Celinda (Cindi) Ward (Hanna)

TGIF to those of you who still can differentiate between a work day and the weekend (aka "not yet retired").  I do love those Fridays!

Randall:  Which "IT" would you like to hear about? The "W", "F" or the "SH"? (figure that one out)!  Also, I agree that rattlesnake tastes a little like chicken only it's a little boney like fish . . . went to a roundup in Jacksboro Texas back in 1972 and watched them skin 'em, roll 'em in flour/cornmeal and drop in a hot vat of cooking oil.  It was a tasty treat.

Now, can we back up a few postings and get to Lloyd's harley joke you referenced? Like Jan, I think I missed something. Perhaps it was a personal email to you and not publicly posted?  Otherwise, I definitely missed the boat (and everything else) on that one.

Jan: What an amazing talent you have and your tribute to Larry was very sweet. I think Randall summed up the painting quite nicely. He does have a way with words!  Also, I was talking about tasty treats . . . do you remember bringing chocolate covered ants to school? Seriously, you did. I can't remember where you got them or our exact age but I sure remember those crispy critters, chocolate and all.

Ralph: I wish I had a dollar for every girl who was chased, caught, did the chasing, or was otherwise engaged in some form of teenage antics with my 3 brothers.  Believe me, there was never a dull moment in the Ward household from the time I was about 8 years old until Danny graduated and left home in 1968!  My final 2 years of high school were noticebly quiet by comparison.

As of today, this site has received 10,300 visits since its inception.  I never dreamed it would be so successful and it has certainly exceeded my expectations. Thanks again to all of you who visit frequently and a bigger thanks to those who participate by posting!  Your posts keep the site active and interesting so keep up the good work.

Have a safe & fun weekend & don't forget to set your clocks back an hour before drifting off to dreamland on Saturday night!

Deborah Nelson (Ferriter)

I love the "fall back" weekend.... hate the "spring forward" one.... don't I just have the most beautiful granddaughter!!

Ralph Ellerd

Alcohol doesn't make you fat... it makes you Lean... on tables, chairs & random ugly people.,

Hey Randall just a quick thought for u!!!!!        Have a good week.   Ralph B.

Randy Stephens

Ralphie B.......... Yes, leaning beer is the only good beer to drink. pucking beer ant good. Passing out beer ant good. Fighting beer ant good. If it ant leaning beer it ant really beer at all and leaning beer also helps white people dance and others to roll in yards......!!!!! It's sweet!!! The only other good beer is loving beer. Now that good beer, I don't care who you are. The only drawback to loving beer is drinking it when you don't have anyone around to love. That's when people get into trouble, you know, humping telephone poles, fire hydrants and policemen's legs. Don't you just hate that when it happens. So remember there is a time for everything. There is a time for drinking leaning beer and a time for drinking loving beer. Just don't get those times mixed up. ......"I'm Pretty Good At Drinking Beer......." 

Celinda.......I want to hear about all your its. Go on now girl, tell it. The SH, it; the F, it; and the W, it. Come on with it. You name it. Tell us about your its, dam it!!! Sorry!! that last it just kinda slipped out but fit it. Know what I mean. So don't take it the wrong way. Got it. Now go on with your its. The night its, the day its, the maybe its, the what if its, the I wish its, the hot its, the sexy its, the dirty its, the cussing its and the spit its. So, let's hear its or I'll start calling you it. Which it I'll call you I haven't decided yet, but it will be a bad it. So it it up girlfriend.

"......Cards Are On The Table And The Bullets In The Gun......"

A new one out today   ".....She Can Crack The Whip Like Indiana Jones, Rule The Roost, Ware the Pants, Long As I Can Take Them Off....."

Randall

Randy Stephens

OK, SILENT DUDES and DUDETS....... If you can't or won't talk, I will, dam it all to hell. How's it  hanging ya'll? Down low? Up high? Toooo the Left? Right? East? West? North? Or has it gone South ya'll? Sometimes that shit happens and then they want you to take pills. Well, I just get naked, roll in the mud, put bells on my toes, long red ribbons on my fingers and run naked down the highway with Christmas lights wrapped around me. I'm thinking about adding bows and ribbons this year. What do ya think.

I'm working with my super this week, she is great. She lives in Omaha and thinks I'm best thing that ever happened to the business. If any of you tell her any different I'll have to kill ya. She is a tall, slim, beautiful blond who thinks I hung the moon. If you tell her any different I'll have to chock ya and if you tell Kathy I'll burn your eyes out. Just kidding. Not. Maybe. Serious. Blood in my eyes. LOL. She did buy me supper and beer last night. I might be cheep but I ant free. Know what I mean!!! Go Corn Huskers!!! Roll Tide!!! Hook um Horns!!! Say boo when you can.

