'Tis the Season

Thanks have been given so last night I ventured up to the attic and we began preparations for Jesus' birthday celebration.

Infirmary on Oak Chase Trail

We've all had the crud this week. I don't know if that's a real illness, but that's what my mama always called it. I thought it had climaxed a couple of days ago and we were on the mend, but last night was no so bueno.
I've had a bad bout with sinus pressure so that my eyeballs and my teeth hurt, but I feel better than I have the last couple of days.
Georgia threw up in her bed three or four times last night. Annie threw up a couple of times just before Leslie and I went to bed. Leslie started tossing her stomache contents in the wee hours of the morning. Jones slept through it all and seems to be unaffected today, though she had some trouble a couple of days ago.
Pray for us that we might be restored to our much wanted and needed health and for some ready recollection too.

The Older I Get the Smarter I Was

Last year our Christmas gift to ourselves was a new video camera. I never did take the time to figure out how to do much with it, but I've decided to overcome my technical difficulties. On the right side of the page you will now see a video bar where you will be able to click and see our family in action.

A Round Trip

Most people don't know much about the railroad except what they see when they have to wait on a train at a crossing so I thought I'd document a round trip and make a post out of it. I didn't feel very well and didn't get very good pictures, but here it is anyway........

The phone rang at 4:45 am for me to be on duty at 6:15.
The train arrived in Temple and we changed crews, then had to wait for the engines to be fueled. Each of them holds about 4500 gallons of diesel fuel. We had three engines for a total of 13,200 horsepower pulling 78 loaded tank cars (weighing in at 10200 tons) of diesel. Total train length was 4897 feet. A relatively short heavy train.
Once we were fueled up and got a track warrant to move west toward Sweetwater we departed Temple at 7:05
We stayed on the move until we got to Castor, a siding about 85 miles from Temple, where we had to stop to meet an east bound train. We were there for about 45 minutes and that's where most of these pictures were taken.


This was our lead unit.

A not so good picture of our train.

This is the train we met at Castor, BNSF 7708

We continued on to Brownwood and then on to Sweetwater without stopping. We arrived at 2:30 in the afternoon. A pretty good trip. 246 miles, 8 1/2 hours on duty. I had been feeling the signs of a cold coming on for a couple of days and it had really hit me by the time we got to Sweetwater. I took some medicine and went to bed, but couldn't sleep very well. Fortunately we were ordered on a deadhead home at 10:00 pm. (Just get in a van and ride back to Temple.) Back home and in bed in the wee hours of the morning.

It's now Saturday morning and I'll probably go to work around 1:00 this afternoon. I was awarded a bid to a Ft Worth job while I was gone on my last trip so that's where I'll be headed today. Still snotty and have a sore head and throat, but I feel better than I did yesterday.

A view through the windshield and the engineer's seat and controlstand.

Thursday Morning Life

Daddy taking pictures of the morning.

Mommy in the shower.

Annie investigating everything.

Georgia looking for mischief.

Jones and her look of the day.

Lipstick

Jonesy got into some Mary Kay samples.......

RVS_7

As per request I'll begin a series of posts about RVS.....

Ours could be seen as a strange friendship......He doesn't like outside, he doesn't like Texas, doesn't hunt or fish. He wears a tie to work everyday. He loves video games.

In spite of all of this we have been close friends almost fifteen years. He is a man of God. He is loyal. He appreciates good music, and even attended a Willie concert with me once upon a time. I love his family. His dad officiated the wedding of me to my wife. His mom is one of the most brilliant minds I've ever known... http://www.latayne.com/ His sister drips with niceness. His wife has been a friend to my wife. He was there when my first child was born. He makes me laugh, and if you ever need someone for your volleyball team he's pretty good. He'll tell you so himself.

I'll Try

Some of you have heard me comment on this before, but I heard this song again yesterday morning on the way to work and it was brought to my mind again.....

In 1995 Alan Jackson released a song called "I'll Try". I was in college and was pretty smart at the time and thought it was one of the dumbest songs I'd ever heard. My thinking was, "instead of saying you'll try, why don't you promise that you will."

Thirteen years later....."I'm married with three daughters of my own" and now I realize that he knew what he was talking about when he wrote that song. I know a lot of guys who promised to love, honor, and cherish, but quit trying and their marriages fell apart. I never read Rick Warren's "Purpose Drive Life", but I've browsed it and I think the general idea was that you have to live life on purpose, with intent, not just float around and expect things to work out. I think Mr. Jackson understood this concept. Marriage is not easy, it's not always romantic, it takes work, patience, and forgiveness......lots of trying.

If you are unfamiliar with the song and would like to hear it click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifOSMMqWCdY