happy new year and if you haven't already, you must see this

There is a cedar tree in my living room
Susan and I decided not to spend the money on a conventional tree and instead she and her mom cut down what looked to be a small cedar tree from a plot of land we have in Cleveland, TN. The lights are hung now and the limbs are drooping from the weight of the little ornaments. once the season has passed I will de-limb it and we will burn it for that flavorfull arroma. I woke up last night wondering if there were little varments who had lodged themselves in all those branches, just waiting for to all be asleep so they could come down from hiding like those in the Trojan Horse. Tonight, if the wife and the boy are still alive, I think I will sit up with my shot gun and keep a bead on the base of the tree until the wee morning hours when I rouse the wife and tell her its her shift. Which should I use? Slug or bird shot?

Ok. I got to goto The Broken Spoke last night. It was awsome! My buddie and I just sat at the bar and watched the real "hard core country" (in the words of the betty the bartenter). The majority of the crowd was over 40. The men were wearing thin cotton plaid snap button up shirts, jeans and a cowboy hat. The women were wearing knee length denim skits and similar shirts but with no print. it was clasic. I really enjoyed it. If you go to Austin, find the Broken Spoke.

Rain in Austin falls mostly in Austin
This particular storm also included a rather dense fog that caused an accident on the interstate between my hotel and the office. This was no oridinary accident though. Three tractor trailers turned on their sides and one of them was a truck full of pigs. The highway was closed down for hours throughout the morning while the pigs were gathered up and put on another truck. Since no one was hurt seriously (except for some pigs I am sure) I don't feel so bad laughing my silly white butt off.

Austin in December just isn't as cool as Nashville in December.
I am digging the expense report for meals and the little cookies they gave me on the plane this morning though.
Missing the wife and boy already. Not really missing the dog yet.
It has been great getting to meet some of the people I work with everyday over the phone face to face. Tomorrow I'll get to see the manufacturing facility here which is down right impressive from what I hear.

posted some new pictures...

I guess the flight left ok. I've got two buddies who went with Afreican Leadership to visit and document the famine and AIDS eppidemic in Africa. They left this morning. David Braud is going to be filming and taking photos in hopes to put together an awareness video for African Leadership to use. Dan Haseltine is the other guy. He sings for Jars of Clay and has been involved with African Leadership for some time raising money for their other endevors which have primarily been training Christians to be pastors of the rapidly growing Christian community in Africa.
The growth into addressing the AIDS situation and the famine have been a natural progression for African Leadership, but is obviously very difficult to do. Please pray for these two freinds - for safety, the Lord to open their hearts as he does their eyes and for the other numerous things that are involved in a trip to such a place.

I just bought some stock in Weir Al Co. and to support my investment I have added a link to his web site over there to the left. I didn't know it was so big... I expected it to be the same size as the Blogger one... hmm...

oh yea, I put varmint #6 in the trash can without a formal service or prayer this morning.

War on Varmints - update
# Five left last night to meet his maker alone, but full. The wife started yesterday a deep clean of the kitchen, removing every piece from the cabinets and soaking them in a bleach/water solution and then running them through the dishwasher. She also washed down each cabinet with a bleach/water solution. Because she is prego she left those areas that actually had evidence to me and I finished the job last night. I also used the Great Stuff to fill in any obvious and not so obvious openings that were conducive to mouse travel. Before bed I went to turn out all the lights, lock the doors and get a little snack of Sun Chips. As I walked into the kitchen I knew there would be death in this home that night. I heard # 5 in the washroom under the clothes washer chewing on what I assumed was a piece of dog food (I found several partially eaten pieces under there during the deep clean). I moved the trap to the corner of the machines and set a couple of fresh pieces just to the opposite side of the contraption. This morning, the food was gone, but in its place was a corpse.

I do not doubt there are more and this war will not end in a treaty, only annihilation.

# Four no more
At 23:14 hours last night I heard a crack of lightning. # Four had obviously met his match. I didn't even get up out of bed to check. This morning I confirmed the kill and reset the trap, placing it in the same place in hopes of taking out any rescue mission the little bastards sent. The wife also found little rat bombs under the kitchen sink and dispersed throughout the kitchen. "If there's four, there's more" With one can of Great Stuff I sealed all openings under the sink after bleaching the entire area.

Today, I will purchase an eight pack of traps and we'll see who lasts through the night.