SKEEBO 2002-2006

As you all know, Skeebo was a house guest for about three weeks. She was a GREAT dog and was happier than heck to just chill out and watch some TV with me... Needless to say, we had a groovy time together. It was so nice to come home and have her all happy to see me. Anyways, her mom came and got her and she was all ready to be adopted but she took a turn for the worse. Her mobility was limited due to hip displacement which is pretty common in big dogs. Plus she had a history of strokes AND then her kidneys started to fail... Heck of a laundry list huh???? They rushed her to the vet and there wasn't much left to do. It was best to put her to sleep to stop the suffering. I'm going to miss my buddy.....

Not much new on the home front. OH WAIT!!! There is one thing! LEAVES SUCK!!!! They are all over my yard and clogging up my gutters. So I spent yesterday getting up on my ladder and cleaning all of the gutters.... MAN they were stuffed with leaves! I also showed all of 'em who was boss and busted out the tractor! I spent half the day blowing all of them into a little gully in the back... I think all of them are down from the trees.... At least I hope so, I don't want to rake anymore!!!! Have a good one!

NOW THAT'S A DOG!!!!!!

Say hi to Ms. America, or as her owner calls her Skeebo! She is a Mastiff and all I can say is SWEET JESUS IN A GUM BALL MACHINE she is HUGE!!!!!! By my 'guessestimate' she is about 130 pounds. Actually that's how much pressure was on my foot when she stepped on it..... I'm watching her a few weeks for my friend. She's a great pupper!!!! She is happy as a pig in poop just to be chilling out with me watching some TV. She is a HUGE baby when it comes to walking on my kitchen floor. It's linoleum and she hates it because she can't get a grip with her paws....... To be honest with you, it's kinda funny to watch her trying to walk on it. After at least 2 minutes of looking at the floor then me with the "are you really expecting me to walk on this" face she'll tip toe across it and out the door to go out...... After talking to her mom, I found out that she loves her some cheese. What dog doesn't huh???? So no matter where she is in the house she springs right up when she hears me opening up a piece. I think she is so happy to be getting cheese that she doesn't even notice the floor...... Crazy dog!

One thing that I have forgotten about with having a dog is how much they shed! PEOPLE!!! I vacuum every night!!!! BUT I wouldn't change a thing.... I love having the company.

Sorry kids but I don't have any pictures for ya this time..... I'm sad to say that I have not done anything to the house in the last couple of months..... It starting to get cold out there and I tend to hibernate in the winter months.... NO!!!!! I know what you are all thinking!!!! I will not be turning off the heat this year! That just flat out SUCKED and will never be attempted again!

The new job is going great. They have a 4 day work week program. I work 10 hours Monday through Thursday and have my Fridays off!!!! WOO HOO!!!!! A 3 day weekend EVERY week!!! LOVE IT!!!!! It's amazing how much more you can get done when you have a week day off. If I have any Dr. or dentist appointments I just schedule them on Friday. That way I don't have to take any time off... Life is good!!!!

OK so I lied........... I said in my last blog entry that I have been in the house for a year now..... Well let's rewind the tape on that statement..... I officially closed on the house July 15th 2005. The parents and I spent the next 1/2 month fixing it up. For the record, I moved in on Labor Day weekend 2005. SOOOOOOOOOOO That would make this weekend the one year anniversary! HOT DAWG!!!!!! 10 things that I have learned or starting to do in the last year since moving to the huge metropolis of Lancaster, SC:

1. Getting excited as a pig in slop when it rains because my lawn and plants are getting water...
   
2. Started listening to country music. Sorry but they sing about some funny stuff!!! The best song out there is 'tequila makes her clothes fall off'!!!! AMEN BROTHER!!!! I think I've met that girl too!!!!! HE HE HE HE HE!!!
   
