Father's Day Weekend



My Dad, Paul S. Murphy, Sr.



I would like to start off this post by remembering my Dad. He was not only a great Dad, but also my best friend. I have many wonderful memories of him growing up. Here is a picture of my Dad around the time I would have been born. He was serving in the Air Force during WWII.

Joey, Renee and Wyatt arrived here Friday evening to spend Father's Day weekend with us. They arrived just in time to share the corned beef brisket I was taking off the stove. I slow cooked the brisket in the lower section of my steamer pot, putting cabbage, onions and potatoes in the top, steamer section, about an hour before the corn beef was done. I pulled my meat slicer out and shaved the meat as thin as possible. It melted in our mouths. Nothing better than good ole corn beef and cabbage. If I don’t say so myself, it rivaled any I have eaten at Wolfie’s in Miami.

We enjoyed a great visit over the weekend, and had a ball playing with Wyatt. He is walking now, and believe me, he keeps you hopping. He can now navigate about anywhere he wants to go. Nothing is safe from his grasp.



My Recliner Chair Arrangement



I was surprised by a knock on the door Saturday afternoon. When I went to the door, I was presented with a neat floral arrangement from three of my daughters (Kathy, Kim and Sandra). It was in a container that was a recliner chair, with a working footrest. It has a handle on the side that operates the footrest. After the flowers are gone, it acts as a remote control holder. Cool…
Click on the picture to see the details of the chair.

Also, a little later, both Joey and I received an arrangement from our spouses. It made us feel like special fathers.

My Dad's Root Beer Mug Arrangement

We had a relaxing day filled with calls from my daughters wishing me a happy Father's Day. It definately made all the years of parenting worthwhile.

We finished the day with steaks from the grill. The only thing that could have made the weekend better would have been if all our kids could have been here. Maybe next year.

Another business bites the dust

I received an email from an old friend I grew up with from my home town in Kentucky today. He informed me of a lumber company that is closing it's doors in August, after 131 years. It is sad to hear of so many businesses closing, due to the present economy. Unfortunately, it goes much deeper than just our current recession.... Most of the problem steems from a trend in "Big Government" that is only going to get worse if we don't stand up and do something about it soon. Here is my comment sent back to my friend.....

I'm seeing this happen more and more lately. Its a shame that so many old established small businesses are going by the wayside. There are so many obstacles for the typical small business today.... Multiple taxes, fees, licenses, employee benefits, etc., that the average business can not survive in today's economy.

 

And they wonder why our economy is on the rocks. If the average entrepreneur is not allowed to make a fair profit for his efforts, he will stop trying. When enough of them stop, who is going to support the masses who think they should receive a free ride. This is what will be the end of our free enterprise system as we have known it. What's left? Socialism?

 

Sorry, I just had to express my feelings.

 

Paul

Finally, I am recovering

I would like to apologize for my neglect on posting to our blog. I have been fighting Pneumonia for the last week. Fortunately, I have been able to stay out of the hospital. We had a supply of medication left over from Dodie’s bout with pneumonia a few months ago, so I gave myself breathing treatments with the nebulizer. This, along with Dodie beating on my back to break up the congestion, has finally cleared my lungs enough to allow me to function again.

Today was the first day I have been able to be active. Derrick, my lawn guy, came and mowed the grass for me. I’m still not strong enough to mow the two acres in this Florida heat, but I did accomplish a number of chores that I have been neglecting.

Last night, I grilled a couple filet mignons for dinner. We enjoyed the steaks, along with baked potatoes with all the trimmings. I even prepared some Béarnaise sauce for the filets. There is nothing like a great steak to make you feel better after being sick.

Hopefully, I will be strong enough tomorrow to start getting caught up on everything that I have been neglecting.