To Copy & Paste...ah yes.

With the apparent lack of time to blog lately I did take time to do this thing on FB after being tagged. So, I figure the ideal thing to do was to copy & paste. Boy that didn't take long. I only tagged Kim though cause I'm unsure about the whole tagging thing.

Copy and paste this into a new note and change the answers...If I tagged you, it means I want to see yours! Tag all the people you feel like tagging.

What are your middle names?
Ray & Denise

How long have you been together?
30 years this Dec.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
a few months

Who asked who out?
I asked Kim

Whose siblings do you see the most?
mine - hers has lived in SD for 10 years

Do you have any children together?
uh...yeah...3

What about pets?
Frazier the dog, 15 years old, mostly blind & deaf

Did you go to the same school?
Yep...then OCC.

Who is the most sensitive?
Hands down...herp.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
most...El Toro...favorite...Pappas seafood!

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Australia.

Who has the craziest exes?
there are exes? I thought I was the only one.

Who has the worst temper?
neither...we both avoid that kind of thing with all we've got.

Who does the cooking?
Cooking...what's that...me probably, but she does the dishes.

Who is more social?
Neither of us is all that social.

Who is the neat freak?
Uh...neither...although if there is one...its her.

Who is the most stubborn?
Gosh...is this over yet...we can both be pretty hard headed.

Who hogs the bed? (i understand she does not hog the bed, hey, its a king)
she does.

Who wakes up earlier?
when both at home...me.

Where was your first date?
The Oklahoma State Fair of 1977...a Ted Nugent Concert. "Catch Scratch Fever tour" really.

Who has the bigger family?
close fam...me...extended fam...hands down its her.

Do you get flowers often?
only when I do a funeral but sometimes I bring em to her.

How long did it take to get serious?
Is it serious? We try to keep it light...really. What does that mean? Maybe a few months...not all tha long.

Who eats more?
meep.

Who sings better?
she sings better alto...I sing better tenor/bass. We sing great together.

Who does the laundry?
today...its her...for the past few years it was me. We both do it. (i was corrected on this one)

Who's the smartest?
Herp.

Who’s better with the computer?
lol...meep!

Who drives when you are together?
Meep!

Who picks where you go to dinner?
either or...depends on if she's been out of town and for how long.

Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong?
What? I hope meep.

Who wears the pants in the relationship?
I wear pants and briefs...she wears pants and panties.

Who has more tattoos?
Golly...my kids get those for us.

Who eats more sweets?
Herp, maybe...we try to be easy on the sweet stuff.

Who needs sugar when you're sweet to begin with...I know..yuch!

cya, de

Oh yeah, Elton John & Billy Joel was as good as any concert I've ever been too. 3 1/2 hours without a break. Nothing short of fantastic.

Concert Tonight

I'm anxiously awaiting this evening. Tonight my bride and I, and our youngest are going to H-town to see Elton John and Billy Joel together. Hopefully it should be some kind of concert. We've seen Billy Joel 3 times I think and he's one of our favorites by far. We had tix to Elton a few years back by himself but it was Easter/LTC Saturday night and we were just too pooped to go so we sent K&J & A&A. They said it was terrific. We are anticipating that tonight will be terrific too. So, we'll head in afterwhile, find something good to eat and head to the Toyota Center for a night of singing along with Elton & Billy and some terrific piano playing. That's all for now. Till the next time I'm on the blog.

cya,
de

And as always, thanks for reading!

Too Busy...Too Tired

Haven't spent much time at all on the computer over the past few days. Been too busy...too tired to do much of that. I've been trying to help around the church building with our remodeling project...which by the way is quite a big project. I wonder at times if we haven't taken on too much of it for our own good...we will see. This past Thursday and Friday afternoon I spent with Harold Allen trying different ways to get the old mastic glue off the floor so we could lay new tile on the floor. We did eventually get it to come off after varied attempts and with the right chemical it came up pretty easy...it was the getting it up and off that was the disgusting part. And labor intensive let me tell you. Thanks to a second crew who came in late Friday we did manage to get 1/3 of the blue room floor ready for tile. Then Saturday morning we spent laying that much of the tile floor. I'm still way sore from 4 1/2 hours on my knees laying and slapping tile around on that floor.

After our tile excursion I went home, showered, laid down for 20 minutes then drove to Kirbyville, TX where the STB quartet sang on Saturday night. Turn around to arrive home about 11 pm pooped. Then yesterday afternoon Kim's brother and fam came in to spend a few days for their spring break. In between all that other stuff we were trying to get the house back in shape for company. It still wasn't all the way back from hurricane Ike, so I helped the bride as much as possible to get it ready. Oh yeah, I preached yesterday and our Life group had a pounding party for Mike and his new bride. Boy it was a busy weekend.