3. Got myself a tractor and I live for the weekend so I can head outside with my straw hat and throw in my ear plugs and start mowing!! OH!!!! Did I mention that it has a cup holder?!?!?! GOD BLESS AMERICA!
4. Washing off the porch at least once a month from the dust the speedway stirs up every Saturday night.
   
5. Always remembering to drive the truck when I go some place in town so I fit in..... THANK GOD I bought that truck!!!!!!!!
6. Seeing someone cruising down my street on their 4 wheeler or dirt bike and not thinking twice.
7. Learning to accept the fact that I must pay more to have the house at a comfortable temperature whether it's heat or air conditioning.
8. That you can buy almost anything at the Dollar General or Big Lots!
9. I can't do everything I want to the house in one weekend!
10. I didn't learn this in the last year.... But it has just solidified my belief that I love my life and where it's going!!!

The house is still rockin' like the Rolling Stones, those guys are older than my dad!!!! WHOW! The yard is a work in progress.... Almost all of the plants given to me are planted and growing like crazy!!!! EXCEPT! For this little guy. I don't think you have to be an arborist to see that this poor baby has seen better days.....


Check out the wagon in the back of the picture..... That thing is full of day lillys!!!! KRIPES!!!! They have been in there for the whole summer. AND they are still growing!!!! Those things are like weeds!!!!!! GEEZ!!!!

So I thought I would tell you all what my plans are.... Well I want to met a girl who will wear a cheerleading outfit..... WHOOPS!!! Wrong blog!!! HE HE HE HE HE HE!!! NO but seriously. I am building the 'McBride express way' in the back...... I'm sure anyone reading this is saying, what the??? Let me explain with some help from Google Maps and some pictures..... I have the Lancaster Motor Speedway, "THE FASTEST DIRT TRACK IN THE SOUTH!", about 500 yards away from my back yard. ALSO! There is the local dump and recycling center there. Here is a map I just made. I plan on making it wide enough to drive my tractor and wagon so it's easy access to the dump. Yeap!!! I am a full blown redneck!!! It has been more of an adventure than I thought.... I went back there to survey where the trail needs to go and folks!!!! This is going to sound funny but I got lost in the woods!!!! I felt like those crazy kids in the Blair Witch Project...... I just was going in circles and I finally walked out of the woods 3 houses down... I felt pretty dumb!!!! BUT!!! That's not going to stop me from completing the McBride express way!

Here is the view form the back yard.


And from the path looking back to the house.



So I have always known that there is some gravel in my back yard BUT I didn't know how much was there...... It's a freakin' pile!!! I started digging it up but I kept on getting gravel!!! It kept on going!!!! SO!!! I have a gravel pit now!!! I have no idea what to do with it all. Any suggestions???

Alrighty ya'll I'm off to bed...... I hope everyone had a rockin' Labor Day weekend.....

WHERE HAS THE YEAR GONE?????? I just realized that I have had the house for one year now!!!! I closed on it 7/15/2005..... WOW!!!! I have done a lot in the last year and y-all have been there with me the whole way! I'm going to sound like those old guys on the Bartel & James commercials and say "I thank you for your continued support." Remember those???? I think they ran back in the 80's.

Well I have been one traveling fool since the last time I posted anything on here. Last weekend I was on the 'Andy M. Summer tour 2006' that took me up to NY, NO not the city! The good part of NY. Western NY!!!! We had the Cawley family reunion. It rained all day but that did not stop the beer from flowing and meeting all the family members that I had never met... I brought up my draft system and hooked that baby up to the keg and it worked like the days I built it ten freakin' years ago!!! Can you say "Mcgiever"??? It was a great day but I had a headache and had to be driven home that night.... DAMN headaches!!!!! OH YEAH!!!! GUESS WHAT???? My cousins Carmen & Kathy hooked me up with all the snacks!!!! I have dinner for the next month thanks to them!!!! Talk about a great family!!!! They are lookin' after me!!! I consider it a contribution to the 'Andy, I'm going hungry, McBride' fund....


