I Need Your Help

Hello all my friends out there.  I need your help.  We have two sweet little dogs named Bonnie and Smallville. They need a new home.

Bonnie is a 5 year-old female (spayed) brown and white Jack Russell Terrier.  Smallville is 4 year-old male (neutered) black and white (and a little brown) Jack Russell Terrier.  Both of them are full-blooded, healthy, housebroken, crate trained, and can do quite a few tricks.

They like to be outdoors, but are comfortable in the house as well.  Jack Russell Terriers are notorious for two things:  being one of the smartest, if not THE smartest dog breed, and being hyperactive.  I prefer the term high energy.  They love to run and play, but every evening the come inside, play fetch and tug-o-war a little bit, then turn into lap dogs.  They love people, and are very friendly.

We recently moved into a new house, and that's where our problems started.  They've gotten out of the fence many times.  In Texas, they never got out of the fence.  In our past three and half years, they only escaped a handful of times, and they usually just came around and scratched on the front door.

Monday, they escaped AGAIN, and this time they ended up instigating a tussle with a Maltese that was being walked by her owner.  The Maltese wasn't hurt,  but the lady was pretty shook up.  She managed to catch both dogs (which isn't difficult) and called Animal Control, who came and picked them up.  We received two citations for each dog:  2 "Failure to Control Animal", and 2 "Vicious Animal".  These are not "vicious" animals.

Our fence just can't seem to hold them.  We need someone that would be willing to give them a new home.  They come with a crate!  The person that would be perfect to adopt these dogs would either have A)  a QUALITY fenced yard, or B)  a couple of hundred acres.  They really don't need to be all-day-inside dogs.

Please pass the word on this.  I'll drive 100 miles to bring them to a good home.

Smallville

Bonnie

A Promised Post

I promised a couple of weeks ago that I would post some more of the things that were shared at my sister's funeral. Don't worry! This isn't going to be a "downer". Hopefully the words will encourage you.

The following are excerpts from what my sister's friend Nancy shared.

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Life is about two things: relationships and memories.

Relationships:

• Teresa was the master craftsman of relationships & handy as a shirt pocket!
• She never met a stranger. At F.O.R. (Friends of the River), Teresa was the "meeter & greeter". For example, she would walk in to our breakfasts, look around and head directly to the new faces. She had the ability to make everyone feel special.
  
• In order to get to know someone, you have to spend time with them - Teresa loved people - All people and she loved spending time with them. She transcended circles and was comfortable with folks from all walks of life.
• You always knew exactly where you stood with her, because she would tell you!
• With her big smile, bright eyes and bubbly spirit, she would light up a room and make you feel right at home.

Memories:

• We met Teresa and Neal when Vanessa brought them to one of the F.O.R. Organizing Committee meetings in early 2006. She was a handpicked "worker-bee". Teresa had a passion for the river and was F.O.R.'s most devoted volunteer with her "can-do" positive attitude. Teresa was "Friends of the River".
• Travis (Teresa's son) purchased a new car on-line from Iraq and it was delivered to Teresa and Neal's house. Teresa drove it at least once a week to keep the battery charged. We typically rode together to yoga and one Tuesday she picked me up in Travis' car... This car is a HOT, good-looking car, a real "Man's Machine" ---RUMMMMM, RUMMMM! I jumped in and away we went...it felt like we were really moving and she looked at me and said, "and we're only going 35!" We laughed! Well, we pulled up for class and our yoga teacher ran out of the building because she heard the RUMMMM, RUMMMM. Teresa said, "Hop in, let's go for a ride" and away we went. We headed down 521 and you would have thought we were teenagers..."young and dumb" all over again. We laughed till our sides hurt with tears streaming down our faces! What a great memory!
• Teresa would occasionally call me when we were both driving to work and she would always start the conversation singing one of her songs; depending on the day it was either "Marvelous Monday", "Terrific Tuesday"...or her "Fabulous Friday" song.
• Every morning she prayed for Travis' safety, peace for F.O.R., and for her family. Among other things, she asked God to help her be a blessing to someone that day.
• Teresa was the ultimate peace-maker. she tried to make everything okay!
• We've lost a mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend, but we've gained a guardian angel.

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Here's a link to a nice tribute that F.O.R. did for Teresa.

Well, now that you've read what others had to say about my sister, maybe next time I'll share my thoughts.

My Sister

Most of you know that my sister Teresa was diagnosed with lung cancer about a year and a half ago. In fact, I posted several updates on my blog about her status, including some letters from her.