Today is rodeo day. We're going to see all that is RodeoHouston and Darius Rucker as the Concert entertainer for the evening. Hopefully the rain is over and the sun will shine before the day is out. Not sure when I'll blog again...maybe after some rest. Right now I'm just too busy...forget the tired part...I'll rest later next week.

cya, de

Insurance Poor

If your like most Americans to some degree we're all insurance poor. We've got insurance on everything. Of course it is a good and necessary thing...say...when you have a hurricane blow by and it blows the roof off part of your house and the rain comes in a makes a terrible mess...and they pay. By way of the constant commercials on TV here in H-town, some insurances did not pay or people thought they didn't or something. Our insurance did ok...they did pay...maybe not as much I thought they should...but we managed to get back to where we were without having to put too much of our own money back in.

One of our biggest issues since Kim went to work as self-employed has been the health insurance issue. Never take for granted if you have access to group insurance. Once you don't have access everything changes...especially if you have any health issues at all. That's been our deal for the past 5 years or so. If you're diabetic like I am...insurance companies just won't write you any reasonable insurance for anything close to a reasonable price. So, if you can get it, its poor coverage and very expensive. So you make do the best you can.

Here's something pretty cool I found to save on ordering glasses. I know you'll think its just not right to be ordering your glasses off the internet and hopefully you have insurance that covers you and your glasses are cheap. I went for my annual eye exam...covered by the way...and had the lady give me a quote for glasses like I have, progressives no-line bifocals, lightweight, metal rims, no scratch, etc...almost $650 retail but I was to get 20% discount. So I went home with my prescription in hand and went to 39dollarglasses.com.

Yeah, you read right...I order my glasses via the internet. Got my $650 glasses for just a little bit over $200. Same glasses with everything I wanted and even got transition lenses too. So if you're insurance poor or just don't want to fork over that much for glasses, check it out. Yeah, I admit its a bit unnerving but everything is there you need to get it right. Maybe you won't feel quite so insurance poor and jilted anymore.

No, I don't get anything for telling you about it. I just know how I felt when she told me my glasses were going to be $500 with my discount...some discount.

Praying for rain,
de

Changes in Latitudes

Not all that much new or exciting going on at the Elhome lately. Not that there have not been some significant things taking place. The most exciting thing has been the change in latitude of our oldest kids Kami and James. They made a successful move from Lat 42.5 to lat 36.1, yeah. That's quite a move any way you compute it from north to south, NY to Tenn, Coop to Nash, above or below the MD line, its quite a change in latitude, probably in attitude as well.

A,A&N are getting ever closer to adding a C to their alphabetic lineup. Baby Cohen is coming along quite nicely and Lord willing he comes into the world in June. They are making room changes, added a hide-a-bed couch for mimi and pawpaw, planning to paint and who knows what all else. A nephew of mine Blaine and his wife Tamara are having a baby quite soon. Baby Anton is expected any day now. My sister, her first grandbaby, is beside herself with excitement, as I'm sure Blaine and Tamara are too. Jared continues to do his 12 hour thing at Lee college in the computer dept, work 20-30 hrs a week at BB, and well...that doesn't leave a whole lot of time for much else.

Kim's getting ready around the house for her brother and fam to come for their spring break week. It's really amazing that we continue to clean up and get things situated from hurricane Ike. Yeah, we're probably slow, possibly even a bit lazy. Then when you walk down the end of our street and see the 15 empty lots where houses were bulldozed, and other neighbors just getting their roofs replaced, and well many who haven't done anything yet, I guess we're doing ok.

We've been working in the yard over the past few days and continue to find storm leftovers. I'd sure like to be done with that thing. Someone from Florida told Kim that when a huge storm like that comes through that it affects the climate, weather, airborne stuff for a long time afterwards... that it literally can suck the moisture out of the air for months or even years to come...that it sucks up dust and stuff from far off places and dumps it here. It would seem to be so for this area anyway.

Lord willing we'll be selecting and affirming some new elders at the church before too long. That's good news. Our building remodeling is coming right along. Walls are back up and even painted. New kitchen area is taking shape nicely with all the work being done by members, a bunch of them. New ceiling and flooring has to be in works soon. Talk about changes...the bathrooms in the office building finally have solid walls again...yeah! They got wet from the storm and were torn out because of mold. The only thing covering the walls were sheets...for months...can we talk privacy here. Once in awhile the only option was to head home to go. Talk about a change in latitude. Now, we've got nice painted sheetrock and panelling back where it should go. Whoohoo! That's todays update...gotta go.

de

Blankness of Mind

In view of my blankness of mind today I submit a thoughtful but truthful collection of sayings about our government as we move ever more towards complete government control of our banking system, the auto industry, and ultimately socialism. Did I say that? Sorry.

de

1. In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress. John Adams

2. If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. Mark Twain

3. Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself. Mark Twain

4. I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. Winston Churchill

5. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. George Bernard Shaw

6. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

7. I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. Will Rogers

8. If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free! P.J. O'Rourke

9. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. Voltaire (1764)

10. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you! Pericles (430 B.C.)

