Long nights...impossible odds

Wow...what a day! 8 loads of laundry, replaced kitchen faucet, trip to the grocery store for supplies, cooked dinner, cleaned the kitchen after. I make one hell of a wife...

Lovely spring day today, but I wasn't able to enjoy a bit of it. My doc says my active vitamin D is low, so I could definitely use some sunshine. Most days I could be a vampire and not miss a beat. I usually go to work in the dark, and come home in the dark. Need to make a change. Think I'll spend my Sunday out in the man-cave, if I can get the tv to work again. A broken tv may be God's way of telling me to get off my lazy butt and do something. I know, a few hours reminding myself why I don't play golf more often. That would put me in the sun, but it's so HOT. Oh well...

The 'Chalenge' Leaderboard-3/26/10

I'm working on a new home for the leaderboard, and it should be done soon...bear with me.


Winner Points
Ceanne 59
Lynette 39
Debra 31
Marcia 31
Glynna 23
Marie 22
Julie 11
Angie 10
Ann 10
Eric 10
Roger 9
Annette 7
Felix 7
Karoletha 7
Chris 6
Bill 6
Marla R 6
Adia 5
Karrie 5
Lillian 4
Jake 3
Cherrie 3
Marcus 3
Marla DR 2
Lisa 2
Shawn 2
LaDonna 1
Scott 1
Sharon 1
Christy 1

D.U.T.I. Leaders

***D.U.T.I Challenge Leaderboard***
March 23, 2010

OK, I've been threatening for a while, so here is the new board.


Winner Points

Ceanne 59

Lynette 36

Debra 31

Marcia 31

Glynna 23

Marie 18

Julie 11

Angie 10

Ann 10

Eric 9

Annette 7

Felix 7

Karoletha 7

Bill 6

Chris 6

Marla 6

Adia 5

Karrie 5

Lillian 4

Jake 3

Marcus 3

Cherrie 3

Marla DR 2

Shawn 2

Sharon 1

Scott 1

LaDonna 1

Christy 1

Oz don't need no lucky...

I was out the other night and met a friend that I had not seen in 20 or so years. We sat and talked over a cup of coffee for a while. It was great to catch up, compare war stories, and generally try to get each other to remember people and events long-forgotten. It was a great time, so thanks, Sharon.

It got me to thinking...how did I loose contact with so many people that I was close to at one time or another? Really strange, when I look back, how often it happened. Here's a good example.

I grew up in a small town in SE Oklahoma. When we moved there, I was about 6 years old, and, of course, knew nobody. The second kid that I met was Maurice. He and I became fast friends, and we were together from Head Start (poor people's kindergarten) thru high school. We even spent a year or two in college together. Then I lost touch with him. We got together at a class reunion or two, and I got a couple of Christmas cards from him, but I never knew where he was or how he was doing. And, sadly enough, I never made much effort to find out. I was too busy living my own life, but Maurice as one of the people who helped me find my way in this old world during those turbulent teen-aged days. He probably didn't know it at the time (and neither did I for that matter), but he taught me a lot. Long story short, I got back in touch with him recently, and as it turns out, he lives about 20 minutes from me. Crazy stuff!

I suppose it's because I'm a little older, and hopefully wiser, but I'm beginning to really wonder about the people that I grew up with. I want to know that they are OK. I want them to know that I think about them often. I especially want to thank them for all that they have done to help me on this little road trip. I know that in the grand scheme of things, my life is fairly inconsequential, but it's a pretty big deal in my world. I could not have done what little I have accomplished without lots of help from friends, many of whom had no idea that they were helping to make a person. To those people, I owe a debt of gratitude that I can never repay. Instead, I'll follow their fine examples, and I'll be a friend to someone, and maybe I can return the favor in some small way.

When my kids were growing up, I tried to get them to understand that the people you choose to be associated with were the people that would help to define who you would become. I hoped and prayed that they would look below the surface and pick friends that would be around no matter what. My kids did ok, they choose well. Looks like they took after dear old Dad, because I have great friends too. Rest assured, friends, if you're out there, I'll find you.

I guess the point to all of this is, if you choose your friends wisely and pay attention to what they are trying to teach you, 'lucky' just may be optional. Yeah, it's pretty sappy...blame it on being 50.

Love you all!

RD

Another DUTI Challenge Leaderboard. I'll write something new this weekend, I promise...like anyone will read it!