After her first round of chemo, things looked pretty good, and it seemed that she might have beaten the odds. Sadly, the cancer came back with a vengeance, and on December 20th, she passed away quietly in the early hours of the morning with her loved ones by her side.

She was much loved by everyone who knew her. My mom asked if I wanted to speak at the

funeral, but I knew that I couldn't do it. It turns out, I didn't need to. Two of her friends shared their reflections on Teresa and her life. They did a fantastic job. I couldn't have added one thing.

Below is what the owner of the company that she worked at for 15+ years had to say. I'll try to post the other one in the future. If you have a couple of minutes, whether you knew Teresa or not, read the transcript below and get just a glimpse of who my wonderful sister was.

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My name is Anthony Alexander and if I were to be introduced to you by Teresa, she would introduce me as her Boss. But if you ever spent any time at my office you would quickly figure out that Teresa was really the Boss at Brazos Fasteners. The rest of us just got out of the way and did what we were told.

When Susan called the other day and told me that the family wanted someone from the office to speak here to today my immediate response was NO WAY. You see I am the guy who can't make it through an episode of Biggest Loser without crying. But then I got to thinking about what Teresa would do if I were asked to speak at someone else's funeral. I would walk into my office like I have done for the past 17 years and say Teresa I need your help and like million times before she would stop what she was doing and immediately come to my rescue. She would pull up a chair to my desk and Say in her Teresa way “Here I am boss what can do to help?” I would explain what I needed and she would, without even a breath of thought, convince me that I could do it, and she would help me make it be the best speech ever. We would spend the next however long helping me write the perfect words on paper all the while she would be convincing me that I would be able to get up and deliver those words like the most eloquent orator of all Time! And when it came time to deliver she would be while standing in the back

of the audience gleaming with pride and cheering every me on with her smile.

When Teresa and I first meet I was a Skinny little 19yr old kid with a wife and and kid, scared out of my mind as to how I was going to make ends meet. After 17yrs with her by my side giving me every ounce of energy she could give. She helped create a thriving business, not to mention put a little weight on me. I would like to share with you a piece of Teresa through my eyes. You see, Teresa’s desk and mine were about five feet apart so as you can imagine I got to see a lot.

The one thing that I saw everyday from Teresa and the one thing that stood out the most was LOVE. No one I have ever met in my life knew how to Love more than Teresa. And to be honest, it scared me to death. I am much more reserved when it comes to all of the lovey-dovey stuff and when this fireball from Sweeny Texas came into my life, boy was I in for a real live roller coaster ride. I watched her love every customer, every vendor, every employee, the mailman, the ups man, and she not only genuinely loved them, she Hugged Them TOO!!! And it did not take her long to start huggin me! That took me a long time to get used to. But when

I got used to all the ickyness of huggin, I realized that is what made her so special. When you hugged Teresa it was like no other. She had a way of holding on just long enough, where you could almost feel her heart.

The four people that I enjoyed watching her hug the most were her son Travis and my three children. Every time the four of them came into our office I watched Teresa wrap them up in her octopus arms and deposit a little piece of her heart into their soul.

Teresa is going to be missed . We will never be able to replace her, nor would we begin to try. But she will always be with us. Take it from me, I have a lot of experience, if you were one of the lucky people that got to experience a “Teresa Hug” then she left a piece of her inside of you!

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Thanks for everyone's kind words and continued prayer for my family.

Do You Feel the Same?

Quick question:

If you are on a road trip, and you stop at a McDonald's or QT, or maybe even a generic Chevron, just to use their restroom, do you feel any onus to purchase something?

I do. Every time. I've tried to even convince myself, "Hey, I eat at 'McDonalds' all the time," but I know they are mostly franchises and the Mickey D's that I eat at in Smyrna doesn't send any money to Monroe, Louisiana, so I can't completely convince myself it is okay.

Am I strange? Insane? Have an over-developed sense of responsibility?

How about you, has the thought ever even crossed your mind?

A Little Wood...A Little Glue...

A few weeks ago we had our Back to School Bash. It was a (Back to School) Blast! You can read more about it here.

While the event was going on, I was working at the booth passing out the free backpacks. Also at the booth was our friend Kristen. She and I were chatting (along with our spouses), and I learned that she was trying to find the right TV stand/entertainment center for their new house. They weren't having any luck finding one that combined the right price with a design they liked.

So I, being the genius that I am, volunteered to build them one.

