Lee's Monograph

God is Good! You just have to have patience.

2011-02-07T15:08:00.000-08:00

After what has been an unusual 2010 year, things appear to be working out , and without a doubt, with God's blessing!

My son just recently was hired for the job that he coveted the most. Without going into all the details, let me explain that the job he lost was in Kansas. He and my d.i.l. decided to take it as an omen at the time, and move back here to Texas. Until now, he has done a host of things - all part time or temporary from substitute teaching to monitoring gas flow at a pipeline monitoring station. At least with them now living closer to us, my wife and I have been able to lend a hand.

Since they hadn't yet sold their home in Kansas, the burden still has to be most unsettling. But, I'm so happy for them. God has been good.

Yep, and since leaving the hospital a few months ago, my health has improved considerably. And, now the Super Bowl is OVER!!!! Let me explain that a bit. I live in Arlington, TX which just happens to be where the super bowl was played. You can't possibly imagine how that has inconvienced or displaced many of the residents of Arlington. Many streets blocked off causing major rerouting , security everywhere! But, in spite of everything (including a few blunders) the cheese-heads WON! See there? I told you God is good!

Now, the major obstacle that we have to hurdle is helping our grandson (the one that lives with us) decide how to make the most impressive impact on his girlfriend when he asks her to attend the Senior prom with him. Actually, it was her mother that has come up with best idea. She suggested that, since it is supposed to snow (AGAIN) this Wednesday morning, that he write it in the snow out front of their house. I told him that sounded like a wonderful idea, but to remember this is Texas - you better have a back-up plan just in case.

Yes we have had a lot of snow, ice , sleet, and below freezing temperatures - with more coming. But since that is a bit of a rarity here, everything just shuts down. No school, no governmental office open. One just waits a few days, and , it, too, will pass!

You all stay warm.
L e e

My Year Book

2011-01-05T17:01:00.001-08:00

A few years ago I came across this “My Year Book”. I don’t remember how or by what means that I got it but I was so taken by it that I have kept a copy of it in my files more for me to pull it out occasionally to remind me to be a better person.

Although I did do a ‘search’ for the author, I was never able to learn of the person that actually wrote it, and to allow full credit as is well deserved.

So, here it is in it’s entirety (I think). Enjoy.

My Year Book

The Master gave a ‘book” to me,

With pages pure and white;

And then He said, “Most carefully

Upon it you must write.

No blot shall mar a single page

Of such a volume fair;

Each word you write will always stay

Forever entered there.

For 12 brief months the “book” was mine.

And then He came once more;

To give a new one all unsoiled,

As He had done before.

He took the “book” away from me,

Although I begged of Him

For just a moment more of time -

I’d fill it to the brim.

With effort to correct a page,

To cancel each bad spot;

But opportunity was gone,

Old years cannot be bought,

A New Year lies before me now,

Its pages clean and white;

“Dear Lord”, I cry, “Oh, take my hand

and guide me as I write.”

To each and all, have a blessed and happy New year!

Lee

The Granddaughters

2010-12-23T20:22:00.001-08:00

Every couple of years Gramma and I take our granddaughters for pictures. The Penny’s photo studio does such a good job and it doesn’t end up busting our Christmas budget. The girls are all cousins – not sisters, so this gives the three of them time together and just do something fun. Their ages run from six to eleven but they get along so well you would think they were closer in age. And then to top off the day, we stopped at our favorite Mexican restaurant on our way home.

It was such a fun outing for us as well as them. I can almost bet they will remember these times long after we’re gone.

Sometime after the first of the year we plan to get the grandsons together for a photo session. But, since there are six of them ranging in age from seven to nineteen – and boys being boys, we know we’re going to have to have a little help from the parents! But, hey, they just might surprise us!!!

To all, do have a very Merry Christmas!

A Little Christmas Humor - CHRISMUKKAH

2010-12-22T10:17:00.000-08:00

I clipped the following from our church bulletin recently. I don't think it will offend anyone but if it does, please accept my apologies. It's only intended to bring a smile to you.

