Totally Lost

This was an extraordinary day at work. I know you're not going to believe this, because Jim did not when I came home for lunch. I learned how to crochet at work today...now I know it's not in my job description. But Mr. G has been so accommodating lately, I almost could not believe this. Joye came to Mansfield with him today to attend an early morning meeting. And they came in one vehicle so she was going to be with us for the day. She brought a book, and of course the back computer is always available, but she also brought a bedspread she is crocheting for one of her grandsons. She started crocheting in my office and said it relaxed her...I told her I wanted to learn how to crochet one day. Well she just started explaining it, I said maybe one day when she had time, she kept explaining, she would not take no for an answer...I said I didn't think Mr. G would appreciate me learning how to crochet on empire time. She would NOT take no for an answer. Finally, after she explained it....she pulled out an extra skein of yarn (gray) she had and got behind me and showed me (numerous times) how to do a simple crochet. I said I wanted to make an afghan.

She said, "What color?" I said creme or ecru. She went to Wal-Mart, bought me crochet needles and a couple of skeins of yarn on Mr. G's orders. While she was at Wal-Mart, Mr. G told me to keep working on the crocheting (gray potholder, ha, ha) and I relaxed some. Even after they came back from Rotary at lunch, she brought more yarn and got me started on my afghan. I actually spent the whole day crocheting. Thank you Joye, thank you Mr. G. Now we're going to make him the messenger if I get into trouble. He will be the afghan carrier if I mess up...Joye will fix my screw ups and send them back to me. I love my new hobby!

On to LOST! Am I in a time warp? I know the finale was a long time ago but I guess I don't remember the part about Jack and Kate in the future. Maybe I went for a drink of water at that time. But the running commentary on the bottom tonight ALMOST DROVE ME CRAZY. I could not read fast enough and still look at the screen. It was almost as if they wanted us to miss some things. And if tomorrow's two (2) hour premier has a running commentary at the bottom, I'm going to need Cliff Notes for this season. Please someone email me what I cannot get at susanruffin@bellsouth.net!!!!! I'm 53 and I REFUSE to be left behind because of my age. I need to join a Lost study group. Or perhaps an interpretation symposium.

Ruffinism for the day: Sawyer: "With all the food I've got lying around, I could open a Convenience Store-- Hey, d'ya think Sayid's busy?"

Weekend Warrior

My son Clif, down in Baton Rouge at LSU with all of our money, called to tell me how tired he was today after calculus. He only has one class on MWF for an hour and a half. (Oh I want to be a fly on the wall when this child gets his first adult full-time job.) He does not know tired. I worked all weekend before this last and then I worked yesterday (Sunday) from 9-7. My arms dragged the ground last night, I shuffled into the house like Mr. Magoo and my eyes were about as blind as his are after looking at the computer screen yesterday.



And of course you know that Clif called for more money. I have been very generous with his spending money at college, and he just got a raise in his weekly stipend because Jim and I got raises at the first of the year. So I gave him his money on Friday, he calls this weekend and says he needs a new pair of jeans and not just any pair. Phi Kappa Psi's wear Polo, all Polo.

So now today I'm informed after calculus that he spent the jeans money on an external hard drive for his computer and he's tapped out, can I just give him a little to tide him over until the end of the week. The biggest mistake I ever made was to get into online banking. The banking gods have made it way too easy to transfer money from one account to the other. Actually, he is pretty responsible, it's just that he's been mardis grasing a little too much in New Orleans on the weekends. And this is the big weekend so I'm going to have to fork over more for a hotel room this weekend. Ahhh, the ignorant bliss of youth.

These days, with my arthritis killing me (I truly hope it's just a winter thing), all I want to do is lay on the couch and watch movies. I wonder if Roger Ebert needs any help...and then God smacks you in the head reality sets in. I watched the local ABC affiliate news tonight and saw the piece on children with arthritis, and how the Crewe of Asclepius in Shreveport, a crewe of health professionals, dedicates its proceeds to just such causes and I realize how lucky I am that I am a wimp over the age of 50.

OK, on to the the President's State of the Union address this evening. I was not going to watch it because I was so mad at Mr. Bush, but then my curiosity about the Democratic candidates being there piqued my interest. And then I listened to his speech. The first thing that Jim and I noticed and remarked about was that we could just about name everyone in the room (obviously, speaking to our age.) Yikes! We have become our parents! And then I realized Mr. Bush hasn't been so bad. Boy, the drive-by Media have really done a sales job on all of us as to how sinister Mr. Bush is (NOT.) I saw Barack Obama sitting on Teddy Kennedy's lap.

