Swim Boy
Monday, May 23, 2005
Inola H.S. Graduation
This past Friday night we were pleased to witness the graduation of Justin Lowell Shoemaker, our nephew. His parents, Sam & Lisa Shoemaker, were rightfully proud and the mood was very fesitive and celebatory. His grandparents (Cynthia's parents; Betty & Abner Shoemaker) were there as were his Uncle Kelly and Aunt Jamie with many of his cousins and his two brothers. When it came time for him to cross the stage you could hear our cheers from the top of the bleacher stand! The sky even seemed to help cheer him as it backsplashed the entire scene with brilliant colors. We couldn't be more proud of him! Way to go, Justin!!!!
Friday, May 20, 2005
Pool Days
It is official! With the current humidity and tempartures in the 90's it is absolutely undeniable....SUMMER IS HERE! And we couldn't be happier! The pool is opened, the flower beds and lawn are groomed, and the grill is fired up! Let the festivities begin!
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
My Wife The Artist
What do you do when you can't find the right painting for that wall you want to decorate? Why, you paint it yourself of course!! At least that is what Cynthia and I thought. So, off to Michael's we went to arm ourselves with canvases, acrylic paints, and brushes. Then back home I faux finished the canvases to match the adjoining wall we had painted a few weeks ago. After this dried Cynthia turned her creativity loose on our masterpiece. Below are some pictures of the process and finished product. Let us know what you think. We are thinking that we are going to give the local artists on Brookside a run for their money! LOL! I am working on the interpretation so that I will have a ready answer for those who ask "what does it mean?" I mean, after all, isn't it much better to spin a mystical answer rather than say, "We just wanted to incorporate our colors in a painting?" I mean, what kind of an artist is that? LOL!
Friday, May 06, 2005
SBC or Me?
Cynthia and I have redecorated our living room complete with new furniture. That fact stated there were some logistical problems to work out as the entertainment center had to be relocated. As we have TiVo (a necessity if you don't want to miss an episode of "Desperate Housewives" or "Blind Justice") it is necessary that a phone jack be available for this electronic wonder. So....being the capable man of the house that I am, I promptly called SBC to have said jack installed. I was informed that they would be happy to do this.....for $110. $110??? After learning that this did not include a new phone or massage I informed them that I would do the job myself, thank you very much! Well, after a trip to Home Depot and $15 later, I was ready to tackle the job. Guess what? I did it!! Drilled a hole in the brick wall, routed the cable through it and attached it to a jack that I had purchased. I then routed the cable to the phone box, taking the time to tie the cable to the other cables running underneath the overhang, and attached the appropriate wires to the terminals. One hour later I had a very professional job completed for $15. Beats $110 all to heck!! What is it with over inflated prices from these monopolies who service our homes? What makes them think we will be willing to pay exorbitant prices for minor jobs like that? SBC is not alone in this type of practice. You will pay $60 for the first jack from Cox and $10 per jack thereafter, $25 for some yahoo at the gas company to switch your account to a new residence, the same for your water account to be switched, and on and on. Whatever happened to an honest day's wages? While I don't mind paying someone for their labor I can't see sending their kids to college as well!! Thank you for allowing me to vent my spleen in a healthy manner as I am outraged at price gouging and shoddy work to boot! Anyway, SBC or Me? Why, me of course!!
Thursday, May 05, 2005
More Than I Can Say
Cynthia is my biggest fan in life and never is this more true than when it comes to my poetry. At her request I am posting the poem I penned for her today. She makes the poetry come easy. Enjoy or endure. 'Tis for her I write.
More Than I Can
Say
It is simply more than I can say,
The love, the touch, the way;
For every day dawns anew,
That I spend loving you.
Each morning brings its own joy,
Like a child’s brand new toy.
I delight in you my fairest Dove,
As the gift you are from Above.
If I could pen a song or write a sonnet,
‘Twould have you written all upon it.
Yet it would fail to rightly show,
The absolute joy in you I know.
It is simply more than I can say,
The moments, the nights, the days;
That I share so fully with you,
Only one word will do
That word is…..You.
With all my love and heart,
Tim
May 5, 2005
The love, the touch, the way;
For every day dawns anew,
That I spend loving you.
Each morning brings its own joy,
Like a child’s brand new toy.
I delight in you my fairest Dove,
As the gift you are from Above.
If I could pen a song or write a sonnet,
‘Twould have you written all upon it.
Yet it would fail to rightly show,
The absolute joy in you I know.
It is simply more than I can say,
The moments, the nights, the days;
That I share so fully with you,
Only one word will do
That word is…..You.
With all my love and heart,
Tim
May 5, 2005
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Battle of the Ages!
Reflections From Cynthia
Feeling young, feeling old, forty five is a very weird age. You think of yourself still young and look at people funny when you know they are thinking older.
Most days I feel young. I can work all day and all night, knowing that most twenty year olds do not have my work ethics, nor do they try. Yet that very thing makes me feel old, speaking of twenty year olds who can’t keep up.
