What a BABE

Just wanted to post this great shot of the incredible woman I am going to marry next week.
=)

Dog of War

My kids came over tonight to play and have a fantabulous dinner!
We got involved in a massive battle we call 10-on-10.
Your 10 army men are placed randomly at one end of the living room (on the floor) and your opponent does the same (on the other end of the room). Then it's simply a game of who can roll the designated ball and knock the other guys army men down first.
Well, tonight we chose a baseball for the 'roller'.. but my son also brought in a secret weapon....
... A DOG OF WAR!!!!
It was Cammie's little electronic doggie - it barked and slowly walked right over my army men!!!!
Not fair of course, but fun was had by all.

FINALLY SWITCHED

I was having trouble with my cell phone (Treo 700W) last year and since it was a legitimate issue - Verizon sent me a new phone to replace it.
Well... that was last year and early last year if I recall.. and I DID IT!
I finally switched my service over to the new phone!!!
All in about 10minutes at the local Verizon store.

It took me soooo long because, come on, ... whose got 10minutes to spare?!!

Jackpot

Ever thought you WON the Lottery of Life?
I HAVE!
I found a woman of incredible worth...
Beautiful
Kind
Joyful
Creative
Smart
Thoughtful
Caring
Loving
Organized
Faithful
Peaceful
Patient
Gentle
Lovely
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
.. and a Total Gift from God.
MY WONDERFUL FIANCEE... HEATHER.
And on the 26th of April... she will be my WIFE!!!

Thank you God.

Windy Ride

Heather and I hopped on the Harley and headed off for a beautiful ride.
The wind picked up when we were the farthest from home (figures) and was especially fun when we crossed over a couple high bridges!
But, wind or not - it's always good to get out on the road and hear/feel the rumble of the bike.

Keep Smilin'

No matter what life throws at you.. keep smiling.

SNOW??!!!!!

Wonder of wonders!!!!
IT'S SNOWING IN VIRGINIA!!!!
It rarely snows here in Portsmouth VA - so when it started - the kids got all excited and ran out to catch the first snowflakes on their tongues!!!!
A few hours later there was enough to make snowmen (small ones) and snowballs.
The kids kept coming in to warm up their frozen little hands.
It was great!!!

WARNING

For anyone looking for a good workout - our better yet - a REAL adventure... follow this link.
BUD/S WARNING ORDER
I had a great career in the US NAVY and offer this link to any headed down that path.
I found this link the other day while looking for the BURNOUT PT that we used to do in the TEAMS.
I guess when I realized that I haven't been working out very much lately (Holidays will do that)... I decided to get back into shape using some of my old strategies - KICKING MY OWN BUTT into shape.
If I find the exact workout routine - I will post it here.

Squirrel Obstacle Course

Check out this squirrel - willing to go thru an elaborate 'squirrel' obstacle course for a pile of nuts.

Kayaking in the Inner Coastal Waterway

Heather and I took our new Kayaks out for a spin.
It was great using the boats we just bought - especially since we had been talking about getting them for Christmas since June!!!
Anyway - it was great fun.
We had some wind there for a while and I even tried to go thru an area that was only 4 inches deep... bad idea. The kayak can handle 6 inches of water - but not 4.
Wish I had a picture of that.
Heather hadn't been in a kayak for quite some time and took right to the water like she was born to paddle.
Many adventures ahead - especially since there are TONS of waterways around here!

The Good Ol' Days

My little sister found this old picture of me from back in the 60's.
I used to wear my hair really long back then.
Tie-dyed T-shirts, bell-bottom pants and sandals... those were the days!

Biggest Snake in the World

This may not be the biggest snake on the planet, but it's the biggest one I have ever seen.
A friend sent me this picture: It's a snake on a ledge someplace in Australia, reaching down, trying to lift a full grown kangaroo out of the river.

All I can say is - I'm glad these things live in Australia!
(click on the image to see a larger version)

Beware of Idiots in the New Year - 2008

I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, "Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?" To which I replied, "If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?" He smiled knowingly and nodded, "That's why we ask."

