He's Back

I guess the old saying, may even be from the Bible, is true, unfortunatly. If you wish for it, it will come. Matthew is in deep stuff again, at school and, now, at home. 1st grade behavior scale goes like this: Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, RED. Blue is almost impossible, only a few chances a week to act that good, but Matthew has had his share of Blue days. Mostly he is on green, which is fine. Yesterday, he was on Orange, but he told us Green, and he has been so consistant, that we did not look in his folder. Today he was RED. The hellion returns!! Did I ask for this, yeah, I did! He pushed someone in the chest, Stabbed someone with his pencil, and said something to another that doesn't bear repeating. WOW!!! I don't think I have had that bad of a day in several YEARS! Angie and I arguing, Maybe, but not with someone else. So, today he was on the chain gang at home, he picked up rocks, and we have plenty, out of the yard. You can't count the rocks that we have, I don't know if NASA has this many stars to deal with. But, he was out there picking them up until almost 7 p.m. This was my punishment for him, Angie's, also in play, is no TV or video games until Monday. Are we too harsh, hard to tell without you knowing what he said to the other boy at school, I think we are right on. I didn't want to punish him when I was griping about him being boring, I just wanted some of his personality back. Anyone that knows him knows that the Straight and Narrow is not his way, but today was out of character totaly.

On to other news. Tommorrow Angie is going on an excursion with the wife of the guy that works with me. Her name is Katie, his George. They will be gone for about 4-5 hours. Angie needs the break, trust me. Hopefully everything go as planned. I can't tell you what she is doing, because that is her call. No, no tattoos or piercings or anything like that. But a healthy thing. I hope she enjoys her alone, or adult, time with Katie.

Tommorrow night, we are having our second poker night. The first one was a charity event, with me winning the money. It was the weekend after we were robbed. Tommorrow should be a lot more fun, we will have more people. We are playing Texas Holdem with the winner taking half the pot, second 30%, and 3rd taking 20%. I'm sure there will be side games and other stuff going on. Should be a blast.

Nat, Bray, and Ang are fine. Angie and Natalie are getting over some sinus and drainage problems. Lots of coughing and sniffling for those two. Brayden is well and Angie fed him his first rice cereal tonight. He didn't take to it at first, but by the time she was out of food, he was really into it. Figures.

See you all soon,

Jim

Archiving

P.S. I will be archiving all of my posts after a week now, so if you miss some or want to go back and see something again, you may have to look in the archives down on the right hand side. And thanks for the comments, they are appreciated.

Jim

Did you know?

Did you know that you can relax your muscles, releive high blood pressure, increase circulation, and raise the temp in those cold hands and feet, simply by breathing in for a 2 count then out for a 3 count, for about 5 minutes. No kidding, I watched Natalie raise the temp in her hands from 81 degrees to 93 point something in about 5 minutes this morning. Dr. Nanny Christy is teaching her relaxation techniques, and this was the one they did today. I never knew, it was amazing. She said that she uses these techinques on hypertension patients all the time, and it works. She said Natalie is exceptional, because of her ability to focus on what she is doing, and make these techinques work so well. I was very impressed with the doc, and I truly hope that this will help Natalie to be able to avoid many more of her episodes in the future. So far it has seemed to be benificial. Yesterday, she had a minor glitch, but it was not very intense and didn't last very long. She came home from school, and listened to her relaxation cd, and it went away quickly. This is great, anything that works is so much better than where we were.

Not a very eventful day otherwise, take care, see ya tommorrow.
Jim

P.S. those of you who have a blood pressure machine, and you know who you are, try this out and see if it does indeed work on blood pressure. I only saw temp and muscle tension today with Natalie.

Thanks J

The Knockout Blow

Ok, first things first. I talked to the Investigator again today, and I give up. They are never going to catch anyone. The videos that they have cannot be enhanced, or so they say. They have to be torn down and reconstructed piece by piece, because they are digital. He says digital video is so compressed to begin with that they can't do much to them afterwards. So what the hell good is it to use new technology if it can't help us. The old video, on tape, you could zoom in on all day, but not the new stuff. Quick, somebody call the guys at CSI, because the hillbillies are stumped. Damn! ARG!! Double ARG!!! Oh, by the way, he said the reconstruction of the video could take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months, depending on how busy the DPS lab is. Enough of that stuff. NEXT!

