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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

oh the shame

So I'm a little ashamed of my self. last night at our big fam Christmas party there was a boy just the same size as mark. they got to rough housing. the other boy started it. mark was trying to be good and not get into trouble for fighting. the other boy had no such restraint, putting mark at a disadvantage. mark finally decided to do some thing about it and the shoving mach started. mark got shoved down(to which i had a mental groan). mark kept hold of the kid by the caller of his shirt and threw him to the ground(to which i had a mental Cheer). mark started to get up when the kid caught him off balance making mark bang his head on the floor(concrete covered with thin carpet). that was the end of the altercation because mark was hurt. so i was ashamed for liking it when mark pulled the kid down with him but, I'm more ashamed because i was really hoping he would punch the kid in the face. actually what i am ashamed of is the fact that I'm not ashamed about any of it. i wanted mark to deck the kid. he earned it fair and square. i think he would have except he started the confrontation trying not to get in trouble. it sucks how trying to be good can some times put you at a disadvantage.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

face face face

who knew i still had a face under the hair. i know it sounds kinda weird but i kinda forget that i have a cleft in my chin some times. and my upper lip his huge. i shaved on a whim the other day and remembered why i like to keep a beard. shaving sucks. i would rather keep my legs shaved than my face. the dimple in my chin and lip are hard to shave. i could not hardly get all the whiskers off. and the spot right under my nose was almost impossible. I'm glad my wife prefers me with facial hair. she actually complains just a bit on the rare occasion i shave. and she makes fun of my "huge upper lip." it kind of scared me this past Sunday when a member of the bishopric stopped me and asked if i would come and speak to him about a new calling. i though, "oh great, its like they where waiting for me to shave so they could give me some new calling." (obviously they don't wait for you to shave to give you callings) i had visions of having to keep shaved for the next few years. but it wasn't one of those callings so, joy of joys i get to grow my beard back. we really should count our blessings. God works in mysterious ways. speaking of that. i feel very humbled and blessed that we where brought a care package from the church again this year. there was easily a few hundred dollars worth of food and other stuff they brought us. it means a lot, as Renae just got done paying the bills and we are very short of funds(not unusual). so here is me proclaiming my gratitude on the WWW for the blessings my fam has received.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Mighty Hunter Returns

So this past weekend was 2nd deer season. No one in my deer camp killed a deer first season. Most of us returned to try again. I shot the biggest thing out of every one there. That's right, you know I'm bad. No one does it like me, and i mean no one. hear is how it went down. we were helping the new guy in camp(never hunted before in his life). he killed 2 deer about 10 minutes apart sat. morning. so 2 of us went to help him. as we where guiding him through the proses of field dressing his first deer i looked up to see 2 deer running right at us through the field. i picked up his gun and as the deer ran past i shot....and missed. well a bit later we where dragging the first deer over to the truck. when we got to a fence we had to cross i look up and saw the most amazing thing. i had missed the fist deer as it ran past, BUT, i was lucky enough to hit what was 80 yards behind it. My friends truck. yes you herd me right, i shot his truck. i am such an idiot. he took it unbelievably well. you would not believe the jokes i had to endure the rest of the week end. I'm sure your thinking of some right now. on the good side though. the only damage was the hole in the hood. the slug did not touch any thing else, and the truck runs like nothing happened. i did tag and take a photo with my kill. i will post it for your enjoyment.

Monday, December 1, 2008

my date with another women

so this weekend was pretty fun. got to hang out with all the in law sibs and had a good time. friday night they(the sibs) all went out together and so liz and i where the baby sitters. once we got past the idea of "oh, a night alone with you" we asked, "what are we going to do?" it didn't take long to come to the rent movies decision. i looked at john and renae and said we will be back in 30 minuets. so we hopped in the truck an off we go. while we where at the movie place i ran into some one i know. more accurately, some one who knows renae. i said hi to her and she returned the greeting and took a serious look at liz. it only took a sec for her to come to the conclusion that she must be some family member but in that sec you could see her doing the mental math. this is far from the first time people have assumed liz and i where together. it always seems kind of funny to us when it happens. so we left with the movies and went home. we ended up feeding the kids and cleaning the kitchen up a little before the movie(it sucked). and just after we put the kids to bed in walk renae and john. and so we all stayed up and watched another movie(renae fell asleep). the next night trent, todd and suz came over and we watched the second movie again(renae fell asleep), so all in all it was a fun weekend. looking forward to x-mas already.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

tonnel vision

i love that on my last post, i spoke about my excitement for the upcoming hunt and put in one little line about twilight, and that mostly what you girls saw was about twilight. the hunt sucked by the way. but sense you dont seem to care about that i will tell you that i finished twilight last sunday. now lydia is reading it. well i think im going to be reading it to her. i went to the book store so i could procure the other three books only to find out that they are only available in hard back at this time and cost about $19 apiece. so now im at the mercy of the library. renae said the part about the guy showing up as her prom date wasnt in the movie. that a shame, i thought that was the funniest part of the whole book. i laughed out loud when i read it. please dont tell me other things that are screwed up with the movie, i will see it for my self.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

the long awated day has arived

I have been looking forward to today sense about february 1st. i leave to go to deer camp tonight. i will be gone until at least late saturday night, and prob not till sunday night. i killed the biggest deer in camp last year and hope to do so again this year. we really need the meat so i hope i get a couple big ones. i feel like a little kid with christmas coming. i really am geeking out. i stayed up late last night getting all my stuff set out and ready to go. i keep looking at the clock wanting the day to go by fast and it is because all the thing im busy with at work. the problem is that i still have a lot to get done and am running out of time. i was hoping to get out of here a little early but at this point i will settle for not late.

P.S. i started reading twilight today

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

one moore

this is the vid i was talking about. so like liz said, this is not one of those fake forward e-mails. it happens. i totally sympathise with the Tongan guys. not much would get me to go out and confront some one, but messing with one of my(obviously Gods) temples well that gets me fired up.
http://www.latimes.com/video/?slug=la-me-protest7-2008nov07-vid

Monday, November 10, 2008

thats it take my name off the rolls

see i thought we where into freedom of choice until i sew this. who knew we where such haters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q28UwAyzUkE
do you think the people who put this together actually talked to any one who belongs two the church?

