February band camp

It is bittersweet to watch your child work so hard. He plays a contra (tuba) the heaviest horn in the band. Last camp he came home defeated, dehydrated, and weak. He worked everyday since, jogging and at the gym. This camp I saw a different person. He was determined to do this. I saw him drinking water at every break - he learned the hard way that he must hydrate or his muscles will not work for him.

We had an interesting weekend. On Saturday, Preston had to attend a mandatory concert evaluation with his high school band. I had to pick him up at band camp at noon and drive like a bat out of hell back home to get him there on time. He participated in the evaulation which took about an hour, then we were back in the car enroute to Ocala.

In concert band he gets to sit down with his horn! One of the most wonderful things about all this activity, believe it or not, is the time we spend alone together in the car. He is a captive audience, I can talk to him, and even more important - he can talk to me. He told me on Saturday that he may not want to march with The Magic. By Sunday, he had changed his mind again. He is ambivilent about going on tour for the whole summer. I told him that it is his decision, but that it is a chance of a lifetime. I hope he goes, but time will tell. He has one more camp before he has to make up his mind and make a commitment. "Terrible twos" in a child's life are a piece of cake compared to being the mother of a teenager!

OK, I really didn't consider BEARS being in the forest. How stupid is that? When I reserved the site, I thought it had electric and water hook-up. Most state parks do. Not this one, it is a National Park! I was lucky to get in before it got dark, and I did have a nice paved pad to park on. Nothing to hook up, thank goodness I had replenished my fresh water tank, so I had 37 gallons to flush the toliet and take showers. My travel trailer is self contained, so I can run the lights and water pump on battery. The water heater, furnace and stove run on propane. The waste water has a 37 gallon holding tank. It is nicer to have an electrical hook-up and water, but I can deal without it. I dropped my son off at band camp, and was back about 8 PM. It was a long, dark night. I heard something outside, but I didn't want to look. I knew if I saw a bear, that I would be up the rest of the night! I figured if a bear wanted to eat someone, there were plenty of people in tents all around me. I even saw some tasty looking children down by the lake! There are bear-proof hidden latch handles on the trash cans that bears can't open! I had trouble sleeping because it was so dark and quiet. My thoughts drifted to my "bloggies" and I wondered what all of you were doing! I started figuring out what time it was in Japan and Australia - and wondering what the weather was like there. I guess if I travel this summer, I will have to get wireless internet!

Boy Scout ready

OK, I bought a generator from Harbor Freight. It is 11 hp. 5700 watts, so I should be able to run power in case a hurricane takes it out. I hated to spend the money, and I hope I never have to use it. I has a 5 gallon gas tank for 15 hour run time. The best part is that I got it for $399.99 (why don't they just charge $400.?) That was a good price. I like to be prepared - like the Boy Scouts. I am packing up to head out of town today - hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Buying stuff I will probably never use

I hate to do it. Today I am going to buy a generator. It is about $500. I hope I never have to use it, but it is good to have in the "hurricane belt". I have vowed to buy at least one hurricane related item every season. I have already purchased window boards that slip in quickly with hurricane clips, and they are good to protect the windows from flying objects. The problems usually happen with the after effects of the storm, when we don't have power for days. I have a small generator now, but today I will buy a bigger one. It will run the refrigerator, freezer, a couple of lights and a fan (a must in the hot, hell hole!) I guess this is the price I pay for living in this paradise. The damn generator weighs 154 pounds! I will have to build a wheel kit for it, so I can pull it around. I am off to the nearest Harbor Freight store.

On the road again

I will be heading out, trailer in tow, again this weekend. Preston has Magic band camp in Umatilla, Florida. I have reservations to camp in nearby Ocala National Forest. I can camp in most National and State parks for half price, because I am disabled, and it is pretty cheap to camp there anyway - usually about $15. to $18. a night. I hope to do lots more camping this summer. I have a camping "buddy" that lives in Murphy, North Carolina. He is a retired cop, used to be my partner. He has a travel trailer and we sometimes plan trips together in the summer. In 2004, we spent a week with both trailers in Stone Mountain, Georgia. It was very nice. I am lucky to be able to travel around. I look forward







to this summer, I want to take a few camping trips. Hey, maybe I will come and see some of you!!!

