Why did you create the ant farm?

Have you ever owned an ant farm? Why? Because you just liked to watch them mill around? Because you like to see how they interact? Because you like to see how they make a life for themselves?

Why do you think God created the earth and people? Obviously ants are different than people in this example but the question is still valid. Why did God create people? Why did God create the earth?

I believe God created people for the same reason most people choose to have children. I believe he wanted to have others to share his knowledge and wisdom with. I believe he wanted to have others to share his incredible love with. I believe he created the earth to give us a wonderful place to live and take care of.

Why do you think God created the earth and people?

Her first slumber party

Tonight is the first night that JCG is spending the night away from home with someone other than family. B is sad because it is just a reminder that JCG is getting older. Don't worry B, JCG will always be your girl.

Is God vain?

Why do you think God requires/asks us to worship him? Is it because he is vain? Obviously he desrves it but don't we think more highly of those that deserve praise and worship but do not ask it of us?

Is he vain for asking for our praise and worship?

I believe there is more to him asking for us to praise and worship him. I believe there is a deep psychological meaning to why God wants us to focus on him and not ourselves. I believe it is because he knows that we can operate at the highest level possible when we are thinking about him and not ourselves. I believe this is why he also tells us to think of other before ourselves. I believe God welcomes those that are angry with him. He knows that our lives are tough. He knows that we are incapable of living our lives to the fullest without his knowledge and wisdom.

So in addition to offering our praise and worship to God because he deserves no less, you should praise and worship God because he knows that it will greatly benefit you psychologically as well as spritiually.

Thank you God for another incredibly blessed year in your care. You have blessed me and my family without measure. You are truly the most important thing in our lives. We offer ourselves to you in 2008. Please use us in the best ways possible to allow people to see your glory in us. Please continue to look after me and my family as we navigate through next year. Please help us all to make the best decisions possible regarding our jobs, our money, our family and most importantly in our relationship with you.

We praise you with our whole heart and with our whole mind.

I suppose my predisposition towards an Apple computer or "Mac", as it is lovingly referred to, was due to my close proximity to those that regularly used Windows based PC's. Not that they had an affinity for them, it was what was put in front of them and it was what they were used to. I too was always exposed to a PC and never a mac.

Well all of that changed last month when work asked me if I wanted to replace my 2 year old Dell laptop with a 24" IMac. I looked it over and decided that I would give it a shot. The owner and one of the engineers spoke so highly of it that I wanted to give it a try. I knew there was no going back whether I liked it or not.

So I took the plunge. I went to Best Buy and bought a brand new 24" IMac. This thing was HUGE. I mean it was HUGE. For the first few weeks I had it, I had to unprogram myself from all the years of working with Windows based products.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Windows is already lagging behind Apple. The problem is that Windows is so entrenched in the marketplace that no one knows anything different.

If you haven't tried a Mac and you get a chance.....do it. If you are one of those staunch Windows loving people then just know that you do NOT know of what you speak. Apple has their stuff together.

Flat panel televisions

I had been looking at flat panel televisions for about 12 months. I knew that the huge 36 SONY Wega was going to go anytime. So I wanted to be ready with what I wanted to purchase. Buying a new television is a special thing for the human male. Its like purchasing a car stereo when we were in high school. I can remember looking at car stereos for weeks and weeks. I knew I could only make one choice because I was limited on funds.

Well the same is relatively true now. So my first decision was between Plasma and LCD. LCD seemed like the safe choice. With everyone warning me about the glare that can been seen on a Plasma as well as the still image burn in issue, I was pretty scared off by Plasma. However LCD is more expensive. A 42" LCD will be several hundred dollars more expensive than its 42" Plasma counterpart.

So I found a 37" VIZIO LCD HDTV at Wal-Mart for $767.00. It seemed like a bargain. So I bought it and brought it home. I was excited. We went and got the HD receiver from Time Warner Cable. We hooked it all up and I was amazed. I was happy. Then I turned the TV on. There are two main reasons why VIZIO is able to sell their TV's so cheaply.