It is weird, the mind that is. You feel young, you think young, and then you look in the mirror or say something you know just came out of your grandparent’s mouths. Simple things like going to work. I used to be one of the young ones and would look at the older ones and think “Some day I will have your job” and now I look around and know someday they will have mine. God Bless them. Simple things like taking a trip to the doctor. The nurses and the doctor used to all be older than me and now they are all younger. How did that happen? My mind says I am still young, and then I look around.
I can hear my inner self crying “You are not getting older” but at the same time I can hear my inner self crying “You are getting older”. I always seem to hear that old saying, “You are only as old as you feel" and I have to admit that some days that is pretty old. I look at my twenty three year old son and twenty one year old daughter and know they must be someone else’s kids. I am not old enough to have birthed them, am I?
Most days I feel young. I can work all day and all night, knowing that most twenty year olds do not have my work ethics, nor do they try. Yet that very thing makes me feel old, speaking of twenty year olds who can’t keep up.
It is weird, the mind that is. You feel young, you think young, and then you look in the mirror or say something you know just came out of your grandparent’s mouths. Simple things like going to work. I used to be one of the young ones and would look at the older ones and think “Some day I will have your job” and now I look around and know someday they will have mine. God Bless them. Simple things like taking a trip to the doctor. The nurses and the doctor used to all be older than me and now they are all younger. How did that happen? My mind says I am still young, and then I look around.
I can hear my inner self crying “You are not getting older” but at the same time I can hear my inner self crying “You are getting older”. I always seem to hear that old saying, “You are only as old as you feel" and I have to admit that some days that is pretty old. I look at my twenty three year old son and twenty one year old daughter and know they must be someone else’s kids. I am not old enough to have birthed them, am I?
May I always be open minded. May I always have this battle of young or old going on. For as long as I do, I am still young at heart.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Settling In
We are officially relocated to our very own home and couldn't be more thankful! Thanks to friends and family and a lot of hard work before hand we are now moved in and are settling quite nicely! Everything is unpacked, hung on the wall, or placed in the right spot. Even the Mud Hut is in place and just aching for its long lost artists to return! Or, perhaps it enjoyed the brief respite from our toil! LOL! At any rate, we are ready to start slinging mud again! Thank you for your patience in the lenghty lapse from my last posting....almost one month to the day! But oh the work that has been accomplished in that 30 day period! Stay tuned for more good things to come!!
Monday, February 07, 2005
Moving!
Just a note to let you know that we haven't really fallen off the earth! We took a break after the holidays and now we are preparing for our move. We bought a house!! We are both very excited and can't wait to take possession of our new place complete with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (can you believe it?), double car garage, and an inground pool! Wow! Guess what we will be doing all summer long? LOL! I have included a picture of our new home. Our closing date is February 25 and we take possession February 28. Needless to say we are very excited! We have already begun to ready ourselves for the move. Saturday found us with the chimnea smoking and us raking leaves. We gathered over 100 bags of leaves! We power washed the house, put up For Rent signs and fielded 8 phone calls inquiring about the property. We showed the house Sunday to what we hope will be the future tenants. So....with all this going on it will be a while before we have any more pottery to boast of as we will be relocating the Mud Hut as well. Stay tuned for new developments!
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Twas Just A Few Days Before Christmas And....
Twas just a few days before Christmas and all through the house, everyone had a gift, even the mouse! Posted below you will find some pics of the finished Christmas mugs and some other pieces we created as well as some of the beautiful gift sets that Cynthia put together. The pics are poorer quality than I like but we will soon take care of that as Cynthia and I have purchased a new digital camera that will allow more creativity and clarity. Hope that Christmas is coming together for all of you bloggers out there! Merry Christmas to all!
Monday, December 13, 2004
The Perfect 72-Hour Day
Cynthia and I enjoyed a long three-day weekend that saw as much productivity as relaxation. Friday was a perfect day as we observed our Annual Christmas Shopping Trip. We have long learned the art of mixing fun with work and Friday was the perfect example of that. After leisurely waking up and spending time together in our cozy covers we made our way to the first of many stores we would go to that day. By lunchtime we had purchased most of the gifts that were on our list (and some items that weren't! lol!) and found ourselves dining at El Chico's in the Promenade Mall. From here we took in another couple of stores and went to see "Christmas With The Kranks" starring Tim Allen. We laughed ourselves silly! From there we went back to the stores and wound up finishing our day out at Starbucks where we enjoyed some lattes to warm us up. The day's enjoyment is hard to tell in writing but let it suffice to say that we had a blast!! We thoroughly enjoy the new traditions we have crafted together and celebrate each other fully! Saturday we attended two Christmas parties, my company party and Scott and LaDonna's party. Both were very enjoyable! It is looking a whole lot like Christmas at the Johnston household and we are more in love than ever as each new day takes us deeper and deeper! Hope your weekend was equally wonderful!
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