Man of the Month - February

Yes, I realize that February is half over. But, better late than never...especially for this one!

February's Man of the Month is.....GEORGE STRAIT.


I've been a STR8FAN since we lived in Tucson. Tucson is country music. That was really the first time I started listening to country music...aside from the stuff my parents listened to that my ears could not avoid. (Although, to my dad's credit, I do enjoy Willie Nelson.) I digress. About that same time, the movie Pure Country came out - starring George Strait. I can still quote most every line from that movie. I'm surprised I didn't actually wear out that VHS tape! He looks better now than he did back then. A pair of Wranglers and a starched long sleeve shirt never looked so good!



Just recently George received a Grammy award for Best Country Album for his latest release, Troubadour. I own every GS CD. I like the old stuff and the new stuff. GS is classic in every way.


I'll say it again...A pair of Wranglers and a starched long sleeve shirt NEVER looked so good!!

8 Year Old Boys and Money

I apologize in advance, but I'm changing the "code names" for my boys again. This time should be the last. The oldest (12) shall be known as "Walker" and the youngest (8) shall be known as "Texas Ranger" or "TR". Those of you familiar with the movie "Talladega Nights" will understand the reference.

This morning, Texas Ranger popped the following question:

"Do I have enough money for an Xbox 360?"

Some background on the situation...TR is in Cub Scouts. They sell popcorn to raise money for the program. TR happened to sell the most popcorn in his pack and was greatly rewarded with a $75 gift card. (Note: The gift card was to Bass Pro Shops - a very appropriate place for young scouts to go pick up some goodies they'll want and need for their scouting career. However, there was no way TR was going to spend that much money at BPS, so I told him I would trade him the gift card for cash.) TR also filled up an order form and earned a $10 Wal-mart gift card for that. (Enter another gift card for cash trade here.) In addition, the amount of popcorn he sold earned him a $22 Wal-mart gift card as his prize directly from the popcorn company. (You know the drill.) Add to this the $30 he got from family for Christmas and the boy has a whopping $137 burning a hole in little Levi's!

Now, let me also explain the video game situation in our house...One of TR's best friends, who happens to live directly across the street, has an Xbox 360 and they spend a lot of time playing Halo on the weekends. (Neither myself or friend's mom allows them to play video games during the school week.) Let me also mention the fact that we own a Playstation 3...along with plenty of games, Call of Duty 5, Metal Gear Solid 4, every Lego video game ever made and a few other duds. Oh, and let's not forget the Nintendo Game Cube. We ended up buying that the year before the Wii came out. Oh well. Now that the PS3 is hooked up to the "big" tv, the Game Cube has been relegated to its storage bag. There are occasions when the boys unload it all and hook it up, but they are rare. Of course, each boy also has his own Nintendo DS Lite and, I'm guessing, probably 300+ games for that.

So, I answered TR's question with "No, not quite. Why do you think you need an Xbox 360?! You have a gajillion other games and systems to play."

TR: "But then I could play Halo."

Me: "You really think it would be worth $450 just so you can play Halo?"

TR: "I bet I would have enough if I got all my money from my piggy bank."

Me: "No, I don't think you would. And, I don't think you need an Xbox 360 anyway."

TR: "LOUD AUDIBLE SIGH"

TR donned his jacket and backpack and headed off to school...And everyone lived happily ever after. The End. (hopefully)