I Wear Clothes Because I Have To....???...

Am I For Real?
Well, Yea, Sort Of. I Guess This Is The Time I Tell On Myself. I'm Not Sure Whether I Have Fully Disclosed My True Character Or Just Maybe Some Of It.
Anyway, This Blog Is About Fashion. Maybe I Will Give You A Different Prospective On The "Dress Code".
The Dress Code I Am Referring To Is My Own. I Have None!
I Judge A Person For How They Present Themselves To Me And NOT How they Are Dressed. I Was Once Told That You Can Tell Alot About A Person By Looking At Their Shoes. Their Shoes? You Would Have To Look Down! I Don't Or Shall I Say Refuse To Believe Such Nonsense.
I Look Into A Person Heart As They Talk. I Listen To Their Concerns. I Feel Their Desire To Make A Difference.
How A Person Is Dressed Bares No Reflection On The Character Of Their Soul.
Most Of The Ones Who Know Me Best Know I Should Be The Best Dressed Man In Danville.
If I Chose To I Could Wear Brand Named Clothing Sporting Shoes That Would Turn The Heads Of Many.
My Appearance Is The Least Of My Concerns. I May Look At Myself Once In The Morning To Make Sure I Have No Popcorn Kernels Wedged In My Teeth From The Night Before. Other Than My Daily Routine Of Grooming, That Would Probably Be My Only Self Sighting I Would Encounter In A 24 Hour Time Period.
Ever Hear The Saying Never To Judge A Book By It's Cover? I Would Have To Say They Had Me In Mind When They Said That!
I Am At My Best In Blue Jeans And A Pullover. I'm Out To Impress No One.
The Kicked Back Feeling Pleases Me Best.

Before?

Not Quite, But I Sure Felt Like It!
It Must Be A Tradition With Me Year In And Year Out. I Put It On Then Take It Off. It's My Weight I Am Referring To.
I Weighed Myself In April And It Was An Easy Number To Remember. On 4-21 I Weighed 214. Ofcourse My Summer Gig Had Just Got Started. I Found Another Notch On My Belt That I Never Dreamed I Would Be Using. Am I Happy? Yea I'm Glad I Lost 20 Pounds Because I Can Move About Alot Easier Now That I Am Not Carrying An Additional Amount Of Weight. I Think What Bothers Me Most Is I Really Can't See On My Body Where I Have Lost The Weight.
For Those Who Knows Me The Best Are Aware Of My Buldging Belly. I Was Kind Of Hoping To Lose Some Of That! No Such Luck!
Life At 194 Is Much Better Than 214. According To My Heighth Chart I Should Weigh About 170 Pounds. If That Is Correct Then I Have Another 24 Pounds To Lose.
To Be Honest About It Quitting Smoking Led To My Weight Gain. Those Who Know Me Best Can Vouch For That. I Had Been Skinny Most Of My Life. I Weighed Between 130-135 Pounds Since I Was In High School. I Entered The Navy Weighing 132 Pounds.
I'm Not Into These Weight Loss Programs. I Think It's A Good Thing For Those Who Seek A Social Gathering Looking To Reach The Same Goal.
I Will Continue Doing What I Have Been Doing And Hopefully I Will Lose Some More Weight. I Think However The First 20 Was The Easiest. It's Quite Obvious The 20 Pounds I Need To Lose Is In My Midsection.
Maybe I Can Lose A Little There If I Do A Few AB Excersizes. I Just Hope I Don't Put All That Weight Back On This Coming Winter. It's So Hard On Me In The Month Of April When My Season Starts And Mushrooms Begin To Pop Up. I Try Walking Throughout The Winter Months To Help Keep The Weight Off. Even If I Don't Achieve My Goal, Atleast I Am Consious Of It. If I Didn't Care, My Weight Would Increase Which Would Make It More Difficult To Take Off. My Biggest Reason Why I Need To Keep Fit Is Because Of What I Do In The Warmer Months. This Is My Livihood And This Is Where I Get My Inner Peace. It's Important To Me To Continue What I Have Been Doing The Past 22 Years.
So This Is My Personal Challenge That Nobody Can Do But Me. From Here On Out It Will Be More Difficult To Lose The Weight Where I Need To Lose It The Most.
It Would Please Me If I Was Able To Be The Weight I Am Suppose To Be. However I Won't Allow It To Become An Obbsession Where I Don't Enjoy All The Good Things In Life.
I Guess Art Linkletter Said It Best. You Can Eat All The Foods You Want But In Smaller Portions. Now Don't Quote Me To Be Exact Yet The Meaning Is The Same. So If It's Ice Cream You Like? Instead Of That Medium Size, Ask For The Small. You Can Have Your Cake And Eat It Too!

