No Parking Zone

The picture you see here is taken at the local store in the city I work in. In front of the store there are big signs that read "No Parking Fire Zone" and the sidewalk is painted yellow for further warning. The little white car (without the lights) was parked between the two signs that stated that there was no parking...and the white car with the lights decided to make them understand the 'No Parking' portion of the sign. As I was walking into the store the cop pulled over and started writing in a little notepad...and then a lady rushed out to explain why her little car was in a 'no parking fire zone' zone (I guess that is what was going on, I didn't stop for the 411). Not sure what all happened, or if she got a ticket or not...but HELLO, can you not read?

Old or New style...who knows

A group of us got together for a fall party tonight, we came with 'crazy hair'...to break up the monotony of just getting together. There were about fourteen of us that got together at the Dutton's house. We ate, had games, a bon fire, and a night of relaxing before the time changed on us. Following are some pics of some of the people that did their hair...I'll have other pics later when I get the film from my camera developed. Woo-Hoo! What great hair styles, what's scary is that some of these used to be in or are currently being worn by people in public.

Casting Crowns

Fifteen of our college/career group went to a Casting Crowns concert in St. Charles, MO last night. We left around 2:30 (which it was supposed to be 1:30, but we are talking about West Point here). So when we got to St Louis, they still wanted to eat...though we called for reservations and were let right in...it still took some time for the food to arrive. Therefore, we were late to the concert. We arrived as Building 249 was playing, and when we finally made it to our seats (bathroom break first), Casting Crowns had already taken the stage. But the concert was good (though a lot of their songs have the word 'rain' in them); I really enjoyed it. Tony Lenon spoke during the concert about L.I.F.T. bracelets, then went back into a couple more songs. We left a little after 10:00 for our trip home, w/ a stop at Krispy Kreme (YUM!!), and no other stops (sorry for those that had to go to the restroom) until we arrived back in Doniphan around 3:00-ish.

We had a lot of fun, Elmer was practicing for the drivers test of 'big' rigs in the concert parking lot. We were weaving in/out of the big orange cones. Billy saved the day for the rest of the group by standing up on the van and hollering, 'West Point over here', so they could find our van in the parking lot after the concert. And the woman with the 'MEDICAL EMERGENCY' made it easy for us to make it out of the crowd after the concert. Now if we should have played train behind the wheelchair welding lady and went in the 'space' she created by shouting 'Please MOVE, I have a MEDICAL EMERGENCY', who knows...it cut down on our crowd time and it we made it outside really quickly. We had a lot of fun and I think that is what really matters.

Vacation, Shopping, & Deer Hunting

I took a couple of days off work (Oct 21-Oct 25), it was great. On Monday (Oct 24) I went to Cape with a couple of friends and we spent the day shopping. It was great! We found a ton of clothes on sale...skirts were going for $5 at Old Navy. I found some really cute stuff at Learner (New York Co)...I'm trying to update my wardrobe. After shopping all day we hit Starbucks Coffee on the way out of Cape (Pumpkin Spice Frap--Awesome!!) and headed back to the Bluff. It was a lot of fun just goofing around all day.

Tuesday...my final day of vacation...I spent the day hunting. In the morning I jumped two deer on the way to my tree stand. I spent about an hour in the vicinity of my dad's stand (I never found it, so I didn't sit in it); after wasting the time tramping around the woods I went to my own stand and jumped a buck and doe. The moral to that story is that if I would have just went to my own stand to start with I could possibly be done with hunting...

Tuesday night I went out about three and sat on my tree stand for a couple of hours...around 5:30 it was bathroom break time so I went to my parents house. I ended up staying there and hunting...I saw three more deer. They were to far out for a good shot and it was dark. But I did get to watch them play in the pond. It was really awesome. There were two young ones and a 'momma' that were feeding around my dad's pond. The two small ones decided to 'play' (run, splash, chase one another, etc) in the pond. Though I didn't get one, or even shoot at one, I got to see them totally in their own environment and going about daily life.