I saw Hillary looking very old sitting by herself and actually felt sorry for her (however, not sorry enough to vote for her.) But you know the best thing I saw all night? At the end of President Bush's speech (and I'm glossing over all the people who fell asleep, gave standing ovations, looked disgusted, etc.), Dick Cheney jumped to his feet and looked viscerally ecstatic almost as if he was saying, "Now, thank God I can get back to my life." Long live free enterprise.

Ruffinism for the day: America lives in the heart of every man everywhere who wishes to find a region where he will be free to work out his destiny as he chooses. Woodrow T. Wilson - 1856-1924, Twenty-eighth President of the USA

Glasses Update

My good, blue glasses have been found. I told Sara when she visited the other day that I would not tell her where I found them. She thought I found them someplace silly like in the refrigerator. Not so Sara. They seemed to go missing Sunday evening while I was watching the finale of The Amazing Race while I was enjoying an adult beverage. Nothing gets in the way of me and my TV.

I buy most of my fashionable clothing from The Avenue online. And last winter I got a super deal on these long sleeve cotton thermal hooded tunics. They were lovely and light for Mansfield's light winters. So I bought four white and four pink. You do not know me if you have not seen me wear one of these. Well, summer came around and I loved them so much, I cut the long sleeves off and made short sleeve hooded tunics for summer. Perfect. Well, I still love them so this winter I wear the same thermal hooded tunics with a tight long sleeve shirt under them...fashion maven that I am. Who says I can't ride a horse to death?

So what does this have to do with my glasses? I can see you skipping ahead...but do not make that mistake. Yes, I had consumed an adult beverage or two Sunday night, and YES I went to the laundry room to put on my sweats and put my good pants and hooded tunic in the washer, and YES the glasses fell from the top of my head backwards into the hood of my thermal shirt, and NO they did not stay there and go through the wash like you probably thought. I cleverly felt them fall from the top of my head, retrieved them from the hood, very cleverly put them into the cabinet, grabbed the Tide, poured Tide in the wash, put the cap back on the Tide, put the Tide bottle back in the cabinet and shut the door.

Two days later, Jim summoned me and wanted to know what was in the laundry cabinet that required reading. I told him I was reading the washing instructions from the label of his good slacks, thanked him, put the good, blue galsses back on my head and walked off with all of the dignity I could muster.

Ruffinism for the day: I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.
Mark Twain

Cold Hard Facts

I have been cold once again all day long. I was forced to get out the little heater at work. Of course, Mr. G had his leather coat on (one of hundreds bought in New Mexico) all day and was as warm as toast, whereas I have the "little peoples" fleece coat that I bought from Lands End five years ago that has finally started to "pill." Ok, so now we'll call it chenille. And I have these little cotton knitted gloves that keep my fingers warm (unless I was in...let's say minnesota or perhaps even in arkansas.)


Jim and I walked the block in our neighborhood tonight. And naturally, Norman walked every step with us barking THE WHOLE TIME because we would not walk faster. He got every dog in the neighborhood barking just so all the neighbors would know we were coming. It's so nice to be announced. I speak dog language and Norman was yelling the whole way, "hello, hello, i'm with the people that own me, they let me chase your car around the neighborhood, i steal your shoes, i tear up your garbage, they're walking right now in case you want to come out and look at them!"

Someone paid us back good the other day. I was leaving for work and Norman was in our yard with a deer carcass, complete with ribs and head still attached. Jim ended up having to fight Norman for it. Jim won, put it in the back of his city truck and took it to the dump. We have a lot of deer hunters in the neighbordhood and they're all very fond of gutting their conquests just about anywhere around their houses. Actually, the man we bought our house from used to use the basketball goal to hang his deer and gut them. Not such a great picture to think of...he shoots! he scores! he high fives the deer carcass. Norman has even brought home a leg and hoof on occasion to gnaw on. How did I get onto this subject? It's like having Bambi's calling card on your doorstep.


Anyway, I started a fire when we finished our walk so I won't be so cold. Fires are my favorite comfort item besides food, and scotch, and my bed, and a good movie, and a hot bath...Actually, I could have cooked some deer on the fireplace had Jim not won that battle...Just kidding!

