Wow, that sure seemed real!

My eyes didn't just open, they sprung. I haven't lost my hair, that's just my eyelids after they snapped up and over my head.

It isn't often I have a realistic dream. Last night was very real. For whatever reason, I dreamed I had taken a job in Fort Worth. It was with a financial business and I had been contacted and hired over the internet. I had been given a branch and a date, but no time to report. When I woke it was seven forty-two (in my dream). We were in Southeast Fort Worth, on the opposite side of town. Not only was I dealing with the normal anxiety of beginning a new job, I was going to be late and had no idea what sort of dress code the office had!

When I woke up, I immediately grabbed the clock for a good look. Whew, it was not even midnight, but I did give the window a quick glance to be sure it was not morning. Then slowly everything began to look familiar. The room, the furniture, the layout. And I realized that it had all been a dream.

A premonition. I don't know. But I do know I was awake and still am.

Outside of an extremely sore throat, chest, stomach and abdomen, my bout with the stomach bug seemed to be brief. I hope it was a farewell appearance.

Krl has been poorly too. She tells me her mouth feels worse now than before she went to the dentist. I wouldn't doubt it.

We had a laid back day. Tried to stay warm, she did a little info gathering for a project in the office, but mainly we just sat and relaxed, read the newspaper and watched a little television. We had opportunity to watch a movie, The Prize Winner from Defiance, Ohio. We enjoyed it thoroughly. I may have to get the book now. The screen play was written from a true story book by one of the daughters. The mother of the family basically had eight kids, her husband only had seven. That should give you some idea of the underlying theme. The story line was about a lady who entered contests for ad slogans, and a family that was presented with one major problem after another. It was a very touching story about the struggles most family's go through concerning money and trying to "hold on". I was very moved when she was counting change for the milk man, other exchanges between the two saw her promising to pay "next pay day". It was evident the children knew who held their family together and their loyalty was to her. That's all I'm going to say. I would encourage you to rent the movie (it was a 2005 release). I don't know what channel we viewed this on or if it is scheduled to be on again. I guess that we were supposed to watch it because neither Krl or I picked it, it just came on.

The next three days should be interesting. All of the preliminary work I have been doing will come to fruitation. This has been an interesting year. One of the things that has contributed is the fact that the previous season extended a full quarter into the last calendar year. Now there are ripples that have appeared that will make it necessary to deal with them for the next twelve months. Most of it revolves around the reporting aspect, the extended season boosted the little fledgling company I work with to the next level. At least as far as reports are concerned. New worksheets, new rates, new due dates. Crud.

An interesting fact is that the bleed over from the previous season into '06 was actually longer than the '06 season. I have played with some numbers and I think if we can live with this the one year, when it is re-evaluated it will go back the way it was.

We can hope. It sure does make it hard for a guy to find his groove.

I just saw a story line on ESPN. In the Venezuela World Series, the winning team scored eight runs in the bottom of the ninth, winning eleven to ten. Talk about drama. Now they have qualified for the Caribbean World Series.

I guess they play in worlds of their own. I thought the Cardinals won the World Series.

One week to Super Bowl. It was interesting reading the newspaper, talking about the ties to Abilene. Both teams, three players, and others several who played in Abilene at some point in their high school or collegiate careers, along with a television producer. While I am cheering for the Colts, I have enjoyed the stories about Lovie and his Texas ties. Most interesting one was that a few years back he was home for a visit with his Mom and siblings and dropped by to meet the new high school coach. The new coach was not at home and his wife asked if he (Lovie) was applying for an assistant coach position. He simply said no when he could have told her he had a job coaching in the NFL. Several years later she had opportunity to apologize. She was told it was no big deal. Lovie's brothers and sisters are convening at his Mamma's house and driving to Miami for the game. Their Mama is blind as a result of diabetes and doesn't fly. But she'll be at the game.

Me, I'll be at the game in my recliner in our living room. We'll probably make some snack foods. Maybe make homemade pizza or colossal cheeseburger. I'll have Maple Syrple on one side, and on the other side will be Phooey, if I'm lucky. (Lots of time she plays dog pile on Maple). We'll have the game on and odds are before it is over we will all doze off and read about it in the newspaper and on the computer the next day.

Hey, I'm in training for the Daytona 500.

So what should you have learned from today's entry. Call in sick with the stomach bug. Rent the aforementioned movie. Read the Super Bowl hype and all the side stories. Make some finger foods for testing purposes.

Sounds like a recipe for success! Have a day!

FATHER, give us focus.