in some Disneyland and attend my aunt’s 60th birthday party.
Uploaded a ton of pictures last night; some of Braelyn, some of Hoover, some of the Murphys and pool play, some of the Lake, and some professional pictures taken yesterday of Braelyn and Spencer.
Now, back to cleaning the virus off my computer. I messed it up real bad yesterday trying to break some encryption on some pictures. I knew better. Oh well, gives me something to do this rainy day of July.
Oh man, I need to go put some deodorant on to make sure I don’t have any BO. You should put some on, too, to keep the BO out of the white house.
-Peace
More Life With The Girls
July 10, 2008 by admin
Okay – so I’ve been "batching" oficially for a full week now. Just me and the "girls". While it hasn’t been too bad I think all three of us are ready for The mom’s return. I think that is projected for some time late tomorrow. They are leaving the Left Coast in a few hours and have rooms booked at Mesquite, NV for later tonite. By my calculations thats about 10 – 11 hour drive left for tomorrow normally. If they proceed like they apparently did on the way out – probably 14 or so. 
Life around the homestead has been relatively non- eventful. As was written in Ryans latest post – Tony had an accident on his motorcycle. Praise God he is pretty okay —- he could still use a few prayers for a full repair and healing of his hand. Sounds like some torn ligaments and bone chips to take care of in surgery procedure in the next few days. Thinking of you Tony – God Bless you.
The girls have been GOOD! I almost hate to say that – I have one more night & day with them but I am really pleased so far. Tuesday I left at 7 AM and didn’t get back to feed or let them out until after 5 PM and ………. I could not find a single sign of an accident – #1 or #2! I am really proud of them. And they are sleeping very well also – only up once or twice a night! Knock on wood.
BGE is half a year old and I am 125 halfs a year old! Actually approaching 126 rapidly! Sounds good for her but not for me! I think I’ll stick with counting just once a year. Wow Lynda – you just celebrated your 120th half year birthday!
My mom is feeling poorly. Been pretty much bedridden the past couple of days. Her back, which hurts her continually, is apparently unbearable. She finally persevered in contacting her Doc today and they are making some meds adjustments to try to help her with the pain. God bless her – she just wants not to hurt so bad. If the meds adjustments don’t help we’ll get her in next week per docs orders but it is apparently arthritis which is apparently uncureable so it doesn’t bear well for her i fear. She can use your prayers too!
Well – I have to go put heat on my eye. Yah ….. me too! Not to be outdone by everyone else I woke up with a really swollen & ugly left eye this morning. It started yesterday and progressed through the night. Got into the eye doc about 10:30 this morning and apparently have a pretty advanced infection emanating from either an ingrown hair or a foreign hair. he is guessing foreign since hair doesent generally grow where this is at in the eye socket AND since i generally have a hell of a time growing hair anywhere! Ha ….. beat you to it so no comments necessary. Anyway – the perscription for cure is very interesting: twice a day if possible a heat pack on the eye for 15 -20 minutes. 4 times a day I wash my eye out (yep) with Johnsons "no tears" baby shampoo (yep – you and me BGE); then I put this ointment in my eye 4 times a day. This ointment is a real treat – little bitty tube like super glue comes in – $127 for the tube by the way – only $23 to me cause i have good insurance thank you State of Wyoming. Anyway – this ointment blurrs vision for a pretty long period of time (the noon swag for over an hour). Sheesh! What next? AND – if i am guessing correctly knowing my environment – I believe that if we could ever recover that little hair folicle and run some DNA or something we would see either Sopie or Maggies name all over it! So – thanks girls i think!
I need to go see if Maggie fixed me any dinner. Any bets?
The Dad
Braelyn is 6 Months Old Today!
July 9, 2008 by admin
As Lauren Murphy would say, today is Braelyn’s “Half Birthday!” Yes, that is right… Lil’ B is now officially 6 months old today. Half way to a year. Wow, in a lot of respect, time really does fly by. She is out right now on a walk with Rebecca. She was really cute earlier tonight (check that, she is always cute. But, when I got home (a little later than usual) she was chowing down on her carrots and such and was, well, pretty demanding, really. She has the funniest sound which I think means “More, NOW!”
While I am so anxious for the next big moments, like when she crawls, talks, walks, etc, the small moments are priceless as well. She is really developing quite the personality. I can’t wait to see what is next in her development. One thing I do know, she definitely takes the cares of the world away when I get to hold her. She is so precious, and loves to cuddle. This morning she slept in bed with me for about an hour after she ate… she was up early, and I wasn’t!
