Family room! 

From this morning's news:

Chiefs Demoted in Pentagon Succession Line

Yeah, the secretary of the army. What does he/she know? Better to have a Rumsfeld crony at the top of the list. Another question: If your Iraq scapegoat is the intelligence services and intelligence-gathering apparatus, then why promote those people in the hierarchy?

Here's a little scorecard for the involved individuals:

Bush/Cheney intelligence guys said:

• There is WMD in Iraq.
• Everyone in Iraq will welcome us with open arms.
• Just a couple hundred thousand troops should do the trick.
• Pay no attention to any intelligence that contradicts any of the first three!

Secretaries of the armed forces said:

• Sure we can take it, but we can't hold it. Our troops are trained to kill, not police.
• We need to prepare (body armor, Jeep Kevlar) better before we invade.
• A couple hundred thousand? You're nuts. (See Colin Powell -- gone and John Shalikashvili --gone)
• The no-fly zones are working.

So...we'll go ahead and promote the first group, and demote the second. What do they know?

TVoR

An addition to Bill and Pat's pad!

A fondue set was a wonderful surprise!

A little bigger shot of the family at 3800 Christmas morning. A wonderful time was had by all!

Is she a cutie or what?? 

Christmas on Pleasant Chapel Road! 

Tonight, Pat and I sat on the living room couch with fragrant candles glowing, the Christmas tree lit and soft Christmas music playing in the background as we poured through several scrap book albums of pictures from past family trips. We enjoyed reflecting on what a wonderful family we have and how much we cherrish being together....with the family....and with each other. It's been a very rich life and we love each of you kids and your families.

The family tradition continues with the Millers. Some shots of Santa's visit and those awaiting to see if they made Santa's good little....(well...maybe not all "little") girls and boy list.

From the closing yesterday:

I prepared a little contract for the girls to sign, and the realtor gave it to them after we were done signing. It looked official, and it said "I will..."

Enjoy my new house!
Take care of my new house.
Follow mom & dad’s rules for the new house.

Adele said "Sure!" and signed it. She was only concerned about whether or not it had to be in cursive.

Zoe gave us what I only need describe as..."The Zoe look," a one-eyebrow-raised, mouth- scrunched look that reflected equal parts skepticism, mischief and knowingness. I think when she signed she had her fingers crossed.

TVoR

This just in!

Adele will now be referred to as "OLGA."

That is all.

TVOR

The deal is closed!
TVoR, Mrs. TVoR and the little Vs of R have a new address. As they say, "Movin' on up!" to the Northeastern reaches of Madison Township. (I can't yet say Hanov...Han...Nope, can't do it.)
Here's something funny...I was looking on MS Streets and Trips, my map software, to see if I was any closer to work at the new address. From Pleasant Chapel? 20.1 miles. From 40 Hilltop? 20.1 miles. Right down to the 1/10 of a mile! Oh, well. I'm hoping its slightly faster. Cheryl's about 10 minutes further from work, though.
Anyway, Willy will be holding down the fort here at Pleasant Chapel. If anybody needs a great little house in a fine neighborhood, this is one for you. For a mere $112,000, it's yours.
TVoR

Claudia and the girls at Clifton Mill!
 

Welcome Alyssa Jean Hofacker!

It's Sunday night and I just thought I would add an update to "Live from Pleasant Chapel" site. Pat and I just finished a wonderful trip to Maine and New Hampshire. We are loving the freedom of travel enjoying the beautiful scenes God put out there for the benefit of our "rods and cones" not to mention our souls! Here are a few sights I'll share from the trip. Can't wait for Sam, Chelsey, and DT to come home for Thanksgiving time and for our new granddaughter to be born. HAPPY BIRHTDAY MEG!

Halloween/Birthday Party
Even though the weather made it seem like Scotland, the party was on Pleasant Chapel Road last evening!

Addy (the Zombie) is in costume!

Chief Runamuck, from Camp Wannahockaloogey, is in costume!

Carmen Miranda (?) is in costume.

Last but not least, the Lollipop Princess is in costume, and posing with her cake.

Freddy Krueger made an appearance as well, but since I'm under an injunction from Addy to "Never, ever do that again," I'll refrain from posting his picture.

TVOR

First, thanks Wes (Now 36 years old!) for inviting me to have posting priviledges on his blog site. Since the title is Live From Pleasant Chapel Road it seems like a logical place to share life with ....THE WORLD!
I can see these life sharings taking mainly 2 forms:
1) The human interaction aspects of life. It begins as it did this morning at 6:30 AM when I awakened to rain and thunder. I love hearing the rain here on Pleasant Chapel! Attached is a picture of the "Chapel" of PLEASANT CHAPEL representing the tranquility of this part of God's Creation.
Unlike many parts of the country we are relatively safe from Huricanes, flooding (except some water occasionally in the basement) or earthquakes. Things here on Pleasant Chapel are ....generally.....well....PLEASANT! Pat gets up...we exchange pleasantries...and then the action begins....when she/we get to go next door and awaken our grandaughters. Yesterday was Crazy Hair Day and they were excited to be coloring and crazying their hair for the day. When they got home from school, Wes and Cheryl were at meetings so it fell my responsibility to "watch" the girls. That meant watching them creatively turn their front yard into a maze of roads by raking leaves into winding roadways. We love having our grandaughters living next door. It has been said,"Grandchildren are the prize you get for not killing your kids!" Our kids and grandkids bring us endless delight!
I sat down with Adele to ask her to share some of her whisdom ...this time on what she wanted to be when she grows up. After pondering and processing the question in her mind she answered, "either a Doctor or a librarian." She then kind of narrowed it down to just wanting to be a doctor, "Not because of picking in people's bodies but because I care about people."
2) The second aspect of life on Pleasant Chapel is the Natural Beauty of this tranquil setting. It's what Ameica is looking for.....peaceful, rural (we probably have 50 horses grazing within a mile of here!)populated by wildlife (I saw 6 dear last night and Pat and I recently saw a bald eagle purched majestically in the top of a Sycamore tree on the banks of the Licking river).
And so you have the setting of future posts on what it means to be...truly Live...and alive...From Pleasant Chapel Road.