Lord Help us All!!!!
Protect us from these crazy people that you have placed here.
Help us avoid them at all cost and may they somehow find their sweet way OUT of the gene pool.
Amen

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?

Lost in a SWAMP

A friend (Kurt) and I went Geocaching yesterday in a beautiful park here in Virginia.
Seashore State Park.

We found 8 or so caches back in the woods and all over the park - it was a perfect day.

Well, rather than go BACK to the parking area to begin a particular search (which is what the instructions told us to do) we started trecking in the park FROM one of the other caches.

We got deeper and deeper into the forest/swamp area and couldn't actually GET to the cache we were searching for because we were blocked by the swamp at every turn.
We walk on and on and things only got worse - and the sun was setting soon!

We decided to attempt to get back to a nearby road (we could hear the cars going by off in the distance)... but were blocked by swamp in that direction too.
Luckily we had our GPS units and followed the 'track-back' feature to get most of the way back - but found a fallen tree which we used as a bridge to make the final crossing to higher ground!

It was fun and we didn't even have to get our shoes wet - but it was certainly a better option than spending the night in the woods.

Ain't Geocahing fun?!
Check it out for yourself at www.geocaching.com!

Road Apples

Can't forget one of the most memorable times of my Christmas trip to Laurel Maryland Race Track.
I GOT TO SHOVEL HORSE SH*T!!!

You ever pee like a race-horse?
Well - try crapping like one sometime... I swear these race horses are all muscle so when they let the apples roll - they shoot out like bullets!

I had the wonderful opportunity to shovel a GIANT wheel barrel full of it and dump it in what all the stable hands call the SH*T SHED.

Piles and piles and piles of it. It was a veritable walk in crap house!
Fun was had by all!

Merry Christmas!!!

What a great Christmas!
I was invited to spend the Holiday in Maryland with a friend.
We spent Christmas Day at a nearby homeless shelter.
We cooked and served an amazingly HUGE Christmas meal for all who showed up.
Some of the guys that came over LIVED under a nearby BRIDGE!

It was a real eye-opener!
We are sooooo blessed and don't even live like it most of the time.

I also had the oportunity to go to the Laurel Racetrack - at 4AM.
We fed and watered the incredible race horses that my friend Lisa is in charge of.
They also need to be walked/galloped every single day so their muscles stay 'tuned'.
There were huge and solid - pent up energy like you wouldn't believe!

Anyway, here is a picture of my friend Lisa with one of the horses.

A Garage with room for a CAR?!

I know women wouldn't understand - It's a guy thing.
I actually pulled my car INTO my garage to change the oil!
It was great.
I haven't been able to do that for 10 years!
We typically cram our garages so full of STUFF that nothing else fits - let alone a CAR!
So there I was - IN THE GARAGE - changing the oil.

Goodness it felt great!
If all goes well - I will be disciplined and KEEP the garage that way!
We'll see!

Goodies

I never expected a small package on my porch this morning.
I never expected to cry when I opened it either.

The package was from my aunt and uncle in Louisiana.
They know all I am going thru with my divorce and they must also know how tough it is during the Holidays.
When I opened the box and saw all the goodies cooked for me, I was overcome with a deep sense of love and care.
These feelings are far in between and it just hit me.
So there I was holding a little box of home-made cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and ginger bread... crying.
It was a good kind of cry and I really felt loved.
Thank you soooooooo very much Dianne and Ken.
You are wonderful.
Mike
I love you.
You don't even know how much this helped.

Wheelchairs

I was returning to work from running errands at lunch and walked up behind a guy in a wheelchair.
He got to the front entrance door just before I did. With only slight difficulty, he opened the door for ME to go thru.

My brain suggested to my mouth to say "Oh no.. let me get it for you." But my heart quickly intervened and told my brain and my mouth to shut up and just let the guy open the door.

I mean, he probably gets only a few chances each year to do that - so I let him.
Not out of pity or some stupid self-righteous attitude... but simply respect.. just as I would for anyone else.

I said "Thank you very much." and walked on thru.
I caught the next door for him.

It all works out in the end.

Sometimes we just need to let people be people.

Joy to the World

Where do we find our Joy?
What does it take to bring us Joy?
Just what is contentment?

