In Training

A large part of Cindy's job has to do with Safety and Compliance. This is both a good thing and a challenge for me. It has made me more aware of safety issues in my own job...the compliance thing is a little harder to grasp. In Cindy's job they have a lot of regulations that they follow and no straying outside the lines allowed. My job...if some tape and a folded piece of paper behind a clutch will make a copier run better then by all means do it. So Cindy has been trained recently to 'Train the Trainer'. This means she trains people to go out and train other people. So being the faithful husband I am (are you reading this Cindy?) I got to be the test subject and give a training on making a paper airplane while Cindy critiqued  my training/presentation. I passed with flying colors.

How hard can this 'Train the Trainer' be anyway?

So for an encore I decided to fix the flickering light in our kitchen. Just a little tap of the broom handle on the cover should do the trick. And CRASH! The cover came down (thankfully missed me) and shattered on the floor. I would have made-up a great story for Cindy...earthquake or something but she heard it crash and came to investigate...another part of her job.




So if you think this is a standard size light cover...think again.

Speaking of CRASH...my tree is getting serious about the 'dropping the branches' game. This branch/limb was actually hung up in the tree and I had thoughts of climbing an extension ladder and using my chainsaw-on-a-stick. I don't know where these thoughts come from. But I could reach part of the limb from the ground so I spent the better part of an hour yanking-twisting-turning-twirling...and that was just me. Finally the limb gave up and came crashing down. I got smacked by a branch in the process and have a welt on the side of my face. At first I thought it would make me look tough after this manly job...then I remembered I am married to a Safety and Compliance person. Did I follow standard protocol or have the right tools for the job? Did I wear the proper safety gear or have a spotter? Was I trained and qualified for this job?





Bad tree...bad tree.

 

                                   So I think I will stick to paper airplanes...or maybe not.

 

 

 

 Check out the true "Train the Trainer" with Dene'.

 

 

 

 

 

It's not a Beautiful Day

We made a quick trip to Denver this last weekend to see the kids, grand kids and the wonderful new house with all the boxes. No...we did not have to sleep on boxes at the Cranes bed and breakfast. We did get some quality visit time in and having Sherry and Dave stop by Saturday was a treat. I was woefully lacking in picture taking (of the house and Ash and Alex...not the boys) but Cindy did get Sherry and Michael then Dave and both boys on the I-pad.

Liam is getting bigger by the day...I guess he's suppose to.

Michael and Thomas hat.

Saturday morning on the way to the kitchen for breakfast Michael turned to me and said "it's not a beautiful day"...trying to suppress my laughter I asked him why? No answer. Then later we were on the front porch playing and out of the blue Michael says again "it's not a beautiful day...it's a beauty."

So the explanation I finally got from Ashley was this...it came about from watching a Veggie Tales show talking about things we might not consider beautiful but they still have beauty because God made them. Great message...just a little strange interruption from a 2 1/2 year old. So Michael has been going around saying "it's not a beautiful day...it's beauty".

We may be able to act like a 2 year old sometimes but thinking like one is a little tougher.

Story time.

Double story time.

Sunday Michael definitely got up on the wrong side of the bed. He came down stairs grumbling and whining about something. So I read him a story before breakfast. Then in my great wisdom I said  "let's go to the dinning room in slow motion" and off I went with my best impression of a turtle. Michael lost it and crumpled to the floor in sobs. I thought I had stepped on his toe or something. I love the way Ashley and Alex handle these situations by asking Michael to "use your words." Michael said through his sobs that he didn't want to go slow. At breakfast I traded some Cheerios for a piece of Michael's banana to give Liam (complicated I know)...again Michael broke into sobs. I resisted the comment "it's not a beautiful day, is it Michael?"

We survived the morning by going to Mass and seeing "Jesus, Mary and Joseph" (Michaels account")

 

Liam can pull himself up to a standing position...so can Michael.

 

It's not a beautiful day.



It is a beautiful day.

 

             Don't let Michael know you are going to have a beautiful day...it's a beauty.

