I’m struck, as LeBoeuf has been shot, trampled, and nearly severed his tongue; not only does he not cease to talk but he spills the banks of English.

And this is one of our treasured ornaments with Daniel’s picture when he was about seven years old.

So many blessed years!

Merry Christmas!

In all seriousness, this thing is incredible!  I wonder how I survived without it all those years.  Weather, news, games, email, texts, and skype are just a few of the things with which I can waste spend my time.  And I have to fight my obsessive nature and force myself to put it down and actually make eye-contact with my family.

One of my self-imposed rules is not to spend too much time playing around with apps that don’t in some way enhance my life.  This simple rule has helped me delete quite a number of time-wasters.

One app that almost bit the dust was Instagram (IG).  Boy am I glad I stuck with it!  It is a facebook-type app where you can share your iPhone pictures and learn from other users how to take better shots.  I’ve found that most of the IG users are very kind and open about the settings and filters they use.  And if I do say so myself, I’ve seen an improvement in the pictures I take.

Rather than go into boring detail about the app, I’ll just share some of my favorite pics:

All the above pictures were taken and edited on my iPhone and shared on IG.

One of the things that I most appreciate about IG is a no pornography rule.  And it’s world-wide, so I’ve become “friends” with several people from Japan, Spain, Korea, the UK, and even as far away as Cleveland, OH!

As of this time, IG is only available to iPhone users, but I look for it to grow into a full-fledged community.

By the way: I recently found  Webstagram – Instagram Web Viewer online which is linked to the users of IG.

It’s amazing how uncreative I can be when I feel so constricted by my work.  Work had been so uninspiring.  But then I got the brilliant idea (pardon my boasting) of being creative at work.  After all, if I can’t write what I when I want to, maybe I can fulfill that desire while at work.  It’s worth a try.

See, I’d been on a four ten-hour day schedule for years, but it recently was changed due to downsizing in the shop.  ”Not enough coverage,” the management told us.  We’d have to work a regular five-day week like the rest of the world.

I was beside myself.  I had really grown to love the extra day off as my time to get things done around the house, but mostly I enjoyed updating my blogs.  Now I felt like I was working an extra day for no extra pay, and all of my quiet time was gone.  That was worth more than I knew.

Anyway, back to being creative at work…

My first self-appointed creative project was to change my own work schedule so that I could have more days off at home while still working  my 40-hours.  Hey, who says selfishness has to be lazy?

As soon as the thought entered my head, I realized that this was a better idea than wallowing in self-pity about my “terrible five-day work-week”.

So I went around the shop and discussed the idea to all of the other guys.  Some liked the 5 day work week.  But like me, some preferred four ten-hour days.  I worked up a schedule proposal, ran it past the guys again, and then presented it to my boss.

He liked it.  It guaranteed the coverage that the shop needs during the week, and met our needs as the workers.  Win-win.

So today I’m off.  Now where’s that creativity?

I guess I used it up on the work schedule!

Chapter I

Once upon a time, there was a young boy named Bilbo.  He’s not the famous Bilbo that you know, but a very different-looking one with a very similar heart.  He’s a very ordinary Bilbo who happened to like grilled cheese.  He had many older brothers who had matured much faster than him.  They all liked fillet mignon.  One day as they all finished their meals (fillet for everyone but Bilbo) Mamma said, “I have one extra fillet.  Who would like it?”  All the brothers shouted and hollered for their chance at the extra piece of steak.  They got in such an uproar that accusations between the brothers ensued and fists began to fly.  Bilbo mentioned to one of his brothers (who was not fighting at the moment) that he might like to try the fillet mignon.

“Nonsense,”  shouted his brother over the din.  ”You should be happy that you at least have grilled cheese!”  This seemed very easy for him to say, but very strange because he never seemed thankful even for his fillet.  And as he spoke, his eyes lit up with joy, for Mamma had just put the extra steak on his plate.  He smiled smugly at Bilbo and without thanks to Mamma, began to eat, ignoring his manners and his silverware.  The other brothers were now vying for their chance of extra fillet at the next meal.

Bilbo sat quietly and watched the rude, boisterous behavior of his brothers with disconnected disdain.

