The guy driving the truck just worked his way along the curb and the thing in the back did all the work. Yea, I am pretty sure when the city starts to auction off things to meet the budget I am going to be bidding on this little beauty.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Autumn Clean-Up
I never really noticed it when I lived in Minneapolis or St. Paul, or even Des Moines, but when you live in an area with a lot of trees it doesn't take long for the leaves to start piling up everywhere when autumn hits. Now you always see home owners or apartment complex managers out raking leaves and bagging them up and then tossing them on the curb for the sanitation workers, but what about the city parks and the streets themselves? I guess I always thought that there were a small army of grounds keepers that worked for the city and those were the ones that kept our parks clean. Out on the city grounds while I was at work during the day with their own rakes and bags for the garbage men and women to collect, but the other day I saw a little device that I thought was really awesome. It makes me wonder where I could get one, I have a big yard, so I think I could use a giant vacuum to collect all the leaves in my yard. It would be awesome.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Afternoon Off
Angela has Monday afternoons off of work, and I have Wednesdays off from my job, so it never seems to work out for us to spend time together during the day in the midst of the work week. However, this week Angela had Wednesday off, and since she was still recovering from boards that were over a week ago she thought it would be great to spend a lovey dovey day together. There is a flaw in that plan though, no matter how much I would like to just sit around and watch movies all day, I have things to do. Wednesday might be a break from work, but they are never boring and I never run out of things to do. So while Angela sat on the couch in her pajamas I took Alexander to daycare, then I mowed the yard (3/4 of an acre with the push mower), grabbed a shower, went to take photographs, and ran a broken chair over to Myron to fix. Then I had to get Alexander because we had a meeting at 6:30, but there was some time to enjoy after all.
The family and I went to Glen Oak Park to see if Alexander would like to play on this big play set that they have, and when we arrived we noticed that it was all taped off with that yellow caution tape. Upon closer inspection it looks like the city of Peoria just recently resealed all of the wooden playground toys. No wonder the parking lot was so empty on a gorgeous autumn day, but there was a smaller playground deeper in the park that we were able to go to. Alexander had a great time, running up and down the stairs and climbing the wall. The stone steps really aren't part of the playground toys, but he still enjoyed those too. He did take a couple of headers and he was full of dirt when we left, but hey, that is what little boys do right? All in all a very fulfilling day.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Sayin' Goodbye
Tuesday morning my Mother-In-Law lost her boarder collie Casey, he was twelve. Casey was a gift to Therese from her children, they went looking for a small dog that could keep her company while Angela was away at school and the men of the family took the hundred pound lab hunting for the fall. Everyone thought that getting Therese a companion would be a great idea, she had a poodle at one time, and they knew she missed cuddling up with a "little" dog while she watched movies or was reading. So her children did some research without her parents knowledge and found a litter of boarder collies for sale. So one weekend while Angela was home from college her and Chris went to go look at a litter of puppies.
They did what you should always do when you are deciding on a new dog. See how the puppies interact with each other, check their temperaments, consider the breeds needs as the pup grows, and meet the parents. Everything was spot on, and the parents were a nice medium sized dog, somewhere in the forty pound range. Well Casey's temperament was a great, except he didn't like other dogs pawing all over him, especially when he got older, but he did not turn out a little dog. This was one of the deciding factors to go with Casey as a puppy, a nice small to medium sized dog for Mom, but something must be in the water at the Corfit's household, because Casey did not turn out as a "little" dog. Hanging out with giant hunting dogs that would pack on the muscle in the summer and fall must have made Casey feel kind of weak and vulnerable, so instead of tipping the scales at a mere forty pounds, he decided to grow a full head taller than his parents and close to double their weight. He was no "little" dog. He was a monster.
