Nancy and I are already saving up.  When the boys get out of the house, we're selling the farm and moving to Florida!!!

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Well if you've read my wifes latest blog then you know that I have a new (to me) car.  I bought a 1996 Geo Metro after the van got totalled by the hail storm.

It's red, 2 door, 5 speed, 3 cylinder, and has these wicked cool tinted windows.

Now you may think I'm poking fun at my own car, but I'm not.  Trust me I'm laughing all the way to the bank.  The insurance is cheap, it gets 45 miles per gallon, I can fill it up for less than $20.00 when it's bone dry, and best of all it's paid for.

However the one thing about this whole car issue thats funny to me is this.

I've always had a running joke with my wife that one of these days when I go through my "midlife crisis" that I was going to pull in the driveway with a red Nissan 350zx (my dream car).  The only thing she would ever say is how silly a "big ol' boy" like me would look getting out of a little sportscar like that.  (She said with love and humor and I took it the same way).  But this whole time I've been talking about getting a Geo Metro I haven't heard one comment about how I would look getting out of a car the size of a coke can.  After some deep thinking I have figured out why.  She's her fathers daughter.  Nancys dad was one of the most practical people when it came to spending money.   I've heard him say "Never get a car more exspensive than you can afford " many times.  "Get a good car you can pay cash for so you don't have a car payment hovering over your head".  Just one of the many pearls of wisdom her dad bestowed upon us as a young married couple.  Not because he was trying to tell us what to do, but because he cared about our well being.  Now I get it.  That's why Nancy doesn't want me to get a $45,000 sportscar.  She cares for my well being.  She knows full well that the Nissan 350zx has an extremely bad history with having uncomfortable seats and that I would eventually develop back problems with all the driving I do for work.  Thats how much she loves me.  Oh well... the Geo kinda looks like a 350zx if you look at it in just the right light....with your eyes squinted...and its almost dark outside..

Take Care - God Bless & GO VOLS!

Tony

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Greeting and Salutations To All...

I finally decide to post a blog this year and try to do away with some of the nasty rumors that have been floating around concerning my whereabouts.

I did not get abducted by aliens.  I did not go on a soul searching "find myself" trip to Tibet.  I haven't been hanging out at the local K-Mart with Elvis.  And last but not least NO! my wife didn't pay me to stop blogging because she couldn't handle the intense competition. 

Plain and simple......I just got busy and didn't make the time to Blog as I should.  Also I really enjoy hearing about all the funny things that go on around my house by reading it from a true writer, my beautiful wife Nancy.

Which reminds me, I would like to take this time while I'm on my soap box to say how extremely proud I am of her.  She has come a long way in the past year with her writing and her work with TOS while continuing to run a homeschool and a household.  She is fantastic mom and a wonderful wife and my best friend.  So if you get a minute today or tomorrow click on over to her website  www.homeschoolblogger.com/tn3jcarter

and hear the daily happenings in the life of the Carters... by a pro.

I Love You Sweetheart!  Keep up the good work.

God Bless and GO VOLS!

Tony

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Greetings and salutations to one and all.  It's been a while since my last blog so I'll try to catch you up on things in my life as quickly as possible....

God is Great!

Christmas was wonderful.

Another year older and my wife is even more beautiful.

My neighbor is  a cotton headed ninny muggin..

I won't go into all the ugly details when my lovely and beautiful wife did it so well at her blog ( www.homeschoolblogger.com/tn3jcarter ).

All I've got say is after much prayer and after consulting with one of "spiritual advisors" is this......

Hank the cowardly dog will remain a farm dog!

Take Care, God Bless, and GO VOLS! - Tony

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Hello to all of my blogging friends.  I haven't written in a while and thought I should put something on here to let you all know that I'm still alive and kicking.

The following post was sent to me in an email from a friend of ours and I thought needed to be shared with the world.  We can really relate to this at our malls around here.  Kudos to whoever wrote this.  It's still making me chuckle.

Take Care, God Bless, and GO VOLS!

Concerned Grandmothers Unite:

We just spent several hours observing teenagers hanging out at our local mall. We came to the conclusion many teenagers in America today are living in poverty. Most young men We observed didn't even own a  belt; there was not one among the whole group. But that wasn't the sad part.

