Saturday, April 30, 2005

Cease and Desist

I'm an assistant store manager.
I want to be a Human Resource Manager.

I applied for a HR job in my company. I was told that I don't meet the minimum requirements because I have no prior HR experience.

It didn't matter that I have been an assistant manager for four years. As a manager, I perform most of the same tasks a HRM does. The HR supports the manager. Stupid.

I was a bit upset. So, I sent an e-mail to the district HR, Craig.
Craig and I wrote back a few times as I tried to figure out how I can meet the requirements of his posting.
I was getting no where with Craig. I e-mailed his boss, Clark. Clark is the regional HR.
Clark had a much more friendly tone with me and even called to talk to me.
The company will hire a guy off the street with ZERO experience and train him to be a store manager. BUT we do not have training to make someone a HRM.

I am still not satisfied with that answer. I'm stuck. They want experience as a HRM.
This all started back in December. The positions I applied for have been filled by people outside of the company. Within ninety days, those positions were both vacant again. SO, knowing that I do NOT meet the requirements, I apply for both jobs again. Now, I'm just being stubborn.

I e-mail Clark's boss this time. Scott is HR director for the South East. He is on the second tier of HR in the company. I explain my frustration to him. Looks like I have to quit the job I have had for more than eight years to get some HR experience. Scott does not call me, but he does write me back a pleasant e-mail.

Next, I decide to start back at the beginning. I will not give up. I e-mail Craig again. Auto-reply tells me he is on vacation. I immediately forward my e-mail up the chain to Clark. He calls me at the store within a few hours.

This whole process has been going on for over four months.

We discuss if there are ANY possible ways to get me eligible. There are none at this time. Maybe some training in the future, but not today. During our conversation he lets me know that he is aware of my e-mail to Scott.

Before getting off the phone, Clark very nicely gives me the cease and desist speech.
"If anything changes, you are number one on my list. I will call you. There is nothing that can be done at this time, and that is horrible to say. I will call you when there is a way."

Pretty much telling me to stop e-mailing the corporate offices.

Sigh.

Friday, April 29, 2005

Zombies

I didn't think this was real either. But it comes from the BBC. They got their act together, so I believe it.

People die. The virus that killed them starts their hearts back up and they behave in a violent manner for a few hours until dying again. Zombies!

This is happening in Cambodia. So what do the hella crazy officials have to say about this?

"Cambodian officials say that the outbreak has been contained and the public has no need to worry."

No need to worry? Are you friggin' nuts? People are coming back from the dead! I'm a little worried.

Still don't believe it? Read it here
Prepare yourself!

Talkin' Hand . . .out!

Thursday, April 28, 2005

3 year old dictator

Meredith is not allowed to eat in the family room. When I approached her the other morning, this is the face I saw.

That's the "I'm caught, but not giving up", face. Look closely at her closed fist.
"Meredith what's in your hand?", I asked her. I got no responce. As I pryed her hand open, I realized I was dealing with a fist full of honey! When her hand was open, she told me with a smile, "I like honey!".

One of the main roles in the house that Meredith has taken recently, is becoming the house censor. If someone says a bad word, especially if it is mom or dad, she is quick to tell you. You don't have to be talking to her, just within ear shot of her. No matter if you think she is listening or not, she will hear you. Her favorite word to catch you saying is, "stupid".
"Dad, you said a bad word.", she will warn.
"No I didn't. What did I say?", I plead my innocence.
"You said stupid, and stupid is a bad word. I'm telling mom.", she convicted me.
Even at Wal-Mart people are not safe from her super sensitive ears.
"Mom, did you hear that lady say a bad word? She said damnit!", she rats out the lady still within hearing distance.

We are now very carefull where the little dictator is before having conversations.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Finish


Check out this picture and the one below it. That's what I did over the past weekend.
No, I'm not showing that I got rid of my wife!
We started putting this laminate floor in our house. Got two rooms done. We worked last night until 10:30. I crashed and went to bed, Cari worked until almost midnight. Now, two rooms and the hallway are done. We are not even half way through the project, but I think the kitchen and living room should go much quicker. We're becoming experts on installing this stuff now.

Start

Monday, April 25, 2005

work

we are installing laminate flooring in our house this week. Updates may be limited, but I'll try and keep up. I have a couple of good stories and pictures to share. Updates will probably pick up toward the end of the week.

We started on this floor project on Saturday. It's now Monday at 10:30pm, and we're still working on it. Ugh.

