Bedhead Bob: Life and Times

 I was speaking to my cousin Brent the other day.  If you read my post about the summer, I spent in the country, when my parents were getting divorced, you may recall I made mention of Brent.  You may also have seen one of his comments on my posts, which I am always grateful for.  He is a few years younger than I am, and the two of us keep in touch through text messaging.  He lives, works, and raises his family, just south of where I live.  We were texting back and forth, and he mentioned how much he likes pecan pie.  I asked him if he was aware of my pecan pie theory, which i made up some 50 years ago?   (knowing full well he wasn't ). After telling me he wasn't, I told him he would have to wait until this week to find out what it was.  At least I know one person will read my post. Remember, it was developed by an 11 year old, how sophisticated could it be.  So here goes...  When I was much younger, 11 years old as I recall, m...

 Another Christmas has come and gone.  The long lines of people shopping for a bunch of stuff that retailers spend millions to get us to buy, have turned into long lines of people, waiting to return the presents they were given that they didn't like or can't use. Jonell, Lydia and I, spent a quiet evening at home, just the three of us watching our usual battery of Christmas movies, like "It's A Wonderful Life ", "Miracle On 34th Street "and "Elf". Jonell and I, watched Lydia open her gifts, which were far more than we had discussed. Although I must say, that seeing the look of surprise and gratitude, makes it all worth it.  Besides, Lydia has done so much this past year. She doesn't ask for much, but she sure is deserving of everything she got and more!  This was not our year to see the boys and their families on Christmas Day. But with potentially, only a few years left, until we are perverbial empty nesters, it was a nice memory to make. ...

  It is estimated that 346 souls, will be taken from us on Christmas season.  While that may not seem like many,  that means that thousands of people will have their lives forever effected.  With the weather also reeking havoc in record setting ways this week, even more lives may be effected.  Please be careful, and don't travel if you don't absolutely need to.  Have yourself a very Merry Christmas. Be safe, and keep your loved ones close. My prayers are with you. *************************************************************************** Bob asked me if I would write something for the BLOG this evening. I asked what he wanted me to write. He replied, “I’m comfortable with whatever you would like to say.” I read what Bob had sent me and decided to stay on the theme of Christmas. I must admit, I don’t particularly like Christmas. That combined with my dislike of working with children must make me seem like a monster! The truth is just like is with everything...

 We have a dog named Rip.  Yes, he is named after the character in Yellowstone.  My wife and little girl, have a habit of naming our animals after famous people. Right now they are in the " Yellowstone " phase. Our beloved dog Yadi,  just passed away from old age. We got her during the " baseball Cardinals " phase.  Rip is a sweet dog, though he is dumb as a box of rocks.  The way he leaps about when he is excited, reminds me of Chet the reindeer, on Tim Allen's, " Santa Claus 2 ". Rip is good at aggravating our older dog Tigger.  Yes, that was the " Sons of Anarchy "phase. Like all our dogs have always been, he seems to think cat turds are a delicacy.  So much so, that they will actually fight over control over the cat box. Just one of the reasons why I laugh, when I see a dogfood commercial that talks about how good it tastes.  Like taste is something high on a dog's list of priorities.  Do dogs even have taste buds?   He is ...

This season brings about many feelings that overwhelm us and bring us to our wit's end. We feel stressed as we scurry here and there, trying to find the perfect gift, for people we rarely see. Christmas comes as the third of four holidays, which begins with Halloween and culminates with the celebration of the new year. Christmas brings out the best and worst we can be.  In early November, I talked to Lydia about making plans for Christmas, and that I wanted her to come up with a list of at least 15  names of people she wanted to give gifts to. I explained that because of limited resources, I wanted her to make her gifts this year.  She only came up with a list of 9.  Even though she was short of what I expected, I figured that once she got started, she would begin to think of more people she wanted to give to. She began making Christmas tree ornaments, and they were really quite beautiful, even though I may be a bit biased.  I was proud of her, that she had put ...

 Today someone that I very much love and respect, told me that writing this BLOG is my "Why ". It's something that Jonell has said to me before, but to be honest, I thought that was something she was just saying because she is my wife, and she felt she had to.  Finding your Why is important because it gives your life meaning. A reason to jump out of bed in the morning. I know, I know, it has been a minute, since I jumped out of anything, it is of course a metaphor, for loving what you do. You've probably heard the adage, "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. " That's what I'm talking about.  While you need to make a living, how much do you really need? When is enough, enough? Having nice things is really, we'll nice. But you have to ask yourself, are nice things more important than your joy?  If having nice things brings you joy, so be it. As I'm often fond of saying, you do you.  Just remember, everything has a ...

In one of the first posts I ever BLOGGED, I mentioned taking field trips. Well, yesterday I got to go on my own version of a field trip. It wasn't planned at all. It seems that somewhere during the night before, my feeding tube came out. I didn't even know it was possible. My nurse Amanda tried to put it back in, but it had apparently been out too long, and required a trip to the hospital. Thus, an ambulance was summoned. Within minutes of the arrival of the ambulance, I was strapped to a gurney and shoved into the back of the ambulance. Unlike my last trip where I didn't recall, because I was unconscious.  This journey would occur while I was completely aware. I don't like riding in an ambulance, I suppose nobody does. I certainly understand why they strap you to that gurney. Were it not for that, I surely would have found myself on the floor of that van, especially on these back gravel roads. There were times when I could have sworn that the driver was aiming to hit e...

Today I watched something that made me think of my days in the hospital.  In particular, the loneliness I would feel, when anyone who had stopped by to visit, would go, leaving me alone once again with my thoughts.  Most days I would occupy the hours, watching some mindless TV show or the other.  As you may conclude, and correctly so, by my choice of words, I am not a huge fan of TV, but hey, it's a great way to lose yourself. But when I would get lost in my head, and allow my thoughts and feelings to rise to the top, and I sometimes would go to places dark and macabre.  If you should ever have someone that you care for, in the hospital for an extended period of time. Let me tell you, how much your visits are appreciated.  The alone times are really hard to take. Because my sleep schedule was so off, and because I had people coming into my room 24/7, poking and prodding me, I would often spend hours just lying awake at night, staring at the ceiling or a wall....