My sister writes about the ifs in her life, mine are a little different. Mine are much more simple. To this I am not surprised, because sister is much more complex, Oh, I have wondered many times "what if", but I always come back to this very simple answer; If only one thing in my life had been changed, I would not be who I am today.
Here is a list of the ifs I can think of that would have changed my life completely:
What if I had been able to join the Air Force with my friend instead of being over weight?
What if I had not gone on a blind date with my first wife.
What if we had not moved to Kansas when we did?
What if I had not gone to work for Sears when I did?
What if I had not accepted the job in Salina with Sears?
What if, I had not divorced my first wife?
What if I had never dated Estella?
All those ifs lead to the same answer, I would not be happy and content with life as I know it today. I am sure of this!!!
So, you see, when I ask myself what if; I just look across at my wife and don't think about it anymore.
I don't think one should confuse the ifs as a child with the ifs as an adult. I had many ifs as a child and as I remember it, they all led to the what if I had not done whatever I did, then I would not have gotten in trouble and gotten spanked for it. And, if you remember, you always wished along with those ifs that time could reverse itself and you had another chance to make the right decision. But then, you have to go through all those ifs to become an adult. Of course there are some that never learn by those ifs, and our jails and prisons are full of them.
Oh, I have thought about the BIG IF, what if I win the Power Ball Lottery?
That one I will never quit asking, but that is just me!!!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
A blog, maybe!
I really have nothing to write about , so in the form of Jerry Seinfeld, I will write about nothing in particular.
Football--I am in a football contest to raise money for grandson Logan's ball team. You pick the winning NFL team you want each week and if they win you go on. Once you pick a winning team, you can not pick the same team to win again. If not you are out unless it is in the the first 3 weeks, then you can buy back in and try again. I think I may just pick any team playing the Chiefs, hate to but they SUCK big time. I picked the Chargers over the Raiders in week one and had to stay up till after midnight to help SD pull it out. Then, I couldn't go to sleep, all wound up. This week I picked the Raiders over the Chiefs based on how the Raiders D-line played. I figure the Chiefs will have negative yards rushing and may be down to their #4 QB by games end. The Raiders will spend more time in the KC backfield then the KC backfield. I don't think any of the KC QB's will be able to pass without hitting a Raider in the face with the football. Oh well, another long season for the Chiefs. There are about 150 people in this contest, it's better odds then the lottery.
Last year I was in a bracket contest for the same ball team of Logan's where you filled out the NCAA bracket for March Madness. I finished just ahead of those people that paid their money but never filled out the bracket, so I didn't come in last--really.
I am sitting here with the window open enjoying the cool morning air and listening to the Central High Band as they are preparing for the game tonight. We live almost two miles from the school, but it is that calm outside, kind of neat though.
We have two grandchildren that have birthdays next week, Hayden will be 8 and Hanna will be 7. I tell you this to tell this, Hanna is 7 as I mentioned and I have the most trouble with spelling her name correctly. I want to spell it Hana, don't know why but every time we change computers and I re-enter all our info, I spell it wrong again. Don't make fun, you will be old someday too.
I commented sometime ago how friends and other people I know were dying or very sick. Daughter Monica stated, "well Dad you are at that age", thanks for putting it all in perspective for me Monica, it's just what I needed. Daughter Monica has never been one to hold any punches, I have no idea where she gets it!!
We are talking about the possibility of enlarging our home, in size not persons. We would like to build on all across the back of the house and add a dinning room, second bath and new bedroom for us. Then we could move the office into our current bedroom and move the laundry from basement to upstairs. Again we are getting older and will need this done or move sometime in the future. Like I said, we are just thinking at this point.
Well, that's about enough of nothing so I will sign off and just say to all that read this, we love you and hope good health to you.