First they put the weakest and worst sounding sound system on the TV. It literally sounds like they took one speaker and stuck it in a box. The sound was terrible. Then B began to notice that when actual human beings would get really blown up close their skin began to look splotchy. This is where I learned about Contract Ratio.

Contract Ratio is probably the single most important aspect of a new flat panel TV. More so than LCD or Plasma or anything else. As it turns out the new TV I bought had an aspect ratio of 1000:1. Just as a comparison to real TV's the high end SONY flat panel TV's have an aspect ratio of 20000:1.

So I was still "happy" with the TV because it was very bright and did show HD channels. But the sound was crappy and I felt like I got ripped off. So just know what to look for when you are shopping for the next TV you purchase.

"Hold me by the wedgie daddy"

This is the new sport in our household. The kids refer to it as being held by the wedgie. You can imagine why they think that.

Moving Update

Well we took our house off the market a while back.  The housing market in the US is really bad at this point.  We may have to stay here for several more years in order for us to build up equity as well as allowing the housing market locally to get better.  

According to B this post is boring but hey, this is me catching everyone up on what has been happening lately.

Daddy I have a boyfriend....

WHAT?!?!

What does that mean JC? Well there is a boy in the other class (at school) and I told him my name and he remembered it. He told me his name and I remembered it. So he is my boyfriend....

....

A new hobby...

So I bought myself a guitar. I thought it would be a good way to learn a new hobby other than video games. I can also play for Jamison as she LOVES to sing. I have never played an instrument in my life. This will be interesting.

Wish me luck

Old man's nose

So I believe I have taken the first step to middle age....albeit a bit premature but nevertheless.

I have developed what I will call "Old Man's Nose". Old man's nose is an affliction that commonly affects older gentlemen's noses. The symptoms are a constant state of whistling or whistling type noise coming from the nasal cavity. Most common causes are dried boogers that restrict the flow of air in and out of the nose.

You can commonly hear OMN when the afflicted are napping or talking on the phone. The whistling occurs when a breath is taken in. As gross as it sounds, I have done my best to have a clean nostril area and yet the OMN seems to remain.

I am starting a support group for those affected by the hideous disease. We have established an account at our local bank for anyone wishing to donate money to finding a cure.

A truly unexpected occurance....

So I have been playing online games with my XBox360 for several months now. I have met several people that are very nice and pleasent to play with. There are a few that I play with more than others. Last night one of them asked me to speak with him privately. He wanted to share some personal thoughts and feelings regarding what had been happening in his life recently.

Basically he told me about some frustrations with his girlfriend that he likes a lot. She is going through some hard times surrounding the death of a family member. He also revealed some not so great moments in his life (suicide attempt and heavy marijuana usage resulting in an arrest and jail time).

But he felt he was being pulled or called for a greater purpose and that he had not found what that was. I share a little bit about my belief in God as well as my recommendation that he needed to seek counseling.

It was an interesting experience. One that I never thought would happen in this environment.

Servant

So we are at Applebee's tonight and JC says "There she is." "Who?" we asked "Our Servant" (as she was pointing to our server)

Broke Hearts

JC came home today from kindergarten. I asked her how recess went as she has been having issues with the girl that is seemingly her best friend. You see the girl has "not allowed" JC to play with her good friend Nick. We found out from Nick's mom that JC and Nick had "broke hearts" because they were not allowed to play together.

B emailed the teacher to ask if anything could be done to help JC become more assertive and not allow another child to tell her what she is allowed and not allowed to do. Apparently today on the playground the teacher brought Nick and JC together (with the pushy girl in tow). the teacher told JC and Nick that they were allowed to play together.

Well this little girl was not to happy and she told JC that she did not want to be friends with her. JC did not miss a beat. She just went over and played with Nick as well as made new friends. When I asked JC about it she said that her and her friend "broke hearts" today because she didn't want JC playing with Nick. Oh well~

From the mouth of babes....

