Dead Wood!

Today has been great, but I want to tell you about my Making People Smile and Laugh outdoor project, that began Wednesday evening and ended last night, because it makes me smile and laugh every time that I see it or think about it.

We had a dead, sad-looking Crepe Myrtle tree, that lost its life to the drought, in front of Mandy and Moe Bandy's pen and it depressed me every time that I sat outside, in our Earthing Zone.

So I decided to do something about it, to change the dead tree's negative vibes to happy vibes, even though it did ruin one of my favorite t-shirts, that I designed, that only Carol and I have. Here's a big clue.

It took me over three hours to do, but it was well worth it, because now I laugh every time that I see it. And today when our fabulous friends aka volunteers came out to walk our dogs—it made them smile and laugh instantly, even though it will always be a work in progress. 

And I hope that you are still smiling and laughing as you continue to read this. I've always loved painted dead trees and every time that Tony and I go over to visit our dear artist friend, Steve Pietzsch, I always smile and laugh immediately when I see his beautifully painted dead trees. And I find it amazing how you can turn dead wood into a smile and a laugh. I've named it The Happy Tree. And that is about it for tonight.

P.S. Our dear friend, Gerry Olert, just sent me a picture that he took at Chet's In Dining Hall Concert and I love it and think it says it all about his awesome, magical, fabulous concert.

Y'all have a great evening!

Carol's Back!

Today has been great. This morning, after we did our chores outside, our dear friend, Kent, came over to visit Tony and me. Kent is Ruth Buzzi's husband and he had come down to see Kinky and us. And as you know Kinky, Tony and I love Ruthie and Kent. They are our dear friends and they have done so much to help our rescue ranch.

While the three of us drank Green Mountain Donut Shop Coffee, in the kitchen, Kent watched Gerry Olert's video of Chet O'Keefe singing Ode To Cousin Nancy, at our Chet O'Keefe In Dining Hall Concert. And Kent, Tony and me teared up, because Chet's song is so beautiful and it was so kind of him to write it. Needless to say, "Kent loved the song, too."

After we watched the video, I told Kent all about Earthing and he thought it made a lot of sense, so I printed out two pages about it, so he could take it home and read more about it. Then I told him about  the hilarious lunch that Big G, Carol, Kinky and me had, last Saturday, when I told Big G and Kink about Earthing. Then we did a lot of laughing as we caught up with each others latest news.

When it was time for Kent to get back over to the the Lodge, he invited Tony and me to join him, Kinky, Big G and Lucas, Big G's son, for lunch today, at Del Norte, because on Wednesday they have a great Mexican food buffet. When we told Kent that we would love to go, he then insisted that he wanted to treat us to lunch, too.

Before we adios-ed each other, I said, "Kent, let's play a joke on Kinky and Big G! At that lunch they were teasing me about Earthing. So, sometime during lunch, make up something and tell them that you've discovered Earthing and you want to share it. It will crack them up!"

Lunch with our dear friends was a total blast and it was long too, because we did so much laughing, especially when Kent wanted to share his exciting news about discovering Earthing. And that is all that I can or will share with y'all.

After our super fun lunch Tony and I swung by Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, so we could pick up little Carol, the dog that I named in honor of my dear friend Carol. We adopted Carol out, in April, but unfortunately it didn't work out. Which is fine with us, because it just wasn't meant to be her forever home. So, if any of y'all know someone who wants an adorable, sweet, little dog, please tell them that Carol's back, at the rescue ranch. This is her adoption picture.

By the time Carol, Tony and I arrived back at the ranch we three had decided that Carol should live inside with us and our giant dogs, until she gets adopted again, because we just don't have any space available for her outside and she's very small. We are going to crate her for a few days, next to the kitchen table and let her sleep in the big puppy pen, that Tony has set up for her, in my office, so she will get to know and be comfortable around our four-legged giants. Then we will remove the crate and puppy pen, so she can be part of our family until she finds her forever home.

Here's Mama checking Carol out, once again, so I'm calling this photo "I Know, I Know You..."

Before I finish writing this I just checked out Kris' & Jim aka The Mineral Man's—Footloose And Kid-Free In The Hill Country blog and I love the pictures they have posted, from their latest trip to Colorado. And my favorite pictures are the hilarious Alien pictures that they took, in Roswell, New Mexico, at that famous Alien Museum. So, I hope that you will check out Kris' & Jim's latest post on their blog, because it is one of my favorite blogs to read, that I follow. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Cousin Nancy's Top Picks!