"A Little More Quiet And A Little Less Loud......I Changed My Direction But The Wind Got In My Way......Drink A Little Drink, Smoke a Little Smoke......."

Randall

Deborah Nelson (Ferriter)

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day and the birthday of my son,  Larry who will be 36..... I don't know how that's possible since Donna Bookout Henthorn and I are only 39!!

 Thanks to all the Veteran's and Happy Bithday to my baby boy!!

Randy Stephens

HEY........ HERE'S TO ALL THE VETS who have looked into the face of evil, the depths of hell and kicked the devil in the ass. And here's to all of you who kicked the devil in the ass but were taken in the process across the River of Sticks into the other world. God bless and be with you. Here's to all who struggle, fight, bleed and die for what is good and right, for freedom and liberty and light. You are our hero's. You give us hope, heart, direction, reflection, time, liberty, pride, strength, vision, courage and a will to keep on keeping on. Your the soul of a vibrant spirit called the American dream. The rock that holds us steady. The hero's we remember and want to emulate. In the end you make us proud!!! You make grown men cry. Young women scream and babies laugh.

We were born free, wild like a stallion running on the High Plains, like a leaf blowing in the West Texas wind, like the Colorado mountains tall and majestic, like a bird singing the songs of night and no religion or mob can take that away. We are grateful for all you do and there are no regrets, just sadness for the sacrifices that had to be made. Sacrifices that are the foundations that we build our life and nation on. Let's keep (the cards on the table and the bullets in the gun). 

Thanks to all of you for all you do and have done. You stand up for all of us and for what is right and good. You fight back the darkness that would envelop us all. You ring the bell of freedom loud and clear for all to hear. You carry the torch of light and right for all to see. You fight, so we can be free. You risk, so we can live the good life. You die, so we all can live. You fight the evil in our world. You keep us safe, alive, free and able to live and sing. You make us American strong, flexible but not breakable. Thank God for you all!

Randall 

Rhonda Sharp (Weehunt)

Beautifully said, Randy.

Lloyd Singer

I agree with Rhonda!     Very well said "Randall", Bravo!

Donna Bookout (Henthorn)

Randall........oops; you did it again!  A way with 'words' for you!  Thanks for so eloquently saying 'thank you' to all those who stand and fight for our freedom!

Debbie.......I just don't know how our sons got so old.......how can this be?!  And you are so right;  since we are only 39!!

The weather here is getting a bit cooler........66 today......but I'm holding out for a freeze so all these 'bugs' would quit buggin us!  However, the Farmer's Almanac says we will have a very mild winter this year.....:(     No multiple snow storms like last year!  I love those White Christmases......just don't come often enough!

There, Randall.........you can't say I'm 'silent'  !!

Blessings to all!

Randy Stephens

Thanks Rhonda; thanks Singer; thanks Lawpuppy.

Every once in a while I do or say something somewhat right. Most of the time the words get in the way or I get in the way of the words or the right words get lost somewhere between the brain and my fingers or there is a word strike or a brain freeze or someone lets crazy out of the barn or.....................But in the mist of word drowning I come back kicking, clawing, scratching, spitting, fighting and gasping one more time. Thanks to ya"ll (you guys) for not being silent. OH LAWPUPPY! You got me on the chin!!! YOUR LOUD GIRL!!!

"Freedom Hit Me On The Chin But I'm Doing Pretty Good For The Shape I'm In....."

 Randall

Ralph Ellerd

Hey Randall What kind of shape are u in?? Tennis anyone, won district,  OK lets go run the old Burma Road  LOL  anyone remember that???  Seems like it was out to Miller Farms and back!!!   LOL  

Donna or Lawpuppy like RS  would say, Talk to ur mother-in-law at First Baptist and she said u lie about ur age just like she does!!!   lol

My Dad Pinky always told me That he knew he was 21 because he had the 7 year itch 3 times!!!  Dad was good at sayings, Like at the Spudnut shop there were 3 deacons and the Preacher sitting there and He walked over to the table and said Were u fine four Baptist u will find a Fifith!!!  Get it!!!!!

Hey Randall,  Baptist always drink whiskey in a square bottle, that way it won't roll out under the front seat!!!    Just a little humor, make u live longer SMILE!!!

