Thursday, May 30, 2013

The Plan

I have been thinking alot lately about my bucket wish list.
There are two things on it that I feel like I just have to do and do them quickly. I have no idea as to why I think I need to do them quickly but nonetheless I do. Maybe its just my selfishness telling me to do what I want to do and just throwing in the need to do it quickly just because it becomes even more selfish that way....I don't know. Maybe its Gods way of telling me to "get er done"
There were two items on my list that I think I can actually do....one is to give away a large amount of money to someone who is in need. I know what your thinking....and no.... I did not hit the lottery....please remember that the words "Large amount of Money"  means different things to different people. To me  it means.... an amount of money more than I thought anyone would ever just give me. Anyway....my thought is to give away my piggy bank money. I put in almost a dollar a day into this thing and it is starting to get full. I was driving home the other night from work and Bingo...it hit me....why not just give it away. Its money that I am not going to miss because I haven't done anything with it in a few years and it will accomplish the great feeling of giving that I just Love. So the real question is ...to who...and how do I find someone who is in need of it. Should I seek this person out or should it be just more a random act. Personally , I would like to find a single mother who might have a special needs child who could use the extra cash just to help catch up on bills or something like that. I will have to run all this by my boss of course but I am pretty sure she will say a hesitant yes. But first I will hear the..."ya know Ian...we could use that money to catch up on some of our own bills" then she will think about it for a few seconds and say... "but hey...if you think this is something you want to do...go for it"
And I will say what I always say when I get my way "Thank You Honey,...You are the best wife anyone could ever have."

My second thing on my bucket wish list is to take my dad on a fly fishing trip. For some reason in my head I was thinking about going to like Colorado or something but when I looked it up online most of the really good fly fishing is in the eastern parts...including Michigan....(But definitely want to get out of Michigan) Someplace I can drive to that is not a arm and a leg a away...and I think I have decided on Maryland. It is 8 hrs away and some really great fishing in the Savage river. I just imagine seeing my dad fly fishing in the early hours of dawn on a beautiful river, thinking to myself...it doesn't get any better than this.
Because you know how everything goes just like you think it will...right? Riiiight.

So that's my plan....I will do the money thing first and then early next spring do the fly fishing.
I love having a plan....even if that's all I have ....I still love it.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Book Review

             I have read 2 books in the last couple of weeks. The first one is called "The Cross Roads" by William Paul Young.
          It was written by the author of the #1 Best Seller "The Shack" and also my #1 favorite book of all time. If you have never read "The Shack" you are really missing out on an experience. I know for me....I couldn't put the book down. "The Cross Roads" was alot like "The Shack" but with out some of the splendor in Heaven.It was a little bit of a slow starter but once it got going I found myself waiting in suspense as to what was going to happen next. What I really found interesting in this book is that a man enters a woman's mind and can see things through their eyes. ...yeah...I know...pretty scary right?  :) 

             The other book I read was called "To Heaven and Back".


This book was about a woman (Mary C Neil MD) who was raised in Michigan and drowned in a kayaking accident. She accounts her whole experience from this ordeal and explains what was said to her and why she was sent back from heaven. The book made perfect sense to me and I related to it 100%. She also lost a son and she talks about that too. It didn't really have a big ending or anything but I was more interested in her dieing and her experiences in heaven.

              I am so intrigued by books like this. If someone went to heaven and lived to tell about it....Yeah...I am all ears, or in this case... eyes. I have no idea why I am so fascinated with death, and the crossing over to heaven. I guess because I know that it is going to be something that I really cant imagine...but yet I try to anyway. She described it(and I am paraphrasing)  that it was like watching a 1960 Zentith TV and then all of a sudden your watching a 2014 Sony HD TV. But even that comparison didn't do it justice because ...Everything was more crisp and clearer than you could ever describe. After she was sent back from heaven, and was starting to heal from her injury's, she said that she felt depressed. And I could relate to that statement. I mean one would think that she would be thankful that she was still living but I would think that if you were so close to living eternally in the kingdom of heaven....earth would be like staying in a Motel 6.
              I also really liked the way this author described how people as a whole are connected and we are all a piece of Gods huge tapestry and we are all just little strings in it woven together to make something beautiful . It just made perfect sense to me.

             The author also got a chance to talk to Jesus, and I remember being a little disappointed at my impression of him (from her description of the conversation)  I just always hoped that Jesus would be cool...you know... say stuff like" Dude...you remember when you were so wasted that you called on my father and said you would never ever do that again....Liar." or even...."Ian...I'm afraid you wont be allowed in heaven with those skinny ass legs of yours...just kidding" But instead he was all serious and talking like ...well....Jesus.

So if you enjoy reading...and enjoy books about Heaven...they really don't come better than these.

Oh and just to let you know....I have borrowed 3 books from people including the 2 that I speak of in this blog...and each and every one....I have had to replace because the animals in my house have destroyed them....the puppy got 1 and the bird got 2.....real funny God.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Breaking News

We made the news !!  Each year we try advertise about the Timber Ranshaw Memorial Walk as much as we can. One of the things we do is go on the Local news and do a brief shout out about the walk. I am usually a nervous wreck before the interview...but once we start going I'm alright. Anytime I have to speak in front of people I don't know, I usually go over what I am going to say in my head as many times as possible. Its a little hard to do this when your sitting in the studio as they are actually doing the news....I kept watching them and actually getting into it. I was trying to read the prompter to see if I could do that job.....I couldn't. The news people in the studio were very nice and chit chatted with us during the commercials. But the BIG News happened the day before the broadcast.