Continuing the current trend of large-scale mergers and acquisitions, it was announced today at a press conference that Christmas and Hanukkah will merge. An industry source said that the deal had been in the works for about 1300 years.

While details were not available at press time, it is believed that the overhead of having twelve days of Christmas and eight days of Hanukkah was becoming prohibitive for both sides. By combining forces, we're told, the world will be able to enjoy consistently high-quality service during the 15 Days of Chrismukkah, as the new holiday is being called.

Massive layoffs are expected, with lords a-leaping and maids a-milking being the hardest hit. As part of the conditions of the agreement, the letters on the dreydl, currently in Hebrew, will be replaced by Latin, thus becoming unintelligible to a wider audience.

    Also, instead of translating to "A great miracle happened there," the message on the dreydl will be the more generic "Miraculous stuff happens." In exchange, it is believed that Jews will be allowed to use Santa Claus and his vast merchandising resources for buying and delivering their gifts.

One of the sticking points holding up the agreement for at least 300 years was the question of whether Jewish children could leave milk and cookies for Santa even after having eaten meat for dinner. A breakthrough came last year, when Oreos were finally declared to be Kosher. All sides appeared happy about this.

    A spokesman for Christmas, Inc., declined to say whether a takeover of Kwanzaa might not be in the works as well. He merely pointed out that , were it not for the independent existence of Kwanzaa, the merger between Christmas and Chanuka might indeed be seen as an unfair cornering of the holiday market. Fortunately for all concerned, he said, Kwanzaa will help to maintain the competitive balance. He then closed the press conference by leading all present in a rousing rendition of "Oy Vey, All Ye Faithful."

But it remains - Jesus is still the reason for the season.

                             Merry Christmas All

Reflections

2010-09-02T13:40:00.001-07:00

by N. Lee
To me, music has always been very important when raising children. I think all children should be exposed to it from early on. Oh, not so much the rigorous routine of daily music lessons as it is to just sing the children's songs and nursery rhymes. And then later, some of the old standards as well as church hymns and even later the current pop songs. I think music is culturally as important as teaching right from wrong, or any socialization skills. My offspring grew up with that. And now my grandchildren do also. A parent or grandparent learns to recognize a lot of the kids' behavior patterns just from their audible sounds. If it is a happy sound, then they probably aren't getting into trouble. If it has a kind of nervous or cautious sound to it, they are in to something! No sound? You better go looking for them quickly! Or the one sound that I learned to recognize early on was that of a little girl that was afraid. Hopefully, for nothing more than being in the dark. Many little girls, and only little girls, sing. And you can always tell they are afraid just from that slight quavering tone. That sound is embedded in my mind. As a parent who has raised a girl (and two boys, and now grandkids), I have learned to recognize those sounds, and the emotions from each and all those sounds. The happy sounds are so rewarding!
There is nothing I enjoy more than hearing one of them in the shower or bath just singing as if the whole world was their audience. Or a daughter (granddaughter) singing while doing any of numerous things to occupy themselves. That has to be the one thing I have really enjoyed as a parent, or grandparent. Hearing that child singing. It really touches my heart. I think one has to be a parent (grandparent) to know in your heart that that is one of life's most enjoyable sounds. You know beyond a doubt that that child is happy. You know - that you have done something right, and that God is blessing you!

Sometimes Grandkids leave me Speechless!

2010-04-14T18:11:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been out of touch with blogging lately. After finally getting my taxes filed before the dreaded moment (Apr. 15), and getting my lawn and flower gardens headed in the right direction, I came up a little short on time. Speaking of taxes, we - my wife and I - had to file a twenty eight page return this year! Whatever happened to the 'conserve paper' effort a few years ago? I mean, like, I'm retired, and my wife is nearly, and, yes we have a few retirement investments, but a twenty eight page return???? (Ok, I guess I need to get off my soapbox!)

That almost made me forget what I was going to write about!