Sunday, November 9, 2008

kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit

who knew a kid could look so happy holding the corps of a dead animal. he called it brer rabbit. we have been reading uncle remus stories at bed time lately.
lid was all about messing with the rabbit. she helped me skin it and every thing. she insisted on taking on of the back feet as a lucky rabbits foot. i did point out that it hadn't been to lucky for the rabbit. so my 10 year old girl knows how to prep a rabbit. do you? i am training my kids to be ready for armageddon.

and the title was a reference to bugs bunny. if you where a fan of bugs you shouldn't be able to keep your self from singing. its OK i did too.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

peace, love, and smoke dope

no. i have not been smoking dope as my blood shot eyes my imply. actually i have pink eye. what joy what fun. i had about 10 people ask "what on earth happened to your eyes?" and when i told them they would take the automatic step backwards. come to think of it, it was a little funny.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

modern technology

As I type this out I am sitting on the stand a stake conferance listening to the mission pres's wife give a talk at confrence. Crazy. One tbing I'm haveing trouble with though is that while I can connect to the www from my place up here in the choir, I acually need to go pee and can't do that from here.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

"I can't teach him. The boy has no patience."

I know this is the 4th time in a row ive talked about hunting but that is what this time of year is for me. i heard that my dad friend owns a 800 acre spread on the north side of .....im not telling you where it is, its my new spot, you cant have it(some of the best deer hunting land in the world). so i asked my dad to talk to him about me hunting there. that was last thursday. its been almost a whole week. i cant stand it. something i did not even know existed a week ago and now i am busting at the seems to know if i can use it. IT'S KILLING ME! i called my dad like 3 times yesterday and no news. i keep trying to have other excuses to call him so i can disguise what i really want. im as bad as a little kid. tell me now, tell me now, tell me now.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

it wasnt ment to be

i went to bed last night with the intention of getting up to go hunting. set my alarm and every thing. i use the alarm on my cell phone. the problem comes in where my company server sends me a email every morning that has my work schedule. it vibrates a couple times. for some reason it does it about 10-30 min before my alarm goes off. it wakes me up and i tell my self "oh, its just the e-mail." and i go back to sleep. well i herd the e-mail this morning but i set the alarm to week days only and for got to change that setting, so did not get up until the kids got up and turned the tv. oh well, i did not have time to be a successful hunter to day.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Male Bonding?

i think it was liz who made the comment "hurrah for male bonding!" in reference to my last blog. i could check but I'm to lazy and tired. well to night i got home from work and knew i needed to go install the water heater in my basement but thought "no, i want to go hunting." so i told lydia to get some camo on and we went to the woods. so after a while i catch a glimpse of a deer walking towards us. i tell lydia and she starts straining to see. about that time the deer stops 15 FEET in front of us. i had already drew my bow back as the deer came to us, so was ready when it stopped. i let fly and heard the tell tell SMACK of the arrow striking home. the dear ran right at us for about 5 feet and then veered off and ran away. i exhaled and lydia said "holy crap! that scared me." we waited a few min and got up to start looking. with in 20 feet we picked up the trail but lost it about 40 yards away. so i went home and got my dog. dogs are great. she picked up the trail and 10 min later i found my deer. once i got it home, lydia went to the hard ware store and helped me install the water heater. not exactly male bonding but a memory neither of us will ever forget.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

The Mighty Hunters

last night i took mark hunting with me. it was kind of funny. the jacket he had on was mine and so way to big. he ended up pulling it over his head and hunkered down inside the tiny tent it made for him. he also ended up playing the game on my cell phone. it was the only way i could get him to stay still. he did real good at first but 2.5 hours sitting still and quiet is a lot to ask of a 6 year old. i saw 5 deer and he saw 0. i would have shot one but my peep sight(a small thing you look through to narrow your field of vision) got turned around and i could not see right. oh well, had a good time with him any way.

Monday, October 6, 2008

well at least i tried

last night i offered to help renae clean the kitchen. i was washing the table and the counter tops and was going to do the floors but i have been having some trouble with arthritis so did not want to bend to do it. she asked if i would go ahead and sweep so i did. as i was finishing up i noticed these little red dots all over the floor. i had stepped on a piece of glass and did not know it. i was trailing blood across the room. so sense i could not bend down to clean it my self i left a whole new mess for renae. sorry. btw there is still a little chunk of glass embedded in the big toe on my left foot.

Friday, October 3, 2008

deep thoughts

uka eeka, onky shonky, eeka onka ooo. inky pinky ponky!

Monday, September 29, 2008

i can feel it in my bones

this, fall that is, is my favorite time of year. i love spring because every thing comes alive and the days start to get longer. i love summer because its warm and you can swim and just go and enjoy all the green stuff. i love winter because playing out side in the snow hold great memories from my child hood. but fall, fall is the absolute best. all the bugs start to die off. its the best camping weather. you can sit out by a fire and enjoy the evening. its hunting season. (that is one of my major reasons for liking fall). i know my parents did not know what they where doing when they named me, but my name suites me perfectly. Bruce is french and means, from the woods. Norman means, man of the north. so when put together i am "the man of the north woods." and you can ask my wife, that is me. the weather turns a little colder and the woods call to me. I'm not sure i am ever as happy or at least as much at peace as i am when i am in the woods hunting. i don't need to kill anything to feel this way. its always good to have a successful hunt but just being out there hiding, trying to BE part of nature is what it is all about for me. i know some people don't like the idea of hunting. they think it cruel and gross. i don't under stand them. i truly feel that there must be some thing wrong with them. i can tell you that there is some thing special about being part of the natural process. to truly be a hunter and to provide food for my fam. there is nothing quite like it. my heart beats a little faster right now just thinking about it. i involve my self more that most do to. i kill, field dress, skin, quarter, and do almost all of the butchering my self.(i don't have a grinder so cant make hamburger) but like i said, the kill is not the hole, or even most of the reason i hunt. i feel like i am part of nature when I'm out there. i feel very much at home. and fall is the time of year that you can really enjoy it. the beautiful colors, lest rain than spring, and great temperatures for being out there. i would encourage any one to go out in the woods(make shore its not shotgun season) in mid October at about 2:30 - 3:00 in the afternoon, find a big tree to sit down by, sit as quietly as you can until dark, and just watch what happens around you. nature is spectacular. and for me it is at its most brilliant in the fall.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

it helps

Don't you just love when some one does some thing dumb and it end up making you money. I got a call Friday that i would have to go to work on Saturday. The kicker was that i would have to drive 2.5 hours just to get to the job and would have to stop on the way there to lode some stuff into my truck. It all happened because our inept sails guy can't EVER seem to send the right equipment. so when i got to the job at about 12:30 - 12:40(they asked for me to get there at around 1:00) I can't find any one. I had to drive to the other side of the plant before i found them. they where not ready for me. they where doing other work that had the power to the building shut down and they still had to weld some peaces onto the thing i was supposed to work on, and all the workers where still at lunch. so i left to go hang out at the truck stop up the road, ate lunch at the subway and came back 2 hours latter. they where still not ready for me. so i went out to my truck and had a nap. finally at about 4:30 they where ready. i went in and did about 1.5 hours of work then packed up and left for home. got home at about 9:30. so i should not have had to go at all but ended up getting payed for 12 hours of overtime and only actually worked about 1.5 - 2 hours. some times dumb people are good.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

