Fire!!!

This is my oven. Innocent looking isn't it? But looks are deceiving!!

This morning, I decided to clean my oven. It's a self-cleaning oven, which means, once you start the process, it takes an act of Congress to stop it! I had made two cheesecakes over the weekend and the butter used for the crusts decided to let loose and leak all over the bottom of my oven. So after that, everything I tried to bake came out with a.....shall we say.....smoked butter flavor. Not the best addition to ALL dishes. Now comes the fun part. I thought, "Ok, I'll start the cleaning process this morning so I can use my oven later today if I want to bake something."....

I wish I had a picture of what actually took place. You, as the reader, will just have to picture the scene. I decided to get online while the oven cleaned. As the oven reached it's highest temperature for cleaning, I noticed something flicker out of the corner of my eye. To my shock and great surprise, there were FLAMES in my oven!!! They were shooting about 3/4ths of the way up the oven!! I thought I had a fireplace for a minute! Then reality struck and I remembered, "I don't HAVE a fireplace!" I didn't quite know what to do, as I've never experienced that before, so as I was deciding what to do, the flames were gone! It lasted about 20 seconds, but that was 20 seconds that my life flashed before my eyes as I envisioned my oven exploding and how I was going to have to explain to our landlords that it really WAS the ovens fault! "Honest you guys, the oven changed it's mind because it wanted to be a fireplace!" The house was so full of smoke that my eyes stung! So I had to turn off the heater, open the windows and turn on the fans!

As you can see, my oven is ok now. No explosions. No more fire. Everything is fine. And I think my heart has returned to its normal pace.....

I'm Puzzled!

Ever notice when a puzzle is put up, it becomes the center of attention? So I got this puzzle from one of Jake's friends. He doesn't care for puzzles, and he knew I love them, so I got it. I started putting it together, and low and behold, it's a hit! Everyone that comes into my house just HAS to stop and try to fit a piece or two in. But it doesn't stop there. Pretty soon, a chair gets pulled up to the table and the pressure is on! The exuberation when a piece fits is exciting!

The entertainment aspects of a puzzle are unmatched. It's always fun just to sit and watch those who put it together. AND, it's so hard to pull yourself away once you get started! Can you say addiction?

So far Samuel has been at it for about an hour. He's completed quite a bit! In fact, I think I'll go join him now.

And........drum roll please.........its complete!!!! Except for two pieces that are missing........ Not a bad looking puzzle though. Very nostalgic. Time for a new puzzle!

It's New and Improved!

Yes, it's true! As you can see, I have a new look to my blog! I have a Fairy Blogmother that knows her way around blogs better than I do and she found this for me and helped me put it on my blog to give me a better blog! Oh thank you, thank you dear Fairy Blogmother!



Now......how do I get indoor plumbing on this ship.......

A Different Christmas Poem

As you read it, ponder the fate of our troops that are doing our bidding in those far away places.
"A Different Christmas Poem"

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "It's really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."


Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
U.S. service men and women for our being able to celebrate these
festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people
stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.


"Real Integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that
no body's going to know whether you did it or not."

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Tifani and I were invited over to our friends house yesterday to do these miniature

gingerbread houses. What fun this was! It really helped me get into the Christmas Spirit.

When Dawn called, she asked if Tifani and I would like to come over and do gingerbread houses and Tifani about jumped through the phone! "Oh heck ya!", Tif said as she jumped out of the love sac! Needless to say we had a great time!

The one with all the Mickey heads on the top is mine.

This one is Tifani's. She REALLY went all out! There's a full size skating rink behind the house with a whole line of gingerbread men skating around. The detail she put into hers is really cool!

Now I need to get more candy and put our big one together that we normally do

every year.

Welcome Christmas!!!!

California Here We Come....

I needed this! Unfortunately our car broke down, so we are using a rental while the car is in the condo's garage waiting to decide where I need to try and take it or have it towed. Not fun!

But Disneyland is worth it! I love it there!

The Haunted Mansion is really awesome right now!!! It's all about Jack Skelington and Nightmare Before Christmas!! Very cool!!!

We made it right at the end of the Halloween spectacle, so there are still some things up regarding Halloween, like this Mickey (my hero!)

Back to Disneyland we go again! So, there's more to come.......

Oh Those Summer Days....

Where has Summer gone? To the archives of my memories. There to stay until once again the melting snow nourishes the earth beneath and the flowers and grass begin to grow.