I also hit the wonderful state of OH to visit my grandparents... They are getting up there in age and are limited on what they can do BUT they still have one of the best yards I have ever seen!!!! It's still as immaculate as when we would go and visit them when I was a kid. Grandma gave me a few thinks for the house which I'll show you in a few minutes.

AND NOW!!! I thought I would give you an update on the job situation. They placed me in another department as a 'work share' program. Basically it's set up like this. You go over still as an employee of your old department and learn the processes of the new dept. and if you show that you are a good worker then they might hire you on... PLEASE GOD!!!!! Hire me!!!! OK.... I need your help! Please pray to whatever God you worship and ask him/her to look over me and I get hired on in this new dept.. Can you do that for me!?!?!?!?!? Women kinda frown on guys that don't have jobs...... HE HE HE HE HE HE!!!

HEY!!! Check it out! On my way home from Ohio I hit a nasty rain storm in West BY GOD Virginia and hydro planed the Civic across I-77! I did two complete 360s and thought that I might pull it out but then I slammed into the guardrail..... Tore up the fender pretty good and the door would only open half way. Nothing a crow bar can't fix!!!! All those hours that I have watched NASCAR helped me out! Throughout the whole spinning I kept the clutch in so the car still was running when I slammed the guardrail. I sat there for a second and collected my thoughts then threw her in first and went on my way..... I wasn't about to stop and ask for help in WV. KRIPES!!! I've seen Deliverance!!! Not going to be that guy!


As you all know, I have been focusing on the yard and all the work that needs to be done. Well I'm done spreading mulch next to the driveway.

I decided to also make a natural are around the big tree as well... Grass was not about to grow there so I said FORGET IT!!! I'll just throw some mulch there.... Grandma McBride gave me some more day lillys and I planted them there and CHECK it out!!! She also gave me a big old plastic owl!!!!! I threw it up in the tree not to scare any kritters but to freak people out...... I can see it now! I'll be having some friends over and we are relaxing on the front porch when one of them notices the owl and says "OH MY GOD!!! look! There is an owl over there in the tree and he is staring at all of us!". AHHHHH Yes! The stupid things that I find humor in!

Have a good one and i'll talk to you later......

Well now.... Things sure can change in a second can't they????? While on vacation this week I was informed that they are laying off, I'm sorry, the corporate term is 'downsizing' my department and I have two months to find another job before they kick my butt to the curb..... Kinda ruined my vacation but only for a day..... I was shocked more then I was angry. I have never been laid off..... Bummer huh!?!?!? But let's put in perspective shall we....... I'm single with only a few things that can be considered debt, my house and car. I could be facing what a lot of people I work with have... A family to support..... That would suck..... Sure this can put some stress in my life but I consider stress as being a 18 year kid on a landing boat ready to storm the beaches of Normandy on D-Day knowing damn well that the odds of you surviving is slim to none. Now that's stress!!!!!

Sorry to start this entry out with crappy news...... Now the good stuff!!!! My house survived it's first guests!!!!! The Haver clan came down from WI. to visit me for a few days...... They brought their four kids and 120 pound lab...... They have the nicest RV I have seen and parked their hotel on wheels in my driveway.


The kids and the dog had free rein on the house and they can make quite the mess but I wouldn't want it any different..... The Havers are my second family.... I love them and I will NEVER forget the way they helped me out during some rough times..... Great people and the BEST kids!!


They left Friday morning and I went to work on the yard...... I built some borders around each of the trees in the front yard.


All I can say is WOW!!!!! Mom and dad brought back some plants from grandma McBride's house up in Ohio. They are flowering and looking as good as anything you have ever seen on TLC or the HGTV.


I also applied a little cosmetic work to the porch. I went and bought some plastic ladis (SP) for the stairs......


I'm off to find a job and enjoy the 4th of July with all my friends on lake Wylie..... MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM GOOD STUFF!!!!! Nothing like a weekend full of marinating in an inner tube with a cold beer enjoying the sun and good friends..... It doesn't get any better than that..... HEY!?! Wasn't that from an Old Milwaukee commercial? There is always so much relaxing going on that I need a nap!!!!! Enjoy!!!!

