Old worn out Grandpa revitalized!

I havent been feeling too great lately. Dont know what ails me but have had all kinds of tests to find out and nothing bad shows up. Last Sunday I watched our Grandson Spencer play football. I had watched them practice one hot summer afternoon and came to the conclusion that the coaches were too tough and demanding on the young boys. While waiting for Spencers team to play I realized that all the other coaches were just as demanding as those on Spencers team. I had watched him play last year when he playeddefensive end. He was fabulous at that position, getting many sacks and in on most of the tackles. This year he iz playing Z back, whatever that means. The first time he got the ball he went for about ten yards and a first down. My tired blood suddenly got a burst of energy! Hey, these kids can play football! After the first play when the other team threw a pass for a touchdown on the first try I thought we were in for a long afternoon. Boy was I wrong. Spencers team pretty much shut them down for the rest of the game. I dont remember the exact score but it was 30 something to 8. We intercepted a pass and took it in for one T. D. Spencer made yards every time he carried the ball. All the backs played well. In this league they kick for the extra points and if it goes through the crossbar it counts as two points. No rushing the kicker is allowed.By the time the game was over I felt better than I have for quite some time. I was really proud of my grandson as I was during the baseball season. The boy has a lot of athletic talent. He got those genes from his dad and I hope he got a few of Grandpas genes to boot. I'm looking foreward to the next game. If I can keep sticking out my chest to show my pride in this kid, maybe it will overshadow my extra large tummy.
I'm proud of all our Grandkids but so far This is the only one playing sports where I have a chance to see him. I hope there will be more.

GO RUNZA GOLD!!!!!

Old Irish

Der Grope Mistress

When Arnold Swartzenager decided to run for Governor of California many rumors about him came out in the press. One of them was the accusation that he had groped a number of women in his past. It didn't hurt his chances to get elected governor, in fact it might have helped him by all of the free name recognation it caused. I sure hope my wife isn't planning on running for some political office and instead simply made an honest mistake at the rehab place on friday morning. I'm sure most of you know I had an experiance with blurred vision the week before. I know I told her it had returned to normal. At least I think I told her my vision had returned to normal. Now I'm not so sure. Her progress with the foot healing has been painfully slow but we did find out she can drive the truck. But now, even though she can drive it is probably in my best interest to keep taking her to rehab. Usually when we get her checked in I can catch my morning nap. Do you know how difficult it is to sleep with one eye open? Also its hard to sleep with all that giggleing going on. I think I heard the gropee asking if his next appointments could be the same time and day as THAT WOMAN. When I coded at theheart hospital last October she really got after me for what I put her through. I thought wow shes really going to miss me when I'm gone. I thought about how lonely she will be, but now I know she wont have much trouble finding a replacement. I just hope she takes the time to introduce herself. At least I know she has HANDS ON EXPERIANCE!

I still love you Swedeheart and I hope your vision gets better too. Maybe when the feet are both fixed and healed we can stay away from temptations of rehab. Unless you get carpal tunnel in your wrists which while painful for you might make it easier to sleep at the rehab place.

P.S. I think the one lady did leave for a while and came back in a different skirt.