September 11th

i still haven't forgotten.
like every one says, i know where exactly where i was when i herd the news. i was in my truck driving to an odd job i had at the time and it was announced on the radio. i was close to my moms house so i went there and told her about it. we went strait to the family room to watch it all on her t.v. my heart still beats hard when i think of the video of the 2nd plane going into the tower. i still fight off tears when i think of the people who jumped to get away from the flames. i would take out vengeance my self on the evil ones who are responsible for this. i invite you to take a moment of silence right now to remember the Innocent that perished that day.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

cursing can be fun

now i know that i am not supposed to say curse words but some times...... well i know I'm not the only one. i herd our primary prez. drop a "S" bomb in the hallway at church the other day. but that is not the discussion i was thinking about. i am pretty sure we have had it already on some ones blog. what i was thinking of is movie quotes, or when you herd some one say some thing and think "you go a head. i may have said some thing like that my self."
i personally like in "the Temple of doom" when Indiana Jones is on the rope bridge and is surrounded by bad guys and simply says "S----!"
i mean what else is there to be said at that point.
another good example, i once saw a man working on his car. he had his young son with him. the kid was probably about 5 or 6. the man was trying to get the lug nuts loose on his car. they where not cooperating. he stood up and really put his weight into it. the lug nut broke loose suddenly and the man went forward and his hand went into the pavement breaking the skin loose from a few of his knuckles. he said "oh, ill be, that, you, well!" he held his breath for a moment looked at his son and then looked up at me. the look in his eyes said #$@^%$&*# @%#&#$!!!!!! the look in my eyes said back to him "i under stand." he then exhaled looked at his son and said in a very pleasant tone "wow, that hurt a lot. could you go get me a wet cloth to put on my hand please son?" and soon as his son was out of ear shot he let fly with one of the greatest strings of swear words that i have ever herd. for that moment when he held it in until his son was gone, he was my hero.

Friday, September 5, 2008

its not funny, not funny at all

take my in-laws....please. you see i have a problem with people who are completely sucked in by the left wing biased media we have in our country. here is what happened. my mother in law and i where haveing a perfictly nice discussion about Sara paylin(sp???). and she says "yes but she did stretch a few things." and i ask what those things where. to which she responded, "well she said that barrack had written 2 memoirs but had never written a law and that is just not true." i told her that as far as i knew it was true. "oh he has." she said. so i asked her for an example. she of coarse could not provide one but said, "i herd it on the radio." well i happen two know they listen to kmox and npr at their house. so i said i have not herd of anything he has done in the cenit. she then said, "oh, there have been several important things he has written." and stepped out of and shut the front door. so now i have to go out and find out if he has indeed written any legislation and what is was, important or not. the other thing that got to me is that they are in the "big oil sucks and should be prosecuted for their obscene prophets." crowd. OK, lets lay it down. exon Mobil made about 10-11 billion dollars in the second quarter this year. that is a lot of stinking money. but is it a "wind fall" prophet? we are talking about a 500 billion dollar company. they usually work on about a 7 - 10 % prophet margin. there are several companies that shoot for 40 - 60 %. and some retail places are higher than that. people get stuck on the amount. 11 billion. its a huge number. it works out to be about $1500 per second. what your not being told is that in the second quarter of this year they also payed 31 billion in taxes. that is almost $3000 a second and not to mention their operating cost which works out to be around $15,000 per second. so the government taxes them for making it(about 75% of what ever they took in over operating cost, look at your pay check and imagine how that would be), taxes the gas station for selling it, and then taxes us when we by it(right now i think its some where between 40 and 70 cents a gallon). so who is making the "wind fall" prophet. the government gets almost 8 times the income from oil than the oil companies do. not to mention the oil companies make a lot, and i mean a lot of people rich. my father(who is not rich but is better off than most) was able to retire at the age of 52 working at a refinery. there are many who did and do a lot better than he did. a huge section of oil company employs are part of the middle, upper middle, lower upper, and upper classes. i would never dream of saying that the big oil people are angles but they have provided the means of making our country move forward. you cannot always say that about our government, or the media. are gas prices high? you bet, but the price of crude oil is high to. and who's fault is that? i am tired of the government and the media treating us like we are all a bunch of simps. but there are enough people that take the media bate hook line and sinker, that they still feed us the crap and expect us to like it.

p.s. i promise my next post will be some thing a lot more fun. and sorry for all the spelling and grammar stuff.

Monday, August 25, 2008

i cant help it

i would like to apologise to....well the world in general. i can't seem to stop my self from getting into long political discussions. i feel all wrapped up in the situation. i have some strong misgivings about one of the candidates and i loathe the other. then there is the immigration issue, high gas prices, groceries cost going up, the Media sucking the way they do. and i think one of the reasons i get so.... what ever it is i get because i feel a bit helpless. i can't do any thing. i live in a stat that always goes for the dems so whether i try to vote them in or not, they are going to get it. and sense i am not rich or a minority nobody (nobody up on the hill) wants to know what i think. i think i get into these long talks is to try to see if I'm the only person who thinks the way i do. i want to know I'm not crazy(i talk to my self and i get an answer). i think a lot of us are looking for change, but what change are we looking for and how can we get it? i don't thing either of the people we have running are going to be a POSITIVE agent of change. i don't know any one that is happy with our government right now, but the same or at least the same type of people keep getting into office. we need to collectively get a clue or our country is in for some perilous times. i find great comfort in what our prophets have told us and some things they haven't said yet too. i guess all any of us can do is try to make a difference where we are with the people we have contact with.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Sorry Trent

sort of bad news for trent. he was feeling kind of bad because he was clearly the slowest person at cross country practice. not great for you ego when you are used to being the fastest person on your team. then he found out that once you begin you eligibility you have to use all 4 years of it up with in the next 5 years. so since he plans to serve a mission, he will be gone for 2 of the 5 years. he was already looking at this as a building year, but he would then leave and will not able to maintain the level of training he would need while he is gone. so when he comes back he would have to build again and then maybe have 1 year that he might be competitive. so he talked to his coach today and told her about leaving for a mission and that he did not want to start his eligibility now. so no college running for trent, at least for now. on the plus side he can run any race he want to and will be there for IVR. trent rocks and has now had to make one of his first real adult decisions. i know this will all work out for the best in the future, weather he gets to run on the collegiate level or not.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

justice bustice

i know renae already put a pic of this on her blog, but it was too much to pass up. this pic is a little blurry but you can really see how bad his face looks. poor kid. what is no fun is that there are signs at the doctors office that say "don't let your kids jump on trampolines!" and now we have to tell them we didn't listen to them or lie and tell them he fell down or some thing. but on the plus side for justice, he will get to eat a lot of ice cream and pudding for the next little bit.

