Merry Christmas

I want to wish a Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all this year.

I do say Merry Christmas when I talk about this holiday because I was raised that way and it is my right; however I do wish the rest of you who do not believe in saying Merry Christmas a safe and happy holiday.

This time of the year can be and usually is a very stressful time of the year. Money is tight for many families and yet we do all we can to keep the spirit of Christmas alive. We help where we can and give where we can all in the spirit of Christmas. Most important we do what we can to keep the spirit alive in our kids. Our families may stress us out but that is why they are called family:)And besides, the kids love seeing everyone.

This goes out to all those who enjoy Christmas for what it is. It is a time for magic and believing, giving and receiving, and enjoying the little time we have together. It does not matter what you give or receive all that matters is being there together. Whether it is with friends or family, enjoy them all because you never know.

Merry Christmas to all my family and friends, I love you all.

Our Government, the Joke

I must tell you I am disgusted by our government. I know I have wrote about them in the past but I was just reading about them again and decided to vent a little.

So our government can’t settle on this payroll tax cut deal, you know, this deal that will have very little effect on them but a sizeable effect on millions of regular Americans. They could not come to an agreement yet they left on their holiday vacations, go figure. For those of you who think our government is working for us you must be blind. I don’t care if you are democratic or republican, this is a joke.

If you don’t know what the payroll tax cut involves then you should look it up, because it will affect you one way or another. If you work you will pay more taxes, if you are unemployed you will get no extensions, and Medicare payments to doctors would be slashed. But again this does not affect the one who are making the decisions.

I said this before and I will say it again, our government is a joke, they are supposed to be by the people for the people but all they seem to care about is which side they are on democrats or republicans. It does not matter who the president is because the other side will do everything they can to make him look bad. The other powers in the world must be laughing at us, as they should, we keep putting the same people in office and we just go along with what they say. I think they believe that if they agree on anything the world will come to an end.

Again they are home for the holidays with the job not done while millions of families like mine are struggling to make Christmas great for our kids. Why do they get to take the time off when they can’t get things accomplished? If we did that we would be unemployed!!! When was the last time they took a pay cut, or a slash in benefits? Millions of us have had to do that, and yet we work through the holidays and do what we can to survive and keep our kids blind to what is really going on, all the while they get to go home enjoy the holiday, and still get paid without finishing the job.

In my opinion we all need to write our government and let them know that we are pissed!! I know they have high paid tekies that will probably read this and I hope they pass it along. I hope the powers that be read this and many others just like it and realize that they need to change. I am proud to be an American, but our government right now is a joke. Stop fighting among party lines and actually do something to help our country!!! We deserve and expect that. At least that is my opinion.

White Christmas

Not everyone in this country likes snow or even sees snow, but here in Michigan we expect snow. And right now I would guess that most of us are asking for some.

The Christmas songs, the Christmas specials all seem to have snow involved, so why would anyone not want a white Christmas. Ok, it you don’t celebrate Christmas then you don’t care, but my family and friends want a white Christmas. Right now it is raining, in the middle of December it is raining!! We don’t want rain we want snow.

Now when I say we want snow I don’t mean we want a blizzard or anything stupid like that, just a few inches will do. My dad, TJ and I have already had the 12 plus inches at deer camp so we know better than to ask for too much. If you don’t want snow for Christmas then you must live down south in one of the states that gets none. Not that you wouldn’t like a white Christmas but a lot of you down in those states have never seen a white Christmas and a lot never will.

It is my opinion that we should always

have some snow for Christmas because it just adds that little something extra. Snow makes spending time with family in the warmth of the house fell so right. I don’t know what it is that makes Christmas just a little better with a little snow but I know I am not afraid to ask for it. I will be asking God, Mother Nature, Mother Earth or whoever I need to ask, I just want a little snow for the holiday. So if you are like me then help me wish a blanket of snow to cover our beautiful state this Christmas. But be warned, a little could end up a lot, we are in Michigan.

Ear tubes

I know many of you have had tubes in your ears or your kids have had them, but have you had to get them removed because they would not fall out? Well that’s what we had to do with Jayden Grace.