What was that you asked? Have I built a lot of TV stands?

Let's see...at THAT time I had built...umm....zero. Zilch. None. Nada. Nil.

But I had a plan and the will to see it through!

So, after getting the go ahead from Nick (Kristen's husband), and Cheryl (my wife), I wasted no time in moving ahead with my plan. My plan revolved around one key ingredient, without which I was pretty much doomed to failure: Tom Little.

Tom was also at the BtSB, so as soon as I saw him I told him that I desperately needed his help...more specifically, his tablesaw. Tom, being the good friend that he is (not to mention a mastercraftsman in multiple disciplines) said, "Sure! I'd be glad to help."

Now my success was assured. With Tom on the team we were good to go.

After hearing Nick's Kristen's desires, I had formulated a plan and drew up some rough plans. To make a long story medium, we arranged a time on a Saturday a few weeks later, and Tom, Nick, and I met at Tom's house.

Well, three hours later, we had it fabricated (except for the back, we took the picture before we added that)! Nick Kristen was going to paint/stain it, so we were done!

Later that day, I dropped it off at their house. A few days later, Kristen sent me a picture via phone of the finished project. Wow! They did a great job on it.

Below is a picture of it all set up. What a fun project. I had a great time fleshing out the design,and Kristen has been very gracious and complimentary. Fun all around.

The next project Tom and I are tackling is a bunkbed for Nathanael...but it won't be just any bunkbed. I've got some ideas for that too...

Thanks again, Tom!

Back to School Bash

Today my church hosted a "Back to School Bash". We had free hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, snowcones, and drinks. There were not 1, not 2, but 3 bouncy-house-thingys for the kids. There was face painting (that was incredible, I might add) and carnival games for the kids. And let's not forget the live music from the Easy Pieces, Sheri Carr and Diane Thiel (and friends). To top it off we had a prayer booth and a dunking booth. I'll let you guess which one got the most traffic.

Zaxby's donated sweet tea and free kid's meal coupons, as well promoted the event with a special coupon good during the event. The Zaxby's chicken, "LZ", was out shaking hands with the kids and hanging out. They even put the event on their Facebook page!

Our next-door neighbors, All Star Pizza Co. also chipped in, letting us store our ice in their coolers , as well supplying some wonderful baked ziti and rolls.

But the main thrust of the afternoon was to give away backpacks with school supplies for local children. That's where Cheryl and I worked, and it was great fun. I don't know how many backpacks we had to start, but we gave them ALL away. Everyone was very excited and appreciative to receive them.

We didn't solve world hunger today, or end war, but we blessed our community, offered hope to some people that might not have had it, and possibly eased the financial burden on some families going through some tough times.

Over all, I'd say that's a good day.

A special "shout out" and "mad props" to Ali, Skye, and Elizabeth for helping take care of Nathanael (and to anybody else that chased him down). It gave me and Cheryl a chance to do something we both love: serving together. Thanks!

Taking the Month Off

So I'm taking the month of August off from the Hut. I've been a little under the weather this past week, and I think part of it is just from being tired.

Job #1 has been really busy for the past several months, and when you throw the second job on top of it, sometimes it's just hard to catch your breath. This weekend is my first full weekend off, and I am already loving it.

Had a great time last night! I did some puzzles in a brain teaser book and watched Jeopardy at the same time. Wild night.

Today, we cut my hair. Actually, I should say, shaved my hair. I haven't had it cut in years.

This afternoon, our church is doing a "Back to School Bash" in the parking lot for our community. We're giving away food, going to have some live music, fun stuff for the kids, etc. But the main thing thrust is that we are giving away a bunch of backpacks filled with the necessary school supplies. (That's actually my job, the handing out of the backpacks.)

It's going to be a lot of fun. It's from 4-8 tonight, so hopefully we'll miss most of the heat.

That's it. That's all I have to say. No clever quips or witty anecdotes. Just a little about my life right now.

You Can Count On Me

I think my son is pretty bright. He talks a lot (imagine that) and has a great vocabulary, though he still sounds like a 3 year-old. He learned his numbers, colors and alphabet early. Lately though, he's run into a problem now that he's trying to count to 20. Our conversations go something like this:

Me: Hey, buddy, can you count to 20 for me.

Him: Sure! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20!

Me: Careful! You missed a couple in there. Try it again.

Him: Okay! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20!

Me: Okay, Nathanael, repeat after me. 11...

Him: 11...

Me: 12...