Today has been great. But first, I want to catch y'all up a bit. Saturday afternoon Kinky called to invite Tony and me to eat lunch with him and Big G. After I told Kink that it sounded like fun and I'd meet him at the restaurant, in Kerrville. I told him that Tone couldn't go, because he had just left to go to his family reunion at his brother's ranch. Before we adios-ed each other we had decided to meet around 1:00.

Then I immediately called my dear friend, Carol, to invite her to join us for lunch. A few minutes later, as I was opening Carol's gate, because she was going to ride with me, Kinky honked Mr. Green Jeans' horn and waved at me, as he drove past me.

Lunch with Kinky, Carol and Big G was a lot of fun and filled with laughter. If Kinky wasn't cutting up and being funny, then Carol, Big G or I was. During our meal I decided to tell Big G all about my Earthing discovery and how cool it was and Tony and I building an Earthing Zone that we had filled with sand, while Kinky jokingly rolled his eyes, and smilingly said, "Nance, you need to quit telling people about this kind of stuff, because they are going to think that you are crazy." So when he had finished saying that I laughed and then continued to talk about the benefits of Earthing.

A little later on after Kinky had told us about a doctor and his wife that were coming out to the ranch, to to meet and visit with Kinky, later in the day, he said, "And Nance, I hope that you're going to be around, because they definitely want to see the rescue ranch and meet you and Tony."

His words opened the door, giving me the opportunity to tease him one more time, "Why sure, Kinky. I would love to meet them. And when you bring them over we can all play in the sandbox!" My kidding remark had caught everyone off guard. With Kinky laughing out loud and then saying, "That was a good one, Nance. You got me." Big G was roaring with laughter and then he almost choked on his food, while Carol just shook, in her chair, trying to keep water from coming out of her nose while laughing. It was totally hilarious.

Later on that day, I went over to the Lodge to meet Kinky's new friends and I instantly liked them, so while we were in Kink's kitchen, I started telling them about Earthing and guess what—they already knew all about it and they thought it was a great way to connect to the Earth. And this super nice doctor said, "It's one of the best ways to get grounded." And that got Kinky's attention.

Sunday was an especially great day for me, because our friend, Karon, called me Sunday morning to tell me that she had gone by Hoegemeyer's to check out the dog that we rescued last Wednesday. "Nancy, I spent thirty minutes playing with him and I want to adopt him. I love him and he has stolen my heart..." Which was great news, because we are over capacity out here and we need people to come out to adopt our super dogs.

Today has been great. This afternoon Tony and I met up with our great once-a-month-lunch friends, at Bella Vita. It was a lot of fun, like it always is and the food was delicious. And after we had adios-ed our friends, except for Kris & Jim, they asked us to come over to Kris' truck, where they gave us two, beautiful, copper, engraved, guitar picks, made in New Mexico. I love them because they both have the Native American bear symbol on them, along with several other symbols.

Here are before and after pictures of my top picks, before adding Kris' & Jim's two copper picks. Thank you, Kris & The Mineral Man.

This past week we have rescued two dogs, Walter aka Louie that Kinky adopted and the new dog that I have still not named, that will be going directly to Karon's home tomorrow. I am thrilled that we had two rescues and two adoptions! And that's about it for tonight, because Tony and I fixin' to go outside to ground ourselves, again.

Y'all have a great evening!

Oops!

Oops! I just walked back inside The Cabin and could not believe that it was a few minutes past eight o'clock. I had been outside, for over an hour and a half, listening to my iPod music and playing my guitar, while I was Earthing. I was enjoying it so much and so were our dogs—the time just flew by. Anyway, I had planned to blog tonight, but now I just have time to do some writing on my third novella.

Y'all have a great evening!

Thank You, Jay Pennington For Helping All Of Us! And Donna Gable Hatch & The Kerrville Daily Times!!

Today has been great, but I will write about it tomorrow, because I want everyone to read Donna Gable Hatch's fabulous article about our friend Jay Pennington, in today's Kerrville Daily Times. And now I can tell you that my secret project, that I mentioned a while back, was uploading all of our dog's photos and the information about each and everyone of them, so when Jay was ready to launch the site and go public with it—Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch's dogs would be on KerrvillePets.com. Here's the story that Donna sent to me, in today's paper:

Jay Pennington’s database allows for easy access to animals who are lost, found and adoptable

By Donna Gable Hatch
Features Editor
donna.hatch@dailytimes.com 

Animal rescue groups and shelters everywhere share a common goal: to find permanent homes for abandoned and abused dogs and cats and to reunite pet owners with their lost pets — and that job is a little easier, thanks to the efforts of Jay Pennington.

