Another Chance Ranch

Posts of the Past - December

Last year around this time we had some really cool things happen over night.  Click here to see the photos.  This was something I'd never seen before, or could remember seeing.  So, with the bad light, and freezing conditions I got out there with my camera and took photos anyway.  Check it out.

The year before that, 2007, I threw McD a surprise 50th birthday party and was a bit panicked.  We had just moved into our new house, decorations were not up - and I am not talking about Christmas decorations, I am talking about art on the walls, etc.  It looks a lot different now, but then everything was bare.  It was kind of sad when one of our friends, Harold T. Holden, said that we had a very nice house, but it would look better with some art on the walls.  The very next week I hung 4 of his prints.  You see, he is an artist.  A very good artist.

2006 is the year I started blogging.  I am going to have to start going back and looking at the different things I blogged about, because I completely forgot I told everyone this story.  I guess this is a story that other kids could learn from, but it just hits a sore spot with my sister and I.  We got over it, but it left scars.  Ha!

After looking back over some of my posts of the past, posts of the past, hee hee I crack myself up. Sorry, it isn't even really funny, it is just early.  Anyway, I have enjoyed looking at some of the past posts and might even find some more to share or elaborate on.

Have a great week everyone!  Christmas is just right around the corner!

Updated to correct the first links.  Sorry about that.

Happy Birthday McD!!

Today is McD's birthday.  Today McD will be out of town, so I won't be able to take him to lunch.  I am bummed.  But enough about me, let me rewind and catch you up on all his gifts.  He is so spoiled, but the good news is that he knows it, and he likes it. :)

Dec. 8th He receieved an Otterbox for his iphone.  I had to pick up a new phone case for myself, and when I told the store clerk I wanted a black case that is what she gave me.  Then she put it on my phone and I loved it, so I had to get him one too. 

Dec. 9th McD had to leave for a meeting, and was going to be gone overnight.  I typically give him his gifts in the morning before we start our day.  So, I had to give him two gifts that day.  Okay, I didn't have to, but I did because I thought he might use them.  He received new sweats (as opposed to used I guess), and socks (Dec 10th gift).  The sweats weren't anything special, but the socks were Gold Toe short socks.  He loves his Gold Toe Tube socks, so I thought these would be a good addition to his sock drawer.  :)  And the only place I can find them is at J C Penney's.  

Dec 11th & Dec 12th He received a couple of shirts.  I had planned to give them to him on the same day, but I ended up splitting them up because I had spent a little more than planned on the Otterbox.  The Otterbox rocks!!

Dec 13th Do you ever get a gift for someone that you just can't wait to give them?  Well, that is how I was with the last few gifts.  McD had been wanting to watch the Band of Brothers all the way through.   He wanted to rent them, but never got around to it.  He is also the type to watch a movie over and over and over.  So, I bought it.  Then, last night I saw where you can get it in blu-ray.  That really stinks, I didn't get it in blu-ray.  Oh well.  I think it will be fine.

Dec 14th - This gift will probably just sit on the shelf, but I thought he might, just might read a book this coming year.  We will see.  He received a new book, but you see I have given him books as gifts before and they go unread.  These are even books he asks for.  :)  I am not holding my breath. 

Dec 15th - Today.  Today McD received a brand new pair of Nikon Binoculars.  I did all kinds of research on them.  They are fog proof, waterproof, and supposed to be very tough.  I thought for the money they were a pretty good deal.  He found them and his birthday card laying in front of his coffee maker.  I was lying in bed listening to his every move, trying to figure out if he liked them or not.  I heard him unwrap them, and I guessed he was looking across the house with them.  When he came in to thank me for them he said, get ready, he said..."They aren't as strong as a rifle scope, but they are better than any binoculars we have."  Here I thought I did a pretty good job.  I couldn't afford the really good ones.  I found them on sale at Cabela's, and the reviews were great.  

I planned on making him whatever he wanted for supper tonight, but he said he didn't care.  Now I have to figure out what to make.  Any ideas?

Happy Birthday McD!! I hope you have a great day!!  I love you!