Monday, August 18, 2008

its just cool

I love watching the Olympics. its cool. the records that are broken (Michel Phelps and Usain Bolt). all the neat stories(Dara Tores). every night i stay up to late and call trent on the phone to yell and scream. he is the only person i know of that shares my passion for the Olympics. i like that i am so rapped up in it that i get mad at the judging(gymnastics). the idea of the Olympics is cool to. we will put aside our political differences to see who is the best at this stuff. and the things these people can do is beyond belief. the way they have pushed the human limits and went through them is incredible(and some of them are pretty easy on the eyes too). i don't understand how some one could not love the Olympics(the fact that we kick but doesn't hurt either).

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

"By Grapthars hammer, we live to tell the tail!"

last Saturday was the annual Wood River Triathlon. i went ahead and did it even though the last time i did any training was last year. i have only rode my bike or ran a handful of times since last years race. and even though my time was nearly 20 minuets slower than last year, i am satisfied with my results. i finished, i didn't have a heart attack and, i never walked. my swim time was pretty good considering. i did the swim in under 9 min. my bike time was not to far off last year(i got a new, better bike), but my run was bad. i averaged around 10 mins flat per mile. but like i said. i finished and have now set a two year goal for the race. i plan(I've said that before) on being very fast in 2010. but you never can tell with me. i yo-yo so bad. it cant be healthy. but i love doing the races and am looking forward to IVR with the fam. here's to self torecher.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

crazy time

"No, there is too much, let me some up." It all started with the idea that Renae was going to have a baby at the end of last month. i have a specific list of things i have to get done during the month so i started early and got a bunch done but then there where some break downs that needed attending to. so i did not get every thing done at work until the last Friday of the month. then we packed up every body and dropped off the kids at the grandparents house then R and i went to hospital to have a baby. that was the thrilling event that it always is. she had clayton about 5:50 in the evening. the whole fam came to see the final addition and i made a decision and went on home when they where leaving. i took trent with me and went to bed. after the day of being in the hospital i got a little sleep, got up and lost my mind. trent and i had breakfast and then proceeded to destroy my kitchen. it took almost two hours just to get every thing out of the cabinets. then we took the cabinets out and into the basement. of coarse to do that i had to take the counter top off and disconnect the sink. i knew we where going to redo the floor so i had to rip up the old floor. the problem with that is that our old ugly linoleum floor was glued fast to some under sheathing which was stapled(with the staples about 3 inches apart all the way across the floor, fun to try to get off) down, with another layer of old ugly linoleum, which was glued down to a layer of vinyl tile (which had been there for at least 60 years). the people i had expected to show up to help did not so most of the day it was just me and trent. it took way longer than it should have to get off. we got some help from a guy down the street and that made a dif but it was too little to late. the next day i had to go to the hospital to check on renae, she was experiencing complications from the epidural (they had hit a nerve and released some spinal fluid, sounds like fun). i got back home and my dad and trent had gotten enough of the floor off that we could begin building the walls. i have to build sub wall on all the exterior wall of the house because the way our house was built there is no way to insulate except to build a sub wall and put some in. so by now, renae and the baby are ready to come home and home is not ready for them. so we lived at the in laws house. and now i have built walls, done some of the mud and taping, put in cabinets, cut and installed counter tops, cut a hole and put in a sink, put in the plumbing for the sink, redid bunch of plumbing(an old valve broke in the basement and was running water into the floor), installed a dish washer(converted it from a roll around to an in cabinet), framed in windows, done the trim work on one of the windows, and started tiling the wall. we still have a bunch to do but its coming to gather and is going to look really good(regardless of the fact that i have done all this work with other ammeters). i have had to go to work for my employer too. its been very busy there too because the plant went on a maintenance shut down for a week and a lot needed to be maintained, now we have started a new installation project that i am having to design and build myself. if it had not been for the help of friends and fam (big props to trent an my dad here, although the in law parents have been helping out a lot too, especially with baby sitting early on), i could not have gotten nearly as far as i have at this point. i plan to post some pics when i get done. so with the new baby, the kitchen, my job being a little nut right now and trying to work out and loose some weight life has been a bit crazy. whew! im tired just thinking about it all. ill go and take a Sunday afternoon nap now.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

do you remember me

sorry i haven't been here for a while. I've been crazy busy. i try to get back soon and let you in on some of the stuff that has been going on.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

why does it have to hurt

as many of you know, we have a lot of projects going on around the house. last night was the roof on the garage. it is about 11 squares. i had to go get the shingles. unload them. then i packed them all onto the roof. each pack is about 100 pounds. so up and down the latter 33 times with 100 pounds on my shoulder. then we moved them into a better place and started putting them on. lots of work. i have two friends over to help, so we got allot done. we had to get a lantern out because it got dark. we finally came down at bout 9:30. all of us dirty, tired and i was hungry(ended up going to taco bell). we did not quite finish though. still have about 1 square to go. ill have to do that tonight by my self. the problem though, is that this morning.... the word ouch comes to mind. i took a bit to process the fact that i was in pain. i slept through my alarm. renae had to wake me up. when i got up i knew i was in trouble. my feet felt like they where on fire, my back popped no less than 5 times as i sat up and my shoulder feels like its broken. not to mention several abrasions all over. but hey, at least my garage roof looks good.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

my turn

having read lizes poem the other day i remembered one i did a while back. now i have never tried to be a poet but, one day an idea for one popped into my head. i have no expectation of quality on this, its just a short little diddy i put down. i know some wont like it because it rhymes. i know, how boring, a poem that rhymes. but, for what its worth, i think you will see some truth in it(at least the line about me talking to much) and i like it so there.


Now I write upon this pad
Words of wisdom from your dad

I will tell you all I may
So you need to listen to the words I say

I hear you gasp and see you roll your eyes
You say I talk too much and this you despise

I have a lot of things going on in my head
But I may keep it to my self instead

I might learn to hold my tongue as you say I should
But someday you may decide my talk was good

My words that were then tedious and so much ado
In the future may seem very important to you

When that day comes if I no longer live
I have still this advice to give

Of all the knowledge that I may have had to impart
I’ll say what I believe with all my heart

It is good to be strong enough to fight
To face the foe will all your might

But when life troubles their ugly face have shone
It is much harder if you must go it alone

Those who have been truly blessed know this to be true
Life is much sweeter with a good woman next to you

So when troubled times start to draw near
Try never to cower in fear

And if the trials of life have you floored
Stand next to your wife with faith in the Lord

Monday, June 9, 2008

i win!

ok. let me fill you all in on some thing. my wife rocks. all you men out there, i don't care who your wife is, mine is better. case in point. the other day i hurried home to try to get the grass cut be for it rained. i was using the big mower in the back yard when i looked up to see my almost 8.5 month prego wife out doing the trim work with the small mower. it was like 90 outside and the humidity was way up, but there she was helping me beet the rain. she tries so very hard to be good. she is a great example to me. i usually have dinner fixed for me. i have only washed laundry maybe 3 or 4 times in the 14 years we have been married. she doesn't complain too often about my spending habits. she claims to like bigger me(some thing she only did after i got fat), she makes beautiful babies. and she is hot. so say what you will about yours, mine is better, and nothing you say will convince me otherwise. I'm going to stop now and go spend some time with her. so bye.

