Beautiful day

Good morning all! Last night both of my daughters were over with their daughters. Man are they beautiful. And I mean it.

.

I know you're supposed to say babies are beautiful, but I have always found it difficult - if not impossible - to say that. I know it is only a white lie, but I have seen some rather homely babies.

.

When I was still a child (teenager probably) my mom gave me hints. Find something, anything, you can comment on that is cute, pretty, or pleasant to talk about. I've taken that lesson into all aspects when dealing with people.

.

My granddaughters ARE beautiful. I love my family!

Busy Month

Well, its been over a month since I last posted. That is one of my pet peeves - having a blog and NOT posting regularly. Shame on me.
.
On Dec, 19 my daughter had our first grandchild - a 5lb 11oz girl - Holly Ann! That same afternoon, we had the worst ice storm the city has seen in over 12 years. We lost power for 5 days, but after a day, I pulled our 1985 RV around and wired the generator into our electric panel and was able to power up the entire house. The rest or our family had problems where I had to tend to their generators, heat, and other ice issues.
.
Now my other daughter is expecting a girl too! Any day now she'll be coming. Things for us are going to change.
.
On Jan 12, I graduated from the Sheriff's Academy and starting to get my feet on the ground with that now too. Right now I just facilitate inmate vistation, but this past Friday night I was able to ride with another officer and do my first traffic shift. Nothing crazy, but it opened my eyes to what I really want to do with the ACPD. Working the road is where I feel I can help the public the most. My next step is to get hooked up with a Field Training Officer (FTO) where I can begin that training process.
.
Last spring I pursued, and was appointed to the city's Board of Zoning Appeals. I like that immensely. While I was in the academy, I had to miss a couple BZA meetings, but all went well without me. Go figure! So last week was the January meeting and I was elected president of the board! I didn't see that one coming, but I know it will work out just fine.
.
Yeah, I've been busy, but who isn't??! I hope to post some pics of my grand-daughters soon.

Cleaning the garage...

My garage, or more appropriately, my shop is an undeniable disaster right now. It didn't happen overnight, but it is the worst its ever been. Labor day weekend was the turning point from lightly messy to nightmare. That weekend we put a patio door into our upstairs bedroom wall. Next spring a small deck will be built there too. This is the first step in making our bedroom suite. It might take years, but one step at a time...right?
.
Anyway, the mess was never completely cleaned up from that work....oh, we also painted our house, replaced the chimney cap, and cut-split-stacked firewood, and I started the Allen county Sheriff Reserve Academy. This along with everything else to get ready for fall and winter kept me away from tidy-ing up MY space.
.
Today I ventured out there with certain dred and uncertainty as to where to begin. Closest to the door is where started, but I quickly moved through the shop on went to work. But then I realised that I needed to makea run to Menards to get some bird seed, a hatchet, and some peanuts. The temp was nearing 50, so I decided to make ONE last run on the Goldwing. But it wouldn't start - weak battery. Put on the charger and went back to work.
.
The ride was wonderful! There is something strange about riding a motorcyce and listening to Christmas music...but that fits my style.
.
I've made great progress, but there is more to do...right now I've gotta get my football fix.

I did it now!!!

I love reading the local blogs around this fair city. I have my daily MUST reads, as well as many favorites. When my schedule allows, I peek into what is happening in other blogs. I read the Berry Street Beacon several times a month (on a good month). I love the West Central neighborhood, and my wife and I cruise this neighborhood too many times to count in the course of a year, so reading this blog has some relevence to me. Not knowing the author, host, owner of this blog, I took my bloggin life into my own hands and poked a stick at her blog-hive. Kind of trying to say 'Hi', but in my own way.
I hope to see her at monthly SWAP meeting. I know there isn't a December meeting, but maybe I can properly meet her in January.

WOW talk about timing

I don't know what it is about airing out your thought and/or feelings, but...my missing friend called me this afternoon and we began the walk to a mended relationship ( I paused on this word - trying to think of just the right word). Right now as I type this, my wife and my friends wife are speaking their peace and comparing notes.
.
I hope for the best!!
.
Bob G. - thanks for the quick note! Also, judging by your picture, your attire makes me think I might know you - professionally that is.

Where has the time gone!

