Plethora

Isn't plethora a cool word? I learned it from Jacqueline and Jordan.

My Pal

Yesterday when I came home from work my pal was waiting for me. I thought she was telling me that we needed to go to the lake and spend the night. I was thinking to myself that I had a plethora of things to do, but spending the night at the lake sounds just great! Well, I went downstairs and got a sleeping bag, a lawn chair (for relaxation) and an ice chest. I filled that ice chest full of coke and dog biscuits and some fried chicken. It had been quite a while since we had taken a ride so we packed up and left.

We drove to the lake. It was a little windy. Then we remembered the "Walden Pond" people who run the Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge do not allow camping at the lake so Maddie and I packed up and headed back. I think she was thinking, "Well, I bet we could just sleep out on the deck in the backyard." When we got home we set up shop on the deck. It was just too noisy to sleep. So inside we went.

I made us some stovetop somores and a little warm chocolate milk and we both went to sleep on the living room floor.

What an adventure!!

My Name

I think that I have been told that my older brother John was named after our Great Grandfathers, John Keesee and Eli Haskett. My middle name is the same as my Dad's. Our name gives others something to call us and it is something that when we hear it we understand that we are being called.

I get questions sometimes about my name. "Do you want to be called Bob or Robert." I am sometimes asked. I usually explain that I think if my Mom introduced me to someone my name was Robert. If my Dad was the one who was presenting me to someone, my name was Bob. I remember a very scary day when I was enrolling in Junior High School (that was what it was called back then) my Mom was asked the question of what I wanted to be called. We looked at each other and said Robert. So nearly everyone who went to school with me from that time on called me Robert. Coaches usually call you by your last name, so the boys I was on the football or basketball team with called me Keesee. When I was in college, most people called me Keesee. My Grandma Keesee called me Bobby. I still have some of my cousins that call be Bobby. Megan and Clint sometimes call me Bobby. Sharlene calls me Bob and Honey, of course, and sometimes other things that we will not go into now. I bet my Dad introduced her to me. I have been called a plethora of names including Koozie, Kooz, Keez and Bert. Kandi, who works with me in the afternoon, just calls me Boss. My girls call me Dad and Daddy. All of the names mean something special to me.

Now, I guess, I am acquiring a new name. It is Pappy. I am a grandpa, being called Pappy. That is pretty cool and so is the sweet little one who is the reason I have the new name.

My Little Girl

Most of you know that I love music. I love country, jazz, classical - just about anything. I love strings, brass, and voices. I have been known to say in the middle of some conversation, "...that reminds me of a song." Well, I have certain songs that are just special to me. Dolly Parton's, "I Will Always Love You", Crystal Gayle's "When I Dream", The Statler Brothers singing "You are My Sunshine" and John Denver singing "Back Home Again" are just a few of my many "favorite" songs. Each one brings a special thought to my mind when I hear them.

There are certain songs that remind me of certain people. Many of those special songs remind me of my girls. "In My Daughter's Eyes" and "My Little Girl" are a couple of those songs that remind me of my daughters. I think of Pam when I hear "Why Haven't I Heard from You" and "This Kiss." I think of Annie and Pam when I hear "Grandpa (Tell us about the good old days). I think of Jacqueline when I hear "I'm Already There." (As a side note Annie and Sharlene have one song that is very special to the two of them.) But when I hear "In My Daughter's Eyes" and "My Little Girl" it makes me think of all three of them. These songs make me feel so special to have had the privilege to be my girls' Dad.

This morning I heard the song, "My Little Girl" on the radio. There is a part in that song that talks about being beautiful from the outside in. I belive that I have three beautiful daughters. I also believe that they are beautiful inside and outside. Their Mother played a big part on that inner and outer beauty.

Sharlene and I have a new little granddaughter, Chloe. She is so cute, so smart, so funny and so entertaining. (Grandpas say these things.) I believe she will grow up to be a beautiful young lady. I believe that her parents will also help her to grow up to be just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

In the song, "My Little Girl" it says that the little girl, "...will always be my little girl." I do not care what my daughthers say, they will always be my little girls. This little Chloe, and the new grandchildren that are on the way, will always be the "little girl(s)(and soon to be little boy) who is the little girl of My Little Girl.

Hope it makes sense.