Not An Average Day At Madison Square

This Friday Morning Didn't Start Off Like I Had Planned. First Off There Was No Rain In The Forcast Until Late Friday Night Or Possibly Saturday Morning. No Mention Of Any Rain In The Area On Thursday Night Nor Anytime During The Day On Friday.
There Had Been Days In The Past When It Has Rained On Me At Madison Square When It Was Not In The Forcast. A Very Good Piece Of Advice From Billie Was When She Asked Me How Much Room That Barrel Of Plastic Tarps Would Take In That Big Ol Truck Of Mine. From That Moment On I Had Always Included It With All The Other "Stuff" I Carted Down To The Square On Friday Mornings.
On My Way Out The Door Just Before 4:00 Am It Was Sprinkling Ever So Softly. Puddles Up And Down My Roadway. I Knew What Was Waiting For Me Down At The Church Parking Lot. It Took Me Close To 30 Minutes To Sweep Out The Puddles So I Could Set Up The Tables. It Was No Longer Raining And The Sky Appeared Clear Even Though It Was Difficult To Tell For Sure Since It Was Still Dark.
After Customers Began Pouring In I Began Talking To My Regulars About This And That Or Whatever Came To Mind. I Began Noticing Change On The Ground Throughout The Parking Lot. A Quarter Here, A Dime There and So Forth. I Began A Small Collection Of Coins. I Then Thought To Myself Some Dumbass Must Have A Hole In His Pocket As I Continue Picking Up Change Here And There.
It Didn't Take Me Long Before I Realized That Dumbass Was ME! I Have Always Carried My Change In One Pocket With The Bills In The Other. Change Of Routine Has Always Been So Difficult For Me With Today Being No Exception.
I Reached The Point Where I Was Accustomed To Having A Big Breakfast Catered To Me Each Friday Morning By My Dear Ol Dad. However This Particular Friday He Left For A Extra Long Weekend Getaway. I Knew This So I Stopped At County Market Before I Went To The Square. I Got A Couple Snack Cakes And Hoped That Would Tide Me Over Until I Got Home In The Evening.
As I Mentioned This To A Friend Of Mine He Returned With A Breakfast From McDonalds.
It Seemed My Day Wouldn't Be So Bad Afterall. It Must Pay To Have Good Friends Afterall. Speaking Of Friends, I Was Surprised By A Forum Friend I Had Never Met Before. Granny 7 Introduced Herself With Her Husband Grampy At Her Side. It Was My Pleasure In Finally Meeting Them Because We Have Been Participating In Various Forums The Past Few Years. Shortly After They Left They Returned With Store Bought Snickerdoodles. He Handed Them To Me And Assured Me The Real Thing Would Come My Way Next Time She Was In The Baking Mood. What A Wonderful Person Or Shall I Say People!
It Just Warmed My Heart!
As The Day Progressed Into The Afternoon The Pastor Of The Church Came To Visit Me To Be Sure I Was Aware That It Had Been Raining In Champaign And It Was Heading In Our Direction. I Immediately Called Billie To Have Her Watch The Radar. She Confirmed What The Pastor Told Me. I Began Packing Things Away So I Could Get Out Of There. On A Normal Day It Takes Me 2 1/2 Hours To Get Out Of There. Put Rain Into The Picture And Ofcourse It Delays It Considerably.
All In All It Never Did Rain Before The Normal Time For Me To Call It Quits. Ofcourse It Could Have And That's Why I Have Good Friends That Look After Me. The Minister Drove All The Way From The Hegeler Area Just To Warn Me. He Went That Extra Mile Because He Cares. With The High Price Of Gasoline That It Is, It Takes An Extra Special Person To Go Out Of Their Way For A Friend.
So I Guess Friday(7-11) Was A Rather Lucky Day For Me. Not Only Was It My Grandson's Birthday But My Brother As Well.
So Today In Reflection Of Yesterday I Count My Blessing For The Friends That I Have And Those Special People Who Go Out Of Their Way Just Because They Care.
The Day Was Priceless!

A Tribute To My Brother Tuck

Today Is My Brother's 55th Birthday. Right Here In Danville Illinois A Son Was Born To Harvey And Shirley Miller. This Historic Event Came On July 5th In The Year Of 1953. Their First Child Was Born The Day After The Fourth Of July.
The United States Celebrates Tuck's Birthday The Day Before So We All Remember Why We Celebrate The 5th Of July.
Tuck And I Growing Up At 713 Had Some Memorable Happenings. I Could Never Compete With Tuck Academically So I Chose Physical Challenges. Footraces From The House To The Corner Which Calculated To Be One Half Block.
Baseball Was The Sport I Excelled In And Tuck Was No Match. However I Always Looked Up To Tuck In Every Way. I Looked At Tuck As Paving The Way For Me And Being There Before I Came Along. Since He Expierenced It Before I Did, He Could Always Give Me A Firsthand Opinion Before It Came To Me.
When Tuck Graduated High School He Left Home And Joined The Navy. I Would Say At That Moment In Time I Had The Most Admiration For Him.
I Did Not Apply Myself In School So When The Time Arrived For Me To Join The Navy, I Did.
Tuck Showed Me The Way As Well As My Brother Mark.
Throughout The Years, My Observations Of Tuck Has Been An Honest, Down To Earth, Friend To Many, God Fearing Man. His Love For His Hometown Of Danville Is An Understatment.
We Are Thankful For Having Tuck In Our Lives. We Could Have Easily Lost Him On 6-6-06. I Feel God Spared Him So He Can Complete His Mission Here On Earth.
I Am Proud To Call Him My Brother, But He Is Also My Friend.
Happy Birthday Tuck!