Old Irish

21st and P

Today I drove the truck down town to take care of some business. On my way home the engine stopped on O street. I managed to get it to the curb without power. I put it into park and got it started again. I was almost home when it died again. This time I had a hard time getting it started. I called Bobbie and told her that after I got home I needed to take it to my mechanic. She said I should turn around and take it to him right away. I made it to the Auto Connection at 21st and P which is my mechanics shop. I told him the problem and he drove it into the shop. He said it died on him before he got it in, and he had a hard time getting it started again. I waited while he checked why the "check engine light " was on. He said there were two cam shafts in this particular engine and something was sending one of them a signal to shut down the power. They didn't have time to find the problem so I left it there so they can check it in the morning. I volunteer at the County / City information desk on Thursdays so if they can find and fix the problem by 11.00 a.m. I can have Shannon drop me off to pick it up. Otherwise I will have her drop me off at the C/C bldg. and figure out how to pick it up later. I called home to have Shannon pick me up at the Auto Connection. Bobbie wanted to know the address. I said 21st and P. No she said, whats the address of the shop. 21st and P I repeated. She insisted there had to be a numbered address and Shannon needed that to use her GPS to find where I was at. This is technology gone beserk. P street is one block north of O street. The east/west streets are numbered. I couldn't figure what the problem was. I stood out side and her GPS brought her to 21st and P no problem. As we drove home this GPS continually told her ; turn right here, turn left here, continue for 2.7 miles, Turn left, turn right, turn left, until it came to our house. It didn't tell her to turn into the drive way. I fully expected it to tell her to open the garage door, pull in the garage, turn the ignition key to off and get out of the car. We have one of these little gems ourselves and I'm sure it will come in handy when Shannon and Kevin move to San Antonio. I'm still learning on this computer and probably wont have it mastered in my lifetime. Adding a GPS to my to learn list might be more than this 72 year old brain can absorb. Ahhhhh technology!!!!

Old Irish

Requiem Aternum, Dona nobis Dominae.

Those words, sung in Gregorian chant, were the start of the mass at the funeral for Jen's ( Dan's wife) grandmother. I have often missed the Latin Mass I grew up with. The Gregorian chant at this Mass was sung by Seminarians at the Latin rite seminary near Seward Ne. The priestly fraternity of St. Pius 10th. run the Seminary and have a church. St. Francis of Assisi for Catholics who prefer the Latin rite. When St. Elizabeth Hospital moved to a new hospital, the old hospital was utilized as a county run old folks home while a new home was being built for that purpose. When it was complete the old St. Elizabeths was razed except for the chapel. The county kept it for a while and eventually sold it to the Fraternity which have had Latin masses ever since. I have a friend who couldn.t accept the changes from the Vatican council and was happy to see the chance to go to Mass with the Latin Rite.They have a decent size congregation, mostly old folks.

I got my fix, For the chant I had sung so many times in my youth. The words never left my head and it all came back. This church took me back to the old days and after the service I became so much satisfied with the new way. The old way was beautiful but Somber and sad compared to the celebration of life which funerals now emphisize. I dont think God wants us to fear Him as we were taught when we were young, but to love Him, as he showed us the ultimate love of dying so we would have the chance to be with him for eternity if we put our trust in Him and accept His invitation to "Come ,follow Him." God is good. God is Love.

Pax Dominus sit semper vobiscum. ( The peace of the Lord be always with you.)

Old Irish

The Butterfly.

Your parents opened up the box and sunlight filtered in.
She fluttered to your baby face, this butterfly, your twin.
She kissed you on your tiny lips, and said you'd be O.K.
She stayed with you a little while, before she flew away.
And as she left she hovered,
Gave Mom and Dad a nod.
Then fluttered back to Heaven,
To spend more time with God.

Grandpa

My Handsome Boys

My kids, like every parents kids, were always beautiful to me. We were blessed with two boys and three girls. Watching them grow up and making there own friends was both exciting and somewhat a wonderment. We lost most of the pictures we had when they were little, but we have a whole lot of wonderful memories.
But this blog entry isn't about our own kids. Its about their and their good friends kids. Thats why I titled it my handsome boys. There was a beautiful little girl in our imediate family but she was only with us for five days when she was called back to heaven. Her twin brother Corey will soon be having his sixth birthday on the 19th of this month.
Our first grandchild was Kellie and Denny,s son Spencer. Aboy who loves school and also loves playing defense on the Union Bank rookie football team. He got lots of tackles this fall and several quarterback sacks. He is the oldest grandchild and will be ten this month.Then comes Colleens boys, Riley 8, Shannon 6 and Corey, soon to be six. These kids are computer smart and also very talented from Wi games to Guitar hero ( Shannon). Corey has been reading for years and could recite the Pledge of Allegence for years. All are doing great in School.
Then there are Dans boys. The oldest Damien started Kindergarten last fall. The first day he flunked recess by climbing the slippery slide the wrong way. A very normal thing to do for little boys. He is doing very good in school and loves it. Next is Raiden. (spelling?) Hopefully can go to pre school next fall. He has dimples that will melt your heart. Last comes Peyton. He is about a year and a half old. He was pretty much attached to his mom, but since she started working nights at Wall Mart he is comfortable with his dad now and is starting to get friendly with grandpa.