So the other day I was napping with JHGIII. I had rented a pay-per-view movie called 300. I didn't get a chance to see it in the movie theater (when do I ever get to go to the movies). I digress. Anyway, the movie reached a point to where one of the main character's son got his head chopped off. Right after his head fell to the ground JHGIII woke up. He looked at the TV and said "where him's head"?

A small occurance from this morning

So there we were laying in the bed this morning. My family came upstairs to wake me up. I was laying on my stomach and JCG and B were laying next to me. Where was JHGIII? Oh, there he is, he is rubbing something on my back and saying "Rooolllllleeeeerrrrcooooaaaasster". Awwwww how cute is he? Wait, what is he rubbing on my back?

Just one of B's tampons still in the wrapper.

The hidden underworld of online gaming...what your kids don't want you to know

As I have explained in previous posts, I purchased an Xbox360 a few months ago. I bought it because i wanted to buy a new computer to be able to handle some of the newer games coming out. It has been more than 4 years since we bought our last desktop computer. So B suggested that I purchase an Xbox in lieu of a new computer since all I wanted the new computer for was to play games. (I knew she was smart but her logic was flawless on this one)

I immediately purchased Halo 2 and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. These are what are commonly referred to as first person or third person shooter games. You know, you are walking down a hall and something jumps out at you and you fire the weapon in your hand in hopes of killing it.

What you may not know is that these games have an online component to them. A place that you can connect over the internet to play other people with the same game. The online version of the game differs slightly from the single player version of the game in that you can usually play with a group of online gamers to accomplish a task or basically just kill each other.

Some of these games are pretty intense in their reality and life like game play. Some of the games have almost realistic body parts exploding when shot. Blood seemingly splatters in your face.

So what don't your kids want you to know about these games.

Secret #1: The age of children being allowed to play this game online is utterly shocking. I have been online and played against 8 year old kids. There are rated R movies that you would not allow your 8 year old child to see and yet you are letting them play these games. If you are a parent of a child that owns a gaming system BE SURE to research the games they play BEFORE they purchase them. If you visited the http://www.gearsofwar.com web site I highly doubt you would have allowed your child to play this game.

Secret #2: Even if you are going to allow your child to play the game, be sure you are aware of their online playing habits. What you don't realize is that there are people all over the world playing these games online. I am 38 years old. That means there are people as much as 30 years older than some of these kids PLAYING WITH YOUR KIDS, TALKING TO YOUR KIDS. I am no danger to your kids but I can't speak for everyone.

Secret #3: Think of how you were when you first moved out of your parents house? Remember what it was like to live in a world where you could do whatever or say whatever you wanted and your parents would never know? The world of online gaming is a place that your kids are using as their first exposure to that life. What am I talking about? Well let me explain it to you another way. Here are some of the actual conversations I have heard or seen occur between gamers online.

"Hey does anyone want to have cybersex?"

"You suck at this game as much as your mom sucked me last night"

And for the occasional female that chooses to play in this largely male teenage dominated world..."(girl talking)....Boy you really blew my head off with that shotgun...(boy speaking)...not as much as you will blow my head off.....etc....you get the point"

So why do I play in this world if all this garbage is being spewed out during game play? The main reason is that I avoid playing with people that would talk this way. Online gaming gives me an outlet to play with a group of people that enjoy playing the same game I do. I don't have anyone living around me that wants to play these games as often as I would. So I enjoy the comeraderie with these people.

Just beware that there is a sub culture that operates within your child's bedroom and you don't even know it.

First day of Kindergarten for JCG

This is JCG two years ago before her first day of pre-school.



This is my baby girl one year later before her 2nd year of pre-school.

And this is my baby girl before her first day of kindergarten.

For your viewing pleasure this is a photo montage of how mommy wanted to remember the day. There are more pictures than this but this is my blog. If she wants to show you more....she will have to get her own blog... :)

J sleeping

J waking up

J and J eating breakfast together

J saying goodbye to J

Me walking J to school.