11. No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. Mark Twain (1866)

12. Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it. Anon

13. The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. Mark Twain

14. There is no distinctly native American criminal class...save Congress. Mark Twain

15. What this country needs are more unemployed politicians. Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)

Speeching's My Job

I speak for a living. It just so happens that I speak for my Lord. It's my great privilege to be blessed to do both. I often think of how weird it is that preachings my job and that for someone who's terribly shy on the inside. Truly I am...no kidding. And I can't recall the last time I was speechless.

Monday was one of those days. One of our close friends Brad Wims, a young man who grew up in the Lakewood youth group when we first arrived back in '89, passed away from a long, courageous, and faithfilled battle with cancer. My bride seemed to know it was going to happen soon when she left town on Sunday afternoon. As soon as she read their blog on Saturday night when we got home from seeing Noah and fam...she knew. Reluctantly, with 6 days of paid work ahead of her this week, she left for the airport, feeling as though she might have to miss the services if they happened this week. She knew and she will miss seeing the family to express he love for them.

Brad was truly a unique child and man of God, both at the same time. No one I know was able to do both better than Brad. Maybe it was a gift. He loved to play. No one enjoyed life and was able to keep his childlike attitude with him like Brad did. As a man, He had a faith like I'm sure I've never quite seen in someone his age and in his situation. He loved His Lord more in his last days than ever. He loved to worship and sing praises to His God even when he had no breath.

The saddness that surrounds his loss is great. The victory that goes with his passing is unmistakable. The hole that is left by his absence...well it made me speechless and speeching's my job! If there's an Aggie section in heaven...Brad's there...front and center. If not, then he's lobbying for one as we speak.

Brad...we miss you and you will always hold a special place in our hearts. You will never be forgotten.

de

Busy weekend

Technically it was much more than a weekend. It started on Wednesday. Three of our kids, K, J, & J were to be on the road from Cooperstown, NY to Nashville, TN. We were praying for good weather and safe travels for their move south. We left town after we sang a duet and preached at a friend's mothers funeral. We headed north in J's truck, thanks J for the loaner, stopped at a Houston Plant around Conroe and filled the back end with three trees, and almost as many shrubs and plants as we could carry. We then drove to A&A's to drop them off, then on to Richardson where Kim was to work on Thursday. While she worked I went to find a pickupload of good dirt to amend A&A's front flowerbeds. By the time I got to unloading it around 12:30 it was 83 degrees and sunny. By the time I got a bunch of it unloaded I was almost overheated. Guess I should have stopped for lunch. By the time Ade got home from work, with his mom in the car and Al & N got home from preschool the flowerbeds were just about ready to work. Regular updates were coming in as the movers headed out of C-town, through, Pennsylvania, Maryland, WVA, VA, then Tenn. Two days of tough driving but they made it.

Friday we got up and took Noah to see "Elmo's Green Thumb" in Grand Prarie. He called it "Elmo day" and it took forever to actually get here. His mom & dad had to quit mentioning it because he wanted every day to be "Elmo day," don't we all. He was pretty hesitant through the first half and watched virutally all of it with his head on Mimi's shoulder, watching ever so closely out of one eye. By the time the intermission was over he was sitting straight ahead watching with both eyes, smiling, pointing at Elmo and Bigbird, clapping, and enjoying the whole thing. I proudly I resisted paying $10 for a helium ballon that looked like Elmo. I felt bad for all those who whipped out the ten, only to leave it on the ceiling of the theatre or to watch it fly away into the sky on the way to the car. We opted to spend that money on crawfish at Pappadeaux for lunch. Good choice dave. Then it was back to Forney and the flowerbeds.

We kept after those flowerbeds till we got them all planted by sundown and I think we were all pooped. By the time I got up on Sat to go buy some mulch it was 40 degrees with a 25 mph north wind. Glad we only had the trees to plant. We put down mulch on the flowerbeds, and planted 2 of 3 trees and called it a project. Ade will have to plant tree #3. It was time to head home. The bride was leaving Sunday for a six day work week and I needed to be ready to preach on Sunday.

When we got ready to "go home" little Noah plainly declared, "Me go home too, me go home too." His folks tried to explain that he was already home but he was very clear when Pawpaw & Mimi were going home, "me go home too." If that don't make your heart swell up, nothing will. Mom & dad promised him this summer he could go home with M & PP. We can't wait.

We got home tired but early enough to be ready for the Lord's day, thankful to have spent a bit more time with our kids and thankful that all had safe travels.

You can check out pics of our landscaping project on Allison's blog on the blog links.

thanks for reading.
de