Jim
Football--I am in a football contest to raise money for grandson Logan's ball team. You pick the winning NFL team you want each week and if they win you go on. Once you pick a winning team, you can not pick the same team to win again. If not you are out unless it is in the the first 3 weeks, then you can buy back in and try again. I think I may just pick any team playing the Chiefs, hate to but they SUCK big time. I picked the Chargers over the Raiders in week one and had to stay up till after midnight to help SD pull it out. Then, I couldn't go to sleep, all wound up. This week I picked the Raiders over the Chiefs based on how the Raiders D-line played. I figure the Chiefs will have negative yards rushing and may be down to their #4 QB by games end. The Raiders will spend more time in the KC backfield then the KC backfield. I don't think any of the KC QB's will be able to pass without hitting a Raider in the face with the football. Oh well, another long season for the Chiefs. There are about 150 people in this contest, it's better odds then the lottery.
Last year I was in a bracket contest for the same ball team of Logan's where you filled out the NCAA bracket for March Madness. I finished just ahead of those people that paid their money but never filled out the bracket, so I didn't come in last--really.
I am sitting here with the window open enjoying the cool morning air and listening to the Central High Band as they are preparing for the game tonight. We live almost two miles from the school, but it is that calm outside, kind of neat though.
We have two grandchildren that have birthdays next week, Hayden will be 8 and Hanna will be 7. I tell you this to tell this, Hanna is 7 as I mentioned and I have the most trouble with spelling her name correctly. I want to spell it Hana, don't know why but every time we change computers and I re-enter all our info, I spell it wrong again. Don't make fun, you will be old someday too.
I commented sometime ago how friends and other people I know were dying or very sick. Daughter Monica stated, "well Dad you are at that age", thanks for putting it all in perspective for me Monica, it's just what I needed. Daughter Monica has never been one to hold any punches, I have no idea where she gets it!!
We are talking about the possibility of enlarging our home, in size not persons. We would like to build on all across the back of the house and add a dinning room, second bath and new bedroom for us. Then we could move the office into our current bedroom and move the laundry from basement to upstairs. Again we are getting older and will need this done or move sometime in the future. Like I said, we are just thinking at this point.
Well, that's about enough of nothing so I will sign off and just say to all that read this, we love you and hope good health to you.
Jim
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Sleep
Well, here it is 3 AM and I am wide awake, I wasn't untill I got up at 2 PM and went to BR. Then when I got back in bed I couldn't get comfortable. I finally got comfortable around 2:45 and then I started coughing. By the time I looked all through my 2 drawers in my night stand to find cough drops and not finding any, I just got up and came to the computer. Good grief!!! I seem to have a lot of trouble sleeping lately, probably not enough activity during the day.
Enough complaining about sleep, now what do I talk about?
I am listening to sport talk radio in the background, they are talking about mistakes we have made in life. Of course they are concerned about mistakes that happened in sports. It all started with the football game last night with a play where Bret Favre put a cheep chop block on an opposing player. I went to sleep before the game was over, maybe that is why I'm up this early.
Well, I don't want to get into my mistakes in my life because I would not know where to begin. Although mistakes have been many I have ended up with a wonderful life.
We watched a movie the other day that was about The Five People You Meet In Heaven. I sure hope heaven is the way it was in the movie. I won't go into the story, but I recommend it to everyone.
Gob bless all that spends time reading my blog.
Enough complaining about sleep, now what do I talk about?
I am listening to sport talk radio in the background, they are talking about mistakes we have made in life. Of course they are concerned about mistakes that happened in sports. It all started with the football game last night with a play where Bret Favre put a cheep chop block on an opposing player. I went to sleep before the game was over, maybe that is why I'm up this early.
Well, I don't want to get into my mistakes in my life because I would not know where to begin. Although mistakes have been many I have ended up with a wonderful life.
We watched a movie the other day that was about The Five People You Meet In Heaven. I sure hope heaven is the way it was in the movie. I won't go into the story, but I recommend it to everyone.
Gob bless all that spends time reading my blog.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Love of family!!!
My sister and her husband are visiting this week and it has shown me again how much I love our family. We are blessed to have our children and all their children, 13 grand children, their spouses and all of our in-laws. I doubt that there are too many people that can truly say they love all their family and extended family members. But, in our case we can say that we truly do. My wife has nine siblings and they too are wonderful people and I love them all.
