Did You Hear About The New Y?

A new YMCA has opened in the neighborhood where Archie and Ronda Brown live. They have signed up as members, in part so that the boys can play in the leagues the Y promotes. But Archie and Ronda are also going to visit the gym at least twice a week to do the FitLinxx workouts. In the first five visits Archie has done his circuits successfully, having lifted a total of over 13,000 pounds.

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Did You Hear About Moving Year Old Posts To The Front

Archie Brown liked some of his old posts and thought the stories were worthy to be brought to the front of his archives so that new visitors to his blog could read them. He found out today that those do not count as content between his pay per post postings so he will not get credit for his work done on those posts.

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Did You Hear About My Disclosure Policy?

This policy is valid from 12 October 2007


This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact rgbryant@juno.com.


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This blog does contain content which might present a conflict of interest. This content may not always be identified.


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Did You Hear About The First Time We Used Valet Parking?

The first year that of the celebration of their anniversaries together, Larry and Barbara Searcy, Archie and Ronda Brown went to a restaurant that was far more classy than either couple had ever visited. For the first time in their lives they pulled up to the door and used the valet parking. They felt like big shots. But that was just the beginning.

Did You Hear About The Time The Boys Bought Baseball Cards?

Archie Brown and his buddies, Wayne and Barry, were in the store one day in the 1950's. Each bought a pack of Topps Bubble gum with baseball cards inside. It was the first of many trips to buy gum and baseball cards.

Wayne and Barry loved the New York Yankees, because they were so good. But Archie was a Cardinals and Dodgers fan. He would always trade Wayne and Barry for Dodgers cards, like those of Duke Snider and Roy Campenella and Sandy Koufax; giving them his Yankees with the likes of Mickey Mantle.

Or even better, he would take a clothes pin and pin the cards of Yankees so they stuck into the spokes of his bicycle. Then when he rode the bike, it sounded like he was shooting a machine gun!

That was the best thing to do with a Yankee!

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Did You Hear About Lyndsey's Blog?

Archie Brown's friend Lyndsey, is now a blogger. She and Archie have worshiped together for about fifteen years and they really get along well. They have shared in a lot of projects and efforts at the church. Now they also have the blogging bond.

You might like getting to know Lyndsey as well. Stop by Lyndsey’s blog and tell her I sent you!

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Did You Hear About Our Construction Project?

Archie Brown's congregation has been in the midst a renovation for the past nine months or so, but they got to reoccupy the auditorium yesterday for the first time. They have been having two services each week in the fellowship hall for the duration of the construction. Being together yesterday was so nice, and the place looks great! Archie loves it!

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Did You Hear About The Trips To Take The Boys To School?

Archie Brown enjoyed taking his grandsons to school in the morning, especially on the days the weather is nice enough to walk. Andy and Zack like to walk with their grandpa. Sometimes they stop at the big drainage ditch, the one with a guard rail by the sidewalk, so they can throw a rock or spit into the water. Sometimes they walked down the alley behind the shops and across a path to the east side of the school.

It was always an adventure, and made going to school a fun time of day.

Did You Hear About The Time The Quarterback Broke Up With The Cheerleader?

Archie Brown was a sophomore in a consolidated school district. The high school he attended was made up of tenth through twelfth graders from seven small communities
in North Texas. He was sitting in second period biology class when his new friend from one of the neighboring towns, John Sawyer, broke the news.

Dale Douglas, the quarterback on the football team, had just broken up with Barbara Boston, the cheerleader. Archie thought Barbara was one of the prettiest girls he had ever seen. He had fallen for her the moment he saw her, on the first day of school in fifth period English class. Mrs. Hall had done him the greatest favor he could imagine when she arranged the seating of the class alphabetically. Barbara Boston sat right in front of him every day! She always greeted Archie with a warm smile, and laughed at his attempts at humor.