Addy's quote of the day:

"I know I'm half vegetarian, but that celery is evil."

TVOR

Here's a picture of the kids laughing at your goofy post!

pink is just fine, just fine. why just today i was sittin' round my crib with my pink socks on thinkin' bout how that there purple is overrated, oh ver raited... but while this was happinin' i suddenly remembered i'd left my chocolate and mayo sandwich in the toaster! so i looked in there with one eye bigger than the other and noticed it was just fine, just fine...

This just in...the lovely and talented Miss Adele would like everyone to know that her favorite color is now pink, and not purple. That is all.

That's her with the kitty this summer. Addy says "It looks she has one big eye and a small eye but when she looks down like this her nose is kinda covering her eye so it looks like she has one big eye and one small eye.

People say say black cats are bad luck. They aren't."

Also, "People who like chocolate don't like mayonnaise."

FRENCHY-
The Panthers are off on another run to the playoffs, I believe. Check out http://www.lickingcountysports.com/sportstalk for some chatter 'bout that. C'man, the guy who runs the site, is Shawn Shoemaker.
TVOR

Last evening's production of "Sleeping Beauty" was a raving success among all who attended. Proceeds from the event are being forwarded to the Red Cross for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

This would be one of the fairy godmothers addressing the princess, I think, on the left. And that's the princess being whisked away by the prince on the right. Below is the curtain call.

A new post for everyone:

I wish I had more time, but Mrs. TVOR and I are headed to the 'Shoe to take in the OSU v. Miami game. Go Bucks!

Samma-lamma: Love the blog. I'll be commenting.

Today's joke: What do they call a blog in China?

Answer: A brog.

What do you think?

From the shrub file: I saw our favorite shrub on TV this a.m., walking amongst the rubble in New Orleans. Without trying to read TOO MUCH into his facial expression, I'm pretty sure it said: "Gee, maybe we should've spent that money on the river levees instead of sending it to Iraq!"

TVOR

Sacre bleu!

It appears Lance and the Discovery Channel team is discovering there's some other riders in the TDF besides them. The Ballon D'Alsace is proving to be a tough Cat-1 climb, and Lance and the peloton are dragging a little ass.

TVOR

I woke up to the bright orange glow of a just-rising sun this morning. But I couldn't help but think of what Londoners were waking up to a few hours earlier.

Having to go on about one's life in the face of clear and present danger requires a resolve that not every human possesses. My own personal experience, though, is that the British have it in ample supply.

Throughout years of IRA/Protestant bombings, the Brits maintained a stiff upper lip and went about their daily lives. For every explosion, there was the promise of even more -- always unpredictable and deadly. Even now, they are taking public transportation to work in London and its boroughs. With steely determination, they prove that terror cannot suppress the human inclination to rise above powerfully negative circumstance.

Characteristically reserved and earnest, the British endured German bombing in WWII in the same way. It is common to think of Winston Churchill's gritty steadfastness in the face of Nazi tyranny, but many more residents of Britain showed their resolute nature as bombs fell on their towns every night. They buried their dead, rebuilt their churches and houses, and ploughed forward, ultimately providing the firmness that was the key ingredient in stopping the third Reich on many fronts.

I know that their actions today and in the days ahead will prove their mettle once again.

So, I return from my morning ride to find that London has been the target of attacks that are presumed to be terrorist attacks. My first thought is that this must be a result of the Olympic announcement yesterday, or perhaps the G8 Summit in Scotland this week.
Isn't it remarkable how, in the shorthand of modern disaster reporting, it has become so automatic to begin talking about claims of responsibility? I expect that Aljazeera will be receiving an audio tape via brown envelope any time now.
It's important that people of responsibility and conscience everywhere fight the tyranny of terrorism at its source -- the founts of evil, fundamentalist/extremist poison that spawn violence and fear around the world.
TVOR

Howdy.
Well, I'm headed out to play Lance Armstrong this morning. Just a little 14-mile ride, though. No yellow jerseys involved. I'm trying to raise the old V02 level somewhat and build strength, not to mention losing a little weight. TVOR's tipping the scales at a hefty 206 -- hefty because a person with my body structure looks pretty silly with the gut that I've been hard at work developing. Sometimes, hitting the bike is hard, but I always enjoy it when I'm on it. Around here, you've got to watch out for the rednecks on their way to work.
I'm kicking around ideas for my first column, the subject of which will be a constitutional amendment banning flag-burning. It's easy to rag on that, so I hope it will stimulate verbalization.
In the cd player this morning will be some Foo Fighters, Kaiser Chiefs and some other assorted alternative favorites, including Blink-182. Finding workout music is a science, you know?
TVOR

ONE LAST THING FOR THIS EVENING:

Lance is the shiz-nay. An animal. An absolute freak. I am in awe, even if he is a jerk. Let the EUROs fight over those silly jerseys with polka-dots (?). Yellow matters.

TVOR

Yes. That's my mouth. Note the filling in the upper right next-to-last molar. Note the slight discoloration of the top right front tooth (sorry, dentists, about the complete lack of dental terminology in this blog.)

My teeth are crooked. But my brain is straight, and I see things that others don't see.

So there.