Family Reunions

Anybody else have family reunions? I know that Angie's family does not. I hear of others now and then, but I seem to be the only person that has family reunions with both sides of my family every year. We aren't always able to go, and sometimes don't want to, but once there, they are ususally fun. Saturday is the Davidson family reunion, in Abilene. I have to admit that I don't really know many people there. They all seem to know me, but I am one of the young ones and they have all heard the stories that Mom or Granny and Pop tell them. Of course, I will be in that enviable position one day, and look foreward to it. But for now, I usually spend my time talking to my uncles, Ricky and Larry, my brother Bobby, or my cousins Tanner, Courtney, Jeff and Kyle, and their families. Mom, Granny and Pop also, but they know everybody there, and spend their time with many more people than I do. I don't really mind going, but it is always so hot, hell miserable to be honest. You can't take the kids to the zoo, because the only ones to get anything out of that are the animals. Gives them something to watch on a hot day from their shaded sanctuaries, and probably laugh at. I can just hear the giraffe asking the lion, "If we were free, do you think we would go to where they keep the humans and look at them?" "No, they must be sick." But, we will be there, sometime Saturday. I do look foreward to the races Saturday night at the Abilene Speedway, when I get to go help my father-in-law, Bill. We will sell fuel, and I will get to watch him race. I used to go on a weekly basis with him and my brother-in-law Billy.

Now, next Sunday, in Archer City is the Berryman reunion. I seem to know even fewer people when I am there. Dad and Granny are always there. My uncle C.W. too, who I like. Carolyn and Billy will surely be there also, and of course, I love them. But no cousins, as Bill and Stephanie have not been in ages. I really doubt if Bobby and his family will be there either, this year. More on that one later next week.

So, these are no more than a chance for people to see me and my family for the most part. I only talk to people when introduced, and rarely any time other than that. I stick to the same people that I talk to at Christmas or any other close family gathering. What exactly is the point? For the most part, except for the older folks there, people stick to the people that they know. Couldn't we do that anywhere, anytime? I guess I just don't understant the concept of a "complete" family reunion. We are not in contact during the rest of the year, and really there is not much contact with those we don't know at the reunions.

Maybe I will figure it all out after these two, but I doubt it. I do look foreward to seeing Granny and Pop, for they have not seen Brayden yet. Actually nobody besides Mom has on that side of the family. So they will get to see him, and that is good.

Maybe I don't give these functions the respect that they deserve. Let me know if you think I am being crappy about it. Honestly, it's the way I feel. I don't write on here to stroke anyone's ego, I just call it like I see it. Hell, maybe everyone felt this way about these at my age, or maybe families were closer when I was young. Who knows?

See ya then,

Jim

Robbed Again!!

Yep, that's right. Not our house this time, but I have been robbed again. As I'm sure some of you know, a little over a year ago my trailer was stolen from work. I have since, shortly therafter as a matter of fact, gotten a new trailer. We were forced to move our yard not long after my trailer was stolen. First we moved it out here, then we moved to a business complex. Then, the house was robbed, as everyone knows, now my new yard has been pilfered.

I pulled up to the fence behind my shop to see what bulk tanks we had available. This was Tuesday, because I had to go set 3 new hookups Wednessday. As I was sitting there, something kept eating at me. I was looking at a containment tub with a stand in it, but no bulk tank. This seemed odd to me but I didn't catch it right off, because I never look back there. I called George, because he had brought this particular tank and stand in from another location, and asked "Did you bring in a stand with no tank?" Of course he said "NO." So, then it dawned on me that he had asked on Monday if I had taken the lock off of the gate. I had not, but it was gone. So someone has broken into our yard and removed a tank from a stand and left with it. They can't be very smart people, becuase it would have been easier to take stand and all. Hell, I would have never noticed then, but a stand with no tank is not something we keep around. We have no use for a stand by itself, also we purchase all of our tanks with stands. So, here I am, MR. BADLUCK. Damn, I can't stand this shit. Oh well, it isn't really a big deal, but it is frustrating. Life goes on I guess.

Hope everyone is well,

See ya then,

Jim

P.S. Sorry Billy, I liked the poem, but you walked right into that one!!

An explosion!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's all my fault, really. It looks like there was an explosion in our garage. It's terrible. I was so lazy over the weekend that nothing got put away. The mowers, riding and push, sit proudly in the middle of the floor. There is trash everywhere, but the dumpster is full, and won't be emptied till tommorrow. Everything seems to be a mess. What happened to me? It used to be that I was determined that everything was put away at least to the point that we could park the suburban in the garage, but now there is no way. I have actually left things in the floor from vacation. Tonight I even took the stroller out of the suburban and left it parked in the garage, behind the mowers. Wow, I suck lately. I'm not tired, obviously, but I have gotten really lazy. Angie cannot be happy with that. The inside of our house is spectacular as always, but the outside is a wreck. God, I hope nobody is coming over anytime soon. We have the new pool chemicals sitting in the floor also. And, it seems, that I would rather tell you all about it than clean it up. I guess this keyboard is easier to put away when I am done. All I have to do is push it under the desktop, turn off the monitor and go to bed. How crappy!! Well, I will see if I can improve on it tommorrow. Easy to say, isn't it? Let's see how I do now that I have admitted to the fact that I haven't done crap in the past 2 weeks to help keep our house presentable. I hear that this is the first step to recovery.

