Tonight with the boys

David helped me cook. Actually he practically did it all, making macaroni and cheese and blackeyed peas. He and I ate some shrimp with cocktail sauce. Matt and Joe tried it again but were not too impressed. We watched two interesting shows on the National Geographic Channel. The first one was about the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier. The second program was about the man-made palm islands being created in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. We also talked to my sister on the phone.

Where I've Been...

You can go to this site and plot all of the states you have visited. Pretty cool.

Thanksgiving weekend

It was a great Thanksgiving weekend. The weather did not hurt, with highs around 70 all four days. On Thursday I ate a wonderful meal with my mom and dad. She made turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, and corn. She also made my favorite traditional strawberry gelatin cake.

Friday I hung out with my dad before going out to get some photos developed. I went to four places and wasted most of my afternoon before I finally found a place that had a machine that worked. That evening I got the boys and we ate and took it easy.

Saturday we watched the Clemson-South Carolina game with my dad and then we spent most of the afternoon playing football down at the park. During the evening the boys played cars, worked on their baseball cards and we watched a little football and basketball on TV. Before bed, I read some out of my old journals to David and Joe. They were pretty entertained by that and seemed quite interested. Especially the story about sleeping in class.

Today we spent most of the day working outside. We raked, blew leaves, mowed leaves, got leaves off of the patio cover, and I climbed up on the roof to clean out the gutters. I'm nearly too old to be climbing up on that roof, but not quite. Or as football broadcaster Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend!"

We got a lot done and then we watched the end of the Bears game with my dad. My mom made us a good meal. We had David's favorite macoroni and cheese, green beans, and hamburgers. We had our choice of mom's fruit salad, cookies, ice cream or strawberry cake for dessert. It was great. Now it's getting late and we are getting ready to go home. Thanks, Lord, for a wonderful time with a wonderful family.

Kica

This is the sweet kitten that travelled from Vinemont to Huntsville to Cincinnatti to Detroit to Chicago last July.

My sister has given "Kica" a good home.

Sad News From Lee High

Yesterday a school bus carrying Lee High School students tumbled off the I-565 overpass near Church Street in Huntsville. As of now, four students have died and over 30 others were injured. This story made national and world news. It struck close to home with me, as I graduated from Lee. I can't imagine the anguish of these students' families and friends.

4th teen dies from injuries in Huntsville bus wreck

Special Report from al.com

Crystal Renee McCrary, 17
Christine Collier, 16, a sophomore
Nicole Ford, 19, a senior
Tanesha Hill, 17, a senior

---

Class of 83

Frosty Morning

The low was 25.6 here in Vinemont in northern Cullman County with frost.

Election Night - Local

The best part of this election night to me was the election of attorney Shelly Waters the District Judge in Morgan County. I have worked with her for over 10 years and she will prove to be an effective judge.

Here are a couple of articles:

Child support group honors Waters

Waters keeping position as district court judge

Election Night

On the National scene, the Democrat Party has regained control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years. It also appears likely that they will regain control of the Senate, but that has not been confirmed as of this moment. This represents a significant change. Liberals in Congress will not allow Bush’s tax cuts to remain in place. Get ready for your taxes to go up. The President’s judicial nominees will stand no chance unless they are moderate to liberal. The Iraq policy and War on Terror will not be conducted the same way.

Either the President will compromise his principals so that he can get along with the Democrats and pass legislation or there will be gridlock. Gridlock is not always bad, but when it comes to national security issues, social issues, or taxes, gridlock may be very dangerous for the country.

So, why did the Republicans lose so much ground? It wasn’t the economy. Ethics is the first reason. Duncan Hunter, Tom Delay, and Mark Foley were poster children for the "Culture of Corruption" as Democrats called Republicans during the campaign. Many who lost races were guilty by association. The spineless Republican leadership (Hastert) repeatedly swept scandals under the rug, only to see the media and Democrats expose them later and blow them up in their faces right before the election. Another reason, somewhat related to ethics, is that they forgot why they were in office in the first place. What started as a conservative revolution in 1994 turned in to pack of wild spending RINO’s (Republicans in Name Only) by 2006.

Many pundits are trying to blame the President’s Iraq policy and defense policies. I honestly do not think this played as large of a role as many are claiming. How else can you explain why a pro-war Democrat (Lieberman) won and an anti-war Republican (Chafee) lost. Remember most of the new seats that were captured by Democrats were captured by conservative or moderate Democrats such as Jim Webb in Virginia or Tester in Montana. Just enough ‘Values voters’ in many of these races saw more to like in the Democrat candidates.