Looking back at it I actually don't even think that Casey knew he was a boarder collie. He was raised in a family with Labrador Retrievers and going to the lake was a common vacation. I have never seen a boarder collie attack the water with such enthusiasm, he loved it. Sure he couldn't swim as fast as Fletcher or Bear, but he made up for it with his quickness on land. We always had to make sure that he would not get back into the lake after 5 o'clock or so because he had all of this long hair, and if he got back into the lake after that he would be soaking wet by the time it was time for bed. After he got out of the lake he looked like a giant nearly drowned rat, and he was the victim of much reticule. Poor Casey.
Yet after twelve years all of that activity finally caught up with him and his joints started to seize up on him, and he struggled just to walk around the home. Yet he always perked up when a squirrel was in the front yard. Therese and Harold were both with him when he closed his eyes for the last time, Therese even said he was snoring as his heart stopped. He was probably dreaming of protecting his yard from squirrel invaders or finally out-swimming Fletcher to the tennis ball floating in the lake.
They did what you should always do when you are deciding on a new dog. See how the puppies interact with each other, check their temperaments, consider the breeds needs as the pup grows, and meet the parents. Everything was spot on, and the parents were a nice medium sized dog, somewhere in the forty pound range. Well Casey's temperament was a great, except he didn't like other dogs pawing all over him, especially when he got older, but he did not turn out a little dog. This was one of the deciding factors to go with Casey as a puppy, a nice small to medium sized dog for Mom, but something must be in the water at the Corfit's household, because Casey did not turn out as a "little" dog. Hanging out with giant hunting dogs that would pack on the muscle in the summer and fall must have made Casey feel kind of weak and vulnerable, so instead of tipping the scales at a mere forty pounds, he decided to grow a full head taller than his parents and close to double their weight. He was no "little" dog. He was a monster.
Looking back at it I actually don't even think that Casey knew he was a boarder collie. He was raised in a family with Labrador Retrievers and going to the lake was a common vacation. I have never seen a boarder collie attack the water with such enthusiasm, he loved it. Sure he couldn't swim as fast as Fletcher or Bear, but he made up for it with his quickness on land. We always had to make sure that he would not get back into the lake after 5 o'clock or so because he had all of this long hair, and if he got back into the lake after that he would be soaking wet by the time it was time for bed. After he got out of the lake he looked like a giant nearly drowned rat, and he was the victim of much reticule. Poor Casey.
Yet after twelve years all of that activity finally caught up with him and his joints started to seize up on him, and he struggled just to walk around the home. Yet he always perked up when a squirrel was in the front yard. Therese and Harold were both with him when he closed his eyes for the last time, Therese even said he was snoring as his heart stopped. He was probably dreaming of protecting his yard from squirrel invaders or finally out-swimming Fletcher to the tennis ball floating in the lake.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Historic Lambeau Field
Saturday Morning Alexander and I filled up the Exploder and headed out of town. Angela had gone to Proctor Hospital that morning to round and stopped in to see us for just a few minutes before she went on to OSF. I think she was a little concerned about letting me leave town with her son, but to her credit she didn't voice any concerns. Alexander actually fell asleep before we had even gone through Washington (the first city you pass through as you leave Peoria) so I was able to make some good time. He woke up just south of Rockford and we stopped for lunch there. While we were eating a guy walked up to me and commented on my 0-16 Lions shirt, ends up he is a big fan of the NFL and we were able to talk football over lunch. What better thing to do on the way to Green Bay than to talk football?
We were going to stay at Ryan's parents place in Appleton and Alexander and I rolled into town sometime around 6 o'clock. I hadn't seen the Thompsons in over two years, and in that time they had battled some illnesses, so it was great to see them again. Unlike most times that I stayed over at there place, this time I got to spend time alone with them, where most of the times we invaded their home in a large group. I was able to find out all sorts of interesting things about Pat this time. His Dad jumped out of an airplane in WWII, twice, and his Dad pretty much was the catalyst for his career in flight. Pat also flew jets in Vietnam and he told me about some of the film sessions after he got back to the base. Ends up with the jets he flew every time you pulled the trigger and camera would start up and would record everything the pilot did. Something I thought was pretty cool to learn. Alexander also got his chance to sleep in another big boy bed, but this time in a room by himself, no Grandma to help him. He struggled with it a bit, but in the end he slept really well. After that Ryan and I talked for a while, and I think he needed this weekend just as much as I did.