Check this out

Here's a lovely guy. In 1999 he molested some children. I put him in jail, but he is scheduled to get out in 2028 - or earlier if he gets gain time for good behavior. The nine year old girl he molested will forever be my hero. When this creep sneaked into her house one night, she was smart enough to keep her wits about her. She did what he said, but when he told her to come outside with him, she said "NO". That probably saved her life. This guy told his young female victims that he had accomplices in the other room waiting to kill their parents if they made a sound. One victim laid quietly in fear for several hours until she heard her dad wake up and she knew he was safe. We were lucky that this guy got 30 years, the streets are a little safer for a while. I know that when molesters get out of jail, they go right back for another victim. I advocate tattooing "MOLESTER" in big red letters across their foreheads. I do not think this would be cruel or unusual punishment!

Hobbies

How about it? What's your hobby? Retired people need hobbies because the "idle mind is the devil's playground" (heh-heh) I have been thinking about it lately and I guess my hobby is photography. So that led me to scrapbooking. My roomate is a scrapper and that is how I got started with that. I am not near the nut that she is about it. I have a scrapbook for my son's high school band, one for his DCI band, and one for my dogs. I cut out little cute snapshots and arrange them on a page of the book in a unique and crafty way. I think it is rather silly, and I got into it quite by accident because of the photo thing. You might be suprised to know that this scrapbooking craze is a billion dollar industry. I also raise homing pigeons. I have about 30 of them in a coup in my back yard. Now birders are serious about this, they race these birds. Not me. I just like 'em. I don't want them to race; I just like to let them out sometimes and watch them fly around. The most I ever do is take a couple of them about five miles away and see how long it takes them to get back. I am fascinated by their homing skills, but I have no idea how they do it. Those are my only hobbies. Unless you can count camping or biking, but those are more sports I guess. Oh yeah, don't forget blogging - I love blogging and I especially love to read your blogs (all of you know who you are) I guess that is a hobby too. What is your hobby?

Back to normal

We are back to our normal temperature here in Florida. We had a few cold days, and actually saw frost for the first time this year. I like the mild weather, that is why I live here. Soon the long, hot summer will be upon us, with 90+ degrees everyday. I still love it, I am too old to handle snow anymore. I was born in New York and I remember playing in the snow and walking to school in the snow. In contrast, my son has always lived in Florida, and doesn't know what real cold is. I can't ever get him to put on a jacket, the most I can get him to wear is a hooded sweatshirt. He asked me what the white stuff (frost) was on the grass yesterday, and was amazed that he could see his breath! The temperature should go up into the high 70's today. ahhhhhh!

Coldest night of the year

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!
We are in the middle of winter here in Florida, but tonight is scheduled to be the coldest night so far. Some areas just north of us will get down to freezing tonight. We should only get down to 39 degrees F., but that is cold enough for me. I have a nice fire going and I don't plan to go anywhere. I have to go to the doctor tomorrow, but if I had known it was going to be so cold, I wouldn't have scheduled it! Ready for my "Welcome to Medicare" checkup. I finally qualified for medicare, even though I have been on disability retirement for two years. They make you wait that long. I think they figure if you haven't died in two years, then they will give you health insurance. I plan to have all the free probes, blood tests, check-ups and anything else that they will pay for! I will probably be headed over to the cardioligist next for a stress test, haven't had one of those in awhile. I hope everyone has a nice romantic Valentines Day!

Barr meeting Katie for the first time.

"I really like you, have some of my hay!"

Friday I moved Katie over to Barr's pasture. We had a little trouble getting Katie to load up into the horse trailer, but finally (after and hour and forty-five minutes) she stepped right in. I have moved a lot of horses over the years. Upon arrival at the new place, you have to make sure the new horse gets familiar with the pasture. You do this by walking them around the perimeter a couple of times, so they know the boundries. After a couple of hours, you can bring in the other horses. Usually there is the dominance dance, when they sometimes, squeal, bite and kick. They will run for a while, then eventually settle down. When I brought Barr in, I have never seen such love. It was a true Valentines Day meeting. He loved her at first sight. He sniffed her, she made a little squeal, and kicked her back legs. That was it. No running or biting. They took to each other like bread and butter. He even let her eat grain out of his bucket. If Barr had a thumb, I would have gotten the "thumbs up" from him.