A friend of mine works in an orphanage in Russia.
It's cold there right now - very cold.
As Christmas draws neigh, He witnessed something pretty cool and I share it here:

He was watching a little boy pull a beaten-up empty box on a piece of twine behind him. For a second, he thought "how sad", but then he saw the true JOY on the boy's face as he ran and pulled that box bumping behind him. He said it was an incredible sight.

Some enjoy the beautiful wrapped packages, some the thoughtful gift inside, some the cardboard box.

Just attach a short piece of twine and pull.

Tacos

I cooked WAY too much last night.
I came home, made a quick decision of what to have for dinner and started cookin'.
TACOS!
One of my most favorite meals.
Well, I started frying the hamburger meat, tossed in the special seasonings.
Got the Refried Beans crankin'.
Put the Spanish Rice on to boil.
Cut up my misc - Cheese, Lettuce, Onions.
Got Guacamole.
Salsa.
And pulled out the shells...

I was so busy having fun cooking - I cooked nearly double what I could possibly eat.
I got on the phone with my sister and invited here over (she couldn't make it since she lives in Idaho), but it was a kind gesture.

I drank a cold beer and watched some DEAL/NO DEAL and enjoyed eating HALF of my meal.
Fun was had by all.
I need to fiture out how to cook for ONE!
:)

Christmas Lights

Well.. most of my lights are up.
I got up on a ladder last night and hung lights all across the front of the house including around the porch.
I underestimated how far the 'icicle' light strings would go and didn't have enough to finish the dormers (I'll do that tomorrow).

The wind started howling so I got off the roof before I fell off.
:)
I'm simply having a wonderful Christmast time!

Dinner is Served

I did it.
I cooked my first dinner in my new home.
Eating out and even a quick meal is NOTHING like pulling a Rachel Rea 30-minute meal!
I timed myself and did it exactly in 30 minutes - it was great.

The picture may be a little blurry, but what you are seeing is:

Lemon Spice Chicken
Sauteed Green Beans in Garlic and Butter
Onion Bun
Garden Salad with fresh chopped Scallions
Bass Ale

What a great dinner.

Tapas Style

There are more and more of these "Tapas-Style" restaurants cropping up - it's the newest craze in the downtown night bar/bistro scenes.

If you never have been - the basics is this: small individual portions of a meal - served (an paid for) separately. Eat your bread, them perhaps a vegetable, or maybe you jump straight to a meat dish - or better yet - sushi. Each plate is decorated (garnished) as if it where all you were going to eat.

Pretty fun - Oh, and there is usually a better beer selection than normal restaurants. Dark Imports are my particular poison.

All that to say this.. Kurt, Wanda and I had a great dinner at Empire Little Bar Bistro in Norfolk VA last night. Kurt paid and said "Merry Christmas". We owe him one!

Thanks Kurt.

Frosty Day

Got up this morining, had my espresso and looked out the window..

FROST

I even had to scrape my car windows!

Virginia is usually nice and warm even on Christmas. But it looks like winter is trying its best to arrive here on the East coast. One year it was 74 on Christmas Day! So you never know what is going to happen from year to year.

Cold has 2 settings (according to me):
GIRL COLD and BOY COLD
Whenever someone says "Dude, it's cold outside."
I alsways ask... "Boy cold or Girl cold?"
And then I just wait for their answer...

I love it.

First Night

Well... I spent my first night in my own home.
This was the first time I've ever spent a night in my own home that only I owned.
I had never purchased a place of my own before I went into the Navy - and got married from there. So now that I am divorced, (you see where this is going) I spent my first night in my own home.. alone.

IT STINKS!

Yet.. There are levels to stink you know:
(being alone stinks - starting over from scratch only stinks half way - uncertainty is fairly neutral smelling, but looking ahead to new adventures smells pretty good.)

My sister reminded me of a great song by Rufus Wainwright - "One Man Guy". I'm a one man guy - and that guy is ME.

I told her (my sister) about an incredible woman I recently met - and my sister suggested I play Rufus' other song - "Hallelujah"!

Sisters are great - they know just how to lift you up when you are down.