Ruffinism for the day: "When I found the skull in the woods, the first thing I did was call the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns." - Jack Handy

Four Eyes

I've lost my glasses. My good glasses. Well let me qualify that, they're my Debby Burk Optical glasses. I'm my own optomotrist, opthomologist, whatever... Most of the time I get my glasses from Dr. Wal-mart (not to be confused with the actual optical doctor inside many Wal-mart Supercenters), or Dr. Eckerd or Dr. CVS or Dr. Walgreens. Right off the rack. In my younger days, I was a mere +1.25, whatever that is. Actually I guess it is the magnification power. Now Debby Burk Optical has me up to +2.00 and I'm considering a +2.25 to replace the good, lost ones. I have tons of glasses all over the house and in my purse in different magnification modes. I cannot read a thing without glasses. I have red glasses and blue glasses, brown glasses, faux tortoise shell glasses...I'm a regular Donna Karan of glasses. Once they stop working well I move on to a better pair. The computer is ruining my eyesight. But I do love computers. It's kind of exciting putting a pair of glasses on, you never know how hard you'll have to strain depending on the pair of glasses you pick up.

So I lost the good (as in strongest magnification and most flattering that four eyes can be) blue ones that I bought at Debby Burk Optical, the fashion guru of glasses. Glasses are one of the first things that forces you to face your mortality if you've had 20/20 vision all of your life (and I did). I used to pride myself on my super eyesight. I could find a cotter pin in the grass from 20 feet. And then one day I had to keep blinking and focusing and re-focusing...and it went downhill from there. I'm hoping my seeing eye dog will get me the long covetted handicapped sticker that I have wanted to attain all of my life - front door parking.

And there are times that my glasses are so dirty and smudged that I don't know how I see out of them. I'll get a kleenex and rub them and all I do is move the smudge around. Jim has worn prescriptions glasses all of his life and cleans them with special spray he gets from the eye doctor, and sure enough he cannot see any better than I do. Two old people, leading each other around in the dark...tsk, tsk tsk.

On a more serious note, Jim and I walked downtown today. Lately, we have been walking the golf course or in our neighborhood. But part of our downtown walk includes Mansfield cemetery. Tomorrow, I truly cannot believe it has been this long, is the five-year anniversary of Big Albo's death. We miss him, we miss Alice. May they both be happy in heaven with Jesus and God.

And I give a nod and a prayer to the Calvert family. We stopped at Marjorie's grave and she died six years ago today. Oh, she is missed terribly also. What a warm and friendly soul she was. Rest in peace Marje.

Ruffinism for today: The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. - Bible, Matthew (ch. VI, v. 22)

The Tough Go Shopping

I hate Friday afternoons. (That is sooooo not attracting positive thoughts, Susan. Remember The Secret.) It is grocery shopping day and there is nothing worse than Brookshire's on Friday afternoon. I try to go to Shreveport as much as I can but the weather today is just horribly rainy and cold so I will tough it out in Mansfield.

I know everyone feels this way at one time or another. You're tired, you see people you really don't want to talk to. You zip your head to the left or to the right and pretend to look at fish sticks or horse radish or bok choi so you don't meet their eyes and have to talk to them. Or you see them coming at you and you dart onto the diaper and baby food aisle, or perhaps the dogfood aisle, whichever aisle you're sure they won't come down. Which then forces you to play hide and seek down each aisle, dodging that person.

Then there's the 8 year old boy who wants to stand in front of the one thing you want on an aisle, and you have to practically hit his mother upside the head to get her to notice that he's blocking you. Or there's the old lady who can't decide which piece of meat she wants. She hems, she haws....she picks one up, then puts it down. You just want to go grab her, slap a $10 bill in her hand, tell her to buy the expensive one compliments of you and then GET OUT OF YOUR WAY....are we thinking I'm a little tense today?