Bang Up Weekend

We had a very special 4th of July weekend. Sharlene's brother Bob and his wife Sharon, one of their daughters, Jennifer and her husband Sam and Mr. Cameron came to Kansas for a visit. We had a lot of just real nice family time at Brenda's, Becky's and our house over the weekend.

There was food, fun, food and family and food. We sat around for hours and listened and talked. We hit Shelley Ann's for the traditional breakfast.

Becky and Jason's son, Clint, had a birthday on the 3rd so we celebrated that special day with a cookout, cake and ice cream.

Fireworks with the Stapels is the tradition now. It was fun, loud, exciting and sometimes there was a suprise.

Bob, Sam, Cameron and I went to the Geographical Center of the United States near Lebanon, Kansas. It was an interesting ride. Got to meet the new preacher at the little chapel.

Sharlene called some of her local cousins and Monday night we go to be with a little more famliy. We ate some world famous Banana Pudding.

I enjoyed the stories told. I enjoyed the laughter. I enjoyed getting to spend some special time with family. I felt a little closer to them all when they pulled out of the drive on their way home. It was just a fun, relaxing weekend. I am glad I got to be a part of it.

A Precisely Manicured Lawn

Doesn't a newly cut lawn look nice? Especially when cut in a criss-cross pattern to make the cut even and geometric. Just look at my yard! It could only have been done better by a 5 month pregnant woman or her husband.

Pampered Daddy

Last weekend Annie came home for 27 hours and 22 minutes. She had a Pampered Chef party on Saturday morning and I think she wanted to see her Mom and Dad. We wanted to see her too. We were very glad she came home. Maddie was glad to see P J too.
We had a few laughs, went to eat at the Oriental and I got to drive the non-recalled Toyota.

Chasing Cars

We lived on Second Street until about the time I was in 5th Grade. Second Street is one of the busier North-South Streets in town. Many years ago, which that time was, our city fathers were not as strict about just letting your dog run wherever they wanted to run. I remember that there was one dog that seemed very bothered by all those cars driving down "his" Second street. He would crouch in the gutter on the side of the street by the curb and wait on each car as it came down the street. When he thought the time was "just right" he would run after the cars as they came by. This was serious stuff for him. He was really wanting to catch those cars. O.K., get this picture: There is a 2000 pound car coming down the street at 30 miles per hour. There is crouched, with eyes fixed and tail twitching, a 35 pound dog ready to catch that car. That bad old car gets closer. The little brown dog has to take off before the car gets even with him so that he can be running at a good speed when it zooms by. He has to be going pretty fast so that he can attempt to bite a tire or a bumper or anything sticking out... I never saw him catch one. Dangerous? Futile? Display of no common sense? Probably all of the above. The big question is this: What would he have done if he had caught the car?
In life there are many times we "chase" things. Sometimes they are realistic objectives. Our education, our jobs, our mates, retirement plans. Sometimes there are things that are out of our reach, yet we long for them. They never seem to be achieved or obtained. We may chase them or just dream about them, but they are never caught. I think Someone knows what is best for us, much better than we. Many of those "cars" are more than we can or should bargain for. They are like the dog and the car, what would we really do if we caught them?


Figure this one out.

Days Turn Into Years and the Memories to Black and White

Reba McEntire has a song with the line,...the days turn into years and the memories to black and white...
The other day I was sitting here thinking, Oh, my goodness, it has been almost a year!
There are times that I may be so into the day's activities that it is hard to remember what is true. I sometimes think Dad must be around here somewhere, I just have not seen him in a while. Time has flown by in so many ways. Reality tells me he is gone. I can live with that.
The days have now turned into a year. There are some memories that will turn to black and white. But there are many memories that will always be in vivid color. And I do not know how those vivid colorful memories, like the way I miss him, will ever be diminished.

Those Neat Bags

Have you got any of those neat little bags to use instead of plastic or paper from the grocery store? They are supposed to keep us from using so much oil or cutting down so many trees. I have found them to be useful in many other ways.
Many of the ladies where I work use them to carry things to and from their car. So I use one of my green ones for a briefcase. My blue bag is just right for paying bills because there are so many and they make me feel that color. My other green bag is really used for shopping. It takes a lot of green when you buy groceries. The dignified black bag is used when I really feel "dressed up." And when I go on long walks I take my red bag so my friends can ride along too. And of course, since they come in so many different colors you can match your accessories with the color of the bags. I sure do love them!

