Check your Calendars!

 I can't believe it is less than two months from Christmas and we have sunshine and 75 degrees here in Texas! Some are predicting a bad winter but I'm not a believer. I love this weather, personally. I can see it now...Santa will come down the chimney in his Bermuda shorts and tee shirt wearing shades! Mrs. Claus will be back at the North Pole mad at old Santa because she wanted a vacation and this seemed like the perfect place to escape the cold. 

Thanksgiving is even closer! I can't wait. I love getting together with family over at my mother-in-law's house! Good food and good times. Always a pleasure. Always a treasure. I hope someone brings plenty of good rolls. I like the rolls even more than the turkey! Cornbread dressing is also most welcome in my opinion. I grew up with it. Mama could make great dressing! Never cared much for cranberry sauce, but if someone likes it I am sure there will be some. A recently discovered treat for me is butternut squash! DUDE!!! That's good stuff! I could talk food all day but I am rambling now. 

I suppose it is not too early to wish everyone a happy holiday season. I was just surprised when I realized it was so close to the holidays already. Enjoy your food, family, and fun!

Scary Ain't It?

 It's that time of year again. Fall. And with it comes the usual trappings of fall. Halloween, fastivals, leaves changing color. This year is only slightly different. The leaves are certainly changing color here in North East Texas. Problem is they are changing from green to brown! No reds, yellows or oranges at all! That means my beloved Texas is ugly this year. I hate to say that, but it's the facts. I hate it. We have never been a New England by any stretch, but c'mon man! At least give us a yellow leaf here and there!

Then there is Halloween. I personally don't care for celebrating demons, witches, and goblins, but I don't participate in that part anymore. I WILL eat candy! I have no qualms with a Butterfinger or Twix! When I was a kid, back in the day, my brother and I would go door to door, pillow case in hand, beseeching our neighbors for sweet handouts. The haul was usually very generous and the candy flowed like milk and honey! To this day I will state without hesitation or reservation that the best thing we got every year was Mrs. Arnold's homemade popcorn balls! I loved those things! She would place two or three of the treats in each of our bags and off we'd go to the next house. We never went out of our own neighborhood. Never had to. Our bags were full just from the small sampling of houses we were adjacent to. All those folks are gone now. The old neighborhood is far from the same as it was. Sad really. 

That leaves only the festivals. My wife and son are both teachers at the same school and tonight is the annual Fall Festival and Halloween Bash at the school. The kids look forward to it every year and the teachers dread it. After a long day teaching they have to spend three hours or so manning the various booths all off the clock. I don't blame them. 

There will be cake walks, dunking booths, bounce houses, and more. My favorite would be the cake walk, of course! But that's a whole other Jerry Springer. Prizes are the flavor of the day (or night). My son has provided 300 rubber ducks for prizes! I know because he forgot to take them with him this morning and I had to make a trip to the school (25 miles away) to save the day. (I'm such a good dad! LOL) I did not mind it.  Tonight the scene will be one of scary costumes and fairy princesses. I wish all a safe evening. If you are having a Halloween party this year, I hope you have great fun! From a personal stand point, I hope you place the emphasis on the "fun" and not on the "scary"!

Move Over Charlie Brown

 Spread the word! America is back on top in a catagory in the Guinness Book Of World Records! 

On October 10, 2026, American Ron Wallace turned up with an item that blew the minds of the judges. A 3156 pound PUMPKIN! It easily took the record that had been set just one week before by a Great Britain resident who had put up a 2800 pound entry. 

A three thousand pounder! Now THAT is a "Great Pumpkin" Charlie Brown! Imagine if Cinderella had had that available! There would be no carriage in the story. She would have had an 8 door Cadillac stretch limo to get to the ball! 

Personally, I keep thinking, "Wow! How many pumpkin pies would that make for Thanksgiving?!" 

Don't Go Teasin' Us!

 Mother Nature apparently has jokes! That little dab of rain last week was a joke. I am ready for a 2-3 day round of a soaking, gentle rain. I still have cracks in my driveway that would make a junkie drool! I literally saw one that was two inches across and every bit of five inches deep.  All kidding aside, we need more rain. I believe we got about four inches total last week. That isn't horrible, but it isn't enough. Three months without measurable rain is no joke. Ask a farmer or rancher. 

I used to hate the rain. Then it happened... I got old and can now appreciate the rain. For years I was into sign painting as a hobby. Rain messed that up. I hated a rain forcast. Now days I don't care one way or the other. I'm retired and disabled and can't do squat! So rain, no rain, hurricane, makes me no difference.

What was I talking about?? ...Oh yeah...We need rain. I'd rather not have my wife come in from walking the dog and be holding an empty leash. Dang cracks.

Diet? What Diet?