And then it's buying the same old stuff every week. There's no mixing it up, you know what you want, you know what they eat, they know what they want you to get. Same dairy stuff, same fruits and vegetables (they'll go rotten if you buy anything new and different), same snacks, and beverages. It's just all so boring. And it does not help that the Brookshire's in Mansfield does not cater to the Ruffin family pallate. They don't carry the stuff that we like and they carry alot of what we don't like. I don't think I'll ever have the occasion to buy a five-pound bucket of chittlings. And instead of a great variety of lettuce like a lot of stores carry, our Brookshire's carries every kind of "greens" that one could possibly want. And I think I'll scream if I see another strawberry cake, pineapple cake or orange cake. I want choices, lots of choices, not just Community coffee or Folgers or Sanka. I want Boston Bib, Romaine, Green Leaf, Purple Cabbage, Endive, something that mixes life up! Brookshire's organic section is in a tiny corner, with organic spinach and organic carrots, two things that don't combine well in a salad.

I just talked to Joye and she said it's sleeting in Shreveport. Guess I'm kind of glad to have the convenience of Brookshire's today.

Ruffinism for the day: "I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions -- but I don't always agree with them" --George Bush

Being My Own Boss

Mr. G is out of town today tending to the empire in a neighboring state and I have lots of catching up to do, bookkeeping, end of the year payroll duties for all of the employees (me), and an assortment of finishing off last year's client files, plus billing and paying bills. However, I am doing it alone and it is quite enjoyable. I got to read the front page of the paper in between, something I don't normally do until lunchtime. I also visited with Sara Stokes, who stopped by mid-morning.



She is Mr. G's and my friend that visits with us once a week, twice when we're lucky. We regale each other with local news and discuss our health, I'm falling apart, she's not. I want to be my own boss when I grow up...that would be nice, however, it probably would not pay as well as Mr. G pays. I fully intend to continue my education more at LSUS (perhaps as early as this summer) - they have graphic design classes that I want to take.

I would love to be able to make my own money with my computer. And keep my own hours. Now if I could just win the lottery.....who am I kidding. Actually, someone who bought a ticket in Metairie won the $97 million lottery Powerball jackpot last night. Imagine the good I could do with that amount of money.

On to politics:

Although Hillary is the anti-Christ, I will not have a chance to vote against her in the primary because I have to vote in the other primary. But let me take this opportunity to say that I have never been so pleased as to have so many voices speaking out to become the leader of the most powerful country in the free world. I don't know for whom I'm going to vote. I have changed my mind a million times since last summer when I heard of some of the entrants. And although Rush and Sean are trying to trash some of the candidates before the primaries are over, I will not be swayed by either one of them. I started listening to Rush Limbaugh in 1991 and even though I get him, he is starting to get old. Who said Reagan had the answer to EVERYTHING? There were plenty of other presidents in my lifetime and previous to that had good philosophies and steered the country in good directions. Anyway, it is wonderful to be part of the primary process where usually things are decided before super Tuesday. I look forward to hearing more specifically what these fellows plan to do. Fellows being the operative word there.

Ruffinism for today: No part of the education of a politician is more indispensable than the fighting of elections. Winston Churchill

The Empire

The empire has taken every waking moment of my time for almost a week (besides the previous 5 and 1/2 years) and will continue to move forward on the trackhoe (as I call it), with or without me. We are working this weekend. One of my favorite people that Mr. G knows, and has personally helped Clif, is coming to help us, in his capacity as Mr. G's attorney in a lawsuit. However, that is nothing compared to the very busy oil and gas activity, and some very large and consuming business opportunities that have been demanding attention.

This is called a Feller Buncher. This is the empire now. No, tree prices are terrible. Mr. G's trees are growing, they are going nowhere. However, the Feller Buncher is my vision of the empire. It moves forward on that trackhoe and absolutely nothing stands in its way now. It is growing and growing and growing. And it demands attention and I truly think it will overrun me, Mr. G, or anyone who does not keep up with it.

On a different note, I thought I would share with you an email we got today. This is particularly interesting to all of the LSU fans: Curly Hallman was fired from Muscle Shoals High School as head coach for having a four season losing streak. Can you believe that Joe Dean actually hired him as head coach of LSU? He was fired from a High School for goodness sake! Why can't we flog Joe Dean?

Speaking of being fired, what's with Sean O'Keefe? He quit before he got fired. We heard John Lombardi was dissatisfied with his handling of the two murders on campus before Christmas but I personally blame whoever hired him. He was nothing more than name recognition, he was NASA. He brought nothing to the table as LSU Chancellor. You need someone who is proactive like Mark Emeritt was. Maybe Mr. Jindal will have influence in this area and assist in finding a suitable Chancellor.