Today we were thrilled when we were visited by Leigh and her two boys. Leigh is just like our own She spent about as much time at our house as in her own during her grade school years. We always did and still do consider her one of the family. She has a two year old (Mateo) and a three month old (Jacqueen) I know I blew the spelling on this one. These are Spanish names as Leighs Mother in law came from Spain. These boys I include as my handsome boys.
Two more boys are added to the mix as another of our girls friends has two boys . Griffin and Dalton (I think) She also has a little girl but I would have to look at her blog to remember her name . I think it is Jessalen. Some how in my old age I seem to have memory lapses. Anyway I am so happy to claim all of these children as my family. They are scattered from Nebraska to Michigan to New Mexico to Iowa. I dont get to see them often enough but we have pictures. I hope I have a few healthy years left in me to watch them grow and see what they become.

The best thing about little children is their innocence and their total trust in you. Thats something money cant buy. Thanks God, for providing us with these little ones.

Old Irish

Old friends and memories

Reading the obituaries this morning I saw the name of an old friends mother. I hadn't seen this friend since 1953. I decided to take a trip to David City hopeing to see him. When I went away to High School he lived just up the road from the family I stayed with. He was a sophomore when I was a freshman. I spent a couple afternoons at his house and we became good friends. He was onery and since I had that same attribute we hit it off pretty good. One of our nemises was Sister Carol. We used to hide from her and otherwise make her life difficult. One day we went up to the attic of the school and hid in a large closet. Sister Carol figured that was where we went and opened the door to the closet. My buddy was standing right in front of her when she hollered his name and said " I know youre in there."!He tried to stifle a laugh but then I couldn't hold mine. I told him when I saw him today that he was my hero. The next year he moved to town and went to a different school, leaving me to fend with Sister Carol by myself. By the end of my sophomore year I had singlehandedly caused her to have a nervous breakdown. The next year she was gone. I think she finished her teaching career at an all girls school in Milwaukee. Of course I had to find a new partner to help me keep the Nuns on their toes. Ray was a perfect choice. We did a lot of entertaining at that school. One day Ray decided to play with a bottle of mercury. Naturally he managed to spill some on the Lab table. we chased it all over the room trying to get it back in the bottle. In typing class Ray would get mad whenever he made a mistake and he would rip the paper out of the typewriter and mutter something in Chech that I didn't understand. Sister Maxentia would scold him , not for making mistakes but for losing his temper. Whenever we had a fun night for a school fundraiser it was pretty much the "Bob andRay show". Somehow we managed to complete High School and get our diplomas. We didn't see each other for many years and ten years ago he died. When I went to the funeral home today I saw his widow and we had a nice visit. He talked to her a lot about our shenanigans while in school. This spring will be 55 years since we graduated. Almost makes me fill old. Ray and another classmate(Dennis) have passed away and the rest of us are trying to get together every year from now on. I hear from a couple of them regularly via E-Mail. I go by the old school whenever we go to Norfolk or Wausa. The windows are boarded up and I imagine the floors are dryrotted by now. Probably wouldn't be safe to go into now. Every time I drive by it brings back memories. Most of them are good. One in particular was the day the boys learned to dance. At school dances the boys stood around and told jokes while the girls sat across the room wishing someone would ask them to dance. When asked why we didn't dance we always claimed we didn't know how. Sister Rosealina called off english class one day and ordered everyone to go to the Gym. Music was put on the record player and Sister Rosealina showed every boy in that school how to dance. She was the only Nun I ever danced with. She was also an excellent dancer. She definately was a take charge person and ended up being my favorite teacher. All in all I enjoyed seeing some old friends, even if it was in a funeral home. Maybe now that I finally posted a blog again I will be able to bring up other stories of my life. Till then keep lookin.

Old Irish