Buckets of Love!

As you all know I left for a weekend of ice fishing. Just prior to leaving, I filled up my buckets of anger when I saw the tile countertop ripped off and being prepared for remodeling. While I was gone, some major remodeling projects were undertaken by the all girl extended family TEAM T GIRLS, and man did they dump out my buckets of anger and fill them with love! Here are the TEAM S girls in all their glory after three solid days of hard work!

They finished the fireplace and look how awesome it turned out!

They put down new countertops and a new hand crafted tile backsplash!

















They even sanded and refinished the table!



Barry County Country Truck Driver Safety Glasses were used as well!

Outstanding work ladies! I am so happy with the work and so damn proud of you all! You have overfilled my buckets of anger and put love in them instead! I love you all!

ICEFISHAPALOOZA 2007! A GLEAMING SUCCESS!

The second annual ICEFISHAPALOOZA was held this weekend on the beautifully unsafe ice of Higgins Lake in Roscommon County. The journey began on Friday around noon after three hours of sleep for me. I met my two brother-in-laws at their house. We loaded up the DODGE HEMI pickup (yes the commanche commander was very mad at me for being left home!) and headed up.









We arrived at a beautiful old stone cottage on the lake which we rented as a group. It was a little fancy for my tastes but very nice nonetheless. It appeared to have been built some time ago and remodeled over the years. Very, very, very gnatty nice.



















We then conferred with the group members that were already on-scene and loaded up for our first night of fishing. All were scrambling to dress warm in their neatly packed suitcases. The next picture is of J.P. in his new camoflauged underwear! (By now you all embrace the fact of how much I appreciate camo!)



















We rushed to get everything set up before dark. As we began to unload the cargo a dark omen appeared in the back of the truck which would be a foreshadow of the quality of fishing success we would partake in this weekend. This omen was A RED HOT CHILI DISASTER as the large bowl of spicy homeade chili spilled and dumped its ballast into the hold! Nothing like having day old chili eventually on everything that slid in and out of the truck.






As we arrived on the ice, I attempted to break the chain of doom with the CEREMONIAL BITING OF THE FISH. A squirming live minnow must be snatched from the minnow bucket with violence and placed into my mouth.
A quick snap of my powerful jaws then cuts the fish and begins ICEFISHAPALOOZA!



After fishing until dark without so much as a nibble, I put my night time SMELT FISHING CAMPAIGN into action. As always, we here at TEAM T OUTDOORS want you to grasp the concept with a drawing. So here it is:

A simple car headlight and car battery attract the smelt right underneath you and blammie! We caught about 15 smelt. Not a ton but boy did they fry up nice and were tasty!


You know, I grew up going over to my Grandpa and Grandma's house and playing their organ. One of the songs in the book was "My Wild Irish Rose". Until this weekend I did not know that Wild Irish Rose is booze!




Here is the group shot of the ICEFISHAPALOOZA DREAMTEAM on night #1!

The Red Hot Chili omen continued to interject into our plans. Here is evidence of the bad continuing: A WIPEOUT! Notice how this professional managed to drop a box carrying a $300 fish finder and still keep perfect form so that the Busch Light is still upright and unharmed!










So many fresh baked and good things!

On Saturday, new fresh fishermen arrived! Out of the sack and off to the lake for a day of fishing!

It sure was nice only having to drill through 2 1/2" of ice! Makes even a dull ice auger zip right through!

The snow began to fall and the fishing fell as well. We had approximately 14 tip-ups set up. For those that don't know what a tip-up is, its a device that has a reel with line that is attached to a minnow hooked on the end. You set the tip-up over an ice hole and then if you get a fish on, an orange flag flings up into the air. Very nice and relaxing. Just set it and forget it! Here we are early on in the day loading up the gear.












The entire day we did not have a single bite! Oh well, the Glenlivet Scotch was tasty and the conversation warm! No bites on the tip-ups and no bite from ol' Glen either! REAL SMOOTH!
After a long day of fishing, it was back to the stone cottage for relaxation time. There was

poker

naps

wrestling

story time(about when Merle's mother-in-law came to wake him up in his bedroom and he grabbed her innapropriately in the dark thinking it was his wife. The most hilarious part of the story was when he told her "do you need me to teach you another lesson?")

mysterious mustached mexican men and their sidekick

a TEAM T roaring fire!

another quick homemade wine nap

group discussion and reflection

The end tally is this folks, ICEFISHAPALOOZA 2007 A GLEAMING SUCCESS!