McD in his new hat

Well, here it is! I had to make him do it. :) the top of the hat is navy blue but you can't see it. Sorry.

Have a good evening, we are settling in to watch Funny People. Has anyone seen it?

McD's Birthday, Catching Up

Where did I leave off?  Hmmm. 

Last week/weekend was kind of interesting for McD's birthday ritual because I had to be out of town for work.  I've never been out of town during this time, so we've never encountered this problem.  It was solved easily enough, but I had to be pretty sneaky about it. 

You see, every day I write a little something in a birthday card.  The birthday card is given to him every day of his birthday.  This way, if he saves the cards, and I am not sure if he is doing that or not, he will remember what he got each day.  So I had to be pretty sneaky about writing in his card after he got his birthday gift for the day.  I went ahead and wrote in the card and had him come to my office to get the next day's gift.  It worked. 

So, the 4th the got the hat.  I haven't been able to catch him wearing it, but he said he wore it while I was gone.  I will work on that tonight.  I will see if he will just pose for me.  Ya think he will?

The 5th, Saturday the day I was gone, he got a blanket with our brand on it.  Well, I thought it was a blanket.  The package said blanket, but when he opened it it was a throw.  Not what I was hoping for.  I might have to go look for a replacement.  Maybe put the throw in the pickup. :) 

Yesterday, the 6th, the got the first and second seasons of the hit television sit com, The Big Bang Theory.  So far that is his favorite gift. 

Today, he got a new Eskimo Joe's t-shirt. 

And who knows what he will get tomorrow.  Okay, I do, but I can't tell you yet.  I think he will really like it though.  I just recently got one and I love it.  I hope he isn't reading this, he might figure it out.

Have a great day everybody.  I WILL get the photo tonight.  Even if I have to sit on him to get it. :)

Gifts 2, 3 & 4 for McD & Rambling

Well, I have been trying to get on here and post for the past 2 days, but our internet just wouldn't let me.  That is fine, I am on here and hoping it posts today.  Fingers are crossed! :)

I hope to get some photos posted this weekend.  My sister and her family came to see us the weekend after Thanksgiving, and we took family portraits for them.  Well, I won't call them portraits because they aren't near as good as a professional would have done, but they are family photos. :)

Then McD's birthday started on the 1st of December and he got a flannel shirt.  On the 2nd he got some new houseshoes.  On the 3rd he got some Premium Dark Chocolate M & Ms.  And please if you know how much those cost, do not say anything because he has no idea and would probably choke on one if he found out.  So, shhhh!  Today, the 4th, he got a new hat.  That is really all I can say cause I really can't describe it.  I will be posting a photo of it on Sunday.  He will just HAVE to let me take his photo.  :)  You will love it!  Hee hee.

Now I am getting ready to go to work.  I am going to put my Pandora radio on Christmas music or something fun, and try to work the day away.  Do you have any favorite Pandora radio stations?  I am always looking for new tunes.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Day 1 of McD's Birthday - '09

December 1st is always the first day of McD's birthday.  He is a lucky man, or spoiled rotten one.  :)  As many of you know, McD was born on December 15th, and as a kid he rarely celebrated his birthday.  His parents would usually tell him that he would just get an extra gift at Christmas, but that rarely happened.  Times were tough, and if they had the mone, his dad wouldn't let on that they had it.  They were different times.  I wish a lot of the world would have stayed that way, but then we would be without the internet, cell phones, and cable television just to name a few. 

A while back I decided to make up for all those birthdays he missed.  I make sure that he gets a small gift each day from December 1st to December 15th.  Sometimes the gifts are unmentionables, or they used to be unmentionables, now we call them boxer briefs.  :)  He has gotten socks, coffee mugs, books, movies, dark chocolate, etc.  This year we have a little of the same, but a few gifts he's never received before and I hope he likes them. 

For today's gift he received a new insulated flannel shirt.  One of these days maybe I can get him to model it for ya. :)  Hee hee.