When John announced the news of the break-up, Archie asked several questions about Barbara. John had gone to junior high with her, so he had some answers for Arch. As they left biology, Archie told John, “I am going to ask Barbara to go to PlayLand Park with me this weekend.” PlayLand Park was an amusement park in the MetroPlex area, about 50 miles to the south, and a big attraction to those in the rural areas of the region.

John said, “No way, she would never go out with you. No body from here knows you very well and she is way too popular to be seen with a nobody.” Archie’s fear was that John was right, but he put on his best face of confidence and replied, “We’ll see!”

After fourth period History class was over, Archie went straight to the English classroom.
He was at his desk, working up his nerve to ask Barbara out. He swallowed hard when she entered the room. So he was mortified when his buddy, John, blurted out for all to hear, “Hey, Archie, did you ask Barbara yet?” Everybody laughed, and Archie turned bright red.

Barbara set her books down on her desk and turned to Archie. She said, “What are you going to ask me, Archie?” He could hardly get the words out, because his throat was so tight. His reply was, “Well, I was going to ask you to go to PlayLand Park with me this Saturday.” Barbara never took her eyes off Archie, and said, “Well, then ask me.”

When he did, she said, “yes.” Archie could hardly believe it. Neither could John, for that matter. There was probably a lesson in English class that day, but Archie never knew it.
And the date on Saturday was flawless, sitting together with Barbara on the roller coaster and the Ferris wheel, & sharing a pizza for dinner. Barbara was attentive and fun. She even gave Archie a quick kiss when he dropped her off that night.

No long relationship developed for Archie and Barbara. The next week she and Dale got back together. But Archie had a memory for life!

Did You Hear About The Time I Decided Not To Smoke Cigarettes?

Archie, Wayne and Barry were going to the Saturday matinee at the local theater. It was the typical double feature and a cartoon offering. The guys seldom missed a Saturday matinee when they were 12!

As was their habit, they did not walk along the street, but cut through on the path between two businesses. It saved them about three blocks on their journey.

The difference this day was that as they passed the fenced in gas meter of one of the businesses, they found that someone had left a pack of Winston cigarettes on the conrete half wall of that fence. There were 9 cigarettes and a book of matches. So the boys decided thay would experiment. Each of them was going to smoke three of the cigarettes, but Archie decided about two puffs into his first one that it did not taste good so he did noteven finish that one.

And he never took another puff for the rest of his life. He did not care how cool others thought it made them look, he thought it was dumb to do put something in his mouth that tasted so bad!

Did You Hear About Hurricane Dean in Dominica?

Archie Brown and a group from his congregation went down to Dominica to follow up on some mission work they have been doing in the Caribbean for many years. When they reached there yesterday, they go to see some of the damage that was done by Hurricane Dean last month. There is almost no fruit on trees now, nearly 99% of it was blown away by Dean. There are places where the rock and mud slides took out houses and roads. It will take nearly 200 million dollars for the infrastructure to be repaired, and the government here is seeking help from other countries.
But the spirits of the people are up, most of the fields have already been replanted and hope is the order of the day!

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Did You Hear About Popcorn?

Archie Brown and his wife Ronda love popcorn. The advent of microwave popcor was, in the mind of the Browns, one of the greatest breakthroughs in the history of snack foods! They especially love the the flavors that feature the extra butter or theater butter. So they were particularly disappointed that there has been a link found between the chemicals in those buttery flavors and a rare disease. The Browns hope that the changes that take place in the recipes will taste as good as the old ones!

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Did You Hear About Our Trip to Dominica?

Archie Brown and two of the elders from the congregation where he worships are about to go to Dominica to follow up on the mission work of the team that Archie led there this past July. They will visit some of the contacts, but mostly have discussions with the local workers about the future of the mission.

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Did You Hear About Peregrine.com?

One of Archie Brown's favorite bloggers has moved one of her blogs from blogspot.com to its own domain. Her travel journal is now Peregrine.com. As a result of the migration, the page rank has reverted back to 0. It is a great place to get travel tips and descriptions of intriguing places in the world. Archie hopes this will help you stay in touch with her and keep you in the know about her journeys .