A veteran software/database developer, Pennington put his skill — and his heart — into developing a database that allows animal shelters, rescue groups and the general public to upload photos and descriptions of animals that have been lost — or found — and be cross referenced to increase the odds for a happily ever after. The free site enables people to reconnect with their lost pets and helps people who want to adopt a cat or dog find the perfect addition to the family, said Pennington, a lifelong animal lover.

“Growing up, I always had a variety of dogs and cats,” said Pennington, who shares his life with his wife of 15 years, Sarah, and their German shepherd, Emma. “As an older teen, I fell in love with German shepherds, and I’ve had German shepherds all my adult life.”

For Pennington, the nonprofit project — Pet Search and Rescue — started 11 years ago, when a distracted air conditioning repairman left the front door ajar, and Pennington’s kitten, Jazz Cat, dashed off.

Pennington and his wife began a frantic search to find the missing feline.

“We were looking everywhere and putting up fliers, going door-to-door in the neighborhood. After a couple days, we thought maybe she could have been picked up by the city,” said Pennington, who had worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Houston, where he worked on database development related to future Space Station experiments, among other things. “Back then, the city of San Antonio didn’t have a website of the pets at the pound, so you had to drive there, and they were putting down pets two and three days after pickup, so you had to go often.”

They made the trek to the shelter, but Jazz Cat wasn’t there, so they expanded the search and began the painstaking and time-consuming exercise of contacting every rescue animal group in the surrounding area.

“Some of them had websites, but the sites were often out of date or difficult to navigate, and others had no website.”

Pennington’s frustration gave rise to the realization that his expertise could speed up the process and help pet owners — as well as people looking for the perfect pet — a more effective way to beat the cumbersome system.

“It took about nine months in my spare time to design the database tables and write the behind-the- scenes processing that goes on,” said Pennington, who said Jazz Cat, thankfully, reappeared seven days after her disappearance and became the project mascot.

“The city’s animal control services would upload photos and information about animals in its care, and the general public and rescue groups would do the same,” he said. “If someone found a pet in their front yard, they could upload a picture and description, and the rescue/foster organizations could upload photos of the pets they had.”

A decade later, Pennington’s Web-based pet rescue efforts — SApets.com and its associated other websites,www.BoernePets.com www.BulverdePets.com andwww.LostPetFound.com — have saved hundreds of animals from being euthanized and have filled many homes with another happy heartbeat. And now, Kerr County has joined the pack with kerrvillepets.com.

“Utopia Pet Rescue Ranch adoptable pets have been on my BoernePets.com site for a couple years now, but I was ready to gear up with the lost/found/pound/adoptable of Kerrville,” said Pennington, who reached out to Kerr County Animal Services, the Kathleen C. Cailloux Humane Society, Freeman-Fritts Veterinary Clinic & Shelter, The Big Fix and other rescue and foster groups in the area.

“It has all come together very well, very quickly, so that we are ready to do great things to help the pets and pet orgs in Kerrville,” Pennington said.

All for one, and one for all

Ray Garcia, Kerr County health and animal services director, said Pennington has worked closely with Virginia Bronts, the county’s animal services adoption coordinator, to implement the program with the city’s shelter.

“This website is one of many tools that can be used to reduce the number of animals in the shelter by finding ‘forever homes’ locally and to help owners find their missing pet,” Garcia said. “We are very excited to be involved with Jay Pennington and his website.”

Penny Bowman, board president of the Kathleen C. Cailloux Humane Society, said when Pennington reached out to the shelter, they were happy to take his helping hand.

“The more publicity animals get, the more their chances are of getting adopting or returned home,” Bowman said. “The numbers of animals that are euthanized monthly are horrible, and as a community, we should be ashamed. The shelters in Kerrville are desperately trying to help by taking as many as we can, but until one is adopted, another cannot be taken in. Having another avenue to show the animals available in Kerr County will be great. Even if only a few get adopted or find their way back home, it is worth it.”

Bowman said another benefit to the site is that it enables those people who are looking for a particular breed to find it in a shelter instead of turning to a backyard breeder.

“They can check by breed, and the website will pull up where it is available,” Bowman said.

At the Freeman-Fritts Animal Shelter, Sonia Mumma, shelter manager, has been busy uploading photos and descriptions. Mumma said when she first heard from Pennington, she was overjoyed.