My how time flies. Today was her first day of kindergarten. For me personally it went off great. She started a new chapter of her life. She did great. She was excited. She was happy. She looked exceedingly beautiful. She didn't miss a step.

The real story of the day was B. B was a sight to see. She did some crying. She did not want to have JCG going to school one little bit. It was absolutely another reason why I love this woman so much. She has the biggest and squishiest heart of anyone I know.

What has been happening?

I have not had much of a chance to blog lately. Due in part to not having anything compelling to write about and that I have spent a lot of time playing xbox. Its strange how addicting this is for me. I know in the grand scheme of life the time I spend playing the games is basically wasting my time. I am reverting back to when I was in grade school, junior high school and high school.

We have taken the house off the market because of the lousy housing market in the US. We need to save money to be able to bring more to closing or to apply to the principal amount thus we would owe less on the house and thus we would need to bring less to closing.

We have finished the basement (mostly) and now we are in the process of going through all the crap in the crawl space under the house. We have tons of stuff to get rid of and we are planning on honey of a garage sale.

I really need to start doing more exercise as my job really has no physical activity and thus I am gaining weight. I am trying to do different types of exercises when I can. Things like going swimming with the kids and cutting the grass and hopefully using the treadmill when the basement gets more cleaned up.

The job is going great. I am so blessed with this job. I have the confidence of my employees as well as the owner.

That is about it for now. This is nothing really compelling but I did want to keep my adoring fans informed about the goings on of my thrilling life.

I love you B.

Fantasy Football 2007

Today's post is specifically for my league mates in my 2007 Fantasy Football league. But is also for anyone that might be interested in fantasy football but didn't want to take the time to learn about it.

There are several different iterations of how to play fantasy football. No matter how you prefer to play fantasy football the end result is still the same. It is to enjoy watching more football games than just your hometown favorite team. It is also to have some bonding time with people that share the same interests as you.

I have been playing fantasy football since the mid to late 80's when the Washington Redskins won the super bowl. I have typically run the league myself because the point scoring method used by others frustrated me so much.

The philosophy I use in my league is that no one position is more valuable than others. For instance a field goal kicker can potentially score as many points as a running back or a quarterback. So don't put all your eggs in one basket (i.e. having one big star on your team and getting scrubs for the rest of your team).

So, on to the basics of my fantasy football league.

At the beginning of the football season a group of people get together for what is called the fantasy football draft. Often times this is the most enjoyable part of the season. We get together in one place to construct our fantasy teams for the new season. Each fantasy team consists of the following positions:

1 - Quarterbacks
2 - Running Backs
2 - Wide Receivers
1 - Wide Receiver/Tight End
1 - Kicker
1 - Team Defense/Special Teams
6 - Bench positions

The bench positions are to be used for your reserves. If you choose you can have 6 running backs on your bench. It is up to you.

When the draft starts every team owner has a salary cap of $50.00. A random drawing is held to find out who begins the draft by introducing a player. When a player is introduced the bidding begins. Every owner gets a chance to put in a bid. Every bid must be in increments of $0.10. The bidding goes around the room and every owner can opt to raise the bid or sit out. Once you have opted out of bidding on a specific player you can always jump back in when it comes to your turn.

Every owner must introduce a player into the auction until all of their roster positions are full. No one can skip their turn.

This goes on until every team has every roster position filled. Depending on the number of teams this process can take 4-6 hours.

