The Sun Setting On Fall.

I took this picture on our front porch 2 nights ago...there was some geese behind me flying South, a crisp bite of cold in the air, and I got the feeling that this was the sun setting on a nice long fall.

Last night the season's first dusting of snow covered the Subaru as Maxim and I left the Hockey Arena...we were both excited. I think I got into winter mode this week...I checked 3 of my favorite "winter" websites...here...here....and here. Snowmaking is in full swing in the Dakota hills, and Big Sky opened a few routes with natural snow and some man-made.

I ended up the night last night with "America's Team" beating "Wisconsin's Team" and then watched some snowboarding/skiing in HD on FuelTV to usher in the "White Season".

Oh yeah, the Christmas decor in the house looks amazing...Steph totally went Martha Stewart on the house this year...we have 8 Christmas trees. 3 full size, a couple of shortys, and 3 "pencil" trees...I am ashamed I even know that decor term.

Maxim Sings At Breakfast.

I shot this the other morning as Maxim was eating breakfast...super funny, he's not fully awake, but he is really giving it his all singing the theme song for the TV show Little Einsteins.

The same morning he performed his version of the Transformer's theme song...I'll post that some other day.

See you in the funny papers....

I don't read the comic strips anymore...ever since the Farside and Calvin & Hobbes went to rerun there just aren't funny writers anymore.

Or maybe I just don't take time to read them anymore...Well, my dad just had surgery, so he is spending a couple days at home. He had to have work done on his nasal passage, this corrects an old boxing injury he sustained while prize fighting his way up and down the East Coast in the mid-60's.

Anyway...Dad was reading the paper today and thought Garfield was really funny today if you change some names and pretend Garfield is me!

Pretty true, and pretty funny...here it is.

If you can't read it here...click here to go to the Garfield website...

The party is over...

Thanksgiving at our house means 3 things...Family, Football and Hockey.

My brother-in-law brought my sister and their kids up from Kansas for the extended weekend and the party began on Thursday morning with the annual Turkey Bowl Football Extravaganza. I think I have played in 4 straight T-bowls, and they get colder each year.

FOR THE RECORD:
My team: 5 TD's
Brad's Team: 4 TD's
First to 5 TD's wins!

Stats
ME:
Passing 0-2, 0 yds, 1 int
Receiving: 60 yds (est.), 1 TD
Defense: 4 pass break-ups, 1 deflection, 1 sack, 2 hurries

Bro-in-law:
Receiving: 70 yds (est.) 1 TD
Defense: 2 pass break-ups

Also received a huge hit from a fellow receiver while running a crossing route...his day was done.
(So Brad compiled great stats in a single quarter of action.)

After football, we headed to my office to sit in the hot tub for a nice warm-up, and to relax B-rad's neck after the vicious hit!

Thursday was spent watching TV and then headed to my cousin's house for tradition of Turkey and stuff.

Friday, the Rooster Cup Hockey Challenge started, and so did my ice time. I officiated 8 games of the tournament in 3 days. My legs were ready for a break today, so I only ran 2.5 miles.
Friday night we went to Brookings and watched SDSU knock off UNI in men's hoops.

Saturday more hockey and football watching on TV. Then to the James Valley auction at night.

Sunday, more hockey reffing..then had Uncle Skipper and some other people over for Steph's famous chili and 2X baked potatoes. Watched a little more football, as Denver choked and the Patriots squeaked by. Maxim, Steph and I played a little Monopoly...then slept...much needed sleep.

A little crazy, but it was fun.

You have heard it before, but it is funny.

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift.

The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious, and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up, and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. John, in desperation, threw up his hands, grabbed the bird, and put him in the freezer.

For a few minutes, the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said to John, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my offensive and unforgivable behavior.” John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude.

Just as he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

Turkey Tom

My uncle used to call me "Turkey Tom" when I was a kid because my birthday is on the 20th of November. This bothered me when I was 7, now I kind of like it.

It still sticks with me that my aunt always told me and my cousin that our hair smelled like the chicken coupe...now I can handle being Turkey Tom, but smelling like a chicken coupe??? The reason we smelled like the chicken coupe is most likely because for most of the day we were playing in the chicken coupe or worse.

