Our roots are showing!

Posted on 01/03/2010 by RLW3

I thought that we had done a better job of concealing our true color but…

Our Southern California roots are beginning showing.

It snowed about two inches last night. Our cars were covered.

Then, it snowed all day long.

But, my household is in complete agreement…

We like it. It’s fun!

The sight of snow falling is still beautiful to us.

The sound of it crunching under our feet is pretty neat too.

Seeing perfectly formed flakes on the sleeve of your coat or the front windshield is fascinating.

I guess I could say it is a pain to drive in it but it really isn’t. It just makes even the simplest trip an adventure.

“Are we going to get stuck?”

“Can we make it up that hill?”

“Will we be able to stop in time?”

When else can a 50 year old man do “burn-outs” and “fishtail” down the road with his wife and daughter in the car and not be accused of being immature and irresponsible? When else would my wife and daughter actually smile and laugh about it?

I realize that I might change my mind by the end of winter, but for now, after 31 years of hoping for snow, winter is pretty cool!

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My first bout with cabin fever

Posted on 01/02/2010 by RLW3

The ground has been covered with snow since Christmas Eve. The streets are drivable but they are much narrower than they were two weeks ago. Instead of two wide lanes, we have 1.75.

That being the case, what do you think the condition of the sidewalks are?

They don’t exist.

But I decided to take a walk anyway.  I like our apartment but…I just had to get out for a bit.

Since it is a holiday weekend and the traffic is very light, I could just walk on the streets. Out I went…

And I was back inside within three minutes!

Low single digit temperatures can turn a leisurely walk into a painful survivor challenge!

And we are just in the beginning of winter!

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A wild New Year’s Eve

Posted on 01/01/2010 by RLW3

New Year’s Eve isn’t really that big of a celebration in our household.

We don’t really drink.

Our television is in the storage facility. Besides, even if we had it in our apartment, I am just not that motivated to stay up a few extra hours to essentially watch the clock tick. You can dress it up with a big ball sliding down a pole, but that is still all that is really happening!

I already know who I’m going to kiss…I’ve been kissing her for nearly 24 years.

And I don’t see why I should wait until midnight to do that!

So, we went to the New Year’s Eve church service. It was all right…

We shopped at Wal-Mart together…It was all right.

I guess the kissing part was the highlight of the evening!

Happy New Year!

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Closing the books on 2009

Posted on 12/31/2009 by RLW3

Christmas vacation is officially over. I drove my son to the airport this morning. My wife, my youngest daughter and I are all that are left here in Kansas.

It is time to set my sights toward the new year.

I did achieve a nice goal this morning…

I kept my weight under 200 lbs. this entire year. The last time that happened was 20 years ago!

However, it did get really close at the end. I weighed 199 this morning! I was sailing alon great until Thanksgiving. Since then, I have gained 7 pounds! Why is it so easy to gain weight and so difficult to lose it? If I could answer that question, I would probably be a very wealthy man!

Speaking of wealth, we did not incur ANY debt this entire year! I have no idea when the last time that was the case.

We also paid for our son to attend college…

well, kinda sorta…

You see, we decided to enroll him in a public high school when we moved from Los Angeles to Kansas City two years ago. He then joined the wrestling team and did well enough this year to earn a scholarship to a very good university. So, if it hadn’t been for us…

Anyway, I hope you take some time to think about what you would like to do or be this next year. Then, when you are done thinking, write it down.

Then, think of what it would take to actually make it happen. Then, write it down.

Then, think of when you would be the ideal time for it to happen. Then, write it down.

Then, pick it up and read it every so often. Life will tend to pull you in any number of directions except the one that you really want to go in. Generally speaking, you are the only one who can remind you of where you really want to go in life.

If you do remind yourself regularly, at this time next year, you will more than likely look back and see that you made progress in becoming who you want to be.

I think I will leave you with this song…think about it.

And, after your done with that one, listen to this one.

Happy New Year!

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I don’t fully understand

Posted on 12/30/2009 by RLW3

I woke up to a surprise today…

3 inches of snow on the car!

It snowed all day long.

However, there is something that I don’t fully understand…

While it was cold enough for new snow to fall, the snow on the ground was melting.

Things that make you go “Hmmm”.

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One big happy…

Posted on 12/28/2009 by RLW3

There is much more room in our apartment today…

My two oldest daughters and my wife’s parents left yesterday. My son will leave in a few days.

The last 24 hours were an emotional whirlwind.

Big A got put out with Bean. Big A got put out with Cakes. Kimba get put out with Bean. Cakes got put out with everybody and Bean got put out with me. One big happy…

By the way, how irrational is that last one!

