Holiday Hopes... :)

hmmm...
I'm sitting here post turkey day, still smarting over the bruises incurred on the holiday weekend so far... let's see, stood in line only to not get the item I wanted. Um, oh yeah, getting a ticket for not wearing my seat belt... grrrrr.... 65 bucks lighter, I'm still hacked but I know better, so my being ticked off isn't lasting long. Besides it could be worse. I read where some poor guy literally got trampled to death working at Wal-Mart. That's just wrong. That's not what the Christmas spirit is supposed to be. Of course most of what we do now is not associated with the origin of Christmas. But I'm not going to be derailed. I'm looking forward to the Christmas season. I don't get into all the 'stuff' that comes with the season till AFTER Thanksgiving. Now I know we all like to do things for others as part of the holiday spirit. To do things for others is both an honor and a great feeling inside. But what I want to know is this... was there ever a time when someone did something really nice for you? For no apparent reason, other than kindness? It doesn't necessarily have to be a down on your luck story, but I want to hear about circumstances where good people stepped up and without any benefit to themselves, did something to help you or a loved one out at a time you wouldn't have expected? I want to keep my hope for the holidays.

Food... Glorious Food...

I am looking outside and seeing the snow on the ground and the roads are slick with accidents all over the place... and I'm thinking two things:
One- I'm glad that I decided to put another set of tires on the car last week. I knew that the tread on the tires were getting kind of low. So I opted to go get that taken care of... so far, so good. I'm liking the way my car is gripping the road again... I'm a happy guy. And the second thought I'm having is- boy am I glad that I'm at home and not out in 25 degree weather. I didn't turn my heater on until last week because the weather had been pretty mild up until last week when the cold hit us good. My rule of thumb is not to turn on the heat in the house until November 1st. Well, it was mild out so I tried to see if I could go until December 1st but two nights sleeping in 30 degree weather told me that I was crazy. Not to mention frosty... so the heater was turned on and 20 minutes later I was curled up on the couch sawing logs... er, sleeping comfortably. I have been trying to stay the course and not veer too far out of my normal patterns. Just work, home, eat, talk to gal pal, occasionally do laundry, and then hit the sack. I should probably do more exercise and try to get into a little better shape, but I haven't had the time to do it... I know I need to make time... hopefully I'll get into the swing of things after the holidays. I don't even pretend to think that I'll be good for the holidays... I love food... I love to eat... Holidays = Food. Enough said. What do you love to eat most over Thanksgiving, besides turkey? Now I LOVE turkey. But besides the bird, I love stuffing and pumpkin roll with crème filling... ooohh how do I love food...

An Attitude of Gratitude

Hmmm... it's been the busiest time of my life these days. But the thing that I have found is that despite the work and insane schedule of juggling things around, I have discovered a spirit of peace and contentment that I haven't had in a LONNNNNG time... Lou got to go home from the nursing facility as she has two new leg prosthetics that she's working hard on trying to use. She's been on dialysis 3 days a week, but has been improving with her kidney function to the point that they're talking about reducing the amount of time she needs to be dialyzed. For this, I am grateful to the Lord. He is GOOD. Terri still has chemo every three weeks and gets her butt whipped when she does. But her guy came into town and is spending some time here. I haven't seen Terri this peaceful and relaxed for a long time. She has a look of happiness, after all these months that I've seen her go through misery and despair. She is now experiencing a little happiness. I am grateful to the Lord... He is GOOD. My wallet has been a source of derision and despair as I wanted more income. Trying to catch up on bills has been a chore, but I was a little frustrated. I have been working on promoting the Toledo Sports Radio website and have been praying hard for the alliance with a local TV station to become fruitful. My radio partner who has been given the charge of making this whole thing work told me that I would be the lead broadcaster for the high school playoff football games that they did if we could get enough sponsorships. Well, we got the go ahead for the games but each game that we have to do, I already have a commitment to broadcast Cherokee hockey online. So I couldn't do the football games on TV. And to make matters tougher, the football game this weekend is going to be shown statewide on cable. But y'know what? I'm okay with it. My ego doesn't need this for me to be happy. I genuinely was happy for the guy doing the game on TV because he's a good friend and fellow Christian. It's awesome how God works. When I was released by the other TV station, I figured that I'd just stay in the backround and off the air. But those of us that are now working for TSR, of the six of us, five of us are Christians. And we're going to be doing more sports on local TV this year with our new alliance with the other station. It's really wonderful. I've seen my income increase from my job. And in a true God moment, I was at church when our pastor was talking about giving and tithing. I gave double what I normally give because I have been on the road with hockey and missed a couple of weeks. So when I go on Monday and check my mail, I get an unexpected check from the city. I was not expecting anything from them at all. It was completely out of the blue. It was for over 6 times what I gave on Sunday to church. I am grateful to the Lord... He is GOOD... He isn't good because I got some things going my way or because I received a check. But because I want to work on being a better Christian and serve Him. I still screw up lots, but He's always there. And by the way, did I mention... HE IS GOOD!!!

Greet Me In St Louis

Hi y'all,
Right now, I'm down in St Louis getting ready to broadcast a couple of hockey games on Toledo Sports Radio this weekend. I haven't been by much lately and I apologize for that... I have been so stinking busy but I am going to try and stop by pay a visit to your blogs... Most of the stuff I've been tied up with is broadcast related. Trying to get some deals done with local stations and goofy stuff like that. But I needed to at least say hello and let you know that I'm alive and ticking. Terri is trying to hang in there still. Her boy toy is in town so she is all happy and stuff... Lou got her new prosthetic legs and is trying hard to learn how to walk on both of them. But she finally gets to go home next week sometime. So that's a huge blessing. Me, I got to spend a day and a half with the gal pal last weekend and it made all my frustrations and irritations from work and what not... all worthwhile. She always has that effect on me. So I'm doing not too bad. Well, I'll be in touch over the next week or so... Be sure to have a great weekend/ week and I'll post here again in a few more days.... thanks for understanding...