My dad's cows helped in the 'cover up' of me being out there. They fed around me the whole time so the deer just thought that the cows were out...not that someone was lurking in the woods waiting on them. One of the cows thought I was a bush (I was in total camo), and came up smelling my shoes and legs...when they went for the arrow I stopped them...I didn't feel like telling dad that one of the cows ate my arrow.

Tracking

Well, I had my first experience of 'tracking a deer' today. I went out with my dad this morning bow hunting...it was a bit cold and the wind caused my whole tree to shake rather violently, but I stayed seated and rode it out. Around eight o'clock I asked dad if I could get down and walk around, to see if my feet actually still worked, and then about ten minutes later he's calling me on the walkie-talkie saying he shot one...that's when the fun began.

We tracked the deer by following dots of blood we would find throughout the trail on the leaves, sticks, or bushes. Then the deer crossed a fence, that was a little tricky, and went up over a mountain (well maybe a 'hill' since we are in southeast MO). Sometimes we would lose the 'trail' and have to back track and start over...it was a very good learning experience, but it was sad because we never found the deer. I got my two miles in for the day (plus some I think).

We had fun though, and I guess that's a big part of what counts...hopefully when (not if) I get mine it will just fall over right there on the spot...I don't think I like 'tracking' to much.

Fall Time...Hayrides & Bonfires

Woo-Hoo!! Our church had a church wide hayride and bonfire tonight...it was a lot of fun. We had enough people there for four hayride tours (luckily we had two trailers so we only had to go out twice). The first trip out was the youth group...they filled both trailers up (which is cool, it means our youth group is getting big), and then the college/career and young marrieds went out the next go around.

Bonfire...it was a little chilly to stand outside for very long, but it was still pretty cool to be out in the crisp fall air around the fire (good thing it cooled down from the 90 degree weather we had two days ago). We had a little boy that has the potential of being a 'pyro maniac', he was fascinated with the fire and was trying to get into it. He finally got close enough one time to realize it was 'hot' like mom/dad said...without getting burned.

We had food, more food, and more food. It was all very good. Then we played some volleyball to burn off the calories of eating so much. The evening was a lot of fun and it was great getting to be with everyone.

Craziness

Hello Katrina, Rita, Wilma....how's all the girls doing? Hello earthquakes, mudslides, forest fires, and bird flu. Every time you turn the radio on, log onto the internet, or turn the TV on all we hear is about a new devastation that has hit some part of the world. The other day at work one of the guys was like, 'Now all we need is some fire and brimstone'; my brother said, 'It's coming'. And according to the back of the book (the Bible) it is coming...but do we really believe it? If so, are we living like it?

So many things are happening in society. A woman throws her children into San Francisco Bay because the voices in her head told her to. A sixteen year old boy goes to a neighbors house, who happens to be a prominent lawyer, and kills the wife by beating her to death. Where's the happy news?

Morbid post...possibly. But if we look at the stuff going on around us and actually pay attention we can see that what some of us have been told our whole lives is playing out before our eyes. The question to ask ourselves is if we're playing the part that we thought we would be...or have we changed the script? Maybe it's time to go back to the Director for a recasting.

Paul Harvey

This morning I was listening to Paul Harvey while waiting for my brother to show up to our meeting place so we could car pool together. There was some disturbing topics covered.

One: Stay away from TV remotes in Hospitals
The University of AZ Micro Biology group found that most germs in a hospital room of the Staphylococcus thread can be found on the TV remote control. These germs resist drugs and are the leading cause of infection and death in hospitals. YIKES!!

Two: Open the car windows
Scientist of the Air quality Associations say that much of the impure air inside of a car comes from car seats, audio equipment, air fresheners, and human emissions (from yourself). They say that you can get cleaner/purer air walking beside a dusty highway breathing all the exhaust from the passing cars than inside any car that passes. EWWW!!

I found the second topic to be as disturbing as the first...should we start wearing breathing mask to even ride in our own cars? Remember to let the car air out every once in awhile and vacuum the seats when cleaning the car out. Scrub, Scrub, Scrub.