“Why do they act so selfish and mean,”  he asked himself.  ”Is fillet mignon really worth all of that hatred and clatter?  I think I’ll just stick with my grilled cheese.”  For Bilbo you see, felt he had not a competitive bone in his body.  But we shall soon see that he did, except his manners always overpowered.

At any rate, he decided that there must be something in the Fillet mignon that made his brothers act this way.

“If eating fillet mignon makes one act like my brothers do, then I don’t want any part of it.  Who’s to say that I wouldn’t become just like them, fighting and scratching over the extras?”  he reasoned to himself.  But he was about to learn a lesson.

Chapter II

One day he got to go to a friend’s house for lunch.  Now he was very excited to go, because everyone there loved grilled cheese.  Even their Papa!  So as they all finished eating, which was (of course) the very best grilled cheese sandwiches that Bilbo had ever savored, their mother announced that there was one more sandwich left.  Bilbo’s heart leaped because he had never gotten an extra grilled cheese sandwich before.  His Momma was so busy making steaks for his brothers that it had never occurred to her that Bilbo might want more.  Perhaps his friend would let him eat the extra?

But before one could say “my precious!”, all of Bilbo’s friend’s family began fighting and hollering and accusing and punching one another to get their chance at the grilled cheese sandwich.  Bilbo looked on in surprised horror.  ”How could they act like this?  It’s only a silly sandwich!”  But even as he thought this quietly to himself (he could have shouted it and they wouldn’t have heard) he felt a wave of jealousy spring up inside of him just the same.  Something inside of him told him to yell and scream and kick and punch if needed so he could eat the last grilled cheese.  In the end, however, his good manners prevailed and he sat quietly with his hand raised in request for the extras.  He then watched as his friend ate the bonus sandwich.

“You should be happy that I even invited you over here for lunch,” his friend said, almost unintelligibly, for his mouth was full of toasty-cheesy delight.  ”If you weren’t here, I’d have three sandwiches instead of two, you know!”

Chapter III

Later that afternoon as Bilbo walked home, he pondered to himself.  He thought and he walked, he walked and he thought.  Maybe it’s not the fillet mignon that causes his brothers to act in such a way.  Maybe that’s just something in their nature.  Because Bilbo had been eating grilled cheese all along, and he never wanted to fight with his brothers, but when he had a chance at his friend’s house, he did feel a wave of emotions that he’d never experienced before.  Maybe Bilbo should ask Mamma to make an extra grilled cheese.  Or maybe it is high time Bilbo gets his first taste of fillet mignon.  Maybe Mamma will make him his very own steak tonight for dinner!  He picked up the pace as he neared his home.

But alas, as he walked in the door, he smelled the familiar aroma of fillet mignon, with a slight hint of grilled cheese interspersed.  Bilbo’s countenance fell.  He ate his grilled cheese in silence as all of his brothers talked and shouted and belched and insulted one another.

“You should be happy you at least get some grilled cheese,” one of his brothers said.

Bilbo was about to get up from the table and carry his plate to the sink (for Bilbo was always very conscientious of Mamma’s rules.  His manners always overpowered).  But Mamma announced that she had one more fillet.  The din of his brothers erupted as on cue.  But something changed down deep inside of little Bilbo’s heart.

“I shall begin to ask for my chance at the extra fillet mignon!”  he said to himself.  ”After all, I am thankful for the grilled cheese, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t set my sights higher and be a fillet mignon lover like my brothers.”  Then he caught himself.

“No!, I won’t be a fillet mignon lover just like my brothers.  They do it all wrong.  I shall keep my manners too.”  After all, why can’t steak lovers be kind and courteous?  Why can’t Bilbo put a new face on the whole picture?

So as the uproar continued to grow, Bilbo quietly raised his hand.  Mamma was standing at the opposite end of the table worriedly scanning the battlefield as it were, when her eyes met Bilbo’s.  As first there was a look of surprise on her face, for Bilbo usually was thankful for just getting grilled cheese.  But then a strange new realization came over her face, for she had never considered that Bilbo might want steak.

What do you think Mamma did next?

Well, that depends on what kind of mother you’ve decided that Mamma is.  How do you think this story ends?  How do you want it to end?