Bright and early we were off for Lambeau Field, my third visit, Alexander was going to spend the day with Jan, all before 8:30, pretty impressive for me. We got a great parking spot right up front, about 3 rows deep into the tailgating crowd. I had my first drink before ten in the morning that day, and a couple of burgers before 10:30. I was wearing my new Stafford jersey and as always Packer fans gave me a bad time, but were overall pretty good to me. I was able to have some pretty good conversations about some of the moves the Lions did in the off-season, and the Packer fans told me that they would have to watch out in a few years when Stafford gets some playing time behind. It was good to hear some positive feedback for the team I cheer for. One little perk about our tailgating section was that we got to tailgate near Miss Wisconsin. What don't believe me? Here is a photo.
I also got to meet some people from the Detroit Lions Forum, so now I have some faces to go behind the names I see on a daily basis. Here is a group photo of them too.
Our seats were great, up in the club seats, and I got heckled by some Packer fans. They knew that my team had no chance to win the game with Stafford and Calvin out, so I also got some pity. The Lions got killed, 26-0. Culpepper got hurt, and Stanton nearly got Bryant Johnson killed, but I got to see the Lions play live. Lets hope that they can be more competitive in future games.
Go Lions!
We were going to stay at Ryan's parents place in Appleton and Alexander and I rolled into town sometime around 6 o'clock. I hadn't seen the Thompsons in over two years, and in that time they had battled some illnesses, so it was great to see them again. Unlike most times that I stayed over at there place, this time I got to spend time alone with them, where most of the times we invaded their home in a large group. I was able to find out all sorts of interesting things about Pat this time. His Dad jumped out of an airplane in WWII, twice, and his Dad pretty much was the catalyst for his career in flight. Pat also flew jets in Vietnam and he told me about some of the film sessions after he got back to the base. Ends up with the jets he flew every time you pulled the trigger and camera would start up and would record everything the pilot did. Something I thought was pretty cool to learn. Alexander also got his chance to sleep in another big boy bed, but this time in a room by himself, no Grandma to help him. He struggled with it a bit, but in the end he slept really well. After that Ryan and I talked for a while, and I think he needed this weekend just as much as I did.
Bright and early we were off for Lambeau Field, my third visit, Alexander was going to spend the day with Jan, all before 8:30, pretty impressive for me. We got a great parking spot right up front, about 3 rows deep into the tailgating crowd. I had my first drink before ten in the morning that day, and a couple of burgers before 10:30. I was wearing my new Stafford jersey and as always Packer fans gave me a bad time, but were overall pretty good to me. I was able to have some pretty good conversations about some of the moves the Lions did in the off-season, and the Packer fans told me that they would have to watch out in a few years when Stafford gets some playing time behind. It was good to hear some positive feedback for the team I cheer for. One little perk about our tailgating section was that we got to tailgate near Miss Wisconsin. What don't believe me? Here is a photo.
It kinda sucked I got photobombed by the guys in the background, but hey, it is still a photo with Miss Wisconsin.
I also got to meet some people from the Detroit Lions Forum, so now I have some faces to go behind the names I see on a daily basis. Here is a group photo of them too.
Our seats were great, up in the club seats, and I got heckled by some Packer fans. They knew that my team had no chance to win the game with Stafford and Calvin out, so I also got some pity. The Lions got killed, 26-0. Culpepper got hurt, and Stanton nearly got Bryant Johnson killed, but I got to see the Lions play live. Lets hope that they can be more competitive in future games.
