1st Anniversary!

It was one year ago today that I decided to start this blog. It's amazing what a year in your life can bring. I am looking forward to many changes and exciting things in 2010, but all in all, 2009 was a pretty good year.

I started the year looking to leave New Mexico and move to another store with Barnes & Noble. I went to my annual meeting in Orlando with the express intent of coming home with a new job. I had my eye on a possible new account in Utah, but that did not pan out. However, a new account and opportunity presented itself in Oklahoma. I dove on the new job like a fat kid grabs for the last piece of candy. In May I moved to Tahlequah, OK and I absolutely love it there. And not like I have said I liked other places. I always said I liked Portales, NM, but let's call a spade a spade. It sucked! I have really enjoyed living in Tahelquah. I have gotten more involved in the community in Tahlequah than I have in previous cities where I lived. I have made some new friends and have a great team at work too!

Happy Anniversary blog. I promise to spend more time with you in 2010. I said that in 2009, but I really mean it now. I have changed. I realize what my blog means to me now. Do you hear me blog? I will see you soon.

Lots of changes were in order for the whole family this year! Lindsay moved to San Antonio, Clay moved to Baton Rouge, LA and Shea and her husband Byron still live in Florida. For anyone counting, that puts my siblings and I in four different states! While communication has certainly gone down, we do seem to enjoy being around each other at holidays much more, which is no small miracle!

Les also started a new job in the insurance business. He has been all over the state and even traveled to far away lands like Montana! I think it makes him appreciate the Texas panhandle all the more!

I will be updating the blog again soon with my New Year's resolutions. I think I blogged about doing that last year, but never got around to it. One of my resolutions this year is to stop procrastinating, so this will be an immediate test of my resolve! We will not have to wait long to find out what happens.

Music

I drove home to Panhandle today for Christmas vacation. I love traveling, especially when it means I get to be in the car for an extended period of time. I enjoy riding with others, but I really enjoy driving by myself in my own car. I let my mind wander a lot and I am usually pretty surprised at where it takes me. This trip was no different.

Just like every trip, I usually end up holding a concert in my car to a variety of cds that I have not listened to in a long time. One of the first I busted out from my ridiculously large repertoire of music was an old Clint Black cd. One of the first songs I listened to was State of Mind. "Ain't if funny how a melody, can bring back a memory. Take you to another place and time, completely change your state of mind." I have listened to that song a million times, but for some reason it struck a chord with me tonight. I thought a lot about this the rest of the trip as I listened to many other cds that had not been in my player in a while.

• Blues Traveler reminds me of junior high and how I used to be an active member of the Columbia House cd and record club. That was one of the first 12 cds I got with Columbia House. I think I also got Yanni: Live at the Acropolis. You win some, you lose some.
• Journey reminded me of a couple of things. Don't Stop Believin' always reminds me of good times with my Barnes & Noble family. The rest of the cd, however, reminds me of my dad. Needless to say, I skipped around on this cd and replaced it quickly. Sorry Steve Perry, but you had to go!
• Clint Black harkens the better days of country music. I love country music, but some things have changed over the past twenty years. Clint Black and others from his hay day are no longer the chart toppers they were. George Strait is still hanging in there, but I do not like his new stuff. I know every word to every song on Black's Killin' Time album and listen to it repeatedly.
• Bob Schneider! Lonelyland is such an amazing cd! I always think of the great times I had with my college friends and the fun we had seeing Bob in concert. The first time I saw him was at the Willie Nelson Picnic. It was an all day affair and hot as all get out. The weather began to turn around as he came out onto the stage. He played "Blue Skies for Everyone" while clouds rolled in and the wind started to blow. It began to rain and cool off and it totally re-energized the crowd. I have seen him several times, but this is the one that will always stick with me.
• Jack Johnson. I listen to Jack Johnson a lot, but have not heard anything from him in about six months. I used to go to the beach in Corpus Christi with a cooler, a six pack and a book. I would prop open the back of my car, crank up the tunes, pop a top and kick back in a lawn chair. Good times.
• The Judds. I know what you're thinking. The Judds? Seriously? Yes, seriously! "Grandpa, Tell Me Bout the Good 'Ol Days," makes me think about my Granddad and what a great guy he was. Pappy lived with us for about a year when we were kids in Denton. I used to go to the fishing barge with him every Saturday morning at 5:00 a.m. to fish for catfish with his own concoction of stink bait. That stuff would singe your nose hairs, but it attracted a lot of catfish! I have been fishing a few times since he passed away, but I have never really enjoyed it. I really miss him.
• I also listened to lots and lots of Christmas music. Harry Connick Jr., Kristin Chenoweth, Straight No Chaser, Burl Ives, and many, many more. I love Christmas music. I have fond memories of Christmases past. Some were great and some were not, but I appreciate the memories all the same.