 OK...I am supposed to be on a diet. I meant to be on a diet but something happened along the way. I didn't see it coming or which way it went when it left the scene of the crime, but something came along! I was on a high protien diet. I liked the food, and it wasn't hard on me. Then it happened... Out of nowhere I was attacked by fast food and soft drinks! (I have since managed to restrain my love for soft drinks, but the fast food is a monkey on my back!) 

Why does forbidden food taste extra good when you are on a diet? I mean, I am unable to control myself when I am in the vicinity of a Whopper and fries! Men and brethren, it aught not to be so! (A little scriptural lingo for some of y'all who need it!) But it IS so! I get near an order of jalopeno and cheddar bites and I can't stand it. I gotta have some. A large order, not a puny 4 count. And they are sooooooo good! I am glad I am at home right now and not still in town. I might succumb to the desires of the flesh! (More lingo there...) 

Today I had to go to Wal Mart and pick up prescriptions. As I left the parking lot my car suddenly had a mind of it's own. I blame AI! It veered over into the Burger King drive through and stopped at the speaker. A voice that sounded like mine said, "I want a number one combo." What just happened?! Then my car pulled itself around to the first window and my debit card jumped out of my pocket and swiped itself! I was in some sort of shock. I did the only thing I knew to do...I ate the combo and drove home.

Like I said, I am "supposed to be on a diet." I'm calling today a "cheat day". Come to think of it... I'm calling every day this week a cheat day. There! I feel better now! 

Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may diet! But today I shall "have it my way!"

I'm Hungry!

 I'm hungry. I have not had breakfast yet, and here it is almost 10 o'clock in the morning! Time gets away from me when I sit down at this stupid computer. Literally hours slip past while I scroll and comment! HOURS! I need to get rid of the darn thing, but I enjoy it too much. I can keep up with old friends and former co-workers. I can Google stuff and argue with folks over politics! You'd be surprised how many keyboard warriors I run into who want to disagree with my correct opinions!They get all testy and mad and I just comment back and laugh at their ignorance and intolerant opinions. LOL! 

But back to beng hungry... I ate a sandwich last night about nine. It's gone now. I need something quick and tastey! Maybe another sandwich?! But that would mean I had to get up from all the fun I am having playing on this computer. I'll make it a few more minutes, I'm sure. The little store up the road about three miles has good stuff! I may go there for a large order of fries! But then...That would mean getting up and leaving my precious keyboard. Curses! Whoever designed these things was an evil genius! Whatever shall I do?!

Uh oh... I am starting to feel the urge to head to the little writer's room down the hall! Now I GOTTA get up and leave my spot! I suppose this would be a good time to stop and post this goofy blog. Then it's off to the store for fries! Must be God's way of keeping me from getting into more "discussions" with those keyboard warriors I mentioned. 

I shall go silently into the night and purchase for myself fries with salt, pepper, and ketchup! Perhaps a bottle of water to wash them down! Then I shall return to "discuss" with yet another person with a wrong viewpoint! FAREWELL!

Po' Folks

When I was very young (until about age 5) our family was poor. Money was always tight. But we had love in our home, humble as it was. Mom and Dad both worked to make ends meet. The thing was we always seemed to have something to eat. Might not be  much, but we had something. 

I remember the boxes of government surplus food we'd get. Peanut butter, powdered eggs and powdered milk.  There was butter, something called oleo, and other staples. I was too young to understand that my parents had to humble themselves and go pick up these boxes. I just thought everyone got them. I remember the powdered good the most. You don't forget the difference in taste of a gallon of Borden's homoginized milk and the powdered stuff! It's kinda like  the difference between Nabisco Saltines and Great Value crackers, you KNOW there is something wrong with the picture! Powdered eggs are a whole other story. They taste good to me. They were hot, and they were filling. That was all that mattered to me back then! 

My favorites from that big box were the peanut butter and that wonderful cheese! Never has a better sandwich been made than a grilled cheese sandwich made with govenment surplus cheese! I wish I had one now. (Hold the powdered milk, please.) 

Government surplus goods got my family through many a hard time. Like I said, money was tight. But the meals prepared with these items were more than just a meal. They were mama's way of  serving up love for her family. I realize now that Dad never wanted to have to take charity from the government, but he did the best he could. The program was created for people who needed help. WE needed help. After I turned about six or seven the powdered goods and things just went away and never returned. (Shout out to the late Calvin R. Starnes who gave my mother a better paying job and helped us out tremendously!) 

Did we have hard times? For sure. Did we have lean times? Yep. But did we somehow make it? Absolutely! My parent's willingness to do whatever it took to feed us and let us know we were loved was undeniable. THAT was my childhood. 

Now where's my grilled cheese and eggs?!