Good farm memories with Uncle Jim.

Yep I turn 20+15 tomorrow. I'm not one of those that worries about age, I just want to stay healthy, active and able to roll with my boys when it's needed. So far so good.

I'm probably not going to blog for a few days, so I'll leave you with this bit of Turkey Tom humor.

At Sally's Request.

A month ago I posted Maxim's first "school picture". I made reference to a couple of my classic school photos, and my sister thought it would be great if I put them on the blog.

I guess my mom thought it would be a good idea as well, because she had them in an envelope at the house for me the other night.

So here they are.

...ROCKIN' the hemp necklace with beads...not quite sure what the hair was doing this year.

This is the 1st grade picture...as I look at it now, I kind of look tough. In that 1970's squinty eye, wavy, shag, parted down the side kind of way...OK I look half asleep, and I still do today!

I hate Fantasy Football...this season!

I play in a couple of fantasy football leagues with buddies from all over the nation. I have held the Champions Trophy a few times...but this year is a struggle.

Quarterbacks are killing me. I have a great running game and a great defense and defensive players...but the QB's haven't treated me with any respect.

I started with Drew Brees, he was horrible for like 4 weeks so I dumped him.

I had Jon Kitna for a back up, and he was producing so I started him for a few weeks.

After 2 weeks of starting him and only scoring 13 total points I dropped him for Farve..he put up 3 points in week 6...dumped him.

Back to Kitna...5 points in week 7...dropped him from my team.

Started Jay Cutler...I'm a bit of a Broncos fan so this was a good marriage...he put up 13 points in week 8...respectable for a first outing.

This week I faced my brother-in-law (B-Rad) in a match-up I always must win to save face at the Thanksgiving Table.

Ironically B-rad started my old QB, whom he picked up, Jon Kitna.

Kitna put up 22 and Cutler went out with an injury in the 2nd quarter...giving me ZERO points. I lost by more than 50 points, Thanksgiving is going to suck.

I am pretty sure that if I were a real NFL coach this year, players would refuse to join my team or play for me, they either end up hurt or with horrible stats.

I do think that Fantasy Football makes you a demented fan of the NFL, as I have Adrian Peterson on my team, and I always want him to have 300 yards and 4 touchdowns, but every week I want the Vikings to lose by 30, so Chad Greenway and Antoine Winfield will have a bunch of opportunities to make tackles and interceptions.

Next week I'm starting QB Matt Hasselbeck from the Seahawks...that's how desperate I have become.

Halloween at "The Office".

Every office dwelling employee was faced with a huge choice this morning...to dress up, or not to dress up.

All over America today Zombies are answering phones at credit card calling centers, Witches are serving burgers at the local "greasy spoon", Fairy Godmothers are completing transactions at banks, and Mr. Incredible look alikes are performing accounting tasks, with their masks on...all in the name of Halloween.


I saw a report that Americans will spend over $6 billion on Halloween crap.


As you can tell from that statement, I dressed like myself today...to the hilt...The North Face khaki pants, a Gramicci t-shirt and a thermal long sleeve under it. I tend to laugh at grown adults dressed up like vampires while at work.


Don't get me wrong, I'm not some killjoy, but I find it ridiculous. I don't dress like a Shepard at Christmas or like a bunny at Easter. I just don't understand the motive. If you are going to a Halloween party, go ahead drive across town to your friend's house with your gorilla suit on, that's funny, but at work???


I think the Senate should enact a law prohibiting anyone over the age of 13 from wearing a costume all day on Halloween...but by all means go to the local bar tonight and get toasted while wearing your pirate outfit...if St. Patrick's day is "Amateur's night" at the bar scene, then Halloween is "Immature's night" at the bar scene.


But who am I to judge...I have to leave work early to get Darth Vader, and his sidekick, the 2 foot 5 inch turtle to the local "Trunk and Treat" before Wednesday night kid's church starts!

(Disclaimer: If you dressed up today at work the author apologizes...to your co-workers on your behalf.)

