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!

We Are Lucky To Be Alive........

I'm Curious Of The Depth Others View The Human Body. In Actuality The Formation Of Our Bodies In My Opinion Is The Creation Of God.
I Sure Do Alot Of Thinking While I Mow Grass. I Can't Begin To Tell You How Many Times I Have Had Mowers Repaired. Most Of The Times It Is A Problem With The Carburetor. I Call It The Heart Of The Mower. The Mower, The Automobile Or Whatever You Want To Name That Is Man Made May Be Complexed, But Can Be Replaced Or Duplicated.
The Human Body Can Break Down Just Like The Mower Or Automobile Yet The Longevity Of Either Are Limited. Today, Providing You Take Care Of Your Body Can Live To Be 100 Years Old. Have You Heard Anybody Brag About Mowing Their Grass With A 100 Year Old Lawnmower? How About Driving An 1908 Automobile?
My Point Is We All Need To Take Care Of Our Bodies. We Have The Only Body God Has Created For Us.
God's Creation Was Not For Us To Live Forever However He Did Create Us To Forever Live! Take Care Of Your Body My Friend.

Take Care Of Those Shoes Son....

As I Was Loading My Truck The Man Who Was Assisting Me Remarked How Handy It Was To Have Cell Phones. I Told Him I Only Use Mine On The Weekends When The Minutes Were Free.. He Then Told Me How His Friends 13 Year Old Daughter Racked Up a 350.00 Bill For One Months Service.
I Told Him That Reminded Me Of A 45 Year Passing Remark My Father Made To Me. Little Did He Know That Comment Remained In My Memory Ever Since.
He Told Me If I Had To Buy My Own Shoes They Would Last Longer. He Was Right!
My Shoes Do Last Longer And As Long As Those Parents Continue To Pay Those Ridiculous Monthly Bill Amounts Their Daughter Runs Up, She Will Not Learn How To Conserve. First Off, She Should Be More Responsible. She Can Babysit Or Find Some Responsible Positive And Constructed Project That Can Help Pay For The Phone Bill.
Once She Pays The Entire Phone Bill Her Monthly Bill Will Drop Tremendously.
$350.00! You Have Any Idea How Many Shoes You Can Buy With That?

Mirror Minded

As I Sit Here Watching The Cub Game I Am Flooded With Childhood Memories Of Learning. Growing Up With Dyslexia Was Difficult Because Back Then They Didn't Have A Name For It. Experts Knew It Existed But Was Not Sure How To Treat It. For Those Who Know Of It Can Relate. Others Can Easily Google It To Educate Themselves Of A Very Common Affliction Of The Learning Process.
It Wasn't Until The Second Grade I Found Out I Was Not Stupid Afterall. An Alert Teacher Of Mine Was Grading Papers At Home Only To Discover That All My Arithmetic Answers Were Indeed Correct But Only Written Backwards. As She Held My Paper In Front Of The Mirror She Seen Firsthand All The Numbers Were Written Backwards.
Once My Teacher Became Aware Of This Disability She Mothered Me With All Her Mightiness. Yes I Called It A Disability Because That's Exactly What It Is. It Was The Fifth Grade When I Grasped The Concept Of Telling Time. A Simple Learning Process For Most Of Us Yet I Just Could Not Grasp Onto It.
Writing Backwards As Well As Reading Backwards Was Very Common For Me.
Today I Continue To Read The Newspaper From The Back To The Front. However Of Course I Ignore The Conclusion Of Articles That State Continued From Page One. When I Get To Page 1 I Will Read It Then Continue To The Conclusion.
Just This Week I Picked Up A Series Of Books That Were Written In English Yet Published In Japan. Most Are Aware That In Japan They Read From Right To Left.
This Was My First In Seeing This Book Series.
Ok Back To The Cub Game. After Arranging My Desk, Television And other Furniture Pieces, I Found It Difficult Watching TV At The Same Time I Am Most Active On The Computer. Since The Television Is Behind Me I Decided To Place A Mirror In Front Of My Desk And I Won't Have To Turn Around. However Viewing The Game Through The Mirror Makes Everything Backwards. When The Batter Hits The Ball He Runs To Third Instead Of First. All The Right Handed Batters Are Now Lefthanded And They Also Throw Left Handed.
I Have Learned By Being Left Handed I Must Deal With What Is Served Me. By Far, Many Humans Across The World Must Learn To Survive As A Being. Just As The Man I Knew Earlier In My Life. He Was Born With No Legs. He Learned From Birth How To Maneuvere And To Achieve The Most Simplest Goals. He Did Things That I Have Never Achieved. I Was Told He Replaced A Motor Of A Car. He Also Painted His House. I Am Scared Of Heights! I Pushed A Button Or Two And His Story Came To Surface In An Exclusive Interview With The Local Newspaper. The Community Rallied Together And Purchased Brand New Legs. I Can Remember Seeing Him Shortly After He Received Them. He Considered Me His Friend And Confided In Me That Day. He Told Me He Felt Like A Fish Out Of Water. I Kindly Reminded Him He Is Living His Life On Earth And Nobody Can Live It For Him. Besides, Alot Of People Get Satisfaction Through Their Giving. It Pleases Them When They Know They Are Doing Good. I Saw That Man Again A Few Weeks Later. There He Was, Crossing Main Street Without His Legs. I Scolded Him For Doing So. His Reply To Me Was You Of All People Know I'm Just As Capable As You Are In Crossing The Street. While This Being True It Was Not About Him Crossing The Street Afterall, It Was Him Crossing Against The Light.
That Day I Saw Beyond His Disability And The Feeling Was Priceless!
Being Mirror Minded Ain't So Bad Afterall.....Just Call Me Mac