As a father, I then got put out with everybody (although I didn’t tell anyone) because I saw this very short window of time when we are all together artificially closing very quickly.

I could chalk it up to regular family life and just endure it…

But that’s not my nature…

So, I called a family meeting and expressed my concerns about wasting our short time together. I told them that they have a unique opportunity to grow in the virtues that they will need in their marriages: forgiveness, long-suffering, patience, believing the best, refusing to close off their hearts and withdraw their affections, etc.

We ended up having a very frank, healthy discussion that not only cleared the air but hopefully will help us in the coming years.

We will have to wait and see…

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Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Posted on 12/27/2009 by RLW3

No more dreaming of a white Christmas here! We definitely had one!

3-6 inches on Christmas Eve, 7 inches on Christmas and 2 more today!

If I had to deal with it every day, it would really be a pain…

However, it’s Christmas and I am off from work so it’s not that bad. In fact, its kind of fun. After all, I’ve got time.

And boy, did I need it!

10 minutes to back the Super Crew out of the carport…

At least 30 minutes to move Wild Bill so my in laws could park closer to our apartment…

10 more minutes to uncover the Nissan…

45 minutes to take Cakes to her job at the animal hospital 3 miles down the road…

getting three people to stand in the bed of the truck to help me get enough traction to get out of the animal hospital’s driveway…

And all of this in 10º-25º weather!

“Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we’ve no place to go…”

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Hero…or outlaw?

Posted on 12/26/2009 by RLW3

Last night at 8:15 P.M., my wife informed me that she needed the electric roaster to cook the Christmas turkey.

There was just one problem with that…

The roaster was in our storage unit. My son drove down to get it and confirmed what I suspected: the storage facility was closed for Christmas!

When I woke up this morning, I thought I would just go down and double check.

Since it snowed anywhere from 3-6 inches last night, it took me a good 10 minutes just to back the truck out of the carport!

When I pulled into the storage facility’s driveway, I decided to walk the final 40 feet to see if the gate was working. After all, there is no sense getting stuck if I can’t even get in!

I punched in our code and sure enough, the gate lifted!

By the time I hustled back to the truck and drove to the gate, it had closed. I punched in our code again…the gate didn’t move! I punched it in again…the motor wasn’t even working

Am I glad I decided to test it first! If I hadn’t, our truck would have been trapped inside the gate for the remainder of the day! That would not have been good!

However, the problem still remained…she can’t cook the turkey.

My inner hero started rising up…

“I’ve got to at least try to make this happen.”

I drove back out onto the street and pulled as far into the driveway leading to the back gate as I dared. I then got out and walked to the gate…

A sign told me “Facilities are under 24 hour video surveillance.”

I thought, “If they come to get me, I’ll just plead that I was trying to save Christmas! After all, it works in the movies.”

I climbed over the gate, trudged through the snow and tried the door…it opened.

Long story short, I got the roaster and saved the day!

She cooked the turkey and we had an incredible dinner!

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Deja vu all over again!

Posted on 12/25/2009 by RLW3

Is there a pattern developing?

In my last post, I told you about the similarities of Kimba’s departure last Christmas and her  arrival this year. Well, we aren’t quite finished.

I was supposed to pick up my oldest daughter, Bean, from the airport last night. She was scheduled to take off from Dallas at 9:30 P.M and land here in Kansas City at 11:00.

The drive home from the airport with Kimba was pretty challenging. Snow was still falling so I imagined that the conditions would only get more difficult when I went back to pick Bean up. I decided to take a nap in order to be fully awake and alert.

So I laid down at 8:15. At 8:30, just as I drifted off to sleep, Bean called to tell me that her flight was delayed. She wouldn’t be getting in until 12:30 A.M.

I thought, “Fine. I will just be that much more rested when I go to pick her up.”

At 11:00, she called again. She wouldn’t be taking off until 12:30…

At 12:30, she called to tell us that her flight had been cancelled…after 9 hours at the airport!

That seemed very familiar to me…

Yes…I remember now. Something similar happened to her when she left KC to go home last Christmas.

Kind of weird…

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She’s back!

Posted on 12/24/2009 by RLW3

Let’s see…

I’m driving to the airport in the middle of a wind/hail/rain/snow storm…

Kimba must be coming into town!

When I took her to the airport after last Christmas, it was exactly the same type of weather.

It is pretty hairy trying to drive in this kind of weather. As I tried to finish up my Christmas shopping, I tried to negotiate a turn in a parking lot at a very slow rate of speed and continued to go straight ahead.

Anyway, with many heavy sighs to bleed off the pressure, we made the 35 minute drive home from the airport safely in about an hour.

And, to cap off a challenging Christmas Eve, I get to do it all over again in a little over four hours because Bean is coming in from Dallas!

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