The tubes were put in when she was 15 months old and one fell out a long time ago. However the one in her right ear just did not want to come out and it ended up getting a growth over it so we had to take her in. Getting the tubes in was an easy task; in fact we talk about how cute she was in her gown and diaper. Getting the tub taken out at the age of 7¾ brings along some strong emotions.

Jayden did pretty well until we got her back in the room where the nurses were, that is where the tears and the worries started. Although she was pretty strong about it she was not are normal Jaydie Grace, and we could see the definite worry on her face. I managed to get some laughs out of her when I put on the gown, booties and the hat they give you. Of course I let Jayden take a picture and let Stacy post it on facebook.

I was able to go back to the operating room with her to help keep her somewhat relaxed. I was there until she went to sleep, and if you have never been there when your child is being put to sleep with the gas, it is a little nerve raking. They warned me that she would start to move around a little just before she went all the way out, but let me tell you it was more than a little moving. It took two nurses and I to hold her while the other kept the mask on her, it was the craziest thing I have seen. I said after words that it was a good thing I went back and not her mom.

Anyway, after just a short wait the doctor came out and told she did great and her ear was pretty goopy but all clear now. The pager went off just a few minutes later and we got to go back to see her. Needless to say she was happy to see us. She told us that she was a little scarred when she woke up and we were not there, but then she started talking about the bubble gum smelling mask she had on and then she was here. She was pretty funny after words.

So things went great and Jayden is doing fine. I know it was just a minor surgery but in my opinion any time your child is being put under anesthesia it gives you reason for concern. I tried not to worry and trust that the doctors know what they are doing but at the same time it is our jobs as parents to worry about our kids. Hopefully we will only have to worry about the small minor surgeries for our kids and not anything big but whatever live brings our kids we will be there to worry because that is our job. However, my job is too hid as much of the worry as possible because I am supposed to be Big Poppa.

Little Stinker

So my dad, TJ and I took our trip to the UP for our hunting trip, and as I have said before we camp in a tent. We had a good trip with lots of snow and some good times. Unfortunately we came home empty handed but we did come home with a fun story.

The first night up there we went into town to get our water and decided to have dinner while we there. TJ did not eat all of his chicken so he brought the rest back to camp and sat it on the cooler. That night a few minutes after dad shut the generator off and came to bed we heard something rustling around. Dad and I had our flashlights out looking all over the inside of the tent but we did not see anything and now we didn’t hear anything either, so we went to sleep.

The next morning, the day before opening day, we were talking about the noise and trying to figure out what it was. I started looking around and I saw some small tracks in the little bit of snow we had but we didn’t know what made them. I then looked and realized that the chicken was gone, Styrofoam and all!! I did find the container in the woods a little bit later by a hole in the ground but thought nothing of it. We just laughed and made jokes about it.

Fast-forward two nights, and again just a few minutes after the generator went off Dad and I heard a noise again. This time I seen the door flap to our tent moving and I told dad that something was trying to get in. We got up and smacked the flap and slowly opened it. We saw the critter going into the woods across from out tent and Dad said that it looked like a skunk. So we put some coolers and things on the flap to keep the critter out and went back to bed.

A couple hours later I heard something again but this time I am the only one that heard it. I turn on my flashlight and start shinning around the flap and under the table and then finally by the wood burner. That is when I saw it, the little stinker was in out tent!!! I said “oh s#$t its in our tent!” Needless to say dad and TJ both woke up and the reaction from TJ was priceless, I thought he might have pissed himself.

So anyway here we were, three grown men afraid to make any sudden moves because we did not want to get sprayed. I don’t know how it got in but it could not get out. After a few minutes TJ slipped out under the tent and went around to open the door and with some careful noises to scare the skunk he finally went out. The next day we put a rock on its hole and then it snowed about a foot so we did not see it again.

It is my opinion that when on a hunting trip or camping of any kind, don’t leave food out to call in nature. We escaped a what could have been a very bad, very stinky situation and now we are laughing about it.