Gator aka "KATIE"

They sent me some more photos of the new horse. She is a real sweetie!

Lottery winner!

I went out to my friends pasture to look at the horses. She has five horses and needs to give away three of them. I am interested in taking an eight year old mare, named "GATOR" (who the hell gave her that name?) She is a sweet horse, in good condition, and I think she will make a nice friend for Barr. Sorry, I forgot to take my camera, so this photo from my cell phone will have to do. I think I will name her "Katie" because it is more of a girl's name, and it sounds a little like Gator, so the horse won't be confused! The horse is brown with a white face, light brown mane and tail, and one white stocking on the left rear leg. She is pretty, with a nice disposition, I think Marion will like her. When Stormy died, Marion's brother said the nicest thing. He said "somewhere a horse has won the lottery", referring to the fact that any horse who ends up being cared for by Marion will never want for anything! I think Katie is the winner.

bloggin' 'bout joggin'

The boys are jogging everyday after school. I take them down to the bridge, they jog over it, I wait on the other side. Everyday I make it a little longer. Yesterday they did a mile and a half. I am glad Preston is building up his stamina. Matt goes jogging for the exercise, but always has to be the winner. I explained to him that it is all about the exercise and breathing, but he is very competitive, and has to get back to the car first! I wish I could jog with them, but walking is about all I can do at this point! The weather has been so beautiful lately, it is enjoyable to be outside. So think about me everyday at 2 PM, I am down at the river, taking in some sun and waiting for the joggers.

Horsie shopping

I went out to the "ranch" again this morning to un-blanket Barr (the horse). It only got down to 44 degrees F. last night, but Marion insists on blanketing that horse! She is quite the over-protective horse mum! It is so quiet out there, makes you want to stay! Barr was an asshole about letting me take his blanket off. He took the apple that I gave him, and when it was finished, he decided that he had enough of me, and walked away. I got a lead rope out and coaxed him over with some sweet feed, then hooked him up. I got the blanket off, then took him for a walk around the pasture - just to show him "who's boss"! I think Barr is just lonely since Stormy died. Tomorrow morning I am going to look at a mare for sale. If she is sound, I might get her for a companion for Barr. It is nice to have at least two horses together if you want to go on a ride. Barr is a wild mustang, he originally came from the adopt-a-horse program at the Bureau of Land Management. I tamed him, then trained him and I had him for about 8 years, then I gave him to Marion about 10 years ago. She loves that horse as if he were her child! I will try to remember to take my camera tomorrow when I go horse shopping!

Crime scenes re-visited

I took an early disability retirement in 2004 because of cardiac problems. During the extensive medical examination to determine if I was disabled, the doctor told me that I have post tramatic stress disorder. At the time, I sort of dismissed this diagnosis as "crap". PTSD in my mind, was something that soldiers got after being in heavy combat. You know, they jump when a firecracker goes off behind them. My problem was different, I had sleep difficulty. I kept dreaming about my cases, and after a while, I wasn't getting much sleep. A slide show of all my cases would play over and over in my head. I took the medication prescribed by the doctor for this, and it seemed to go away. I took the meds for about six months, then quit, just one more medication I didn't think I needed. It worked. I was sleeping better and no further symptoms. Yesterday, I was driving in my car, and I started thinking about one of my cases. It is weird, I guess they will always be with me. Maybe the doctor was right, I do have PTSD. So far it hasn't effected my sleep again. Just like my cardiac problems, this is something I will have to live with. I guess it is really the least of my problems!

Not so busy today

It rained today. I hate to do housework on rainy days (or any other day, but it is a good excuse!) I decided to organize the keys. Like everybody else, I have keys. We hang our usual car keys or house keys on a cute little hook thing just inside the front door. I encourage everyone to use these hooks, and get in the habit of hanging up their keys, so they won't lose them somewhere in the house. Weird keys have collected there over the years, and some of them are obscure. I decided to catalog them, and throw away the ones that I don't need anymore. This process took a lot longer than I thought it would, but I figured them all out, and labeled them all with key tags. I discovered that I still had some keys from work! OOPS!