See ya then,

Jim

An old school restaurant and cleaning the pool

We went out to dinner last night and found an old school restaurant. It is called El Fenix in Grapevine, not the same as El Fenix in Abilene. Although, El Fenix in Abilene is very good, if you order the right thing.

Anybody been to a restaurant lately? Thought so. When was the last time that the waitress brought everyone at the table a glass of water before asking what you wanted to drink? This used to be a common practice, even at places like Pizza Hut in Sweetwater. I don't know when they all decided to stop, but it was a shock when our waitress set down 4 glasses of water and then asked us what we wanted to drink. Natalie and Matthew had the best looks of confusion of their faces. Natalie said "Daddy, I didn't order this." Wow, what a blast from the past. I don't know if anyone else has noticed it, but now it seems to me that when you go out to eat, you don't get anything to drink until after you tell them what you want. I know that when I was young, never did you not get a glass of water before you ordered, now, you have to wait on those damn slow people to ask you what you want to drink, then take forever bringing it out. It was a nice change of pace, especially in the heart of the Metroplex where they always seem to be on the cutting edge with your culinary experience. Maybe newer isn't always better. We will be going back to this establishment when we are in the area and want Mexican food in the future. Oh yeah, the food was good too.

Now then, cleaning the pool was a different matter. When we had the old pool, I don't remember cleaning it. Maybe that was why it was green so often. The process of cleaning the pool, specifically vacuuming it, takes a while. It is not unpleasant, but time consuming. You have to stop and backflush the filter about 6 times to do ours. It seems to lose its prime every so often. Maybe it was just that dirty. It has been very dry here lately, and the dirt has been blowing quite a bit. Maybe if we can keep the dirt watered in an attempt to grow grass it will not be so bad. When they put the pool in, they killed all the grass around it, so there is nothing but dirt. I know it seems that I am bitching about having a pool, but I am not, just about cleaning it. I know it will get easier as the grass comes back, but for now it will probably be dirty again tommorrow. I won't vacuum it again tommorrow, but it will probably be dirty again. Oh well, I guess that is the price you pay. Maybe I can teach the kids to vacuum the pool. Yeah, that's gonna happen. We would have an empty pool after they were through. So, I will do the maintenance to it so everyone can enjoy it. Again, everyone is invited to come swim, or float, whenever you want. Don't be shy, it's here why shouldn't you be, it is summer ya know.

All for now, see ya then,

Jim

Massage

I kept the children this morning to give Angie a little break. She would never admit it or complain, but I could tell she needed one. No, I am not bragging, just reporting, so no "hooray Jim, you are such a great husband" or any other crap. This gets funny. She has had some pain in her right shoulder, so when I told her that I was giving her the morning, and part of the afternoon off, she scheduled a massage. This was recomended by someone, but I don't know who, for the benefit of her shoulder. I bet she wishes she could get her hands on them now. She said she spent most of the massage either crying or drooling (now that's funny), because of the pain. The woman worked her over good. Angie said that this woman had the strongest thumbs imaginable. She was in sheer, utter pain the whole time. Maybe next time she can just lay down and I can kick her in the head, and she can go back to bed or something. Maybe just lay by the pool, hell, even mowing sounds better to me. I have never had a massage, and now I'm pretty sure I never will. I don't mind the chiropractor, but she makes this massage thing sound horrible. I think I might just go outside and dig postholes in our rock if faced with a massage, unless it is given to me by Natalie. Now that girl is good, she hasn't hurt me yet. I'm sure there will come a time when she wants to, but come on, she's tiny. Angie said this lady never let up the whole time, until the end when she massaged her face. If someone was hurting me to the point of drooling (Jesus that's funny}, then reached for my face, I just might hit them to keep them away. Angie is pretty sure the woman's name was Helga, or some other former member of the Soviet National Womens Torture team. I'm sorry, but this is funny to me. I'm always away from the children when I am at work, and she finally has a chance to get away and do something fun, and this is what she comes up with? "Ok, I'm gonna go get mangled now." Talk about a twisted sense of humor. This actually sounds like something that I came up with to convince her to never leave the house. Just babysit and let me do what I want. I may be that smart, but I am not that cruel. So beware, if you get some time off, don't go get a massage. Sounds like it could be hazzardous to your health.

Later

Jim