Happy Thanksgiving

Dear God

Today we sit before you and give you thanks for your generosity and for the lives you've given us.

Thank You for your blessings and for this feast today. Thank You for our homes, our family and for our friends that have become family.

Thank You for our health, our work and our play.

Thank You too for the simple things, like the beach and our gardens and the warm sun; for being able to sit and read, or to sit and just watch our children.

Sometimes we forget you are there - Thank You for helping us even then - even if it means we make it just one more day with our heads above water and to still be with the ones we love.

Thank You for bringing our family and friends home safely from war.

As we sit here, blessed to have this meal before us and a roof over our heads, please send help to those who are hungry, alone, sick and suffering. Help open our hearts to your love, Lord; may we find ourselves better off in the year ahead, where even we can help those in need, like the many that helped us in our own trying times.

We humbly as for your continued blessings, through Christ your Son, Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen

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My Ruby Girl - Intro

I'm a Dog guy.

Not fond of cats, but if the cat struts like a dog, then that cat's okay. I'm a dog guy. Not a fish guy. Not a parakeet guy. Definitely not a snake and lizard kind of guy. I did have a guinea pig once, named Yazstremski, but even really cool guinea pigs can stink things up pretty good. I prefer dogs.

I don't like little dogs that yip and eat panties and prance. I don't like dogs that need to be tied to a tree and kept outside. I don't like dogs with different colored eyes that stare and growl. I am a frisbee guy, but I don't want a frisbee-dog. I prefer my discs without bite marks.

I am a big-brown-eyed-dog-kind-of-guy.

I've been lucky. I've had some great dogs.

Growing up, our family always had a dog. Belinda. Lucky. Nani. Good dogs. Well, wait - Nani, which means Pretty in Hawaiian, was a good dog, but not very well behaved. She was a German Shepard and if she got past you and the front door was open, she'd bolt. I didn't like that about her. Even as much as she felt like she was "my" dog, I hated roaming the neighborhood for her. But we had this routine each night, when she'd hear me say it was time for me to go to bed - I was in high school - she'd get up, head down the hall, check in on my brothers and sisters and then meet me in my room to go to sleep. She slept on my bed. My room smelled like Nani. Not particularly a good thing. But I loved Nani.

We also had a chicken - a big Rhode Island Red name Chickee-Poo, and she and Nani were like Best Buds. Chickee-Poo was way cool, and was almost dog-like, herself. I have a picture somewhere of Nani laying down and Chickee-Poo up on top of Nani scratching her fur like chickens do in a barnyard. But we were in a suburban neighborhood in a backyard in Sacramento.

My next dog was named Gitus. Gitus ate Chickee-Poo. Seriously. And, No, we are not going to go there.

Then came Shanda and Roselyn.

Shanda was a shepard mix and a true "Lady." Roselyn was a Lab/Irish Setter mix and a freak of nature. But in the best possible way. What an odd pair they made.

When I brought Roselyn home as a puppy, it was supposed to be a big surprise. But I think coming home late from work during an ice storm, covered in thirteen rather large piles of dog puke, was really the big surprise.

Shanda had been abused as a puppy and spent most of her puppy months under a porch until we got her. She became my Lady. She never hid under the deck with us, except when Scary Uncle Tom house-sat for us, but that's a whole 'nother story.

Shanda became the best dog I thought I could ever, ever have. She really was my Lady.

And then came Ruby....

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More to follow...

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San Diego

San Diego
The Beach Stylers
Ocean Beach, CA
Nov. 14-15, 2009

Wow.

Talk about amazing.

Thank You PK & Murf.

I also connected with BT from Connecticut, whom I haven't seen in at least 10 years. That was Huge.

What an amazingly fun weekend spent with Friends that feel like Family.

Big ZZZ's.

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San Diego

"Friends Don't Let Friends Drink & Dial"

About a month ago, my good friends Murf & PK were at the AZ States Frisbee Tournament. My phone rang, and forgetting the time difference between here and there, I answered.

Two hours later, my phone rings again. When I am asked if I prefer an aisle seat or a window seat, I am convinced I am going to San Diego.

Scared as hell, I wake my wife..."bring me back a Koozie..."is about all she said.

Wow. A month later, here it is. I leave tomorrow afternoon for a Frisbee Tournament on the beach in San Diego.

Friendship.

There is SO much I want to say...

Yet, I am completely at a loss for words.

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The Sea & Sky Spectacular

The Sea & Sky Spectacular
November 6-8, 2009
Jacksonville Beach
Featuring The Blue Angels

Murf was here. Happy Birthday PK. We love you Grandma Kenny. Dinners were awesome. The winds provided hein jams. The Margaritas and Guacamole were the best. The Boys had a blast.

Including this one. What an excellent weekend.

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