Winner Points
Ceanne 59
Lynette 34
Debra 31
Marcia 24
Glynna 22
Julie 11
Ann 10
Marie 9
Roger 8
Angie 7
Annette 7
Felix 7
Karoletha 7
Eric 6
Bill 6
Marla R 6
Chris 6
Adia 5
Karrie 5
Lillian 4
Cherrie 3
Jake 3
Marcus 3
Marla D R 2
Lisa 2
Shawn 2
LaDonna 1
Scott 1
Sharon 1
Christy 1

********DUTI Challenge Leaderboard******

Here's the latest. We have some new players that are on fire, so watch out for the newbies! Then again, you guys have some work to do to catch Ceanne...


Ceanne 59
Lynette 33
Debra 31
Glynna 21
Marcia 21
Julie 11
Ann 10
Roger 8
Angie 7
Annette 7
Felix 7
Karoletha 7
Bill 6
Marla R 6
Chris 6
Eric 5
Adia 5
Marie 5
Lillian 4
Cherrie 3
Jake 3
Marcus 3
Marla D R 3
Shawn 2
Lisa 2
LaDonna 1
Scott 1
Sharon 1
Christy 1

Hey... I had lunch with 5 (yes, 5!) absolutely delightful ladies over the weekend. There was a bit of discussion about me being the only man in a gaggle of women. Back a few months ago, I put down some thoughts about women on a FaceBook notes page, thought it was worth re-posting.


...whatever works.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 7:28pm

When I was just a young lad, women were important to me. I caught on quite quickly that it would continue to be so for years to come. I didn't know how important...


I've come to the realization that women now RUN my life. Not all women, just a select few. It's not a bad thing, believe it or not. It actually simplifies things. There are about 10 of them; my wife, my mother, my wife's mother, my daughter, my grand daughter, my sister, my boss, HER boss, a couple of really good friends are in the club. As long as these ladies are relatively happy with me, then life rocks along quite smoothly. One of them is unhappy with me, and I have to find out what went south and fix it quick, or things get dicey.

There are some things that have to be in place for me to operate with the reckless abandon that I run with. Keep straight with the women in my life, and just roll with it.

...whatever works.

After this weekend, I fear that the list will grow longer still. Does that mean I have to turn in my man-card? Now, where did it put that thing...

I was born a ramblin' man.

Well, we just finished another stirring round of the DUTI Challenge, and we had all of 1 participant. I wonder if people are getting tired of it? Hope not, lots of fun for me. I'll just keep on a-pitchin'. I've had a few people post that they enjoy remembering the music, so I'll keep posting for them, at least.

Sometimes I play 'what if'. C'mon, you know you have to. What if I had worked harder in high school? What if I had gone to a different college? What if I had asked the girl out like I started to? Interesting concept, but would you end up much different than you are now?
I don't know. Maybe some food for thought?

Here's something you didn't know. I do A LOT of role-playing in my head. You know, run thru different scenes, real and imagined, just to see how they end up in my little fantasy world. Comes in handy sometimes. I often find myself in situation similar to one of my little screen plays, and it really helps to have practiced a bit, it makes the snappy comeback seem so natural. I wonder, if things don't end well for me in these little sagas, does that mean I'm just not all that smart? If you are writing a story, it seems like it would be difficult to not have good things happen to you, Maybe I'm just more creative than your average bear.
Prolly not.

Anybody know of a good 12-step program for 'Farmville' on FaceBook? My wife is a degenerate junkie...I just don't get it, but I like MMA, and some folks don't get that. Whatever keeps peace in the valley, I always say.

I just saw an article on CNN.com regarding a debate about whether bars in Brooklyn should allow people to bring in their kids. The comments should be quite entertaining...stay tuned.

DUTI Challenge Update

Wow...working on the 3rd month of this insanity. I can't believe that people are still interested in playing. Go figure. In any case, thank you all for dropping by. Haven't posted a leader board in a while, so here it is.

Ceanne 57
Debra 30
Lynette 28
Marcia 20
Glynna 16
Julie 11
Roger 8
Annette 7
Felix 7
Karoletha 7
Angie 6
Adia 5
Marla 5
Ann 5
Chris 4
Lillian 4
Bill 4
Marcus 3
Jake 3
Cherrie 3
Shawn 2
Marla R 2
Lisa 2
Sharon 1
Scott 1
Christy 1
LaDonna 1

This is getting to be hard work, but I love it. Thanks again to all the players, no challenge without you. Love you all,

RD