Christmas 2010

No Matter How Hard I Try, This Christmas Is Just Not The Same. This Is My First Christmas Without My Sister Brenda.
Today I Would Have Gotten A Call From Her. Wishing Me A Merry Christmas Just Like All The Christmas's Before. I Have Glanced Over At The Answering Machine A Couple Times, But Nothing.
This Is Her First Christmas With Jesus. Her Biological Mother And Sister Are Reunited Once Again In Heaven. One Day We Will Join Her In Everlasting Love And Peace.
When I Was A Young Boy Growing Up I Befriended An Old Woman Who I Came To Realize Had Nobody Who Visited Her. After Getting To Know "Grandma" Clifton Who Was Well Into Her Eighty's, Was Weak And Unable To Do Things For Herself. A Neighbor Lady Would Go To The Grocery Store, But Otherwise Her World Was Empty. This Past October I Read In The Newspaper Where Grandma Clifton's Son Passed Away At The Ripe Old Age Of 95. He Outlived Her In Years, Yet I Had No Sorrow In My Heart Of His Passing. I Never Met The Man.
It Was Christmas 1967, 43 Years Ago. I Got Up Extra Early That Day So I Could Fire Up Grandma Clifton's Furnace With Coal. I Told Her I Would Be Back Later That Afternoon. I Returned With Christmas Dinner In Hand. I Had The Biggest Smile On My Face When I Wished Her A Merry Christmas. I Handed Her A Small Gift And Sat Beside Her As She Opened It. I Told Her It Wasn't Much. She Looked Up At Me With Tears Rolling Down Her Face. It Was A Small Bottle Of Perfume, But For Her It Was The Best Gift Ever. That Day Is Etched In My Memory For Ever.
So Why Did I Choose Two Different People For My Christmas Blog? Both Of These Wonderful Women Made An Impact On My Life. Unforgettable Memories I Hold Close To My Heart. They Are Responsible For The Person I Am Today. I'm Not Sure Who I Would Be Today Without These Influential Ladies Of My Past.
My Memory Of Them Will Always Remind Me Of Who I Am And What Christmas Is All About.

Euchre Triple Crown

I Really Don't Like Tooting My Own Horn But This May Be My Only Opportunity To Enjoy The Triple Crown In Euchre. I Play Euchre Three Times A Week. Sundays, Monday, & Wednesday. I Have To Take Euchre Seriously Because I Am Playing The Best In The Business. Yes We Keep Track Of Our Wins And Losses.
Yesterday I Had Realized I Was Fortunate To Come Out With The Most Wins In All Euchre Sessions For 2010. Of Course I Could Not Have Done It Without All My Skillful Partners.
Chris, Brian & Tuck Are Great Players Of The Game. We Were Paired Up With Opponents Of More Than 58 Years Of Euchre Playing Experience. I Was Raised To Play Your Best. If You Won You Knew You Deserved It.
Just A Short Example Of What I Mean By This. My Father Taught His Children How To Play Ping Pong. We Played Ping Pong A Lot. I Was 22 Years Old Before I Finally Beat My Dad. I Can Remember The Day As If It Were Yesterday. I Called Him Up At The Fire Station To See If He Wanted To Play Ping Pong. We Set Up The Time To Play. We Played A Few Games That Day. I Remember Winning Two Of Those Games.
My Reason For Remembering That Day Is Because I Knew I Really Earned My Win. I Knew He Played His Best. I Knew If I Won, I Earned It.

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

I Can Remember Many Moons Ago When I First Heard That Song. I Can Also Remember My Mother Whistling Along. Of Course When I First Heard The Song I Still Believed In Santa. Why Would My Mother Like A Song Like This? That Was Very Disrespectful To My Father.
Years Later When Tuck Let The Cat Out Of The Bag That There Was No Santa, My Heart Was Crushed. I Can Remember Sitting In My Up Stair Window To See If I Could Catch A Glimpse Of Santa And His Sleigh. That Is When Tuck Broke The News.
After That The Song Never Bothered Me Because Now I Know Who Santa Really Is.

Sick......Sucks!