Sandhill Cranes

I saw these birds in the man-made lake behind a shopping center. They continue to survive, even as we encroach on their habitat. I usually see them in pairs, sometimes with a chick or two. As soon as the baby loses his yellow down, and looks like a small adult, they fly off and leave him. Try as he may to come around them, they fly away each time (not gonna let him move back home) The young one cannot fly as fast as the adults, and they leave him quickly. He flies along behind, squawking for them to let him come along.
The chick eats from mama's beak.











Sandhill Cranes are large. The adults are about three feet tall.

Could it be?...

Do you think that the roofing company could be in cahoots with the tire shop? I can't believe how many flat tires I have gotten since they re-roofed my house. On the last day they were here, the roofers went around the yard with a magnet thing, picking up (allegedly) all the lost roofing tacks. I have had three flat tires on the ride-on mower, and two flat tires on the cars. I just saw another roofing nail in the back tire of the car. I didn't pull the nail out yet, but tomorrow I will have to change the tire, take it to the shop, then have it put back on the car. Good thing I am retired, so I can go have the car re-tired. hahahahaha, well, on the good side, at least I didn't step on it - so I won't have to go for a tetnus shot!

What does it mean?

Recently in Umatilla, Florida I tried to figure out where they came up with that name. I asked three different people, who had no idea. They all looked at me like I had lost my mind for asking. Anyway, my son came up with this theory - Two rednecks are talking to each other, one says, "What the heck's the name of that thing that you steer your boat with?" The other redneck replies, "UMMM- a tiller???" Hence they named the town.

I guess I could Google the name, but I am scared homeland security will knock on my door.

Mapquest was WAY wrong!

I was travelling to the middle of Florida pulling my trailer the other day. I had the mapquest directions with me, that I had printed out for the trip. My son was reading them off to me as we got close to our destination. "Turn left on Lake Gibson Drive". I turned and said, "Are you sure this is right? This is a skinney dirt road." That's what the directions said. OH GOD! I am at the end of this road that is a private dead end drive to someone's house. Worse, I have a 31 ft. trailer behind me! Can I back out of this narrow road, about an eighth of a mile? I noticed that the driveway was circular, needle eye at the end, tall bushes and trees on both sides. I made a BIG turn taking out a lot of bushes and tree branches in the driveway as their dog went crazy barking at me. Thank God no one was home, I did no real damage, but they are going to think a tornado blew thru the driveway! I guess I need to write to mapquest!

Modern technology

As I have said before, I love all the wonderful new inventions. This is a tiny disk that plugs into that bigger one (the "big" one shown bigger than actual size). This tiny disk goes in my cell phone and allows me to take photos with the built in camera. Now isn't that neat? I always have a camera with me now! The camera in the phone takes amazingly good photos too. I am also awestruct with the new heart operation machine, the DAVINCI, that can do minimumly invasive heart surgery instead of the "crack your chest open" type of coronary by-pass surgery. I may have to get that surgery someday, so I hope I live to tell about it first hand!

For My Son

When you were little, sometimes you would fall and scrape your knee, you would cry and come running. I would comfort you with a "Spiderman" band-aid and a hug. Now that you are older, there are different kinds of pain. The heart ache when your feelings are hurt, the insecurity of being a teenager, the pain when you are failing at a difficult task. I want to rush to your side and comfort you. I want to brush the hair out of your eyes, and hold you close to me. I can't. I must hold myself back, watch you suffer from afar, hold back the tears. If you are to grow into the man that you are meant to be, I must stand back and let you feel the pain. I have to tell you to press on, and tell you that "what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger." I will tell you that you will succeed, because "what one man can do, another can do!" I hope I have the strength to do these things, because I love you more than anything in the world.

Hell in Umatilla

This is January band camp with The Magic.

