Winter break.

For some reason this semester has seemed like it has taken the longest. I am ready for winter break. I am ready to sit around the house and do nothing. Usually a week before Christmas we go to my grandma and grandpas on my dad’s side of the family. I am anxious to see what I will be getting from my grandparents. I have my aunt’s name for secret Santa and I got her a gift card to the winery in Red Bud, she said she also wanted a Yankee candle but I have no idea on where to find them. I just want to make my aunts Christmas dream come true with that candle and do not want to let her down. Christmas day we go to my grandma and grandpas on my mom’s side of the family. We eat and eat and then play cards late into the night, then gram gram tucks me into bed with a bedtime story and I wait for Santa to come. I hope he brings me a lot of presents this year seeing as how I was a good boy all year.    

Let it snow

One of the funniest things about the weather in the winter is the snow. I love to take four wheelers out in the snow. My friend Paul and I have a good time and always end up getting hurt. Sometimes he will tow me behind his four wheeler in the snow; I can honestly say that I have gone sixty mile per hour on an old wooden sled before. When he starts to go that fast he likes to mess with me and start swerving the four wheeler with me being behind him on the old wooden sled. Last year he swerved so much that I got flung off and was buried in a snow drift. You would think that I would have learned my lesson but I got right back on and this time when I got flung off I hit a telephone pole and I was done after that. This year I plan on wearing a helmet because my brain cannot take any more damage. But most of the time I egg on my brother and friend to take out their four wheel drive trucks. I love watching other people tear up their stuff and it’s fun to ride along. So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Fail

So this weekend was interesting to say the least. One part in particular and that was helping our buddy take his broken down truck to the mechanics, his clutch went out on his truck so he could drive it only for a short distance. It started off Saturday morning with a phone call. He called us saying he was broken down and that he needed someone to come pick him and his truck up. We have a trailer that we thought would be big enough to fit but were too lazy to measure so just assumed the truck would. We had to pick him up from his house and took him to his truck which broke down on the curviest road and on top of a hill.  We parked my brother’s truck at the bottom with the car ramps lined up on the trailer and told our friend to take it nice and easy when loading the truck onto the trailer. You know go nice and slow. So while I stood on the trailer to guide him he began slowly rolling down the hill. I thought he was going to but his breaks on when he got close to the trailer but he did not and hit the ramps  popped a wheelie and I had to dive off the trailer to be missed from being hit by his truck. He got his truck half way on the trailer when the ramps slipped out from under his tire and I told him to stop but he gave it all that little truck had. I laughed so hard and it was so funny that I did not care that he almost killed me and was probably going to kill himself if he did not let off the gas. He made it the rest of the way onto the trailer, well the front two tires were on the trailer nicely and the back two were hanging over the side. We could not drive down the highway like that so we had to figure out how to get the truck off now. We could not push it and the clutch was completely out so there was no backing the truck off so I got the bright idea that my brother pull his truck foreword while my friend wiggled his steering wheel so the trailer would come out from underneath the truck. My idea worked up until the front tires finally came off the truck and his tow hooks on the front of my friend’s truck caught a piece of metal and ripped it off, but we had gotten the truck off. I would say that is minimal damage because I thought someone was going to get hurt or my friend was going to roll his truck. Instead of using the trailer we hooked my friend’s truck up with tow ropes and made it to town with no problem. We have yet to get the trailer fixed and my dad was pissed when he found out what had happened. I wish I would have had a video camera because if I would have videotaped this whole incident the money from YouTube hits would have been enough to buy a whole new trailer.    

Playoffs?

I hope with every bone in my body that the Rams will make the playoffs. As of right now it is looking very good for them. They sit on top of their division in the nfc west. Right behind us is the Seattle Seahawks who we already beat once this year. Speaking of hawks why am I seeing more and more of these flying critters around lately? I counted and saw seven yesterday, I don’t know maybe it’s just me. Anyway this week the Rams will be playing the Cardinals which should be an easy victory.  It’s weird watching Rams games again and hearing screaming coming from the rest of my house, not screaming of misery but of joy of how the Rams are actually winning games.  I am hopeful we can make the playoffs with at least a 8 and 8 record. The best scenario would be to win the super bowl but even I don’t think that is going to happen, but a man can dream.

Thanksgiving

So this Thursday is thanksgiving. Thank god it is not at my house this year because last year it was a mad dash to set everything up the night before. See in my family we always wait until the last minute to do things so mom was up at like 3 in the morning still cooking and my brother and I were setting things up. This year will be different. We are going to my dad’s side of the family for breakfast around ten a.m. My grandpa always makes honey baked ham and it is the bomb. At this time we also draw names for the secret Santa, so we don’t have to buy gifts for all other family members. Around one o’clock or so we will be leaving there to go to my mom’s side of the family. My grandma there makes almost ever Thanksgiving dish imaginable. She will force me to eat and eat until I feel sick. If I don’t eat a lot she will pull the guilt trip and say “what’s the matter is my cooking not good?” that will force me to eat more and more. We usually end the night with rummy royal. This is a card game in which the players lay down one card at a time in ascending order starting with the lowest and matching the suit and going in numeric order, the players also go in clockwise direction. Thanksgiving is always a blast and I cannot wait for all the food this year.     

one more time

I am hoping this year that we will at least reach 70 degrees one more time so I can do some more fishing. All of my other friends are deer hunters so I have had a lot of time to myself. This weekend will be even worse because it’s the start of shotgun season in Illinois. I plan to do a lot of fishing so that is why I want just a few more warm days. I was planning on catching enough to have a good fish fry. There is not a better meal in the world then fried fish, potatoes and some homemade ice cream. It is also going to be deer fest this weekend in Red Bud which I might go to, see as how they are going to have a chili cook off. Last year I tried a chili so hot it made my eyes tear up and almost made me puke, I can’t remember if that was someone from deer fest or just someone’s chili I tried. Well I think that is enough rambling for this week.

GO RAMS

The NFL footballs season is halfway over and I cannot believe how well the Rams are doing.  Besides one game they have been there till the end in all of their losses. I thought they were going to do a lot worse than what they are now because the season started off with a couple of losses and a lot of injuries. After that I thought here we go again. But they really turned things around since then.  Although they have more losses than wins I am still impressed on how well they are doing. They have won more than 3 games this year and they have not done that since like 2007. They also have finished last in their division since then. This year will be different. They have had some impressive wins like beating the Seahawks and have won four games which I know is more than everyone expected.  I am very optimistic to say the least that they will finish first in their division this year. Next year when they are all healthy there is not a doubt in my mind that they will finish first in their division. I am looking forward this week to giving the Atlanta Falcons a beat down.  

Memories

My earliest childhood memory was my grandpa taking my brother and me fishing with him. I slowly opened my eyes to the sound of my grandpa calling my name. Then it struck me like a bolt of lighting, grandpa was taking us fishing today. I looked outside and the world was still asleep. I opened the bedroom door and went into the kitchen where grandma had allready made breakfast. Grandpa was getting our fishing gear ready. I ate untill I thought my belly was going to explode and then we were off to one of grandpas secret lakes.We caught so many fish that we had fried fish for supper. Even on those rare occasions when we did not catch any fish I still had a blast. I guess it was my grandpa who got me hooked on fishing because it is my number one passion in life. Even in the middle of winter me and my brother will go out and fish in the freezing cold weather. We are just that crazy about fishing. During the summer and spring you will never find us at home. I guess mom puts up with us doing that as long as we bring home enough fish for supper.