My Love

I think about you, when I don't want to
Dream about, your smilin' face.
I keep tryin' not to love you
But, I love you anway.

We should be together, together
We should be walkin' side by side
We should be together, together
Keepin' eachother satisfied.

I have talked to, come to know you
I've come to need, your company.

U.P. TENT CAMP

Trailer, your hollander ass must wait just one more week for the U.P. Deer Camp Tent Pics.---I'm getting my taxes back and will buy the scanner for the pics!

So, in your memory I post the following:


U.P. DEER CAMP OATH

“When you are encamped with your friends, then you shall keep yourself from every evil thing. If any man among you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he shall go outside the camp. He shall not come inside the camp, but when evening comes, he shall bathe himself in water, and as the sun sets, he may come inside the camp.”

Trailer

Runnin' Down My Country

I hear people talking bad about the way they have to live in this country. Harping about the wars we fight and griping about the way things ought to be. Now, I don't mind them switching sides and standing up for what they believe in, but when they're running down this country man, they're walking on the fighting side of me!

I read about some squirly guy who claims he just "don't believe in fightin", and I wonder how the rest of us can count on being free. They love our milk and honey but they preach about some other way of livin'. When they are runnin' down our country hoss, they're walkin' on the fightin' side of me! If you don't love it, LEAVE IT! (Merle Haggard)


I acknowledge the free right for every American to speak their opinion. After all, that's how this blog exists......But perhaps we must all reconsider an appropriate way to do so.....For instance, these folks showed up recently at Ford's Funeral:



I can't even watch t.v. as all I hear is negative spin on our government.....I don't read the newspaper (fish wrap) and basically get a blurb of news here and there from the internet.....

I'm sick and tired of people runnin' her down, and frankly, YOU'RE WALKIN' ON THE FIGHTIN SIDE OF ME!

(And on the fightin' side of My Uncle Tom from Maple City, MI)

A Letdown in Turbo Tax Clothing!

Well folks, it is that time of year again.....Tax time! For me, the anxiety and excitement starts to build about New Years Eve...I think of all the possible fortunes I will be getting and how much a big chunk of cash will bolster my account.....Seeing that we have four kids, we always get money back.....This year was no different.....


(If you look close at the above picture-that's really only about $23.00...Quite timely to the turbo letdown!)

Just a few days ago I was walking around in the bitter cold at Neal's Truck Parts in Wyoming.
I was perusing through their large stock of busses and dreaming of one all decked out as the new TEAM T Motorhome. In my hand was the list of all available busses ranging from $1500 to $5000. I must say that I was pretty sure between my next 10-99'd check of whopper Ford Funeral overtime and my Turbo Tax Boon that I would be throwing a nicker nob on bus #90-D and wheelin' her home within a week or two. I was planning on seeing these new black boots pressing down on that big ol' bus throttle and making the maiden voyage to a parking spot next to my pole barn.

Turbo tax doesn't help either.....They always have pictures of smiling folks doing their taxes. Take this one for instance. She is obviously happy! Probably because she is here on a work visa and doesn't have any tax to pay! "That's right Dr. Jeebob, you are getting lots back!"

I believe these faux smiling models help propogate the turbo tax letdown I am facing once again this year.....






I sat down today and crunched the numbers with all the bills in hand. End result is that when all is said and done, its pizza night with movies at home and finishing the fireplace with the turbo tax letdown!

Oh well, we must be able to laugh at life and slap it on the butt as it throws us around on a day-to-day basis. Not always does it go how we wish, sometimes even better, but is life indeed.

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. - John Lennon. .. -JITTERS TRANSLATION-"While you are walking around in the freezing cold in old busses with the price sheet in hand, you are dying buddy!" :)

Lowered Expectations and The WoodChopper Outfit

Ever notice how as we get older, our expectations of life and even our own personal appearance seem to wane in the spotlight? Perfect example:

I didn't even realize how much of a jackass I looked like until it was brought to my attention by my wife today. Each piece of the WOODCHOPPER OUTFIT carefully selected based on warmth and comfort. Both the pants and shirt are goretex windstopper products......The boots you ask?

My beloved father gave me these yesterday when I went to visit......Thanks so much dad! I love them! I have a feeling I will be wearing them all the time......They have such a rugged look and are very comfortable!