The facility in Umatilla, Florida is beautiful. It is the Florida Elks Youth Camp, several hundred acres with new buildings and dorms, a beautiful place to stay. The band wasn't there to enjoy the scenery though, they were all, work, work, work. The weather was excellent, a little overcast, but 70-80 degrees. There are many fewer members this time. Many have dropped out. It is very difficult work. By Saturday night, Preston had enough. He called me to come pick him up. He said that his muscles just would not work for him anymore. We talked about it later, and most of the problem was "failure to properly hydrate". You have to drink water when you are exercising that much. Preston vowed to work hard this month and get in shape for his next camp. This will involve exercising every day, lifting weights, going to the gym, running, and lifting the "heavy metal" at least once a day. Time will tell if he can make it.


It is difficult to watch your child when he is in pain.

Gone camping

I am heading out this weekend to Umatilla, Florida. I have no idea where they came up with that name, but I will find out and get back to you. It is most likely and indian name, or the name of a lake, that is what most things are named after in Florida. My son will be at his second band camp for the whole weekend, and I will be camping nearby. I might see the sites in the local area of Mount Dora, a place famous for "Renningers" antique market. I don't camp in the traditional sense, no "roughing it" for me. I take my 31 ft. travel trailer, my home away from home. It has everything I need in it. After I stay in it for a few days, I wonder why I need a house and a yard! It is nice to get away from home, even for a weekend, because then it is nice to come home again.

Dressed up horsie!

The road to Marion's ranch.

Last night my friend Marion called me about the cold weather. It was gonna be down in the 40's (cold for Florida) and she wanted to blanket the horse (Barr). Marion was worried that Barr would get hot today and that he would be uncomfortable. Marion had to go to work, so she asked me to go out and undress him this morning. When I got there Barr was standing in the shadow of the barn cause he was hot as soon as the sun came up. When I went to take that contraption off his head, I thought I had all the catches unclipped, so I started to pull it off. I didn't realize that I had missed the velcro throat latch. So Barr steps back when I am trying to pull the hood off over his head, and it gets stuck and covers his eyes. He freaks and runs a few steps, before I start talking to him to calm him down. It scared me for a minute, cause I could just see him running blind and crashing into something. I remembered the apple in my pocket and I tempted him with it as I talked him down. He finally let me get near him and food won out over fear. I got the hood off him, then the blanket. He was happy and finally cool. "Whew".

DOGS VS. EYE GLASSES

You can't leave anything laying around at my house. We have already lost a wallet, leather cell phone case (luckily the case protected the phone inside - it only has a few teeth marks) and a TV remote control (that belonged to the cable company). Today I was mowing the grass, and saw something just as I ran over it with the lawn tractor, something shiny. "Holy shit!" I exclaimed as I recognized my glasses just as the wide back tire rolled over them. I haven't seen them in a while. Now I know why. Who knows how long they have
been laying in the yard. That's
not dirt on the lenses, those are
doggie teeth marks. The people
at the eyeglass place sell these
"titanium" frames with "poly carbonate" lenses that will hold up under any conditions. Lets see if they can explain this! I hope I got the extended warranty!

When I marched into the house and confronted the culprits by saying "WHO DID THIS?" - they all just looked away in an effort to avoid any pending punishment. I would imagine that they all had a paw in it. Dogs, ya gotta love 'em, they don't know the difference between our "stuff" and toys. (or do they?)

Death of a Microwave

I was warming up some soup the other day in the microwave. All of a sudden I heard "hummm-POP" and it was over. Dead. No lights, no clock, nothing. It was dead. I have had the appliance for about ten years, and I know when they go, there is no recall. The "magnatron" or some such contraption dies (like the heart of the thing) and it costs less to buy a new oven than replace that part. When we remodeled the kitchen a few years ago, we left the cabinet over the range "short", so we could one day buy an "over-the-range microwave". Today was that day. I went to Sears and bought a new one. Now $249. is enough to pay, but now I must pay another $250. to have it installed! I can't lift stuff anymore, so I have to pay someone to install it. Well, that's life I guess, I am lucky to have the money, but that is not what I wanted to spend it on!