Last Saturday I Inherited A Cold From The Mrs. Apparently She Enjoys Sharing.
I Had To Cancel Three Euchre Sessions And One Bowling Event. Now That May Not Seem Much To Anyone Other Than A Fellow Euchre Player Or Bowler.
I Am On My Third Roll Of Toilet Paper. I Have Tried Three Different Cold Medicines.
I Am Feeling A Little Better Today But To Me That Doesn't Mean Anything. For Some Reason I Just Can't Seem To Shake This. It's Always A Head Cold With Me. A Runny Nose Is The Pits. I'm Almost Afraid To Blow My Nose Because I Get Nose Bleeds.
I Am Really Hoping I Feel Better Tomorrow Because Another Bowling Day Is Forthcoming. This League I Have Perfect Attendance For More Than Five Years. I Just Love Perfect Attendance. Anyway, Ti's The Season To Be Jolly, Fa, La,La, La, La, La, La, La, La...

Keith & Santa Tuck

This Photo Speaks For Itself. The Reason I Say This Is Because Keith And Tuck Are Constantly Picking On Each Other.
I Bowl With Keith On Thursday's, On The Old Folks League. Keith Is One Class Act.
This Is Santa Tuck On One Of His Missions. Tuck Has Played Santa For Quite A Few Years Now. Tuck Is Danville's Christmas Parade Santa. He Attends Private Christmas Parties And Appears At Downtown Danville's Christmas Functions. He Plans To Go To Champaign And Visit With Children Who May Be In The Hospital On Christmas Day. Santa Tuck Knows There Are People Who Don't Like Santa. For Some, Santa Distracts From The True Reason For The Season. Tuck, Being A Christian Man Represents Happiness And The Joy Of Giving.
These Pictures Represent Friendship For A Christmas Moment.

Attending School Back In The 60's Was Kind Of Cool. Actually The 60's Was A Cool Decade. A Lot Of History Was Crammed Into One Decade.
Ok, This Blog Has Nothing To Do With History. I Will Try That Another Time.
This Blog Is Yet Another About Weather. Why Is That? Weather Seems To Dominate Most Conversations When You Have Very Little To Contribute. I'm Always Coming Up With New Topics For My Blog.
Tonight As I Watch Television, Illinois Is Experiencing A Blizzard Outside. School Closings Are Coming Across The Bottom Of The Screen.
I Can Remember As A Child With My Fingers Crossed That District 118 Would Be Closed Due To Snow. All Of The Small Towns Around Us Are Closing With The Exception Of Danville. I Can Remember Growing Up Not Liking Mr Radcliff. He Was The Superintendent And The One Who Made The Decision If We Went To School Or Not.
Even Though I Lived Across The Street From The School I Often Thought About My Classmates Who Had To Walk A Long Distance. I Did Live A Good Distance From Our Junior High School And We Depended On A Bus To Get Us There And Back.
Snow Could Be Waist High Or Even Tits High In Most Cases Before They Closed Down Danville Schools, But Of Course We Were Shorter Then. If Only I Knew Where The Superintendent Lived, I Could Have Gotten Up Very Early And Shovel Snow Up To His Windows.
So As I Am Watching All These School Closing Danville Is Still Not Listed. We Are Experiencing Winds Around 40 MPH And Snow Is Blowing All Over The Place.
I'm Pretty Certain Schools In Danville Will Be Closed Tomorrow. Actually, Since I No Longer Attend School, I Could Care Less.

One Less Snowman

It's Not Even Winter Yet According To The Calendar. We Have Already Had A Large Snow Fall More Than A Week Ago.
It's Been Raining Most Part Of The Day Today. Temperatures At The Time Of This Writing Are Beginning To Fall. This Rain Will Be Turning Into Snow After Midnight Tonight. The States To The Northwest Of Us Are Experiencing What Is Predicted Here Tomorrow. The Last Storm We Received Was Predicted 2-3 Inches. The Amount Of Snow We Actually Received Was Twice That Amount.
To Be Honest About It I Really Don't Rely On Forecasters Anymore. They Are Not Accurate Whether It Be Winter Or Summer.
Tomorrow's Prediction Is 2-3 Inches Of Snow. Winds Anywhere From 30-50 MPH. Snow Plow Drivers Were Reporting White Out Conditions And Visibility Almost Zero.
It Appears Forecasters May Be Correct In Their Prediction Of About The Same For Danville Tomorrow. Blizzard Like Conditions.
It's Not Even Christmas Yet! As Stated I Don't Rely On Forecaster's Anymore. It Has Been Forecasted That This Part Of Illinois Will Be Experiencing Warmer Than Normal Temperatures With Above Normal Precipitation.
My Interpretation Of This Is Coat And Glove Dressing While Building Lots Of Snowmen.
So For The Record, Temperatures Have Been Bitterly Cold With A Months Amount Of Snowfall In Just A Matter Of Days Apart. So Actually The Forecasters Have Been Half Right. Now As We Await The Above Normal Temperatures, We Must Endure Chilling Weather With Lows In Single Digits. Highs Are Expected In The Low 20's For All Of Next Week.
I Think I Will Blog More About The Weather. A Good Friend Of Mine Is Blessed With Reading Entries In Diaries Of His Grandparents And Parents. They Made Reference To The Weather A lot. I'm A Little Envious Of This.
Even Though It's Not Even Winter Yet I Anticipate Lots Of Snow. That Being Said, The Highlight Of My Days Will Be Watching All The Snowmen Melt Away. Good Riddance.
I Hate Winter!
My Kind Of Blizzard....