The problem for the President is that these "blue dog" moderate to conservative Democrats won’t be in positions of leadership. They probably feel as if they owe their election to Pelosi, Kennedy, Biden, Waxman, and other liberals will be calling the shots. Perhaps Republicans will learn that in most of the country, principled conservatism will still win in 2008. In 2006 voters decided that they might find that better in some new moderate Democrats.

Give It Away

I love this song by George Strait...especially the last verse...

She was stormin' through the house that day,
An' I could tell she was leavin'.
An' I thought: "Aw, she'll be back,"
Till she turned around an' pointed at the wall an said:

"That picture from our honeymoon,
"That night in Frisco Bay:
"Just give it away."
She said: "Give it away."
"An' that big four-poster king-size bed,
"Where so much love was made:
"Just give it away."
She said: "Just give it away."

"Just give it away.
"There ain't nothin' in this house worth fightin' over.
"Oh, an' we're both tired of fightin' anyway,
"So just give it away."

So I tried to move on,
But I found that each woman I held,
Just reminded me of that day.
Hmmm.

When that front door swung wide open,
She flung her diamond ring:
Said: "Give it away."
"Just give it away."
An' I said: "Now, honey, don't you even want,
"Your half of everything."
She said: "Give it away."
Just give it away.

Just give it away.
There ain't nothin' in this house worth fightin' over.
Oh, an' we're both tired of fightin' anyway,
So just give it away.

So I'm still right here where she left me,
Along with all the other things,
She don't care about anymore.
Mmmm.

Like that picture from our honeymoon,
That night in Frisco Bay:
She said: "Give it away."
Well, I can't give it away.
An' that big four-poster king-size bed,
Where all our love was made:
She said: "Give it away."
Well, I can't give it away.

I've got a furnished house, a diamond ring,
An' a lonely broken heart,
Full of love,
An' I can't even give it away.

Guilty!

Saddam, two others, sentenced to death

What a Day!

It was great hanging out with my friends Rob and Johnny, along with my son Joe yesterday, on our trip to Tuscaloosa for the Bama game...we talked about the following, and much, much, more...

Rick and Bubba: Dickie Nadmeyer, Dippin Dan, Dee and Dukes of Hazard, Willie and Wanda, Car Wash story, the event with Fox News this past week

Elections: tossing a coin this weekend, reading mail, surfing, researching

College Football: Shula, play calling, Finebaum, Auburn's chances, the game, losing to MSU, Bryant Museum

Old Classmates: Up to date with folks we've seen

Food at Work: too much good food that folks bring that is irresistable...doughnuts, cakes, etc

Medical Issues: hernias, surgery, rotator cuffs, high bp... I am getting old

School Lunches: pizza and corn, pears, mayo, and cheese

MLB, Cards win the world series, gold glove winners

I gave Rob CD's of the Cards and gave Johnny Bama programs

Joe's advice on nintendo

Electronics and growing older

FUN!!!!

Fairview 40 Vinemont 16

David's last football game was on Tuesday October 24. He got to play during the last play of the game. He said that Fairview scored 28 points in the first half and that Vinemont "won" the second half 16-14. That loss ended any hope that Vinemont had of making it to the playoffs this year. During the practice week prior to this game, David said his highlight was almost blocking a punt. It was his first year of organized football. He didn't get to play much but I think he enjoyed being part of the team.

World Series

I wrote about the first two games of the World Series in this space a few posts back. The Cardinals are World Champs for 2006. It was their 10th Championship in club history.

	1. Sat, Oct 21 – St. Louis 7, Detroit 2 2. Sun, Oct 22 – Detroit 3, St. Louis 1 3. Tue, Oct 24 – St. Louis 5, Detroit 0 4. Wed, Oct 25 – at St. Louis, Postponed 4. Thu, Oct 26 – St. Louis 5, Detroit 4 5. Fri, Oct 27 – St. Louis 4, Detroit 2

ACSA Conference

I've been away from blogging lately because of business. I had a trip last week to the Alabama Gulf Coast for the Alabama Child Support Association Conference. The ACSA includes State DHR personnel and District Attorney staff from all 67 Alabama counties. It was an inspirational and informative conference as usual. Plus it is the one travel "perk" that we get. Above is a photo of where the conference was held. I will include additional photos I took during this trip on the Alabama Weather Blog.