Thankful and Other Things

Catching Up
It's been a while since I posted anything; I've been tied up with stuff at work, i.e. end of year inventory stuff and catching up welding procedures that have been sent in by customers that require editing/revising before they can be approved for fabrication (boring, I know).

On the home front, I'm finalizing the floor plan for cabinets in my office. We built a 14' x 16' office on to our bedroom this past summer. To date, we've got the walls painted, wood floor installed, and I built shelves for the closets for Dana's preschool supplies. In the meantime, we painted the entire exterior of the house--new base and trim colors. Oh yeah, and I built some new shutters for the front of the house.

One of the things I have always wanted to do to the exterior of the house is get rid of the gutters. We took all the guttering down on the front of the house and replaced them with Rainhandler "gutters." No downspouts, no cleaning, no maintenance, no kidding! I still need to do the back of the house. What I really like about them, is you really don't see them unless you're looking for them. If you look real close at the facia boards, you can see the "guttering" running right along the bottom. Pretty cool stuff.

Road Trip
Yesterday, the "fam," along with our oldest son's girlfriend, went to Pops for lunch. Pops is a unique restaurant located on Route 66--"the Mother Road"-- in Arcadia, Oklahoma. The modern architecture is fascinating, but the big draw is what they call the "Soda Ranch." Pops boasts having over 500 different flavors of pop (soda) to choose from! One entire wall of the restaurant is a massive cooler filled with every brand of soft drink you can imagine and many you've never heard of. You can select one of the many varieties to go with your meal; you can also mix and match 6-packs to go. We left with a couple of sixes ourselves.

The food at Pops is mainly burgers and fries--good old fashioned road food. They also have chicken fried steak and a few other sandwiches. If you're not into "pop," they serve GREAT malts and shakes.

We drove Route 66 from Sapulpa to Arcadia--about a two hour drive with all the stoplights in the small towns along the way. We passed several Route 66 attractions that we'll have to go back and see another day--probably me and Dana by ourselves since our teenagers don't do sight-seeing stuff all that well.

Thankful
Today is Thanksgiving. In a couple of hours, we'll load up in the car, and drive the eight miles or so to Dana's parent's house. They still live in the town where we both grew up. Her sisters and brother, along with their families will be there, and maybe an aunt whose husband died last year. There will be LOTS of food and we will eat WAY TOO MUCH of it. We all get along pretty well, so it will be a good day...I may even get to take a nap after dinner!

In spite of the current economic situation here in the U.S., and the fact that we've elected probably one of the most liberal presidents in our nation's history (had to get the political dig in there), there are lots of things I'm thankful for. I'm thankful:

• that I woke up this morning. God in His grace toward me has allowed me another day of life. Every day is a gift. I pray that I will use this one in ways that bring honor and glory to Him.
• that God is in control.
• that I have a job.
• for a warm home, food, clothes, etc. --also gifts from God. Everything has its beginning with Him.
• for a church that unashamedly preaches the Word. No fancy gimmicks or "hooks." Just the Bible. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
• for my family, especially, Dana and the boys. I couldn't imagine life without them. They encourage me, they frustrate me, they make me laugh, they make me mad (sometimes), they belief in me, look to me to provide and protect them, and most of the time...they think I'm an "alright guy."
• for my health. It could be better (weight-wise; I need to work on that one)
• that I live in the United States. In spite of itself, it's still a great place.
• for the men and women who bravely and unselfishly serve in our armed forces. They and their predecessors are the reason we have the freedoms we cherish today.
• (on a lighter note) that I am NOT married to that gal on John & Kate Plus Eight! That woman drives me nuts. When Dana and Alex watch that show, I have to put on headphones or leave the room. John deserves a MEDAL!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

My Dad / Thanksgiving

My Dad
Today is my Dad's birthday; he is 76. Lots of people live to be 76, but for my Dad, it's a pretty big milestone. He was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (NHL) in 1997 and lived through two pretty rough bouts in 1999 and 2002 (if I remember correctly). On Christmas Day 2006, he was admitted to the hospital where he remained until the end of February 2007. Unrelated to the cancer, he had picked up an infection somewhere that ultimately made it's way into his blood stream and into his brain causing him to have all kinds of memory lapses/hallucinations/etc. To this day, he has little recollection of that time period.

In May of this year, he was treated for blood clots in his legs, and recently, he was rushed to the hospital because he was vomiting and passing blood. They discovered an ulcer that had "eaten" through one of the blood vessels in his stomach. He came within hours of bleeding to death.

Today, he is home, a little weaker, but nowhere near as sick as he has been in the past. In fact, he visited his cancer doctor yesterday and the doctor told him that it wouldn't be necessary for him to come in for a checkup in three months (like he'd been doing for the past 9+ years). "I'll see you in six months. Your cancer has been in remission for quite a while--close to five years--and I'm thinking we just may not hear from 'it' again." That's good news! From what I've read, many NHL patients dont' live much more than eight years after diagnosis--Dad is in his 10th year! And, the fact that the cancer has remained in remission/dormant for so long is also encouraging. God answers prayers.

My Dad and I aren't really close, but I call him (he and my Mom live in another state) from time to time, especially on his birthday. I called him last night. "Well, I made it one more year past my allotment," he said. He says that every year since his 71st birthday. When he turned 71, I called and in the course of the conversation he said, "You know, the Bible says (I assume he's referring to Ps 90:10) that we get 70 maybe 80 years on this earth. I figure anything I get beyond 70 is a gift." That's not a bad way to look at it...no matter how old you are--every day is a gift.

Thanksgiving
Thursday is Thanksgiving. I'm doing the politically incorrect thing and being thankful. (Click here for the politically correct Thanksgiving.)

I'm thankful for:

• God who saved a unworthy, sin-filled worm like me.
• My wife. We met 30 years ago and we've been together ever since.
• My two boys. They drive me crazy (some days that's a very short trip). They are good kids.
• My church. God's Word is preached. No programs. No clown worship. No silly "hooks."
• My dad's birthday.
• My parents. They raised me right. I'm the one that made mistakes along the way.
• Simple things: sunrise, sunset, beautiful music, a happy thought, smiles, laughter, a good night's sleep.

H A P P Y   T H A N K S G I V I N G .