Friday, April 22, 2005

Storm Story


I added a grey arrow to this picture to show where I live.
This storm was a lot of fun when it passed through this afternoon. Just a little excitement at work. We were cleaning up outside and we saw it get VERY dark outside. Then the weather radio came on. The wind picked up very fast and a bit of rain started. I went to the garden center with another manager to close up. Now it was very windy. It took both of us to pull the gates closed. Plants were getting blown all over the ground. Signs were getting knocked over.

As we were waiting for the last customer to finish paying, the store manager came out and started yelling for everyone to get inside. RIGHT NOW! He said there was a possible tornado spotted within six miles of us. We chased everyone out and locked up quick. The store manager got everyone, customers and employees, to go to the center of the store. It got darker outside and the wind was getting stronger. We kept everyone there for about fifteen minutes. During that time myself and the other manager checked the perimeter.

We slowly got back to normal after that, and reports were coming in that there was a tornado touch down and also to the town just north of us, a pretty strong hail storm.
Just a little excitement to spice up a Friday afternoon.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Touching is Good


I got my hand in the mail yesterday. I forgot that I ordered it. It was free, I guess I requested it.
What this is about, is a contest from Nintendo of America.
You can read about it at: www.touchingisgood.com
They are promoting their new Nintendo DS handheld system, that features dual screens, one of them being a touch screen.

So, I need to take a creative picture and send it in. I might win $1,000. Even if I don't win, I got a cool hand to keep on the desk.
I'll post my entry here, when I get it done in the next week.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Booger


mom: I love your nose, Meredith.
Meredith: I have boogers.
mom: ok.
Meredith: Do you love my boogers?
mom: uh, sure.

Monday, April 18, 2005

Bones


Last week, Randy fell on the playground at school. Cari called me at work and told me he broke his arm. Cari and Meredith went to pick up Randy, and then she called me back. I was thinking maybe the teacher had exagerated. Nope. Still broken. I met them at the hospital.

At the ER, we were the only ones in there. Imagine that. I've never seen an empty ER. They got us straight to the triage nurse. Then to a bed. That's right, a hallway bed. What the . . .?!
This place is not busy, these permanant hallway beds with a screen around them should be for busy times. Last time (when I was in my car accident), we found a great sign on the wall, next to the bed, that said, "no waiting in the hallway." We found another great sign this time. I swear I'm not making this up. We are sitting in the hallway bed, this time with no curtain around. The boy is pale, sweating, and holding a swollen arm. The sign has pretty pictures and is on the wall directly behind the bed:

"Asprin in a NYC hosiptal : $12
Ice cream after getting a shot : $4
Privacy in the ER at Palmetto Baptist Hospital of Easley : Priceless"


You have to be kidding me. Although the reserve the rooms for the elite, they did provide quick service this time around. After x-rays of his broken elbow, it was straight to the operating room. The doctor explained that an elbow fracture is much more serious than just a broken bone. Your elbow has such a range of motion, that it must be set PERFECT.
Cari left to leave Meredith with a neighbor, and while she was gone, it was time to take Randy upstairs.

Up to this point, I was doing very well. Not nervous, or anxious. Just calm. Until I'm upstairs listening to the anestiaologist tell me about the risks of putting Randy to sleep. Suddenly, I was sweating. I could feel myself go pale, and I felt like I was going to pass out. The doctor didn't say anything, he continued telling his horror story. I kneeled down next to Randy's bed.
"Do you have any questions?", he asked. I was holding back vomit, and trying not to pass out. I shook my head, no.

The surgery was very short. While we were waiting, Randy's teachers both came up to the OR waiting area. They offered to help in any way.

We went home about ten pm that night.

Yesterday (Monday), we went to the doctor's office to get a cast on. Randy chose green. After much crying, he finaly calmed down a bit, and we got the cast on. Back to school today.

Walk in Faith


Yesterday at church, the message was WALK IN FAITH.
Abraham was told by GOD to pick up and move. To start his own nation, and thrive. Abraham had to have faith that GOD would provide for him during this time. Abraham picked up and left everything familiar to him. He did not know how far he was going, when he would get there, or what he would encounter along the way. He did not have an army to protect him.
We did not move to South Carolina for a religious reason. We had to have faith that this was the right thing to do. We left behind sights and sounds that were familiar. Left behind family. Going to a place we had never even driven through. We didn't know anybody where we were going. For a few days, even a job was partialy in question. We kept faith that this was the right thing to do.

It was.