Him: 14...

Me: Let's try it again...repeat me, say what I say...12...

Him: 12...

Me: 13...

Him: 14...

Me: Nathanael, say 13...

Him: 13...

Me: Try this, say 12, 13, 14...

Him: 12, 14, 15...

(Pause)

Me: Okay...what's your phone number?

Him: 770-413-2853...leave your name and number...

Like My Lunchbox?

Last year, on November 20th, I celebrated my 15th wedding anniversary (as did my wife). I am not one of those guys that jokes about "the ole ball-and-chain", etc. I know how incredibly blessed I am to be married to the woman that I am incredibly blessed to be married to. ( That last sentence was on purpose. I'm that incredibly blessed.)

Anyway, my incredible blessing of a wife got me a great present last year for our anniversary. A lunchbox. But not just any lunchbox. No! It's a Captain America lunchbox! It's awesome.

Now to answer the obvious question. Do I carry it to work? You bet I do. Usually it contains some chips, a sandwich, maybe some yogurt. It can hold all kinds of great things. After all, it is a lunchbox.

Now here's the interesting thing. At least, interesting to me. In high school, even Jr. high, I would never, EVER, have been seen carrying a lunchbox like this. I was way too worried about being cool. Well...trying to be cool. I never actually managed it.

I was in the worst of situations. I was a smart, slightly (at the time) overweight kid that ended up excelling in band of all things. I collected comic books, read a lot, played D&D and Risk, and loved computers when computers weren't yet cool. (I am sure I would have been picked on more if I wasn't bigger than most of my teachers.)

Of course, NONE of this was mentioned at school. Most of my best friends were nerds, but, of course, being the lame, self-conscious, peer-aware person that I was, I tried not to associate too much with them at school. (one of the few things I truly regret from high school.) I was too busy trying to impress the "cool kids". I know it sounds like an After School special, but it's true. It wasn't the "cool kid's" fault. They didn't know that the very reason I often acted like a jerk and a dweeb was because I was trying hard not to act like a geek and a nerd.

Then I went to college. Something happened. Suddenly, I was immersed in a culture where the things that I did best (musically, scholastically) were highly esteemed. My peer group respected me.

Then something else happened. I became a Christian. I had always sort of considered myself a Christian, but had never really read the Bible or felt like God had any active participation in my life. (But that's an entirely different story.) One of the changes this brought in my life was a sense of freedom. I was no longer worried about what other people thought. I was able to be myself.

Interestingly enough, I found out I liked me. And strangely enough, other people did, too. I found that I had a gift for making friends and hospitality. You might ask, "You?" Yep, me.

I discovered that my quirks are what makes me who I am. I love comic books. I wear shorts in the winter. I love to laugh at really stupid movies. I get loud sometimes. I say what's on my mind. I love people and really mean it when I tell them, "The first time at my house you're a guest, if you come back, you're family." When I tell people, "Come to Atlanta, you can stay at our house," I sincerely hope they will.

What you see is what you get. The guy sitting in the cubicle next to you singing the Speed Racer theme song? That's me. If it bothers you, I'll stop, but I'm not embarrassed to be doing it. I've embraced my geek-ness and idiosyncrasies, and I'm loving life.

Do you like my lunchbox? I do.

Reflections

The title's not talking about looking back to the past. It's referring to how our kids are such reflections of us.

My (almost) three-year-old son brought me one of my videos of the The Tick and asked if we could watch it. I told him that we could watch it as soon as I finished the blog that I was writing for Father's Day. Below is his reply. Verbatim.

"Okay! That would be a perfect plan! Fantastic!!"

Oh, where does he get such a flair for the dramatic? Gee...I don't know.

Friends

This past week I've been thinking about friendship in general, and all the wonderful roles friends have played in my life over the years. So, I just thought I would list a few. I don't want to embarrass anyone, so I'm going to let each anecdote remain anonymous. You know who you are.

1. Once, I was riding with my father in his 18-wheeler. One of the front wheels broke into two pieces (yes, it was as scary as it sounds), and we were stranded on the side of the road. My dad called one of his friends (who also owned some trucks) and found a replacement wheel. I called one of my friends, who picked the wheel up, then drove almost three hours to bring us the wheel.
2. I have multiple friends that took a week off of work (some multiple times over the years) to go with me and serve at youth camp. I know they weren't doing it just for me, but it blessed me still.
   
