Day 2

And I'm still in!! I did ok again today...stayed on program...still alive...bring on Wednesday!!!!

Today I begin...

Today I started Weight Watchers. I've kinda half way done it in the past but have never been to meetings and everything. Yesterday I went to the meeting and it sounds pretty good. And today I made it through day 1. It was pretty easy

My largest problem with the getting healthy thing (read:diet) is the obsession with food...what will i eat? ..when will i eat it? ...did i eat too much? This one sounds like preparation is the key....so tonight i measured and bagged and planned. I need to be able to grab and run. If I can keep this easy maybe I can stick with. I certainly need to. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

Pitchfork Ranch Cookhouse

Today I went to the Ranching Heritage Center on the campus of Texas Tech University to see a building that in real life I was pretty familiar with but had not seen restored and on display. I lived in this house my freshman year of high school. It looked more like the picture on the sign than what they restored. The kitchen-dining room that shows at the Center was only the base of the house. Attatched later were 3 bedrooms, 2 bath's, a living room and a large back porch with a built in freezer. My Mom & Dad were the cooks although all know who the cook was. Also behind the house was a commissary where staples were stored and once a week the different ranch houses would send over their grocery lists and my dad would fill the list and have the boxes ready for pickup. They provided meat, vegetables, eggs, canned goods and basic baking needs. No fresh bread, no fancy stuff but it was part of the pay.

This is the base of the house. It was surrounded by screened in porches. Inside the front screened in porch was the bell that got rang 3 times a day, 5 days a week and twice on Saturday. On the back screened in porch was the cistern that held water., It's the white thing shown out front of the house although I don't remember it being white. We caught rain water and drew it with a bucket. The 1st cup out of a new bucket was always the best...naturally cool and clear. I looked in the windows and found it looked pretty good but was restored a little more rundown than I ever saw it. The stove even looks like the one Mom cooked on but the refirgerator was a large built in when we were there. There is a table by the door with coffee cups and drink glasses displayed and I do remember that table. The one thing missing was an old crank telephone that
was used for ranch house to ranch house communications when we lived there. It had been there for years and I think it finally died during a storm while we were there. It was still on the wall when we left but maybe someone pilfered it before the house was donated to the Center.

I loved ringing the bell.


I took this picture because I thought the placement of the buildings was significant. The 6666 Pavilion has been at the RHC for several years so it had prime placement. Then the Cookhouse
was donated in 2007. But in Dickens and King Counties, these 2 ranches own most of the land and are large employers. I was
amazed the last time I went through Guthrie at the changes made at both ranches. Both are now modern cattle operations but I have a hunch if you visited with the cowboys that still work at both ranches, you'd find that in their hearts, not much has changed after all.

Red Box Movies

I am a fan.

I pick my movie. I slide my card. And the machine spits out a movie for a dollar. Buh=bye Hollywood Video.

6-30-10

A day that will live in infamy. In my mind only of course.

Barring crap with a new contract, June 30, 2010 will be my last day of work for AT&T. I'll have my 25 years and will take vacation until my 53 birthday. I have no clue what I'll do after that and will have to find another job after that really long vacation. I sat with my calendar this morning and counted days and life is good. I'm completely clueless with what happens next and am not sure I have enough $$ to live the good life but I'm gonna be ok and I will no longer be tethered to a desk.

357 days by my countl

July 3 Street Dance...It was loud

2009 street dance and the music was fine. This band is called Hat Trick and it features Mike Pritchard, one of m favorites. Lots of older music which suits me cuz I'm old.







Then we got Hogg Maulies, another talented band.








And the big star of the shw...Josh Abbott. This boy is going places,
I couldn't get a good picture because I could not get close enough to the stage. Josh is on the right side, wearing the white shirt and white cap.




I was worn out by the time I got home. And my ears were numb. It was, a beautiful night, not too hot, not too buggy, the music was good and it was a nice crowd. I even made some new friends, sorta. I was taking pictures of Hogg Maulies and these 2 were in the picture and decided to pose.
Then the kid in the plaid shirt took my picture with my own camera!!





Then on they way out, I met my friend again with his girlfriends. I took their pic's too and then emailed them over. All were nice kids. I hope they had a good time.


Happy 4th of July!!

Death in Hollywood

It's been a wild 2 weeks in Hollywood with some entertainment icons dying.

First we had Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's famous 2nd banana, Publisher's clearing spokesman and lately famous for defaulting on his mortgage and talking bankruptcy.

Second Farrah Fawcett, a moderately talented actress probably more famous for a poster that sent every teenage boy into hormone overload. She was great in 'The Burning Bed' but was mostly the slightly more talented Paris Hilton of her day. Other than being the mother and stepmother of drug addicts over the years, she hasn't done much lately. She fought a valient fight with cancer and I admire her courage and tenacity even though I don't exactly understand it.

And Farrah was overshadowed on the day of her death by Michael Jackson who died the same day. Michael Jackson was an extremely talented musician and the icon label definitely fits. But his talent was overshadowed in later years by the complete lunacy that became his life. He changed his appearance dramatically and denied ever doing anything, His sham marriages, his "fatherhood" to 3 poor children who cannot even know what a normal life is and his completely bizarre lifestyle made me question if he was really that talented. I've seen the video of his early career that reminds me how amazing he was for a little while. It was downhill from there though. I do believe he was a child predator and a certified whack job. But he is all the news now and other whackos are going crazy with the tributes.

Then today Karl Malden died and most people don't even know who he is. Watch 'Streetcar Named Desire'. Watch 'On the Waterfront'. Read about a man who was married to the same woman for 71 years before his death. Read about a man who was an actor for 60 years. He fought for fellow actors as president of the Motion Picture Academy. No posters, no chimps, no bankruptcy. Just a decent man full of talent who entertained me for years. And I challange you to fall a little bit in love with him in 'Come Fly With Me'.

RIP to all listed and I hope that's it for awhile

July 1, 2009

Today I went to Spur to check out my Dad's Veterans marker and it looks great.



And every McCombs got some red, white & blue roses in honor of July 4.



There are so many people here that I've loved all my life..Mom, Dad, Cathy, Jo, Aunt Allene & Uncle Harold, Aunt Dorothy & Uncle Tommy, Granny, Uncle Raymond, my cousin Jimmy.

After I left the cemetery, I went by the drug store and saw Fay there. Fay owned the flower shop for years and she still knows everything that goes on. She told me there is a large bull snake out at the cemetary. She said she was out there last week and she thought someone had forgotten a water hose on one of the markers and she got closer and saw it slither off. Today, i stepped in a hole beside my mom's grave and my shoe came off and it took me a minute or so to get my shoe out. I can tell you if I'd have seen that snake while my foot was stuck I can guarantee that snake would have had a huge lunch because I'd had a heart attack and he'd have eaten me before the ambulance could have gotten there