Before the kickoff of the first game of each week every owner must submit a starting roster. If you do not submit a starting roster the previous week's roster will be used. Each week you will go head to head with another owner. the players on your team will be given points based on the following:

• Completions (.25)
• Incomplete Passes (-.25)
• Passing Yards (20 yards per point; 2 points at 300 yards; 4 points at 400 yards)
• Passing Touchdowns (3)
• Interceptions (-1)
• Rushing Yards (10 yards per point; 10 points at 200 yards)
• Rushing Touchdowns (6)
• Receptions (1)
• Reception Yards (10 yards per point; 10 points at 200 yards)
• Reception Touchdowns (6)
• Return Yards (30 yards per point)
• Return Touchdowns (6)
• 2-Point Conversions (2)
• Fumbles Lost (-2)
• Offensive Fumble Return TD (6)
• Field Goals 0-19 Yards (4)
• Field Goals 20-29 Yards (5)
• Field Goals 30-39 Yards (6)
• Field Goals 40-49 Yards (7)
• Field Goals 50+ Yards (8)
• Field Goals Missed 0-19 Yards (-4)
• Field Goals Missed 20-29 Yards (-3)
• Field Goals Missed 30-39 Yards (-2)
• Field Goals Missed 40-49 Yards (-1)
• Point After Attempt Made (1)
• Point After Attempt Missed (-2)
• Sack (1)
• Interception (2)
• Fumble Recovery (2)
• Touchdown (6)
• Safety (2)
• Block Kick (2)
• Kickoff and Punt Return Touchdowns (6)
• Points Allowed 0 points (10)
• Points Allowed 1-6 points (7)
• Points Allowed 7-13 points (4)
• Points Allowed 14-20 points (1)
• Points Allowed 21-27 points (0)
• Points Allowed 28-34 points (-1)
• Points Allowed 35+ points (-4)

That is about it.

Good luck every week except for when I play you. Playing fantasy football is 10% skill and 90% luck. You are at the mercy of injuries and bye weeks. you could be statistically superior to your opponent and should crush him only to have his wide receiver have a career day and his kicker kick 7 field goals. Have fun. Be nice!

I'm a Ramblin Man...

I haven't blogged in a while and there hasn't been enough significant things going on that would be blog worthy. So I thought I would share some thoughts about what has been happening.

Let's see, well, I fell down in the backyard of a neighbor's house and really hurt my knee. It wasn't dislocated or sprained. Just really bruised. Well after about 2 weeks I started getting an excess of fluid build up on my knee. I am going to get it drained on Thursday.

Both of my softball leagues are finished now. Both of the teams weren't all that impressive. But I got out of the house and got a little exercise.

My niece left Ohio after four months. I don't think we made as much of an impact as we probably would have liked to. She is defintely her mother's daughter. But then again her mother couldn't wait to get out of the house and on her own.

Work is going really well. I am learning a lot and I really enjoy what I do. I love the people I work with and I really like the customers I deal with.

I have been playing an unhealthy amount of Gears of War on the Xbox.

We have been going through the basement crawl space to pull all the stuff out and decide what we are going to sell, throw away and donate. We are going to have ahoney of a garage sale.

B and JHGIII are going to be travelling to Oklahoma in a few weeks which means me and my angel get to spend some quality time together for a few days. I can't wait.

The basement is about 98% finished. I still have a few little things left.

I think I am finally getting the garage to a point where I want it to be.

JHGIII went poo poo in the potty chair today. B and he went to Target to buy some big boy panties. Spiderman and Go Diego Go. He was very excited. So were we.

We are probably going to pull the house off the market in the next few days until next March.

That is all about for now.

Getting older, injuries and pain

The last 4 days have been hell on my body. I'd like to say that I can still play softball like I used to when I was in my early twenties. I'd like to say that when I am injured I heal as fast as I used to when I was in my early twenties. I'd like to say a lot of things. But the simple fact is that I am getting older. I am 38 years old now and while my mind is still as young as it ever was, my body just doesn't see things the same way.

Granted I am more heavy than I have ever been in my life and I get only a fraction of the amount of exercise I used to get when I was younger. But gosh darn it whoever invented this whole getting old stuff just wasn't thinking things through.

So on Saturday afternoon I was over at a neighbors house playing whiffle ball with him and his son. It is something we do from time to time. I pitch and his son hits the ball and runs the imaginary bases. Sometimes he actually hits the ball where we can catch it. This time was a little different in that he hit the ball over my head and I actually went for it. I thought ah what the heck, see if you can catch it.