Sometimes Bragging Can Bite You In The Butt. Yet On The Other Hand It Allows You To Feel Good About An Accomplishment.
As Most Of My Readers Are Aware I Have A Love For Bowling. Old News, Last April I Entered In My First Tournament. Three Games Were To Be Bowled At A Different Bowling Establishment Here In Danville On Saturday. The Conclusion(3 Games) Would Be In The House I Bowl Twice A Week. It Had Been A Couple Decades Since I Bowled In The First Establishment. I Finished Well That First Day Coming In First Place Going Into The Second Day Of The Tournament. Sunday Became A Very Big Disappointment When I Bowled Horrible. So Horrible I Didn't Even Cash. I Did However Stick Around To Congratulate The First And Second Place Winners Who Both Bowl In The Thursday League I Bowl In.
Last Month Both My Parents, My Brother And Myself Entered In A Seniors Tournament Being Held In Decatur Illinois. It Was A Two Day Event. The First Day We Bowled Singles. The Following Day We Bowled Doubles. My First Day Went Well For Me. Before Departing The Bowling Center I Checked The Most Current Standing That Was Posted. If My Figures Were Correct I Was In Second Place Overall In The State. Excitement Was An Understatement, Yet I Knew There Were More To Bowl And My Score Was Not Secure.
The Next Day Were Partners. Both My Parents Paired Up To Bowl Under Mixed Doubles. My Brother Tuck And I Paired Up To Bowl Under Men's Doubles.
Other Than Possibly Knowing The Results Of My Singles Placement, I Had No Clue What The Final Standing Were When It Came To Doubles. Today The Results Came In.
I Maintained My Position For Second Place In The State. Tuck And I Finished In Fourth Place In Men's Doubles While My Parents Finished In Second Place In Mixed Doubles. Our Bowling Paid Off That Weekend And It Will Be A Life Long Memory For Me.
Now, Remember My First Sentence Of This Blog? Sometimes Bragging Can Bite You In The Butt. This Past Week I Returned To That Establishment I Bowled So Well In That Tournament In April. It Was Open Bowling And A Friend Of Mine Had Been Wanting The Two Of Us To Get Together And Roll A Few Balls. Once Again I Bowled Up A Storm. I Had One Game I Had All Strikes In With The Exception Of One Frame. All The Other Games I Bowled Were Over 200. The First Thing I Did Was Call My Brother And Share My Excitement. I Then Called My Mother And Again Shared My Good Bowling With Her.
So The Page Turns And The Following Day Our Team Bowls. Now Keep In Mind My Brother And Mother Bowl On The Same Team. I Bowled A 158 Average That Day Which Is 11 Pins Below My League Average. My Horrible Bowling Cost My Team Two Points. I Anchor That Team Because They Can Depend On My Ability To Get The Job Done. This Is Not My First Failure Being Anchor. Of Course I have Some Success Stories But They Don't Stand Out As Well As My Failures.
So All In All I Have Decided From This Point On I Will Be Humbling In My Accomplishments. When I Do Well I Can Feel Good Inside, But I Will Keep It There.
I Have Found Once You Begin To Brag On Your Accomplishments You Must Live Up To Them. I Consider Myself An Average Bowler. If I Bowl Above Average I Can Be Happy For Myself But Bowl More And TALK LESS!
Everything Has It's Good And It's Bad. I Will Always Remember That.