Nobody reads what I write do they????? Here's an actual email I received, "Drew! Thanks for letting me know that your blog is updated but where are the pictures? I really like seeing the before and after ones. DREW!!! I NEED PICTURES!"I understand that people want pictures!!!!! Well! I am here to satify your hunger..... It has been almost a year since Evel Kenevel gave this house to my bride to be and myself and look at all I have accomplished!?!??! This is what I did this weekend:

Do yourself a favor! Get mulch!!!!! It's cheap and easy to use kind of like some dates I have been on. I bought this at the Fox Hole recycling center up highway 521. It's part of the Charlotte/ Mecklenburg county yard waste facilities. Check it out. Do you know how much mulch I got for freakin' $7 bucks!?!? The guy there, Dale, hooked me up!!!! He just kept on dumping mulch in the back!!! 'Conservative' was not in his vocabulary.



I mulched both sides of the porch.




I also planted day lilies in the front and on the sides of the back deck. Give it a few years and they are really going to fill in that ditch. I really need to thank Mr. Boike for giving them to me!!!! He gave me more day lilies than I know what to do with. I ran out of places to plant them. Anyone need some????


We planted a dogwood in the back corner..... Big Ron then used some of the landscape borders to make a nice little area that is a work in progress. I plan on heading back up to see Dale and having him fill me up with some compost. I'll throw it in that area and get some more plates and make it look GOOOOOOOOOD!!!!

I placed a couple false statements in this last blog hoping that people read them and ask me what the heck I'm talking about.... Until next time, keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

Pine straw is a rip off down here...... I think it's only down south. I have not seen it in any other part of the country. I made an executive decision not to buy into the propaganda. It also helps that they sell mulch cheap as hell at the county recycing center!!! SCORE!!!! Here is how I figure it. I have the truck, a pitch folk, two newly retired parents with good backs, time and most of all I have a body built for sin and an appetite for passion!!!!! HE HE HE HE HE!!! That's from and old Kiss song and I think it's such a funny line that I had to use it.... But really everything except for the body- appetite line is true. Unless you are a single girl and I aroused your imagination!!!! Email me and I will give you my #!!!!!!!!!Tomorrow I'll go over there and have the guys dump a load in the back..... I'm thinking I can get almost 2 cubic yards of mulch. How much is in a cubic yard? Here is a conservation table for ya...... DANG I love the internet!!!! So much free porn, I mean useful information....... UMMMM Please strike that 'free porn' statement from the record.... Back to the mulch. I'll be spreading it out all weekend.

I have been a busy bee doing a ton of yard work...... Here is the condensed list:

• Planted a few rose bushes that were given to me by my Grandma McBride.
• Mixed up some Round Up and killed all the unwanted grass.
• Bought a dogwood tree and just planted it in the corner of the house.
• Placed plastic landscaping border around each tree and part of the driveway.
• Pruned back all the trees and bushes that outline the front and back yards.
• Received some cedar wood landscaping border and cleaned them up so I can place them as a border between the front ditch and yard.
  
• Other stuff that I cannot think of right now.

That sure shows some ambition doesn't it??????? Speaking of that..... I had someone tell me that I am not ambitious because I didn't want to get all stressed and climb the corporate ladder so I could potentially make more money..... I'm very happy were I am in my life. I have a great house, a pretty stress free life style, a great job that pays me well and good benefits.... I have ambition! I have ambition to come home after work and do yard work. I have ambition to have as much fun as I can when I am with my friends whether it's camping out or chilling out on the front porch. I have ambition to do the best job I can bush hogging one of my best friend's fields at his farm. I have ambition to never ever live pay check to pay check. The list goes on!!! I want to hear what ya-all have to say..... What's your definition of ambition and if you think I'm a lazy SOB.