I'm looking forward to the drive home now.......

Derington Christmas

I just got home a little while ago from a great weekend with most of my family. This weekend was our Derington Christmas. And while I do realize the reason for the season, and I certainly enjoy being with my immediate family on Christmas day, our Derington Christmas is the highlight of the Christmas season for me.

This was the 8th Annual Derington Christmas held at my parents house in Panhandle, TX. What an incredible tradition we have going here! I love being around my whole family. A close second to this event is our June family reunion. While we have more extended family at our reunion, the number one place is reserved for our family Christmas.

This year I was almost not able to make the party. Fortunately, Thursday night I was able to get coworkers to cover me and was able to make it for the weekend. I drove to Tulsa Friday night and stayed with my Uncle Joel and Aunt Gayle and then drove in with them early Saturday. While I would have loved to have gone home Friday to have fun with family who came in that day, I had a great time riding with the two of them. We laughed and shared stories the whole way there and back. As I get older I realize how nice it is to be able to spend time with family. I have always enjoyed being with family, but so many people my age do not take the time to spend time with their family, let alone their extended family.

We started out the day with food and drinks, which are never in short supply at any family function. We have a gift exchange of mostly homemade gifts. This is where the fun sets in! We have a white elephant, or dirty Santa, gift exchange. For some reason I have a problem with Dirty Santa, so I prefer white elephant, but I digress. We all draw numbers and then take turns opening gifts and stealing gifts from each other. Our matriarch, my grandmother, who we call Sudy, is the last to go. When we started this Christmas tradition we decided that Sudy would have the last draw and that she would be able to steal anything she wanted, even if it had been stolen enough times to be locked and no longer stolen by anyone else. What makes it even more fun is the fact that she will steal things from people and not just end the game! I am sure we have probably had some hurt feelings over the years and silent grumblings about the gifts we received or received and had stolen from us, but all in all we have a great time with lots of laughter!

I wish the whole family enjoyed this tradition as much as I do. Certainly everyone who comes for the weekend does, but not everyone comes. As in every family, their are those that choose not to participate in reindeer games and family traditions. They come and go occasionally, but for the most part they do not come to family gatherings. While much can be said, and has, it really just makes me sad that people I was so close to as a child have drifted apart from the rest of us. Maybe someday that drift will narrow, but perhaps it won't. Until then, we will continue to enjoy the company of those family members who do get together.

It does make me very happy to watch our growing family get bigger every year. My cousins have almost all married. It is so much fun to add a new member to the family. My cousins have married some great people and have started making families of their own. And the kids are awesome! While technically I am their second cousin and not their uncle, I relish in being called Uncle Man. It started a few years ago at our family reunion when my cousin Keith and wife Wendi's daughter Emily screamed "Uncle Man" from the pontoon boat while on the lake. It has stuck with me ever since and I really love it. Now all the kids call me Uncle Man.