Yes I Am Here....

Well The Big Move Has Come And Gone. Lots Of "First" Which Is A Welcome Change From All The "Last".
I Know I May Have Whined A Bit Over The Move Of A Lifetime. I Hope I Didn't Come Across As Boring. I Think In Actuality I Was Reaching Out. Why? I Have No Idea. I Left Home When I Was Seventeen To Join Uncle Sam's Canoe Club, Even Though I Had Never Seen A Canoe. That's An All Together Different Story For A Different Day.
My Reason For Mentioning This Is I Have Learned To Adjust To Different Homes Over The Years. However As The Old Saying Goes, There's No Place Like Home.
It Wasn't Until Today That I Explored A Part Of Our New Home. I Knew This House Had An Attic. Billie Had Made Herself Clear She Was Not Interested In What Was "Up There". She Left The House Earlier In The Day And I Was Just Finishing Up Watching The Noon News. I Pulled On The Chain That Allows Steps To Come Down. I Ventured With An Open Mind. I Was Amazed To See One Large Size Room The Length Of The House As With The Width With Slanted Walls. Plenty Of Storage Space She Lost With The Extra Spare Room At 713. Will We Use It? I Have No Idea. Time Will Tell.
Our Grandfather Clock Has Not Been The Same Since The Move. I Hope To Find Someone Who Makes House Calls.
This House Has Less Electrical Plug Ins. I Am Slowly Trying To Make This Home.
Our Neighbors To The South Enjoy Their Music As Well As Sharing It Too.
We Had Our Closest Neighbor Welcome Us To The Neighborhood. No She Brought No Pie.
She Did However Welcome Both Billie And I And Gave Us A Brief BIO Of Their Lives. We Likewise And Before You Know It You Mention The Right Name And The World Just Got Smaller. I Wish She Had Brought Me A Pie Though. She Assured Me The Neighborhood Is Good With The Exception Of The Music Players. I Was Told By A Friend That Knows Them Well That They Normally Don't Stay Long Wherever They Live. I Hope They Carry On Their Tradition.
Did I Mention I Mowed The Grass For The First Time? I Did That Yesterday Afternoon. After It Was All Finished Billie Scolded Me About Abusing The Fence With The Lawnmower. I Found My Self "Nudging" The Fence Instead Of Mowing Beside It. That's The Only Thing I Dislike About A Chainlink Fence. The Grass Is Time Consuming That Grows Beneath It. You Have To Mow On Both Sides And I Find Myself Going Through More Than The Usual Amount Of Weed Eater String.
Even Though This Past Week Has Been A Different One I Can Say I Certainly Feel Blessed To Have A Home. Tonight As I Write This I Am On My Home Computer Enjoying What I Like Most. Playing Euchre, Reading Forums, Exchanging EMails With Friends And Relatives, While Some Have No Homes At All. A Friend Of Mine Is Presently Without Power And Water. What We Take For Granted, Some Must Take One Day At A Time. My Heart Goes Out To This Family. I Have Been Trying To Keep Them In Candles And Lamp Oil. There Is Hope For Them Down The Road.
A Wise Man Once Told Me That No Matter How Bad Today Is For You, One Day You Will Be Looking Back At It. We All Somehow Manage To Cope With Our Tribulations.
I May Look At Things Differently Than Others. There Must Be A Reason Why I Am Witnessing The Poverty Of Others. I Cannot Pretend They Are Not There.
I Feel It's My Mission To Help Others. Why Else Would God Bring My Attention To This Affliction? Next Time You See Me Hand Me A Candle Or Lamp Oil. You Know Where It Will Go.
Back To The House. We Have Been Here For One Week Now. Each Day Is Getting Better.
Oh I Also Found That It Also Rains On Friday On The East Side Of Danville. Ok, That's Another Story Also. I Will Tell It In Time.
In The Meantime, I May Not Have Gotten That Pie I Had Wished For But Friendship Last Much Longer Than What A Pie Would Anyday.
Let It Be Known I Would Never Turn Down A Pie...Just Call Me Mac

Good Bye Doorknob....

