Survived

Yes, we survived the weekend with the family, two dogs and my great nephews (aka The Wrecking Crew). The family was no problem. The dogs were fun to have around. Finnegan (aka The Ankle Biter) is now six months old; almost house broken, and newly groomed and really a pretty cute guy. We tried to keep him corralled in the kitchen and the porch, but when he had a "jail break" it was all hands on deck. He's about as fast as a bullet and thought it was great fun to take off and explore. The real task was to take both dogs outside at the same time. The big dog is a piece of cake, but Fin could get you tangled in his leash in a second. Also I wasn't used to having someone jump in my lap and beg while having coffee and a cookie.

The Wrecking Crew was something else. I forgot that our house isn't really set up for for three active boys. They weren't really a problem, but loved to question everything and thought our 4 ft. Nut Crackers very pretty cool (especially the swords and pole axes). Of course it didn't help matters when our blue ray player didn't want to work (worked latter in the evening) and we couldn't get Curious George to play. The oldest of the boys volunteered to operate it for me, but I was too stubborn to give in to 7 year old. Maybe I should have. Anyway we got through the day without any major disasters.

The adult gift exchange was a hoot. It is amazing what you can get for $10.00 at truck stop. We had gas cans, tiny rolls of toilet paper, a 64 oz. insulated coffee mug and the best was the safety orange, fur trimmed mad bomber hat (which my father got). Everyone agreed that next year we are to shop only at the Dollar Tree Store. They must have a better selection of junk.

We got all safely on the road last night and this morning. I haven't had my nap yet, but will take it as soon as I finish this.

CC nodding off.

PS - The Rabbit Wrangler is becoming quite the "pool hustler". He beat me outright one game and scratched on the 8 ball a couple of times. My guess is next time I'll be on the short end of the stick.

Tricks Of The Trade

As Christmas is fast approaching I'm reminded of one of the old ploys I used to use on my son when the excitement of Christmas became overwhelming and he would really get ornery and didn't want to mind the Nurse or me. Now we all know that Santa knows who is naughty or nice and if you were naughty you ran the risk of paying the price on Christmas morning. Well I devised a way to put real teeth into my threat of calling Santa when the kid was acting up. I had arranged with one of my co-workers that if I ever called and asked for Santa that he would play along and talk to my son about being good. Now mind you Santa has to be someone the child doesn't recognize the voice of if this ruse is to be effective. I think I only used this once but it sure worked wonders. The next time the mere suggestion of calling Santa was all it took to get his attention and cooperation. The Nurse thought this was a cruel and unusual method to obtain peace and quiet, but didn't complain to loudly at the time.

We a had a large gathering today for lunch. I think a lot of you guys were just looking for an excuse to get out of the house. Can't say that I blamed anyone since I spent most of the morning wrapping presents. Have to admit I'm not bad at it since I learned the art from my maternal grandfather. Christmas was always the most important time of the year and he went all out, especially with the gift wrap. In fact we still use one of the package decorations to this day. It is a little beat up, but brings back fond memories. The lunch chatter was loud and varied. Poor Tricia had her hands full trying to get all the orders straight. Since she worked hard we gave her the proceeds from SOTD (a large tip that was well deserved).

The crew arrives tomorrow morning with both dogs. Then the rest of my family will be here on Monday. We've a pretty good sized house but I think 16 people with animals will fill it up. And, five of them will be 10 or younger. This could really get interesting after a few hours. My family can get pretty creative about gift giving. The theme of this year's exchange is Truck Stops. The gift can't cost more than $10.00 and has to be bought at a truck stop store (you know, like a Pilot or Petro). Can't wait for the gift exchange. This could top the year my nephew gave us all souvenir hockey pucks from the Columbus Blue Jackets (not kidding). It really helps to have a sense of humor with this group.

Enough for now. I'll let you know how everything turns out.

CC signing off.

PS - Don;t worry. If you call and ask for Santa I know the drill.

Shopping Done?

Is your shopping done yet? Christmas is fast approaching and I'm not quite done. Like I really don't know what to get the Nurse. Now mind you we both are fortunate to have about everything we really want and it becomes more difficult every year to find that unique gift. I just hope inspiration strikes in the next few days.

Rumor has it TTS has been busy baking his awesome iced sugar cookies. Normally he drafts me into icing duty, but says he is cutting back this year and has it handled. So he's probably only doing 12 dozen rather than the normal 20. Frankly, I look forward to the special baked goods that are made this time of year and always pledge not over indulge, but it never seems to work.

Golf thought of the day - The statute of limitations on forgotten strokes is two holes.

Football quote of the day - "There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you." Woody Hayes/Ohio State

CC signing off.

Correction

The Nurse pointed out my proofing skills have diminished since my age hit the magic number to qualify for Medicare. That or the blog software made a mistake which I really think is the case. So here is what the football thought (from the other day) was supposed to say:

"Gentlemen it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble this football. " - John Heisman

And while I'm at it here is another nugget from a great coach - "A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall. " - Frank Leahy, Notre Dame

CC signing off.

No Golf Today

And, there probably won't be any for quite a few days. It looks like winter weather is really trying to set in. At least the lake is still open and hasn't shown any signs of ice. When that happens you dig out the parkas because it is really cold.

I had lunch with the SD yesterday and checked the dice cup while waiting to be served. Much to my surprise there was $12 in the cup. You guys must have been busy while I was gone. No wonder JJ asked me if there had been any recent winners. As long as the club is open we will have lunch on Fridays and have the SOTD for those interested.

A couple of golf thoughts for today:

1. One birdie is a hot streak.


2. Always limp with the same leg for the entire round.


3. And finally - Bets lengthen putts and shorten drives.

And one football thought to get us ready for bowl season - Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small bot than to fumble this football.

CC signing off.

We're Back

We got back Saturday with enough time to unload the car; unpack our bags; decompress from the white knuckle driving and then change into our dance clothes and head off to BCC for the winter frolic with all our friends. Sunday was spent trying to decorate the house for the holidays and watch a little football. Most of today has been spent picking and sorting through the mail (they gave me a bin full) and just catching up with a lot of loose odds and ends. But, it is nice to be home. Except for this crummy weather. Honest to God, we had sunny skies until we crossed the bridge at the Queen City and they turned overcast. Some things never change.

Driving was pretty uneventful but long and tedious at times. We only had three bottle necks. Atlanta at rush hour (thank you for the HOV lane). The split at I40 and I75 in Chatanoga , TN. Big aaccident there. And Exit 29 in Ohio (11 miles of construction). All told they added about 2.5 hours to the trip from Riviera Beach, FL. (approx. 1250 miles). We were certainly glad to get out of the car the 1st day after 15 hours. And yes, we are still speaking to each other.

I have to say the winter dance was a nice affair and we all clean up real nice. I couldn't believe how tired I felt at about 11 PM Saturday night. I must be getting old. Good band, though I didn't dance much. I did see OTR and quite a few of the other boys tripping the light fantastic. Didn't drink much either but didn't have a headache the next day.

Sorry about not posting much lately. I was having technical problems while traveling. Might have been our wi-fi connection, but everything seems to be OK now.

I'll leave with this thought - The only sure way to get a par is to leave a four-foot birdie putt two inches short of the hole.

CC signing off.