"Americans spend an average of 29 hours a week watching television--which means in a typical life span we devote 13 uninterrupted years to our TV sets! The biggest problem with mass media isn't low quality--its high quantity.  Cutting down just an houra a day would provide extra years of life --for music and family,  exercise and reading, conversation and coffee.     -- Michael Medved, radio talk show host.

 he is a sane man
 who can have tragedy in his heart
and comedy in his head.  

My brother-in-law just added linked my site to his.  It was a simple act on his part.  A few key strokes and it was done.  But for me, it was a huge thing.  Somebody actually linked their site to mine.  He validated what I had done.  It has reenergized me to share some of  my daily life by jotting done my thoughts here.  Thank you, Bob.

Last night my son and his girlfriend came over for dinner.  However, I had a twist in store for them.  I showed them how to make my father's special pork and pepper recipe, then forced them to do the work.  Life lessons are all around us, the challenge as a parent is to step back and allow our kids the opportunity to learn.  It is often much easier to do their laundry, to feed them, to comfort them, but in the end, the real challenge for us parents is to teach them.  Now the question is will they still come home for a dinner meal?

     My grandmother visited my family the past few days.  It was a wonderful experience for all of us.  On several different levels it was a powerful time of sharing. 

      It was the first time that my grandmother stayed with me.
      I have fond memories as a child of staying in my grandma's small two bedroom house and doing special things like playing yahtzee and going to Long John Silvers for lunch.  Ah to be young again.  
     So that is what I became this past Monday, young at heart.  But this time, I drove grandma to our Long John Silvers and my daughter got to share in that wonderful tradition from my childhood.  We all sat around the table and ate our meal and talked about the weather and what the new KFC/LJS building looked like on the inside.  Erin and I remember what the old KFC looked liked before a grease fire last fall, yuck.
    Second, at 87 my grandma has a no holds barred honesty about subjects and her reflections on her relationships with various extended family members.   And boy did I hear an earful about various people, and I openly laughed along with her and secretly reveled in her stories.  I got to know my grandma as an adult even more in the three days she stayed with us.   If I get the chance, I will add a few more stories.
    Wow....she is one neat lady.