Many were wearing their daddy's jeans.  Some jeans were so big and baggy they hung low on their hips, exposing  their underwear. I know some must have been ashamed their daddy was short, because his jeans hardly went below their knees. They weren't  even their daddies' good jeans, for most had holes ripped in the knees and a dirty look to them.
    

It grieved us, in a modern, affluent society like America, there are those who can't afford a decent pair of jeans. I was thinking about asking my church to start a jeans drive for "poor kids at the mall." Then on Christmas Eve, we could go Christmas caroling and distribute jeans to these poor teenagers.

But here is the saddest part...it was the girls they were hanging out with that disturbed us most. Never, in all of our lives, have we seen such poverty-stricken girls. These girls had the opposite problem of the guys. They all had to wear their little sister's clothes. Their jeans were about 5 sizes too small! I don't know how they could get them on,  let alone button them up. Their jeans barely went over their hipbones. 
     

Most also had on their little sister's top; it hardly covered their midsections. Oh, they were trying to hold their heads up with pride, but it was a sad sight to see these almost grown women wearing children's clothes. However, it was their underwear that bothered us most. They, like the boys, because of the improper fitting of their clothes, they had their underwear exposed. We had never seen anything like it. It looked  like their underwear was only held together by a single piece of string.

We know it saddens your heart to receive this report on condition of  our American teenagers. While we go to bed every night with a closets full of clothes nearby, there are millions of "mall girls" who barely have enough material to keep it together. We think their "poorness" is why these 2 groups gather at the mall; boys with their short daddies' ripped jeans, and girls wearing their younger sisters' clothes. The mall 
is one place where they can find acceptance.

So, next time you are at the mall, doing your shopping, and you pass by some of these poor teenagers, would you say a prayer for them?

*Will you pray the guys' pants won't fall down, and the girls' strings won't break?

We thank you all,
Two Concerned Grandmothers

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Monthly Water bill     $298.00

Plumber $65.00 per hour.

Replacement valve  $15.00

Having 2 friends show up at your house at 8am on a cold Saturday morning to dig up a broken valve and help replace it..........

PRICELESS!!!!

Thanks to our "neighbors"

Don & Don. 

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Well my good friend Jules tagged me today with the "List of Sevens" so I thought I'd give this a shot... here goes.  (My apologies to my DW ahead of time).

7 Things I Want To Do Before I Die

1.  Lose weight.

2.  Take my DW to Hawaii.

3.  Wear speedos! (orange ones)

4.  Own a tractor.

5.  Retire to our farm to grow old with my DW.

6.  Take my Grandkids hunting.

7.  Score the winning touchdown in the National Championship for THE VOLS!

7 Things I Cannot Do

1.  Be a bully to someone.

2.  Stand and watch someone being mistreated.

3.  Wear speedos! 

4.  Swim.. (stop laughing, it's not funny).

5.  Wear horizontal stripes.

6.  Type a blog without looking at the letters.

7.  Vote Democrat!

7 Things That Attracted Me To My Wife

1.  Her beautiful smile.

2.  Her big hair.

3.  Her laugh.

4.  Her faith.

5.  Her bluer than blue eyes.

6.  Her meek, quiet, innocent personality.

7.  Mostly it was her car!!!! (a red 1985 Chevy Sprint)

7 Things I Say Most Often

1.  Joe, Jake, and Jon!

2.  Excuse me...(my compliments to the chef).

3.  Just do what your asked to do and there won't be any problems.

4.  If you dont have time to do it right the first time, when are you going to have time to do it over?

5.  I Love You.

6.  No... I DONT want a DIET COKE with that!!

7.  GO VOLS!

7 Books I Love

1.  The Bible.

2.  Wild at Heart.

3.  The Greatest Salesman on Earth - by Og Mandino

4.  The Self Sufficient Life

5.  Victory Over the Darkness

6.  Let Freedom Ring- by Sean Hannity

7.  Who Moved My Cheese.

7 Movies I'd Watch Over and Over...

1.  National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

2.  Braveheart.

3.  Kingdom of Heaven.

4.  Tommy Boy

5.  Remember the Titans.

6.  Field of Dreams

7.  Gods and Generals.

7 People I Want to Join In

1.  My DW Nancy.

2.  Joel King

3.  B. E. Worthy :)

4.  ?

