Haunting night ahead

Ok seems I have been a bit busy and not minding my blog huh? Things have been quite busy getting ready for Ashleys Halloween party which is this evening. She will have about 10-15 of her friends come over for games, ghoulish snacks and ofcourse a haunted hayride. Among the characters I will be using to scare these 11-13 yr old kids is MY version of Leatherface (I could not find a Leatherface mask or outfit locally), an escaped convict, and of course the Scream character. I am sure there will be many bone chilling screams since most of the people attending will be girls. If possible I will get some pics of some of the "festivities" but don't hold your breath......I will be running around with a bag of clothes and a chainsaw so not much room for a digicam.
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I have spoken with my builder once again and have him working on a updated bid on my house plans. He says he figures it should come in considerably lower this time because of a drop in lumber prices which is awesome. Hopefully I will know something in a week or so and can start making more plans for that to start soon.
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Hope everyone has a spooky but safe and fun Halloween. Hopefully with the party being over with after tonight I can get back to my workout regimen and start SUBTRACTING instead of ADDING haha.

Oh....hello there....I get to meet her dad tonight

Did you think I had forgotten about y'all? haha. RLS has been keeping me busy this past month. Its got me refocused on certain things I have been slack on such as the house plans though. Did some figuring and I stand right at the magical 10% down payment mark right now even though the truck has not sold as I had sort of hoped would have happened by now. Gonna get my builder working again on the bid and hopefully get something in the works really soon. As soon as I can figure out how I will get this huge blueprint scanned as I am sure you all want to know what my floorplans look like right?
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So tonight I meet her father for the first time.....wish me luck and nothing along the lines of "Meet the Parents" type of stuff ALTHOUGH......I will (unless something happens) be spending the night with Sandy and Ashley at her dads home in Rockwall near Dallas tonight. Picking Ashley up from school and as soon as Sandy gets loose from school we will head south. First stop will actually be Celebration Station in Mesquite for some "family fun" then backtrack a bit to Rockwall to meet her dad. I think we are meeting him at a Mexican food restaurant and cantina so hopefully I can resist having a cerveza.....or 12...
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We took Ashley and her friend Cheyenne to the 7th and 8th grade football games last night. It was the coldest night of the year here so far and a bit breezy and here we were sitting on aluminum bleachers. All was fun....watched my alma mater beat up on Ashleys school, went to eat afterwards, and got shocked on the way home. Out of the blue Ashley starts up with wanting to make sure she is in our wedding. Pick up your jaw. I have not proposed. I guess I should take that as her way of telling me she likes me huh? Her friend Cheyenne (yes this is a female friend) said she wanted to be best man or ring bearer or soemthing like that. If you knew this funny young lady you would understand. She is such a funny person but a little Cheyenne goes a long way haha.
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Not a lot of time to type here lately but hopefully I can keep up with this thing a couple times a week anyway. I will try to check around and see if I can get those blueprints scanned somehow or possibly just take a digital pic of them and minimize them....would that work? I did attempt to donate blood a few days ago. My veins are shy things....they dont like being poked. I told the young lady she had ONE shot this time...she misses. I am a sucker for donating blood(insert vampire joke here) so I gave her one more shot....she got the vein this time but not squarely and it soon shut off. Oh well I tried. My BP was a bit higher than normal at 120/86 with a pulse of 54. Not sure why the BP was up though. Its almost always right around 120/70. Not high enough to worry with really. I was hoping they had enough blood to do the cholesterol check...not sure they will do that now. If any of you are able to please donate blood. The life you save just might be your own. Its quite simple and relatively painless. I try to donate everytime they have a drive at work. You never know when it will be needed.
I should close this up and get in bed. I have to be up by about 1:30ish to get ready before going to DFW area. Hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend!!!!! I DO get around to your blogs from work occasionally so don't think I am not reading you just cause I do not commment.
Ciao

