Evening Ride

Horny Toad CSI

As my old grand pappy used to say - I don't know why they are on the endangered species list - you can't hardly kill a horny toad! With this in mind, I ran back to the house after finding a real live horny toad. I grabbed my camera and my mom and ran back to take pictures of this horned novelty.

Mom, "Ummm, I think it's dead, Jess."

Me, "Oh. I thought he might be, but I thought maybe he was just chillin' in the rocks."

Mom, "When their arms are back like that, it's a bad sign."

Looks like my old grand pappy was wrong.

Cell Phones and Cycling

This weekend while we were out at Waurika Lake, we went herd cycling. Lindsay was at the front and I was pulling up the rear. Dad yelled at me to "Come up! Come up!" Lindsay heard, "Hold up! Hold up!" and stopped. Mom's cell phone started ringing, plus she had the lock-in kind of foot petals. She was fishing her phone out of her pocket, and struggling to get a foot free to stop before she ran into Lindsay. She successfully did get her phone and a foot free - her left foot. She leaned right, and toppled over her bike and down the hill still holding her phone. As soon as she landed, she flipped open her phone and said, "Hello" and then carried on a conversation with her friend (as seen in the picture) while we stared at her in bewilderment - only for a brief moment, then we laughed our butts off! Only my Mom...

Memorial Weekend Interview

Lindsay and I were in the truck waiting on Shay before we headed off to the lake. We had been talking about a dog interview on Dooce, and decided to do our own interview. Originally, I was interviewing Lindz with Shay in the background, but having Shay run through the background was a bit more than I could handle ( you can see that in the second video). Even with Lindsay interviewing you can hear her voice quivering.

Final take.

The blooper video

Little Flirt

At a wedding I went to last Friday night, this little boy was flirting with some girls a couple of rows back. He was the male version of my youngest niece - super cute, but what a stinker!

Duncan Autocross

Saturday, Emmanuel Baptist put on an Autocross event for the community. Check out the Duncan Banner for the write -up.

I showed up a little late in the afternoon. My plan was to take pictures of all my buddies racing. But...I kinda got caught up in the racing myself! It was all free of charge, after you completed the race you just got back in line for another round and another chance to drive faster and better. Not only was I obsessed with beating my own time, but Kristie was riding with me. She increased the fun factor 10X. We screamed and laughed all through the course. (She videoed too, but I'm having trouble up-loading the files.) Anyhow, here's a few pics that I did take...
The line. There was a lot comparing times, ribbing, and general bragging going back and forth.

Kristie's son, Zack, waiting in line behind us. He had the second best time for the whole day.

A minivan taking a tight turn on the course. I was really fascinated with the idea of racing minivans. I called my brother several times to come by and race his - or at least let me race it! The cones were laid over purposely to point you in the right direction.

The score board. Notice all the cars in the "Sports Car" category. I listed my car in the compact category - made my score look a lot better ;)

Byers Bike Bash

As a last minute decision, I went with Mom and Dad to Byers for the big bike bash. Right as the race started an air evac helicopter landed in town for people to look through and visit with the pilot. I had a sense of urgency to ride hard, so I could head back and check out the helicopter (and maybe pilot ;).

About a mile into it, Dad was long gone and Mom was having trouble. She kept complaining about how tough it was, and I was rolling my eyes thinking, Come on, Mom. We got to get back to that helicopter! Poor Mom, it turns out she had a flat tire. I waited with her for a little while, but she sent me on. As I was trying to catch up with Dad, I came across a little girl riding all by herself. I thought I’d at least say hello and check on her before I blew past her. Her name was Natalie, or Nat-Nat as her friends call her. She was a talkative, fun-loving, nine year old from Fort Worth, “I really just wanted a t-shirt, but the only way we could figure out how to get a shirt was to enter the race, so here I am!... I wonder what the winner will get? Probably, a big trophy and some money. I sure would like to win, but I don’t think I will. At the starting line, I should have just gone around the neighborhood to the finish line and said, ‘Where’s my trophy!?” I’m telling you I liked this kid! I rode with her for a couple miles before she pooped out and loaded up into her grandparent’s pick-up. Poor kid was talking so much she could hardly breathe! She was great, though. I’m still kicking myself for not getting a picture of her.
Mom had gotten her flat fixed and passed me by this time. I caught up with her and we joined Dad at the next rest stop. We had an enjoyable time riding in the drizzling rain on the back country roads. Towards the end it was getting pretty miserable. About a mile from the end of the race, I saw the helicopter fly away. I was severely bummed. But I got to meet Nat-Nat! She was worth missing the helicopter for. And my parents were fun too.

Me and my folks

Love that dog - hate that cat.

We got a new kitten for my nieces to keep at our house. This very friendly kitten turns into Psycho Kitty when ever it sees a dog.
Ranger's (Rat Terrier) reaction, "Bring it on!"
Zoe's (Great Dane) reaction, "Did you here something?"
Jack's (Red heeler) reaction, "Oh my gawd! It's gonna kill me!"

Lake Pictures

Since it's about that time of year!

I came across the pictures of this trip to Grand Lake while I was searching for the picture of Taylor with his dog.

This is the counterpart to the picture of Taylor with his dog - Taylor's wife and her poodle.

This is a picture gone wrong, but it's kind of funky.

Foot picture!

Mud Bowl Highway Patrol

My soccer buddies
With all this rain we've been getting, it was pretty sloshy for soccer today - it was perfect for soccer today! All the "slip" tackles were hilarious to watch. I slipped and fell several times myself, and then one of the girls painted mean streaks under our eyes. We were having so much fun, I was ready to play till it was too dark to see the ball. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about a previous engagement that I was already late for. I hopped in my car and roared off. Several miles out of town, the highway patrol got me. As the officer walked up to my car, my little brain was racing, "How can I get out of this one?! Maybe I can start crying...do they really fall for that?...There's no time to work tears up anyway...Think! Think!...Should I try to explain?...They never give you a chance to explain!....Ahhh, here he is." He took one look at me and said, "Whachya got mud all over you for!?!" I got off with just a warning.

Happy Mother's Day

Yesterday, my brother and his family came over to celebrate Mother's day. We let Mom make us dinner - she's such a good mother!

My sister-in-law and niece

This is actually Mom's birthday gift. It's a Mexican style sink that Bo picked up in San Antonio.

Fly Ride

Album Link

Lately, I've been haunted by the Ghost of Springtime Past. Ever have that happen where you are flooded with memories with what you were doing the year before?

Well, three years ago, I dropped by the local airport to ask if I could take pictures of their airplanes to paint and draw from. They opened up the hangers for me and let me take pictures to my heart's content. Then they mentioned their old Beech aircraft, and had us (Lindsay was with me) leave our numbers for when they took it up the next time. They said they'd give us a call and let us come along. Oh Yeah!!! Not too long after that we did get a call and invite to go flying. I was very excited about flying in the old funky, antique airplane. After we got there, we learned that we'd only be flying in the Cessna. I was bitterly disappointed! Lindsay told me I was a brat, and then we cheerfully loaded up in the Cessna. Since I was a seasoned Cessna flier (2 previous flights) I let Lindsay ride in the front. (Who's the brat now!? ;) Airport Alan flew over both of our homes and all around the county - it was a good time. But it was no Beech.

Taylor's Video

Alright, so Lindsay's brother is asking that I put his Youtube video on my blog so that he can get more hits. I'm sure he'll get "tens" of hits now!

Scarborough Fair

Here's the link to the web album for more pictures.

Girl in the Window