Blahg

Fulfilming!

2011-08-07T19:49:00.000-06:00

It's "live" on video explaining about what we do!

http://www.vimeo.com/27092159 (sorry, you'll have to cut and paste...go for it!)

“Fulfilmingand Funding”

1. Go to the CAMA Services Website at www.camaservices.org
2. Click “give” at the upper right hand corner
3. Scroll down to and click “Support CAMA Workers”
4. Scroll down to “Butler, Bryon and Christine”
5. Click “Support” “Work” or “Outfit” (priorities now are 1. Outfit and 2. Support)
6. Donate your desired gift.

To give by check, please put “Butler Outfit”or “Butler Support” in the memo line and mail the check to CAMA Services, POBox 35,000 Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500

Check out ourEcuador/Argentina pics on facebook! (Bryon Butler)

Address information:

The Butlers
Hidalgo de Pinto 41-13 #3
(Charles Darwin)
Quito, Tenis
Quito, Ecuador
US Phone 1-732-678-0234
Ecuador CellPhone 593-8343-5033
Ecuador HomePhone 593-2243-6569
bryonlinebutler@gmail.com

Two for Five

2011-07-22T20:12:00.000-06:00

There is a lot to be said for paperwork. However, censorship being what it is, I just can’t say it.
We arrived to Quito, Ecuador and although we’d gotten our Ecuadorian visas at the consulate in Buenos Aires, we needed to have them “approved” by the actual Ecuadorian government. To me, the visa STAMPED into my passport seemed pretty impressive and authentic. Well, what do I know?
To approve them we had to go to a government office. So on a Friday we arrived to the “Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” and found out that the entire sector was out. I don’t mean just out to lunch, although I’m sure it was included. I mean out. They were at an all day training thingy. This reminded me of the time in Buenos Aires when Christine and I went to down town Buenos Aires, a city of 11 million people, give or take 400,000, to pick up a package and chose the day that the post office was enjoying its National Post Office holiday.
NOBODY was there! They were all out…. probably having lunch.
Back to Quito….the entire sector was at training, which, when you think about it is a good thing. A day to improve skills, strengthen teamwork, rediscover the reason why you work for the government, and resolve to serve the public sector even better. That’s what I had in mind when the Man-with-the-Gun told us to come back on Monday. He was assisted by the Other-Man-with-the-Gun. We left, and had high hopes for Monday’s encounter with the refreshed, resolved, and recommitted public service sector.
Monday came and we returned with smiles for the Man-with-the-Gun and his faithful friend, the Other-Man-with-the-Gun. We re-explained our reason for being there and, lo and behold, we discovered that we’d gone to the wrong office. The office we wanted was across town. I felt bad for the refreshed, resolved, recommitted members of the Quito government who could not wait on us. Alas…..
So, we took a taxi. Wait….I should mention that taxis in Quito only carry four passengers. We Butlers number five. So, we take two taxis. We take two taxis to go to the “Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” office. We take two taxis home from the “Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” office when we discover it has a training day. We take two taxis to return to the “Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” office to find out it was the wrong office. Where am I going with this? Well, we were told by the man with the gun….or was it his faithful companion?... where to go and where to get off. That is, we were given the direction of the right office. We took…..let’s see… two taxis to the correct office, which as I recall was named “The Real Department of Foreigners Needing to Have Visas Approved That Were Previously Approved” We went there, and discovered that the office had moved. The guess the Man-with-the-Gun and The-Other-Man-with-the-Gun didn’t get the memo. Perhaps they were out that day being trained?
I’m not sure where to go with this. But I know where we went….
We took our two taxis home.

three places in a week and a half....

2011-07-08T18:03:00.000-06:00

Three places in a week and a half, that is the number of places we've stayed in while looking for an apartment. We arrived here and stayed a few days at some friend's house as they went on vacation. From there we moved to a hostel and ate out a lot as it didn't have a kitchen. All this time I was out looking for apartment possibilities. On Wednesday evening I was very tired and without gumption! On Thursday our dog was due to arrive from Buenos Aires, we were going to have to stay in the hostel with the dog and we were already going stir crazy, and had no apartment prospects. I prayed that God would show us something or give us the stamina to stay stir crazy and continue looking.
On Thursday a lady from the school where the kids will go and where Christine will work told us that she and her husband were going to the US and that we could house sit! The place did not allow dogs, but another lady at the school mentioned our dog could stay at her house. Then....I discovered that the apartment we were to house sit was up the street from the first apartment I looked at, one I didn't thing Christine would like. I took her to it and she loved it! We took the kids there and they loved it, too! Go figure.
So now we are set to rent the place we all like, and are house sitting just down the street. As well, our dog arrives next week due to the continuing ash fallout from the Chile volcano, so we don't need to worry about him at at someone else's house.
Hey, prayer...it does a family good.