Vacation is over...My favorite time of year is NOW

So as of 11 pm tonight my last week of vacation for this year will be over. What a wonderful week it was and was magically brought to a close with something that we have not had in months and months......soaking rain. It is about finished for now but dad said he had measured between 4.5 and 5 inches of rain in the last 24-36 hours which is probably close to the total for the past 6 months or longer. It has been very very dry the past two years but this definitely helped. Friday I had gone to one of my favorite places, Bratchers Nursery and greenhouses, and bought a couple of Nuttall oak trees to plant on my land. These trees supposedly will grow between 60-100 feet in height. Just a few of many trees to be planted on my land in the coming months. I am going to contact a friend of mine who builds metal buildings and get an estimate on a 60x40 or so metal building with a 6-8' porch across the front and back. I am thinking I might try to do some of the framing and actual finishing of the living qaurters inside this massive shop building if its not too expensive. Lets just say Ms Sandy has encouraged me somewhat in this aspect after seeing what she has done with her own house by herself. Her daughter Ashley actually asked her last week when they were discussing my land and housepad if I was going to build a house for myself or for "us"..... lets just say Ms Ashley amazes me sometimes. She told me not to leave last night until she was out of the shower so she could tell me goodnight before she went to bed. I left once while she was busy cleaning her room and she got upset......I thought she was asleep or I would have stepped in and told her goodbye then too. Things are going just as great with her as things between Sandy and myself which is great. I am going to her last volleyball game of the season this afternoon. She is playing against my alma mater, Prairiland Jr High, so she informed me who I BETTER cheer for. She knows or seems to know I will support pretty much anything she does. I was so proud of her after attending her "buddy baseball" game on Saturday morning. Its basically "special needs" kids getting out there with a "buddy" and experiencing the thrill of hitting the ball, running the bases, and throwing the ball around. Sandy told me when anyone has asked Ashley about it before she would play it off saying her mom made her do it. I told her how proud I was of her for doing it and if she had volunteered or BEEN volunteered to do it and she surprised her mom by saying she volunteered herself ....she is such a sweetheart and a tremendously caring person despite her "teenage" mindset.
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Hope everyone had a great weekend....not long until Halloween and then on to Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner.....any big Halloween parties planned? I am sure Robyn will have something big ......This is my favorite time of the year but more especially when I have someone to share it with. I love the fall season and the slight nip in the air...which in Texas means 40s and 50s haha.....snuggling on the couch.....walking hand in hand in late evenings with that special someone.....the HUGE and BRIGHT full moons of this time of year.....sitting around a nice warm fire either inside or out. I might just have to break out the tent and pile up some firewood and go camping one weekend soon....even if it is on either my land or at the local lake.

Awesome Saturday night

You people are going to tire of my ever present good mood aren't you? haha Saturday evening we left my house on the way east to the big metropolis of Blossom (pop. around 1000) to pick up Sandra's cousin Rachel. She was out there videoing her dads 40th school reunion or something like that. Anyway Rachel just turned 21 back in May. Sandra had this bright idea she was going to take Rachel (and me) out on the town and get Rachel drunk .....

