yep about time

I find that posting on my blog is easier when I am at work and on lunch so here I am again pounding out some of my thoughts.  I lost a very good friend of mine to alcholism in March.  I guess his liver just shut down and he was done.  My advice to anyone that reads this is take advantage of any help that might be available to you to quit.  I miss my friend and so does his family and what sucks about it is it could have been prevented. 

I got a part time job in the evenings and weekends to help subsidize our income and get us out of debt sooner.  Alisha and I have got to start preparing for purchasing the house so this will definitely help.  I don't have much time in the evenings with the kids but that's ok because the kids are usually at work.  They are growing up and soon it will be just alisha and I. 

Work has been hectic and I feel a little guilty sitting here writing this when I have time to do some work but it is my lunch break.  I love the weather and the way it has warmed up.  It has made me a little ansy to have a garden but we just don't have a place for one.  I think we could build a greenhouse and put it on the cement of the basketball court but the kids wouldn't appreciate it so for now I will just plant my tomatos in the upside down planters and hang them off the back porch.  I built a new smoker out of a 50 gallon drum and I must say that it works very well.  I also found an antique Simmons Hardware sausage stuffer at an antique store close to work.  It was patented in 1897 out of St. Louis Missouri.  I dissasembled it, sandblasted it and had the parts that would touch the meat teflon coated.  The rest of the frame I painted gloss black with some high quality paint now I need to make some sausages!!

I have to say that I am happy.  I hope that all of you are happy as well

too much to say

I haven't forgotten my blog I actually avoided it because I had stuff to say that wouldn't be appropriate here and I knew that if I logged in and started talking then I wouldn't stop and I would say things  I would regret.  I think it has been a reasonable amount of time to have let things simmer so here I go...

Work has been so busy that it's really overwhelming me.  The economy hasn't slowed down the building of planes at all!  This last month I went to our sister company in California and that was a learning experience and I was grateful for the chance to go and learn.  the weather has been somewhat mild but not mild enough to get the Harley out for an extended ride.  short trips around town have been the norm.  this friday my wife and a friend of mine are headed to Vegas with the bikes to ride in the warm.  The wife still thinks it's too cold down there to ride so she is staying at her mom and dads.  I just want to ride.  we got my buddys trailer ready to go and I haven't been able to think of anything else we need to do but wait.  Alisha and I are on a diet.  I never knew how much stuff I was eating!  I have already lost 8 pounds and I love it!  well back to work!

Man card

The other day we were sitting around the table finishing dinner.  I believe that when a family eats dinner together it strengthens the family and we are blessed to be able to eat dinner together quite frequently.  Alisha does a pretty good job at getting dinner on the table after work and I tend to cook more on the weekends due to what I cook is more along the lines of elaborate.  I tend to cook outside with the smoker or dutch ovens and the weekends are better for that.  It's a task that we both enjoy.  Anyway, here we are sitting around finishing dinner and I felt a burp coming on.  Now you have to understand that in our family we are pretty relaxed and I think we have conditioned the kids to be quite accepting so I let it rip.  I figured it was a compliment to the chef.  when I was done the rest of the family looked at me in amazement and compared me to Will Farrel in Elf where he downs the bottle of soda and lets it rip for say 2 minutes.  My 16 yr old congratulated me on earning my man card.  Today I fly out to California for work.  It's the first time I have flown for business.

I'm glad I have my man card...

coworkers and eyelashes

Have you ever had a coworker that for the most part you get along with them, think they do a pretty good job but there are just some certain things about them that drive you crazy so much that the quirks about them outweigh any good that they might do for their entire lives?  yep, you guessed it. I work with one.  He is a nice guy but I am driven to wearing my headphones every day because then I don't have to hear him.  Sounds pretty rude of me doesn't it.  Thank goodness he doesn't read this blog..... at least I don't think he does.  Crap I hope he doesn't.  Ok ok, I'm sorry.  I need to be more understanding I know but I am sure glad I have a great pair of headphones! 

