2008 is HERE!!!!!

Happy New Year Everyone!
A new year brings new adventure and possibilities!
I received a resolution-o-matic ecard from my big sister in Idaho.
Posted (the picture above) are the electronic results!!!
I sure hope I can keep them all!

iPod Touch - Amazing Gift

Oh my Gosh!!!
What an incredible gift to ME!
Got a Christmas bonus and decided to use it on an iPod Touch.
It turned out to be one of the most absolute funnest toys I've ever purchased for myself.
I am checking/sending email, surfing the web, checking the weather, reading my daily bible scripture, learning German, watching Nature Channel podcasts, etc... all in bed or on the couch or in the kitchen!
Too cool.
Here's a link if you wanna see the iPod for yourself.

Happy Birthday Jesus

What if Jesus threw a birthday party.. and noone showed up?
Check out this video at YouTube.

Merry Christmas!!!

Howdy Friends and Family,
Merry Christmas to and to all Continuous Good Times!

KurtF and I went Geocaching today and found 16 caches in Northwest River Park.
The weather was fantastic. Chilly but sunny.
We ate lunch on the trail way back in the woods (far from the car) and had loads of fun.
Upon arrival back at my place we cooked up some Hotdogs on the grill, some baked beans, chips and drank some good Christmas beer.

Fun was had by all... OK.. both.
Heather had to work today and KurtF's fiance still lives in New Mexico.
So... it was a true bachelor Christmas.

Blessings to all.
Hope you have a Great New Year 2008!!!

Me

It's been a while since you have seen ME!
So here I am.
Just wanted to say HI to all.
Love ya,
Miker the Biker

Gingerbread Seahorse

Kids came over the other day and we made Gingerbread Cookies.
There were all sorts of shapes and sizes.
Men, Women, Stockings, Snowmen, Candycanes, etc.
I made this nifty Gingerbread Seahorse.
Too fun.
The recipe was Heather's sister's recipe... the best gingerbread cookies we've ever had. They stay all soft and gooey for a long time.
The crunchy hard ones are not all that great - so we didn't make that kind.
Anyway - Blessings to all and I hope your Gingerbread Cookies are all gooey and yummy.

Giant Squirrel Spotten in Virginia

Howdy all... This monster squirrel was climbing around in my backyard.
It nearly ATE my whole oak tree and dug up my entire garden to bury the nuts.
So a buddy and I (pictured above) shot it.
We're gunna cook it up with a side of potatoes and gravy for Christmas.
There is going to be enough meat left over for the local homeless shelter to serve during the Holidays.
Hope you are all having as much fun as we are!
Continuous Good Times!!!

Gingerbread Homes

Kids are over and we just finished making these coolo gingerbread homes.
We used to make them with home-made icing and graham crackers - but these were a kit we found at Walmart!!!!
Too cool.
Fun was had by all.
Can't wait until we eat them in a couple weeks!
(be sure to watch for those photos!)
=)

Turkey Day Pinata

What a great Turkey Day!
My kids and I took the weekend and made this pinata and are going to smash it open this afternoon!!!
It is made of papermache/balloons/construction paper/cardboard!
Totally easy and fun for all!

sydney's sketch

This is a quick sketch that I drew out of memory.

The Dude

I am Connor and this is the dude that i drew.

Caterpillar Sketch

My kids have been sketching lately and I am going to post these sketches here...
I drew this little critter to get my sketching back into swing.
This caterpillar was outside my bedroom window...

Little Rabbits

Some tiny little rabbits were born in a den in my backyard.
There is an area behind my garage that we all call the cemetery.. it used to be a garden, but now only has two concrete blocks sitting up-ended. I did that for fun and never took them down.

My kids came over and I told them about the rabbits.
They all ran to check them out.. and the little rabbits did NOT budge.
They hugged the ground and didn't even blink.

It was fun and the kids got to pet some wild animals - too cool.
Here is a sketch of the little rabbits I did when we got back into the house.

Eagle

The other day the kids were over and we found a small bird in the driveway.
I don't even know the type of bird it was - If I had to guess, it was a Meadow Lark.

