End of June.

Time is flying by. Well not at work per say, but out of work time flyies by. You are aware of this, but to me it is just fascinating, how I have dropped my second job, and still I am running, or biking, like a pack of wild chickens with there heads cut off. The end of June is here. We are scheduled for a "small" family gathering in Michigan territory. Johnson's, Labarge's, Young's oh my. So this weekend will go by quickly. I will try to stop and smell the tulips, if there are any left. Maybe also grab a picture or two for those of us who will not be there. July's right around the corner.

Family Golf outing.

This past weekend we had a family golf outing/cookout to celebrate my Uncle Phil and my cousin Cassie's birthdays. We played on a par 3 course, pretty small one at that. So Saturday we took a practice run, Becky, Mike, Ben, my Dad, and myself. It was Becky's first time ever golfing. She did awesome for a first timer. Got right into the spirit of golfing by getting frustrated a lot. She finished with a 76. My dad bested us with a 63. Well on Sunday was the big gig. We had 20 people playing. All ages, male and female. Well the defending champ, my uncle's brother-in-law didn't show up. so it was wide open. Now there was no way I could win my dad was to tough. Also he was in the group behind us, so know way to know his score. So Ben, mike , Becky, and I played. I was lights out. Making shot after shot. Chipping with good precision. Ice in the veins when it came to putting. I finished with a 59, 4-over par. That was stellar. Come to find out my Dad six putted on one green and had a bad day as well. I was the winner. Ben came in second with a 62. Becky brought her total down to 74. She finished in the top 10 which for a second time out was great. Good job babe. So know I go into next year as the man to beat. No pressure!

Who would have thought, biking, frusterating.

OK, so I have been biking for a month now and boy I have learned a lot, beaten some odds, and continue to get better, at least on my way to and from work. Lately we have been doing some tweaking as you say. Know this bike is probably one of the first ever made, so it's not top of the line stuff, but it fits the job none-the-less. So we got new handlebar grips. We also got knew pedals that you can fit your shoes in. We purchased gloves, necessary after the first few days I realized it was hurting my hand right below the thumb area. of course we has helmets and thank goodness for that today(that story coming up). So last week we tried switching the pedals. The right side went like a hot knife through butter. Next we started work on the left pedal. Easy factor, not so much. It wouldn't budge. Not an inch. We torqued on it, pounded it, soaked it in all sorts of concoctions, We ran around it, through it on the ground, the pedal didn't come off. So we let it sit for a few days till I could get a socket to remove the pedal arm from the bike. So Friday we gave it a try again. We got the bike pedal off the frame and started to pound on it again. We used Brut force as our clamp, and pliers and a hammer. Now a few days ago I had a notion that the pedal had to be unscrewed differently than when we did the other one, but I blew that idea off and continued in my stubborn manner. Well after struggling, we decided to check the Internet to see what we were doing wrong. Well we found out that the left pedal unscrews opposite the right. So we have been tightening the pedal for hours. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well By this time I am a weeeeeeeeeeee bit frustrated. So I grab the pedal and start hammering it the other way. The pedal goes flying out of my hand flush off the ankle bone. OUCHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Well that was it. I was done. To which in about three minutes Becky gets it off and unscrews it. So She takes the bike and moves it. As she puts down the kickstand, she plants it into her big toe, right on the bone. She could barely deal with the pain. She is a tough cookie, but even that amount of pain is overbearing. So fortunately we are back up and running. Which brings me to this morning. I tried the new pedals for the first time. I found it very tough to get both feet in the strappy things. However I finally got it to work. I made it to me first stoplight at a very busy intersection. Low and behold I didn't have the ability to get me feet out and i lost my balance and fell off my bike pretty hard. In front of I'm sure dozens of laughing car drivers. I was super embarrassed. I twisted my wrist in the fall as well. So it has been a bit of a troublesome last couple of days. I may just want to walk to work now.

Getting up there....

The oldest man in the world told the paper he was sorry for being "so old" in a report I read. That is a long time. What do you do when your that old? Do you get super discounts at Mcd's? Do you get free bus fare? do you need to live in a super old persons home? A lot of questions come in to play when you think of someone that old. The oldest know person was Jeanne Calment who new Vincent Vangooh. She lived to be 122yr, 164d. Sarah Knanss was the oldest US citizen at 119y, 97d. Christian Mortensen is the oldest confirmed male at 115 years old. The oldest living male and female know live in Japan. I wonder if eating sushi may have something to do with it? I think that if you live past one hundred you must be doing something right.

What????????

If you are eating, wait to continue you this post. I was riding on my way to work and came to something I would soon forget. ROADKILL!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man! I nearly retched my guts out. I don't know of anything that could smell much worse stuff you could smell, but fermented yuck. Enough said.

Biking.

Well we got the road bike fixed up last Thursday and today was the first day I was able to ride to work. I was flying like a semi-warm knife through butter. 24 minutes on the clock. I may just shoot for 20 minutes. We started out at about 35 minutes and have cut it down big time. Twenty more years like this and I might pretend I'm riding in a big race. HEHEHEHE.

Road trip.

So about seven of us from our Church go down to Bloomington, IL, to help get some support for our missions in Senegal. This was about a 3 1/2 hour trek. On the way you know there will be at least one stop. It's expected with females, and people who just put down a thermos full of coffee. Well we stop in this "interesting" little town called Tonica. I'm not sure they celebrate Hanukkah.
So you know there is trouble when you go about three miles off the road to find the nearest gas station. Problem two you know it's bad when it looks somewhat deserted. Yea, I'm getting that creepy movie feel two. Well I am sure you can guess how there restrooms looked. I may have taken the outhouse option. Lets just say when the call of duty comes in, I can handle most anything. This was sad shape. No need for details. Let our mind take you whereever. So we make it out unscathed. Now the females mentioned how bad those were. All the rest of the way. Well on the way back were cruising, I am napping as best I can in the back of a jeep with 5 people. When I feel the car rumbling over a gravel section of road. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We stopped again in Tonica, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO(OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My thoughts and prayers go out....

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Smith family in Kansas who lost there daughter this past weekend. It what appears to be a ha nous act of manslaughter, she was found dead yesterday. It is times like these where I say why, why? But this is not mine to question or to search for the answer. it just reminds me that the family and Friends in your life, are important. They need to be reminded of that. We just don't have a guaranteed life time on this earth.
we may never see tomorrow. We will have the memories and the love to carry us on. there is a phrase which goes " That which will not kill us , will only make us stronger". It appears the Smith's will grow and come out OK, but it's hard to see right now. So call your friends, family and just tell them you love them. You care, and if they need lend them a hand. "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord". (from Job).