Ok, back to the knockout blow. Today I was wearing a cap, because I need a haircut. I had a busy day, so I was in a hurry. I did some new hook ups, and re-did some old ones. On one of the old ones, I had my head down, in a hurry, and walked HEAD on into a ball valve that was sticking out about 6 feet off the ground. A big old blue KF, 2000 pounder. I don't know why it was there, but it was, and it stopped me cold. I kind of remember falling against the fence around the wellhead, not barbed wire, thank God. I sat there a few minutes trying too get my bearings, and realizing my head was throbbing. I had a good knot on my forehead for about 4 hours, but other than that, I feel fine, and just kept working. I actually hit my head so hard, that when I fell, I didn't look around to see if anyone was looking, you all know the feeling, it never crossed my blank mind. I don't think I hurt the ball valve or wellhead any, at least it didn't say anything. No worries, after it was over, I just laughed at myself for being in such a hurry, but I was trying to get done, ya know.

Tommorrow, Natalie and I go to the Psychotherapist in Fort Worth at 9 a.m. I have never been to Nanny's office, so it should be interesting, and I will be able to inform everyone better about what she does after seeing it for myself. What I do know is that so far it is working, and that is great.

Brayden stayed all night in his bed last night, but Angie patted him alot, I think. His bed is right beside ours, but he was in it, and not in ours. We actually don't mind him sleeping in our bed, but we realize that the transition must be made, so the sooner the better. Maybe he needs a memory foam topper for his crib. It's an option.

Matt must need a transfusion, he is just being good. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT? Wasn't long ago that we couldn't buy these type of days, and now it's all we get. I know, I know, what the hell am I griping about, but he is an incredibly fun, and funny kid, and I kinda miss the hellion side sometimes, that's all. It seems that the most he gets in trouble for anymore is talking when he isn't supposed to. No pushing, no fights, no nothing. Man how BORING!!

But, school is out soon, and they should have fun running around here, to the neighbors, to the ponds, finding snakes, frogs, crawdads, rabbits, skunks, buzzards, and the like. I need the summer off, hell we all do. Go ahead, take the summer off, paid of course, tell them I said it was O.K., they'll understand.

See ya tommorrow, bed time,
Jim

Tuesday

Nothing. I'm tired. I'm going to bed. See ya tommorrow. Jim

Monday's Softball Game

Well, the girls played very well tonight, and I couldn't be happier. We have waited all year for a game that we hit well, and this was it. I believe all of the girls on the team, but one, had at least one hit. Natalie had 3, and only saw 3 pitches. It was a very well played game by both teams that timed out in another tie, 18-18. So, we are 4-1-4 now. Man, we had put outs, plays at the plate, stolen bases, wild pitches, and a few throws that sailed, and I do mean sailed, on us. But, all in all, it was one of those games that keeps you on your toes the entire time, and is a blast to watch or be a part of. I am very glad that there is a 6 run per inning rule, because both teams were hitting very well, and nobody deserved to lose. Natalie had another 2 putouts at first base also. She is a real team leader, and I couldn't be prouder, whether it is fielding, throwing, hitting, or getting in trouble in the dugout, she is a leader.

Now, my out. I may not be able to race my 4-wheeler in Abilene on the 21st, because there is a softball tounrament in Denton, and I don't know if we will be in it or not. I know, at least a few of you, are breathing easier after hearing that, but never fear, I will make it no later that the June race. No, I don't have a death wish, I just want to be competitive. Maybe pay Bill back for some of the heart palpatations that he has given the rest of us over the years, watching him race. There have been a few, and yes, only a few times, but they were there all the same.

Matthew hasn't done anything of particular note today, honestly the boy is being a dissapointment. He is a riot, and when he behaves this well, we don't know what to think or do. He split his time tonight between the game and the playground, about 100 yards away, and he always returned without being called, or having someone sent after him. Must be sick, who knows. Don't worry though, he will have us all rolling again soon, I am SURE.

