A Saturday Adventure

I decided to take Patrick to Smith & Edwards last weekend to show him the tank & cannons they have in the junkyard. I also needed some new coveralls, but they didn't have my size (I will not publish any comments related to my Dickies, so don't bother...). Katie & Wiz came along with the babies.

I didn't have room in the van to take this giant aluminum antenna home...

Inside the tank

Driving the tank

It was raining and pretty cold, so after a while outside we were ready to go.  We heard about a restaurant in the area being a local landmark.  The first guy I asked in the parking lot said it had to be Maddox and gave us directions.

We'd heard it was some sort of diner.  It turned out to be diner, steakhouse, burger joint, wedding & reception hall, and drive thru...  Totally bizarre.  The parking lot was huge, the building looked like multiple additions stacked on each other (which turns out is true), and there were about 100 people waiting in the lobby for a table.  I was highly intrigued.  There's a cold display case in the waiting area where you can buy burgers, chicken fried steaks, bison, turkey fried steaks, etc.  They butcher onsight - in fact, there's a holding pen for cattle so you can see the cows about to be slaughtered for tomorrow's menu.  It's like a live lobster tank on steroids.  Somehow we only waited 15-20 minutes and were greeted with a basket of rolls that rival Little America's - a feat not easily achieved.  We all ordered fried chicken because they're famous for it.  They also have home made birch rootbeer on the menu.  I can't stop thinking about it, it was so delicious.

We'll have to take my folks there when they're back in town.

Bathtime Highlight Reel

Please ignore the dorky dad, and enjoy my cute little boy!

"Handouts"

I've been meaning to post this for a while. Several weeks ago I walked over to McDonald's for lunch by myself - just needed to get away from work for a minute. While I was eating my delicious quarter pounder, a homeless guy approached me and asked for some change so he could buy some food. I gave him my usual "sorry buddy, I don't carry any cash", which is true, I only use plastic money for the convenience. I don't ever give out cash. Having worked in the hotel/restaurant business for a while, I guess I've always felt like these guys should go get a job washing dishes or bussing tables. Besides, we've always tithed faithfully, plus given to Phoenix Christian School, World Venture, and many missionary friends/family. He can go to the soup kitchen if he's hungry.

My wife has challenged me in this area for a little while - so while I sat there enjoying my scrumptious hamburger, it struck me - in 33 years of life, I don't think I've ever missed a meal. In fact, judging by my slowly expanding waist, I basically eat whatever I feel like for every meal. Do I deserve such incredible blessing? Having been so loved by God as to never go hungry, why wouldn't I want to share that love with anyone who needed it, much more to someone who had the courage or desperation to ask for it?

I caught the guy before he left, and used my plastic money to buy him a meal. I don't know if he even needed it (I know a wealthy guy who walks around looking homeless, enjoying the occassional freebie...), but that's not the point. My cup overflows to the point of obscenity - why not share as often as I can? What do you think - do you share cash, buy meals, or do nothing?

Hurry - winter's coming!

Here's a little video of my last 2 outdoor projects before winter arrives.





I took a vacation day Friday - Katie's grandpa is in town and we finally installed Pat's patio. Tommy had his 4 month checkup this week too. He checked out okay - 75% for height, 50% for head circumference, and only 25% for weight - long and lean. He's been fighting a little cold, and got some immunizations this week too, so he's not himself in the next video. He's ahead of many milestones - rolls back & forth both directions, cooing (melts everyone's heart, I'll have to catch on video if I can), passing toys from hand to hand, laughing (non-stop). He's just shy of 13lbs. He's had a few rough nights because he doesn't feel well, but slept almost 2 hours today. This is a big deal because he typically doesn't sleep but for catnaps during the day.



That was Thursday night. We managed to stake the bed down with line levels to establish a sense of grade.



Pat bought a really cool cast aluminum fountain a couple years ago on sale. We're going to install on the patio once it's finished.







Dropping the sand on top of the road bed turned out to be as big a pain as I thought. You generally don't want stones in the sand - makes screeding a little tough.



Alan came over to help Brandon, Pat, and I. Patrick had a great time playing in the sand all day.



Well, the patio turned out fairly nice. After sweeping some sand in the joints, I ran the compactor over the top to settle everything a bit. I didn't think it would hurt anything, but the stones in the sand pushed some of the bricks askew - oh well. As Gordon pointed out, now it looks like it's been there 100+ years.

Tommy didn't sleep well last night at all. Because Katie's sick, I tried to take care of Tommy more than normal. Usually after feeding he's good for about 3 hours, but he really fussed and still isn't feeling 100%. The best sleep I got was about 2 hours on the floor of the nursery. Therefore, today I tried to rest and didn't start fall cleanup at home. I understand my sister-in-law is proud that I was able to flex my plans to accommodate life - whatever that means...

I'm a bad blogger

I've been very delinquent in keeping our blog up-to-date because life is so busy right now.  I've been to Denver twice now in the last month, once for Grandma Shirley's funeral and once for work.  My sales market is very busy without sales trips to drum up more business, so not only did work pile up while I was out, but I had a very productive trip and created more work than normal and am a little stressed.  While Katie is certainly Tommy's primary care giver, it takes a lot of energy and time to care for him and I'm pretty tired right now.  Lastly, Pat and I are racing to get some outside projects done before fall/winter set in.  I haven't taken any photos yet, but I managed to get the side-yard sodded where the tree was removed, and I painted and replaced trim on our shed as it was in disrepair.  We also sodded Pat's backyard, and removed a bunch of soil from his front yard in preparation for laying a brick patio this coming weekend.

Katie goes to a Bible study on Tuesday nights, and my plan was to play with Tommy, feed him, bathe him, and put him to sleep in time to update the blog with some videos from my new video camera.  (One of my clients gave me a digital video camera as a thank-you for my services - nice huh?).  I raced home and took some videos around the house before Katie left to post later tonight.  Tommy did not cooperate with my plans, so I just barely sat down to blog.  Katie just got home and commented that my problem is I continue to make plans with an infant around... she may be right.  Unfortunately, while I was learning how to use everything I deleted all my videos but one, taken last night.

Enjoy this crummy video, but look for more to follow soon.