Go Lions!Thursday, October 15, 2009
YES YES YES
I was just sitting around watching TV today when the phone rang, I took a peek at the caller I.D. because I actually screen my calls, and only pick up the ones from friends and family. If you call, don't bother leaving a message, because you can't, the voicemail is full and this way the people who are looking for handouts can't leave one. Nice and simple. Well on this fateful night the phone rang and I looked to see who it was, and it war Ryan, now I don't get a lot of calls from Ryan, mostly video game related stuff, or some offensive video online, or even about a cool car that he go to drive that day, but not this night. I grab the phone and he starts right in with the good news, "I hear there is a rumor going around that the Lions are playing at Lambeau field this weekend, and I was wondering if you would like to go?" Is he fricking kidding me? OF COURSE I WANT TO GO TO LAMBEAU THIS WEEKEND!!!
So it is all aranged. This weekend Alexander and I will be making our first roadtrip together without Mom, since she is on call this weekend and won't be able to go. This will be third visit to historic Lambeau field and the first time seeing the Lions play. Sure the Lions are terrible, but there is just something about seeing your favorite team play live. Go Lions!!
So it is all aranged. This weekend Alexander and I will be making our first roadtrip together without Mom, since she is on call this weekend and won't be able to go. This will be third visit to historic Lambeau field and the first time seeing the Lions play. Sure the Lions are terrible, but there is just something about seeing your favorite team play live. Go Lions!!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Sweetness
Looking back at things in life there are moments, or a series of moments that stick with you, and in turn make you into the person you are today. My parents were incredible while my siblings and I were growing up (I might not have thought that at the time, but it is true) and they seemed to bend over backwards in order to spend as much time with us as possible. My Mom gave up a career to take care of my brother and I while we were young, and my Dad moved us all over the Midwest, chasing jobs so his children were given every opportunity that he missed out on. The only problem with that is that while he did this quality time with Dad at times would come to a grinding halt, so my brother and I were always vieing for his attention when he was home, and what does any red blooded American boy do when he wants to spend time with his Dad? He gets interested in what his Dad is interested in, and in the Timm household that interest was football.
.
Every Sunday we would race home from church and flip on the TV and there would be the NFL Pre-Game shows. The announcers would go over what teams needed to do what in order to win this particular week's game. Which receivers, running backs, quarterbacks, or defenses might break certain records, that type of thing. I was enthralled, and when the clock struck high noon, the game would start. Living in Illinois at the time we always got the Bear game, no such thing as a bye week back then, and when you think Chicago Bears in the mid eighties what comes to mind? Super Bowl Shuffle? Mike Ditka? Jim McMahon and his little red scooter? Whatever it is that sparks your memory I am certain the name Walter Payton would be right up there near the top.
Even though I was a Viking fan at the time (I know, puke right?) I was a fan of Payton. Who couldn't like the guy. Defensive coordinators built their teams around stopping him, that was priority number 1, and it never seemed to work. Payton seemed to be playing a chess match every week and he always seemed to come out the victor. Watching him play football was almost magical, he could do anything. Pass, run, catch, throw, hell I would have to check the stats but he might have even kicked it a few times. While you were playing football in the yard everyone wanted to be Walter. Shouting matches between nine year olds would erupt, "I WANT TO BE WALTER! NO, I AM. YOU CAN BE MATT SUHEY BECAUSE I AM PAYTON." I'm sure parents all over were breaking up this argument all over the country, "If this keeps up no one can be Walter, is that understood?" I know I have heard these words falling out of my Mom's mouth more than a handful of times when we were kids. He fought for every yard, never choosing to go out of bounds, always striving to be better. That is important to a kid growing up. Plus it didn't hurt that he was an all around good person and always had time for a fan. Mom and Dad actually gave us the chance to meet him before the Super Bowl year, and I have a photo somewhere of #34 with my brother standing right next to him, Charlie Brown glasses and all.
It seems every generation has it's elite backs. The names of Brown, Csonka, and Riggens were the people before Walter, and Barry, Emmitt, and Tomlinson have followed, energizing the game, but there was only one Walter Payton to me. He was the guy who let me fall in love with the sport of football.
