"Father: Son at your age, Winston Churchill used be up and out for his morning walk at 5 a.m.. Son: Dad, at your age, he had become the Prime Minister of England."

Hello once again. You don't have to be concerned, it's only me, and you probably already know there's not much going on here. I suppose there's always the proverbial rent, as they say back home. It is Thursday, the last day of this first month of this brand new year, January 31, 2013. Wow! That didn't take long, did it? Carrying on about those conundrums got me to thinking about the oldest jokes on record. I did some research and believe it or not there are some that have been unearthed that go all the way back to before 2000 BC. Sadly, those listed as the world's oldest ten jokes are not able to be shared in a family blog like mine. Some of them are not terribly uncouth but even the best are borderline. That, I suppose is how the fallen human condition entertains itself, even way back then. Since I couldn't use them I'll share this one which goes back a fair number of years: "Are your relatives in business? Yes, they are in the iron and steel business. Oh, indeed. Yes, me mother irons and me father steals." I suppose I should be glad that no one can throw veggies at me, although, for a hungry would be comedian, maybe that would not be so bad.

I haven't said in a while just how thankful I am for my family. I didn't get to choose which one I became a part of, but, I know God did, and I feel privileged to have grown up under the tutelage of my mom, and my grandparents. I'm thankful for my brothers and sisters. I'm very thankful for my wife and her family that became mine as well. I'm thankful for my three sons and their families, all of my grand kids and my great granddaughter. I'm thankful for my step dad and his children who truly are also my brothers and sisters. I think about aunts and uncles who contributed to my development. Cousins. In laws. Out laws. Near. Far. Family. What a blessing! My family experience has never even been close to being perfect but it has always been a significant and defining factor in my day by day life. That's the way God set it up. Most of us end up dealing with messed up models of what He intended but even in the midst of our flailing around, family comes through, and I am who I am today because of all of the above. I had this on my mind and it was pretty intense, therefore, I thought it would be good to share. May God bless all our families. Amen.

I bet you thought after that little tidbit that I was going to have everyone join hands and sing Kumbaya by the campfire. While that would be nice, we'll save it for another time. And, I didn't dwell on so many that have gone on to their reward who have contributed much to my life. I didn't want to get all teary eyed so I'll save that one too for another day. I haven't forgotten that repetitive redundancy comment I made the other day. It has a ring to it and could be worth following up on. Could be. Lest you think some of the stuff you read at this particular destination is pretty iffy, you should see some of the paragraphs that I delete. It pains me to highlight an entire section and hit that delete button. Those keyed strokes are sent on their way to the place of destruction. It doesn't happen every day but I mention it only to let you know that I do try to use some judgment about what may or may not be something worth your time. What's that? You think I should keep up with them and publish them someday as outtakes or bloopers? Nah. I'll let the ones I keep take care of that. Now, here's the deal. We have today to do what we can do and riding herd over today will fill up our day. Let's do it in a way that honors God and serves others. Amen.   ....More later.