Brayden is continuing to develope a killer personality. He is laughing out loud quite a bit since we returned home last night. If he is not sick or hurting, he is always happy. And he is not sick much anymore, but his reflux hurts him from time to time. It's easy to tell when it happens, because he goes from laughing to screaming in an instant. Its like having extreme heart burn, that comes up your throat, and that sucks, especially for a baby, but you hear it more and more these days. Hopefull we are almost past it, I may be wrong, but I think it is generally gone in 4-5 months. Let's hope so, no child deserves that. Especially mine, he has a whole lifetime to put up with me, and that's bad enough, not to mention his sister and brother. But, Angie will always be there to make it better, whether its reflux, or us that is bothering him.

All for now, see ya tommorrow,
Jim

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

Especially to the love of my life Angelina May! I love you dearly, Sweetheart!
Happy Mother's Day also to my mother, Kay Berryman, and my mother-in-law, Barbara Brzezinski. We were in Sweetwater and Longworth today to see them both. Then raced the weather home, and barely won. No, the house hadn't been robbed while we were gone, but since no one has been arrested, it was a pleasant surprise, because whoever did it last time was obviously watching us. But the alarm is on constantly now, so come get some. I want badly for those people, or that person to be that stupid! Maybe, next time, Angie will be home to make minced meat out of them, while I lay on the floor and scream, "Take anything you want, just don't hurt me!!" HA!! Bring them on!! Well, that's it for now. Tune in later for another installment of the Berryman cronicles. Jim

Saturday night

Well, as I said before, I went to the race track in Abilene Saturday night with my Father-in-law, Bill. He has the fuel sales at the track, and also the drag strip, in Abilene. So, we sold fuel for most of the night. This was my first trip back in sometime. Bear with me, because I will use some names that most of you don't know, but you will get the jist. It was almost like I never left. The guys who used to know me still knew me, and all of the rest were friendly, as always. Bill used to race in the mini-modified class, but it was abandonded this year, so all of those guys are racing in different divisions. Mikey and Terry are still there, but racing in the Limited Late Model class, where as Bill is in the I-stock class. J.D. is still there, and still in the limited Late Model class. This dude is actually in a class by himself, neither eye looks the same direction, and he is a f'n nut. Bona fide f'n idiot, wild man. He won the Late Model feature, as I have watched him do several times, and he is probably my third favorite driver of all time, behind Jeff Gordon, and Bill, my Father-in-law. J.D. is most noted in my memory for wrecking his old late model, ALL THE WAY DOWN THE FRONT STRECH OUTSIDE WALL, then getting out of the car, and asking, " Damn, did yall see that, I think I got air on that one!"
Bill finished 4th in the heat, because you just don't want to wreck, total, your car in the heat, it doesn't pay anything. In the feature, he started 4th row, inside, in a 16 car field. On the first lap, he was spun out in turn 4. He kept it going though, and passed a couple of cars at the back of the field. I turned to Justin, who helps Bill in his fuel sales, and said "Oh shit, watch out for the Mad Russian now!". A few laps later, there was a restart, and Bill was behind the 25 car, and 25 is very non-competitive. He didn't even gas it on the restart, which is on the back straightway. So Bill was about half of a straight away behind the car in front of him, from the restart. He caught up, and ended up 4th in the feature, which was quite an accomplishment!! Especially because this is the most evenly matched class at the track, in my opinion. It is almost like the rules don't allow anyone to have a superior car. It must be infuriating, to know you are a better driver, and have the ability to build a better car and motor, but not be allowed to.
After the race, a few cars were inspected, including his, and the tech guy pointed out to Bill that the accellorator pump on the carb was not hooked up. This surprised Bill, but when it is hooked up, next week, I wouldn't be surprised to see a few feature wins come his way. Also, he has a very good relationship with the track owner, Rob Poor, and it was odd to me that Rob walked up to Bill in the inspection area, and said, "Hell of a come back, Bill." I mentioned this on the ride home, and he was surprised that I heard it. HA!
There is a 4-wheeler race at the track once a month, and the next one is in 2 weeks on the 21st. I will be competing in this as it pays $150 for first and $100 for second. The track is extremely easy, but that doesn't mean anything to me, because it will be easy for everyone. Although, I do believe that I could easily have the fastest 4-wheeler there, but I still have to ride it, so who knows. I am thinking of inviting my buddy Brian to come up from San Angelo, to race also. He is extremely good, and has an awesome bike as well. He could win this very easily. I will let you all know how this progresses.
All for now, Jim.