Saturday, April 16, 2005

Go ahead and laugh


The other day I was taking pictures of the tulips in the yard. A neighbor drove by and was laughing that I was taking pictures of the flowers. He made a comment like I had never seen tulips before. He said he saw me sitting in the yard with my hands by my face and thought I was crying or something. When he drove down the street and saw the camera, he started laughing.

These are the same neighbors that when I saw them hack up the Pompas grass, I felt the need to do the same.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Broken Arm


There is obviously a story that goes with this picture. It's not going to get typed tonight.
The story does involve a trip to the same hospital I visited after my car wreck. So, if you remember that story, you can just imagine how this went.
Something that I was never able to do in Florida was burn leaves. In South Carolina, people rake a pile in the middle of their yard and catch it on fire. After cutting the Pompas grass into cubes, we had a truck load of cutting left on the ground. What a perfect time to start burning. I was not quite brave enough to burn them as they were, on the ground. We bought a small fire pit that I put in the backyard.

After bringing most of the leaves to the back, and dragging out the garden hose, I was ready. I filled the box, struck a match, and watched it sizzle to nothing. The grass is a bit wet from all the rain. After about twelve matches, and very little fire, I decided to get some help. I took the gas can from the mower and started to pour it in the box.

*POOF*

The fuel caught one of the hot spots from a match and ignited everything I had just poured in a flash. The fire did not stop there, as it continued up and caught the nozzle of the can on fire. I feared it might blow up, so I did the first thing I could think of, drop the can. This of course, started several small flames in the grass. I grabbed for the hose, but realized I never turned the thing on! Running like a madman, I turned the hose on and got back to the sprayer to extinguish my fires. I sprayed the water straight into the gas can and set it aside. It fell over and started dumping gas in the yard. AAAGGHHH!!!

Once I got everything under control, I had a nice fire going in my box. I continued to feed it leaves and watch the smoke pour into my neighbors yard.

I had a lot to burn, and the damp leaves did not burn fast enough for my taste. What would help my fire along? Oxygen. Fire needs oxygen. I went into the shed and emerged with the cordless blower. Oxygen at 100mph into my fire pit had some very satisfying results. Flames shot out of every corner and the leaves didn't last long. I'm such a proud redneck.

So, I continued my cycle of filling the box, and blowing air into the bottom. This was taking hours, and I still had several garbage cans left. Finally, Cari went to take the rest of the garbage cans to the landfill.

I smelled like a camp fire, and my family avoided being near me, as if I had the plague.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

When in Rome. . .

Pompas grass. Beautiful plumes in the summer and fall, green flowing blades of grass. Blades. Razor sharp. Cut your arm in half! These things HURT.

Several neighbors have these plants and they recently hacked them down to little cubes. This lead into a discussion on the front porch between Cari and I. Maybe we should hack our plants down to little cubes too. I'm not sure why we would do it. Not sure that it really helps the plant along or anything. Maybe we should do it, because that's what all the "cool kids" are doing.

Cubed

So, we made several little cubes in our yard now. By Summer they should mature into beautiful plants!

Oh, and I just want to say, "OUCH!!!"
These things are friggin' sharp! Razor blade edge. We went and got a fire pit, so I will be burning the hacked up parts. Feels like I'm getting a little revenge on the sucker that way.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Monday, April 11, 2005

Sunday


Today is the 100 year anniversary for our church. All the old members were invited. Many of the past pastors and their families also attended. Our normal service normal sees about sixty people. Today saw much closer to two hundred. It was very cool. I was to be at work at 9am. I asked to go in late so that I could go to church this morning. My boss said ok, but he sure gave me a hard time about it when I got there close to 1pm today.

One of the funniest things happened in church this morning. When the pastor told everyone to turn to #743 in the hymnal, and the organ started playing. Then he corrected himself and said to turn to #209. With the organ still playing the into, he leaned into the mic and told us it was supposed to be #759. One of the guest speakers from behind him whispered in the Pastor's ear. "#243". Now you could hear some giggling come from the pews. Finally, the Pastor put his hands up and stopped the music. "Everyone turn to #709." The music started again. The pastor pointed to the guest speaker behind him, "He has the wrong hymnal!" Much laughter now. A lovely lady from the choir reached over and gave our guest her hymnal.

Saturday, April 09, 2005

Transform


This is not my favorite tree during the summer and winter. The summer shows very dark green/brown leaves. These leaves do not turn a beautiful color during fall. They just turn crunchy brown and fall (to the dirt).