It has been over 2 months since I last posted here. I haven't had anything come up missing - short of bloggers-block, so I have been neglecting this site. I've been busy like most of us, but time still could have been carved out (Thanksgiving day - get it?).
.
My life is busy - here is a quick rundown. I have 3 kids, my oldest is 24 and he just moved into his first apartment first of this month. My oldest daughter and her husband are expecting our first grandchild - a girl. She is 8 months pregnant and is starting to have issues with serious water retention. My youngest, 18 years old and will be a January grad, is also pregnant - just 5 weeks behind her sister. Lets just say that antibiotics and birth control pills is a creationary issue.
.
I am in the final month of the Allen County Sheriff's Reserve academy, and with 3 days a week tied up with that, my yard work, vehicle mainenance, wood splitting, and house painting has been claiming most of my awake time. Not to mention my regular work schedule, neighborhood association meetings, Southwest Area Partnership meetings, and city BZA meetings.
.
I'm not complaining, just blogging. My wife has been an incredible help to me through all this. We have been through so much over our 24+ years of marriage, but these last several months have been humbling. She has helped me in so many ways, I cannot even begin to say.
.
My one friend that has been my best friend and confidant, has drifted away to a point that I don't know if we will ever be close again. We have been closer than close since 1987 when Lisa and I moved back after my time in the Army. And up until 2003, we didn't have so much as 1 disagreement. There were several little things, then one big thing that really hurt, so we severed all communication. It took almost a year, but we worked it out. But ever since then things didn't flow the same - if you know what I mean. This past year things seemed to have been slipping away again. Although nothing (as in problems) is happening, communication between us is getting very slim. Him and his wife both have cell phones, and both have the bluetooth thing in their ear all the time. I have watched him look at the number of the incoming call and ignore it many times. I can only imagine he has been doing that to me now for some time. This also wear on me. This past Sunday a baby shower was held for my older daughter. An invitation was sent. We never so much as got a phone call. Both of our families have had a tradition of going downtown and watching Santa Claus being turned on for over 10 years, then come back to our house for a pre-Thanksgiving day desertfest. At the downtown event, he and I acted as though everything was alright, but conversation was very weak and wasn't any deeper than you would have with a perfect stranger while on an elevator. His wife never said a word to me, but then again, I didn't say anything to her either. I asked him if they were coming over for the desertfest, to which he said they were. You guessed it - no show, no call.
.
I don't know where to go from here, but I still have other friends. But I don't have any that know me like he does, and where I can bounce my thoughts and troubles off of. Don't get me wrong, my life is great, but I'm just missing my old friend.
.
That is all for now...Happy Thankgiving to all...And lets all take time EVERY day to pray to God and our saviour, Jesus Christ and thank THEM for our very lives and everything in them!

Keys...again

When we lived in Waynedale about 18years ago, I had the habit of taking my keys out of the ignition of my van and just dropping them on the floor beside the seat. The van was always in our detached garage with the doors closed. One time my keys were not where I left them. My wife said that since I misplace things frequently, she thought I lost those too. I looked over everything that weekend, and had to go to Ace Hdwe to get new keys made Sunday so I could go to work. That night when I went into the garage to take the trash out, my keys were sitting right on the countertop. Weird.
.
Didn't think much about for quite some time. During Christmas break my son and some friends were playing in the basement, in the 'playroom'. Our basement was broken into 2 sections - the playroom-stairs-hallway, and the furnace-laundry-storage area. Our basement also has a side door that goes outside. This door is dedbolted and can only be locked-unlocked with a key.
.
One of the boys went into the hallway to get the car that raced out there. He and the other two raced up the stairs and told my wife that they saw 'a guy' in the laundry area. She told them that they were seeing things, and to prove this point, she went down there and switched the laundry. The boys still wouldn't go back down there. They were so insistant that she called the police to come take a look. There was a fresh blanket of snow on the ground that morning, they saw no tracks or anything suspicious in the basement. Hours later after lunch, they still refused to go downstairs. My wife kept doing laundry.
.
Back story now....I always take left overs to work for lunch. Occasionally, in the morning, some and at times, all of lunch would be missing. Once in awhile, my wife would wake me up saying she smelled candles. And I did too.
.
So...after lunch right after my wife brought up another load of laundry, a noise of something falling in the basement srtartled everyone. My wife called me and told my of this, I had her prop a chair under the doorknob while I called the police and came home. The same officers came out this time too. They had just came outside when I got home. They said that someone had indeed been in the house, and they apologized for not seeing the person when they were there the first time.
.
A stack of boxes that we stored our Christmas decorations in fell over. Behind this 'stack' an opening went under the stairs. And in there was some used matches, candlewax drippings, a washcloth, a some foods scraps, a twinkie wrapper, and some other things. The side basement door was unlocked, and going across the seat and back of the lawn-glider chair were fresh footprints. The path went around the garage, into the backyard, and to the street behind us where the path disappeared.
.
We were freaked out to say the least. That evening, I took huge nails and nailed that door closed, changed all the deadbolts in the house, put hasps and locks on the garage, and nailed all the first floor windows closed.
.
Over the next several months we forgot about our 'visitor'.
.
It was the next fall shortly after I got home from work, a police car pulled into the driveway. The officer told me that they got the guy who broke into our house. About 3 days before, a neighbor on the street behind us, ran into the guy in his kitchen in the middle of the night. He so stunned the intruder that he froze in place. He held him there until the police arrived.
.
The kid, he was 18 at the time, was homeless. His dad was unknown, and while he was at school his junior year, she took all her things and left...he came home to an empty apartment. He still went to school and even graduated. On him was a backpack. In the back pack was a keyring with ove 30 keys that were numbered. Also was some clothes, candles, a lighter, some snacks, soap, and a towel.
.
The kid described how he survived...he snuck into houses late, at some food, cleaned himself, and slept. He never stole anything but food. He did work at a couple of places - the police did verify this.
.
The officer asked if I wanted to press charges. I did not, neither did anyone else.
.
That following summer, I ran across the neighbor who caughtthe kid. He took him in and helped him get a decent job and apartment in Waynedale and the kid still comes by occasionally.
.
That happened in 1990. We moved out of Waynedale in 1999 and lost track of the neighbor.
.
Weird - huh?!