Our new apartment has a view of

2011-06-09T16:38:00.001-06:00

It takes a lot to escape….er….leave Argentina.
Let me explain….
Our 3am flight by Copa airlines was canceled at 4:30am due to Chile. Now, Chile itself didn’t stop our flight. It was a Chilean volcano whose ash hiccup was felt throughout the Southern Cone and caused many a flight to stay, ours included. We Butlers took our 18 pieces of luggage back to where we lived. I jumped the fence, found the key and we usurped our old home for 24 more hours. We’d been up since 8am on Monday and fell back into bed at 6am on Tuesday.
The next night our flight was rescheduled and our 1am flight left at 2am. It left late not due to a volcano with indigestion, it left late as Copa Airlines was hiccupping administratively. It so underperformed that there were still people in the lines at 1am, the same people who had waited 24 hours to escape…er….leave Argentina. One man was so irate that he was escorted away by airport security. However, all of us made our flight and bade farewell to the Big Tango.
I slept little (i.e. none) from Buenos Aires to Panama since one of my daughters declared me a living pillow. Now, at this point I’d slept about 2 hours in the last 40, and the whole week previous was spent completing a lot of paperwork, participating in many goodbye events, going to a two day conference, and sleeping little. I needed a lot of horizontal but was stuck in the vertical position. In Panama this lack of sleep caught up with me. I spent most of our Panamanian layover so sick from being tired that I inclined before the porcelain non-god. I can’t say I lost my milk and cookies….I hadn’t eaten any. I can say that greasy eggs I ate en route to Panama and the greasier donut that I’d procured at the airport stayed in Panama. My family waited while others boarded and I remained in a neo-worshipful position before two ceramic cavities. I say two as I made rotations to find unoccupied ones. I made it back to the gate, began boarding, then gave Christine my baggage (which, she might say, I’ve been doing for years) and rushed back to make another offering to any non-god that would have me. No extra drama here; one did.
The flight to New Jersey was better. We sat near the back so I was closer to the inclination room, and visited it with ease. Eventually I slept and awoke to find that we weren’t too far from putting out seats in an upright position to land. In Newark and enjoyed a customs officer whose humor was just enough that it brought us chortles and just not-enough to allow him to quit his day job….
In the hot JOISEY airport we traversed over to Dunkin Donuts and I, tired and empty from all my giving, was halfway through the order before I realized I was speaking in Spanish. Now, since I only see Indians or Asians (wo)manning all Dunkin Donut franchises I realized that English should be the default language. I went to pay, and took out my loose change and then….wait….allow me to digress. In Panama I bought aforementioned donut, the one that didn’t make it out of Panama. Panama uses US currency as their currency, and US change is intermingled with Panamanian change, both having equal value. There, I’ve digressed and given you essential information.
…and took out my loose change and then saw that I was holding an unusual dime. I hadn’t been in the US for a year. I was culturally backwatered and so had so few neurons firing that I thought that the US had come out with a new dime, one with Vasco Nunez de Balboa on it. I fact, I yelled to Christine across the area that the US had come out with a new dime. The Indian lady who (wo)manned the Dunkin Donuts establishment, remembered my Spanish and assumed I was a foreigner. She took my hand and pointed to each piece of change and explained the difference between the quarter, the dime and the nickel. She didn’t pay attention to the penny. I mean, who does? Well, turns out that the dime I gave her was a Panamanian dime. Balboa has yet to receive the monetary due owed him in these united 50 states and one must land on the shores of Panama to find a country that does. I smiled and left the dime with the lady to figure it out later; after an empty stomach that had hurled its way into hunger I was eager to sip on my Vanilla Bean Coolata and decided that even Vasco Nunez de Balboa wasn’t going to stop me.
We are now here in the US for three weeks before we head to Quito, Ecuador. I’ll save any more Panamanian Balboa dimes I find….they might come in useful.

Paradigm Swift

2011-06-05T08:58:00.000-06:00

My learning has been built on facts (I was a history major) and that has influened how I sojourned through life. Without realizing, I've entered new learning situations believing that the answer to a problem existed, that it was, in effect, a program of facts that would meet a need. That is, invention, ingenuity, creativity, were secondary ways to come to a "set" answer. Do I make sense...I grope for words....oh blahg it all!