Well after picking her up we headed to Chili's where the ladies had a few frozen drinks. Brad gets to be designated driver. I can tell Sandra might not have drank much in a while just judging from the way she was acting after this ONE frozen margarita. Anyway after we dine at Chili's we head back around the loop to Crosswire club. Arriving around 10:30ish the crowd is still quite small which is typical. We order a few drinks and dance a few dances. Rachels dancing ability is right there along with mine.....a little bit absent minded on which step comes next but we managed just fine. Sandra on the other hand was a much better dancer.....early on anyway.Night wears on and we continue trying to get Rachel drunk.....its not working.....Sandra meanwhile is giggling and laughing at any and everything. Yep....her 21 yr old cousin outlasted her. We dance many dances both slow and fast and belly rubbin to shake that money maker type of stuff. As the night prgresses my "workout" we were calling dancing gets harder....Sandy is basically out of it lol.
Closing time rolls around...woohooo (and yes I did have a couple of beers early in the evening but by 2 am and after all the laughing and all at the two lovely ladies I was escorting, i was more than fine to drive so bite me:P) Getting Sandy in the truck was our first adventure. Picture a 130 lb sack of beans......with legs....and arms. We get her loaded in the truck......start heading home (Maw will be so proud of us huh Rachel? lol)....we are within 4 miles of home and we hear this alll too familiar "pull over NOW!!" ...false alarm but Sandy DID manage to discover the road we were driving on and was amazed at how they put the road up close to where her head was. We finally make it home....I grab Sandy up and carry her in the house and right as we get ready to enter the house she mentions " so you are gonna carry me across the threshold already" (I almost dropped her from the shock). I lay her down on the bed and her Maw comes in laughing at us and asking us how come Rachel is not the drunk one.Then its her Maw's turn to shock ME when she asks me to help gete her out of these smoky clothes.......Now I must admit helping a womans daughter out of her clothes with the mom watching is a bit awkward haha. I am sure she got a kick out of telling me to undo her bra.....anyway!!!! to make a long story just a bit longer....we had a blast. Sandra and I will for sure be going dancing more in the future AND hopefully her lovely cousin Rachel will invite us down to her hometown of Tyler TX and show us around HER town soon. So there you have it....the full access version of Brads life which is about all I have blogged about lately.....am I being too personal with the blog and including too much personal stuff? Just curious. I cannot tell you how happy I am...mere words are unusable when it comes to describing how I have felt the last 3 weeks. Anyway.....4:15 am...time for Brad to hit the bed....oh almost forgot.....we drove her truck to the bar. We stopped by MY house to change clothes (me anyway) and I grabbed the house key without thinking.....my white truck is at her house.....the keys I grab are to the Yukon....so I am preparing to leave after finally getting her situated and I realize that I have the wrong keys. So I drive Maws truck home and mine is sitting there locked up with no keys in sight lol.

Ok rambled long enough.....ciao

L O V E

How often do you use the word love? I use many words in place of love a lot of times. I might say "adore" or a simple "really like" sometimes. Odd how that small phrase can be so hard to say sometimes yet at others it flows out like a river ....raging spring thaw, mountain river that just bursts forth down the mountain.

Love defined in the dicitionary is:
Love is a strong liking for someone. It's a strong passionate affection for another person.

In the Bible in 1 Corinthians it is stated :"Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things; endures all things."

A few short days ago as I was leaving Ms Sandras home,as we were saying our goodbyes, those three short words escaped from my lips and I was shocked. I am not normally one who lets those words out so easily.....maybe she did not notice. She was tired and sleepy....nope I think she might have heard them. Yes as she buries he tongue deep in my throat and kisses me rather aggresively I am quite sure she heard those three words quite clearly. After a few minutes the words are reciprocated and at this point I feel so calm.....almost serene. This small young lady has ventured into rare territory. I am not one to hold back emotions of certain kinds. I am a quiet person for the most part and quite reserved. I am not hiding any kind of paranoias of love but I do not say those words unless I really mean them. I really mean them now. Odd how going out with someone for only three weeks, one can feel so comfortable around ANY member of this persons family....around even four generations of them at once for a whole day outing.

I do love this little lady and when I love someone I do not mind sharing it. I love and adore many of you who visit here weekly (and weakly). I love and am IN LOVE with this kind and gentle country gal.
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Poem to follow later this weekend sometime....Ashley has "buddy baseball" this morning, we are headed across into Indian territory again I think to take Sandras mom gambling for her birthday which was yesterday, and then most likely will be venturing into a place I have not been in many years. Sandy's cousin is coming in from Tyler TX and just turned 21 recently so the three of us will most likely head out to Crosswire club here in town tonight so I can show them I treuly do NOT know how to two-step but CAN get around the dance floor without severely injuring them. Say a prayer for there feet!!!