We don't get much occasions where we get to have my sister and her husband visit for a whole week, but she is here and now I don't want her to leave on Monday. We have had so much fun that I just don't want it to end. We plan to go see them next spring and we may stay for a month or two.
Now that the weekend is here, most of our children and their families are here to visit. We even have a great nephew and his lovely little almost two year old daughter here. Lets see, I guess she would be our great-great niece wouldn't she. Well, whatever, we love her too.
The only thing that could make it even better is if my oldest daughter and her family were here and also my sisters two daughters with their families.
Well, we will take what we get and praise the Lord for the opportunity.
God bless all that read this and have a great week.
We don't get much occasions where we get to have my sister and her husband visit for a whole week, but she is here and now I don't want her to leave on Monday. We have had so much fun that I just don't want it to end. We plan to go see them next spring and we may stay for a month or two.
Now that the weekend is here, most of our children and their families are here to visit. We even have a great nephew and his lovely little almost two year old daughter here. Lets see, I guess she would be our great-great niece wouldn't she. Well, whatever, we love her too.
The only thing that could make it even better is if my oldest daughter and her family were here and also my sisters two daughters with their families.
Well, we will take what we get and praise the Lord for the opportunity.
God bless all that read this and have a great week.
Monday, July 20, 2009
I'll change if I want!!!!
I have decided that there are some things that I just may change if I want to. The biggest, no pun intended, is how I look at my weight. I have decided that I will convert to the metric system where I am only 185 kilograms.
I bet the entire metric system was invented by some over weight Englishman who had the idea to not admit how much he really weighs. So, if it works for him, it will work for me. Just another way to look at life more positively.
Now if I could just find something to measure my girth with, I'll convert that to the metric system also. At one time in my life I swore I would never convert, but never say never.
Have a good day to all!!!
I bet the entire metric system was invented by some over weight Englishman who had the idea to not admit how much he really weighs. So, if it works for him, it will work for me. Just another way to look at life more positively.
Now if I could just find something to measure my girth with, I'll convert that to the metric system also. At one time in my life I swore I would never convert, but never say never.
Have a good day to all!!!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Blessed
I am really blessed by so many things that I just have to say thank you to God for making it all possible. People always wonder, "how things might have been if"........ It is my belief that if only one small thing had been changed in your life, you would not be who or where you are today. It's kind of like building a wall, if it is off by an eighth of an inch on one end, it may be off by several inches on the other depending of course on how long the wall is in the first place. So it is with life!!! Change just one little thing in your life when you were 18 and by the time you are 20 years older it could have become a very big thing. Think of all the people in trouble with the law, if they had made just one right decision, they may have avoided a life of trouble.
As an example I will give you my story of how my life could have been very different.
When I was 21 I met my first wife on a blind date. That is nothing strange, as a lot of people meet via the blind date, but in my case, I didn't date all that much and in fact the person that set the date up was not even one of my good friends, so much so that I don't even know his name now. He worked at a BBQ shack and I just happened to be in there one day and he was talking to his girlfriend on the phone and she was telling him that she knew a girl that wanted to meet someone and he turned to me and asked me if I wanted to date this girl. For some reason, I accepted the date. The first small thing that would have changed my life had I not accepted.
We dated only about 3 months when I asked her to marry me and she accepted. Thing #2
On the night of our wedding, just before it in fact, she wanted to back out and I talked her into going ahead with the marriage. Thing #3
We were married about a year and a half when my aunt suggested I come to Wichita with her and get a job at Boeing. Which I did. Thing #4
By the time of the move, we had had a son and she had brought a daughter to our marriage in the beginning. While living in Wichita we also had a daughter.
In 1975 while working for Sears, I accepted a job in the Sears store in Salina. Thing #5.
In 1980 we were divorced. Thing #6
My future wife had also been divorced and was working at the Sears store. Thing #7
I had asked her two times for a date and she had turned me down, saying she was not ready to date. I decided to ask her one more time and if turned down would not ask again, but she accepted. Thing #8
We dated for 2 years and 3 months before getting married. She also brought a daughter to the marriage. If we had not married, Thing #9.