This spring has shown us the purpose for this tree. The flowers are very cool. See my next post for a close up of the flowers.

flowering tree


close up of the flowers on my transformed flowering tree.

Friday, April 08, 2005

The Script

Me: Randy, how was school today?

Randy: Good.

Me: What did you do in school today?

Randy: Play and learn.

Me: What did you learn?

Randy: readin'.


*every day*

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

D-Day

We are leaving to pick Cari up at the airport in a few minutes.

I think we have put everything back in decent shape.
When Meredith and I were cleaning up a bit today, I carried the vacuum into her room. She looked up, a bit nervous, and said, "I'm practicing my tricks!" She had three plastic chairs laying on their sides. She was carefully balanced on the center chair, with a foot on one of the legs.
I did the thing any good father would do.
"Oh, that's great, Meredith!", as I put the vacuum away and went back downstairs. I kept my head turned, because I was afraid more stunts were to come.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

D-Day minus one.

Cari will be back Wednesday evening.

On Monday, I woke up first. Today, Randy was first up. He came in and told me my alarm was going off, and he would pull me out of bed. It wasn't too late, but we had to get moving. This seems to be my normal strategy. We have a contest for Wednesday morning to see who will be up first. He'll probably win.

I made him a lunch to take today. On Monday, he told me that his teacher and him were talking about his mom being out of town. He told her the story about cookies for lunch. She told him it would probably be better to wait for mom to pack lunch later this week. So, this morning, I opened the lunch box, picked up the plastic box of cookies and set it inside the lunchbox. I asked Randy if he needed anything else. I did pack a real lunch before he left, even threw an apple in there.

Meredith and I took the dog for a LONG walk this morning. Way longer than I had hoped. When we got back from picking up Randy in the afternoon, we took some bread down to the pond to feed the ducks. About ten Mallard ducks came racing across to see us. They definitely knew why we were there, and came right up to our feet. This freaked Meredith a bit, and I had to hold her. I told her to throw the bread out a bit, and they would back up. She responded by dropping bits of bread ON MY TOES! Randy was a few feet to my side and had managed to get himself surrounded. He did not like this at all. He kept backing up, and they would move in on him. He got nervous and started yelling at them. After all the bread was gone, the ducks waddled back to the water a few yards away. We sat on the grass to watch them, and they all came back to us. I told Randy to sit still and they would leave him alone, but he was too nervous.

**APB***
I'm looking for the newly announced dark chocolate m&ms. If you know where to get these, please let me know. I have checked Walmart twice, and Ingles (grocery).

Monday, April 04, 2005

"Learn How to Drive", by Dale Jarrett

This is a picture taken from Nascar.com

You will see in this picture, Dale Jarrett in the white hat. He is having a little discussion with jerk, Shane Hmiel. Hmiel was running around the track in the Busch race playing bumper cars today. If you could see some shots of this guys car, it is a total wreck.

Anyway, he bumped Jarrett. Jarrett got a little sideways. Shane sped up, and hit Jarrett again while the car was sideways. This put Dale to the wall, spinning. Another car t-boned Dale pretty hard, ending his day. He (Dale) got out of his car, walked toward the stopped car of Hmiel. Two officials pulled up in a car and got out, to try and direct him to the ambulance. He waved them off. He was on a mission. Thankfully, they had an in car camera mounted in Shane's car. Dale leaned in the window net, finger in Shanes face, screaming/lecturing him. When he was done, Shane flicked him off.

The post race interviews, Shane was a total ass. He took no responsibility for the way he was driving. He also said that if Dale is going to get him back, "he better hurry." Saying that Dale is almost out of time. I'm sure this kid lost a LOT of respect today with as many people as he hit, and his attitude about it. He will be the victim of many wrecks to come (I hope).

Besides that, or including that, it was a very good race to watch today.

Be sure to watch the truck race this coming weekend at Richmond. Darrell Waltrip will be driving his truck. He has been trash talking other drivers about it all weekend, so I hope he lives up to what he says. I think it would be awesome to see him win that race. BOOGITY, BOOGITY, BOOGITY!!!

Day 3: after the race

This stupid daylight savings time is really throwing me off. After the race last night, we ran to the store. The kids convinced me that it was time to buy the stuffed animals they have been wanting. When we got home it was time to make dinner. We were talking about all the things we should do after dinner. Then it struck me. As I was taking dinner from the oven, I saw the clock. After 7pm! I ran to the living room to check that clock. Yep, still after 7. There is school tomorrow, bed time is by eight, and we still have not eaten. It's still bright as day out there, this is not working out for me. We shortened our plans and were in bed at 8:30, after the Simpsons.

