Tea Pad turns two

I started this blog in November of 2004 at the urging of my good buddy Ms. Pix. My how time flies when you're having fun.

You may be wondering what I do when I'm not posting here (which has been most of the time recently). Well, here's my typical day:

5:45 a.m. -- Wake up. I usually wake up by myself, but if I don't, Davis or one of the cats do it for me. Pancake jumps on the nightstand and knocks stuff off, Koko comes up close and tries to put her paw in my mouth, or Davis starts scratching and/or whining.

6:15 a.m. -- Get up (usually unwillingly). The animals try, but I resist their efforts, to pry me out before then. Go to the bathroom, feed the cats, make tea, get dressed....in that order.

6:30 a.m. -- Walk Davis. We mostly go to the UT intramural fields. There's a regular group that meets down there every morning to let the dogs run and play.

7:00 a.m. til 8:45 a.m. -- Get back home. Drink tea, read the New York Times, fry two eggs in olive oil, eat them and take vitamins. Take a shower, dress for work. Leave for work.

9:00 a.m. til 11:30 a.m. -- At the office doing what I do there.

11:30 a.m. -- Lunch, usually with my friend Ms. T. Most days we eat in the cafeteria (or as I like to call it, the greaseteria) at work, but sometimes we can't take it anymore and go out somewhere. Sometimes I go home.

12:00 or 12:30 -- Back to work.

12:30 p.m. til 5:30 -- Fight boredom. Try to stay awake. Play computer games or web surf, read the news online.

5:30 p.m. -- Home.

5:45 til 7:00 p.m. -- Take Davis for another walk. We like to go to the big dog park, but sometimes we go back to the intramural field.

Some nights I visit with friends, occasionally do something else, which I usually write about here. I don't do as much socially as I used to before becoming a dog walker extraordinarie.

7:00 til 11:00 p.m. -- Smoke the herb, read, listen to music, putter about the house, or on the computer, then bed. I never used to go to bed before midnight, but getting up at 6:15 changed all that.

That's it. Not very exciting, but I've had worse lives. ( Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit. ECCLESIASTES 4:6)

I went to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my family in Far WalMartland. Both my brothers and their families, as well as Son #1 and his wife and my grandson were all at my parents' house. It was nice to all be together, even though my mom worked way too hard waiting on everybody.

Then next couple of days we had a reunion of my dad's surviving siblings and some of my cousins. We got together at my aunt's camp on one of the state's many lakes. (pictured above) The weather was great, still warm and sunny.

But that didn't last. It froze for the first time today and now it's going to be in the 20s tonight. I already know it's going to be hard getting out in the morning, and it's almost 11:00 so I'm closing this out and going to crash.

And now you know the rest of the story.