This year I came home with a great gift! While I always enjoy and like the gifts I take home from our family Christmas, it is always nice to get a gift from an unlikely source. My family is full of Aggies, but I love to get a homemade Aggie gift from a true blue Red Raider. I got a framed "Saw 'Em Off" Picture made from leather and stingray skin, which is pictured in this post. I wish I had been able to make a gift this year! I put my gift on hold two weeks ago when I thought I was not going to be able to come. As it turned out, I was able to come. Guess I should have finished my gift anyway! Fortunately my dad had a gift that everyone knew I did not make, but was homemade nonetheless! Welding is certainly not my forte! I hope the person that got the wine rack enjoys it! A future post that I have been working on will include my New Year's resolutions, one of which is to stop procrastinating! I guess that could have come in handy in regards to my gift this year! (or any other year) Oh well, next years party is a long way away! (or at least that is what I tell myself every year until the week before)

Well, it was a great weekend! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did! I am already looking forward to next year.

What happened to me?

I had just gotten into bed last night, turned off the lights and pulled the covers up to my chin when my phone rang. I grumbled a bit as I reached for my glasses to see who would be so audacious as to call me after 11:30 at night. (it was 11:34) It was my cousin Paige, who is in college at Oklahoma State. I was surprised to get her call, but immediately excited that is was her. I answered and we said our hellos and then asked what was going on. She told me she was at a bar in Stillwater and needed the ingredients to make a Water Moccasin. Paige had ordered one and the bartender, not being from the Dry Bean Saloon, had no idea what was in it. In case you are wondering, a Water Moccasin is equal parts Crown Royal, sweet and sour and Peach Schnapps. It is an awesome shot! Not too hard and not too sweet.

I had gone to Fayetteville, AR in October to visit my cousin Katy and her husband Jimmy for their son Jackson's 1st birthday. Paige was in town for it too. I met all of them downtown on Dickson Street the Friday night before the party, minus Jackson who stayed with his grandparents. Dickson Street is a lot like the Northgate area of College Station. University of Arkansas is a stone's throw away, so their is lots of college activity. We had dinner at a German restaurant called the Brew Haus, which brewed its own beer. We then went in and out of several bars, each with their own unique attributes. One was a small bar with a huge metal rotating fan that spread out across the entire ceiling. One was your average sports bar. The last bar was really nothing to write home about, but they had live music and they were playing Sublime, which we all started singing as we ducked inside. I ordered a round of Water Moccasin's for everyone because I love them and figured everyone else would too, which of course they did! We had a great night. We shared several drinks and even a round of cigars. Eventually we went home a little after 1:00.

Fast forward two months, and my cousin was calling me from the bar to find out how to make this drink I had gotten for her. It certainly gave me a warm feeling inside! However, it also got me thinking. What happened to me? It was 11:30 on a Friday night and I was already in bed watching tv and half asleep. Even tonight, while I was watching the Big 12 Championship, I found myself looking at the clock and thinking to myself that it was time to go to bed. Is this a bad thing? I really don't think so, although it does make me miss nights that were so noteworthy that my friends and I refer to them by name. "White Trash Night, Northgate Crawl or the Weekend we drank Panhandle dry" are a few of the most notable. I had some good times over the last 10 years, and I'm sure the stories will continue. However, now that they do not occur with as much frequency, it has made wonder if I have lost my edge. I can still party like a rock star, or a 20 year old college student, when I go to Vegas, but then again, so can everyone. I guess the fact of the matter is we have all moved on. We do not all live in the same town anymore, which is probably the single biggest reason none of us party like we used to. That is certainly true in my case. As I get older I have also grown quite fond of my liver and the vital functions it performs for me on a daily basis. I suppose I'm not taking that for granted anymore, which my liver seems to appreciate. All in all, this is really no big deal, but definitely got me thinking about how my life has changed. So, what happened to me? I guess I grew up. I guess we all did. Nothing a trip to Vegas won't fix.

Not my high school reunion

I never posted anything after attending the Denton High Class of 99 10 year reunion. What a night! It was kind of a letdown to tell you the truth. I graduated in Panhandle with 52 people, and we had 28 show up to our reunion and about 45 there all together. It was a pretty good turnout. We only charged $10 a person too. The Denton class reunion was a little different.