“This website is such a wonderful opportunity for the pets of Kerr County and surrounding areas,” Mumma said. “Spreading the word is paramount to saving more lives and reuniting lost and found pets with their owners as well, and working with Jay Pennington has been a wonderful experience. He truly has a passion to save the lives of cats and dogs, and we are so glad to join and be a part of kerrvillepets.com.”

Debbie Yarbrough, president of The Big Fix Homeless Cat Project, said the organization has worked judiciously for the past decade “to help Kerr County with the trap-neuter-release programs and finding great homes for some special rescue cats.

“Jay Pennington’s website project will significantly help the efforts of many caring nonprofit organizations like Big Fix to find homes for homeless cats,” Yarbrough said. “We are excited to have this up-to-date resource available.”

Longtime animal advocate Kinky Friedman, co-founder of the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, called Pennington “a protector of strays. What Jay is doing with his websites is noble and benefits so many people,” said Friedman, who shares his home with five dogs — Winston Randolph Spencer Churchill Friedman, Sophie, Peanut, Willie Nelson and Walter Matthau — and two cats, Blacky and Yellowy. “The fact that he’s doing this out of the goodness of his heart, and not for any monetary gain, speaks highly of the character of the man. He’s one of the good ones.”

What makes Penningon’s system so unique and helpful compared to national pet systems, Friedman said, “is that Jay designed it specifically for a community level and ties the rescue organizations and shelters of one community together to help the pet owners and pet orgs of that community.”

High tech talents at work

Pennington, who owns Pennington Technical Arts in Boerne, graduated from the University of Texas San Antonio in 1979, with a bachelor of science degree in math, computer science and systems design. He worked at Southwest Research Institute developing database systems for Division 17, the nuclear power research development department, and also participated in a National Science Foundation grant research project, developing early robotic software.

After graduation, he accepted a position with Western Electric/Bell Labs doing database development and later worked at Southwest Research.

In the mid-1980s, he segued into aerospace development at Martin Marietta and, by the latter part of the decade, he’d achieved his dream of working at NASA.

It was at NASA in 1986 that his path aligned with that of the crew of seven astronauts of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

“I had met teacher Christa McAuliffe and shown her what we were working on,” Pennington said. “I worked on various software projects — writing software to analyze satellite imagery, designing databases for future space station experiments, writing software for the scientists to help them in their research, and software/database work.”

After the horrific explosion — which was a result of a leak in one of two solid rocket boosters that ignited the main liquid fuel tank and claimed the lives of all on board — Pennington was chosen to be part of the Challenger Accident Investigation Team.

“I was writing software with other associates to analyze the different media of the launch. I wrote database systems to manage all the media sent in by news agencies, government and tourist imagery,” Pennington said. “After the accident, President Reagan came to NASA to speak. I remember that day very well, and now it’s in the school history books.”

After NASA, Pennington returned to San Antonio and eventually formed his own company.

He designed and created a complex Web-based database system — www.scoutsystem.com — for the sports scouting industry in tracking high school players that is used by universities throughout the U.S., and he developed a content management system website for Kendall County about the history of the county primarily driven through its historic photography on dynamic pages and which the website also serves to encourage tourism to the county —www.KendallCountyHistory.com.

Pennington said he’d like to take his passion for helping animals to other areas and use his skills in other ways.

“Being creative is the key. I’d like to continue doing programming that is creative that is clearly beneficial to companies, individuals, or animals and pets,” said Pennington, who makes no money from the pet-related sites. “Being able to make a living helping pets in need across Texas then across the U.S. would be an attainable dream come true.”

INFORMATION BOX

There is no charge to upload a lost or found pet and no fee to use the site to kerrvillepets.com or any of its related sites.

➤ Lost pet: If you have lost your pet and have a picture of it on your computer (JPG format only), click on the “Post your lost pet” link and follow the simple prompts. The information and the photo remain on the site for four weeks. Once the pet is returned home, return to the site and remove the listing by clicking “remove uploaded pet,” and follow the prompts.

➤ Found pet: If you found an animal to upload, type the word “found” in the pet name box and the word “found,” along with a detailed description of the dog or cat in the “description of pet” box, and then fill out the rest of the form completely. Also check for your pet on this page in the “found” and “picked up” area.