So, in my life there have been at least 9 times when any one of those things I have mentioned were changed, then all the rest to follow would have not occurred and I would not have the worlds best wife, the worlds best 4 children and the most wonderful 13 grandchildren. Not to mention all the great in-laws that I now have.
There have been other things that have occurred that could have drastically changed my life, had it not for been the intervention of God and doctors.
So who knows where I would have been today, had I not accepted a blind date solely on a whim.
I believe it to be a master plan that only God has, and I am so thankful.
As an example I will give you my story of how my life could have been very different.
When I was 21 I met my first wife on a blind date. That is nothing strange, as a lot of people meet via the blind date, but in my case, I didn't date all that much and in fact the person that set the date up was not even one of my good friends, so much so that I don't even know his name now. He worked at a BBQ shack and I just happened to be in there one day and he was talking to his girlfriend on the phone and she was telling him that she knew a girl that wanted to meet someone and he turned to me and asked me if I wanted to date this girl. For some reason, I accepted the date. The first small thing that would have changed my life had I not accepted.
We dated only about 3 months when I asked her to marry me and she accepted. Thing #2
On the night of our wedding, just before it in fact, she wanted to back out and I talked her into going ahead with the marriage. Thing #3
We were married about a year and a half when my aunt suggested I come to Wichita with her and get a job at Boeing. Which I did. Thing #4
By the time of the move, we had had a son and she had brought a daughter to our marriage in the beginning. While living in Wichita we also had a daughter.
In 1975 while working for Sears, I accepted a job in the Sears store in Salina. Thing #5.
In 1980 we were divorced. Thing #6
My future wife had also been divorced and was working at the Sears store. Thing #7
I had asked her two times for a date and she had turned me down, saying she was not ready to date. I decided to ask her one more time and if turned down would not ask again, but she accepted. Thing #8
We dated for 2 years and 3 months before getting married. She also brought a daughter to the marriage. If we had not married, Thing #9.
So, in my life there have been at least 9 times when any one of those things I have mentioned were changed, then all the rest to follow would have not occurred and I would not have the worlds best wife, the worlds best 4 children and the most wonderful 13 grandchildren. Not to mention all the great in-laws that I now have.
There have been other things that have occurred that could have drastically changed my life, had it not for been the intervention of God and doctors.
So who knows where I would have been today, had I not accepted a blind date solely on a whim.
I believe it to be a master plan that only God has, and I am so thankful.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Is this Monday or Tuesday
As the wife and I get older, we seem to have a problem with keeping the day of the week straight. If anything is out of normal, we are thrown into that space where Sunday is Monday or Saturday is Friday or whatever. If one of our kids comes to see us on any day but Saturday or Sunday, then we are confused for the rest of the week. We have the newspaper and the computer to keep us straight, as well as at least one clock in the office, but if we are not in the office on the computer then we may not know what day of the week it is. In fact, we can get it straight and a short time later not know what day it is again. This may go on all day or all week, you just never know. I would like to brag that there may be some weeks where this doesn't happen, but I better not make that statement because it will come back to haunt me and this I am sure of.
If anyone can tell us a pill to take that will help, please call and tell us. A friend
recommended taking Vitamin E. Well after several bottles of vitamin E, we are no better and now our doctor wants us to switch to fish oil. I don't know if he knows why we were taking the E or not, but he didn't say the fish oil would help our memory or not. Considering the size of the capsule, it may clear something else up, if you get my drift.
Now, what was I writing about?
If anyone can tell us a pill to take that will help, please call and tell us. A friend
recommended taking Vitamin E. Well after several bottles of vitamin E, we are no better and now our doctor wants us to switch to fish oil. I don't know if he knows why we were taking the E or not, but he didn't say the fish oil would help our memory or not. Considering the size of the capsule, it may clear something else up, if you get my drift.
Now, what was I writing about?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