I have some pictures and a few more videos to get done, if I could Hoover Woodrow to quit snoring over there and get his production company kicked into high gear. I will get to them soon… I think.
I was sad to hear Monday that the father of two of my former baseball players passed away this past weekend. Bob Stephens was a great man who lived for his kids and for baseball. He most recently had been heading the Field of Dreams project in Casper where he helped raise interest, funds, and city support to construct new, quality baseball fields for the youth in Casper. He was a very frequent posted on Bleacher Banter, one of my baseball websites dedicated to American Legion Baseball in Wyoming. He will be missed, no doubt, by the baseball community and his family. My thoughts go out to Ross and Lee and the rest of the family for this untimely, tragic passing. I am disappointed that the Casper Star Tribune on-line has yet to post his obituary. I would love to send a donation to whatever organization they have chosen (likely Casper Youth Baseball). Hopefully they get it up there soon.
Yes, there is a new look and new software behind RyanElledge.com. I have reverted back to WordPress to power my site. I hope to get a custom template put together in the coming weeks, but I am pleased with the advancements of WordPress as opposed to Serendipity, which powered my site before. It will take me awhile to recategorize all of the posts and add some bells and whistles to the site, but hey, that will keep you coming back for more.
My brother-in-law Tony Lecher was in a motorcycle accident yesterday in or around Fort Collins. When I talked to my sister late last night, the phone connection was not very good, but it apparently happened in a construction zone. Tony wasn’t wearing a helmet. He is, I hear, doing fine, but they had to stitch him up (face included) and he his hand was being x-rayed. I am pleased he is ok… motorcycles scare me. Heal soon, Tony.
Well, Happy Half Birthday, Miss Braelyn. You are the joy of my life and I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us next! Love ya, Lil’ B.
Oh, remember, Vote No BO!
Tickle Time with Braelyn – A Braelyn Grace Moment
July 7, 2008 by admin
The latest BG Moment… Tickle Time with Braelyn!
Enjoy….
–NO BO!
INTERESTING INFORMATION THE MEDIA SOMEHOW FORGOT TO TELL YOU
July 7, 2008 by admin
This was forwarded to me some time ago. I have checked the links myself, and it seems accurate. Long read, but worth it. Thanks to my Uncle Ron who sent it to my dad, who in turn sent it to me.
Military Losses, 1980 thru 2006
Whatever your politics, however you lean, however you feel about the current
administration, this report should open some eyes.
Military losses, 1980 through 2006 (www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf)
As tragic as the loss of any member of the US Armed Forces is, consider
the following statistics:
The annual fatalities of military members while actively serving in the armed forces
from 1980 through 2006:
1980 ………. 2,392 (Carter Year)
1981 ………. 2,380 (Reagan Year)
1984 ………. 1,999 (Reagan Year)
1988 ……….. 1,819 (Reagan Year)
1989 ………. 1,636 (George H W Year)
1990 …….. 1,508 (George H W Year)
1991 …….. 1,787 (George H W Year)
1992 …… 1,293 (George H W Year)
1993 ………. 1,213 ( Clinton Year)
1994 …….. 1,075 ( Clinton Year)
1995 ………. 2,465 ( Clinton Year)
1996 ……… . 2,318 ( Clinton Year)
1997 …………. 817 ( Clinton Year)
1998 ………. 2,252 ( Clinton Year)
1999 …….. 1,984 ( Clinton Year)
2000 ……….1,983 ( Clinton Year)
2001 ……… 890 (George W Year)
2002 …….. 1,007 (George W Year)
2003 ……. 1,410 (George W Year)
2004 ………. 1,887 (George W Year)
2005 ………… 919 (George W Year)
2006………….. 920 (George W Year)
2007…………899 (George W Year)
Clinton years (1993-2000): 14,000 deaths
George W years (2001-2006): 7,932 deaths
4th of July Weekend with The Dad
July 7, 2008 by admin
Interesting weekend 4th of July 2008 – just me and "the Girls". Actually quite relaxing when I look back though there were some moments when I was wondering.