Friday, June 6, 2008

uhhhhh... no!

After reading Dania's recent blog i decided to tell this story. apparently women not only get hit on by jerks, they get propositioned for prostitution allot to. well i have been propositioned in the other direction on a couple of occasions. it all happened one day(i love stories that start that way), when i was going to college. my class was going to go on a tour of a manufacturing plant. one of my friends from class lived right down the road from the school. the school was not in a very good section of town. i drove to his house so he could ride with me as he had no car. when i got to his house he was already gone. he had decided to meet me at the school. so i turned around and headed back. when i stooped at an intersection my passenger door suddenly opened and a woman hopped into my truck. taken slightly aback i asked her "can i help you?" "yeah take me up this way." i figured she really needed a ride(no pun intended) and thought i looked like some one she could trust. after going up a couple blocks she asked "what do you wanna do?" i told her "i need to go to school." "you didn't want nothing." "no, just on my way to school." "dang, i was hoping to make some money." at this point i chortled a little and said "sorry, i only got about a 1/4 tank of gas and $3, so i really can't help." she looked at me like i was trying to play her. when she realized i really "didn't want to do any thing" she turned and looked out the window, and immediately jumped out when i stooped at the next intersection with out a further word to me. when i told my friend about it, he laughed real hard. he had me describe her. he recognized her and even told me her name. apparently she is well known in the area for "wanting to make some money."

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

I get the message

A couple times recently at the Tae Kwon Do school i attend i have been reminded of the fact that i am a large person. example #1. I went to judge some people testing the other day. the head instructor called all the black belts to gather for a conference before it started. At one point he told the group "Now when we get to self defence, i want you all to switch in and out a lot. we have some big guys testing today. both Levi and Mark go about 210." then he looks at me and says, "well they are big to us normal people." then the other night i went to demo practice. the instructor way giving out assignments for every one on self defence. when he got to me he paused for a sec and said "i think we will just have you be a fall guy(the person every body get to smack around and generally abuse), your so big it would just look like you where picking on every body." so basically i get to go get beat up by several people, and hold boards for breaking(take the chance of getting my fingers kicked). i will git to have one bit of fun though. i get to be a chucker(nun-chucks) during the weapons section of the demo. but only because every body loves to watch nun-chucks and I'm the only person at the school who can do it well. other wise it would have been "why does that big guy need a weapon, what a jerk." just because i look like i could break you in half does not mean...... well maybe he has a point.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

not how i intended to start may day

i told you all about how my life is a bit on the crazy side right now. all the projects(there are many) 4 kids and a prego wife, its hard to get a chance to breath sometimes. i, for some reason thought it would be a good idea to add one more thing to the list and be part of the show my martial arts school is putting on this Saturday. because renae should be delivering late this month and i will be taking a week of work i need to get way ahead so who ever takes my place for that week wont screw any thing up. but despite all this, i try to be a good dad and hang out with my kids. last night we set up the tent in the back yard and slept out side. problem one, the zippers for the doors are broken, so you cant close it properly. problem two, a thunder storm rolled in at about 4:50 this morning. i forgot to mention, no rain fly on the tent. so i had to get all the kids up and into the house, go back out and find a tarp to try to keep as much water out as possible. i then went back into the house and figured i would try to get a little more rest before going to work. next thing i know my cell phone is ringing. "hello, this is Bruce." "hey man, this is Jason,(Jason is my boss) I'm up in your office and it looks great. you did a good job cleaning it out" "your in my office? what time is it?" "8:05, where are you at?" "hold on ill be there in about 20 min!" like i said not what i had in mind for the start of my day. fortunately, my boss know i get all my work done and will make up the time, so he was pretty cool about the whole thing.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

just too cool

I know we all figure things out in our own ways. i joined the church several years ago. it was a good time. i should tell the whole story some time. any way. i have had my testimony built in many different ways, but i think this was pretty cool because other people(my daughter) got to grow from it to. we have made a tradition to have a family night and a round of fathers blessings the night before school starts(we also do one before each new child is born). i don't remember much about the blessings this year except for one line from lydias. the blessing said that she "would begin to excel at school this year." when i pronounced this blessing it made me kind of nerves because i did not want lydia to be disappointed or disillusioned with blessings and the power of the priesthood. you see lydia has had to work very hard for mediocre grades up to this point, with no signs of real improvement. she has been known to spend hours studying for her weekly spelling test to end up with a poor grade any way. her teachers always say what a joy she is to have in class, how hard a worker she is. but the grades were never there. though she never said so, i could tell this bothered her. she is very bright but always seemed to have some sort of block when it came to schooling. so now back to the blessing. i remember pointing out to her after the blessing was done, "wow, lid, sounds like your going to get some good grades this year." but in the back of my mind thinking "crap, this could go bad." of course part of the problem is that i worry about my worthiness, and if i am pronouncing the lords blessing and not just my own thoughts. well, i am happy to tell that lydia just got her fourth quarter report card and she made high honor roll(honor roll for first three quarters). one B+ and the rest A's. she even got an A in spelling. her teacher gave her the most improved student award. when i spoke to her(the teacher) this morning she said she had seen a remarkable change in lydias ability to chatch on and get through her work, like some thing finally clicked. i know this was not just my desires for my daughter to do well. i could not have known she would make such a dramatic turn around. it truly was the lord blessing her. John and i where talking about this recently and he said some thing like this, "when i occasionally wander if the church is true, i come back to a solid wall of evidence. blessings are real!" to that i say amen. blessing are real. and i, through the priesthood have had the opportunity to pass them to my family. that is a very humbling thought. i must keep my self worthy so i can be the conduit for blessings from heavenly father to others. its just to cool to pass up. crap i have rambled on. any way blessings rock, and i and my daughter(I'm sure others around me do too) know it. by the way, on the national(terranova) tests, ross was ranked in the 97% and mark was in the 98% in the country. so they rock too.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

and now you will be punished

the other night my cousin called me. now you have to remember that he has problems. drinking, smoking, and a variety of other drug issues. he said "hey man i want to get back in shape. lets go running." i asked "tonight? its 9:15pm and im not home yet." "yeah, why not?" "ok, meet me at my house. we will go." so he shows up in skater shoes. so i got him some old running shoes of mine. past their prime but still o.k. we stretch and go out side. i decided to take him on a about 1.5 mile flat coarse run. we walk out to the street and he says "hold on a sec." at which point he runs over to his truck and gets out a...dun dun daaaaaa!!! you guessed it. a cigarette. he lights up and says lets go. like i said i WAS going to take the flat course. instead we turned right and went on the "holy crap this sucks" course. he made almost a quarter mile before he had to walk the first time. of the two mile "run" we ran maybe 1 mile. on the home stretch he said something about me being better about distance. so we did a small sprint and yep i beat him. i was going to be nice and take the easy trail but the sig flipped a switch inside, and i said to my self "ok fat boy, time to teach this kid (he is 25) a lesson. he was hacking up a lung when we finished, so i told him "smoke another one, maybe that will make you feel better." every body starts where they are at, but don't light up while we go running.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