Curving It

Today I went back to Curves (a women's workout facility), I took last week off because I was sick and on antibiotics (Sinuses and Allergies...woo-hoo). But, though I was off all week I still lost a pound. YEAH!! I love Curves...you go for 30 minutes, it's all women, and it's a no thought process -- you just do the circuit of machines and you're done. And the best part is that it's within walking distance of my office, I can just walk down there for lunch...and it's great STRESS relief. So far, at last weigh in, I have lost a total of 6 pounds, 9 inches, and 4 1/2 pounds body fat. My goal is 10 more pounds by Christmas...I'll keep you posted on my progress.

I also walked/jogged tonight (after getting in from bow hunting...didn't see anything but a squirrel). I jogged two laps at our local track, which is one lap short of a mile. I'm getting better!! I want to be able to jog the full two miles eventually...or more. Though during the summer (when it stays light longer) I walk a two mile radius around my neighborhood...that way I get 'hill' climbing in and I run the steps at the Junior High. Walking is a great 'alone' time when you can think about your day, what your going to do, or just reflect on things that are happening (in your life, family, church, relationships)...it also relieves stress.

Do I sound like a exercise spokesperson or what...

Runaway School Bus

Today I went to a Skillpath Seminar in Cape Girardeau, which surprisingly did not live up to my expectations...it was actually a very beneficial seminar. Anyway I digress...we went to the mall to eat at Panera Bread, and when we pull into the parking lot there's a bus that's really close to a truck. Joel goes, 'wow, he got close'. Well upon further inspection the bus was close to the truck, but unfortunately for the little red Geo that was 'hiding' under the front bumper of the bus it got a little more than close. The bus had totally ran over the little car, I'm not sure if the bus driver was thinking he had joined the Monster Truck contest and was seeing how far down the line of cars he could go or what all was going on...but the little red Geo had a bad day. And the owner didn't look too happy either. (And dummy me didn't take a pic...DUH!...that's what camera phones were invented for, right?)

As stated above, the seminar I attended on 'customer service' was really good. Sometimes the Skillpath seminars are questionable and don't always live up to their titles, or you get a really boring speaker. But today we had two very good and interesting speakers (Pat and Phil) and the title of the seminar was actually what we covered. And plus it was a day away from the office. (woo-hoo)

Family Thing and Quiet Time

Last night, October 14, my dad's family all got together to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Delno and Myrtle Gentry. All their kids and grandkids made it in...it was great getting to see them all, it's been awhile. Since it's been awhile we were able to play the 'guess that face' game and try to remember what name went with what face (of course we did this at the privacy of our table). I had a really good time...except they kept calling Granny 'grandma' and it was getting really confusing, apparently the sisters didn't get together on what their kids were going to call their mom. One side calls her Granny and the other side calls her Grandma...all I have to say on that is 'Go Granny!!'. (She'll be 94 in December, and she's still going strong)

I made today an 'Eleisha' day. I stayed home, alone, and did nothing all day (I did straighten my house and do the dishes and laundry). But I kicked back and watched some videos, read, and then went bow hunting in the evening...came home after not seeing anything but an owl, showered and finished watching a movie and went to bed. It was great! Last weekend hunting went a little better...I at least saw a deer, but it's still nice to sit out and listen to the birds chirp, and the herd of cows munch grass around the tree stand (no lie) -- maybe that's why I didn't see anything this time.

Getting Started

Well, I've joined the age of 'The Blog'. I enjoy writing and this seemed like an easy way to keep family and friends updated about myself and those around me. I'm currently a published writer through our local newspaer, which isn't very widespread...so, I decided to go a step further and publish myself via the web (maybe I'll be noticed by a big time publisher). Plus my webpage was a little outdated. I've owned the address for about three years, started using them when I built my house in 2004 so my friends could stay up to date on the progress of the house. But since I've currently been in my house for 14 months (woo-hoo), I decided it was time to do something different with my personal web page. So welcome to my blog!

I will do my best to keep it updated, share my thoughts on current topics, or just share a tid-bit that happened in my corner of the world. Feel free to add comments, check out the links to the right, or just read about ME. Thanks for stopping by!