Highlight of the weekend had to be killing weeds. I walked around the side of the house to check Vic’s plants and noticed that the weeds were doing very well on the north side of the house amongst the river rock. I went in the garage and, aha, I actually had better than half a bottle of weed spray so I grabbed it and went out shutting the door behind me. Then I decided to make sure the girls were inside before I sprayed so I went around to the patio doors to check an yep, they were inside – and both sets of doors were locked. Cool! Went back and sprayed those weeds to my hearts content ….. emptied the bottle on them then went to the garage to dispose of it. But wait! Could it be that I had inadvertantly locked the garage door behind me? LOCKED OUT! And I mean really locked out. I tried every door and I checked every window and they were all fastened securely. Looked around the outside and we have been very diligent in putting things away this summer – not even a screwdriver laying around. I decided to try the basement window on the back of the house so I pulled out section of the screen (still have to remember to get that fixed) but could not get the window open unless I broke the glass – a fete I was reserving as last resort. Sooooo—I decided to pick on the double doors on the patio since we have been having trouble with that lock anyway – in fact I knew the deadbolt was unlocked because we didnt use it – it stuck when you did. Anyway – I found a piece of firewood and I beat the back doorknob into submission. Broke the sucker off like they do on COPS and …. you guessed it – still couldn’t get in. Then I heard my neighbor to the east out in his yard so I borrowed a huge screwdriver from him – jammed it through the broken knob and low & behold – turned it and got in! The Girls were standing there barking at me – actually quite happy I finally decided to come in and feed them (after the expected butt chewing from Precious Magnolia that is)! So I spent the afternoon going to Home Depot for new door hardware and installing it – or at least the knob. I had to go to Sears the next day for a bigger drill bit to enlarge the deadbolt hole. All works now! Actually ended up an improvement! Probably a total of 4 hours and two trips to the Home Depot and Sears counting "break-in time". Happy 4th!
Then …. I went back to Home Depot looking for some stuff to build the "B" a closet in the basement yesterday and found a fountain I actually liked. Decided to purchase and install so I could surprise Vic when she returned. The cashier called for help for me – someone who could answer questions and check to see if there was one in stock. Anyway – 20 minutes later she walked back over to me and apologized and said it would be awhile before someone would be back from lunch! See ya! Sorry Vic – no new fountain! But I tried! Probably better to wait till this weekend anyway – probably one of those things we ought to consult on to make sure we both like it since it ain’t cheap! Didn’t get anything for the closet either!
Work time so gotta go. The Girls doing great – Sophie took herself off of cheese yesterday for some reason but she is back on this morning so all is well. (Sophie has a little piece of cheese with her morning pill). I know … I know ….it’s a dog’s life.
Just say NO to BO!
The Dad
Here in Sunny (hot) California
July 5, 2008 by admin
Writing here in Cypress, California. Ashley is dancing at Spotlight Nationals, Stephanie visiting long time friend Gina, and Stevie is helping Uncle Fred and Andy build a ramp for the cars. We are going soon to Seal Beach after lunch.
I am uploading the pictures to the gallery under Vacations, California July 08. Beautiful fireworks last night at the a military base near the Moore’s house. They were beautiful. Stevie and Ashley swam most of yesterday in the pool. Madison and Baby Luke came over for the afternoon. They kids all had fun.
The Lecher’s were at the lake for the Holiday. Mike went to visit his dad and brothers in Evanston. Ryan and Rebecca and family went to the lake where their boat is. Hopefully Hoovie is enjoying that better than the last time he went there. Steve has been home and each time I talk to him he is working on some project or another there. Probably just chillin with the dogs. Be Nice Mag and Sophie. Especially you Miss Sophie.
Well lunch time here. Enjoy the pictures so far. More to come.
Love to all
The Mom
Obama the Taxer
July 2, 2008 by admin
Watching a little news here this morning at the Lake. Just saw a story where Obama wants to increase our volunteer programs, including our all-volunteer military. He’ll pay for this by eliminating a corporate tax break and from the “savings” from exiting Iraq. This led me to a quick thought…
Americans are spending more on groceries, gas, and everything else really, as the increased gas prices are affecting basically everything a consumer buys. Most Americans receive the money to purchase these items from working (I say most, but if Obama is Pres, I am sure this number will decrease since the government will be providing more and more). Americans need to increase their income due to the gas prices and inflation. Now, Obama wants the businesses to pay more to the government, thus reducing the amount of money companies can pump into their employees’ wallets.
Sounds like a master plan to me!
–RE
OBAMA: NOPE!
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