I actually caught the ball. It was what happened 1 second after I caught the ball that was the problem. As I was stumbling to catch my balance I thought to myself "Oh man this is gonna hurt"

WHAM! I hit the ground. I stuck my left knee out to try and cushion the fall. Which means my knee took the brunt of 275 pounds of human being falling on top of it. Still clutching the ball I rolled around the ground in pain. I waited for about 60 seconds and a feeling of euphoria came over me. It was enough of a feeling that allowed me to get up and hobble home. When I hit the door my wife had seen me limping as I came up the driveway. She is so good to me, she hopped right up and got me a bag of ice.

So last night I was playing softball. The knee was actually not bothering me that much. So I thought I would try to get some exercise. When I hit the ball I usually try to go to right field. it is a widely known fact that the weakest players are put in right field. People that can't throw or run or catch.

The past few games i had been struggling in trying to get the ball out there. Last night was different in that when I swung the bat to try to hit it to right field my body contorted in such a way that caused me to (as the doctor told me this morning at 5:30 am in the ER) strain my rib cage. Whatever I did, it hurts.

So here I sit this morning on a heavy dose of Motrin for my ribs and a large bruise on my left knee. But I am happy. I am happy because I caught the whiffle ball and I went three for three at last nights softball game.

They say you are as old as you think. Well I think I am 21 but my body doesn't agree with me.

The Basement (a photo bistro for your eyes)

Well the basement is finished. It is finished to the point that I could take pictures and make a blog out of it for everyone to see. This project took amost four months and probably cost around $1,500.00. It could have taken much less time and less money but we learned as we went and we only spent a few hours a day working on it. It was a labor of love that I am GLAD is finished.

Before (this is a picture of what it looked like when we came to view the house before we bought it.)

After

Before (Also, a picture of what the basement looked like before we bought the house)

After

Another after picture

Another after picture

This is the built-in tv stand I built in order to cover the sump pump. It is the PERFECT SIZE for a brand new flat screen TV.

An extra-ordinary example of BAD customer service

July has been a busy month for me in that I have been spending all my extra time working on the basement. So needless to say I haven't spent much time posting to the blog. Something happened today that made me want to tell the world (or at least my little world) about.

I spelled the word extraordinary with a hyphen because usually when you here that word you think it is something special or something great. This specific example is so horribly bad that it was extra-ordinarily BAD.

So, I work for a small Internet based company. What the company does specifically is unimportant. We were in need of moving our web servers to a hosted facility or co-location facility. This type of facility is a large building that has a lot of air-conditioning and a lot of power supply backups and generators and large men with guns.

After much searching we decided on a location in the Dallas area called Info Mart. This is a building that a lot of small companies use to host these types of hosting facilities. The particular company we chose was Premier Voice and their web site is http://www.premiervoice.net.

We were all set to move our servers into their facility and then we made a site visit a few days prior to the move. Our infrastructure manager had made several visits prior to the site visit we made a few days before the scheduled move.

When we arrived we noticed that we were in fact one of the the first tenants in this new location. The facility was so new that there was NO physical security. There was no card access installed. There was NO video surveillance cameras in place. Heck when we arrived there was one person in a back office and every single door in the location was wide open. We could have easily walked off with equipment and they would never have been able to tell who did it.

Not only that but in the short amount of time we had a router installed in the location the internet connection went down three times.

So we told them that we did not want to move our equipment into this facility. We asked them for an invoice for the time we spent in the location and then we wanted to terminate our relationship.

We received this email from them.

> According to our records you have signed a contract with Premier
> Voice to receive services for a term of 1 year. No more, no less.
> Remit payment for the amount invoiced or your account will be sent to
> collections, and you will risk possible legal action against your
> company. Please advise.
>
> Brian Haney
> Controller
> Premier Voice

We responded with this email.

