Update on Tom

Hi there....this is Tom's wife, Rhonda. Just wanted to let you all know that Tom had emergency surgery Wednesday evening for a detached and torn retina. Now, most of you won't know this but Tom only has one good eye. He is legally blind in the other. Unfortunately, this happened to his good eye. The surgeons are hoping for a full recovery but cannot assure us of anything at this time. They are telling us that it could be up to a year before he regains his sight in that eye. At this time he has very limited vision and what he is able to see is extremely blurry. Please pray for him that he will make a full recovery. He is already having a tough time as all he is able to do is sit or lay.

Guns Don’t Kill People, Staplers Do

In what context is a stapler considered a weapon?A. When the guy you’re fighting pulls out a three hole punch B. When a militant Islamist terrorist group takes an Office Max hostage C. When you’re fighting an angry mob of 200-feet tall piece of loose leaf paper According to the Associated Press, a man tried to rob an ice cream store with a stapler.
The man entered the store, produced a chrome stapler and demanded money from the teller. A chrome stapler? Is Harley Davidson getting into the office supply business?
The teller gave the man the money and he fled the store before witnesses of the crime led police to the man’s house. Police recovered the money, a mask and the stapler. They also confiscated a .45 caliber label maker, a double barreled hole puncher and a sawed-off sticky note dispenser.
A police spokesman said he wasn’t sure how the man was going to use the stapler as a weapon. Investigators believe the man threatened the clerk to either open the cash register or ruin the book he was going to read on his lunch break by stapling the pages together.

The Day After Thanksgiving

After spending the day yesterday gorging on turkey, and dressing I had to keep busy today to burn off the calories that I put on so we went to the church and took down the fall decorations, and then I came home and finished decorating the outside of the house for Christmas. We are having some friends over tonight for another Thanksgiving dinner so I'm preparing myself for the food coma that will follow. Is it true that something in turkey makes you sleepy?

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Divorce

A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York the day before Thanksgiving and says,"I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough."Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams. We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the father says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her."Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this,"She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at her father, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up.The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says, "they're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way."

The Meaning Of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect and be thankful for all the little things that bring happiness into our lives. It's the time to put all differences aside and mend those relationships that for whatever reason have become strained. It's time to gather with family and friends and enjoy each others company. So this Thanksgiving instead of grumbling and complaining be thankful for those who have been put in your life.

What I'm Thankful For

• God and His grace and mercy


• My wife and the way she cares about me


• Our girls and the men that they have chosen to marry


• Our parents


• Our grandchildren


• Family and Friends


• My job


• Our home

Turkey Facts

How the Turkey Got Its Name

There are a number of explanations for the origin of the name of Thanksgiving's favorite dinner guest. Some believe Christopher Columbus thought that the land he discovered was connected to India, and believed the bird he discovered (the turkey) was a type of peacock. He therefore called it 'tuka,' which is 'peacock' in Tamil, an Indian language.

Though the turkey is actually a type of pheasant, one can't blame the explorer for trying.

The Native American name for turkey is 'firkee'; some say this is how turkeys got their name. Simple facts, however, sometimes produce the best answers—when a turkey is scared, it makes a "turk, turk, turk" noise.

Turkey Facts

At one time, the turkey and the bald eagle were each considered as the national symbol of America. Benjamin Franklin was one of those who argued passionately on behalf of the turkey. Franklin felt the turkey, although "vain and silly", was a better choice than the bald eagle, whom he felt was "a coward".

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the U.S. at Thanksgiving—that's one sixth of all turkeys sold in the U.S. each year. American per capita consumption of turkeys has soared from 8.3 pounds in 1975 to 18.5 pounds last year.

Last year, 2.7 billion pounds of turkey was processed in the United States.
In 1995, retail sales of turkey reached approximately $4.4 billion. They are expected to reach $4.7 billion in 2000.
Age is a determining factor in taste. Old, large males are preferable to young toms (males) as tom meat is stringy. The opposite is true for females: old hens are tougher birds.