I'll have another update after this weekend full of pictures!

I hope everybody had a happy Easter. I'm almost 33 and the Easter bunny STILL hooks me up with a basket!!! MMMMMMMM! Nothing like chowing down chocolate at 8 in the morning. You'd think after all these years that I would learn that all the chocolate I eat that morning is the direct reason that I have to go to the bathroom early and often..... HELLO!!!! It's a laxative!!!!! OH WELL!!! Old habits die hard......

So my friend Joe was finally able to come over and help me build a storage shelf in the garage. Either he or I have been busy every weekend since January..... But we arranged for Saturday to get the dang thing built, and may I say it looks like Norm and the gang from 'This Old House' built the thing.
As you can see, I had all kinds of crap that I needed to get out of the way so I didn't hit anything when I pulled my car in.

And the finished product!!!!


Looks pretty good huh???? Joe helped out a lot!!!! He was a carpenter before he started loosing his hair!!!!! HE HE HE HE!!! No but seriously he is a great guy.... His dad was a minister and he studied to become one himself...... He is thinking about going back and getting his masters in theology. It's great. He gives me the low down on all religions. Thanks to Joe I can tell you which ones are whacked out, the one Tom Cruise is in, and the more traditional ones and what they believe in.... GOD BLESS him!!!! He has broadened my views.... I use to think that there was only one lane on the highway to hell but thanks to Joe now I know that there is an express lane too... And guess what lane I'm on!?!?!?!?!??!?!?! HE HE HE HE!!! Right now everyone under 40 has the opening riffs to AC/DC's Highway To Hell playing in there head...... Have a good one!

IT'S GOING TO BE 80 DEGREES SATURDAY!!!!!!! Can I get a HELL YEAH!?!?!?!? I sound like Stone Cold Steve Austin........ I love spring! The days are longer so I can play around out in the yard when I get home and of course it's warm!!! WOO HOO! I think I mentioned in my last update that it was going to take me at least 5 weekends to finish digging the ditch.... Well! I am one hell of a fortune teller because it's been about that long to finish it off.... AND I'm still not done. I have about 10 more feet to go. I had a setback.. A stupid cedar tree was in the way of my progress!!!! But like a Super Wal-Mart plowing into a town, I showed it who was boss!!!!





That tree stump had no chance going up against a chain and a truck with a big old V8!


With that out of the way, I'll be finishing up the ditch this week.

I don't think mother nature was too pleased about me ripping out one of her trees. After I was done for the day I went to put my truck back into 2 wheel drive and the dang gear shift wouldn't budge! I was stuck in 4 wheel drive!!!! GREAT!!!! So I drove it into my drive way all the while pushing and pulling the shifter with everything I had in me...... I tried it all, going in reverse, putting it in neutral, standing on my head and chanting like a monk. I made that last one up. But nothing worked...... I tried one more time to push the shifter and I felt a something go in my arm! DANG!!!! I must of pulled a muscle! I had enough and just shut the truck off and called it a night.


The next day at work I stressed about it! I kept on thinking. "OH DANG!!!! I have to take it to the Ford dealer and have them look! How much are they going to charge??" So when I came home from work I accepted the fact that I need to take it to the dealer. So I jumped in and started her up. I thought it wouldn't hurt if I tried again to get it into 2 wheel. Without hardly any effort the shifter went into the 2 wheel drive position like it had a hundred times before. MAN!! Was I relieved! So from now on I will never EVER put it in 4 wheel!!!!!! MARK MY WORDS!!!!! NEVER EVER!!!!

Nothing wakes you up better than crashing down on the floor with your cup of coffee spilling everywhere! So let me explain... It is absolutely gorgeous down here this weekend. When I woke up I made some coffee and went out on the front porch to enjoy the weather. There I was sitting on my swing listening to the birds chirping, soaking up all the warmth and sipping on coffee when WHAM, BOOM, CRASH!!!! The swing comes slamming down!!! I'm on the ground still holding my cup of coffee wondering what the heck just happened..... I quickly realize that the swing broke and I'm wearing half of my cup of coffee! Great way to start the day huh???? I guess I have a new project now.... Putting that thing back up properly this time.