3. I had a friend show up at my house one day with the #1 issue of the comic book "The Tick". One of my favorites. No reason, just thought I might like it.
4. In the midst of moving, I found out I was coming down with Strep Throat. A couple of our friends not only helped us move, but came back over that evening, brought us dinner, and helped with Nathanael and unpacking.
5. One of my friends drove our moving truck all the way from Texas. Some more of my friends, who just happened to be teenagers, came along to help.
6. Several of our friends have come all the way from Texas just to visit us in Atlanta.
7. One of my friends climbed up on the roof of my house to install my TV antenna for me.

There are many, many more that I could list. But I think I'll save some for later.

Ecclesiastes says, "If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"

How true!

Sometimes Not Enough Is Just Enough

At my day job I support and develop electronic medical records. We have things called "GLITCHes", which are problems directly reported by our end-users (usually physicians) to the IT staff. When they submit one, it is sent both to our email and cell phones.

Some of us don't have email on cell phones. We have to go to our email to get the full message because the cell phone text message limit will truncate the GLITCH We will only get the first part, which is usually something like:

"Having problem with referral template, can't open..."

or something like that. Every once in awhile we get a funny one. This past week we got the best one ever. The physician was trying to discontinue a medication on a patient and was having a problem. Here's the message we received:

"Computer will not allow me to disco"

Classic. Maybe you should try to mambo instead...

Steve Martin, Martin Short, Chevy Chase

I worked in a video store when I was 18. One day a 10 year-old hispanic child walked in with his grandmother. They walked up to the counter. He translated:

Excuse me, sir, do you have The Three Friends?

You mean The Three Amigos?

Yes, The Three Friends. Do you have it?

The Three Amigos? Yes, we have it.

Right, The Three Friends. You have it?

Yes. It's called The Three Amigos.

The Three Friends?

(Pause)

Yes, we have The Three Friends. It's in the comedy section.

Yes, That Is A Plane In His Yard

I have a blog-friend who goes by the handle "Misfit in Paradise". She has a couple of blogs, one of which is a photo blog of the area around where she lives. I find it very cool and interesting. As I am driving around delivering pizza, I notice all the things I would like to take pictures of and share in the same way. Usually I don't have the time...pizzas to deliver and all!! Tonight, though, there was one photo op I couldn't pass up. Below is the story...

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I knocked on the door of the house. A gentlemen answered and asked for the total. I told him. We exchanged money for pizza. Then I asked the question.

"Did you know that your neighbor had a plane in his front yard?"

"Yeah...nice guy...a little eccentric...but nice."

Click on the photo for a larger view.

To My Mom

If you've read my blog before, you've probably seen some posts about my dad and the influence he has had in my life. But, of course, Dad was only half the equation while I was growing up.

I've mentioned my mom in a few posts, but without further ado, here's some additional thoughts and comments about my mom.

• The last time I was home for Thanksgiving there were 40 people at my Mom's house for lunch. I'm only related to 12 of them.
  
• My Mom once dressed up as a werewolf for my childhood Halloween party.
• My Mom and her friend spent hours creating handmade outfits for my sister's Barbie dolls. My sister found the box before Christmas.
• Mom made me a Ultraman costume out of paper-mache when I was a kid.
• She kept me out of school one day just to take me fishing.
• Likes to listen to Willie Nelson, Freddie Fender, and Metallica.
  
• Still likes to hear me play Greensleeves on the trumpet.
• Has her concealed handgun permit.
  
• She's an award winning cook.
• She has a HUGE Santa Claus collection that takes over the house every year at Christmas.
• She loves her family (and friends that she treats like family).
• Everyone is welcome in her house. My mother has never met a stranger, and really taught me how to love people.

I could go on and on, but for now I'm just going to say Happy Mother's Day Mom!!

A Fun Little Task

My son loves the movie Cars, so the other day when I was at Kroger picking up a few things I bought a Cars book for him. It was a very cool book. It was a pop-up book that had pop-up cars that popped out. AND, more importantly, it had a fold out racetrack in the back.

I knew the pop-up pop-out cars wouldn't last long, but I wasn't too worried. He has Hot Wheels that he prefers to play with anyway. But the racetrack was a different story. I didn't want that to get destroyed because he was having such fun with it.

I like to build stuff. I think it's fun. So I got the bright idea of making the racetrack into a table. My mom has a little table that's less than a foot high that she always pulls out for kids to play blocks on, etc. I thought that something along those lines would be perfect for this.

