My Amazing Sister, Dee-Dee!

My sister Dee-Dee
(AKA Paula) is the little cutie sitting behind me (I'm in front with the sandwich or something) that looks like she could be Darla from the "Little Rascals." She is wearing the "bibs."
She has been my mentor, playmate, helper, defender, supporter and loving, caring, empathetic friend all my life.

I did not need a computer to google answers to my questions when I was a child, I could "google" my sister.
Dee-Dee was brilliant and ALWAYS knew the answers when I needed info, like the real name of that actor in the "Man From Uncle" or what were the words to all the songs in "South Pacific." ( And every other musical)
She knows me better than anyone else, yet, she STILL loves me!




There she is with me and my sister Nancy, doing the scary "river monster" thing.
Her patience with me has been beyond understanding, her generosity has been more than anyone could ask for, and although she knows how much I love her, I just wanted to put it in my blog for posterity. Love ya, Dee-Dee!

What a SPECIAL Sunday!!

I was so honored and blessed to sing a beautiful song written by Neil Enloe at Christ Bible Church yesterday! "The Statue Of Liberty."
My son in law, Sargeant Matthew Heeren, became a member of the church at the same time I had the privelege of singing this remarkable, inspired patriotic/Christian song.
It wasn't planned that way but God works in wonderful ways!

Matt is an Iraq War veteran, an awesome Dad and good man! We are so proud of you!

A BIG HUNKIN' THANK YOU!

Oh, when the red, red blogger comes blog blog bloggin' along, along,
They'll be no more sobbin' when he starts bloggin' his old sweet song,
Wake up, wake up you sleepy head, get up, get up, get outta bed,
Cheer up, cheer up the sun is red, live, laugh, love and be hacky!!!
Thanks to everyone clicking on my blog! Love you guys!

Singing At Christ Bible Church On Sunday.

I have the awesome privilege of singing at Christ Bible Church again this Sunday.
Over the years I've sung in bands, for auditions, on demos, in Concert Choir , in musicals, on street corners, in videos, and the list is still growing. However, there is nothing more wonderful than singing in church for the Lord!
Singing in other venues is fun and exciting but singing in church is way up on another level because you are singing with a real purpose in mind. First; You're singing for God and to bring HIM glory. Second; You are lifting up the congregation and giving them something that will, hopefully, reach their hearts.
This Sunday I'll be singing with the incredible Praise Band as usual and then singing one of the most inspirational and beautiful songs I've ever heard, called The Statue Of Liberty. I thank God for blessing me with the honor of singing at Christ Bible Church for HIM and my church family.

My Garage Sale Tale.

What do you think of my garage sale sign? I've used this sign for at least a dozen garage sales and it still looks great, doesn't it? A lot of folks don't make the letters large enough for passing vehicals to read them. My letters range from 4 to six inches tall and I make them wide enough for easy visability.
Good garage sales take a tremendous amount of work and planning. I know, because I've hosted MANY garage sales and I am considered an expert on the subject by ME.

My table of treasures! Never be afraid to put any kind of worthless junk on your table. Remember the old saying? "One persons trash is another persons treasure."
Some people will buy a set of little salt and pepper shakers in the shape of penguins because their grandma had a set like that.
Other treasure hunters have collections of bunnies, owls, elephants or whatever, and if you have ANYTHING that fits into their collection you have a sale. Or maybe they just need a refrigerator drawer.


The obligatory clothes rack made of ladders and a hoe handle. It adds a touch of class to have clothes hanging up like in a store than just piling them up on a table. Baby clothes are the best. You may have noticed that the entire hoe handle is loaded with baby clothes. They go like hot cakes! Even if people don't have babies of their own they love buying the adorable outfits for their grandchildren, nieces and nephews and to dress up their foo foo doggies on special occasions. Ho-kay?


The obligatory table of higher priced, delux items that must be located right in front of the cashier table so you can keep a vigilant eye on the stuff. $5.00 rings, a $10.00 Wizard Of Oz watch, priceless basketball cards for $8.00 a box. One day, some low life guy tricked me into going in the house to ask my wife a question about something and when I came back out he was gone, and so was a valuable Elvis watch in a case shaped like a guitar. Ask me if I was ticked off. Oh, yeah!!