5.  ?

6.  ?

7.  ?

OK.  So I got tired by the last question.  I'll do better on the next one.

Take Care, God Bless, and GO VOLS!  - Tony

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Greetings to all.  

Ever since I picked my family up and moved them to the country we have been trying to put together a "country library".  (A group of books that will help us in our quest to become more self sufficient, less dependent, and make our families ask more questions about our sanity).  We've picked up several at local bookstores and a couple at our public library.  We've ordered a few over the internet and we've even bought magazines and subscribed to newsletters.  I was almost at my wits end.

Then as I glanced over my bookshelf I got an idea.  It hit me like like a 265 lb. linebacker coming in unblocked on my blind side...

"The Purpose Driven Farm"

And I know who could write it.  A certain author out there has already helped people find a purpose for their church as well as their own lives.  So why not their farms? 

Picture this.....small groups studies on "40 Days of Homesteading".  Think of the time I could save.  One book, one study, and KA-BOOM!   In 40 Days, a plan for my farm.

Take Care, God Bless, and GO VOLS!  - Tony

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Don't let the hair dryer packing bunnies rob you of your Christmas spirit. 

Here is a list of Christmas shopping safety tips from a police department in the Northeastern part of the US.  And then I just had to add some tips for the southern redneck shoppers out there.

• Before You Shop
  Carry small amounts of cash.
  Carry keys, credit cards and cash separate from each other.
• Carry spare change in your pocket, but keep large bills hidden in the sole of your boot.
• Carry your hunting license, pocket knife and *winning* Powerball ticket separate from each other.

• While Shopping
  If you have to carry a purse, carry it close to your body and always have it zipped.
  Park close to where you are going and in a well-lit area.
  Be Alert.
• Make sure the safety chain on your wallet is securely fastened to your belt.
• Park in well-lit area so that your gun rack is visible from all sides.
• Lock and Load!

• After Shopping
  Leave the mall before closing time; it is safer to walk out of the mall with other people.
  When hurried or in a crowded shop, make sure you get all forms of ID and credit cards returned to you before leaving.
  Use an escort or mall security if you have a lot of packages or if you are leaving the mall after closing.
  Check under your car as you approach it; this is a common spot for criminals to hide.
• Walk to the car cross-eyed and with a limp, crooks don't like crazy people.
• Remember that your hunting license don't count as a valid form of ID.
• Who needs mall security when you have Smith & Wesson on your side?
• Check in the bed of your truck to make sure that Ol' Blue is still there.

• At Home
  After opening gifts, break down cardboard boxes of expensive electronics and put them in plastic bags to hide the fact you have valuable items in your home
• After opening gifts, break down boxes of assorted Ronco infomercial gifts, take them to the back yard, douse liberally with diesel fuel siphoned from truck and light. 

Happy Shopping Y'all!

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Well it's been a few days since my last post, but I have a good excuse.  Hunting Season!  I spent the last 3 days in the woods with my 3 boys and a very good friend trying to get some tasty deer meat for the old Carter Family freezer.  My oldest got a shot at what will always be remembered as "the one that got away".   My friend took down the biggest whitetail buck thats ever been taken on our farm.  We got it home, hung it up, and got it ready to be put in the freezer.  AAHH the thrill of the hunt! 

I enjoyed the hunting quite a bit this weekend.  What I enjoyed more was getting to hang out with my boys, and a buddy, doing manly stuff.  I really enjoy getting the opportunity to teach my boys to be the hunter gatherers that I feel God created men to be.  To cap off the testosterone fest tonight, while my BW (beautiful wife) was out shopping, me and the boys sat down and watched Kingdom of Heaven.  A great movie if I've ever seen one.  The greatest part was watching there responses at one part of the movie.  While the main character was trying to get the troops ready for war he decided to make them all "knights" and this was their oath:

"Be without fear in the face of your enemies.