So I built a little table, took the map out of the back of the book, and mounted it on the table under plexiglass. Thanks Home Depot. It sits about 6 inches tall and measures about 18" X 30".

Cheryl tells me he played with it all day!

Fun for me and for him.

My Word Is My Blah

Have you ever seen the movie "The Freshman" starring Matthew Broderick and Marlon Brando? If you haven't, you might want to check it out. It's a (sorta) dark comedy about a college freshman named Clark Kellogg (Broderick) who becomes a delivery man for a godfather-like character named Carmine Sabitini (Brando). It's got some funny moments, but there is a particular scene that stands out to me. I actually think about it fairly often.

Near the end of the movie, there's a scene where Clark really, really wants to talk to Carmine. Carmine brushes him off and Clark presses the issue. I couldn't find the actual script, but in my head, this is the way the scene plays out:

Clark: I really have to talk to you.

Carmine: We'll talk after dinner.

Clark: Do you promise?

Carmine: By definition, everything I say is a promise.

Think about Carmine's last line for a minute. I'll wait.

(Whistle, whistle, whistle...toe tap, toe tap, toe tap...checking watch)

Okay!

"By definition, everything I say is a promise." That's something worth striving for. If we find ourselves having to reassure the people in our lives that we'll do what we say we'll do, then that's a problem. I want to live my life in such a way that my family and friends never feel that my words are an empty promise. I have a couple of friends that are great friends, but it's sad to say that if they say they are coming over, I don't count on it until they drive up.

I understand that there are some instances where you just can't do what you've said. It happens. Sometimes circumstances change. Am I living this idea out perfectly? Nope. But I'm trying. This is something my dad stressed when I was growing up.

It also makes me think of this Bible verse:

Matthew 5:37
Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

What do you think? Is this something you think about? Something you struggle with?

On a Similar Note

Last week I blogged a little about my feelings toward the military, and my appreciation for those that serve our country. I mentioned that my nephew was in serving with the USMC in Iraq right now. He just re-enlisted while he was over there. Apparently, they take pictures of that, so I thought I would just share a couple of them with you.

We're very proud of him.

A Humbling Experience

The other day, I attended the funeral of the grandfather of one of our close friends. He was himself a dear friend of ours, and a wonderful man. He had served in the United States Marine Corps when he was a young man, so he received a military funeral. There was a team of young Marines there that carried the casket, folded the flag, presented it to his wife, etc.

George Tyler, one of the elder statesmen of our church, was also at the funeral. He was in his mid-eighties, but still pretty spry. In the hallway after the service, he walked up to one of the young marines and told him that he had served in the Marines, what division he had served in, and in what theater of war.

I didn't know that George had served in the Marines, and I thought to myself, "Hey, that's cool. Very interesting, George."

I expected the young Marine (he was probably 20, or 21 years old at the most) would say something along the same lines. Instead, he reached out, shook George's hand, looked him in the eye and said, "Thank you."

I was humbled. He got it. He understood the sacrifice that every person that joins our military makes. My nephew Travis is serving with the USMC in Iraq right now. So, even though it's not Veteran's Day or Memorial Day, I would just like to take this opportunity to say thanks.

To everyone that has served our country in the military, past or present, thank you.

Shifting Gears

When I was about 4, I used to ride on our John Deere lawn mower with my older sister while she mowed the yard.

On a side note, people make me laugh when they call their lawn mowers "lawn tractors". I don't know...I guess it's because I've driven lots of tractors, and anything you can load in the back of a pickup is not a tractor.

On another side note, I always say that I "mowed the yard". I never "cut the grass" or "mow the lawn". I always mow the yard.

Back to the story...

On one particular day, my sister and I were mowing the yard (not cutting the grass), and she pulled up by the house and parked. We got off the lawn mower (not tractor) and went inside for something to drink. We stayed inside for a few minutes, and I was ready to get back to work. So I got the key off of the hook and went back outside.

You see, I thought I knew how to drive the lawn mower. It was simple. You pressed down the pedal, cranked the engine, let out the pedal and drove. There was another pedal you held down to start the blades spinning. If you wanted to go backward, you pressed down the pedal, looked backwards, let the pedal out and started going backwards.

Of course, all this time what I HADN'T seen was my sister reaching down on the side and changing the gear from forward to reverse. One small, but vital, piece of info.

So, I climbed up in the seat and pushed down the pedal. I stuck the key in ignition and cranked it up. I turned and looked back behind me, let out the pedal...and promptly ran the lawn mower into the side of the house.