Martin Luther King Day Parade

The band director tunes up the all the horns before the parade.
Our boys marched in the King Day parade. It was real windy today, and in the 60's, but the day turned out nice. One of the shakos (hats) rolled under my truck and as I was leaving - it got "squished"! I had to transport the big horns over to the starting point, hence my truck's nickname, "Mom's Tuba Taxi". It was not my intention to march with the band today. I was just going to shoot a few photos and wait in the car. By the time I caught up with them, got ahead of them enough for the shot, we were halfway through the route, so I walked it anyway. Good exercise for me.

WOW!

This computing thing never ceases to amaze me. I have taken over 2,000 digital photographs of my son's high school band. I have stored them on my hard drive (whereverthehell that is). I discovered Shutterfly.com, and I can store all these photos on their site, (free!) and give the band kids a password. The kids can look at the photos, or order prints. Now that is cool. Soon I will have to start another collection for THE MAGIC, my son's other band. We were just going to digital photography at work when I retired. Imagine all the money saved in mug shots and crime scene photos. The courts could just upload anything they want (so could the press). In Florida the press has the right to request any crime scene photos, so I expect before long you will see photos of all kinds of dead people and crime scenes in the newspaper.

Next month makes two years of retirement. I am glad that I am still alive, I did not expect to survive this long. Now I am hopeful that I can make it ten more years at least, I am not so scared everyday anymore. Sometimes it feels like a long vacation, like I should be going back to work. When my health is really good, and it has been lately, I almost feel quilty for not working. Now, don't get me wrong, I have plenty to do, but it is mostly housework and chores. When my line of duty disability was approved, I walked away and didn't look back. I have talked to a few of my friends, but for the most part, I have had no contact with anyone from the PD. I don't miss always having to be teathered to my pager. I don't miss the phone calls in the middle of the night. I don't miss the lights & siren trips out to a crime scene. Occasionally, I miss solving a case, comforting a victim, tricking a suspect into confessing. Maybe I should be a "consultant" (or even better - a "sultan".) It is weird to miss a job, but after 25 years, I got comfortable with it, I felt like I was good at it. Now it is just a memory. When I was a young cop, old farts used to come up to me and tell me that they used to be "on the job". I hope I never do that!

The gym

My son and I started going to the gym. He needed to get a couple of muscles since he has never been athletic, and he is as "skinny as a rail". He has to be in shape to carry that big tuba. The fitness center had a two for one membership, and I was going as his coach anyway, so we signed up. I had forgotten that there is pain involved. Self induced pain, you know - "no pain - no gain". It has been years since I have been in a gym, but all the hate of the place quickly returns! I have been grunting through the torture machines, and encouraging my son to do "just one more rep". He is working on his upper body, and starting to show some muscles in his chest and arms for the first time in his life. He has gained about four pounds since we started, so it is doing some good. We just have to keep going every other day.

Beautiful music

To hear an excerpt from the December audition camp go to www.magicoforlando.org - click on directors corner, and a short video about The Magic will load. At the end of it, you will hear the beautiful music that they learned in just one short weekend. They will have a wonderful show this year. Preston is training everyday and looking forward to January camp.

"Stormy", the horse, I am sorry to say - has died

"STORMY" (the white one)
Last Friday my friend, Marion, asked me to come out to her place because her horse was sick. I went out there and encouraged a very sick, lethargic horse to eat a little bran, while we waited for the vet to arrive. The vet came and looked at the horse, then took a lead rope and walked her around in a circle. He determined that the horse might have West Nile Fever, or possibly some sort of liver damage. He took blood and a stool sample to confirm this, and said he would call with the lab results the next day. Saturday, Stormy took a turn for the worse, and had difficultly breathing, then could not stand, and subsequently died.
My friend, Marion, is an animal lover. She was already grieving over the recent loss of her dog, "Miles". Marion is the kind of person that treats her pets like children. Not only is she saddened by the death of Stormy, she is worrying about her other horse, the gelding, "Barr". She is wondering what pain he must be experiencing with the loss of his girlfriend / stable mate, Stormy. All animals should be lucky enough to have "Mums" like Marion. What a wonderful life Miles and Stormy had, thanks to Marion.

the "easy button"

For those of you who are not familiar, Staples, an office store, has several television commercials featuring the "easy button". It shows people in offices trying to figure out how to get office supplies, then shows the button, indicating that if you choose Staples, that the job will be easy. I thought the easy button was cool, and I thought that there should really be an easy button. Turns out there is one, and I got it for a Christmas present. Cool, you push the button and a voice says, "That was easy!" I love it!