I'm entering an new phase of life and education where, based on a bedrock of sripture, I need to be inventive, ingenuous and creative in ways the enhance others, allow for group participation, and make a difference.

My pardigm shift comes swiftly

Book Me, Dano!

2011-05-12T09:44:00.000-06:00

As someone whose made the Good Book his life’s occupation I’m still not sure when the fruit of patience ends and good old human resignation takes over. It’s a fine line….

A current example is our attempt obtain visas for Ecuador. Now, we need these visas, and need them soon. The consulate tells me that I must have a police record check done. I’m sent to the impressive Ministry of Exterior Relations building ( an hour downtown; I live in the suburbs) and there am told to go to a phone an push “0”. I do so obediently and explain to an operator that I need a police record check. She glibly tells me what I must do and I…oh yes I….having been through this many…oh yes many…times before ask if she is certain. She pauses, puts me on hold and then comes back to give me a number to call…maybe she isn’t so certain after all. I return home…about an hour away, in the suburbs, to call this number and do so many times. No one on the other end thinks that answering the phone is a good idea. So, I look online on how to do a police record check and am given a link to download the form. I do so but the link doesn’t work. I call the various listed numbers and they are either 1) not functioning or 2) are automated messages that have NOTHING to say about a police record check. Ah…I had an epiphany….I’ve just left saintly patience and am now going full throttle on human resignation.

Well, I can always go to the local police department near to find out more, or better yet, to find out something as up till now I haven’t found out anything. After all,I think to myself, I need a POLICE check and it is a POLICE department. I go there and they tell me to go to an office not too far away and all will be taken care of promptly. Now I….yes I…have been through this many….oh yes many….times before and decide to call first. Lo and behold my search gives me a phone number that not only works, but also has someone on the other end who answers. Hey, I’m back in patience-ville! I talk with a lady who tells me that her office does not do police checks; I mean, why should they? They do criminal checks. I’m told to go the main police office which is an hour and a half downtown (did I mention that live in the suburbs?) to accomplish this. I decide to call first as I….yes I…well, you get the idea. I find a number for the federal police, one that works and is considered answerable by those who answer. I am informed that police record checks are no longer done. Ah….resignation here I come……I’m told that I can have a criminal record check done. I take that as a consolation prize and kindly hang up after tossing out a few appropriate “thank-yous.” (note to the reader: You might be asking yourself what the difference is between a police record check and a criminal record check, since both did exist at one time. I think that your question is both valid and worth exploring and encourage you to do so….)

I call the Ecuadorian consulate back and explain to them that the Argentina police no longer do police record checks and, by golly, somebody ought to do something about that. I would, but since I’m trying to move to Ecuador I just don’t have the time…I’m booked! I detect resignation on the other end of the line so jump right in and tell the person that I can have a criminal record check done and would be more than happy to do so. Yes, I sensed a patience returning to the lady. There is a lot to be said for consolation prizes.

So, I’m on my way to get a criminal record check.

This should be easy….

Teaching is Relationship Building—Something School Reformers Often Forget

2011-04-16T06:26:00.000-06:00

Teaching is Relationship Building—Something School Reformers Often Forget
What a thought provoking article! Wow!

Three....er.....rules? of business

2011-04-16T06:05:00.000-06:00

I had the pleasure of reading, and studying, this sign, while I waited, and waited, and waited, for the clerk return to the cash register.

2011-04-15T19:01:00.000-06:00

In a Shell gasoline station in southern Chile I was happy to find that I could by gasoline, snacks, drinks, and guns! I don't know if there was a two for one sale.....or if a large drink come with the purchase of a gun....or a gun comes with the purchase or a large drink....

Kent's Bad Day

2011-04-14T11:51:00.000-06:00

Kent is having a bad day.
Kent smokes. Bad, Kent, bad!
In Chile cigarette companies, this one being Kent cigarettes,have to publicise the dangers of smoking while trying to promote their brand of cigarettes. How they can do both I don't know, but this add, which I saw at the counter in a convenience store, was so good I went back to the car to get my camera.
Kent looks a bit down....
I'm glad I'm not in Kent's shoes. I'd be....overdressed.

IBC Messages: Mark and the Good Confession

2009-09-15T13:04:00.002-06:00

This is a test to see if my sermons can find a home on a blog. Golly, I hope it works!

