Sighting of a rare and special thing....

Yes sightings of rare things do happen, some might even call it a miracle. But yes, it indeed happened. On July 13th, 2008 the Jackson family had Sunday dinner. No not popcorn, hotdogs, ramen or the like, a real sunday dinner with roast, mashed potatoes, a veggie and yorkshire pudding and of course gravy. The kids asked what this was...I reminded them that back when we used to live by the Bundersons in Springville we ate Sunday dinner like this every week. After we moved to Ferron, Sunday dinner hasn't been the same. In almost four years of living here, I think that on that fine day, of July 13th may have been the 5th time that we had Sunday dinner. Good things do come back to those who wait, I have been waiting for awhile for this and it was good. Note for anyone who cares...the raost isn't burnt, that was the result of a rub.... So for those of you out there , longing for sunday dinner of old...never give up hope, because miracles do happen!!!

Dog days...

Well here we are, first of July. No Football on TV only baseball. Not really a fan so, guess I have to go weed and do yard work I guess. Family is home so that is good, it is always nice to get them home and get back to regular life. Not really a fan of heat, starting to get heated up after a realatively cool start to summer. But guess we knew it was coming. Maybe I can sweat some of this weight off! Got Wii Fit, it is very interesting, seems to me more like a winter thing that would keep you active, too much to do outside while warm, but it is pretty fun none the less. I guess I will have to keep pulling the kids in the bike trailer on my bike in the dead heat of the day. Yes, Saylor wanted to go ride and so we did, actually not that bad but was warm no doubt.

At last...an update....

I know, I know. It has been sometime since I posted last. So for the legions of readers out there (primarily for aunt Patti) I give unto you......an update. Where to begin?
--Lets get the most obvious not making much progress subject out of the way, weight. Lets see I first posted about this on 4/8/08, since then I have weighed in a handful of times...here they are: 247,252,248,253 (most current). Apparently I have a 5 pound window. So now that is out of the way......
--Latest thing that seems to fall into the hesitant left hand turners annoyance category:lenders not giving money in the amount that I already have and have no problem paying back, just want to consolidate all into one place...I understand if my credit report was freaking whacked out and filled with late or non payment issues, but come on..I will pay on time and everytime, just let me get it all in one place. I am sure there were at least two other things that I had in mind that I wanted to blog about, at this moment in time...can't think of them.
--Currently bach'ing it. Wife and kids are in AZ. with the family down there. I will admit, time alone is nice, I can get things done without too much distraction, but given the chance to have bachelor hood again of family life that I have...I wouldn't give up my current situation for nothing, not even a million dollars, although I would give the cc debt up if someone really wants to take it, no really I would. So anyhow, Allison and kids, I do love you and I do miss you. See you soon... ;)
--New cravings, or food likes...pistachios and Uncle Bens rice pudding...matter of fact, I could really go for the rice pudding right now, but...as I glance up three sections to the aforementioned weights...I will resist. But this Pepsi in shaved ice (a little concoction my wife started making) isn't going anywhere (see addiction...where is the settlement???) AH HAH!!! And I just found the large bag of pistachios that my beautiful wife bought for me...life is good, yes it is.
--At this moment in time totally random thought...how about the a** kicking the Celtics are administering on the Lakers? I've always been a closet C fan, no really, honestly. OK not really but I like reading Bill Simmons and he is a huge Celtics fan so does that count? Note I added the Bill Simmons widget from ESPN.
--Another annoying thing...pistachios that aren't opened, at all. I can handle the partially opened ones, unless it isn't enough to get a thumbnail in to pry open, in that case it is as good as closed, and tossed aside as there are perfectly pre opened nuts waiting to be consumed...
--Beginning to realize that I have great vision about how I want my yard to look but I am lacking something...initiative? no I don't mind yard work. Tools? For sure lacking in that area but I think the biggest problem is fundage. OK so I have a legit excuse for why my own garden of eden in Ferron UT probably won't be completed anytime soon. Conscious cleared...
--I am not a politicaly smart guy by any means...but can the country be any stupider if we actually vote in Obama as president? Heaven help us all. Although he is all about entitlement and forgiving the debt of the in over our head debtors...so.....wait nope, I won't do it I ain't that stupid. Rush Limbaugh, please save us all and wake the country up out of the stupor that we seem to be in.
--OK, 30 plus point win to close out the series...seriously, if I hear one more person compare Kobe to Jordan I am going to puke. Kobe is good, give him props, Jordan was phenomanal. End of story.
--If you're looking for a miracle open you eyes, there was one this morning just about sunrise. Dawn came breaking like a wave on the sea, and its there for you and me. (if anyone can indentify where that came from, I will buy them a soda pop next time I see them) But I would like to add to that, or watch your kids playing and laughing, even misbehaving, little miracles in and of themselves. Until next time...