From my house to yours. . . .

Merry Christmas!

Almost ready

I have a tangerine tree in my back yard. Not a grove, just one. It is loaded with fruit this time of year and the weary branches are hanging low from the weight. I tried one this morning, but they are still a little sour. It will be about the first or second week in January when they are ready. The first cold snap somehow sweetens the fruit. I have so much fruit that I have to give it away. Tangerines are very good. I like like them better than oranges, they are sweeter, and easy to peel, the skin comes right off and they section into bite-sized pieces. Sometimes there is so much fruit that we squeeze it and make juice. The juice tastes so good.

Car lot

Matt got a truck. Actually, his mother got a truck - for him to learn to drive. Our yard is starting to look like a car lot. Four cars in the family now. It is a 1995 Nissan pick-up truck, very clean. Both boys are learning to drive. The teacher? That would be ME! I am now Mom, driving instructor, music facilitator, laundress, weightlifting coach, cook, counsellor, and money tree. Who said retirement was going to be easy? We decided that it would be good for our boys to have their own cars to drive. Most people think we are spoiling these kids, giving them too much. Most people would be right. We think that they will be better off in the real world if they drive to get there! Actually, when they are 16, they will take over the responsibility of paying for insurance, gas, etc. Preston bought his car with money that he had saved, and Matt will have to repay his mother for the truck. We only hope that the boys recognize and appreciate the help that we have given them. (yeah - right!)

Afternoon practice

Sounds like there is a moose in the yard when he practices every afternoon. A young kid road by on his bike and said, "I like your trumpet, it sure is a big trumpet!" Preston is wearing gloves, but not because it is cold. (it was 67 degrees) They are part of his uniform, and he has to practice with them. He gets better everyday.

I dig it! - Far out!

Yeah, that's the shit we would say in the 70's when we thought something was COOL. I just have to say that this blogging thing is WAY COOL, and I dig it, I really do. It connects you to people that you never knew before, and never would have met in a million years - and all of a sudden you feel like they are your friends (you know who you are - Laura, Hiro, and the little guy). We come into each others lives in a strange way, through a computer, but somehow I feel close to you. Even those of you who have moved away, or moved on with your lives (you know who you are - Lois, Steve) and I know you are still with me in spirit, and that you read this blog once in a while. Occasionally I surf the blogs, but I have three favorites, and I read them everyday - now they are my friends, even though I have never met them. I dig it - far out!

Most of you who know me, know that I am a tech nut. This new toy is cool. It is a Kodak Easy Share Picture Viewer. It is a little storage card that you can carry with you instead of a picture album. It is supposed to hold about 150 photos (but I already have 158 in there) It will hold more if you want to add and SD card to the memory slot. I like it, I carry my favorite photos around with me, and show them to whoever will look at them! It comes in this cute leather

carry case. I got it at tigerdirect.com. There is a $20. rebate on it, so it was a good deal. Just a little present for my self. I deserve it. I have been good this year!

Surveillance moms

We were at the K-Mart tonight, killing some time and doing some Christmas shopping. Our teenage sons were at their friends "16th" birthday party, or so we thought. Leaving the store, we see the "party girl's" car pass us. I point, yell and wave. No reply. They drive past. I immediately revert back to "police mode" and drive to the back of the parking lot to observe. We see eight teenagers get out of two cars and go into the K-Mart. We hide in the shadows and wait. I felt like I was on a stake-out again. (by the way, the only reason I ever wanted to be a cop is because I thought that they had "steak out" - but I was incorrect as to the real meaning of this). Anyway, in about 10 minutes the little rebels came back out with one bag. All eight got into two cars and left. We followed (a loose tail!) them back to the party location. All is well that ends well, or so I thought. About 15 minutes later, my son called and asked if he could "spend the night" at the party location. At a girls house? Is he kidding? I said, NO WAY - I will pick you up at midnight! Times have changed since I was a teenager.
*We found out later that they bought "Twister Dance Party" (any excuse for teenagers to touch!)

Perfect practice makes perfect

My son is practicing everyday with his tuba. He has many exercises and songs to commit to memory before his next band camp on January 20th. We keep the tuba case in the garage (because it is the size of a small car!) so he practices in the front yard. Every afternoon we go outside with the horn, a black towel (to set it down on) and a music stand. I tell him not to just practice, but to "practice perfect." Keep going until he gets it right. We live in the back of our neighborhood on a dead end street, so you would not think there would be much traffic, but there is! People walk and drive by and stare at us when they hear the bellowing sound of the tuba. My son is quite self-conscious and embarrased about this, and says, "What are they staring at?" I tell him that he would stare too if he saw such a sight, and to just get used to it because soon enough a stadium full of people will be staring at him. He says it's not the same, there will be a whole band with him. We are also working on his physical strength. He does not want to go through another painful weekend of lifting that horn and holding out in front of him. We have been going to the gym twice a week and working out on the machines, then doing weight training, stomach crunches and push-ups in the evening. He is beginning to develop muscles for the first time in his chest and shoulders, and is very proud of this! Next week starts winter break from school, and we will really step up the training, adding jogging around the block. It is nice to see a teenager interested in something other than video games. I am proud of his progress and I will encourge him to keep up the good work.

Brrrrr! It is cold!

I live in Florida. While the rest of the county is freezing, we are still warm here. I have nothing to complain about. This morning I had to turn on the heat for the first time this year. It was 48 degrees this morning! That may sound nice to some of you - but that is cold for me. Some years the temperature doesn't even get down low enough to freeze here, I am hoping this is one of those years. It is almost noon, and now it is 66 degrees outside, with the sun shining - another nice day. This is the ideal climate for me. All the hurricanes we have had the last couple of years aren't so nice, but you have to take the good with the bad. I still think this is the best place to live!

Made it another year

I am so happy that I have made it through another year. This makes five years since my heart problem and I am feeling better every day. We all hope to live a long time and we should each cherish every day. My illness has caused me to think long about this, and everyday I am happy to be alive. I remind my son all the time how lucky we are, to have all that we have, but mostly because we have love in our hearts.

OOPS!

I was cleaning my travel trailer and I decided to put deodorant into the toliet. I poured the blue stuff in while I held the lever opening the trap - then I dropped the bottle in! Great. How the hell am I gonna get that out of there? I guess I was lucky that the tank is empty (except for the blue stuff) I will take it to the dump station and see if I can flush it out, after all, it was small enough to go in. I guess I will flood the tank with water, then flush it all out at the dump station. I hope the bottle does not turn sideways and plug up the opening. If that doesn't work, I will have to remove the whole tank - that sounds like fun! Who says that retirees are bored and have nothing to do?

The Magic audition

I took some video with my fancy Nikon camera of the audition. I will try to publish it - if I can. It shows how much the kids learned in just three days. They are learning the show music, "Some day I'll fly away" from the movie "Moulin Rouge". The brass section sounds wonderful, and the music brings a tear to my eye, I know how hard they worked. I love the big brass sound, especially the lower brass. I also watched the snare drummers practice. There were forty drummers trying out for about eight positions. I felt sorry for the ones that didn't make it - they were all good. This is a big deal, he will be gone on tour for eight weeks this summer. What a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That is the only reason I will let him be away from me that long!

OH - YEAH! TUBA MAN!

"THE MAGIC" Drum Corps International
Audition camp
Tuba man! makes the cut and is now a member of "THE MAGIC"
He spent the weekend hoisting 30 pounds brass up to his shoulder
His mama is SO proud!
He almost quit on Saturday, said he wasn't good enough, that it was too hard. He was really depressed and exhausted. I told him to just hang in there one more day, and he did - so he made it. His summer tour schedule is posted on dci.org - click on 2006 schedule - then member corp - The Magic. More later, I am tired, haven't slept in two nights!

Here we go!

We are off today to Kissemmee, Florida for my son's audition for "THE MAGIC". I hope he gets in, the audition could be really tough. I think I am more nervous than he is. Keep your fingers crossed and pray a lot for us. I've got to go hook up the travel trailer, so I will post more when I get back on Sunday.