RBE

My quarter million dollar Daughter, will be 26 Sun.  That was what her hospital bill was after 5 and half months Neo-Natal  Austin, TX  1984

Randy Stephens

OH....... LAW PUPPY! LAW PUPPY! LAW PUPPY!!! You shouldn't lie like that. Shame! Shame! Shame! Your a bad, bad, girl! and here I was thinking all along that you were just the same OH' same OH' angel like in the olden days.................You been telling people you still 21 haven't you. I know, I know. Sometimes I do that still. It's ok. You can fess up and face it. We all love ya still............ I understand and I forgive you even if no one else will..................... Look girlfriend we all know that your only 39 years old just like the rest of us. Only we've been 39 for almost 20 years now. But I won't tell if you won't. OK...................... If you get kicked out of the family circle for being a liar I have a horse stall with fresh hay spread thick on the ground. No charge for you. The barn even has a night light to keep the monsters away. It'll be good rehab.......... Promise!!!!! Pull weeds by day and sleep at night on the hay. What more could anyone want?

"You Been Singing That Song Far To Long, Far To Long................................................................"  "I Set Myself In A direction But The Wind Got In The Way............"

Ralphie B........... Don't do Tennis anymore. Got Tennis elbow, Football knees, Baseball shoulders, Basketball ankles, broken wrist, broken ribs, broken back but.................................... "I'm Doing Pretty Good For The Shape I'm In................................................................................." 

I do remember the Burma Mile. Dam, did I hate that torture trail. Coach always made us run it on Friday after our Thursday night football game when were still sore and bruised. Hell I could barely walk on Friday and then we had to run that dam thing. I remember telling coach once, after a really hard Thursday game, that I was to sore to run the Burma Mile and he responded, "You got to work it out Randy, work that soreness out."  I thought, OH shit, that didn't work and it didn't but boy have I wore that saying out with my kids and kids that I coached in sports throughout  the years. Thanks Coach Self. You loaded my guns and didn't even know it...............  I remember running the BM once and some guy's came by in a truck, stopped asked us if we wanted a ride and I responded HELL YA! We jumped on and road back close to the gym and got off. Coach thought that was great that we ran the BM in such good time and expected the same in the future. Sometimes you just can't win.     

 "A Little More Quiet, A little Less Loud, A Little More Of This And A Little Less Of that.......Drink A little Drink, Smoke A little Smoke........"

Randall

Randy Stephens

HEY.

I just found out that a friend of mine who I worked with for a couple of years and drove trucks with died. We went separate ways five years ago after I told the company we were working with that they were scum of the earth, greedy, lowlife, cheating sons-a-bitches. But we keep in touch on and off for a while and I thought about dropping in to see him a few times when i was driving through him home town but I didn't and now I find out he's gone. Dam it. He was a good man and a friend. He was a lot like me. Made other laugh, cut up and might say anything at any time. I'll miss Frank Dutton. Dam it!

On a lighter note, for those of you who have shamed me into this, I have written two more pages tonight in my never ending saga (my book).I'm at 52 pages now. Been doing a lot of editing and rewriting but adding other stories also. I write instead of watching TV. I write on days when I'm stuck in the motel with no work for whatever reason. In a good day I might write a couple of pages and on a bad one it might be a paragraph. I haven't written anything in a couple months. Just waiting for the spirit to move me and an opportunity in time to write. I'm rambling and need to shut up and stop boring my old friends. And I mean OLD. Just kidding! Maybe! Not! Who knows!

"When I Hear That Song I Go Back........" 

Celinda (Cindi) Ward (Hanna)

Randall: So sorry to hear about your buddy, Frank.  It's difficult to embrace the fact that we are at the age when family members and friends seem to die at an increasing rate. I know it's just part of the cycle of life but I don't like knowing I've entered one of the later phases in that cycle.  Trust me, though, I plan to put up one heck of a fight when the grim reaper knocks on my door.  I'll make that reaper work hard to get the last breath outta me! 

Ok - so you challenged me via email to think up some memories and write about them.  I've done a lot of posting here about the old days but, at your request, I did kick start the memory function and dialed it back many years.  One thing that came to mind was the "slam book" phase.  Anyone remember those?  I used to have a few of them and they were in my bedroom closet at my mom's for years.  I guess she finally got tired of my junk pile there so she threw out a lot of my mementos, including letters from my boyfriend when he was in Vietnam and my old slam books.

