Wednesday, February 18, 2009


This is what happens when you let your wife take a vacation on her own! The first cute face that comes along and she is snuggling up to him!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Well, I am a bachelor for the next few days. Cheryl is at Disney in Florida for the next few days :(. The dog and I didn't know what to do with ourselves all day yesterday, so I watched Band of Brothers. If you haven't seen this series it is very good. It amazes me that any of them came back alive. After watching that and finding out that there was nothing worth watching on TV, Frodo and I went to bed at 6 PM! I never go to bed that early, but I slept through to 4 AM. I must have needed the sleep.

Frodo and I did take a walk yesterday, but we didn't go very far. It was a lot colder then I expected. We only walked about a mile and a half and my hands and face were half frozen. Frodo enjoys even the small walks. He just likes to get out and smell all the scents that his nose picks up.

I'm back at work now after the three day weekend, so hopefully it will make the time go by faster until Cheryl gets home!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Compassion

I'm so excited! I received my Compassion International sponsorship package in the mail today. I've sponsored a child before who grew up with Compassion and eventually became employed. So now I have a new child. His name is Lalon, 8 years old from Bangladesh.

As a Compassion sponsor I will help enable Lalon to participate in church-based programs that offer benefits including help with learning development, health care, social-skills development and Christian training. Bangladesh is 83% Muslim, 16% Hindu and less than 1% Christian. Typical houses are constructed of dirt floors, dirt walls and thatch roofs. Half the adults are unemployed, but the ones who work as day laborers earn the equivalent of $22 per month. So as you can see, people are in need there as in a lot of places.

It gives me joy to know that Lalon will now be provided with Bible teaching, supplements, medical checkups, hygiene education, recreational activities, special celebrations, tuition, academic support, school uniforms and school supplies.

I got this information from the packet Compassion sent me. According to Compassion less than 20 percent of donations are spent for fund raising and administration. They have received top ratings from the American Institute of Philanthropy and Charity Navigator.

Don sponsors a child also. We first learned about it when we went to a Vince Gill and Amy Grant concert a while back. She explained the process to the audience, and after some investigation, Don and I were hooked. I'll be writing Lalon a letter tomorrow and including a picture of myself along with a page from a coloring book. After all, he is only eight years old.

For anyone interested, Compassion's phone number is 800-336-7676. Click here for their website.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Return of the Beagle walk

Sunday was a beautiful day here, so the dog and I went for a long walk. We stayed close to home, but still managed to walk 4 miles. It has been very cold, at least for here and there were many frozen puddles along our trail. Frodo stepped on one and it cracked with a very loud noise. It scared him and from that point on he avoid all ice. We did see one deer on the trail, it didn't seem too concerned about us and just stood and watched us until we were out of site. It had been a long time since we walked that far and by the end of the walk Frodo was completely exhausted and slept for the rest of the day. We are suppose to get more snow tomorrow so I guess it may be a while before we walk again. I love watching him when he gets on a scent. His nose begins to twitch and he makes a snorting sound, It kind of sounds like a pig when its eating.

Now for a little different topic. We broke down and purchased a Wii along with the Wii Fit. We haven't used the Fit yet, but are looking forward to it. We have played the Wii Sports and Cheryl has kicked my tail. Guess I need to practice more. I know one thing it sure let me know how out of shape I am. I was winded and sweating like I'd been in a real boxing match when I went three rounds with the computer. Hopefully it will help to get us back into some sort of shape other then round!