Actually what I was going to write about was really about my grandkids. Well, four of them anyway. (I have ten). One of my sons and his wife have four really great kids ranging in age from five to fourteen. The oldest is a boy, then a ten year old girl, then two more boys.

My daughter-in-law is pretty amazing - always thinking ahead, always doing some of the neatest things for not just their family, but us as well. Recently she completed the "Love-Dare" sequence of events. I'm not at all familiar with it so may not be describing it properly. And I don't know if the following was a part of that book or not, I just know that at about the same time she asked each of their four kids if, in the event of some catastrophe "who would they want to go live with". She told me that in each case and without hesitation they wanted to come live with me (Papa)!!! I have to admit that I really was at a loss for words. I'm very humbled. Including the oldest boy even after I've had to back him against a wall a rip him a "new one" letting him know he should leave his 'attitude' outside before coming into my house!

Well, I do love and enjoy each and every one of them, but have to admit that at my age I also relish a little solitude occasionally! LOL

What a Beautiful Weekend!

2010-03-14T20:28:00.001-07:00

What a beautiful and memorable weekend we just had.

The company that our daughter-in-law works for owns a large working ranch that is just forty-five minutes southwest of Fort Worth and since no one is actually living at the ranch headquarters (but elsewhere on the property) the company president decided to make the headquarters available to their employees as a sort of “perk”.

Since the headquarters had more than ample facilities our daughter-in-law reserved the entire property, and invited all of her family as well as our family for a fantastic ‘kick-back’ weekend!

The fishing in their own private lake was great (catch & release) and my son swears he caught the same six pound bass several times.

They don’t provide any horses for riding pleasure, but one can bring his/her own to utilize their facilities for whatever entertainment they choose. One afternoon a group of ladies were putting their horses through a coordinated rodeo drill exercise.

Anyway, it was so relaxing, and the kids thought they were in heaven! And we sure enjoyed the peace and quiet. (Did I say quiet??? The coyotes were singing every night – but actually it was kinda relaxing!)

This picture that I’m adding shows about half the buildings at the ranch headquarters.

To Be 6 Again . . . .

2010-03-03T14:43:00.000-08:00

(Laugh of the day)

. . . Or maybe this should be titled "All For the Love of a Good Woman".

To Be 6 Again . . .

A man was sitting on the edge of the bed watching his wife, who was looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off he asked what she'd like to have for her birthday.

'I'd like to be six again', she replied, still looking in the mirror.

On the morning of her birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms, and then took her to S-- Flags theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Roller Coaster, everything there was.

Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down. He then took her to a Mc D-----'s where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate shake.

Then it was off to a movie, buttered popcorn, a soda pop, and her favorite candy, M&M's. What a fabulous adventure!

Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted.

He leaned over his wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, 'Well Dear, what was it like being six again?'

Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed. Very quietly she said 'I meant my dress size!'

I think the moral of the story is: Even when a man is listening, he is still going to get it wrong!

A New Beginning (or maybe ending)

2010-03-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

Wow! Have I ever had some disenchanting results trying to establish a new social blog. Oh, not from 'Blogspot' or 'Blogger' however they prefer to be known. So far, they have been my salvation! But I tried a couple of other social networking sites - some with disastrous results, and some I just didn't like the format.

I wanted to leave the one that I had used for nearly eight years (I'm sure it's not too hard to figure out which one) simply because it was headed a direction different than what I wanted to go. That, and their constant changes - especially to my email address book pertaining to who was "in kind" and who was just a friend, and who was on IM list, etc. My God, there were names showing up in my address book and I had no idea who they were! Anyway, a while back and without realizing it, I had lost interest, and am only now starting to get it back.

So, this is a 'New Beginning' for me. I know I'll have to learn how to do some things differently than I had in the past, but, hey, I like a good challenge.

O.K., so, I'm not sure how the 'comments' (etc) work in here, but I truly appreciate any and all. And if you have a website, leave me a link to it. I'd really like to come visit you too.

Thanks so much!
Lee