I don’t know what to say, except it’s Christmas and we’re all in misery. — Christmas Vacation

I give my family a lot of crap around the holidays.  It’s just not my time of year to be cute and cuddly. But there’s nowhere else I’d rather be, and no people I’d rather be with, than the friends and family who have found the inner strength necessary to put up with me.  To all of you, Merry Christmas.

A man’s GOT to know his limitations. — Magnum Force

You have to know what is possible, what is feasible, and what is likely.  Yes, we should always try to do better in everything we do, but we have to be realistic about what we’re capable of accomplishing.

Strong survival instinct. I admire that in a woman. — Pitch Black

We have to have strong women, because strong women raise strong children.  Our future, no matter how much fathers and dads try, rests squarely on the shoulders of mothers. A woman who does not believe that she needs to fight for her own life will raise children with the same failing.  We need to raise our daughters to value themselves, for no-one else will.

People who get their feet wet must learn to take their medicine. — Mary Poppins

Consequences need to be faced, and prices have to be paid.  Actions and positions, fair or foul, require that those who take them answer for them.  Failing to do that does nothing but mark you as a coward.  Unfortunately, being a coward appears to be fashionable these days.

Is this gonna be a standup fight, sir, or another bughunt? — Aliens

It is amazing what people can accomplish when they know that their task will achieve something.  Nothing is so corrosive than to give a task to a group that they know to be pointless.  Tell us what we need to do and why it’s important, and then all you have to do is stand back and be amazed by the results.

• Putting a metal roof on a treehouse on the day before a winter storm, when the wind is starting to come up, wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be.
• Neither was grabbing a hot glass baking dish out of the oven, then doing my best to not let my wife know it hurt because she’d warned me to use an oven mitt.
  • I’m pretty sure the fingerprints on my left hand will return to their original configuration.
• For date night this month, Irish Woman and I went to an indoor range.
  • This is only her second time shooting.
  • With the Ruger Mark II pistol, she had 3 to 4 inch groups dead centered on what would have been the bridge of the target’s nose.
  • With the Glock 17, she was almost as good.
  • With the Kimber Solo Carry, her groups opened up to about 12 inches, which was about as well as I did with that gun.
  • With my CZ-82, she was back down to 3 to 4 inch groups at 10 feet.
  • Of course, her favorite gun is my CZ.  Why wouldn’t she prefer my favorite handgun?  Oh well, guess I’ll just have to buy her one of her own.
  • That reminds me. I need to re-up my C&R license.
• I’m pretty sure I don’t like the little Kimber Solo.  It’s so light that when you touch off a 9mm, it wants to jump out of my hand.  When I try to hold it tighter, I get bit by the slide.  Irish Woman liked it OK, and wants to learn to shoot it well, so I’ll keep it until she’s tired of it.
• Between leaving the range and getting to the movie that night, we decided to go out for Chinese.  By the time we left, I was looking for an OompaLoompa to roll me out to the car for juicing.
• I’ve started working the evening shift for the Christmas season.  I’m two days in and am starting to figure out how to get enough sleep, yet not fall into the trap of only sleeping and working.
  • My goal is to get home at about midnight, get to sleep as soon as possible, then get up at 6 to get the kids off to school.
  • Mornings will have me doing one thing, like doing house work or going to the gym, then getting a nap.
  • Still haven’t figured out how to make that work, but it’ll come.
• Note to self – Try to figure out that something important in your story is ridiculous before you’re a few thousand words in.  This is like getting to the end of knitting a scarf and realizing that you dropped a stitch or two in the third row and now it looks stupid.
• We caught the southern edge of Snowmageddon 2014-1 the other night.  Got enough snow and wind to close schools, but not enough to keep Boo cooped up in the house all day Monday.
• I told Girlie Bear the other night that if she got her grades up to at least a B in every class, then I’d let her get her learner’s permit and teach her to drive.  Pray for me.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. — President John F. Kennedy

Today is Veteran’s Day, and I’d like to ask a favor of you.  In addition to thanking a veteran, I want you to consider how many veterans need more than a handshake and a free meal.  I want you to think about the veterans who will sleep out in the cold tonight, who will be alone tonight, and who will be considering becoming one of the 22 a day who take their own lives tonight.  I want you to think of how you can be more than a smile and a thankful nod to them.  Please, even if only for a few hours or an evening, get involved, if only to be there for one of us who needs you.

No, if she had hated you she would have merely killed you. A curse takes devotion. — Dark Shadows

There are a lot of people who irritate me. There is a multitude of people for whom I have no feelings whatsoever. There are quite a few people I like, and even a few that I love. But there are only a handful that I truly dislike or even hate.  Such feelings take too much energy, and if I dislike you, why waste the energy?