Now I just have to figure out what to give him tomorrow.  I have a number of things ready, I just have to decide which one to give him and for me making a decision is a chore.  I wish someone else could just make it for me.  Come back tomorrow and see what he got on Day 2, and to see if he modeled for me or not.  :) 

P.S.

Thanks for all the DC tips.  I can't wait to use them, and if you think of any more please let me know.  I am so excited about this trip I can hardly focus on anything else.  And we have quite a while before we go. 

Singing in Church

 Typically I don't write about Religion or Politics, but occasionally something will happen at church that I feel like I need to share. That is what happened this morning.  

You see, I don't sing well. At. All.  Therefore, I sing quietly.  McD might be able to hear me, but that would be about it.  Oh wait, he probably doesn't hear me either because he can't hear very well. What a blessing that is when he sits next to me at church.  I used to wonder why in the world the people that don't sing well seem to always just belt it out.  At first I thought that they are just very brave, because I would be very embarrassed.  

Then it hit me.  They are doing what should be done.  We are there to praise God, and that is exactly what they are doing.  They are not holding back, as I was, they are not embarrassed to praise and glorify God in song whether it is pitchy, or in tune. There is melody in our hearts and God knows it.  He knows that we don't all have voices like some of the greats, he made us.  

So next Sunday I am going to sing a little louder. Then I might sing a little louder the next Sunday as well.  I hope to learn from those that belt it out.   

Bathroom Humor

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you read that title?  I guarantee it isn't what I am about to tell you.  I will not be using names because it might embarrass someone, and I would hate to do that. 

A while back a good friend of mine told me a story about a particular trip to the ladies room.  It was a public restroom.  So, why do they call them restrooms anyway?  It isn't like we "rest" in them.  At least in Europe they are pretty appropriately named "water closet."  Sorry, I digress.  So, my friend goes to this public restroom and upon entering sees a woman's feet all sprawled every which way.  Feet sprawled completely out of the stall.  She wasn't laying on the floor or anything, she was sitting upright or we think she was, my friend didn't open the stall or anything. 

She immediately recognized the woman's shoes, and if I remember correctly, instead of taking care of her business in the restroom she hightailed it out of there.  I can just imagine the look on my friends face when she walked in on the woman all sprawled out taking care of business.   We still chuckle about it to this day. 

Do you ever look at the person's shoes in the next stall?  Come on, you can tell me.  Here lately, if I am in the restroom I check the shoes.  For one, I don't want to get stuck in the bathroom with the Sprawler doing her business.  Secondly, I would love for my friend to come in the bathroom and get in the next stall.  I would sprawl my legs out as far as I could, but I wouldn't be able to do that without laughing.  At least I would be in the right place, and wouldn't wet my pants from laughing too hard.  :)

Oh I am sure some of you have seen some crazy things in the ladies room, do share.  :)

Question for You

Yes, you.  Hello?  Can you answer a question for me?  A serious one.  Okay, so not really serious.

Have you ever done the 30 Day Shred exercise by Jillian? 

Do you like it?  Have you seen results?  Give me the scoop.  Please.

Oh, and thank you.  :)

The word aerobics came about when the gym instructors got together and said, "If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it jumping up and down."  ~Rita Rudner

Thank You Typepad Help!

I want to apologize for the issues with the comments yesterday.  If you commented you probably noticed that it didn't show up right away, and that is unusual for ACR. 

Well, I sent a help ticket to the TypePad geniuses and they got back to me right away.  Apparently I was using TypePad Connect.  I guess I forgot I was using it, but I was.  I am not using it right now, because if I do then the comments from yesterdays post all disappear.  And I don't like that.

The nice thing about TypePad Connect is that you can thread your comments, or you can have them numbered.  But they don't have all the bugs worked out yet and sometimes comments on certain posts just don't show up.  That's okay, we will just play along until they get everything working correctly.

Have you ever had to use the help tickets with TypePad?  I have used them several times, and they are very good at what they do.  They always respond quickly, and help solve the matters if they can.  They seem friendly, and happy to help.  It is nice to have a way to have issues solved quickly, easily, and without a long drawn out telephone call spending several minutes, if not hours, on hold.

Thank you TypePad Help people!