Bloggers United.

I have an idealist friend, who is saving the environment by himself and unknowingly making me feel guilty about it. He is actually the reason I considered starting a blog. So you have him to blame. If you want to check it out Minus Car is the blog spot...here is the story.

Last Wednesday, after hunting with the 3 pastors Dave, Sam and Brian, Dave and I headed to Nutty's North in S.F. to catch one of my favorite bands, mewithoutYou.

I was introduced to mewithoutYou via FuseTV's segement "Not On the Radio" about 2 years ago. The lead singer talked about his involvement in "The Simple Way" a community in Kennsington, PA.

They played a couple videos and I was hooked...I can't really describe their sound, besides poetic, screamo, and heavy. They don't fit into a genera, which pleases me.

The concert was good, a little short, but as Dave pointed out, the band was extremely tight and was worth the $0 I paid for the comp ticket...thanks Dave.

We all enjoyed the show, and Dave snapped a picture of the Bloggers United with the drummer from mewithoutYou...I'm on the right, Minus Car on the left, sweaty, hairy drummer in the middle.

Good times.

Maxim the Cattle Rustler...and the Upland Bird Hunter

Last week Maxim was begging to go pheasant hunting with my father-in-law and I, so on Tuesday I brought him along.

We got over to Papa Raymond's around 10 a.m. and they were working heifers..."preg checking" them. Now if you have never seen this firsthand, you are not going to appreciate this, but when he say the Vet stick his hand in, and heard the cow beller...it was an eyeful for a 5 year old. After about 10 minutes of watching, he was ready to go outside and play. I was happy he was getting farm educated.

We grabbed some food and around noon we headed to the field. We hunted corn and river bottom. Maxim walked the entire day, just blocking during the corn hunt so we didn't lose him! We figure he walked about 3 miles in switch grass, stubble fields and sloughs. He never once complained and carried a corn stalk gun for most of the time.

He was a trooper. I either ruined him for ever going out hunting again or he is now addicted.

After we cleaned the birds, which he stayed away from and called it "scary", Papa Raymond wanted us to help move some cow/calf pairs to a different field. Maxim and I took the 4 mile 4-wheeler ride to the field and jumped in the truck with Papa...a little safer in the truck.

We started pushing cattle, and he was very excited, imitating Papa by yelling at the cows out the truck window. The best part was when we encouraged an old heifer to "get along" by smacking her with the cattle guard of the truck, and Maxim's eyes got big again and he said, "Papa we crashed into that cow!" He fell asleep before we got to the field and didn't wake up for 4 hours!

That was a day I will remember for a long time...the exact reason we moved back to the lake!

After we got back to the farm, Brecken was getting in the way of the ladies painting in the house, so we went for a 4-wheeler ride across some of the same roads me and my cousin Eric used to tear up with go-carts, motorcycles and 3-wheelers. We found Eric and my Uncle Jim combining corn, and hitched a ride for a few rounds...Brecken was overwhelmed.

We got home right before dark, ate and slept very well that night.

Another Dog Story

Last week was spent mostly in the great outdoors of South Dakota chasing pheasants. My dogs, Annie, 11 year old German Shorthair Pointer and Lily, 5 year old English Pointer, accompanied me through just about every field. They were tired by Wednesday when we rumbled into Bridgewater, South Dakota to hunt with some friends from Sioux Falls and Minnesota.

The day was great, birds were good and the 4 dogs we had were working good. The last field of the day I was going to leave my 2 bird dogs in the kennel, but when I noticed the beautiful full section of CRP I couldn't walk away from the Expedition with thier whining...I knew they would get at least 4 days of nothing but kennel rest after that run.

They had plenty of water, but half way through the field, Lily collapsed. She started seizing and her eyes were dilated, I thought for sure I would bury her in that field. We reacted pretty good according to the vet I talked to. We carried her out, got her to a truck, cooled her down with water and fed her a can of dog food.

3 hours later she was back to normal, or as normal as a dog would be after 5 days of hunting. I was having severe concerns about walking through the door and telling Maxim and Steph Lily was gone. Thanks to Rima for running a half mile with a gallon of water and a bowl and Jim J. for getting us to the "buffet" in a hurry.

