Robbery News

Our hillbilly investigator called us yesterday. There was a check written in Longview, we thought. But, it was written to someone in Longview. We have let this slip, but the store it was written to filed charges against Angie. These charges obviously are bogus, and could never stick. The date on the check was the day before we were robbed, Yes, I know you can write any date you want on a check, but, it stood out to us. So, Angie called the store, and got the owner's son. Arabs own the store, the son didn't know anything, and was very rude and unhelpful. He gave Angie his father's cell number, and she called him. He was extremely rude also, only concerned with his piddly little $165. They got in a verbal argument, lucky for him. If she was closer, she would have kicked his foriegn ass.

We brought this to our investigator's attention, and now we may have a suspect. The person that cashed the check, has family here. We don't know much more than that, but it is a start. I asked the investigator what the family's address was, but he would not tell me, of course. But, he said that hopefully we would have someone in custody inside of a week. I can't help but to doubt this, because nothing has gone right yet. He did straighten out the store owner and the bank though. He even told the store owner that he would attempt to have him deported after he became belligerant with him. I don't think this could happen, but it was good to know someone was frustrated besides us. We even stand a chance to get at least some of our stuff back, because when you pawn something, you must show your I.D. So, if we get the right people, and they don't still have our stuff at their home, it is traceable that way. Maybe, and I think they do, the pawn shops take serial numbers off of what they accept. I know that Angie's pearls have no serial number, but it is a start. Especially since the insurance company will only cover $500 in jewelry, and Angie's pearl necklace was worth much more than that by itself. They never brought this up when we signed the policy, and they should have, because they want you to buy a separate jewelry policy. Would have been beneficial to both them and us.

In other news, after Angie took Brayden in for his 4 month doctor's visit yesterday, Brayden is off the charts in height for his age, but weighs less than Matthew did at this age, so maybe another tall, skinny kid for us. Also, he rolled over for the first time tonight. I did not see him, but Angie did. I went to watch, but he didn't do it again. Then he got tired and Angie put him to sleep.

Natalie and Matthew enjoyed their first day of summer vacation. They played outside a bunch and it was very nice weather, no rain for us, yet. I got home about 4:00 and the three of us played catch. Natalie is very good, and Matthew is getting it down quickly. They played outside till about 8:30, together. Then in for showers and a little T.V. time, then bed.

I guess that is all for now, but I will keep you informed,

Jim

Last day of school

Well, today was the last day of school for the kiddos. I had to pick Natalie up early, because we had an appointment with the Psychotherapist. All went well, she put me to sleep, but Natalie was able to stay awake and absorb the lesson. She has only had one relapse since her sessions started with Dr. Nanny Christie, over a month ago. The appointment was at 11:00 am, so afterward, I asked Nat where she wanted to eat lunch, and she chose Macaroni Grill in north Fort Worth. It was a fabulous lunch. I very much enjoy my alone time with my daughter. Then we went to the grand opening of Cabela's new store out by Alliance airport. The store is huge, all hunting and fishing and camping stuff. I think she enjoyed it more than I did, but I will go back tommorrow to be sure.

Angie took Brayden to get his 4 month shots today, and all that goes along with that. We found out why, possibly he has not been sleeping very well lately. Dr August told Angie that his reflux may be traveling up his throat to his sinuses at night while he lays on his stomach. Don't start on us about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), that's for babies that can't lift their heads up and suffocate. Brayden is very strong, and we have no worries there. Can you imangine your heart burn up in your nose, or sinuses? I can't. But, supposedly that is the problem he is having, so she increased his dose of Zantac. Maybe that will help, we'll see.

At 6:00 pm we had a softball practice, and no one showed up but me and Nat and the assistant coach and her daughter. That sucks. Everyone had 2 days notice at least, and no one showed. So, in the tournament, Natalie and Brianna will NOT ever sit on the bench. My assistant coach's name is Natalie also, so you can imagine the confusion that has caused. They both have had to get used to being called by their last name. Natalie Carter is a black belt in Karate, ironic huh? I thought maybe she had changed the practice time, but she had not, just no one showed. I hope they are there for the tournament. Natalie and Brianna both batted a bunch while the other one chased balls to return to me. They are both fantastic hitters, but have not had much to hit all year long, but I suspect that will change soon. I am sure the Denton teams will have pitchers that have pitched for at least 2 years. That will work to our advantage, because our girls can hit very well. Who knows, we could win the tournament if everything goes right.

That's it for now, tommorrow I will tell you what our investigator called us with today, about the robbery. Hopefully as exciting for you as it was for us. What a tease.

Jim

Matthew

Alright, alright, alright. Carrie Underwood my ass!!! Bo should have won. Don't start with me Kim. Now is not the time. Where was I? Oh Yeah.