I spent the last two days digging out that ditch and MAN!!!! All I can say is I'm exhausted!!!!! I first started grading the slope.

Then I started digging out the bottom of the ditch for better water flow.

I realized that if it's just going to be me and a shovel then it's going to take not one weekend as I thought but more like 3-5!!!! This is real manual labor!!!!! I don't think I could make it on a chain gang.... I'd give the prison guard all the money I had to just shoot me and tell anyone who asks that I was trying to escape.

So spring is right around the corner and you know what that means!?!?!?!? It will be warm enough so I don't have to wear 3 layers of clothing because the house is hovering around 55 degrees!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!! All right!!!! I need to come clean about this heat thing...... In my last update I stated that I turned the heat off. The first thing anyone wanted to talk about was how I was doing with the heat off. Well I did have it off for a good month and a half BUT I had to turn it on last week..... I couldn't take it anymore! I was going stir crazy!!!! I was like Jack Nicholson in the Shining. Slowly going insane and saying REDRUM over and over again!!!!!! I had to turn it back on for the sanity of not only me but my family too.... I thank everyone for their support through this grueling trial of endurance but I felt I let you down in the end..... Spring also means yard work!!!! I need to spice up the front yard...... At this point I am not going to worry about the back.... I'm all about curb appeal!!! My parents tell me about that show all the time..... They say "Andy..... You won't believe what we saw on Curb Appeal last night! They transformed this house that looked like a place where drug deals go down into this beautiful, cozy bungalow that looks amazing from the street. You need to do that to your place." Sometimes I think that all problems in the world can be fixed by a home improvement show or Dr. Phil... At least my parents think so.....

OK! I drew up a sketch of what I want to do to the front yard.

As you can see. I'm a 32 year old man but I still write and draw like a 4th grader. Either way, I think you get the gist of what I want to do. The first thing that I am going to start is the drainage ditch that separates my yard and the street. It needs to be graded off so it looks better and water flows properly. Originally I planned on laying rip rap, the stuff that people but on the shores of their lake property, but that's pretty pricey. So I decided to lay some fast growing ivy instead. It should only take a few years for it cover it all. Here's a picture of the ditch.

I'm probably going to start tomorrow on getting it all graded off.... I don't have any heavy machinery to help. Although they are clearing the lot across the street and they are using a big old front shovel machines!?!?!? Maybe if I trade the guy a case of beer he will grade it off for me??? HMMMMMM Something to ponder tonight??? But if that doesn't work out then it will be me and a shovel..... Can you say 'pulled muscle'??? I have no doubt that it's going to be one hell of a workout! OH WELL!!! That's why there is Goodys pain powder and beer!!!!!! Talk to you later.

MERRY FREAKIN' CHRISTMAS!!!!! It's me again!!! Hope every one had a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious new year!!!! Yeah I had to google "Mary Poppins" to see what the correct spelling of that was. Well it's winter and I am sitting here at my computer thinking of stuff that I have done to the house the last time I posted an update. WHOW!!!! As Joey on Blossom would say, I haven't posted anything since September.... Let's see!?!?!?!? My alma mater ASU won the Division 1-AA championship in football and I was there! $20 bucks for a ticket!!!! WHAT THE!!!!! It only cost that much to see my school win it all!!!! NICE!!!!! Heck! My friends who went to Virginia Tech or LSU would probably have to pay at least $1000 to see their teams in a championship game.
Cofer and I cruised over to Chattanooga, TN to catch the game. It was great! It was like college all over again. Road trip!!!!!! It was so cold there that we didn't have to worry about the beer getting warm. Like the hat? I may look like a tool but it sure does keep my ears from freezing off. Also the high school I went to, Charlotte Catholic, won a championship too! Things are looking good for me when it comes to football. This is the way I see it, my H.S and college have won championships so it's only natural that my Bills will win the Super Bowl in the next couple of years to complete the trifecta. Tell your friends you heard it first on 1-13-2006 by a wise man. The Bills will win it all!!!!!