After I Got Out Of The Shower Tonight I Realized This Would Be My Last Shower At 713.
The Very Same Bathtub I Grew Up With. Boy If Bathtubs Could Talk....
This Led Me To Realize Other Things At 713 That Are Originally From While I Was Growing Up.
We Often Talked About Putting On A New Porch. I Have Always Beleived A Porch Is What Gave The House It's Beauty. We Shopped Around For Porches For A Couple Different Years. We Never Got Around To It. Our New Place Has A Porch As Wide As The House. You Can Do So Much To A House With A Full Porch. I Also Beleive Lanscaping Is Another Added Inner Beauty Of A House. It Will Be Fun Creating Our Own Design Throughout The Property. Even Though The Previous Owners Did A Real Nice Job With The Shrubery. With A Little Bit Of Modification It Will Become What We Choose It To Be.
The Basement At 713 Hosted The Laundry For The Millers As Well As All The Foster Children Who Came And Went. I Really Don't Know How My Mother Was Able To Do It All Those Years. Billie Done The Basement Thing For A Few Years Too Until She Spoke Up And Said The Washer And Dryer Are Coming Upstairs. Up They Come And Laundry Day Became Much Easier From Then On.
Upstairs At 713 Is Totally Empty. Alot Of Growing Pains Were Realized In Those Two Rooms. I Can Remember One Christmas Eve Night I Was Watching Out The Window Hoping To Get A Glimse Of Santa. I Was Suppose To Be In Bed But It Was Christmas Eve! What Little Boy Could Sleep With All That Anticipation? Next Thing I Remember Was Tuck Announcing To Me There Is No Such Thing As Santa Clause. Even Though I Was Disappointed In This Tragic News I Felt A Releif That My Mother Was Actually Kissing My Father Instead Of Santa Clause. It Was Important Your Mother Was True.
Tonight I Will Lay My Head On The Pillow Once More But For The Last Time At 713. A Lifetime Of Memories Will Pass Through My Mind As I Recall Memorable Events Throughout My Time Spent Here.
So The Next Chapter Is About To Take Place. The Next Blog Will Be Written From The New Homestead. So Technically This Blog Will Be My Last Until Then.
As I Visit Each Room Tomorrow I Will Be Thankful God Has Granted Me The Gift Of Remembering.
I Hope To Be At Peace Throughout This Move. It Will Take Atleast Two Days Of Moving All Our Worldly Posession.
If There Is A Lesson Learned Here I Would Pass On To My Grandchildren That Things Don't Stay The Same Forever. Everything Is Subject To Change. All The Grandkids Came Over Today To Visit 713 For The Last Time. They Also Wished Me A Happy Pappy's Day.
Blakeman Our Oldest Has The Crimson King Maple Tree Planted In The Back Yard On The Day Of His Birth. That's A Lifetime Memory For Him. My Two Youngest Will Continue To Visit 713 Because Their Other Grandma Is The One Who Purchased Our Home.
Goodbye 713......

New Residence

I Still Haven't Packed My Things For The Big Move. Billie Asked Me Why I Haven't Packed. I Have No Idea. I Asked Her If She Thought I Wasn't Moving With Her?
I Will Most Likely Pack Tomorrow Night Since We Are Moving On Monday.
Downsizing Is What She Wanted And Now She Must Decide On What She Has Room For And What Must Go. Keep In Mind This Lady I Am Married To Had A Full Size Room Just For Storage. She Also Had A Walk In Closet. Get The Picture?
Me? I Can Survive On The Most Simplest Worldly Possessions.
What Will My New Neighbors Be Like. Will They Be As Friendly As The Baumgarts, Dills And Clapps? Will They Bring Us A Pie?
I Will Be Taking Two Days Off Just For The Move. Unfortunately We Chose To Move At The Most Demanding Period Of Time For My Summer Gig. Oh Well, I'm Sure It Will All Work Out And Life Is Grand...
How Long Will It Be before We Feel Like It's Home? How Can I Get Past The Idea Of Strangers Living In My Home?
Never Mind The Fact That This House Will Feel More Like A Short Vacation Away From Home. After The Vacation Is Over I Pray I Will Be Home. They Say Home Is Where The Heart Is. I Hope The Heart Will Be There By Then....