> Brian,
>
> Give me a call this afternoon so we can discuss this.
>
> The invoices are way wrong, since we only ask for 2 cabinets, not 20.
>
> Second, I was told that there wasn't a term on our agreement, that it
> was month to month.
>
> Third, the facility was not ready when we were ready to move in.
>
> Our president was in town to help with the move and he was so
> distressed that he told me we would not use the facility.
>
> I discussed this with William when I came over to remove all of our
> equipment from the rack.
>
> We have agreed to pay the setup fee and first month, but expect all
> billing to cease as of the end of June.

Then they sent this email...

> We have a signed 1-year agreement. We do not offer month-to-month
> service, no one in this business does. And it is certainly not our
> fault your president was distressed, if the facility was not what your
> company needed you should have worked that out before signing the
> contract and moved in. You owe the full balance of the contract, and
> it needs to be paid immediately per the terms of the MSA, or it will
> be sent to collections.
>
> Mike Faulkner, President
> http://www.premiervoice.net
> Premier Voice - Better Business VoIP

Then we sent this email

> Boy, am I glad we didn't go with these guys.
>
> Their facility was not ready for any use on the date requested, our
> Internet connection was dropped twice, including on the day that I
> removed the equipment.
>
> They had no locks on the doors, or cameras. The room they provided was
> clearly still under construction a week after our scheduled move in
> date.
>
> Our first invoice included charges for 20 racks, when we asked for two
> and weren't using any.
>
> These guys were a real rip-off and I would not recommend them to
> anyone.

And now comes the email that really tipifies who this company is. Mind you this email is from the PRESIDENT of the company.

> Dumbass, the 20x is the monthly MRC per month, per 1x cabinet, for the
> length of the term…10 months, 2 cabinets, equals 20…If you guys had
> any clue what you were doing maybe you would have a better shot at
> finding the right provider. It is not our job to educate potential
> clients, either way, your contract is going to the attorneys for
> collections. Enjoy.
>
> Mike Faulkner, President
> Premier Voice - Better Business VoIP

.....I was speechless.....can you ever imagine the leader of a company talking to someone in this way?

A funny story from our daughter

A while back we started a little ritual with the kids at bed time. The kids love for us to tell them stories so to set up the storyline would ask them for three things. Any three things. It could be a book, a rainbow and a popsicle. Literally any three things. It would be our challenge to come up with a story right then and there that would incorporate the three things. Recently we started to turn things around on them in that we would get to pick the three things and primarily JCG would create a story about the three things. She's pretty good at it although her stories tend to run all over the place.

During our travels back from Oklahoma B was putting JCG to bed. B told J a story incorporating a pillow, an earring and a princess. B then gave J the 3 items, a butterfly, a gymnastics girl and a suitcase. J's story went something like this (many less important details will be left out).

Once upon a time there was a gymnastics girl, she loved to play outside, along came a beautiful butterfly. The butterfly flew all around the girl then all of the sudden the butterfly started biting and biting and biting the girl, so she hit it with a suitcase. The end.

I love that girl.

Advice to new parents

I recently found out that some friends of mine are expecting their first child. They have said on several occasions that they liked how B and I interacted and dealt with our kids. Which means that they might be calling us when they encounter difficult situations. So I thought I might take a few moments to give them as well as any other soon to be new parents some advice.

#1 - During the pregnancy, husbands remember that your wife is the vessel that God has chosen to create life. Think about that for just a moment. The means that your wife's body can create another human being. How special and wonderful is that? It is so special and wonderful that she will remind you of it when the house isn't clean and she doesn't want to clean it. "Well honey, I would clean the house but I am too busy creating a baby. What are you doing?"

#2 - Becoming parents is the hardest, most frustrating, most humbling, most wonderful and most rewarding task you will ever do in your life.

#3 - If at any moment you do not feel like you would throw yourself in front of a car for your child or if you don't think you child is the brightest, smartest, most beautiful and most talented child on the face of the earth.....then you are doing something wrong. Stop what you are doing, go over to your child and hold them until you do feel that way.

