Life on the High Plains

My Dad and brother got out of Colorado just in time.  Winter finally arrived today with a fury.  The snow started coming down hard and fast around 2:00.  My boss told me to go home around 2:30, but I told him I would be okay.  Then he left to go home. I spent about an hour and a half on "garbage" hill because of a bad accident.  I should have listened to Brad and left earlier.  Mary and Mr. Beans had their own adventures on the way home.  I think it took them even longer to get home than it took me.  Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers who helped them get unstuck. Right now it's 13 degrees outside with a windchill of -4.  Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 11 degrees with a windchill down around -20.  The horses get to spend the next 24 hours locked in the barn with the goose.  They really don't appreciate that we're just trying to keep them safe.  Irv has to leave for work at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow.  Guess w...

The family has gone home, Jillian and Brian are back from Wisconsin, Santa has come and gone and the house is back to normal.  Now I have time to play with my new toy.  Santa was really good to me this year and brought me a Nikon D5000.  Tonight I sat down with the owner's manual and started discovering how to use it.  I have a lot to learn, not only the technical aspects, but the artistic part as well.  Maybe I need to take a photography class, or maybe Dana will teach me everything she's learning in her class.  First things first though...Irv and I are planning our 2011 vacation.  It will have to be somewhere that has opportunities for great photos.  Will it be Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, Disney World, or some other fun location?  We can't decide. The holidays didn't end so great for Jillian.  At work yesterday they told her that their business had slowed down and they couldn't afford to keep her anymore.  She was quite upset, but h...

Since we're all a bunch of Western movie fans, we decided to go see the new True Grit movie on Christmas Eve.  Anybody who knows me knows that my favorite movie of all time is True Grit with John Wayne, Kim Darby, and Glenn Campbell.  I must admit that I was a little skeptical when I heard they were re-making True Grit with Jeff Bridges in the role of Rooster Cogburn.  However, I was still excited to see the new version of the film. Well, I'm sorry to report that they should have left the movie alone.  It was so slow in the beginning that I actually dosed off for a few minutes.  The end of the movie was better, but it still didn't live up to the original.  Just to make sure my assessment was correct, when we got home from the theatre I made everyone sit down and watch the original movie so we could accurately compare the two.  Although Jeff Bridges did a good job, there is only one Rooster Cogburn and Mattie Ross.  I grew up in a small town in...

Bob missed his flight out of Tulsa this morning so he won't be here until this evening.  We picked up Mary at her office and took her out to lunch.  She took us to one of her favorite places in Colorado City--Meadow Muffins.  I had the avocado burger--avocado, green chili, sour cream, and pepper jack cheese.  Yum! Gramps and Mary had the Philly Steak sandwich which also looked pretty good. Irv had a plain old club sandwich. After lunch I took Gramps to Wal-Mart for a few items I still needed to get.  I can't think of anything more fun than Wal-Mart two days before Christmas.  It was crazy busy!  Then we came home and had our afternoon naps. Here are the official answers from Day 1: #1 (geography) - Where is the Abominable Snowman said to wander? The Himalayas #2 (entertainment) - What orchestra's theme song was Moonlight Serenade? The Glenn Miller Orchestra's #3 (history) - What's the U.S. Navy hymn? Anchors Aweigh #4 (arts & ...

I'm officially on Christmas vacation today!  Woohoo!  It was quite a day--started with freezing fog and a slippery drive to work.  The fog hung out all day which wasn't good for Dad since he was flying in this afternoon.  He was scheduled to arrive at 5:00, but was a couple hours late.  The weather isn't entirely to blame though, there was a small plane crash at our airport that closed a runway.  Two people were killed which is really sad.  So I decided not to post answers to yesterday's questions quite yet.  I'm going to give the Pink and Orange teams a little more time to respond.  I'm also hoping to pick up a Brown team -- Alan & Heather, Mom and Dad, Leslie & J.J., anybody? I've also decided to modify the rules a little which I'm allowed to do since I created the rules.  To win a pie piece you only have to get a majority of the answers correct--4 or more.  Does that sound fair?  This could take a month or m...

One of my favorite holiday traditions is game night on Christmas Eve.  We always have chili and cornbread for dinner followed by an evening of board games, mainly Trivial Pursuit.  Over the years we've seen Gramps come up with the most amazing answer ever (Kickapoo Joy Juice), Granny sitting in her recliner never really commiting to be on a team, but throwing out answers for anyone who needed them, and Bob with his brain that is a depository of facts and figures.  This year is going to be a little different because Irv will be working, Dana and Adam are in Australia, Jillian and Brian are in Wisconsin, and Mary hates trivial pursuit.  I'm not sure that Gramps, Bob, and Mr. Beans will want to play without everyone else.  Even though my girls are spread out across the world, there's no reason why we can't play a game of trivial pursuit via the internet.  Since it's almost Christmas Eve in Australia, it's time to get started. Here are the...

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that...