I can't be the only one

I have been freakishly busy lately. It just never seems to stop. I have made a weekend trip to Johns house to help get his house ready so he can move. I have been over to the Walls house to help clear the jungle behind there new house. My actual job has been absolutely nuts lately. For example, when I left last Friday I made a list of to do things for Monday. It had fifteen different items on it and I still had to do all of my normal Monday activities on top of my list. I have sold almost $3K in the last 4 working days, so at least my boss is happy about something. I have started checking out schooling. John is moving this weekend. The Walls will be moving some time soon. I have cabinets that need to be refinished and installed(hopefully before the baby comes). My garage need a new roof. And my grass needs to be cut again(i just cut it Monday. all the rain and the fertilizer the guy next door put on is making it grow like crazy). I haven't finished planting my garden. Any thing else? I know I forgot some thing. What is the old saying, "to many irons and not enough fire."

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

it realy is a good story

I have a pretty cool story to tell, but sense it involves certain topics i cannot Post it. if you want to know your just going to have to ask me. but it is a good story(to bad its true). it started last Friday and is not over yet.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

yep, im smarter than you

while at work today, i got a call from one of the bosses. i met him at a peice of equipment that has been giving them trouble. i was originally told by that same boss not to touch anything but the scale that is inside. once there i saw two men working and the boss asked me if i knew who they where. i said "no, but i have a pretty good idea." they where from one of my companies competitors. they were there working on a machine that they had designed and delivered several years ago. i started talking to them and telling them what i thought might be wrong. i soon figured out that neither of the two working to get the scale working where scale techs. after a moment i told the boss, "maybe i shouldn't tell them how to fix their own machine." before i had talked to them they had been scratching their heads for some time with no answers. then just as i was leaving i heard them telling the boss what they where going to try next. both of their new ideas where something i had told them about. what was good was that i had already told the boss on the side what i had in mind, and that i had told them about it. soooo, they looked, in my opinion, like a couple of dorks. what is great is that they will have to pay for these two "service" techs to have come out to figure out what was wrong, and i was the one who told them where to look, and they know it. its fun being right.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

and so it begins.....again

I went to my parents house yesterday and worked with my dad to get my new bike ready to ride. I am going to go on a 20 mile ride tonight with my race team(team godzilla). So I once again begin the process of loosing weight. I am at 251 today and plan on trying to drop 30 pounds by August the 9th. Please, I am begging all of you to not let me stop working out after the wood river try is over. I would like to be down to 205 or at least under 210 by this time next year and never go over 215 for the rest of my life. So the weight loss train is leaving the station, who's going with me. Take no prisoners. Kill em all!, let God sort them out.

Friday, April 18, 2008

i didn't want to do it.

i do not normally want to get political on my blog, but... i was listening to the radio and some body called in and was talking about how we (us right wingers) were making barrak guilty by association, and that some one cannot be guilty by association. that is not true. even in a court of law you can be an accessory after the fact, because you knew someone and that they had done some thing that was wrong and did nothing about it. if only a couple of his inner circle supporters were wack jobs i could go along with the idea that he is not also a wack job. but if you live in an insane asylum there is probably a reason. there is a long and growing list of people barrak has called; advisers, guides, mentor, friend, supporter, associate, etc. who are not uniters,or even nice people as barrak proclames himself to be. at some point we have to start wandering why he surrounds himself with these people. think about it, how many of your close friends don't share a good portion of your value system. and if they don't, under what circumstance do you know them. my cousin for example. into drugs and drinking and piercings and tattoos, but i like him a lot. why do i let him come around me? because he is family. beyond that most of my friends are members of the same church i go to. beyond that my friends have many of the same values i do and where we don't agree they most often know about it. if a man's friends(not to mention his wife) are nothing but raciests, terrorists, or hate our country in general what does that tell us about how well he chooses who to be around. the two options i see are that he is either naive(not a good quality for president), or that he has the same values as the people he hangs around(once again in this case, not a good quality or qualities for president). i know some say this is all political rhetoric and we need to stick to the issues but for me, a man's(i know women can be president too) value system is an issue. (BTW, i don't like Hillary either). i would like to apologise (especially to temp, because it bothers her most) for my gross spelling and grammatical errors.

Monday, April 14, 2008

i don't know why, i just do

it all started the other day. i had gotten out of my truck and went into a store. after making the rounds and purchasing some things i left said establishment. probably in there about 45 minuets. when i opened the door of my truck to leave, i smelled farts. weird hu. at first i could not believe the boldness of the stranger who took it on their self to get in and leave a fart in my truck, but then i realized that it was my own fart i was smelling. i had passed the a fore mentioned gas shortly after leaving my home. it didn't seem so bad at the time, but it must have been trapped under me in the cushion of my seat and it stayed in there the whole time i was in the store. i would like to say that this is the first time this has happened to me but it was not. i had fun with one the other day at a store. i saw a man alone i a isle. i knew his wife would be joining him soon so i made as if to shop near him. when she turned the corner of the isle we where in i let fly and then meandered a way. i then herd them blaming each other for who had made the atrocious aroma. at one point i herd her say "you know that had to be you, it doesn't even smell like a girl fart." so now i have a whole new set of questions. i mean i know and have known for many many years that girls fart but, is there a difference in a boy fart and a girl fart? i think i should send this question into myth busters. or maybe some of you could enlighten me and the rest of us on this topic.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Please Forgive Me for Breaking In!

Hello folks, this is Renae, Bruce's wife. I know it's a terrible break in protocol to break into his blog like this, but I'm trying to get the word out, and I didn't feel like waiting for him to get around to posting this.

I am starting again to give piano lessons. I am looking for around 10 students. We could really use the extra income, so any help in spreading the word would be greatly appreciated. I have an Associates Degree in Music Education, with piano as my major instrument. I can teach beginning, intermediate, and semi-advanced piano.

I'm assuming that if you live in our area, you probably already know how to get ahold of us. So, if you, or anyone you know is interested, please call.