 

Training Wheels Are Dangerous

I was out working on my lawn mower yesterday when I heard this crash on the sidewalk. I looked up and saw this little guy picking himself up off  the ground and getting back on his bike...he kind of looked my way and I heard him say "I meant to do that." (See what Dene' meant to do in Belmont.) Then much to my surprise he tried to make another U-turn and CRASH. Down he went again. This time no 'I meant to do that' and suppressing a few tears he got his bike turned around before getting back on and headed back up the sidewalk. He had training wheels on his bike and training wheels are dangerous. Training wheels might be OK when you're going straight down the road (sidewalk) but if you need to make a turn...and eventually you will need to make a turn...they don't work so well. To maintain your balance you need to lean into the turn and what do training wheels do? They keep you from leaning and if you turn too fast...CRASH.

Sometimes a mistake can turn out to be a 'I meant to do that' moment. When we were in South Dakota last month Mom made banana bread and boy was that good. We all raved about it and asked her what recipe  she uses...just her recipe in the family cook book. Well we all use that one and our banana bread doesn't taste that good. Finally Mom let us in on her secret and admitted she mistakenly used almond extract instead of vanilla.

So that has been my "Oh, I meant to do that" banana recipe from now on...and yes it is good!

So when life throws you some twists and turns and you find yourself crashing...be sure to take off the training wheels and get back on the bike. And have yourself some banana bread with almond extract for a change...you will be glad you "meant to do that."

This Blog is for the Birds

"Big Year" can mean a lot of things...making popcorn every other nite  or seeing a super moon or meeting that goal ( place it here)...being married to the one you love is a "Big Year" but I'm talking about Birding! Sherry gave me the book "Big Year" to read and ding-ding-ding it was great! To summarize a "big year' is how many different species  of birds you can see in 1 year. It can be just your town or state but the book was based on a North American big year. See what Dene' is reading. (I'm sure it's deeper than birds...I should take lessons from her.)

The book goes into some detail of the history of birding and talks about a number people who have done a "big year" over the years. Those doing a big year may travel/fly thousands of miles and be gone 250 days total doing it. There are places and times you have to be to see certain birds and it's not unusual for them to travel  halfway across the states to see 1 bird if it is rare. At the time the book was written I think only 10 people where in the 700 (species) club. It does focus on 3 birders who where trying to break the big year record and the competition that followed. There was a movie made staring Steve Martin that followed the book well enough...but for the hard core birders read the book.

Since reading the book...twice and buying the movie ( good but not as good as the book surprise-surprise) I have been birding each weekend. I haven't found any rare birds but have enjoyed the time spent in our Lord's great out doors. My life list is 27 (life list is number of species seen so far...not just in one year). The big year record is 733 and that is in just one year. There is some work left for me.

Here are a few pictures of the birds I have seen. Some are injured and are in captivity (rule is they have to be alive-wild-and free) so I have not included them in my count for the big year.

 

 

 

 

 

This one is not alive or wild or free but is "rare" so I included him anyway.



Happy Birding.

"If a Picture Paints a Thousands Words"

If you said the song group "Bread" give yourself 1 point...okay...give yourself 2 points. If you actually read this blog all the way thru give yourself 10 points!

Cindy went to Denver on a three day business trip and is staying an extra three days to visit Ashley, Alex, Michael and Liam. Cindy bet me a million dollars that Michael would ask "where papa?" when she saw him...she owes me a million dollars. But I'm over that...mostly.

 So what am I doing with my time? After watching bits and pieces of NFL pre-season games all week...boring...I just want to play the radio game. Did you know that you don't even have to be present to play the radio game and score points? Of coarse it helps if you are 'present' and it may help if you have some-what of an understanding of what the radio game is. I don't think Cindy and I invented the "radio" game but when we were dating ( dare I say 39 years ago) driving around in my parents V-8 Ford Torino (loved that car) we would guess the song title and artist while listening to the radio. Are you still with me? Give yourself another 10 points. Fast forward to the present...we still like to play the radio game either on the car radio or in the evening on satellite TV music channels (while we are doing our back  stretches) . It goes something like this..."If a Picture Paints"...BREAD! We tied on that!

 

 

"It's too late baby..." Carol king! 1 point Cindy.

Don't know the words but 1 point for me...I do know Phil Collins.