For starters, you had to have tickets to the reunion in order to attend. You could pay $50 by mail before a certain date, or $55 at the door. I chose to go the $55 route since I was not positive I was going until last minute. I wanted to leave myself an "out" just in case. However, my best friend from elementary, and his wife, were going to be there so I decided I would go. I stayed the weekend with Margaret in Ft. Worth and drove the short distance to Denton for the reunion Saturday night. I got there late, which was planned. I did not know how many people I would know at this reunion since they graduated with almost 400 and only a small fraction of those went to Sam Houston Elementary. I got there and painfully handed over $55 and then scanned the room. I saw Eric and his wife, so I went over and said hi. They had saved me a spot. They were eating, so I went to get a plate too. I was disappointed in the buffet options. I'm not sure what I expected, but for $55 I was hoping for more than chips and salsa and fajitas. Not even any guacamole! Geez! I made my way back to the table, which was filled with people I did not know. I got to meet some new people, which was nice. One of the girls I met flew in from D.C. with her fiance. They ended up winning the "Traveled the Farthest" award.

I could not help but think about how few people were in the room. The reunion was held at the Denton Country Club, which was probably not the best place to have it. For starters, the DCC is not in Denton. It's in Argyle, which is very close, but still not in the same city. The room was not very big, but was staged to host maybe 200 people. I was there most of the night and there were never more than about 50 people in the room. 50 people! That's only 5 more than we had in Panhandle! And there was no splinter group hanging out in the bathroom or on the front porch. Everyone was inside! What's going on Denton High School Class of 1999 reunion? Where is the love? Apparently not at the DCC!

I don't have to be critical of everything though! I did get to see people that I had literally not seen since I was in 6th grade, and that was well worth the trip! One girl I reconnected with on facebook a couple of years ago, and has since never answered a message I posted, came over and said hello and sat and talked to me the entire night. I suppose I can chalk those two years worth of facebook ignores out the window.

Another thing I really enjoyed was being looked at by people in the room and knowing that they were trying to place me. "I just don't remember him? Did he go to school with us? Maybe I sat next to him in Mr. So and so's class?" One guy came up to Eric and said hi and chatted for a few minutes. Then he turned to me, looked down at my nametag, stuck out his hand and said, "Cole, I don't remember you." I laughed and said, "if you didn't go to Sam Houston Elementary then you don't know me." I appreciated the honesty though. I probably would not have gone up to someone and said that. I would have convinced myself that I knew that person, and then probably made a fool of myself when I pretended we had a past in high school. That's just how I roll. I did get to see one girl that I had a huge crush on in the 5th grade. Her name was Vanessa. I made her a mixed tape and I think she was my girlfriend for 2 weeks. She looked fantastic! And before I go on any more, she's married. Happily. With kids. Enough said!

Their were some people I was really looking forward to seeing that did not show. For starters, two girls that I reconnected with on facebook told me about the reunion and asked if I was coming. I had not even thought about it until then. They did not even show up! Another couple of friends that I thought were going to be there ended up not showing up, so it was kind of a lackluster night. Totally worth going, but not necessarily something to write home about. Just interesting enough to blog about. I think?

Weird dude

It has been almost a month since my last post, and that was hardly a real post. However, I as I sit at my desk at work at 3:21 in the morning, I find myself with an abundance of time on my hands. We have been remodeling the store for the past three weeks, so my assistant manager and I have had a lot of early mornings and long days since. The crew has been working 6:30-6:30 for three weeks straight! What dedication! And the store looks phenomenal. They will have about a half day tomorrow and then the store will be ours again! I did finally have a day off last Friday, so at least DeWayne (my assistant) and I both had a day off in the last few weeks.