As I was sitting here working an eyelash fell in my eye and about blinded me.  Now for some reason unknown to me, I have been blessed with freakishy long eyelashes.  I remember when I was a kid helping my dad at the junior high (he was a janitor there) the older girls would make a big fuss about my eyelashes and I got so embarassed one time that I cut them off with a pair of scissors.  I'm glad I didn't poke my eye out!  I think that that promoted them to grow even longer so at the ripe age of 43 I am fairly picky about sunglasses that I buy because my eyelashes rub on them.  So when I say an eyelash fell in my eye and about blinded me, I'm not kidding.   I stumbled to the restroom as quick as I could to get to a mirror and didn't notice that one of the stalls were occupied so not only am I blinded in one eye I'm about to retch in the sink as well. 

I believe I can put up with blindness

New skills... check!

Alisha and I went to a bread making class yesterday.  I have always wanted to learn how to make bread and Alisha wanted to perfect her talents so we took our lunch break and drove to Orem.  The class was free and very informative and of course we left with our arms loaded with product from the store.  We have a Bosch and a Kitchenaid mixer but the store was demonstrating with a Bosch so when I got home from work that is what I used.  Alisha was busy helping Chelsea move out of the house (hopefully this will be a good thing for her) so I decided to try my new found knowledge with whole wheat bread.  When I got the dough into the bread pans I felt a sense of accomplishment because my dough looked like the instructors of the class!  After baking the loaves weren't the prettiest but man, it sure tasted good.  I'm grateful to my mother for donating her grain mill and for the big buckets of wheat. 

tonight I start building Alisha's fly rod.  I am a pretty lucky guy in regards to a wife that loves to do things with me.  I am a pretty avid fly fisherman and there was no way she would stay home while I went so she picked it up as a hobby and it has taken off for her.  last year we went to a small somewhat unknown lake and she caught quite a few large tiger trout from her kick boat.  We had taken the trailer and the dogs and left the kids at home so we could have a nice quiet weekend fishing and it ended up being one of the best trips we have ever done.  Davidson (my Yorkie) had on his life jacket and would stand out on the end of the kick boat and wait for me to catch one so he could investigate.  Alisha had William G ( her Yorkie) with her on her boat and I think he slept most of the time.  Watching Alisha hook into some big fish and release them after she landed them brought me quite a bit of pleasure.  So she got a new fly rod blank and tonight it starts to go together. 

I can't wait!

It's gonna be a good day

I'm back at work today and I'm glad to be here.  I loved the time off for the holidays and spending time with family but it's nice to be able to get back to work and focus on everything that I have on my plate.  I couldn't help but think about all the stuff I had to do at work while I was off and I think I planned my days out in advance more than once.  We had a pretty good holiday, the kids were happy with Christmas and it was great spending time with my brothers and sisters.  The older I get the better I get along with my siblings.  I turned 43 on the 31st and that is the same age that my sister Ronda passed away.  Her birthday was on the 24th so happy birthday Ronda and I miss you. 

Merry Christmas

I was talking with a friend the other day and he happened to mention that he has gotten on here and read this blog a couple of times.  He told me that there was alot of fluff but not much substance in my writings.  My comment back to him was I was just trying to spread some cotton candy around.  There might not be much substance to my musings but I enjoy getting some words out of my head.  Last night I drove with my 17 yr old up to Ogden to pick up my 14 yr old daughter from her mother.  during our drive he told me about his plans to become a hermit and live in the mountains of Wyoming.  I told him good luck.  I think what he really wants to do is go in the military and in my opinion that is a good choice.  I remember when I was his age I really didn't have any idea what I would do for my future and working in the aerospace industry never even crossed my mind yet here I am 20 years later content with my choices. 

I smoked some chicken brats the other day that I had made and I was quite happy with how they turned out.  Tomorrow I'm smoking 15 pounds of honey cured bacon I have had in the fridge for a week curing and all I asked my wife to get me for christmas was a nice big brisket.  I think I am addicted to this cooking thing I do know that it really gives me great pleasure to cook for other people. 

I also wanted to wish any one who reads this blog a merry Christmas.  I am a Christian and I believe in Christ so to me this time of year brings out some very personal feelings for me and I am grateful for the opportunity to share these feelings with my family and friends and anyone else who would listen.  I love my Savior and am humbled that He would take the time to listen to me and to help me like He does.