Lily loves her food, but that day she didn't get enough.

40,000 more miles!

I filled up with gas tonight and looked at the odometer on my Subaru Outback...159,998!

On the way home I will turn it into the 160K's.

My goal is to get it to 200K. Subaru Outbacks are known to run forever...this is a '97 and gives me little trouble for the age and miles on the car.

I have a love/hate relationship with this car...I love the fact that most people expect that I would drive a SUV or a pick-up. Then they see me in a crossover vehicle...which is what guys call their station wagons.

I will honk the horn when I hit 160K for all those of you that care.

Use it or lose it...

I got an e-mail from HR the other day...(that's Human Resources for those of you not in the corporate world...or "Human Racehorses" for those of you working at the Coborn's Bakery...no-lie one time we ordered 3 dozen donuts at the office and they asked for a name, we told them to put Human Resources on the name...next day we pick them up, and right there at the top...Name: HUMAN RACEHORSES That one is framed and in our office.)

Back to the story...e-mail from HR telling me I have to use a bunch of vacation or I will lose it, as I can only carry over a week and a half. So I took some time off to hunt. They call it "use it or lose it month" around here, because everyone is trying to cram in some vacations that we haven't had time to use in the summer when most normal people take vacations.

I generated several blog stories in the last 4 days...I did USE my vacation time. So I will be filling you in in the next few days.

Here is a rundown of Blogs to come:

Another Dog Story.
Maxim the cattle rustler.
Maxim the upland bird hunter.
Brecken the combiner.
mewithoutYou...Bloggers United.
36 hours in bed without cable TV.
Skipper is Barbie's little sister...

Lost Dog...finally found...Another epic story by: Tom Glanzer

The following is a quote from the movie Billy Madison starring Adam Sandler.

SCENE - Kindergarten teacher Miss Lippy just finished reading a book about a little boy who lost his dog. (some words have been changed or removed to protect the innocent)

BILLY - Whoa whoa whoa, Miss Lippy. The part of the story I don't like is that the little boy gave up looking for Happy after an hour. He didn't put posters up or anything, he just sat on the porch like a goon and waited. That little boy's gotta think 'You got a pet. You got a responsibility.' If your dog is lost you don't look for an hour then call it quits. You get your butt out there and you find that dog!!!"

I felt like Billy Madison last night.

Around 6pm Maxim, Brecken and I put on our rain gear and went outside to enjoy some fresh air, big puddles, strong winds and driving rains...sounds like fun, right, and extremely good parenting.

The dogs had been couped up in the kennel for 2 days because of the rain, rain, rain and more rain for the last 5 days, so we decided to let them out. I put Lilly's "hearing aid" on and let them rip...they had tons of energy and were happy to stretch their legs.

As the boys and I splashed in puddles, Annie and Lilly did what hunting dogs do. After 20 minutes of fun, I put the boys in the house for Steph to clean up for supper and I called the dogs to the kennel. Lilly came right away...Annie, my 11 year old German Shorthair Pointer didn't.

I walked to the places around the yard where she likes to sniff around and called for her, but nothing. After about 45 minutes I went into the house and ate, only to go right back outside.

I think I walked about a 1.5 miles and drove about 8 miles looking for her in rain, wind and darkness. The whole time thinking this was the end of the Annie-era.

Annie is actually Steph's dog from before we were married, Steph's dad trained it and fed it for the first year of it's life...so Annie still likes Roger better than me...in fact, if we hunt together, Annie hunts in front of Roger, not me.

Annie is the dog that I will judge all of my dogs by. She is a tireless birddog and has given me some of the greatest hunting stories ever...just ask my dad about pheasant-roping on the somewhat frozen James River.

Annie slept with Steph and I for 4 years...right there either in bed or at the foot of the bed. There are times now that I feel bad about not having her in the house, because she knows how good things are "living with the humans". Annie even has her own song, "Anna-bella". Ask Steph to sing it for you. I guess you could say Annie was our dog-child...I think a lot of new married couples have them, the dog they treat like a king.

