Fall Festival

Friday night our church had a "Fall Festival". It was outside and cold which did not help the colds that Liz and I had been fighting all week! They had a chili cook off so I sent the previous 24 hours letting my chili simmering in the crock pot. I was bummed that they did not judge the chili's as part of the chili cook off but oh well, people still liked it! We did miss having "Trunk r Treat" but we look forward to doing that next week with Liz's family in Fort Worth.

SCHOOL PICNIC

The kids had a school picnic planned last week and we were wondering if they would pull it off since it had been raining all week and it was c-c-c-cold outside. Liz was going to meet us at the picnic so the kids and I walked there. The kids had fun in the bounce houses and seeing friends from school and church. The Allen Police Department is awesome and very proactive. They believe in working with kids even in elementary school helping them to make good choices and to know that the police are our friends! It was fun to seeing the police officers playing games with the kids. We tried to get our son to say hi to the"take a bite out of crime dog" police mascot but he is not big on anything in a costume! We told him that we would not go see Mickey Mouse until he did! The picnic was cold but the kids had a lot of fun so it was worth it even if both Liz and I ended up sicker from being in the cold air!

LUNCH DUTY

I have a part-time job working during lunch at Ford Middle School here in Allen, TX. I really enjoy (most days) the job and enjoy trying to learn the names of as many kids as I can remember! I also try to learn things about the kids so that I can have stuff to talk to them about. Think "sales" but for 13 year olds! I remember what it was like when I was their age and I believe that even just a little thing like remembering someones name can make a difference. It is also fun to see all of the kids from our church and make sure that they are staying out of trouble. When our daughter was sick last week one of the vice-principals did my job. Upon my return this week he told me that the kids missed me and wanted to know where "Mr. Anderson" was. Even better, they told him that they thought that it was so cool that I knew their names! Boy did that make my day! I really enjoy working for the school and for Allen ISD and I would love, love, love to find a full-time job with the school district. I hope that It happens!

English Photo Essay

Years ago I had to write an essay for an english class about a photo. I picked this photo. The essay follows.

Camping is a family tradition. Each day starts with the rise of the sun and the smell of pancakes floating through the campground. My Dad makes pancakes for his grandkids and great grandkids. The generations have grown and merged through the years. As the day goes on the adults find a quite place to read a book or gather around the puzzle that must be done before we pack at the end of the week. The children play on the cement area by Grandma and Grandpa’s motor home. They build great things with foam squares. They build a tube to crawl through that soon becomes a house, so small they can only stand up in it. They come from two different generations. They came into this family in different ways. Two are my nephews. One of them was born to my sister, one adopted by my brother. The girls are my oldest nephew’s children. The other is my step-nephew’s child. But it doesn’t matter how you get into the family. Dinner is just about over and homemade ice cream and root beer is the perfect family tradition with which to end the day. The sun sets and the campfire roars. The children have been washed. Some hiked to the showers with Mom or Dad. The littler ones bathed in a bucket. At the end of the night four generations of family gather around the campfire. The children climb into laps. It doesn’t matter whose. They might choose Mom or Dad. Some want a Grandma or Grandpa. Some chose an Aunt or Uncle. And one chooses mine and utters the words “I love you, Aunt Liz” before curling up and falling asleep. Camping is a family tradition. And family is everything.

PJ'S

Who misses PJ's with feet in them? I know I do!

BAD DAY

Sometimes when we are having a bad day we just need to stop and rest.

KEYS TO SUCCESS AT WORK

1. Never walk down the hall without a document in your hands. People with documents in their hands look like hardworking employees heading for important meetings. People with nothing in their hands look like they're heading for the cafeteria. People with the newspaper in their hands look like they're heading for the bathroom. Above all, make sure you carry loads of stuff home with you at night, thus generating the false impression that you work longer hours than you do.

2. Use computers to look busy. Any time you use a computer, it looks like work to the casual observer. You can send and receive personal e-mail, calculate your finances and generally have a blast without doing anything remotely related to work. These aren't exactly the societal benefits that everybody from the computer revolution expected but they're not bad either. When you get caught by your boss --and you will get caught--your best defense is to claim you're teaching yourself to use the new software, thus saving valuable training dollars. You're not a loafer, you're a self-starter. Offer to show your boss what you learned. That will make your boss scurry away like a frightened salamander.

3. Messy desk. Top management can get away with a clean desk. For the rest of us, it looks like you're not working hard enough. Build huge piles of documents around your workspace. To the casual observer, last year's work looks the same as today's work; it's volume that counts. Pile them high and wide. If you know somebody is coming to your cubicle, bury the document you'll need halfway down in an existing stack and rummage for it when he/she arrives.

4. Voice mail. Never answer your phone if you have voice mail. People don't call you just because they want to give you something for nothing - they call because they want you to DO work for THEM. That's no way to live. Screen all your calls through voice mail. If somebody leaves a voice mail message for you and it sounds like impending work, respond during the lunch hour. That way, you're regarded as hardworking and conscientious even though you're being a devious weasel. If you diligently employ the method of screening incoming calls and then returning calls when nobody is there, this will greatly increase the odds that they will give up or look for a solution that doesn't involve you. The sweetest voice mail message you can ever hear is "Ignore my last message. I took care of it." If your voice mailbox has a limit on the number of messages it can hold, make sure you reach that limit frequently. One way to do that is to never erase any incoming messages. If that takes too long, send yourself a few messages. Your callers will hear a recorded message that says, "Sorry, this mailbox is full" a sure sign that you are a hardworking employee in high demand.

WHAT DAVE ANDERSON'S BIRTHDAY SAYS ABOUT HIM

December 9th, 1966
You've been living for 42 years, 9 months, and 29 days.
You were born on a Friday.
Your date of conception was probably 18th March 1966.
You've seen 11 leap years.Your Zodiac Sign is Sagittarius.
Your Chinese Zodiac Sign is Horse.
Your Ruling Planet is Jupiter.
Your Birthstone is Turquoise.
Your Birth Flower is Narcissus.
Your Birth Tree is Hornbeam Tree.
Your Birth Number is 7.
Time till your next Birthday 61 days 17 hours 54 mins.
Your Lucky Color is Blue or Purple.
Your Lucky Day is Thursday.
Your Lucky Number is Five.