The obligatory book table. Books sell! Especially kids books. At this sale we had a table exclusively for childrens books and it was a big hit!
I didn't know people even read books anymore, with computers, I Pods, I Pads, Facebook, blogs, talking books and good ole T.V.
Some folks collect certain books by certain authors, or romance books, religious books, medical books...books sell!









Be prepared to watch a lot of cars drive by...














And drive by...














And drive by.






Our sweet and awesome customers!

Our coolest item was this sewing chest.





Yes, garage sales are a lot of work but the rewards can be great indeed! On this particular day we made a grand total of $34.00.

God, thanks for Benji!

This is our dog Benji. He is a Yorkie. Can you see how innocent and cute he looks? Yes, he is about as adorable as a doggy can be. There lies the problem. He is so spoiled rotten he gets away with just about anything he wants. He runs the house HIS way and lets us know he's the boss!
I remember when we first met him he didn't even bark. He just rolled on his back and let us rub his little belly. What a con artist. He knew just what he needed to do to suck us into his trap.

He began taking control by pooping all over the house when and where he wanted. No manner of coercion could dissuade him from pooping inside instead of outside. So we started putting "puppy pads" all over the house in hopes he would go on them. What a laugh! He preferred the carpet to do his doo doo, and would frequently eat his feces to gross us out completely! I believe his plan was to make us so frustrated and helpless that we would do ANYTHING to make him stop his bad behavior. ( We finally got trained)



One of his diabolical plans was stealing something from the trash that he wasn't supposed to eat or could choke him, like aluminum foil, and running with it. Well, the only way we could catch him was by giving him a doggie treat. It took us a long time to realize he was playing us for suckers. He knew that if he grabbed something he wasn't supposed to have he would get a treat. By the way, he STILL does that.




Of course, Benji won. He barks at us when he wants his treats, he climbs up on my lap and bites my nose when he wants to go for a walk, and we love him so much because he has this little attitude and personality that is totally unique and funny. He is great with our grandaughters and they think he is awesome. We wouldn't want him any other way. Let's face it, he is not boring! What love God showed in creating dogs for us. God, thank you for our little Benji!

The Little Rascals!

You've gotta admit that this photo looks like something from the "Little Rascals", right? I can see kids that look a bit like Alfalfa, Darla, Butch, Scotty, and even Mickey! (Played by Robert Blake, who was also Berretta)
Anyway, this was the gang in the St. Louis housing projects where I spent my formative years. That is me in front eating something, as usual.


The only reason I showed you this old photo is because I absolutely love old photos! Especially the ones where they don't smile. It looks like they're standing in front of a firing squad in some of those old pictures!, like they're scared to death! Maybe they thought the camera would steal their soul.
The photo to the right is of my great grandma and grandpa who lived WAY back in the Ozark mountains of south east Missouri. They were hard, rough and tough folks who farmed and ran a sawmill. You can tell how hard a life they lived when you realize they were only 29 when this picture was taken. Just kidding.
This is not about them, anyway. I just want you to see the cool old photos.




Here's a good one of my Mom holding my big brother Dave ( Who is 76 years old now), my Grandma and my Aunt Mel. Notice my Mom has a smile on her face?
That was my Mom. Always cheerful, singing, whistling (She could whistle beautifully, that was BIG back then), and laughing. She didn't care if nobody else was smiling, if she wanted to smile nobody was gonna stop her! But, this isn't about my Mom or Grandma, OR Aunt Mel.
This is about the wonderful old photos from the "olden days!"










Don't you love this one? Well, I do. Remember my Grandma in the photo up above? Well, this is my Grandma with the light hair and her sister Alice with the dark hair. Or vice versa. I think that is correct but I'm not really sure. The shoes are awesome, aren't they?
They just don't make people like my Grandma and Aunt Alice anymore. I remember when...
Oh, right, I'm getting off the subject again. This is all about old photographs, not my relatives.









Super cool picture of my Dad in front of an antique car! Of course, it wasn't antique then, was it?
My Dad was the greatest baseball player I ever saw. He tried out for the Cardinals and when they called him back for his final tryout he had broken his collar bone. Then ww2 broke out and he went into the Army and...There I go again! This isn't about my Dad!
I hope you enjoyed the old photos!