2009-09-15T13:04:00.001-06:00

2009-04-25T04:23:00.000-06:00

"Spark" is the name our son chose for our dog when we left the US to return to Argentina. He and the girls have been waiting for this special addition. We saw Spark, a German Pointer, in a box of puppies being sold nearby. We went back the next day and bought him. Spark loves people, seems to know that going to the bathroom outdoors makes us happy, and is newest Butler.

My ranguage is rimited

2009-04-23T18:31:00.000-06:00

"My ranguage is rimited" said the Korean lady to me on the train today. She was saying "My language is limited" that is, her English. In Buenos Aires I have the pleasure of meeting people from around the world. We had lunch with a Russian couple recently, and talked on the phone with a Swiss lady. It's fun to connect in this metropolis with different cultures.

Of course, today I spoke with a lady from the US with a thick southern accent....now THAT was hard to understand!

Halloween Hangups

2008-11-01T09:49:00.000-06:00

Ah, post halloween...

Beary Cold

2008-10-22T21:22:00.000-06:00

Colorado of course means snow in October. The balmy week left us for a day as 2 or so inches of snow fell overnight. I hadn't known it was going to snow and woke up to a winter wonderland. Most of it was gone by afternoon.

What was also gone were the two bear cubs that were in our garage that same afternoon. Of course, the mother was not too far away....

Ah, life in Colorado

Life in these United States

2008-09-07T10:13:00.000-06:00

I saw this on some other blog and made it my own....

2008-08-20T19:26:00.000-06:00

Rob and I were road tripping across the USA, reliving the glory days of high school and the even better days of family life. This is one of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen. Rob, quite the photo-guy took this in northeastern Colorado after a rain storm. I'd never seen a rainbow so bright or so big. Kudos to Rob!

Heaven Scent

2008-08-17T16:27:00.000-06:00

I did a road trip this summer with my good friend Rob. We transversed the US from New Jersey to Colorado, often stopping to take pictures, except in Iowa which had NOTHING but corn. Rob saw this in a men's room, one not known for being too spic and span. It's nice to know that some men only choose the best smelling colognes for their babes. "Hey, stop here. I wanna hit the can so I can smell nice for ya..."

Of pricks and pains

2008-08-10T14:49:00.000-06:00

Our family took a Sunday morning respite at the near by Garden of the Gods here in Colorado Springs. The morning was flush with hikes, mate (MAH-tay, an Argentine tea) and rummy cube. My highlight was taking a hike with Elizabeth, my oldest daughter. I was sliding down the surface of a big rock and jumped near the bottom, landing rump first on a cactus. The cactus never knew what hit it. My butt print now adorns this plant and part of it remains with me...and in me. My fear is that some naturalist will see my butt plant and claim to have found a new species of cactus.

I rode home in the back of the suv, my rump squarely facing the world, and came home to soft pillows for my wounded pride.

Elizabeth is STILL laughing...

of Rocks and Swamp Coolers

2008-07-13T08:57:00.000-06:00

I wanted to put the “Best of Bryon” online. After editing it I decided to call it the “Rest of Bryon…”

And these days there is little rest as good ole Bryon continues looking for a job. Our career overseas stopped at the “No More Money To Send You Back” station, and we got off, had a cup of coffee and looked for the room titled “What to do with the rest of your life.” It turns out that that darned room was at another station, leaving us only with the “Fend for Yourselves” hallway that led out into “Cruel World Land”.

There is something to be said for gainful employment, especially the paychecks it yields. There are other important aspects, such as benefiting humanity, etc., but those things, these days anyway, conveniently find a place behind the US dollar. I’ve never been in the habit of calling the US dollar “Almighty” but if a few show up I might be inclined to. Heck, these days I'll even bow.

Besides trying to show potential employers just how valuable a Bryon edition would be to their lives, I’ve also been doing a lot of yard work. This is a misnomer, as out west a “yard” i.e. “grass” is a foreign idea (a “back east” one) that only comes about with abundant watering….why should third world countries use water that could be going to our imported lawns? Our lawn-less property did have a LOT of deadwood, which I cleared out and had made into pleasant looking wood mulch. After moving a LOT of rocks (small rocks often replace grass here as rocks require less water to do whatever they do) I inserted the wood chips and am now about to trim the hedges. You have to be careful, back east if you trim too much the hedge responds “see you next summer.” Out here it’ll ignore you for years.

My neighbor Gary said if I wear a long sleeve white shirt and keep it wet I’ll remain cool by creating a swamp cooler effect. I tried it and he was right! I’m a walking swamp cooler!