Today was Matthew's award ceremony, and it did not dissapoint. Matthew was looking sharp in his khaki shorts and Aquamarine blue shirt. Nice haircut too. He recieved an award for perfect attendance, a teachers recognition award for A-B honor roll, and a Mad Scientist award. How fitting. I believe they called it an Excellence in Science award, but we all know the truth. His attributes didn't fall into any of their categories, and they had to give him something, or make a new award. "And this years winner of the Matthew Berryman excellence in mayhem award goes to ...................." You get my drift? Really, though, he is an outstanding kid and we did have the perfect teacher for him, this year, I just hope his reputation preceeds him next year and they take it easy. No sense in being uptight about it, he is just a little rowdy. Brilliant, but a little nutty. Aren't they all? Hell, sometimes you feel like a nut, right? That's my boy, and I couldn't be prouder, I'm just glad he didn't get kicked out for some of the crap he has pulled this year. Must be exciting to be the most dangerous 7 year old in town, maybe the county. Think of all the pressure. I gotta get him in a sport other that riding a 4 wheeler. Maybe he is a thrill seeking adrenaline junkie like his grandpa.

Speaking of grandpa, if you bend the frame on the racecar, and you finish the feature second, why the hell would you straighten it out? Underpowered little ford MY ASS! Oh don't let me get started on that roll again, I could be here all night.

Later Jim

P.S. Did I mention that I cut Matthew's hair, it's the only reason it was mentioned in the story. Don't worry, the mohawk is back in!!!

Natalie and Chloe

This morning was Natalie's end of school awards ceremony. She recieved the Bluebonnet readers award. There are books nominated every year by students and teachers, I think, that are on some council, and those are the Bluebonnet books. Angie and I did not know about this. But, Natalie was one of only 4 children in 4th grade to read all 20. It didn't really surprise me, because she reads all the time, but she never mentioned anything about any Bluebonnet books. She also recieved an award because her art memory team placed 2nd at the U.I.L. meet in Lake Worth. In her class awards, she recieved an award for her writing. Her teacher, Mrs. Dickerson, said that Natalie's stories actually made her see the things that she was writing about. Way to go Natalie.

This evening, we went to Chloe's preschool graduation. Chloe, for those who don't know, is Bobby and Chanda's second oldest daughter. Their Matthew, if you will. The similaities don't end at the brown hair and brown eyes. This was a wonderful event that was at her shcool, the Decatur First Baptist Church. She waved to everyone, and was a delight to watch recieving her first, of what I am sure, will be many awards in her lifetime.

Afterward we all went to Yesterday's Restuarant. We had, or at least the adults had, a big time. We have not been out to eat with Bobby's family in way too long. The stories they had about their time in Midland, surrounding Chanda's sister's wedding were tooooooo funny. They have some interesting friends to say the least, and Chanda's dad is always good for a laugh, either with him or about him. Danny is funny all the time.

Well that was about it for today, but, Matthew's awards are tommorrow at 8:30 am, so I will have plenty to talk about then, I am sure. Jeez, what award could he get. Definitely the most active child in class. Who knows! Tune in tommorrow for the story.

Jim

Me with Natalie on 1st 

It's all about accountabillity!!

Who knows if it's spelled right, I can't seem to be able to get the spell check to work, and I won't look it up in the dictionary, too much trouble. I weigh too damn much, not that I have just noticed, but maybe that I finally care. My daughter can outrun me, because I am afraid of my knees giving out. They are both horrible, but less weight on them could not hurt a thing. I weigh 267 today, actually less than I did a few months ago, but still way too much. Surprise anybody? Yeah 267. No I haven't ballooned lately or anything, its just what I have been hovering around for about 2 years. I have never been successful on any diet, because I really didn't, and don't, care about diets. Anybody remember the concession stand stuff? But, I have always been fairly accounatble, so I will post my weight on here every Sunday. This is a direct rip off of a friend of Kim Halfmann's, but I actually believe it will work. I won't lie about it, I will just post my weight and see if it has gone up or down. I am not looking for support, but to hold myself to it. If the things I did the week before didn't promote some type of weight loss, I will change what I do, whether it be diet or maybe, oh hell, just maybe, exercise. Even though, the weather outside is considerable warmer, and I will be spending much more time on my feet, I may just exercise.

Now, I have always helped myself to fail, according to Angie, by setting my goals too far out of reach, and weighing myself every night. So, how does 250 sound for the first goal? I will only weigh myself once a week. I probably won't change much the quantity of food that I consume right off, but it should be easy to eat healthier, because I eat out every day. So I will go with grilled stuff and veggies, instead of fried stuff and fries. That should be fine, I love grilled fish and chicken, and veggies, it just seems that everyone that I eat with eats fried food, and I fall right in with them in doing so. I just have to make an effort to remember this. May cost more, but the company usually pays, so who cares?