That brings me to tonight. Since today was the last full day of work for the construction crew, they scheduled a cleaning crew to come out and strip, seal and wax the floors and then dust everything and just do general cleaning from the remodel. However, the "crew" turned out to be one guy. He got here a little before 6, which is when we close. We got everything moved off the floor onto a carpeted are so that the floors could be finished. He started working on them about 6:30 and here we are almost 9 hours later still plugging away. The "crew" had estimated that they would finish around 1 or 2, however, when the "crew" turns out to be singular rather than plural, we are now looking about 6 a.m. Guess I will be here to open the store in the morning!

Something about this guy is just a little weird. And when I say a little I really mean a lot! When he got here I introduced myself and told him I was the store manager and that I would be here through the night until he finished. He told me his name and I immediately deleted it from my brain. Of course, 10 minutes later I needed to ask him a question, so I had to ask him his name again. This is when it got weird. I said. "I'm sorry, can you tell me your name one more time?" And he replied, "It can be whatever you want it to be." Excuse me? I shot the construction foreman a "what-the-f kind of answer was that?" look. He chimed in quickly and said, "Timmy. His name is Timmy." Riddle me this readers? What's creepier, his response to my question or going by Timmy at the age of 40? Of course, the foreman could have been pulling my leg when he said Timmy. I have been calling him that all night and he has not corrected me. Either that is his name or he enjoys being likened to Lassie's boy master.

Then things got a little weirder. The building we are in closes at 10:30 and is locked down tight. I was in my office and Timmy was on the floor doing his thing. The night manager, who is a student, knocked on the door to let they guy know that the building was closing. Timmy told him that he had to leave the side doors open so that he could bring his equipment in and out. Next thing I know my phone is ringing and the asst director for auxillary services is calling me telling me that they cannot leave the side doors open because people have wandered in after hours before. Of course, this is the first I am hearing any of this. I walked out to the floor to find Timmy having what can only be described as a temper tantrum. I suggested he pull up to the back loading dock, which I have key to, and we can unload his other equipment there. His response? "So you think you can unload a 3,000 lb machine up onto your loading dock from my van?" Uh, no, I never claimed to Hulk out after 10 p.m., but surely their is another solution to this situation. I was still on the phone with the asst director and she is giving me other options. Meanwhile, Timmy "pissy pants" was talking over me and saying there were no other options than to leave the doors open. We resolved to bring all the necessary equipment in through the side doors and then call campus police to let him out that way when it was needed, presumably around 3. "What's that Lassie? An alternate solution? Good girl!" At the rate we are going now, the building will reopen before he is finished, so Timmy threw a tantrum for no reason! I did tell him he needed to chill out and that if he had something to say to staff that does not work for me, but instead NSU, that he needed to go through me first. This did not sit well with Timmy. "I have never encountered this many problems on a job!" Must be his first night. Sounds like somebody needs to change their dirty pee pants!

Once Timmy had a second coat of wax on the floor he decided he wanted to be buds again. I was moving furniture in our cash office and I head him say something, so I popped my head out. He began rambling on about waxing floors and shines and other things I did not care about. I zoned out and nodded, but I was not listening. He stopped talking for a while, so I thought it was my turn to say something. "Is this water or oil based wax?" I got as far as "This is water based. You wouldn't want to.......," before I zoned out again. He was snacking on some trail mix that I told him he could take from the floor if he got hungry. Timmy needs to keep up his strength! He asked me if I wanted some and I said, "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm allergic to nuts." He gave me a sad look and said, "Well that stinks! I had some peanuts out in the car that I was snacking on on the way here." I'm not sure why that story had to be told, but I rolled with it.

I am not sure where this story will go from here, but I am quite sure it is not over. We are about to round 4 a.m. and only the tile has been finished. He has not started on the Toli (fake wood looking tile) which takes a different kind of wax. I could probably tell you what kind of wax if I had been listening to him several hours ago, but that was the part of the conversation that sounded like any adult on Charlie Brown.

My favorite video clip

I have passed this video around for years and thought it might be a good thing to post. Hope you enjoy. It always makes me laugh, a lot!