Hope everyone has been doing great and I apologize for not making the rounds as regularly to your blogs like I normally do. I do still go sometimes but do not always comment.

Ciao

Fried coke, quilts and arguing comments

So my good friend Sandi asked me last night on messenger if I was ever going to update my blog again. Seems she forgot I blogged just a few days ago....well Saturday....ok so it has been a few days. Sunday I went by and picked up Sandra and her daughter Ashley and we traveled the Odyssey like distance of approximately three miles from her house to my parents house for Sunday dinner. Both my brothers were visiting along with my nephew Sasha.....ooops forgot to get that picture I promised but I will try to remember again today. Anyway Ms Ashley had lots of fun playing with Sasha and she was such a nice lady.....her mom was so surprised at how she acted but then again I think she was threatened with no cell phone. This would be the best way to keep kids out of trouble......dont worry with jails .....go straight for the cell phones haha.

Sunday night I worked from 8 pm until 4:30 am. Got home and was in bed by 5ish with my alarm going off bright and early and 9 am....I was awake shortly before the alarm went off (my internal clock seems to be set a bit fast). Monday morning around 10:45 we set out for the STATE FAIR OF TEXAS. I was escorting four generations of my girlfriends family,(her, her daughter, her mom, and her grandmother for those of you who couldnt figure this out). It was her grandmothers first visit EVER to the state fair. (I think she is 76). Luckily (sarcasm here) we went on the busiest day yet for the fair with so many schools being out for the Columbus Day holiday. We had a great time. Ms Ashley and myself ventured off to the midway to see if we could revisit lunch via those spinning twisting rides they have. All I will say is those rides are ot made for someone my size and I soon realized why it is mainly kids riding them.....those little "nubs" that fit between your legs to hold you in place kinda hurt a grown man. Lets move on please haha.
We met back up with "the old folks" at the Budweiser stage on the side of the world famous Cotton Bowl. This was after we looked everywhere for them at the Bud LIGHT stage which was on the OTHER side of the Cotton Bowl. The big thing this year at the fair was fried coke. Every year there is something new in the way of deep fried goodness that one would never think of. This one should go back to the drawing board. Its basically coke soaked batter deep fried then covered with coca cola syrup and topped with whipped cream. It was pretty nasty in my opinion. Now where is my Dr Pepper cookbook.......
We had a great day and signed up for so many giveaways and free samples. To me the highlight of the day would be a tie between the hour or two Ashley and I spent on the midway and the stroll through the arts and crafts building with four ladies who all enjoy that type of stuff. I do too since both my grandmas and my mom were all quite good at quilting and no nto with a sewing machine.....hand quilting.
Ok Sandi I have blogged again.....when is my next one? Well It IS wednesday but I doubt there will be a HNT blog this week. As for the little "argument" that took place in the comments of a previous blog....Chelle...I AM going out with Sandra and JUST Sandra either tonight of Friday.I was laughing when I read all the comments...Maybe another venture into Indian Territory is coming up.
Hope everyone is doing well and I apologize for being lackadasical in my blogging duties....I know this is bothering soooooo many of you right? haha
Ciao