 

 

1 point Cindy...she always gets the Four Seasons.

 

 

Again this may be a deep cut (obscure song) but I recognize the artist. 2 points for me.

 

 

 

 

 This was close but I get the point!

 

 

Point for everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

The scoring system is a little random...you get 1...2...3 or more points for how fast you get the song and how sure you sound when you guess. You can come in third out of two if you are too slow and you can win or lose points depending how well you argue the point. You lose points for an artist you were suppose to get! The points system does change depending on the day and our mood...but please come and join us and we will be happy to share the rules we have decided for that day.

 

We are easily entertained! And that is no "Jive Talk"!

Let's tie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Popcorn

Food for all occasions!

Is there any better food than popcorn? Put some butter and salt...add some cheese and presto...dinner! I remember my Mom using this great pressure cooker as a  popcorn popper. It made the best popcorn ever. The kettle was so thick you couldn't burn the popcorn if you wanted too. So I use to hang out in the kitchen and watch every move my Mom made and eventually I became the popcorn maker in the house. They would have "bridge" parties and  I would make popcorn for snacks. I inherited the popcorn popper and it has been making great popcorn ever since. I searched high and low for pressure cookers and finally found a couple at second hand stores for Ashley and Dene'. I also found one for Fr. Johnson, our priest here in Lincoln, since he expressed interest in one too...I hope to get some eternal credit for that. Check out Dene' s popcorn memories here.

It's never too early to start eating popcorn.



Or never too late!

 

Ten Days in the Tree House

Cindy and I spent 10 days in the Hills...that means 10 days in our favorite tree house. The place we go to get away from the craziness of life. The Rappana gene kicked in (OK I've had it all my life) and we left around 11:45pm Tuesday night and arrived 11am Wednesday. And yes I am getting too old to drive all night and skip that sleep.  I took a little over 1300 pics so here is a little sample of the non- stop great times we had.

 

 

Pactola lake is in our top 5 tree houses.



If you are holding Liam you will get your picture taken.



Here Michael is throwing  the soccer ball in to Max who is racing to the goal...or away from the Michael.

Is this allowed?

I think you get a yellow card for this.

A little brother to brother talk.

I love this picture.

Definitely my happy thought here.

Wait...we have 1299 more pictures to go.

At our cabin on Deer Mountain.

Beautiful girls.

And good looking guys.

 Cousins.

 



Lisa is a kid magnet.

And Nancy too.



Three very cool guys.

Here is a happy great grand-boy and a happy great grand-father.

The gang is all here!

With a little help from Nancy, behind me, we got both boys smiling.

Bigger picture of the Cousins.

Help...I just ate a pine tree. Actually Liam started to get into the solid food fun. See Ashley's blog here. 

I think Michael can tell just as good stories as grandpa Chuck.




Spouses

We are still smiling...we have not hit our picture limit yet.

The hula hoop champs? I think not!

I taught Michael to "turn it off" the smile...and to "turn it on". Here we are practicing.

"Turn it on". OK my Dad's 'on and off' button is broken.

The Fish Hatchery.

The shade at the Fish Hatchery.

The best sisters ever. (no I wasn't bribed to say that.)



After the rain at Dave and Deanna's house.



And it just got prettier.

 

I love cloud pictures...to see some awesome cloud and ocean pictures...see Dene's blog here.

Spearfish Canyon.

Michael loves to put his hands behind his back...I'm sure I would fall over.

 

Turn it off Alex.

Turn it on Liam.



Family

time.

I love Pete the Cat. "Did you cry? Goodness no!"

Katie and Liam.

We need to teach Liam to "turn it on".

Walking Max.

We did not do Harney peak this year. Sad. But we did hike Mount Roosevelt.

Big tower...little guy.

Turn it on.

Turn it off.

Mighty hiker.



The best "bed and breakfast and lunch and supper" in the Hills.

 

 

 

 

After the Hills we went to Pierre for a Venner reunion (mom's side). Here is Melvin (husband of mom's sister Marjorie), Eugene (mom's brother) and wife Josephine, and Mom and Dad.

This is me thinking about our time spent with family.