Merry Christmas - Unplugged

Facebook. Twitter. Blogging. Those are three things I haven't been doing for the past twelve days or so. I reached a "social media" saturation point and took a self-imposed break from the online world. When I get burned out or annoyed by those things, I have to step away and take a breather. It's remarkable how much I got done! Not to mention, life continues to function just fine without a daily barrage of Twitter and Facebook updates. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy both and the friends I have there, but there are times when I have to cut the electronic umbilical cord. 


I've spent more time with my daughter, especially since she's on Christmas break. I've also done some hunting, made preparations for the holidays, and started reading a honest-to-goodness physical book. Reading is something I really enjoy, but don't make as much time for as I should. 


My main purpose for this post is to wish those of you who will be on the road or in the air safe travels. I hope everyone has an enjoyable time spent with family and friends! I've still got some wrapping to do myself. Yes, I'm one of those last minute folks. 


Here are a few recent photos I'll share. Other than that, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! God bless you and your families!

Close Encounter. Or Deer Gone Wild.

This is a short 24 second clip from a video my brother shot while he was hunting. Adam was sitting between rows of a cornfield and had attached his video camera to a cornstalk next to him. You are essentially seeing everything from his point of view. Watch closely what happens 14 seconds into the video.

You can hear the buck coming just moments before he blasts into view and you can hear my brother as he realizes what's happening. Adam said it really startled him! If you've ever hunted in a standing cornfield, you know about the limited visibility. A tad bit closer and Adam would have been buck roadkill!

Do You See Two of Me?

Some of you may have noticed that I'm following your blog twice. I am, but not really. To make a long story as short as possible, I recently changed my email address. The only problem was that Blogger/Google didn't like me using a second Gmail address with my Blogger account. When it was all said and done, I finally got my new email address associated with my Blogger account, but it treated it like a totally new profile and I lost my "following" list with the original profile and email. Even though my original email address/profile has been deleted, that profile still shows up on some of your friends lists. Why it wasn't removed when the original profile was deleted is beyond me. I had to go back and follow your blogs with my "new" profile (so stupid). So that's why you may be seeing two of me following you. I don't have a twin and I'm not a creep, perv, or stalker...just so we're clear!


And while I'm on the topic of Blogger, I have a minor rant. Has anyone else been having problems lately when viewing or commenting on other blogs or even when working on your own? I've had tons of "time outs" and problems getting blogs to load recently. I don't know how many times I've typed a comment on a blog and when I tried to post it, the page would time out and stop loading. It's very frustrating and it only happens with Blogger related sites. It's like their servers are slow, overloaded, or both.


Anyway, just wanted to throw that out there. I feel better now.


Stupid Google.


Okay, now I feel better.