Illegal immigrants, my Russian nephew, and Ms Ashley

I am sure everyone has heard about the news story regarding the illegal immigrants and their backers raising the Mexican flag at the US post office in California byw now. Not only did they raise this flag from another country on a flag pole for the UNITED STATES flag , they assaulted police officers when they tried to remove them from the premises with rocks and bottles being hurled. This is getting so ludicrous now. What part of ILLEGAL am I NOT understanding here. What if I drive my Yukon 120 mph (which is "ILLEGAL")and have the police stop me and start to write a ticket? What if I decide I do not WANT this ticket although I KNOW I was in the worng and start throwing rocks and bottles at this officer? I am sure he would not just back the %$#@ away and let the situation die down now would he........umm no I would either be shot, beat with a baton, or hit with a stun gun.....or I better be!!!! Why was nothing done to these idiots? Did we not want to infringe on their civil rights? Heres a clue people.....they are in this country ILLEGALLY....hence the term ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT. Who is to say they are not terrorists recruited by one of the world organizations? We worry so much about terrorism now but yet people don't want to close the borders with a fence. I would support the MINUTEMEN in a heartbeat as long as it was checked by authorities. They are just doing what ANYONE in their right mind should do when threatened by an outside force illegaly crossing our borders. These people , they claim, perform a "needed service" in doing the jobs others will not do.....listen to me junior... why do we pay these pathetic lowlifes money to do NOTHING (speaking of our welfare system here) when there are jobs available? I do not think ANY welfare should be paid out to an able bodied person IF there is even ONE job available that person could do. If the government is going to pay these people for doing absofuckinlutely nothing then wheres my check Poindexter? I am an American citizen just like these people but my punishment for actually doing what is RIGHT and WORKING FOR A LIVING results in not getting this HANDOUT from the government. Some people will chime in and say, "Wait a minute there Brad....the welfare system has helped my family out in a time of need....."......well mine too. The key is "in a time of NEED", not in place of my family working for a living. Dont take this as antyhing other than an editorial stating my opinions. I would NOT sit around and do nothing and expect YOU the UNITED STATE TAX PAYERS to support me and let me use YOUR dollars to buy a nicer vehicle than YOU who work can afford. Its not the way I was raised.....these people were raised completely 1000% wrong with absolutely no morals or any kind of concept of WORK.

Also while I am on my soapbox here lets address ENGLISH and its place in AMERICAN society. I use slang sometimes....I use "y'all" a lot.....so many other words that are KNOWN to basically everyone. I have truck drivers come in all the time...US citizens and otherwise and if they cannot communicate to me in ENGLISH I just tell them....we speak ENGLISH here and I cannot understand them. This is not JUST Mexican drivers. I am talking about people who were born and raised in this area and talk what they call ebonics....I about had a black guy ready to kick my ass I am sure one day and my lead man (who is also black) kinda chastised me about it too. This guy came in speaking "ebonics"......I told him politely that I didnt understand him and asked if he knew how to speak ENGLISH. (I knew exactly what he was saying but thats not the point) He decides to start cussing me out then, so I ever so politely turn and walk away and sit back down in the office with him steadily cussing away on the other side of the window. My lead man asks me what he was cussing about and I tell him he was not speaking ENGLISH and I could not speak his language and if he couldnt speak the language he does not deserve to be unloaded. My lead man goes up to him and apologizes for my actions (idiot) and gets the guy pointed in the right direction. Comes back to me and told me I was wrong in the way I handled it. I stated that he does the same thing and complains when a Mexican driver comes in and cannot speak English. He says that different....not so there JoJo. If the person cannot communicate with me properly, no matter the language he speaks he should not expect any special treatment.

Am I too harsh? Not in my mind. In your mind I am sure it might be different. I am very hard headed sometimes but you know what? I am also 100% proud to be an AMERICAN and I know so many others who feel the same way. Thats what makes it so amazing to me when something like this ILLEGAL immigrant issue is not black and white. If they know these people are in the country illegally then send them back. We can go through the system and approve a mega bill to put up a fence to keep them out but if we find them here IN the US and nothing is done about them, then the partial fence is not worth constructing. All they have to do is find where there is no fenceand come on across. Stand up and fight this people. Tell your representative, your congressman, your senator , that if people do things illegally they should be punished. Ask your congressman if you were to rob a bank (which is illegal btw) if you could get off scotfree? I am sure he would be the first to say that its a crime and you would be punished (unless you were here illegally)

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Ok now stepping down from the soapbox (I should run for some position in government.....maybe start a Common Sense party)....