Kim and her friend were moving tables from a friends pole barn. (I was working...just so you don't think I was slacking) But anyway...long story short....she fell down the stairs and broke her foot.
She broke it pretty good according to the ex-rays she brought home with her. She even said she heard a snap. So ...when I came home I got the crutches down from the rafters in the garage. I guess you kind of take it for granted thinking that everybody knows how to use crutches. Ummm....not the case for Kimmy ....She was like a fish trying to walk....on cement....in Arizona....during a drought.
It was really just painful to watch....so I tried to give her lessons on how to lean on the crutches and swing your body forward. She didn't get it right away...but I figured she would pick it up pretty quick. Fast forward to the next day....the day of our news interview. She got up early and went and got her boobies smashed all by herself so I just figured she got the hang of it and was able to make her way. She got home and immediately we left to go pick up the tee shirts and Hoodies for the walk. And then made our way to the TV station. Now here is where it gets sad...I take her purse and a new shirt that I grabbed that she was going to wear for the interview and carry it for her, we get about a third of the way to the door (which was only 15 feet or so) and the next thing I know...DOWN GOES FRASIER....I turned  just in time to see her headed towards the ground. For a split second I thought she was going to maintain her balance....but no...she didn't. She held on to the crutches way to long and basically landed on the ground on her belly. I was stunned because I couldn't do anything but watch it all happen. At first...I thought that she might have been laughing about it all. But that thought was quickly removed when I seen the tears in her eyes. She sat there bawling saying "I cant do this".
It was like her last bit of strength was laying there on the cement and she hadn't the will power to retrieve it. My heart sank and I really did feel sorry for her. When ever something tragic happens...I always feel the need to be the person who lifts you up and say something stoic to bring back whatever it is that's lost. So in this case I said " Put your Big Girl panties on and lets do this". That was a line I stole from Timber....but it worked.....she reluctantly got up and cried herself into the studio office. I didn't know this at the time but she also landed on her hand which is now swollen and all black and blue. A woman from upstairs come running out and asked if she was OK. She said some people saw it all happen and called her....she said that she saw it on surveillance video. Luckily Kim was in the bathroom at this time and didn't hear that she had an audience watch her incredible feat. What else could go wrong on this day? Oh yeah...The new shirt I grabbed for her didn't fit. Really?  Oh well...we will just roll with what we got right?  The long walk (long hop in Kim's case) was painful to watch as she exerted every effort she had to get to the studio which seemed like a long ways away....and come to find out....it is a long ways when you only take 6 inches a hop. So after all that....here's the interview. The interview is usually twice as long but we were cut away early for some reason....it didn't break my heart (pun intended) as  long as people know when the walk is.

Timberly Ranshaw Memorial Lupus Walk
 http://www.abc12.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=8890872

She was quite the trooper if you ask me. Now ....she WILL have a wheelchair for the event because I would rather break both my feet than to watch this woman use crutches.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Age Old Tradition

        I did my annual moral gathering on Sunday morning. It seems like I'm good for one day in the woods for this type of hunting and then I tend to lose interest. Moral hunting was instilled in us as children when we would all go out as a family and look for these tasty treats. I still remember those days, because the air was cleaner and the woods were a place to explore and find all the wonderful things that made you even more curious than you were before. We would get on our hands and knees looking underneath all the umbrella weeds looking for morals....I'm not sure why we thought they grew under them...maybe dad just wanted to get us out of his hair for a while while he looked. We didn't care though....we were outside doing stuff that kids should be doing. I'm so glad I didn't grow up in today's age....We didn't have the choice to stay in and play video games because we didn't own one. They didn't even have video table tennis yet. Yeah those were the good ole days. Pack up a sack lunch and head on into the woods for hours at a time. And I don't even remember my feet hurting when it was all over. (Unlike Sundays adventure)

My Dad and my brother Scott and myself went out for about 5 hours and this is what we found:

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So  you would think we were finding gold in order to stay out there for 5 hours and only finding that little few of shrooms. Dad and Scott will go out again a bunch more times before there all gone....but like I said...I lose interest after awhile....I do enjoy being in the woods but my eyes aren't what they used to be and neither is my back or neck or every other muscle in my body....I was beginning to wish I would have brought my blanket to just curl up and have a nap about half way though our escapade. But I figured if my dad was doing this...I could stick it out and do it too.
My brother Scott and my Dad are so darn good at finding these things, I am seriously jealous of this skill. We have this thing we do when we are hunting shrooms....when you find one , you whistle....not a big whistle...just a soft little whistle to tell the others that are with you that you found one. This way your not yelling in the woods..."Hey I found one...and then next thing you know, you are encircled by people as far as the eye can see. :) (Seriously...it happens...kind of)
But anyways...every time I hear him whistle....I tend to just work my way over next to him and say..."wheres it at.".."I want to see it in the ground so I can get my eyes adjusted". (really I just want to see if theres any more around....I figure if there is one, there must be more.)  Scott says..."its right there"...and points to it. "And theres another one...make that three" he says with a bit of pride in his voice....I seriously got down on my knees and looked for a whole damn minute before I found the first one....and he even pointed it out to me....and hes finding these things standing up from 10 feet away. I usually  find them when I am sitting down resting and then I usually think to myself.....Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.
Sunday was probably my best day hunting black morals. I probably found 11...maybe 12...the rest Scott and Dad found. So I thought I would give you all a test and ow you would do...and trust me when I tell you this is a easy test...but it still may be fun for you. You find the morals in the pictures below. Meanwhile I am going to fry me us some good ole shrooms.
I even enlarged the picture for your viewing but for some reason could not turn them upright so you will need to cock your neck a bit and if it takes you awhile to find them...you might end up with a stiff neck....it will actually be like you almost went hunting for them for 5 hours. :)