---Day 4---

Dragged myself out of bed at 7 this morning. We have to leave the house by 7:45 to get Randy to school. I went up and woke Randy. At 7:30 we were still getting dressed and Meredith was still sleeping. Crunch time. 7:50, we left the house. Still made it in time, I hope tomorrow goes a little smoother.

odd noise

What's the odd sound I have been hearing the past few nights? Something I have not heard before. It only happens around the time I lay down in bed. Ever since Cari went out of town, before that, I don't recall EVER hearing it. I look around the room but see nothing odd. I lay still to hear it more clearly. Looking up, I see the shadow of the ceiling fan. The blades are still. That's it! It's not the noise I hear, it's the noise I DON'T hear!
Cari insists on having the fan on every night. Temperature does not matter, the fan will be on. She says it is for the sound, but the cool breeze on my face makes me think she enjoys my discomfort. I used to complain about this daily, but it was no use. I would never win that battle. So, this week, when she is away, the fan will sit motionless. Ah, the sound of a fan - off.

Bristol Burnout!


I won my online race last night at Bristol!
I led 89 of 100 laps. There were a couple of nervous moments for me. The first coming when I needed to pit and we did not have a caution. My tires were falling apart and I was losing my lead. I had never practiced pitting under green flag, because there has always been cautions. I finaly pitted and came out in 2nd place, about five seconds behind the leader. There was about thirty laps to go. I was catching the leader at a pretty good pace. He had pitted about fifteen laps before me.
My next nervous moment came when the caution finaly did come out. With less than twenty to go. The leader pitted for tires and I stayed out, putting about five cars between us. My car was not very good on the restart, it took about two or three laps to get going. I held the lead, but that car chasing me had only one car between us when the final caution came out with five to go.
That's when our voice communication program crashed. It caused the buttons on my wheel to go dead. It also caused problems for the guy chasing me. He was unable to shift on his wheel. He was stuck in 4th gear, under caution. He restarted in fourth gear with three to go. Again, my car was not great those first two laps, and a car got under me in turn 1. I held on and pushed it through turn 2, keeping the lead. But, I was scared. I did hold the lead, and win the race. And there was much rejoicing! yeah!

Sunday, April 03, 2005

Day 3: trapped

Survived Saturday. We tried to go outside and color the driveway with chalk, but after about 15 minutes, the three of us decided it was too cold. Trapped inside, we didn't really do much yesterday. Puzzles, cars, TV, and books took most of our day.

We had a late dinner and finished eating around 7pm. We got pajamas on, and went through the getting ready for bed routine. Back downstairs for reading books, I realized that the time would be going up one hour. This means it was almost 9pm!

After kids were in bed, I decided to race online again. It was 11:45 when I had enough. I moved the clocks up to 12:45, then I got nervous, because I would have to get up around 7:30 to get ready for church.

We made it this morning. Barely. Getting everyone breakfast and dressed in less than an hour was all about being efficient. Not fun, just efficient. It was good practice for tomorrow, when I have to get Randy out the door for school by 8am.

I'm off to watch the Bristol race. Have a good day, I know Rusty Wallace will!!!

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Pope John Paul II


Pope John Paul II

Day 2

Before I start writing about yesterday, I want to share some interesting things about the Pope.

It seems that Pope John Paul II will die in the next few hours/days. I read a brief biography about him at CNN this morning.


Wojtyla chose the same name as his predecessor -- whose reign lasted just 34 days before he died of a heart attack -- and added another Roman numeral in becoming the first Slavic pope. He was also the first non-Italian pope in 455 years (the last was Adrian VI in 1523) and, at 58, the youngest pope in 132 years.



Chose his name? What name would I choose if I was a Pope? hmm.... maybe a Simpsons inspired, "Pope Max Power I". That sounds like a Pope who can make things happen.

----------Day 2: appliances----------

Friday started with a walk around the block. The kids went inside to play some games while I spread some fertilizer on the lawn. After I went inside, I felt very sick. I laid on the couch while the kids played for about two hours. My head was pounding. After I laid down and took a Tylenol, I felt much better. Built a clubhouse up in Randy's room because it was raining outside. We took every sheet and blanket we could find and hung them around his room. We had fun putting it up and playing, but I do not look forward to folding it all back up. Would balling it up in the corner of a closet be acceptable?