With all those years of faithfulness tucked under her collar, there was no way I was going to let her weather the cold, wet, rainy night alone...besides 100's of years ago dogs never slept outside...right?

I called our neighbors who are Deputy Sheriffs and asked if they would look for Annie on their way home...did I mention they are dog lovers? I thought we were going to have a Blackhawk Helicopter commissioned from Gov. Rounds to assist in the search and rescue effort! Our neighbors rock!

So I hiked, drove, walked along the shore, road lines, ditches, fell down steps, jacked my elbow and knee up...but still...nothing. She didn't answer to the whistle, and I saw nothing with the flashlight, and I was mad.

I had basically given up, and was walking back to the house 3.5 hours she had been gone, it was dark, damp and dreary...I kept wondering how I would find her, dead or alive.

I was a city block away from the house...and knew I would feel guilty all night in a warm bed, while she was injured, stuck or just plain confused out in the elements. I blew my whistle one last time...tweet, tweet, tweet....I heard a little rustle and pointed my head-lamp in the direction I heard it come from...there was Annie!

I gave her a great big hug and carried her for a couple steps, she looked at me like, "you can put me down now." I have no idea what she was doing or where she had been, I was just happy to see her. Kind of like the prodigal son coming home...

I got her in the garage, dried her off and gave her a whole can of Lamb & Rice dog food that is always a special treat. Steph came out to see her, and scolded her a little bit for making us worry.

Annie had an adventure last night, although I am not quite sure what or where it was, and so did I.

Hunting season opens tomorrow, and I will be hunting with both dogs.

The pane of rain...

Snapped this at my desk this morning.

5th straight day of rain...feel like I am back in Juneau.

Ray of Hope...ESPN did it again.

If you thought yesterday's post was a moving story, this will take you another step further.

Remarkable story ESPN did on the guy who was the North Carolina Tarheels mascot...note the tabs at the bottom of the pages...Life, Death, Rebirth.

READ THE STORY HERE.

ESPN tear jerker story.

ESPN did a great story about a former football player from a high school in Michigan...read it here........

Nobel Prize Update.....

OSLO, Norway - Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday, and the former vice president used the attention to warn that global warming is "the greatest challenge we've ever faced."

World leaders, President Bush among them, congratulated the winners, while skeptics of man's contribution to warming criticized the choice of Gore.

Gore in a statement said he was " deeply honored ... We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."

Ummm, hey Al do you think you can use a little less energy at your own home now...I am happy you won a Nobel Prize for being the "Best Spoonfed Narrator/Talent Of A Documentary That You Did None Of The Research On", but I challenge you to practice what you preach.

Also if after this honor, the Democrats encourage you to run for President...DO IT! I am pretty sure if we have a "Billary" Clinton Whitehouse, global warming would be the least of our problems.

October-wake-fest.

OK I'll admit it...wakeboard season is over. I thought I would get one more October session, but it isn't looking promising...I'll have to wait until May now!

So to tide me and the crew over here is the pictures from our end of the season session...October 1st at Wall Lake...it was us and a guy in a little fishing boat. Water was cold, but refreshing.

Enjoy.

DAVE D. (AKA: BLUETOOTH)

DAVE WITH A FATTY TAILGRAB WAKE JUMP...MUCH AMPLITUDE

T-RAV IN HIS WIFE'S SHIRT...FUNNY THING IS...I HAVE THE SAME SHIRT.

T-RAV...TINDY GRAB ON THE WAKE TO WAKE

T-RAV BIG HEELSIDE HUCK

THE AUTHOR---TOESIDE 180...CHECK OUT THE COLORS IN THE BACKGROUND!

HEELSIDE INDY GRAB WAKEJUMP...MORE BEAUTY BACKGROUND...BLUETOOTH WAS WORKING THE CAMERA QUITE WELL HERE.

FAILED BACKROLL ATTEMPT, SO THANKFUL THAT WATER IS SOMEWHAT SOFT AT 23MPH

GOOD BYE SUMMER...HELLO PHEASANTS, HOCKEY AND SNOWBOARDS!