THE AWAKENING

December 29th 2009, a day that will have a lasting affect on mine and my families lives. After nearly 11 years of having type II diabetes, my cheating the system finally caught up to me. I find myself temporarily out of work because of my bad habits. Now I find myself wondering what I will do to support my family for the next few months while I get things back in order. What a fool I was to believe that everything would work itself out by itself. Now my family has to pay the price for my ignorance. I apologize to my loved ones for my stupidity. I know that doesn't pay the bills, but at least you know I recognize my mistakes (as late as it may be). I will defeat this and become a better man, husband and father because of this.

My early New Years resolution is to lose 80 pounds and get down to 170 lbs and maintain that for the rest of my life, enabling me to get off all my diabetic medications for good and live a normal life by starting a new way of life effective today. A life of proper eating combined with exercise such as long walks with the dogs. I can and will do this for my wife my children my grandchildren but most importantly ME. GOD willing, I will be here to watch my Grandchildren graduate.

So in closing, this turn in my life may end up being the best thing that has ever happened to me. As we have been taught. GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS, and things happen for a reason. I wish the best of New Years to all Mankind.

THOUGHTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST

I am sitting here at home thinking about Christmas and how it will be with none of my children or grandchildren here. I could sit here feeling sorry for myself but instead I like to think about all I have to be thankful for. I was thinking back when I was a child and how I didn't have a care in the world. My Mom and Dad did all the worrying. I now know how they felt when all there children left home. I miss my parents and hope they know that I think of them always and especially on holidays as they bring back such fantastic memories.

We will be having Christmas Dinner with friends as we have done in the past. Rick and Barbara are like family and we love spending time with them. So as you can see, Debbie and I will not be alone on christmas. My Christmas present will be having the opportunity to talk to my kids and grandkids. Skype and ooVoo are the next best thing to being there.

I want to take this time to wish all mankind a very Merry Christmas and A happy New Year. To hell with the morons who want to change our lives as we know them. They will never succeed as long as we hold strong to our values and beliefs. God Bless us all and to all a good night.

AS TIME PASSES

Well it has been about a month and a half since I had to have Kipper put down. It is still hard to think about and I still find myself having dreams of having him put to sleep. It is getting a little easier these past few weeks but I miss my friend. The only good thing of this whole ordeal is that he is suffering no longer. He was getting old and was in pain. That is all gone now. I just never realized how much I loved my dog and how much he touched my life and my heart. I guess that is what old people feel about their pets. Your pets become your new children and we treat them like kids. How silly old people get. I guess I am about as silly as you can get. Getting old isn't so bad but it sure hurts when you lose something you love.

SAD DAY IN MY LIFE

Well, I have not been on here for quite some time as so much has been going on but nothing really worthy of reporting. Well, that all changed on September 23rd. I got home that afternoon and had to make a delivery in town the next day. All was well until we got ready for bed. When I bent down to pet my oldest dog Kipper and give him a silly kiss (as all old people seem to resort to as they get older), when he bit me under the chin just a few inches from my throat. I knew what I had to do when I got home the next day. Well, after making my delivery, I went home to take him to the Vet. The Vet informed me she could not put him to sleep because he had bitten me. She said he had to go into quarantine for 10 days.

I have been having an extremely hard time with this even though I knew it was the right decision and something I had to do. I have small grandchildren just starting to walk. I could not have lived with myself if he ever bit one of my grandbabies and I had to look at a scar for the rest of my life with the knowledge that I could have prevented that if only I had made the right decision.

That has made me feel a little better as the days go by, but already I can only remember the good things Kipper brought to my life as we grew older together. I will miss him very much but I know he is better off and will never hurt anyone again. God bless you Kipper and may God watch over you in Doggie Heaven and I have your pictures on my sun visor in the BIG RED TRUCK. You will always be my Co-pilot as I travel these long and lonely roads and I will never pass a sign that says rest area 1 more mile without fond thoughts of the excitement you showed when I uttered those words to you. Farewell my friend. You are in good hands now and forever.