➤ To search: First scroll down the homepage ofKerrvillePets.com to see if your pet or a pet you want to adopt is listed on this main page. To search throughout Central Texas, select the breed of the cat or dog and it will list all found, pound and adoptable pets of that breed from participating rescue orgs and shelters.

➤ Info: Visit kerrvillepets.com orPenningtonTechnicalArts.com

STORY 2

Jay Pennington: On the road to Tinseltown

By Donna Gable Hatch
Features Editordonna.hatch@dailytimes.com

Area resident Jay Pennington is a journeyman actor who has appeared in dozens of TV shows, music videos and films, including “Fields Afire,” a recently released film that is getting buzz in the theater festival circuit and already is winning awards. Portions of the film — about a team of misfit kids playing at a baseball park who are caught in a meteorite strike that burns the fields, leaving them unharmed but believing they are endowed with special powers — was shot in the retired historic Boerne jailhouse. Pennington plays the town’s sheriff who works to keep the kids from turning to the dark side.

“Jay is a consummate professional, as well as an extremely talented and versatile actor. His work in our last feature film was amazing,” producer Shannon Jimenez said. “He’s the full package — a team player with excellent craft.”

Pennington said he’s been enamored with films since he was 6 and watched black and white classics on PBS and became more interested in the field while sitting in the Olmos Theater in San Antonio during his teen years.

“For about six years now, I’ve been very seriously pursing acting in films. It’s like any job — you take classes, you build your resume, you gain experience,” said Pennington, a former member of the Texas Wild Bunch Gunslingers. “I haven’t worked with them for a couple years, but they were the first step in the domino effect to the door opening to my acting career.”

Pennington, an experienced equestrian and motorcyclist, is tailor-made for a variety of roles, Jimenez said, and his rugged good looks and impressive stature — he’s 6-foot, 3-inches tall and weighs 205 pounds — have landed him roles as cowboys, Biblical characters, a Gothic Druid monk, gunslingers, bikers, blackmailers and murderers. He’s also played a Saxon king for The History Channel’s “Vikings” promo — and he’s a front-runner to be the model for a life-size bronze sculpture of Buffalo Bill Cody.

He’s also a gourmand and for several years has been cross breeding hot peppers he calls Pennington Peppers.

“They really are unique and hot,” Pennington said. “You can only make so much salsa, so for a couple years now I’ve been making all kinds of flavor variations of hot pepper jellies. I have this killer one that is fresh cherries, pecans, secret spices and my unique peppers.”

But he’s had to ease up on the plan to market the peppers, because his acting career is getting hotter.

“This summer, you’ll see me walk in front and about to get hit by Mark Wahlberg and his pickup early on in ‘Transformers 4,’ and see me causing trouble in the bar in ‘Sin City 2’ and in a couple ‘Revolution’ episodes,” Pennington said of NBC’s science fiction TV series that is set in a post-apocalyptic United States of America, 15 years after the start of a worldwide, permanent electrical-power blackout. 

“I just finished being in a pilot episode that I’m hoping so strongly that it will become a television series and they keep me in the story,” he said.

The pilot stars three actors from “The Virginian” — James Drury, Gary Clarke and Roberta Shore and also Buck Taylor from “Gunsmoke.”

“I was certainly awestruck on the inside and enjoyed being around everyone, especially making friends with Buck and his horse Little Man.”

In the course of his acting career, Pennington has appeared in scenes with Jon Favreau, Mark Wahlberg, John Leguizamo, Buck Taylor, James Drury, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Glenn Morshower and Donny Boaz.

“During ‘Transformers,’ (director) Michael Bay picked me to do an intro to a scene, was very nice, calling me ‘sir,’ and cued me on each take,” Pennington said. “During ‘Sin City 2,’ I got my own trailer for the scenes I was in. For me, it’s an honor to be around successful actors.”

Pennington said acting is like anything else: The more you do it, the better it gets.

“I’m determined and keep moving forward in the acting journey,” Pennington said. “My goals are roles in ‘Longmire,’ ‘Dallas,’ ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Hell on Wheels.’ It happens, if you keep at it.”

To find out more, visit www.imdb.me/JayPennington.

We're Earthing On July 4th! or I'm On Fire!

Today has been great and Happy Fourth of July to all! Last night I ran out of time to post anything, because Tony and I went to the Home Depot, in Kerrville, so I could buy sand, for my Earthing Project.

I had stumbled upon this site about Earthing and after reading all it had to say about us reconnecting to Earth, by just walking or sitting barefoot on grass, dirt or sand, to receive better health. So I could not wait to make a place for Tony and me to kick off our boots and socks and sink them into sand.