Again, please forgive the horrible intrusion! I promise never to do so again! (Unless I really need to).

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Story time. I'll start.

Once upon a time, there was a man who wanted to go on a grand adventure with his beautiful wife. He had in secret been saving money for this trip for many years. then one day he quit he job and told his wife they where going. she asked him "what about money? how will we pay for all this?" When she asked him this, he proudly opened a large suit case stuffed with money. In a some what apprehensive tone she ask "where did you get all that? you didn't do any thing wrong did you?" To which he responded..........

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

yes you can.

now i just got done complaining about being fat, so now i will talk about doing something about it. the wood river triathlon is a great event. you can do it. it consists of a 1/4 mile swim(in a pool, you can put your feet down and not drown), followed by a 12 mile bike ride(flat course so not to hard)followed by a 4 mile run(same course as the bike). Most people who don't do any thing like this are worried about the run. just start small and work your way up. i just started running again and i started with a mile and a half. that is farther than i would start some one new at. at first just try to jog for 3-5 minutes without stopping, then walk at a brisk pace for a while after that. ride about 5 miles the first couple times out and start working your way up to about 12-15 miles. really not hard if you pace your self. don't worry how fast you are. speed will come in time. your just need to sign up. pay the money($40), and your committed. the reason that is important is that now you have a specific goal to achieve by a specific time. goals are very important. even if your not even close to being able to doing it now, if your start now and keep working you will be able to do it. it's not easy but you have no one to beat but your self(they stagger the start, no one knows what your time is until the race is over). there is a strong sense of achievement when you finish. don't think you can't. you can. i will help you. i actually know how to get in shape(yes i still know round is a shape), and prepare for a race. i'm no professional, but have asked a lot of question a figured some thing out over the years. what you will find, i think, is that once you grow accustomed to exercising, you will miss it when you don't and wander why you didn't start sooner.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!

in my personal journal my weight is mentioned pretty often. i try not to talk about in on here because it would drive you guys completely insane after a while. so i will do this entry and try to not mention it very often other wise. so hold on its kind of a bumpy ride. the way i look right now drive me crazy. i don't mind being a large person. partly because I'm good at it. i think the reason for that is that i was ALWAYS the smallest boy in my classes at school. i was a complete dork. i know I'm still a dork but I'm a different kind of dork now. but anyway, i was always small. i got picked on. that is one big reason i started doing Tae Kwon Do(martial arts). i worked hard and got pretty good. i was good enough that i placed in the top 4 eight different times at state level competition and went on and competed at the national level 6 times. the only reason i tell you this for a conversation about weight is that i was an athlete. a pretty high level athlete. and now, well i still a pretty good athlete but i can not do what i want because I'm big and fat. you also have to remember i graduated high school weighing 148 pounds. when i got married i was 168. today i sit before you at 245. renae and other people (mainly renae)have tried to assure me that i don't look like what most almost 6 foot 245 pounders. Very kind of you to say so, but i have a mirror. i can see the stretch marks on my round belly. i see all the fat pictures of my self. here is where we get to the dumbness. two years ago i got in ok shape(yes i know round is a perfectly good shape)and went and did the wood river triathlon. my wonderful brother john had not perfectly honest with me about how hard he was working out, and he beat me quite badly. so i had done a fair amount of work, lost some weight. but then i just stopped and gained it all back(plus some). so last year, i decided i was done with not being in good shape. i worked like a dog last year. i started the year at 253 pound and got down to 219. still a large person but in good shape. i had taken my turn at not telling john how hard i was working and crushed any time i had ever come close too, taking 2nd in my age bracket. not an easy feat for a big guy. i was very proud of what i had done(but pride goeth before the fall). then i just stopped. i put most of my weight back on, and have had to start from scratch working out. i ran a mile and a half last night(not very far for people who run) and it hurt. and the whole time i just kept telling my self, DUMB DUMB DUMB! i will brag a bit at this point. i could be very fast. i think if i continued to work at it i think i could be, well lets just say very fast. i am fast, for my size, but i want to take the qualification off, and never be fat again. to do all the work i have done and to let it go away is just stupid. sorry for running(no pun intended) on like this but it bugs me. i want john(the only other big guy i know that can keep up with me) to move back and live close to me so we can be work out partners. we would crush all comers, except each other(i think). so i would like to be done with this rediculus weight roller coaster. i need to get off and keep my self off.













John and me at twenty years old and 165 lbs
















33, 253; don't miss the man in the mirror

Monday, March 17, 2008

almost like i remember

i went to a karate tournament this past weekend. haven't been to one in over 13 years. it was allot of fun. i did not compete but i did get an opportunity to judge. that is where some of the fun happened. First off they did forms or Kata(a pattern of movements kind of like a dace). after relearning the judging process that was kind of neat. i did find it humerus though when one of the kids dads came question the scores and where his son was placed. as 4th through 7th place all had the same score we had to use a tie break system. the score keepers had got it wrong, his son was 6th not 7th. we corrected the error and he still didn't get a trophy. then during fighting, a instructor that was standing behind me(i was a corner judge) got mad when i did not give a point to his student(an advanced rank student). the kid had pretty much inadvertently hit the other in the head. he asked me in a huffy tone "You know you saw his hand make contact, why didn't you give him the point?" at which point i turned around and said "if you can name the technique he used i will gladly give him the point." he stomped off and looked quite disgruntled. not exactly the reaction i was expecting. but i had forgotten that i have changed in the years sense i had been to a tournament. i am no longer a skinny teen aged black belt. the last time i went to a tournament i would have been about 18 or 19 and would have weighed about 165 pounds. now I'm 34 and go about 245. i guess I'm a bit more imposing a figure than i used to be. i would like to compete again soon, but i am going to need to find some decent sparing partners. don't want to get my face caved in.

Monday, March 10, 2008

step 1


yesterday, ross got baptized. it was a wonderful experience. i could tell from the time we left for church he was jazzed up. when church was over and i found him and we went and changed into jumpsuits. on our way back i had renae take a pic of us. when it was just him and me he said with the thrill that only children seem to be able to produce, "Dad, I'm so excited. i can't believe I'm finally getting baptized." it was great. it was a strong spirit filled meeting for me and I'm sure most every one felt it to. My parents came. for those of you that don't know, my parents do not belong to the same church i do, and are not fond of the idea that i am. i truly have great parents. they support there family as much as they can and they knew ross wanted them there. i got to give ross a blessing too. once again, very cool. ross has so much potential and i hope this experience will help him unlock the courage inside him self to go and do what he is capable of. a funny thing though. ross was welcomed into the primary by the primary president. she gave him a small pin that had a sword and shield on it. when she was done telling ross that it represented the whole armor of Christ she sat down, at which point ross turned to the crowed and said, "look every body, now i can go battle and kill a tiny mouse!" that's my ross for ya. great experience. i recommend it to every one.