A turkey under sixteen weeks of age is called a fryer, while a young roaster is five to seven months old.

Turkeys are the only breed of poultry native to the Western Hemisphere.

Turkeys have great hearing, but no external ears. They can also see in color, and have excellent visual acuity and a wide field of vision (about 270 degrees), which makes sneaking up on them difficult. However, turkeys have a poor sense of smell (what's cooking?), but an excellent sense of taste.

Domesticated turkeys cannot fly. Wild turkeys, however, can fly for short distances at speeds up to 55 miles per hour. They can also reach speeds of 25 miles per hour on the ground.

Turkeys sometimes spend the night in trees.

Turkeys can have heart attacks: turkeys in fields near the Air Force test areas over which the sound barrier was broken were known to drop dead from the shock of passing jets.

The ballroom dance known as the Turkey Trot was named for the short, jerky steps a turkey makes.

Carr out of gas

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - Lloyd Carr alternately choked up and chuckled for nearly 40 minutes Monday as he announced his 13th season as Michigan football coach will be his last.

"I wanted to be able to walk out of here knowing that to the very last minute, I did my job to the best of my ability," Carr said with watery eyes. "And I know I'll be able to do that."
The best of Carr's ability brought Michigan a national title and five Big Ten championships. It also included an unsightly loss to Appalachian State to open this season and a fourth consecutive defeat and sixth in seven years to Jim Tressel and Ohio State to close it.

Many of those memories were very close to the surface at Monday's news conference during which the public that rarely got to see his true personality also learned what had happened behind closed doors the previous day when Carr broke the news to his players and staff.

"I cried more tears than I knew I had," said Carr, who spent 28 seasons on the Michigan coaching staff. "And I've never laughed so hard in my life because there were so many memories."

Carr will coach the Wolverines in their bowl game, likely to be either the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio or the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla. Following the bowl game he will become an associate athletic director.

Stupid Criminals

Robber’s getaway falls short
Courtesy of Kansas City Star

A man who robbed the Family Dollar at 39th Street and Indiana Avenue tonight made his — short-lived — getaway on a city bus.

After hitting the store shortly after 7 p.m., the robber headed across the street and boarded the bus, a dispatcher said. The suspect made it about five blocks before Kansas City police stopped the bus and took the suspect into custody near 40th Street and Cleveland Avenue.

The man was reportedly armed, but no one was hurt in the incident.

Man Arrested After Reporting Pot Theft
Courtesy of AP

McALLEN, Texas - A man was arrested for drug possession after telling authorities that two masked gunmen had stolen 150 pounds of marijuana from his home.

Hidalgo County sheriff's deputies arrived at the home near Penitas in South Texas to find the door kicked in and nearly 15 pounds of pot lying on the floor, Sheriff Lupe Trevino said.

Jose Guadalupe Flores, 35, escaped while the men ransacked the house but returned later and told the deputies he had been wrapping the drugs for shipment when the intruders arrived.

"The guy walked right up and said the drugs were his," Trevino said. "That's not the smartest move."

Flores, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was charged with felony possession of marijuana at an arraignment hearing Monday. Because of his immigration status, Flores will be jailed until his case is heard.

Authorities were still searching for the gunmen.

The Awsome BUCKEYES

Congratulations to THE BUCKEYES !!!!! on their 14 to 3 win over "The Team Up North". Though they played very conservative the W at the end is all that matters.Way to GO BUCKS!!!

Lifes Little Things

As I was thinking this week about the purpose of life I suddenly realized that I don't take the time to stop and discover how great life really is. We as humans tend to focus on the negative instead of the positive, we like the little juicy details instead of asking ourselves what can I do to help that person in need. Life is not all about working trying to please our boss or make a name for ourselves, although we must do our jobs and do them to the best of our ability. We need to focus on God, our family, and friends. So remember when life hands you lemons make lemonade.