The one issue that has been killing me this winter has been this DAMN gas bill!!!!! Alright people! You ready for this????? My last gas bill was $150!!!!! WHAT THE CRAP!!!!!! Honestly. I almost had an accident in my pants when I saw it. I cannot believe that a single guy in a 1700 sqft. house can use that much. Now I know they are filing us all full of this "due to the hurricanes gas prices will be going up" but this has to stop. Get this! The first thing I did when I saw the bill was go and shut off the heat!!! Look!!! I just took this picture of me working on the computer. Look at all of the stuff I have on!!! HE HE HE HE HE!!!!

Here I am watching TV. I knew this 32 degrees rated sleeping bag would come in handy someday!!!

You think that's funny. Look at what I wear when I go to bed....

That's right! Hat, long sleeved shirt, fleece, PJ pants and wool socks! The coldest it has been since I have turned off the heat is 45 degrees!!!! YEAH! That's cold!!!! THANK GOD I don't live up north! The cops and paramedics would kick down my door after I hadn't shown up at work for a few days and find me frozen in my bed! Go ahead and laugh but I will not pay that much to heat my house. Besides, it's only me. Now if I had a family it would be totally different. I would have no problem paying that to keep them warm.

I have been on my energy conservation crusade for the last couple of months. For Christmas I asked for and received a programmable thermostat! NICE!!!!! I have also installed those insulated foam pieces in each outlet and light switch, made a piece with insulation to go over the opening to the attic too.
I also checked under the house to see if anything needed to be re insulated. I found a few areas where there was NO insulation at all. I went to Home Depot and purchased some new insulation. Check it out!!!! Remember when I wrote about going there all the time when I was fixing the place up? I said "I'm there so much that the check out lady knows me by name. Too bad she has never seen a dentist. She'd be alright lookin'." Well I have an update on her. She is still kickin' it there and she has a new hairdo!!!! BUT! Her teeth still look like a 19th century chimney sweepers. I'm sooooo going to hell for that one but it was a great analogy. Anyways!!! I put on my coveralls, gloves and my head lamp and went under the house. Don't worry.... I didn't find any dead bodies. I did all the sections that were missing insulation and fixed everywhere the old stuff was hanging down. I also went and replaced every light bulb with a fluorescent one. I know this doesn't effect my gas bill but it saves energy and money. So I went ahead and did it.

Christmas was good to me. Mom and dad had a few pictures framed for me. This one is of our family tree.

These are prints of my Uncle Jim's pictures he painted and a killer letter he sent me when I was in college 11 years ago! It is one of the best letters I have EVER received. You see the $2.50? At the end of the letter he said "Here's $2.50. Go and take a big breasted woman out to a dinner and movie on me. P.S. Keep the change" CLASSIC Uncle Jim!!!!!!!! I know to some people reading this that might not be funny and kind of sexist but you had to know him... It was all in good humor. DAMN I MISS HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My house has turned into the family art gallary... I have pictures from my uncles from both sides of the family. This one was from my great uncle Reed. It's a picture painted at the McBride farm in Ohio. It's about 50 or so years old.

This was done by my uncle Kevin. It's exactly what you would have seen looking out of my grandma Cawley's kitchen window 30 some years ago. Matter of fact, today it looks the same! WHOOPS!!! I forgot. They tore down the house right next to the church. But everything else looks the same.
I was giving the house tour to my best friend and his wife. Almost every room had a picture someone in my family painted and he goes to me. "Dang McBride! Your family is pretty talented... What happened to you?" What the heck can you say to that?

I also received a swing and some rocking chairs for the front porch.