you have to love a man that is willing to make a joke at his own expense

you really do have to be someone special to make fun of yourself. i know not all us are able to do it but with a little practice making fun of yourself is a lot easier than fighting. and believe me, people will just leave you alone if you can make jokes at your own expense.

what would you do to land that bass?

i know i want to land every fish that's on the line. but, i don't think i'm willing to take a bath for it.

say hello to shine...

these are four girls from our street reach group. they have been working on this number for a few weeks now and there first time performing in front of people. if you would've seen who performed before them you would understand how nervous they must have been. it was a wonderful display and you would've been proud of how they represented high street.

how i spent another snow day...

i love these little projects. i know i'm no sammyb but this is what i'm comfortable with. thanks to brad for letting me use his truck and papa for letting me use a couple of his saws.

new spring resolution...

for those of you who don't know how i feel about new years resolutions...here it is...very few new years resolutions are worth the tongue they are spoken from. they are really just a lazy way to put off doing something that you most likely need to be doing at that point. by putting it off you are saying how lazy you are...and when the new year and time comes to do something you will be gung ho for about 6-8 weeks, and then you are right back off the wagon...ie, look at the gym for the first 2 months of the year, can't find a treadmill or a bench, but in april you have your choice of front, middle or back row. that is why i have never, and never will make a new years resolution...if i'm to lazy to attack it at that point then i will never get to it.

so, instead of a new years resolution i have a new spring resolution...

i want to attack it right now but the weather is not cooperating. i am going to spend 15 nights in the wilderness...i know it doesn't sound like much but with my spring break being basically ripped from my cold dead fingers thanks to jack frost i decided to cut it back from 20. i already have a few days picked out in my head.

2 nights: march 26-27: jack frost didn't get these 2 days. i plan to spend these few spring break days floating down some river catching many bass. largemouth, smallmouth, doesn't really matter as long as they fight and the sun is shining.

2 nights: april 25-26: spring turkey season in full swing. hunt all morning, fish all afternoon. it is almost the perfect day to have a fresh, fried up turkey breast for lunch and some wonderful largemouth bass filet for dinner. of course, all cooked over an open campfire. 

3 nights: may 24-26: 3 days on a river somewhere near ashville, north carolina. it will be great to be with family out in the wilderness being guided by the wonderful guide and outdoor enthusiast sam, which is one of holly's cousin's. the one who spent 3 months in the canadian yukon. yes, he is crazy, but in a great way.

2 nights: may 29-30: 2 days somewhere by a lake or river, not sure where yet. i am thinking it might be somewhere on the james, south of springfield lake. i have a section that i have scouted out. i have heard the fishing is pretty good there. hopefully i will be able to hit this water a little earlier in the spring in the my float tube.

in case you can't tell, i feel that spending time outdoors is very important. i get a chance to do it quite often in the summertime because of the wonderful family that i have and their enjoyment of the lake. i am just wanting to branch out a little and do some things that i haven't done before. i feel it's important to learn these things, especially for me because it is something that i want my kids to appreciate just like i have. thankfully i have parents and family members that took me outside and introduced me to new things all the time. 

i feel we are all a little too busy these days trying to make ends meat for something that doesn't really matter that much. i think if we all slowed down, took a little time with those that we loved, our rewards would be felt for a lifetime. i choose camping, fishing and hunting. others may choose swimming or lake time or vacations at the beach. whatever you choose, be passionate about it and make a emphasis to complete the task and follow through. 

in closing i want to say i hope i didn't ruffle any feathers, rather just give a little motivation to get off the couch away from the tv, cell phone and the computer and make some memories that are going to last longer than that tv show.

my favorite super bowl ad

'SiCKO'

no, i do not agree with most of the things michael moore stands for. i certainly don’t share his views on who to vote for, but we are all entitled to our opinions. however, this movie, SICKO, really got me thinking. why don’t we have some type of universal healthcare. i know, i know, i have always thought that universal healthcare would cause our hospitals, doctors and medicine companies to lose the drive to produce new and better medicine. but in the movie it pointed out that our health care is rated 37th in the world, just above slovenia, SLOVENIA (not very desirable). and that many countries including cuba have a lower rate of death among newborns. many countries have national healthcare, dental, college funding and nanny service. then my other thought came up, their taxes must be crazy high. last time i checked, if you are a hard working middle class family you still pay taxes somewhere in the 30%’s, no matter how many kids you have. so paying somewhere in the 40%’s and having no worries about what it will cost if something should happen to you or your kids seems very reasonable. we shouldn’t have to be having to worry about going into debt for the rest of our lives because of having children. heck, in these other countries the doctors make house calls, for free. i have heard the horror stories about people dying while waiting to see a doctor or to get surgery but as usual we only hear about the horror stories. many of these countries focus on preventative medicine, which is just starting to take off here in America, and have a higher life expectancy than we do here in America. the other huge rip off is medicine. for instance, one of the ladies in the movie who worked at ground zero as a volunteer and because she was not on anyone’s payroll she was told there was nothing anyone could do for her. she has been paying $120 for the inhaler she must have. to me $120 does not sound unreasonable but when the group went to cuba to see what would happen they found that the same inhaler that cost $120 in the states only costs her 5 cents, yes, i said 5 FREAKIN’ CENTS (i want to use another word for freakin). it makes me sick. watch the trailer below, watch the movie and hope that you live the rest of your life in absolutely perfect condition because if you don’t you are gambling every-time you call your insurance to see if they will cover that surgery or test. we should be protecting and taking care of those that took care of us, excluding all elected officials working in DC because they are mostly the problem.