stink

This weekend stunk… the end.

time

how it doth fly by.

i attended two retirements in the last two days.  one yesterday evening and one one for lunch today.  they both had at least 30 years in.  The first one, i knew the gentleman fairly well.  it was a nice gathering.  He was well liked by everyone, a true character.  His best trait was how well he told a story.  He had a million of them.  He came from a family of 10.  A real Irish Catholic family.  It made for some great stories.  I’m pretty sure he was the most colorful of the 10.  He is one of those guys that lives life at full speed.  The kind that was lucky to make it to his adulthood. 

This retirement kind of turned a corner for me.  I’m only 5 years younger than the retiree and spent quite a few years working with the same people.  I knew many people at the gathering and started thinking that my upcoming retirement (8 years or so off) would probably look about the same.

The second retiree I didn’t know as well, but knew many of the attendees.  Many of the retiree’s family were there.  His dad, who himself put in 36 years with our organization, attended a took pictures.  That was special to see.  The dad told a story about taking his son on the job as a kid.  That kid just finished putting in 34 years.  Quite an impressive stretch.

Good Luck gentlemen.  Enjoy the future.

old thinking

It was Sunday after we had just cooked and ate a marvelous breakfast.  My ma-in-law mentioned that she had a turkey slow cooking in her oven at home.  oops.  that’s all we needed to hear.  about 8 of us invited ourselves over for a turkey dinner at the in-laws.  i know that seems kinda rude, but she mentioned it for a reason i figure.  and what better reason than to fill my tummy with goodness.

so we’re sitting down having the great turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, and stuffing.  mmmmm…  at the table were my ma n pa-in-law, me and the lovely wife, my son paul, my sis-in-law and her hubby, their daughter, son & granddaughter (Trinity).  toward the end of dinner, trini still had some food on her plate and was struggling to finish.  my son was the first to go with the old “you have to finish or you can’t get up from the table” speech.  i don’t quite know where he got it from because i didn’t subscribe to that kind of thinking when we were raising him.  i don’t like the idea of putting pressure on kids to over-eat.  i kinda think that’s a factor in how large i am to this day, years and years of ‘having to finish my plate’ kinda thinking.  trini rested her head on her hand staring at the food.  i waited for a bit for other conversations to take over.  i was sitting next to my wife, and trini was on the other side of her.  so i nudged my wife and made a scooping motion with my tablespoon (yeah, i use a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon).  it took her a second to figure it out.  i handed her my spoon on the sly and she scooped up a portion of trini’s taters n gravy.  the look in trini’s eyes was awesome.  the happiness of a little helping hand (or spoon).  it worked so well, we made another run at it.  trini smiled a big smile that her plate was clean.  she is such a wonderful child, so loving.  my wife told me later that trini tapped her leg under the table, and gave her the ‘thumbs up’ as a thank-you.  i smiled, very happy with myself.  breaking the cycle in my own little way.

brrrrrr

-17 F at Denver International Airport last night!!  Frickin’ A that’s cold.  it was still a couple of degrees below zero this morning when we left for work.  that kinda cold freezes the boogers inside your nose.  that’s a funny feeling.

how cold is it where you’re at?

ralph

i don’t even drink very often.  so Saturday night when i started drinking, i just kept on going.  it was a birthday party for our nephew.  he turned 30.  it was at his buddy’s house.  lots of nieces and nephews were there.  my son and his buddies were drinking grey goose and assorted juices.  so i jumped in.

things got fuzzy toward the end.  my wife told me it was time to go.  i have no idea what time it was.  i did know that i was waaaayyy buzzed.  we got a ride home.  thank God for designated drivers.

i remember telling people to quit the weed (in general, not immediately).  i remember joking around with some gay fellas.  i don’t remember eating anything there.  i remember chapter 1 of ralphing.  i finished the book at home.

Sunday was one fuzzy headache.  i went to mass at 7:30pm after the cob webs cleared.

i don’t plan on that any time soon.  i’m too old to be ralphing from drunken stupors.

f’s

i gotta say, football and facebook are running neck and neck.  i’m hooked on commenting.  i try to be glib & witty, but i think i’m coming off as a doofus.  cyndi lauper’s song is now playing in my head… your truuuuuuue colors are shining through…

throw in flickr too.  i wish i had the time to see all of the interesting pics posted every day.  who has the frickin’ time?  some of the pics on there are the most fantastic scenes.  it’s awesome that the whole world is on there!!  i wonder if you could send it to a monitor as a slideshow?  i bet someone out there could write the app for that.  hey all you geeks out there, work on that if you could.  i’d put a tv on the wall just for that.

 

new career

i’ve been having to give my mom shots in the tummy.  don’t like it very much.  poor momma.

 

it’s your momma

my momma got sick yesterday.  luckily it was ‘just’ a gall stone.  i have never seen her in that much pain.  which of course put me in that much agony watching my momma suffer.  i’m afraid i didn’t handle it well.  i did great staying the night with her in the hospital room.  i held her hand and did all the stuff a good son does.  but when i went home to grab a quick shower while she was having the procedure to remove the stone from the duct it was stuck in, I snapped at everyone i came in contact with.  that is definitely not usually my way.  but the stress of watching my ma’s agony i think was too taxing on my coping skills.  something to work on in the future.  i pray she doesn’t have too many health scares, but when she does, i hope i handle them better.

please pray for my momma.

thanks,

BigHev

sorrow

for those who serve our country and especially those who’ve lost their lives.  Thank you.

hi

hey folks,
i’m feeling great and most things are going well. i’ve been working out at 24hr fitness and am liking how things are working out. i like that i am working on not worrying about what’s going on around me. i’m one of those persons that is always scanning around me waiting for the unexpected. i wonder why i do that? some insecurity of sorts i would guess.
i go in and get on an elliptical machine and set it for a half hour on the middle incline setting and middle resistance. it must be working because i get my heart rate to the high end of the cardio zone. i’m 45yo, 6′2″, 250lbs (i know, shut up!); and i get my heart rate up to 160. so it seems effective. i try not to spy those around me. younger folks around me look like they’re trying to pedal to the frickin’ moon in a half-hour!
how are you all doing out there?