Gifts

This was an interesting holiday season. The weather was terrible cold. We had a blizzard just days before and while family were travelling here. A big majority of those that came got the flu. In spite of all of that, I think we had a pretty good time. Lots of food. Time together. And a time of giving.
This year I was overwhelmed by gifts I received.
One of the young ladies that I work with had a very nice camera that she let me borrow once and offered to sell me a couple of months ago. I was telling her that I loved it, but I would have to convince Sharlene that it was something "we" wanted to get. We had talked about getting a new camera but nothing had been decided. Well, I was telling Teena (the young lady) that I was working on Sharlene, but I did not think the job was going to get done. Little did I know, but she had been talking to Teena too. And on Christmas morning there next to my stocking was this beautiful camera. I was shocked. I still am. It is so beautiful. Thank you so much Sharlene!
I also got quite a gift from Becky. Each year I give many in my family a corn cob. Dad had told me many years ago that his father had given him and his brother Vaughn a corn cob or a lump of coal at Christmas. So, several years ago I began to give corn cobs. Then I changed things and began to not just wrap up a cob and put it under the tree. Now, I am not an artist, and my creatations are maybe even crude, but I have made Barbie and Ken Cobs, corn cob light houses, corn cob christmas trees, corn cob flag poles, corn cobs commerating engagements with little rings on each cob and several other things. My niece Becky usually has a special cob to give back to me. I have been given a cob family, a koozie cob and other things. This year Becky and Jason got me an ear of corn that had been carved from a log with a chain saw. It is about 3 feet tall and is amazing. What a gift!

My Mom worked hard to give everyone a gift that was something from Grandpa. She put a lot of thought and love in each gift.
Because many were sick, I think I got another gift of being able to get to do a little extra in the kitchen for our Christmas dinner. I really enjoyed being in the kitchen.
It was a gift for my Mom to have as many as possible home with her this year. She had a great time having all around.
I had a very special gift to have a little granddaughter for the first time at my house at Christmas. She brings so much happiness to her Mommy and Dad and all of us who get to touch and be touched by her.
I think we had a gift from God that Jordan made it to us safely. The weather as I said was not cooperating and we thought his journey would be "iffy." Well, he was doing pretty well until he hit some ice near Stockton and slid off the road. Everyone, including the car was fine, just needed to be pulled back on the road and set on his way.
"Things" sometimes make the vision cloudy. When that vision is clear we understand that the things, the gifts, that are so special are those safe journeys, the blessing of family near and being able to give to someone else.
Thanks everyone for a wonderful time and your generousity and to God for blessing us all with more than we know.

I did't get to take him home

The other day when it was terrible cold (like it was all over the country) we were bringing Mom home from some outing. Mom is pretty independent so I don't remember why we were taking here anywhere, but we were coming home. The driveway was icy (maybe that is why we had her) so I told her I would help her back to the house. So we stepped out of the car and started up the sidewalk to the front steps. Right then I realized that I had not thought about taking Dad up that sidewalk for quite some time. He is always on my mind, but some specifics only pop in now and then. Well we were walking up that sidewalk and Mom was being pretty careful, but it reminded me of those walks up the sidewalk with Dad. Her steps were careful, but Dad's were small. His knees hurt so bad each step was very careful. I would say about 6 to 8 inches was his gait. I remember last year about this time seeing the itty bitty steps in the snow from his car to the front door. It was a trail of footprints only a few inches apart.
Thinking of our walks to the house reminded me of quite a few memories with Dad. This last week has been so hard. There seems to be many stresses around me and I want to go run them by my Dad. Even if we would not talk about some things, just to be with him would help. It has been 10 months now but it seems a new wave of sorrow and missing him has come.
I have thought many times this last week about finding him that afternoon. I question things that happened. I question if I did everything I should have. In my mind I am sure that I did, but it has been a week of questions.
After walking up that walk with Mom the other day I thought to myself. You thought you would take Dad up this sidewalk many more times, didn't you? I had never thought about it until this week, but I did not get to take him home. Guess he got there o.k. without me.