My brother and his wife in March of this year returned to the US from Russia with a young lad of 6 years of age named Sasha. Ok thats his Russian name but legally his name is Jeffery Alexander....but he is still Sasha. This little bundle of energy is amazing. He comes to a completely different society....a new world and within a few short months is basically fluent in English. Dont get me wrong...he has the Russian accent and will have for a long time (I hope) but he can communicate so well already. It is truly incredible how fast kids can adapt to change like this. They are in this weekend visiting my parents and I will be out there with them shortly. Yes I will get a few pics of my newest nephew and me scanned and posted soon.

Also this evening I will be meeting more of Ms Sandra's family. I was out there last night watching movies with her and Ashley and cannot tell you how special I felt when Ashley announced she was going to bed ...gave her mom a hug and kiss...then gave me one too. This is such a precious and beautiful young lady and could so easily get jealous of the time I am taking away from what used to be her time with her mom and allowing it to be OUR time together. I admit I almost teared up when she hugged me and and told me goodnight. She has definitely made things so much easier between Sandra and myself. She has in a way been a lot of the reason that things have went so well so far....inviting me to her volleyball games....inviting me to pretty much any part of her life I have time for. Monday we are going to the Texas state fair too and I am sure she and I will have plenty of "bonding moments" as her mother and her "maw" are not big on most of the rides. She asked if I would ride anything and everything with her.....how could I NOT ride any ride with her after how at ease she has made getting to know her mom AND her and Maw. I know some of you get tired of me being so "bubbly" about how things are going but its not an act....I am truly this happy and I do not mind sharing my experiences and happiness with the world....or at least the two of you who read this garbage.:P
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Hope everyone has a GRANDOISE weekend.....get out....enjoy the chill in the air....look up at the full moon ......let the hair down and let out a howl!!!!

ciao

Daddys hands HNT 16

They say a daddys hands can be the most gentle thing in the world ..... I can assure you that nothing in the world could have happened to the young lady in the above pic.....not while in daddys hands anyway. No matter how old that beautiful child gets she will always be "in my hands"


As an ongoing tribute to the genius of my friend Chelle here are the pics I had but "didn't use......go ask her ....its some Canuck thing eh?




Wanna know what half nekkid thursdays are all about? Click this pretty lady and it will all be crystal clear.

Almost forgot to mention....

Stop by and wish my awesome friend Becca a HAPPY birthday and dont forget her spankin.....I used a four inch wide leather belt AND a ping pong paddle..... haha
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Happy happy birthday to you sweetness!!!


Brad

Lots of prayer requests....

What in the world is going on with all the school shootings lately. Its going to get to the point where parents have to bribe their kids to go to school. So sad when the kids have to worry about stuff like this. Please take the time to say a prayer for the parents of the slain children and also to pray for the kids who have lost their friends, classmates and are exposed to the extremely cruel and violent side of the world at such an early age. I have known a few people who have been murdered just in my short lifetime of 37 years. Some of these kids have experienced more of their friends dying in one day than many of us face in many years of living. Just within the past few weeks an acquaintance of mine was murdered here in Paris. I knew her from her job as a bank teller and she was always the one I went to. Always such a charming outgoing and friendly person. So hard to believe someone would want to kill her. I would also like to ask for a prayer for Leslie's family as they struggle to get back to as normal a life as possible when a loved one is taken away. She was 26 years old and one of the most beautiful young ladies around. The boy, age 22 I think< that murdered her in her duplex used to live two doors down from me. He turned the shotgun on himself after shooting Leslie twice and took his own life. Once again please say a prayer for the Farmer family as they deal with the loss of this young man.
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I would now like to ask a favor .....I am sure many of you know about Sandi and her operation she is home recovering from now. She is such a great friend and has heard wayyyyy too much about me and my personal life so I gotta keep her happy so she does not start spouting any of that info out about me haha (j/k ;) ) I have another local blogger friend who is experiencing a lot of what Sandi has experienced but second hand. My friend Nessa's husband was to have part of his kidney removed last week. I have not heard from her yet on an update but if you have time stop by and offer some kind words and a prayer for these two ladies as they deal in their own way with these health problems. Also while I am going through my prayer list I would also like to mention my lovely friend Robyn. This is such a strong young lady who has been through so much in her lifetime and if you can stop by and let her know she is special....not "short bus special"....although I do wonder sometimes........ JUST KIDDING ROBYN!!!!
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If you are still reading I would like to say thanks for helping me with my prayer list. This is just a short short version of it. So many people are on my mind and in my prayers for so many different reasons. It just sometimes helps to share some of these friends stories and I am NOT asking you to feel sorry for any of them .....just simply asking that you think of them in prayer and hopefully they will know or feel the most powerful thing in the universe...the power of prayer.