Twenty-five years ago this week Walter Payton broke the all time leading rushing record that was previously held by Jim Brown, and I think that deserves some recognition.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Basset Waddle Time
A little note from Angela:
Ok, so it is that time of year again. We are off to the basset waddle again this weekend. I am late at setting up this website so it is VERY important that you respond as soon as possible. Our bassets enjoy this event every year and are some of the friendliest bassets there. There are usually over 1000 basset and basset mixes present each year and it seems to continually grow in size. Our bassets are stubborn, lazy, bull headed, etc.....but they always find the energy to make the 10 block walk......well except the first year when Walter decided to give up a few blocks from the end. Anyways, feel free to read all the stuff below but the bottom line is please, Please, PLEASE donate money to help save other bassets in need. Thanks for your help in supporting this important cause!
Please help me raise funds for an organization close to my heart. Guardian Angel Basset rescue is the largest single breed rescue in the Midwest. Guardian Angel rescues, provides full veterinary care, fosters and hand selects a home for over 300 dogs each year. GABR is more than a dog rescue as we have helped over 50 non-profits learn how to fundraise, run auctions and profit through partnership in our annual Corvette Raffle.
On September 20, 2009, Guardian Angel Basset Rescue is holding their 12th Annual Waddle. The Illinois Waddle is a weekend long celebration of the breed attended annually by over 1,000 bassets and their families. It is Guardian Angel’s primary source of funding. I raise money for the rescue of Bassets because a Basset Hound has touched my life. They are truly wonderful, loving dogs that complete our family. I support Guardian Angel through the Basset Waddle as GABR is comprised of hardworking, exceptional and committed volunteers who are dedicated to helping Bassets in need. It’s the kind of group I want to support – that’s why I WADDLE!!
I count on the support of fellow dog lovers, our families, friends and business associates to provide healthy, happy lives for every dog that we rescue.
Will you help by donating? Please click the sponsor me now link at the bottom of this page. 100% of your tax-deductible contribution will go directly to rescuing basset hounds.
Ok, so it is that time of year again. We are off to the basset waddle again this weekend. I am late at setting up this website so it is VERY important that you respond as soon as possible. Our bassets enjoy this event every year and are some of the friendliest bassets there. There are usually over 1000 basset and basset mixes present each year and it seems to continually grow in size. Our bassets are stubborn, lazy, bull headed, etc.....but they always find the energy to make the 10 block walk......well except the first year when Walter decided to give up a few blocks from the end. Anyways, feel free to read all the stuff below but the bottom line is please, Please, PLEASE donate money to help save other bassets in need. Thanks for your help in supporting this important cause!
Please help me raise funds for an organization close to my heart. Guardian Angel Basset rescue is the largest single breed rescue in the Midwest. Guardian Angel rescues, provides full veterinary care, fosters and hand selects a home for over 300 dogs each year. GABR is more than a dog rescue as we have helped over 50 non-profits learn how to fundraise, run auctions and profit through partnership in our annual Corvette Raffle.
On September 20, 2009, Guardian Angel Basset Rescue is holding their 12th Annual Waddle. The Illinois Waddle is a weekend long celebration of the breed attended annually by over 1,000 bassets and their families. It is Guardian Angel’s primary source of funding. I raise money for the rescue of Bassets because a Basset Hound has touched my life. They are truly wonderful, loving dogs that complete our family. I support Guardian Angel through the Basset Waddle as GABR is comprised of hardworking, exceptional and committed volunteers who are dedicated to helping Bassets in need. It’s the kind of group I want to support – that’s why I WADDLE!!
I count on the support of fellow dog lovers, our families, friends and business associates to provide healthy, happy lives for every dog that we rescue.
Will you help by donating? Please click the sponsor me now link at the bottom of this page. 100% of your tax-deductible contribution will go directly to rescuing basset hounds.
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