Don't blink....

Don't blink...what a song. But what a message. Not only does life happen fast, but it can change in a hurry also. Life is great no matter how we look at it. Sure, there are problems here, problems there, but all in all haven't we got it good? Lately I have been thinking a lot about life and how fast it can change. I had a companion in LA, we had a hell of a time. Haven't talked to him in years, and I ran across a story on KSL.com about his family and the trial they are going through. I have been lost in a fog of holy crap life can change so fast don't take it for granted. A link to their blog about their boy Charlie is listed under my favorite links, read it, I guarantee you won't finish with a dry eye. And then, you too will have that feeling of, holy crap life can change in an instant, I better start appreciating what I got. It is hard, life is hard, but is it really? Even since I have had this hit of reality, I still find myself getting upset at my kids over the dumbest things, or not taking time to read that last book, or not taking that 5 minutes to take my wife in my arms and hold her, no need to talk, she will know that I am telling her that I love her and appreciate her. But still, I let those moments pass by each and everyday. Why? Because I am human, and haven't perfected the skill of forgetting myself and serving others at all times. Probably never will, but when you do little things for anyone, you can feel it, you know what I am talking about, it feels good to your soul. When trials come my way, will I face it with an rotten attitude or look at it as an opportunity to learn something? I hope it is the latter. I know Rob will probably never read this but, buddy, you and your family have been an inspiration to me, and I hope I can take that and become a better person, a more loving, kind, caring husband, father and friend. Change is inevitable, but if we are doing the best we can in this life, we will get through the changes, we will learn from them and add another notch in the lifes experiences pole and move on, hopefully better people than we were before hand. One way we can assure that we are doing all we can is by trying to incorporate the following saying into our lifes, this came from Sister Lexi Judd and I have used it many times since: work like it all depends on us and pray like it all depends on him. Now, go on and do it, keep you head up an remember take every breath god gives you for what its worth...and don't blink.

Reunited with and old friend.....

So I have to say that I was reunited with an old friend this weekend. We used to hang out all the time, seemed everytime I ate he was around. For the past 3 years I have missed him, and finally on Sunday, we bbq'd some burgers and I thought I am gonna invite an old friend and boy did I miss him. I forgot how good Red Beans and Rice really is, simple to make, somewhat healthy and mighty tasty. It's good to have old friends come back around...interested well here you go http://shop.zatarains.com/zatarains®-red-beans-rice-p-882.html or you could simply go to the local grocery store and pickup some for tonight, you won't be disappointed I promise...

Enough is enough....

Alright, I have come to the conclusion that just like nobody is going to give me money to get out of debt, nothing is going to magically take away about 40lbs that I would like to lose, well ok make it an even 56 pounds. If I could get back to 200 even I would be so happy. The past week I gained 4 lbs, I am sure that eating out, drinking gallons of pepsi and then half dozen krispy kreme donuts had nothing to do with it, no, nothing at all. But as I stood there on that scale, looking at the increase in only a week, little kids running around, knee killing me cause I kneeled on it the wrong way, I thought to myself, you better wake up and do something about this.

So here I am confessing to whomever reads this (although I am not sure if anyone at all reads it except my beautiful wife on occassion) I am done with it. I am going to give it my all to achieve the goal of 200. I am giving myself a year, that seems like an attainable goal at this point in my life. So this time next year I will weigh 200. I am not going on any freak fad diet, I am just going to start being more active, limit my intake of Pepsi, and watch what I eat. I did it before I got married, I walked my dog everyday almost for 1/2 hour, limited pepsi to one can a day or sometimes none at all (although on weekends I would drink more usually) but I lost 10 lbs in a month, so I know I can do it, but I also know it ain't going to get any easier the older I get...so wish me luck.....

ClamatoMac

I like to cook. If I had the money, I would open a restaurant and do that for a living. I like to BBQ, and I would love to learn how to smoke some good ole pork butt and brisket. But I also like cooking simple things, and one of my favorite is the following:
Boil up some pasta, either elbow mac or some twisty noodles
Drain them and then cover in Clamato juice. I like adding a crushed chicken bouillon cube also. Warm it up and enjoy. I can eat this until I am sick....