So, I threw it out there, let's see where it takes us. Should be fun, hell, I may be at 250 in time for the beach. Who knows.

later
Jim

P.S. My cousin, Bill, and I have had a running bet for about 2 years based on big time boxing matches. Boxing is the only sport we both follow, as he is not the sports nut that I am. Neither of us can remember who owes who how many lunches, but that all changes now. Here is our record keeping device. We spoke today, and agreed to start over with last night's Andrew Golota versus Lamon Brewster fight. He had Golota, and I had Brewster. Brewster won in 53 seconds. So Bill, you now owe me one lunch, grilled of course, I'm thinking Truelucks Steaks and Stonecrabs should do fine. All future boxing bets will be posted on here before the matches, so anyone interested can keep track. Thanks for playing along and indulging me.

Jim

Hey, beer isn't fattening is it?

New Experiences

Well, as should be expected, Brayden has had some new experiences in the past few days. Friday night, Angie's company had a company outing, at the Texas Rangers game. They sent us 5 tickets for our family. So, after work, we loaded up in the trusty old CHEVROLET SUBURBAN, yes, that's a barb intended for my father-in-law, and headed to the Ballpark in Arlington. Needless to say, it was Brayden's first time at one of my favorite places in the Metroplex. It was DAMN hot, but he handled it well, so did Angie, who, as always, carried the load with the baby. He handled it considerably better than my wallet. We spent in the neighborhood of $60.00 on food and drinks. Anyone that knows me, knows that I love concession stand food, but that is ridiculous. $20.00 for 4 hotdogs, $3.50 per coke, $6.50 for nachos, $4.00 apiece for Lemon, or Strawberry/Banana, chills (basically sherbert frozen harder than normal). I really wanted a frozen margarita, but they were $9.75, and that's too much even for me.

O.K. back to the real story, the ball game and other happenings. It was the Rangers versus the Astros in a little interleague action. In the second inning, I saw something that I have never seen before, live or on TV. Laynce Nix threw a runner out at home, for the second out, and Kevin "Shrek" Mench threw a runner out at home for the third out of the inning. WOW, that was incredible. Mench is my favorite Ranger, by the way, so twice as nice for me. Natalie asked a million baseball questions, "Dad, why does the pitcher keep throwing to first base, and why don't we throw to first base in softball?", "Because they get to lead off of the bases in baseball and we don't in softball." "How come?" "Because those are the rules." "Oh. Why?" "I don't know, probably because the pitcher pitches overhand in baseball." "Oh, how come we can't get a foul ball, I want one." "Well, babe, they have to hit it to us, I have never gotten one either, but I have gotten a homerun ball." "Can we get a homerun ball, I want one." "No Natalie, we are in foul territory, a homerun has to go over that wall over there." "Why didn't we sit over there?" "Because mommy's boss bought us tickets here." "Why?" Matthew "Dad, I have to go to the bathroom, BAD!" "In a minute Matt" Natalie "Hey dad can we move down to the front row, maybe that guy will just throw us one." "No, Natalie, the people in the front row would get mad at us for taking their seats, maybe in a little bit, if some of them leave." Matthew "Dad I really need to go to the bathroom, I'm serious." "OK, OK, lets go, maybe we can get something from the concession stand again."

This went on all night with Natalie, she was really into the game, and I was loving that, maybe not the constant bombardment of foul ball questions, but she loves baseball/softball. Not sure if Matthew knew we were at a baseball game or not, but he enjoys concession stands too. So it was a win-win situation for me.

After the game they had a fireworks show, and Brayden loved it. Angie and I thought he might be scared, but he was able to see them and only one actually scared him, and they went on for probably 15 minutes. Super show. The planes from DFW were taking off directly over the Ballpark, so they must have gotten a pretty good show also. That would be neat to see from a plane, maybe the first one might have caused a little bit of a commotion on board, that could be funny. Just imagine "Holy crap, what was that!?"

Brayden has also cut the 2 front bottom teeth, so he is sleeping much better now, and that is great. He had some semi-hard nights, but it seems we are in the clear until the next set begin to come in. He is a really great kid, lots of personality, lots of smiles, just like his brother and sister.

Natalie "Hey dad, can we come back and sit up there and try to get a homerun ball?" "Yes, sweetie we can." "I think we should keep coming back till we get one." DING DING DING, WE HAVE A WINNER. "We will come back after school is out, get here early, and get some batting practice homerun balls too, maybe try out that new half pound hotdog while we are at it, how does that sound?" "Great!" You better beileve it does, I'm hungry already. Matthew, "Hey dad, I need to go to the bathroom again!" "Good, the concession stand with the ice cream is just on the other side of the one with the hotdogs, let's go!!!"

All for now, hope it was as fun to read as it was to experience!!
Jim