I can now add that to my resume….that’s gotta help.

Career Weak

2008-06-30T00:33:00.000-06:00

I was looking for work and spent a week collecting signatures on a Colorado ballot initiative. It was a way to change the world AND bring home pocket change so I’d have money when the world changed. It seemed win/win to me. I stood outside super markets with my clipboard and people walked the other way, looked the other way, had fake cell phone conversations and didn’t seem to enjoy being around me. I wore different color shirts, different baseball caps, and even went to different super markets….just to test my theory that it was ME they were avoiding.

I didn’t get some people. Why would shoppers be concerned with melting ice cream when I was trying to bring about harmonic convergence AND gain pocket change? I mean, I’d studied some of these ballot initiatives for a good 7 minutes before hitting the street. Did these people think I was lacking in knowledge? I was well versed on oil drilling, corporate fraud, and whatever that other one was that I put before them. I had nice pens, a pleasant smile and was invariably fresh smelling.

Well, I lasted a week. Those shoppers won’t have Bryon Butler to avoid any more! I made a week's worth of pocket change that I'm trying to spend, if those clipboarders would leave me alone.

2008-06-16T21:20:00.000-06:00

We took a trip up Pikes Peak here in Colorado the end of May. The temperature was about 70 at the bottom of the mountain and in the lower 30s at the top.

2008-05-20T13:11:00.001-06:00

Wyoming?
Wy NOT oming?
Wyoming is wonderful. It is hot and dry, as a matter of fact it's where arid goes to get extra dry!
I was there for a weekend and snapped this shot heading south on I-25 to Cheyenne.

You'll love Wyoming...it's a real butte

Well Worth The Time

2008-05-18T23:23:00.000-06:00

Packs of Trojans!

2008-05-17T15:55:00.000-06:00

I loved my laptop more than any other computer I’ve ever had. Those bygone days and bygone megahertz’s merge together and blur, but not this laptop. It is a 17 incher and had more bells and whistles than I have hands or breath for. And it doesn’t matter if I get to all of them or not. They wait for me, patiently.

And yet….

My computer went bad and I found numerous Trojans, packs of them, in the hard drive. I tried to get rid of them via different programs, some I paid for and some for free, to no avail. Every time I tried to clean my machine new Trojans would prevail, and I was left wondering where I went wrong. My poor boy had gone bad.

And so, I did a lobotomy on my poor machine. Like Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or Charlton Heston in The Planet of the Apes, it was left devoid of itself as I reformatted it and brought it back to the day we first met, when I unwrapped it and welcomed it into my life. Now, the viruses are gone and my computer and I are getting to know each other again.

And the Trojans and their horses are gone….

….do I hear a neigh?

handle o' love

2008-05-05T06:57:00.001-06:00

In a month I have lost THREE pounds! Bless me and call me wonderful.

Just a little Baskin Robbins can't hurt.....time to celebrate!

Chaperoned Chores

2008-04-26T15:20:00.000-06:00

Saturday mornings are chore days in our home. A general outline of conversation goes like this:

Daughter #1 “Where is the vacuum cleaner?”
Daddy: “It’s right behind you, dear…”

Daughter #2: “Can I be done…?”
Daddy: “As soon as you’ve cleaned your room and bathroom and vacuumed. How much have you done?”
Daughter #2 : “Uh, never mind”

Daughter #2: (in charge of laundry) “Dad, have you ever folded clothing?”
Dad: (rushing by on the way to somewhere….anywhere, else) “Yes…goodbye.”

Son #1 who is five: “I emptied all the trash. I’m done!”
Daughters #1 and 2: (in chaotic unison) “Not fair!” “Why do I have to do everything!” I do more than YOU!” etc, etc, etc, and….etc.

One of the children: "This doesn't look dirty."

One of the children: (sitting down) “Dad, could you help me do…?”

Wife: “I have an idea….”
Husband: “Uh…ok…uh…. I have to go fold laundry.”

Dad: (An hour and a half later) “Look at this place! Didn’t we just clean in here?”

interesting...

2008-04-21T04:05:00.000-06:00

Food chains you NEVER see:

Amish Sushi

flake fest

2008-04-17T12:11:00.000-06:00

Today was a partial snow day. The weather forecast called for lots of snow on Wednesday and then snow all day Thursday. Well, Wednesday did not disappoint. There was lots of snow coming down, and most of it stayed for an accumulation of 3 or so inches. Today though, not a lick of snow dropped, nay, not even a flake. Colorado really pays little attention to weather forecasts. Being a western state it remains untamed in that way.