Not Just A Buckeye

Years Ago I Was Once Told That If I Would Carry A Buckeye In My Left Pocket I Would Never Go Broke. I Thought What The Heck, What Do I Have To Lose?
So For Many Years I Carried A Buckeye In My Left Pocket. I Guess Since That Time I Never Actually Been Broke. However I Have Come Close To It On Many Occasions. It's Never Got Me Rich But Of Course That Was Never Promised.
With Christmas In The Air You Can't Help From Being Overwhelmed With Memories Of Years Past. This Brings Me Back To The Buckeye.
My Sister Brenda Who Passed Away On The 4Th Of July Was Well Known For Her Buckeye Candies. It Was A Chocolate Ball Filled With Peanut Butter. Being A Big Fan Of Both Ingredients, They Were The Greatest!
I Can't Bring Myself To Ever Eat Another Buckeye. In My Mind Her Buckeye's Are Heavenly, And No Other Could Ever Measure Up.
I No Longer Carry A Buckeye. Instead I Carry A Memory Stone In My Pocket. The Memory Stone Was Given To Me In Remembrance Of My Sister Brenda. I Won't Leave Home Without It.
Thank You Brenda For The Everlasting Christmas Memory I Will Hold Dear To My Heart.

I Realize It Has Not Been That Long Since I Wrote My Latest Blog. However I Am Concerned With My Readership. I Thought I Had Some Followers Because I Would Get A Comment Or Two Every Once In Awhile About A Topic I Had Written About. Not One Call, Not Even A Raised Eye Brow.
In My Latest Post Before This One I Wanted To Be Sure I Didn't Alarm Anyone To The Point They Would Come Knocking On My Door. I Did However Expect Someone, Anyone To Question The Validity Of The Blog.
Yes I Will Admit The Blog "Gonna Gump It" Was A Fraudulent Entry.
My Reason For Doing This Was Because Of The New Television Program "What Would You Do?" It's Apparent It Was Not A Success. Nobody Contacted Me. I Even Mentioned Something To The Mrs About What I Was Writing In Case Somebody Became Concerned And Contacted Her To Check If I Was Experiencing A Mid Life Crisis. Nothing.
The New Television Show Places Just Ordinary People Into Awkward Circumstances Just To See How They Would React To The Situation. My Gump Post Was As Close As I Could Get To See How People Would React To What I Had Written Without Giving It Away That It Was Actually Not Real. So In Reality, I'm Not Going Anywhere.
I Have Come To This Conclusion. I Have A Very Low Readership On My Blogs. People That Did Read It Was Not Concerned About What I Do With My Life.
In A Nutshell, I Will Continue To Write For Myself. This Particular Blog Was Written Because I Wanted To Know What You Would Do After Reading A Disturbing Entry On My Blog. I Even Put The Initials(WWYD) As A Tip, But Nobody Took The Bait. Did Anyone Care?
So Much For My Test. Now Back To Writing My Blogs About What I Want To Write About.
Have A Wonderful Day.

Gonna Gump It

As A Child Growing Up I Found Myself Starved For Adventure. I Was Seeking A Part Of Life On The Other Side Of The Rainbow. I Always Wanted To Know What Was There.
I Ran Away As A Young Child Because I Craved Adventure. It Wasn't Because I Was Unhappy With My Family.
There Have Been Days When I Would Day Dream Of Jumping On A Freight Train And Ride It For Miles. Wherever It Took Me Would Be Where I Ended Up.
I Have Reached A Moment In My Life Where I Want To Know What Life Is Like In Other Places. It Feels Like I Have Been Smothering Myself Not Knowing What Life Has To Offer Me. I Only Know What Life I Have Lived For The Past 55 Years. I'm Not So Sure I Want To Continue Down The Same Path.
What I Do Know Is I Intend To Make Some Changes In My Life. Every Day I Can Read It In The Newspaper Or Watch On Television Where People My Age Have Passed On And Maybe I Will Read About 3-4 Inch Obituary Of A Full Life Of Events Or Happenings. On The Flip Side You Have A Middle Aged Man Who Has Years Of Accomplishments And Are Living Life To The Fullest. Well Educated, Wealthy And Socially Accepted Pillar Of The Community.(WWYD)
I'm Lost And I Need To Find Myself. I Have Given This Much Thought And Have Come To A Decision. I Have Reached That Fork In The Road. This Fork Offers Me An Opportunity To Take A Different Road.
I Intend In The Beginning Of The New Year To Begin Walking. I Will Walk Until I Quit Walking. Maybe Someday I Will Find What I Have Been Searching For. If Not, I Will Be Able To Say I Took That Step. Sometimes People Fear The Unknown. Not Me.
With Not A Care In The World I Will Walk. Life Will Take Me Where I Am Suppose To Be. At This Point In Time I Have No Idea Where That Is.
I Promises At Least One More Blog Before I Walk. Don't Be Sad For Me. This Is A Time For You To Be Happy That I Have Found The Courage To Find Myself.
Some People Ignore Their Urge To Find Their Self Worth. I'm Content. Excitement For My Journey.