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Did You Hear About The Time I Had Pneumonia--Again?

Ninth grader Archie Brown felt fine when he left for school that Thursday morning. It was the day before the beginning of the Easter weekend holiday. At third period he began to feel a little heaviness to his breathing. After lunch he went to Physical Education. When doing calisthenics, Archie felt weak in the knees, and was hardly able to function during the activities of the class.

Then in his last period class, he was feeling so feeble that he laid his head on the desk. His teacher chastised him, but when she saw how pale he was she came by to feel his forehead. He had a fever. She knew his family and that he only lived a few block from the school. It was only about ten minutes before dismissal, so she sent him home.

Archie started home, walking across the school grounds. But he was so weak he sat down under a tree. When his sister, Cathy, came by on her way home a little while later, Archie asked to go get his mother and tell he was sick. Cathy ran home and soon his mom came up in the family car to get Archie. She rushed him to the doctor’s office. Archie had pneumonia and spent his whole holiday in the hospital. Archie was glad for the treatment, but he hated that he missed another holiday because of sickness.

Did You Hear About The Game Mumbly Peg?

Archie and his neighbor buddies, Wayne and Barry, were always looking for ways to have a good time. One of the things they got into was Mumbly Peg. They had each gotten pocket knives for Christmas. The game of Mumbly Peg was a series of stunts you did with their knives. When you succeeded in one trick, you progressed to the next. If you missed on the first attempt you could try again, but if you failed the second time, you had to begin at the beginning again. The first one to accomplish the full set of tricks was allowed to drive a peg or twig into the ground as far as he could with three raps with his knife handle. The loser of the game then had to pull the peg out of the ground, with his teeth!

Did You Hear About The Brothers Who Liked Different Things?

Archie and his little brother Max enjoyed different things. Archie enjoyed baseball and movies. Max liked cars and martial arts. Archie acheived some noteriety in their little community as good ball player. He was frequently an all star and his teams were always very tough to beat. His high school team won the state championship.

Max was always tinkering on a car, until he enrolled in tae kwon do. Max rapidly progressed through the the levels till he was a black belt. Eventually Max opened his own school and was a local legend for his skills.

Two different boys, both successful in their own way!

Did You Hear About The Time I Got A Snack Surprise?

Archie Brown always came home from school hungry. And his mom, Betty Lou, was good about having something ready for her ravenous son. Some days it would be a peanut butter sandwich or a piece of fruit. But Archie’s favorite was pudding. He loved all flavors; chocolate, vanilla, tapioca, and butterscotch.

One of the most memorable days was when Arch came in and found his mom was in the bedroom changing the diaper of Archie’s little brother, Max. But that was okay, because there was a bowl of chocolate pudding on the dining room table. Archie was shocked when the first spoonful turned out to be baby food Spinach.

Archie spent the next few minutes scrubbing the wall where he spewed the spinach surprise.

Did You Hear About The Neighborly Game of Marbles?

Another game the neighbor boys, Wayne, Barry, and Archie loved to play when they were little was marbles. They often would draw a ring about two feet in diameter and each get five or six of their own marbles and drop them into the ring from shoulder height above the center point. Wherever the marbles landed is where they were played. The idea was to use your shooter to knock as many marbles out of the ring as possible. Each time you they knocked on out, they got another shot. The winner was the one who knocked the most out of the ring. The neighborhood rule was that at the end of the game, each boy got his marbles back. They were not allowed to play for KEEPS.

That ruled probably saved a lot of fights!

Did You Hear About My Poetry Challenge--31?

Archie Brown entered this in a poetry challenge, in which the rhyming words were provided by other participants:


Poetry Challenge Entry
Submitted by familyfunandfaith on Mon, 2006-09-18 14:39

His entry into the real world was pointed,
It was that for which he was The Anointed.
His delivery through a virgin was quite slick,
but for the Creator, it took only a flick.
His offer of redemption ought make us opine
as to if in His rest we will safely recline.
I'd advise that you allow the Christ's advent
to remove your sins and make your heart content!

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