Be brave and upright that God may love thee.

Speak the truth always, even if it leads to death.

Save God the helpless and do no wrong.

Arrise you are a knight!".

Just then a cowwardly man steps in and ask the leader if he thinks the men will fight any harder just because he made them knights.  He said, "I know they will".  My boys went crazy.  It was true camo wearing, football loving, test-fest. 

I do love the smell of testosterone in the morning!

Take Care, God Bless, and GO VOLS!  -- Tony

PS)  If any of you ladies are looking for a great stocking stuffer for your other half this Christmas, you might want to take a look at Wild at Heart by John Eldredge.

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Well here it is only my third day of blogging and I'm already blown away.

My friend Heidi Armstrong sent me this picture today - the exact picture I've been dreaming of for my blog. (see my blog from yesterday).  Heidi has been a big help to my wife with her blog template / computery kind of stuff.  It helps to have friends in high places.  Now I don't want you men from The Paternal Alliance to be jealous of me.  Toss out your dreams on your blog and maybe someone will come to your rescue too. .  It feels like Christmas already....

Now the hard part.  Getting it all to come together for real.

God Bless and GO VOLS!

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Thanks to all of you for continuing to look for my wife.  When me and the boys checked our traps today they were empty.  All of the chocolate and root beers were gone and the computer was hot to the touch, so I'm pretty sure she's here somewhere.

I've got a few questions about this whole blogging thing we do and would like some help from my fellow bloggers.  So here goes.

1.  When someone responds to my blog should I respond to their response of my blog or should I respond to their blog like the other responders have done?

2.  Where do I go to get a bloggers dictionary?  You know, something that will tell me what LOL DH FIL DS DD MIL KWIM ROTFLOL IRL HTH IMHO and the best of all asdfhgjkllljjhk;jkhasddk; which if I understand correctly is Homescool Blogger Laughter.

3.  How do I get the picture of the little red wagon off of my page and put something a little more manly on there?  Like a picture of  a ten point buck eating a 12 pound bass while standing in the back of huge 4x4 truck driving through a muddy creek being driven by wife right after she gets her hair fixed.  Yeah!! Thats what I'm talking about........ Sorry I got a little caught up in the moment....

I would greatly appreciate any and all of your comments on these matters.  It would really help me to enjoy my whole blogging experience.

Thanks God Bless and GO VOLS!  -- Tony

Ps)  I just let my DW read this before I submitted it and she asked me if Deer really eat fish?  Thats why I love her so much!

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Greetings Ya'll ! ,

Well here I am.  I've finally decided to try this whole "blogging" thing out.  I'm not sure why I'm here just yet, but my wife swears it will be fun.  I'm really a rookie when it comes to writing and it's never been exactly in my comfort zone.  I would consider myself as more of a professional conversationalist. 

My earliest childhood memories all involve me talking to someone and most of the time trying to get them to laugh.  My report cards through 12 years of school always had one thing in common...on the back there were always notes from my teachers stating the same thing over and over... "Tony talks too much".  My cell phone allowance of 1000 anytime minutes could easily be unlimited and I would still go over. 

I love to strike up conversations, much to the embarrassment of my wife and kids, with complete strangers wherever the opportunity arises (ie. pumping gas, grocery shopping, ball games, the occasional public restroom - the accoustics in those places are just made for talking - , and so on..).  In a nutshell, I have the gift of gab. (It's a blessing... and a curse).

I work as a sales consultant for a broadline food distributor so I even get paid for talking.  Get the picture?

So the way I look at it this whole "blogging" thing is just another way for me to talk to people.  Nevermind the fact that this will be a nice way for me to have conversations with my wife again since she is officially what I would consider a "blog-head" now.  She has definately found her nitch and she has been blessed with incredible writing talents, so I'm really very happy and proud for her. 

So as the old sayings go, "When in Rome do as the Romans" and "If you can't beat 'em, join'em".  Look out - I've got my toga on and the laptop running.  I'll try not to embarrass anyone and work hard at making my wife proud as I dive in head first, kicking and screaming, into the blogosphere.

God Bless and GO VOLS!  -  Tony

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