MOM

I never liked this picture...until now.  I always focused on my appearance and didn't think about how lucky I was to have a photo with my mother.  Now it's one of my favorites.

 

I started this blog a long time ago, for my Mom.  It was a way for me to communicate with her, and keep her up to date on what I was up to.  I didn't update it near as much as I should have.  But I could always count on her reading my posts, and letting me know what she thought. 

 

But my Mom passed away a couple of weeks ago, and I just don't know if I'll every want to write on this again.  She meant so much to me, and it hurts to even think of putting anything out here if she's not going to be around to read it.

 

So, for now I say goodbye. 

I love you Mom.

Long Time, No Post...

 

I don't have any excuses.  I just haven't had the desire to post much of anything lately. 

Yep, I'm busy at work.  Seems like my 4-day workweek has turned into six days a week.  That just wears on you after awhile.  But I have to keep reminding myself that my job isn't just a job.  I work for a company that serves an important purpose.  The product we build helps protect this country. 

I know my part in what we build may seem small when you consider how many employees we have.  But I'm proud of the work we do, and proud of my efforts in that.  I know that all the extra hours I've been putting in, have assisted in allowing us to deliver additional units to the field.  What that means is this country is better protected.  Soldiers in the field are better protected.  Important sites within this country are better protected.  I'm proud to be part of that. 

But I'm ready for a long weekend.  It won't happen this weekend, but soon.  I have TONS of vacation, and I'm going to take a week off ... someday. 

Culture

 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir,  M. Jules Le Coeur and Mlle Lise Trehot,  1866

 

From time to time, I feel I need to turn off the Nascar and go get me some culture!  So last weekend, I went to the Dallas Museum of Art.  I admit I do enjoy going to a museum from time to time, and I had a really good time.  But I don't think I'll ever be open minded enough to understand some of the modern art they have over there!
I did find a quite few painting really interesting.  The picture above is a very small watercolor painting by Renoir from the mid 1860's.  The information described this painting as a tender moment in a garden between a couple. 
Out of the hundreds of paintings over there, I found this painting refreshing.  I love watercolor, but I really liked the simplicity of this.

 

Below are a few other artists on display.  I don't know if these are necessarily my favorites, but it was pretty dang cool to see works from these famous artists.


Paul Cezanne,  Still Life with Apples on a Sideboard,  1906

Pablo Picasso,   The Guitarist, 1965

Vincent van Gogh,  Care Terrace on the Place du Forum,  1888

Vertigo!

Not exactly sure why, but I've been experiencing bouts of vertigo lately.  It's a really wierd experience because it seems like the whole world is moving around me.  It hasn't been real bad, and it's not making me nauseous or anything.  It only lasts for short periods of time, and then it goes away. 

I went by my doctors office, and they checked my blood pressure.  That all checked out fine.  I'm seeing him again on Friday, and we'll see how it looks then.

From what he's telling me, he thinks it may be related to the migranes I've been having in my eyes lately.  He doesn't seem to think it's anything to worry about unless they get worse or more frequent.  In the mean time, I'll just take some ibuprofen every now and then.  That seems to keep the migranes from happening.

Worst case, I'll lay on the floor for awhile and pretend I'm on an amusement ride while the world spins around me!  Weeeeeeeee!

4th of July

I made my second trip to Borger in three weeks, this time for fun!  I love going up for the the July 4th holiday.  Usually, we spend way too much money on fireworks and end up acting like idiots setting them off in the middle of great big caliche pit near Stinnett. 
But going up to Borger this year, I didn't really expect to be able to do all of that.  First, it's been so dang dry up there this spring, I just didn't think the local authorities would let anyone use fireworks.  And second, Bill isn't up and around yet, so I really didn't think he would want to mess with it.
But as it turns out, it's been raining in the panhandle the last few weeks, and things have greened up dramatically.  It's not tropical up there yet, but it sure looks a lot better.  And Bill was feeling pretty good and decided to go with us to shoot off some fireworks.  So Cliff & I were able to continue doing as Dad taught us, and spend way too much money on some fun!  Cliff, Wendye, Jason, Betty, Bill, Jane & I all went up to Stinnett and had a fun evening.  The wind was a little strong, but it's the panhandle...which means it was about normal.  It was a fun night and no one lost any fingers!
Julie was able to come up on Saturday and spend the night.  Cliff, Jason & I played golf on Saturday morning (I shot 88, pretty good for me).  And we had a cookout over at Cliff & Wendye's house too.  Overall, it was a really fun weekend.  I sure didn't want to do that drive back to DFW on Sunday, but once I got on the road it wasn't too bad.  The 4th of July is always a lot of fun, and I'm glad it all worked out this year.

Bill's Surgery

(This blog posting was orginially written June 23rd, but didn't upload properly)

I just got back from Borger visiting Bill after his surgery.  All seemed to go well, and we got him home this weekend.  He's got all kinds of tubes in him, and he's going to be awful sore for a while, but it sounds like the doctors have got him on the road to recovery.  I was pretty surprised at how Bill took to being in the hospital.  I guess he knew he didn't have any other option, and was probably very relieved to get some relief from his discomfort.  I know Mom is relieved too.  Now he's going to have several weeks of in-home healthcare, and will need to take it easy to give his body a chance to recover.  If we can keep him home for a few weeks, and keep him from making all those trips to Amarillo, he may actually get better!

Happy Birthday Bill

I called Bill yesterday morning to wish him a Happy Birthday.  But I wanted to check in on him to find out how he's feeling.  He's going to the doctor in Amarillo today to try to determine the reason he's not feeling very well the last few weeks.  I told him that he's got me a little worried about this.
Bill's the type of guy that doesn't sit still too long, and I understand this thing has kind of run him down lately.  I sure want the doctors to find out what's going on, and to treat it to make him feel better.  I told Bill that we all kind of like him, and want him to stick around for a long time.  I think he kind of liked that!
I hope he had a happy birthday.  Next year, we'll have to make his 75th birthday big ol' shindig!

Mom's Visit

I brought Mom back with me after my Mother's Day visit to Borger.  We drove down on Monday and ran into big rain just south of Wichita Falls.  We had to pull off the highway and get under shelter at a truck stop because the rain was coming down so hard.  Thankfully, we had taken a break a little earlier in the trip to allow the worst of the storms to pass by us before we got there.  After our little rest at the truck stop, we drove on into town and the weather & traffic was pretty good.  That's good news, because Mom isn't the biggest of fan of lots of traffic or bad weather while driving!

While in town, Jane & Mom did lots & lots of shopping.  I meet up with them in the evenings and we would all go out for dinner. It wasn't the best thing for my diet, but it sure was fun.  I really enjoy when she comes to town, and I think she had a lot of fun.

We headed back to the panhandle on Saturday morning, and met Bill in Vernon.  That's where we made the swap and they were on their way.  I hope Mom comes back later this summer when the water in the pool is warm.