REFLECTIONS OF MY LIFE

    Wow. Where to start. I am sitting here in Omaha, NE, having just got my A/C fixed. Thank you Lord. Last night was a very miserable night, with the temperatures still in the 90's at 11pm and no a/c. They got it fixed first thing this morning and I am sitting here waiting out some bad storms before finishing my trip to Norfolk, NE. 125 miles up the road from Omaha. So much has been running through my mind as I listen to some great music. My whole life has been passing through my mind, from my childhood days with my parents, into the Navy, where I met my 1st wife Patricia. She was good for me as she demonstrated every attribute I did not want in a wife. That last 2 years 9 months and 21 days.  A very hard divorce. I went to Hawaii for 2 years of a 3 year tour. The Island started closing in on me and I asked to have my shore duty terminated and wanted to go back to sea, out of Norfolk, VA. Crazy you think? I think not. It was the best decision I ever made. I met this very special young lady shortly after arriving there. She was amazing. So young and vibrant. She made me feel great and added meaning to my life again. 10 short months later, I married this wonderful lady named Debbie. my life was forever changed. Only ten months into our marriage, the first of my 3 beautiful daughters was born, Mary, then came Theresa and following the rear, Rebecca. Wow, how wonderful my life has been. Me and 4 women in the house. I learned real early in my marriage to lift the seat or squat, so I just chose to Squat. It was much easier that way. Then I woke up and my babies were all grown and gone. Where did the years go. I know we had rough times, but I can't remember them hardly. Only the great times run through my head. Maybe that is God's way of helping us cope with life. Out with the bad and in with the good. Anyway you look at it, I have been blessed many times over. I have 2 wonderful son-in-laws, a wonderful future son-in-law. A beautiful grand daughter and a very handsome Grandson. What did I ever do to deserve such blessing. I must have done something right somewhere along the way.  I hope this will help let others look back at all the great moments in there lives and thank God for all the blessings in there life. We must also thank him for the trials he has put us through to make us better in the overall scheme of things. Have a wonderful day and may you all be as blessed as I have been. To all my family and friends, I love each and everyone of you. Have a great day.

GREAT DAY IN BLAND

     Today has been a wonderful day at work, with a mixture of rest and relaxation, built into the middle. It was nice being able to stop in Bland and visit with Allen for about 3 hours. We had lunch in the little town grill, followed by some picture taking of the garden and various other things that I thought I could send to Matthew and make him even a little more homesick. Mean of me, hugh? I then got to taste some fresh cooked mushrooms picked from the local woods. They were fantastic. At least I wasn't worried about being poisoned as they were picked by world renowned mushroom hunter, Allen, or should I say bland renowned. lol. I was convinced it was safe, after Allen broke out his national audubon book on North American Mushrooms, and showed me the mushrooms that we would be feasting on. They were quite tasty cooked in butter. Here it is 10 hours later and I am still alive, so I guess I am out of the woods. lol. It was a great day and it is always enjoyable when you can take a break from the normal routine and add some substance to your life. It made me miss Matthew, Becky and Wayne but somehow made me feel closer to them at the same time. Kind of weird hugh? I guess I will close for now with warm thoughts of another good day in my life. Every day I get older, I learn to appreciate each day much more. I feel that every day God sees fit for me to wake up is another good day.

My love to all and good night.

UPCOMING VACATION

     Hello everyone. It has been a while since I have posted because my life on the road is so boring. I just never seem to have anything new to say or talk about, but now I do have something to talk about. Our upcoming New England vacation. Come travel with us the Griswalls. Oops I mean Daly's. We will be embarking on an adventuresome week to New Hampshire. There will be 4 adults and 2 infants crammed into a Dodge Quadcab pickup. What are we getting ourselves into. It would normally take 2 ten hour driving days to get there but seeing we will have 3 women and 2 infants, it will most surreally  add 2 to 3 hours to each day with extra stops for bathroom breaks and diaper changes. I would rather stop then have to smell them dirty diapers. I am sure when we finally get to New Hampshire, we will all want to spend the rest of our vacation sleeping and resting up for the return drive home, which will be longer as we are taking a different route home to spend a couple days with the other grandparents of little Wayne who they have not seen yet. That will be nice.  I will at least learn on this trip weather or not I will ever want to cram that many people in one vehicle again. It will be fun, challenging and definitely a learning experience for all of us, if we survive and keep from killing each other. All kidding aside, I am very much looking forward to getting to spend quality time with my family. That is what is the most important thing to me. My family will always be the most important thing in my life. I love each and every one of them. It would just be complete if my eldest daughter was able to go with us, but then I would have to strap someone on the hood like a deer. Oh well, I have bored you all enough for one evening. Take care and I will send more later.