Another Year

If you're reading this, then the Mayans were wrong ...

The end of the world would have spoiled a great year for rookie quarterbacks and for the movie industry.  My "five favorite movies of the year" would include Argo, The Dark Knight Rises, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and of course, the soon-to-be-released Lionhead (written, directed, editted, and produced by Renniers).

My 2012 resolutions were generally successful.  On one item, I failed big time.  Pledging to make a 48,000-word contribution to a book, I only wrote 32,000.  It's going to take longer than I thought!

My other commitments fared better:

Goal: Hike 300 miles.

Results: Hiked over 400 miles.  The picture to the left is of Ooh-Aah Point (a great name!) within the Grand Canyon.

Goal: Bike 600 miles.

Results: Rode over 1000 miles (including a few with a broken collarbone!)

Goal: Lose 30 pounds:

Results: Lost 30 pounds (more at one point, but a holiday binge set me back)

These resolutions seem silly at times, but frankly I would sit around and watch movies all day without some objectives.

For 2013: Lose 10 pounds, walk 400 miles, ride 1000, and write 24,000 words.  And ignore the Mayans.

Cliff Diving

Does anyone else think it's ironic that the current regime, which vilifies Bush as if he were Scrooge himself, suddenly feel the Bush tax cuts must be renewed at all costs?

The odds of rectifying the situation by the end of the year are nil.  Sure, a temporary fix might be passed, but the politicians are predictably spending most of their time worrying about the tax side of the problem as opposed to the spending side.  Even if they are successful with a modified patch to the tax situation (by extending the Bush environment with an extra kicker for "rich" people), it'll only generate enough revenue to fund the government for 8 days.  And that's the best case - it might actually DECREASE revenues.  But at least the liberals will feel good about themselves the next time they ask for an increase in the debt limit.

The real problem is spending, which has swelled to 25% of GDP and continues to mount.  History suggests 20% would be the proper level.  We could achieve this in a few years by simply freezing the budget at today's level; economic growth would naturally restore the proper balance after a few years.

This is something which could be done easily in the next two days, but the chances of achieving a real solution under this regime are not favorable.  The Senate won't even create a budget!  It reminds me of what Kobe Bryant said about fellow roundballer Pao Gasol a few weeks ago: "It's time to put on the big boy pants".

Merry Christmas!

My favorite Bible verse is I John 5:13:

"I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life."

On Christmas Day, we can again KNOW God is real. 

Against all mathematical oddss, the birth of Jesus satisfied hundreds of previously documented prophecies.

He walked among us, and is still interested in our lives.  He has given us the best gift we could ever receive.  There are no attached strings.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas with Dylan

Kim told me I had too much to talk about and she couldn't take it all.  Her advice: start blogging again.  In other words, seek some outlet other than her.  Soulmate, indeed.

As she was talking, the lyrics of Bob Dylan's Maggie's Farm sprang to mind:

"Well, I wake in the morning, fold my hands and pray for rain, I got a head full of ideas that are drivin’ me insane."

To keep both of us from climbing the walls due to my overabundance of semi-insightful - often half-baked - opinions, I agreed to blog once a week and talk less.   

Some potential topics come to mind: On Being a Grandparent, Living Together, The Fallacy of Progressivism, Rams' News and Thoughts, Smartphones, the Five Worst Presidents, Hiking, My Book, Simple Budgetary Ideas That Elude Washington, RV Adventures, Exceptionalism, The Myth of the Independent, How to Handle the Press, and other riveting subject areas ripe for some rambling.  (Ahh, the allure of alliteration.) 

It has also occurred to me to invite Dylan to the house for Christmas as a guest.  I think he'd enjoy it.  Seriously.

Branson

The condo we stayed at in Branson provided crafts for the kids!  The 3 of them made Christmas necklaces and colored bobble heads.

A photo op for grandparents and grandkids.

Photo op for kids!

Don't they look like angels?

Gussie makes a cute  model.  Here he has 2 photographers snapping away.

And... We're Back!

Sorry for the long lapse between blogs.  Google informed me that I was out of "free" space and I didn't want to pay them any moolah for more, so I have been scrambling to figure out what to do.  Still haven't got all the issues resolved but I'm working on it.  

Here's what's been happening:  Steve and I took Amber and the 4 grandkids to Branson for the Christmas season.  Our first stop was Silver Dollar City.  They loved the rides.  I mean really, really loved them.  Here is Michael showing us his surprise face on the carousel.

They started out on the kid swings and enjoyed them, so they moved up to....

the big kids swings.  If you look closely you can see Steve and Mary in the front seat.  Catherine behind them sitting alone and Amber and Michael next to Catherine.

They were not ready to stop riding all the rides, but we talked them into watching the electric light parade.

We headed up to the front of the park to eat our traditional buffet dinner  and then head back outside to watch the tree light show.  

We are so happy that they moved back to the area so we can enjoy things like this with their family.  Hopefully next year we'll have Chris's family to share this with also!

Technical Difficulties

Google has informed me that I am out of space.  As soon as I figure out how to fix this problem I will be back to blogging!