Just a quick prayer poem I wrote just now.

Thanks dear Lord for all the multitude of blessings upon me have been bestowed.
Thanks for providing me health and wisdom and the key to blessings untold.
Thank You for sending Jesus to die upon the cross for all our sins.
So comforting to know when our lives on earth over, you will welcome us home again.
Continue to bless the ones in my head, sometimes they slip my mind.
You know the names and why I pray before the words leave these lips of mine.
Please be with the world leaders, as they deal with terrors of the day.
And be with the ones who I dont even know, as always in my heart You stay.

Yet another great weekend!!!

Had another very nice weekend. Spent Friday evening with Sandy and her daughter and mom. Bumped the volleyball around some.....her daughter is 12 and lets just say I got a workout chasing the volleyball a lot. Its all good with me though.... Maw (which I was told to call her the first time I met her) cooked a very good home cooking type of meal and Ashley did her best to be Ms Etiquette and for a 12 year old she does quite well. She is a bit hyper but I think a big part of that is her wanting attention. She is quite a charming young lady and oh so smart....might even be as smart as I was at that age....maybe... haha. Next weekend some of her out of town family members will be visiting and I have been invited to a family gathering which will include the adults playing a lot of 42 and Ashley and myself I am sure playing volleyball or something since we are amateurs compared to them. I am learning as she is too so one of these days we will play. Also having a big fish fry Saturday night. My brother and his son are also coming in this weekend and hoping I can get my daughter to come out to visit also. We ALL know how busy the lives of 16 year olds can be right? Hopefully she will be able to come out and meet her nephew Sasha again. They got along great the last time they got together. Sasha is a 6 yr old lil dynamo my brother and his wife adopted from Russia earlier this year (March I think it was when they brought him home) I am sure he will be a good match for Ashley also as they both have so much energy. Hopefully that will happen for the first time this weekend also.
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We made a 150 mile trek into Indian territory again this weekend. Our destination being the worlds oldest continuosly run dragstrip in the southern OK town of Ardmore. Actually north of Ardmore a ways in the middle of nowhere....it was the 34th annual Cow Pasture Reunion. This dragstrip has been running since 1954. It was very old school drag racing feeling in the air for sure. No fancy scoreboard flashing the times up. If you wanted to know what time someone ran you could only hope the PA announcer was not giving it out during the next pairs burnout. We had I think 5 cars from here racing in the street car class and about 5 or 6 of our Okie friends from El Reno near OKC made it down for a little Red River showdown of sorts. My friend Greg and his son Jerry made the trip up there with me in the Yukon and Greg ended up winning $175 in the 50/50 cash drawing they had so we all know who bought supper that night. Was some very good racing and several guys posted some new best times. One more major race we all plan to attend this year and thats about 3 weeks away but only a few miles east of here.
Not much else going on.....trying to regain some of the energy the near 100 degree temps zapped from me the last few days and getting ready for 12 hour work days the first half of this week. Not a bad thing since I will be on vacation the following week woohooo.

Ciao