Friday, March 7, 2008

he said what?

are you guys aware of the little game renae and john play with each other? they will pick a lyric from a song and see if the other can figure it out. more often than not i think they cheat and use one of the lyric web sites that are out there. so renae left one to day for john and, when she looked it up to make sure she had the wording exactly right we could not find the song we looking for because we thought they(the band in question) where singing completely different words. kind of funny. i know i have had it happen to me before. singing along and some one who knows the correct wording laughing at me and then corrects me. (i do this with movie quotes all the time to.) i remember renae thinking def leopard was saying "get your ROCK SALT, get your ROCK SALT Honey." of course it was actually ROCKS OFF, not ROCK SALT. i wander how many songs we have the words completely screwed up. on another note. i felt much better today. my back that is. my chiropractor told me i had sprained my lower back. although i had some very ouchy moments, most of the day was relatively pain free. i was in such a good mood i was even walking around singing(probably the wrong words). that is one nice thing about working in a factory that is very loud. i can sing all i want and no one can hear me. i just look like an idiot though I'm sure.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

V is for _____________?

Thursday April 3rd.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Ain't this just grand.

so here i am in my office. it's 6:10 p.m. I'm blogging and getting paid overtime to do it. why you ask? well i was going to leave at the normal time(around 4:00 to 4:30ish), got into my truck and started to drive away. i then said to my self, self your truck doesn't feel rite. it must be because your driving through 8 inches of snow, but then i got to a plowed section and thought, now must be the new pot holes that have opened up recently. but then i got to a smooth section of pavement and realized some thing is wrong. stooped, got out looked and saw that my back tire was flat. was not happy about that. but then i closed my door and could now see that my front tire is flat also(may have said a swear word at this point). called my boss to let him know what is going on. then called the maintenance company our company uses and am now waiting for a tow truck to arrive. so I'm missing the snow ball fight going on at my house that my wife called me to tell me about, but at least I'm being paid to do it.

Monday, March 3, 2008

thanks now i realy feel like crap.

i know many of you don't work outside the home. being a stay at home wife/mom is a very tough job that i do not want and only occasionally think i could actually do well. some others of you have crappy bosses you have to deal with. been there done that. well my current boss is not so bad, we even do thing away from work together on occasion. but to day i got my annual review. i don't know how many of you have been through one of these. not really a whole lot of fun. while this years went pretty well, i still get perturbed by some of the results i get. for example,(this one ticks me off every year) dependability. the comment that i got in writing from my boss said this,"Bruce, you have been one of the most dependable employees in the our office over the past year. i do not recall of one instance when protocol was not followed when calling off for a sick day or asking for a vacation/personal day." that sounds great right. well to toot my own horn here just a little. not once in the years i have worked for my current employer have i taken all the time off i have had coming to me, not once. in fact i have banked(did not use and can now only be used for extended leave) no less than 13 sick days in 4 years. on a scale of 1(worst) to 5(best) i got a 4. now i know a 4 is pretty good, but when i asked what i would have to do to get a 5, they asked me "can you walk on water?" just kind of irksome. i was even given a lesser score for not achieving my goals set for me last year because i did not go to corporate headquarters and go to training. take a wild guess who sets the training schedule and sends you to headquarters. this all would not really be that big of a deal except that my raise is based on that average score of my review. i will say at this point that my wife is doing a great job and should keep up the good work. there is no fair way to score what a wife/mother does every day. wow that was a longer post than i meant it to be. i guess it does get under my skin a little.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Was that realy a question?

So Renae was having a bit of a crazy morning. first off justice had vomit fest 2008 last night and she was up till about 2a.m. dealing with that(before you ask i was asleep and did not know). then the kids would not get going this morning. every body was running late. then ross reminded her he wanted to have his birthday party(over a week late) so she went and made invitations on the computer to send with him to school today. I'm in the kitchen getting food for lydia getting ross and mark to brush their teeth, drying lydias hair and(this is where the question that wasn't really a question was asked) renae comes in looks at the clock, looks back to me and asks "do you care if i just drive the kids to school today?" what do you think i said? your right i said "heck no! get those kids to the bus on time or else your going to get it!" well actually i said "oh of course dear what ever makes you happy!" well....maybe i wasn't quite that nice either, but like i said you could tell buy the way she asked it wasn't really a question. so now I'm setting here holding a sick two year old in one hand and typing this out with the other. i should probably go get ready for work seeing as i am running behind already.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

It's Happened to you Too

I just found a small peice of bacon stuck to the trim work over a window in my living room. How did it get there? It's one of the world's greatest mysteries.

can i be done with this please

well I'm just going to say it. pain sucks. now i think i have a pretty high tolerance to pain, but 5 days of back pain is just a little extreme. i told you all i hurt my back Saturday morning. sense then it has been a continual proses of getting better and then doing something small, like sit in a chair too long, and then i hurt real bad for a wile. i have to walk stooped and twisted slightly to the right(to the right makes sense, i am a conservative). i have not missed any work, well i have went to work every day but, i have avoided any lifting. which is kind of hard sense i check scales for a living and have to put 50 pound weights on all the bigger scales i check. i have not went to my chiropractor yet because that would cost $25, and she will probably want to see me more that one time. oh my boss called and said we were getting new furniture delivered for our office and that i would need to lode it take it to the office and unload it. so i get to move furniture with my back like this. any way, life goes on with or without pain. i need to get better soon too because we have tae kwon do class tomorrow night. like i said, pain sucks!

Monday, February 25, 2008

You should probably know better

O.k. any time you weigh 240 and are going to do something that involves the words tornado and kick you should probably, no you should definitely stretch and warm up first. otherwise you will walk around looking like Quasimodo's brother for the next couple of days. just thought you should know. you see its like this. once upon a time i was actually pretty good at tae kwon do(kind of martial arts). i qualified and went to national level competition 6 times. i could do amazing thing. BUT! i was 18ish and only about 165 pounds(ill show you some pictures some day). so some things have changed over the years. i cant do the splits any more is one of them. cant touch my toes either. but lets not lament the past. i am still OK and can hit a heavy bag harder than any one i know. i just need to stretch first.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Can you hear me now?

O.K. So I'm not to sure this is such a good idea, but I'm going to try my hand at this blogging thing. I hope I don't have to fight Renae for computer time and the good stories. I will go ahead and apologise to every one who chances to reed this that I am a horrible speller and not great on grammar or punctuation. I don't have any thing else to say today, I am mostly just trying to get this thing set up. So happy snooping into my life and mind. I hope I am able to entertain and maybe even provoke some subsitive thought on occasion. Any way I hope to be yet another stop on your daily surfing experience. Have a good day.