I had to run the dishwasher on Friday. Would you believe I have never turned the thing on before? It's true. So I loaded it up, in a manner that I have seen Cari do before. Put some slime in the cup and closed it, as directed on the lid of the cup. Closed the door and locked it. Now the tough part. How to make this thing start. I used to sell appliances, you would think I could operate one. There is no "start" button. I need a button that says, "START". It should be colored orange or yellow. Randomly, I started pushing buttons and turning the knob. "click!", it started. Yeah, that's not too tough.

Today I have to run the washing machine. Perhaps I should look up some instructions on the Whirlpool website. Nah, random buttons worked fine yesterday, should work fine today too.

Friday, April 01, 2005

3 things. (one more than 2; one less than 4)

1. Is this thing sponsored? I seem to talk about a lot of products on here, you would think that I'm trying to satisfy a sponsor. Someone asked about it anyway. Unfortunately, I get no free products or any kind of pay for doing this. I still pay full price for TiVo also.

2. Bristol is this weekend. I am pulling for the #2 car on Sunday, Rusty Wallace. He has won 9 times there in the past, and this is last season racing. He almost had the pole this afternoon. Busch race tomorrow afternoon should also be exciting.

3. Garbage Disposal. This is a fun tool. Most children are fascinated by flushing things in the toilet. In a way, the disposal is just an advanced toilet. Throw in some stainless, spinning, blades for an added sense of danger, and you are ready to go. Sometimes I'll just grab a cup of ice and toss it in there to hear that crunch and gurgle. I got a little excited one night last week. I was tossing stuff in there, choosing different textures. A bowl of half eaten sweet potatoes was my last victim for this run.
"where did my dinner go?", Cari asked as she came back from dealing with a child.
"what dinner?", I walked away from the sink.
"my sweet potatoes. I only had one bite. They were still hot."
I shrugged my shoulders, "I'm not sure. Where did you leave them?"
"On my plate, in front of my chair!", she grabbed my arm as I was walking from the kitchen.
"Oh, that plate. Sorry bout that, was just trying to help clean up.", I was busted.
Punishment coming soon.

April Fools Day

April 1st.
This is always a good day to find fake news stories on the internet. Probably no different than any other day, depending where you get your news from.

I read a lot of sites about video games. These guys always have fun with April Fools day. Announcing fake games, or the status of some highly anticipated game. Already today there was a story about a Sony PSP (new handheld) that is gold encrusted selling for $35,000. Right.


Not related to April Fools, I just wanted to post this picture from Easter.

DAY 1 : the calm before the storm

Well, day one is over.
I them what they wanted for dinner last night, and offered about five options. Of course, I was wasting my time, because we all know that pizza would be the answer. In goes a frozen pizza.
I did warn them that we would not be able to eat pizza every night this week, and maybe they would want to reserve a favorite for later in the week.

The table was pushed back to its normal position, the tv was off. While the pizza was cooking, we started our dinner with a cookie. We called the pizza, "dessert". We all ate pizza.

After dinner, we played upstairs for a bit and got pajamas on.

Just before bed, we all went downstairs to watch a bit of tv. Cari called about that time. I handed Randy the phone, "DAD GAVE US COOKIES FOR LUNCH AND DINNER!!!!".
It seems Randy has a hard time looking ahead. He was very proud of telling on me. He'll be in for a surprise today when he asks for a cookie.
After I got off the phone he asked with a smirk, "So what did mom tell you about feeding us?".
He figured I would be in trouble. I acted upset, and chased him around the house.

Bed time at 8. They went to bed without a problem.
I went down to race Nascar online. During the race, I spun two people around, mostly on accident. It was a short track, and they were moving too slow, I HAD to get by them. Well, after I caused my third accident, I excused myself from the race before anyone got angry with me. I turned off the computer and went to watch tv.

I had a dream last night about buying and selling real estate with little or no money down. I would become a millionaire within a month. I opened my eye to see that I was dreaming about an infomercial blaring from the television. It seems like only fifteen minutes later, Randy came down the stairs, before seven. We watched last nights Survivor on TiVo.

I offered about four choices for breakfast this morning. Sausages, toast, eggs, cereal. . .
"How about some pizza. Mom will always let us have pizza from last night.", he explained.
"cold or hot?", I asked.
"cold."
As he was eating his cold pizza, I could imagine the phone conversation this morning, "MOM, DAD GAVE US PIZZA FOR BREAKFAST!"