And now, we all need a laugh:

A guy asks his waiter how they prepare their chicken. The waiter says that there's nothin' special... we just flat out tell' em they're gonna die...

Harry's wife says, "Harry, do these jeans make my ass look like the side of the house?" He says, "No, our house isn't blue."

This is going downhill, I can see it:

Two drunks were walking home along the railway tracks.The first drunk says, "There's a hell of a lot of steps here."The second drunk says, "I'll tell you what's worse, this hand rail is bloody low down"

HUSBAND: Shall we try a different position tonight? WIFE: That's a good idea... you stand by the ironing board while I sit on the sofa and fart.

Ok, Ok, I wanted to answer Calvert's blog about the elections but I see I'm going to have to prepare an answer that is neither uninformed or idiotic....

Ruffinisms for the day:

To plunder, to slaughter, to steal, these things they misname empire; and where they make a wilderness, they call it peace.

Publius Cornelius Tacitus (55-117) Roman historian.

The foundation of empire is art and science. Remove them or degrade them, and the empire is no more. Empire follows art and not vice versa as Englishmen suppose.

William Blake (1757-1827) British poet and painter.

Friday Edition

It's been a long week. I got my first paycheck with my wonderful raise and it's already gone. I spend it faster than I make it. But once I get some bills paid off, I won't be so poor hopefully. I truly don't know how anyone makes it these days with groceries and gas and the basics of life so expensive. If we're not in a recession, I'd sure hate to see one. Putting one child through college is so very hard, I don't know how anyone puts more than one. I know, I know, all our parents lived through the Depression and made it, things could be a lot worse, I guess. I'm still having trouble with the The Secret. I'm trying to envision myself positive. And I'm going to start doing something about a better me. I'm positive, I'm seeing myself positive, I'm her....


Or maybe not. Maybe I'm stuck in the nightmare called Mansfield, LA (be positive, attract good thoughts), I'm positive I live in the trash can of Louisiana.

They both have that native look, I can have that native look...I'm walking, I'm walking.....got news from both of my doctor's appts. this week. Doc Williams, my primary physician got the results back from my lab and get this folks, my Cholesteral is 148!!! What a joke. That's like saying the Pope is Jewish! But it is official and true. However, my gastroenterologist lowered the boom and I am walking, walking, walking....either that or he said I might as well buy myself a scooter. I'm going to try really hard folks. I may put pictures of myself on this website as incentive, so just ignore them and focus on funny stuff I hope.

Ruffinism for the day: Thank you for calling the Weight Loss Hotline. If you'd like to lose a half pound right now, press 1 eighteen thousand times. ~ Randy Glasbergen

The View from the Top

Ahhhhhhhh, they said we could not do it. They said Miles was not up to the task. They said Matt Flynn wasn't up to the task. Lee Corso, eat your words with some Louisiana hot sauce on them, Kirk Herbstreet, duct tape your mouth. USC and Ohio State and Illinois and Kansas, will you now shut up? The 2007 football season is over, LSU is NUMERO UNO.

The intense LSU fan base is what made the difference:

And you must click on the text below for the final words:

Queen

And More Queen if you Want

Enough said, no Ruffinism necessary!

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

Oh, life is good. This is the best night of the year. Dreams do come true. USC - eat your heart out!!!! We are the champions, you are the losers and we are the champions of the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There Aren't Enough Days in the Weekend

Clif went to Dallas for a few days on Thursady - I'm sure as a reprieve from us. Jim and I are putting up Christmas decorations, finally. It's kind of nostalgic for me. I always wonder what will take place in the time between we get these decorations out again next December. I try to involve as few boxes and tubs as I can each year because I am always trying to simplify. Clif got back this morning and he and Jim were a great help getting everything back up in the attic.


The big game is tomorrow night. In some ways I feel guilty for Jim and Clif not getting BCS Chamipionship tickets, but at the same time I'm glad they will be here tomorrow night. Karen and Bill are coming. Karen is cooking some kind of soup and purple hull peas, Jim's favorites. Jean and hopefully Steve are coming, anyone else who is SERIOUS about watching the game instead of socializing is welcome. I have a plethora of hors d'oevres that I can put out at a moments notice including shrimp remoulade and basil pesto with bread rounds, vegetable dip, etc.

I imagine there are tons of LSU/Ohio fans on the French Quarter right now. I am envious. Jim has not been very vocal in the last few days about the championship...that kind of worries me. We've watched pro games all weekend and have been pleasantly surprised by NYG winning. I love Eli Manning.