Anyway, it was just sitting there and didn't try to fly when we approached.
I held out my finger and it hopped on... like a tamed bird at the petshop.
Weird.
It apparently had flown into the side of the house (don't know why) or the fence.. but it was clearly dazed.

My kids pet it and had a great time seeing this wild bird up close and personal.
Then it had a seizure.
It was one of those 'grand maul' total seizures.
When it ended.. the bird sat there for another minute or two and then died.
Right in my kids hands.
Sad

We took it back to the back yard and laid it at the foot of the concrete block - in what we call the cemetery. Appropriate I guess..

My youngest daughter was quite sad. She cried a little bit until I explained to her a bit about life.
I told my kids that every time an animal dies - God makes another one somewhere else on the planet. So as little 'Eagle', the name they had given the bird, passes away... somewhere out there a little tiny bird chipped it's way out of an egg.

They like the idea and we went back to playing.
:)

Self Pity

I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.

Did I fall off the Planet?

When life throws you a serious curve ball... sometimes it hits you hard enough to knock you down. I have been doing my best to keep standing and I have my days.
Up for a while - doing great and getting back into the swing of things.
Down for a while - mucking thru the whoa-is-me... it's not just self pity.. it's true depression.

Life Stinks sometimes.
Life is Great sometimes.

I am a christian man and I still can't figure out how God is getting anything good out of this whole pile of crap. I have feelings like He made a bad decision. He crushed JOB in the Bible to prove a point - that His servant JOB would serve Him no matter what... but life still STUNK for JOB.

I still serve God and still believe He is in charge of all things and is still totally powerful.
But life still STINKS for me...

nuff said.
for now.

SMALL

You ever feel really small in the big scheme of things?

This little critter is small.

We on the other hand - are only as small as we think we are.

Time to think big.

Time to live.

5-Mile Run

Time to commit to running again this year.

I admit I have slacked and not run nearly as much as I should have – but yesterday was a great start. A friend of mine went on a 5-mile run around an incredible park yesterday.

Mariners Museum in Newport News Virginia

We both ran for our high-schools back years ago and have run tons since, but he has really kept up where I have slacked – and it really showed up yesterday.

Sheesh.

I was dogging along, but made the full 5 miles. His encouragement was to simply run more often – even a mile or two twice a week and a longer run on the weekends. I’ve decided to give it a shot.

What do I have to lose?

Like everything else in my life right now – there is only one way to go, and that is up.

Good luck to all of you who have decided to ‘kick it up a notch’ this year.

I Wonder Where The Lions Are

"Got any openings?" a man asked the circus manager.
"I need a new assistant tamer," he said.
Just then, the head tamer ran into the lion cage flashing him an eyeful of her spandex bodysuit.
The big cat slunk to the ground, licked her ankles and rested his head at her feet.
"Can you do that?" the manager asked the man.
"Sure," he said, "Just get that lion out of the way!"

Happy New Year

2006 is OVER!!!
Did that go by FAST or what?!
Much happened for all of us.
Some good - some wretched.
I hope we all learned a lot.
I figure there is only one way to go from here - UP.
Blessings to all my dear friends.
Keep the Faith and keep following God as he leads in this great Adventure.
-------
Here are some Headlines from the news in 2006.
Perhaps 2007 will be better!
-------

Crack Found on Governor's Daughter
Imagine that!

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
No, really?

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
Now that's taking things a bit far!

Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?
Whaaat??

Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
What a guy!

Miners Refuse toWork after Death
No-good-for-nothing' lazy bastards!

Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
See if that works any better than a fair trial!

War Dims Hope for Peace
I can see where it might have that effect!

If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
You think?!

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Who would have thought!

Enfield ( London ) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
They may be on to something!

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?!

Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
He probably IS the battery charge

New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
Weren't they fat enough?!

Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
That's what he gets for eating those beans!

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Taste like chicken?

Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Chainsaw Massacre all over again!

Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
Boy, are they tall!

And the winner is....

Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Did I read that right?