When I went over to my best friend, Carol, this afternoon, I told her about Earthing and she found it very interesting, too. So, early this evening after I got back home I grabbed my iPod, my portable Bose, a steak knife, camera and our metal dog food scooper. Then I jumped into Buttermilk and drove over to Mandy and Bandy's pen to single-handed build an Earthing Zone for Tony and me to use for at least one hour everyday.

As all of the dogs were watching me I first I started up my iPod and selected one of my newest favorite songs, I'm On Fire by Town Mountain. Then I cranked up the volume so the dogs could enjoy it too. And they loved it as much as me, so I kept replaying it, as I stole some rocks that surrounded a nearby tree, I built a rock circle, then hand-scooped two sacks of sand inside the ring.

Then Tony showed up and when he saw me scooping the sand, he pulled out his knife and ripped open the two sand bags and poured them inside the circle. Then he helped me install our three new solar powered lights, then he went to The Okay Corral to bring back two of our metal rocking chairs, while I drove up to our front porch to bring back a small metal table, that Beau likes to sit on. And a few minutes later, Tony and I pulled off our boots and socks and had our feet resting in the sand.

One hour later, I came inside and downloaded the pictures I had taken during the making of my (Tony's) Earthing project and made a video, using Town Mountain's Bluegrass version of I'm On Fire.

I hope that you will check out the article on Earthing and my newly posted YouTube video— July 4, 2014— Cousin Nancy's Earthing Project, which is only 2 minute long, because you've got to hear Springsteen's famous song done Bluegrass style. I promise that you will love it and want to add it to your songs, while building your own Earthing Zone!

Y'all have a great evening!

Christmas In July!

Today has been great. This morning after Tony and I did our morning chores outside—Kinky called me and five minutes later, I was sitting in Kinky's kitchen, petting Walter Matthau. "Nance," Kinky said, "I want to adopt Walter. He's a great little dog and he gets along great with The Friedmans..."

When Kinky quit telling me how much he loved Walt, I said, "I wanted to adopted him, too, but you can adopt him, because The Friedmans are the same size and that would be much better for him instead of living with our house of giants. Kinky, Roy weighs 108 pounds."

That made Kinky chuckle. "Roy's one gigantic dog. I suggest that you and I have joint custody of Walter, like we did with Toto. Walter can live over here and you can come see him anytime you want." I was thrilled about us having joint custody of the adorable, little, black dog.

Before Kinky and I adios-ed each other, Kinky invited me and Tony to eat lunch with him and our friends, Donna Gable Hatch and Steve Peitzsch.

At 1:45, when we walked inside Wolfmueller's Books, Kinky and Steve were already there, visiting with Sandy and Jon. While we were visiting, Tony purchased a signed copy of A Beginner's Handbook for Rural Texas Landowners: How to Live in the Country Without Spoiling It by Jim Stanley, a local Master Naturalist, that Tony knew and greatly admired.

Then Sandy or Jon handed me a small book and said, "Nancy, we want to give this to you."

"Oh my goodness! Thank y'all so much. I love this." Then I started thumbing through it. "This was printed in 1955 and I'm going to get it framed. Kinky, it's a Sears Roebuck and CO.'s Roy Rogers Merry Christmas book and the title is Roy Rogers and The Other Christmas Tree. This is like Christmas in July for me."

Kinky, who was sitting on their desk top, next to the counter, nodded his head and smiled. "Let's eat at El Sol de Mexico." Then he told Steve where it was on Water Street and how delicious their Mexican food was, while Tony took off for his 2:00 chiropractic appointment. 

Steve tried to call Donna, on his cell phone, so she would know where to meet us, but his phone was acting up, so Jon ended up punching in Donna's phone number on their LAN line, so Steve could leave her a message. Then Kinky said, "Hey, it's only about four blocks away, so let's walk there." Then Kinky, Steve and I adios-ed our dear friends and left the building.

It was a lot of fun walking down to El Sol de Mexico with Kinky and Steve. We laughed and joked all of the way there. Lunch was a total blast and our food was delicious, too. And that is about it for tonight, because after listening to everyone talking about being so excited for tonight's Soccer Ball game, I plan on watching our USA Soccer Ball Team win, even though I know nothing about the sport.

Y'all have a great evening! 

7:00 PM Update: Laugh out loud. I just turned on the television to watch the soccer game. I asked Tony what channel it was on and he said, "They lost. It was on around 3:00."