I'm hoping I'm sending you to the LSU fight song

Geaux Tigers.

Ruffinism for the day: I bleed purple and gold. - All LSU fans.

Freaky Friday

It has been a totally weird day. I would have rather gone shopping with Mr. G, Hanna (his daughter) and Joye. Hanna is going skiing in Maine for the rest of her college break and I so wish I was her. No, I don't. I hate the cold right now.

Instead, I went to see Doc (Gary Williams) for the 6 month "need to get my high blood pressure medicine" renewal prescription. However, I have the reason for my knees hurting so badly. My ankles have always hurt. Story to follow. Doc says the knees hurting is called peripheral or colitic arthritis.



Couldn't we just have some rheumatoid arthritis? Hell, bring 'em all on. I have battled ulcerative colitis for almost 20 years now. I have more pictures of my colon than of my face. No, No, No, you may NOT make a joke here. Colitic arthritis occurs when inflammation in the digestive tract allows bacteria into the body, and triggers an immune response in the joints. Does that not kind of sound like your septic tank backing up and infecting your bathtub? My body is a temple, my body is a temple. You are The Secret Susan.

Let me tell you why my ankles hurt and are so deformed. Once upon a time, in 1972, I was a junior in highschool. A male friend (truly just a friend) and I decided to skip 3rd and 4th period so we could eat lunch at Kip's Big Boy restaurant on Westheimer in Houston.
To make a long story short, a painter's van hit us head on (the van was passing two flatbed trucks). Jay's (my friend) car was a little red Fiat convertible. We obviously lost the battle of the head on. However, instead of putting my hands on the dashboard to brace myself for the impact, I put my feet up - truly saved my live. My ankles were shattered and blew up to four times their size in a matter of seconds. I was in the hospital for over a month (that was back when they did not try to run you off the next day) and truly had to learn to walk all over again (one leg at a time). I suppose the moral to this story is NEVER SKIP SCHOOL. However, I prefer to believe it is that Kip's Big Boy restaurant isn't really that great of a place to eat lunch.

Ruffinism for the day: You can observe a lot by just watching. - Yogi Berra

The Day After the Day After New Year's Day

OK, I'm tired of the cold now. I just can't get warm. Even working with Mr. No Blood In His System usually has me turning on all the fans in the office. But I'm just downright cold and have been for 4 or 5 days now. It was 26 on the way to work this morning. I would have rode in the engine compartment if I could have.

We have a neighbor who starts his truck up on work days and his wife's car and let's them warm up. That's so sweet. I hate people like that. They're prepared for everything. They probably caulk their windows every year. Or clean the cobwebs out of their garage. I happen to like spiders. And their yard is always mowed and raked. What miserable people. I've addressed this issue before but pinestraw is an excellent ground cover. Like ivy, just brown.

Norman has taken to stealing shoes in the neighborhood again. It was not too bad before because he had poor taste in shoes (pink flip-flops, suede house slippers, tennis shoes that I would be ashamed to claim, a high heel that evidently reveals we have a hooker in the neighborhood.) But now he has taken the left shoe of a pair of Red Wings. Trouble with a Capital T. Jim has gone around the neighborhood knocking on doors trying to find its owner but no takers yet. However, Jim did find out that Jerry Choate was the one who ran over the Pearah's dog back this summer (we had a rash of small dog hit and runs) but she blamed it on the fact that Norman was chasing her car and the little chihuahua got in the way. Always Norman's fault.

He spends his days over at the Cobb's house on the next street. We thought it was because they have a dog in their backyard (yes they have a fence) but Jim caught Norman the other day with the Cobb's cat laying against his stomach. Boy that dog is weird. He can run 25 mph - we've clocked him. He chases every car in the neighborhood, including Nash's wrecker. He'll come in the house and look around for a few minutes, then go back outside. I think he is a brick or two short.

Totally back in the groove at work now. Closing up the books on 2007 and Mr. G has some rather large projects he's trying to get wrapped up. I think he and Joye are going to Canada here in the next couple of months. I can't wait, want another vacation, maybe Jim and I can go camping at Rayburn. We'd probably be the only people there in January or February.

Ruffinism for the day: Some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant. - Unknown

Ruffinism for the day before: Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that's how dog's spend their lives. - Dave Barry