For those who need your memory jogged (the only exercise I get these days), a slam book was a spiral notebook.  The front page had the lines numbered and when the book came your way you picked a number and wrote your name by it.  You then answered questions in the notebook using your number as your ID.  Anyone wanting to know who said what had to look at the front page to match the number with a name.  Ring any bells out there?  I guess it was called a "slam" book because a lot of people did use it to say some less than nice things about others.  It just depended on the question.  I seem to recall mine were always pretty tame, e.g., "Who is the cutest couple", "which boy in our class has the prettiest smile" and so on.  Other books were a little grittier but a great source of entertainment!  I'm just curious to know if anyone else has any slam book memories to share!  Post away, please.

Well, this is my official Friday for this week (at least for office work).  I'm off to Pasadena tomorrow for an educational conference.  I'm in serious need of additional education for sure!  I'll be leaving around 4 a.m. in hopes of making the 2.5 hour trip (per the mileage) and arriving by 8 a.m.   That's California travel math in case you're wondering.

Have a great weekend everyone & get busy and post! 

Donna Bookout (Henthorn)

Ok Randall.........could you susssshhhhh----I've been gettin away with the "I'm only 39 " tale for awhile and you blew my cover!!   A little white lie never hurt anybody......but since you've brought conviction I guess I will fess up.......geez;  I am 58!!  So there!     Since you insist on calling me "Lawpuppy"........you are from now on "Yarn Spinner".   :)

Besides-----I am allergic to hay so sleeping in a barn is not an option.....thanks for the free offer anyway YarnSpinner!

On a more serious note:  I hope everyone has a glorious Thanksgiving Holiday!  Just being able to live in the good ole USA gives us more than enough to be thankful for!   May your family times be full of fun and joy!

Blessings to all,

Donna   

Jan Minchew (Sparks)

A slam book in United States schools is a notebook (commonly the spiral-bound type) which is passed among junior high school students. The keeper of the book starts by posing a question (which may be on any subject) and the book is then passed round for each contributor to fill in their own answer to the question^[1].

Slam books can also exist in virtual formats. Web-based slam book sites have attracted controversy for hosting virtual slam books in which individuals or organisations are targeted for criticism that constitutes bullying or defamation.^[2]

^{Cindi - Glad you asked about slam books.  I would have done so earlier, but I couldn't say anything posivite about the subject.  I was slammed hard and dirty a number of times.  I can't remember what was said (or who said it) - but can still feel the dread today.  One thing positive came out of it - My kids began hearing the "slam book" story at an early age.  They learned from me..."I don't care who they are or what they did, never-ever say hurtful things to people or about people."  Ta Ta!}

Donna Bookout (Henthorn)

Ditto to your comment Jan on slam books!  This world needs more exhortation and encouragement taking place as we speak into others lives!  I think we should have a "bon fire" in our minds piling all those slams books on top to be burned and forever gone!

DH

Celinda (Cindi) Ward (Hanna)

Ralph Ellerd

Hey Cool Pics  Randall!!!

Ralph Ellerd

Hey Cindi this for u and don't know where that 45 went!!!!  LOL

Connie Lee (Ash)

Cindy, Donna, Jan,

I don't have bad memories about 'slam books', in fact I have no memories about them.  I know I never started one, don't ever remember writting in one or reading one.  Sounds like I didn't miss a thing.

Ok, how about this, remember the ID braclets we used to wear, or maybe bought our boyfriends, they had our name engraved on them?

Or how about those chewing gum wrappers we used to make into braclets or necklaces?

Let's see, how about those paper things we used to make that were kinda like a box that we worked with our fingers and we would say rhymes to them then open part of the paper to see what the answer was.  I need help on this one, I don't remember what they were called, or if they even had a name.

There can be good and bad memories associated with anything, let's try to keep the good ones.

And Cindi, don't you dare be quite, you are a bright spot on this forum, along with many others!

Connie Lee (Ash)

It's Thanksgiving Week, what are you thankful for? 

I'm thankful that I attended this years reunion and reconnected with friends after 30 years.  I'm thankful that we were able to celebrate with my dad on his 80th birthday.  Of course I'm thankful for my beautiful grand-daughter, my new daughter-in-law and my family.  There's more, this is just a few of the things I am especially thankful for this year.

Deborah Nelson (Ferriter)

I have to agree with Connie... I also have no memory of "slam books", but I don't have a lot of memories...period.... But I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and enjoys good food with family and friends.  Thanksgiving is my personal favorite holiday.... Gobble-Gobble...

Deborah Nelson (Ferriter)

Connie... love your new picture...