Wednesday’s flake fest did cause a two hour delay of school. That meant I could stay in bed and sleep. Actually, my day began when my son, at 6:30am, asked if he could get up. My day really began when my bladder, being untamed like Colorado, told me at 7:00am that it planned to get up, and I should follow. Bladders, for being so untamed, are predictable; they head towards the bathroom, or a tree, or to a spot where yellow snow would look nice. Bladders also have no patience with their host; that is why the world needs diapers….but I digress.

Our delay allowed for a pancake breakfast, some job hunting for me, and an eventual 10am shower. I’d like to do it again, but right now I need to go make yellow snow.

Forget rainy days, Mondays alone do the trick

2008-04-14T07:37:00.000-06:00

I got up, had a shave, shower and a sit down to grumpy coffee, sourpuss cereal and encountered those three little dilemmas sitting around the table whom I gripingly call my own. The weather was brutal, the shower water too hot, and then too cold, never just right, and oh my....I get it...it's Monday all over again. What happened to my weekend?

I'm going to quarantine the rest of this blog for the benefit of the world wide web civilization. Mondays are cankerous.

That Sinking Feeling...

2008-04-11T06:36:00.000-06:00

We kept our kitchen sink faucet going as long as we could. But, it was wearing out and when more water was going under, behind and around the sink that actually going into it, we wisely decided to give the faucet a Christian garbage can burial, and procure a new one.

We went to Home Depot,looked over the selection, bought a pleasant looking faucet that matched our budget, and went home. "This shouldn't take too long" we thought.

HA!

After another trip to Home Depot, and an aborted one to Ace Hardware, I am going back today to exchange our new faucet for another model.

Why?

Because the one we bought DOESN'T WORK!

Why doesn't it work?

Because we SAY SO!

We've spent an evening nurturing it, loving into place and guiding it into its role as a productive member of our household. We failed...no...IT failed! Eventually the better angels of our natures tossed aside their halos, lit cigarettes and went out to get tattoos. It's obvious the new faucet is defective. The thingy on top won't fit into that base, and the doo-hickey down below won't screw correctly around that other thingy that keeps it from working like it should.

That's our story and WE'RE STICKING WITH IT!

Before I leave I'm going to lay some flowers beside the garbage can. I sure do miss our old faucet. I wish I'd taken a picture of it while there was still time

Snow, Man!

2008-04-09T08:20:00.000-06:00

April in Colorado is the sucker punch, the deceptive trick that holds that if you take out your summer shorts and sandals, if you put away your winter garb, yea if you think thoughts of pollen and whatever bees do with it, that Spring will be in the air and winter will be banished until the furthest reaches of October.

Ha!

It snowed on Easter, twice last week and is supposed to snow tonight and all day Thursday. My spring clothes wait with baited breath on the closet shelf, while the winter wear hugs tenaciously to the coat rack.

Now, don't get me wrong,there are pleasant things about winter. This Thursday I'm supposed to work an hour and a half from home....I'm already planning my snow day.
Let it snow, man!

All Bussed Up

2008-04-07T08:24:00.000-06:00

This morning we took our kids to the bus stop for school, our regular morning routine. While there we were informed that someone had broken into the bus yard and let the air out of all the front tires of each bus. I’d gripe about this but my hot air is no match for all the stale, cold air let out into the atmosphere. And, my hot air just wouldn’t help this global warming thing.
My wife is now working with the kids on projects to keep them busy and us sane.
I lost a pound and a half, only 28 and a half more pounds to go. I might try to lose three pounds and not 30 to make this easier.
Chau for now

A Blahg New World

2008-04-06T20:52:00.000-06:00

Today is the first day of the rest of my week. Good God, it's Monday. What happened to my weekend? I was Saturdaying quite nicely and now Monday draws up. First there will be a sonrise, then the blasted curtains will go up, and then I'll get out of bed (pee) and wake up three kids that WILL NOT WANT TO GET UP to face another week. Well, at least their grumpy morning faces will show me that I am not alone in facing Monday.

And what will I do during this soon to arise Monday.

1. Look for a Job
2. Look to lose 30 pounds (after a healthy breakfast that just might contain a modicum of fruit)
3. write that novella I've been wanting to edit and finish
4. Congratulate myself on my Blahg.

Hey, maybe I'll make it through Monday after all. But don't quote me on that