#4 - If you have a boy you will have to decide whether or not you will get him circumcised. This seemingly simple decision is a very confusing one to make. On one hand, this society has deemed it appropriate to cut off skin to comply with "social norms". On the other hand, since it is a "social norm", when little Joey or Billy is with his friends and they are partaking in the common ritual of showing each other their tally whackers, they will not be embarrassed because they are different.

#5 - In the United States, breastfeeding is largely considered to be inappropriate in public and unnecessary. There are reams and reams of data and many many studies that show the incredible benefits of breastfeeding over synthesized formula. There is something to be said about feeding a human being from the same body that nourished it for 9 months. Also (according to my wife, you'll quickly get over the worry about feeding in public when your child is screaming and the only private areas around the fair are porta-potties.

#6 - NO one has it all figured out. Let me state this again for perfect clarity. NO ONE has the parenting gig figured out. EVERYONE makes it up as they go along. Everyday brings a new and exciting challenge. As they get older, the problems only get bigger.

#7 - If your child poops in the bathtub, don't panic. Don't be disgusted in front of your children. Be calm. If they are playing with it, ask them to stop. Open the drain and pray to GOD that you have a good draining tub. Stand your child up, as the water is draining around them, use a cup with warm water to rinse all the excess poop off their body. Keep the child standing so you don't have to sanitize the tub right then. Continue with the rinsing of the child. Use soap at this point to wash your child. I also suggest cleaning their hair JUST IN CASE. Oh and it is probably a good idea to put them on the toilet if you can. You never know, they might not be done.

#8 - Repeat after me....it is only poop, I can always wash my hands. Here is a news flash. Men, you will change many many many diapers over the next few years. Get used to the smell and get used to getting poop and pee on your hands. It's ok, its natural. Just remember that you can always wash your hands afterwards. This goes for those diapers that have leaked when the child is sick and the poop is running into their pant leg and onto the floor. This also goes for the time when they are running around the house naked after bath time and they squat and pee on the floor.

#9 - Life is about balance. If you feel yourself getting angry all the time, it is probably because you are. If you are always angry when you are around your child, they will become angry too. YOU are the one teaching them how to become a person. They will copy what you do far more than they will copy what you say.

#10 - Read to your child. My wife is brilliant for many reasons. One of the reasons is because she knew early on the positive impact reading has on the mental growth of our children. Our children are book fiends.

#11 - NO ONE knows how to raise your child better than you. No one knows the subtleties of your child more than you. You will be able to tell the difference between their cries. When you can't communicate with your child verbally, it is essential that you learn what a hungry cry sounds like as opposed to a bored cry or a full diaper cry.

#12 - You are going to make many many mistakes as a parent. It is unavoidable. We forgot to bring a blanket to a doctor's appointment. This may not seem like much but when your child has to get naked in a cold exam room, you will feel terrible for forgetting a blanket. We lost our 2 year old at a picnic with 200 people standing around. Thankfully nothing happened to him. I thought B was watching him and she didn't realize I had walked off without him.

#13 - This is the most important thing that you must know about becoming a parent. Let's just say that no matter how much you THINK you know how your life is about to change, know this. You don't know squat about how your life is about to be turned upside down. You may have spent a lot of time with kids before in any number of ways (baby sitting, relatives, etc) At night, you have always been able to separate yourself from those children and go home. Go home to your own bed. Go home to your own TV. Go home to a quiet and clean house.

Well that is ALL GONE my friend. You are now entering a world to where YOU are responsible for keeping someone else ALIVE. No one else is going to come pick up the baby and give you a break. You are the only one designated as being the full time guardian and protector of this child. You have to do everything in your power to make their surrounding at home and everywhere you take them, safe.

If you are extremely bothered that you can't sleep in on the weekends because of this child, your priorities are off. If you are extremely bothered that you can't go see as many movies in the theater, your priorities are off. If you are mad because you don't have any time or money to play as much golf, your priorities are off. If you can't buy as many things for yourself and that bothers you or if you ponder and stress over anything that you had to give up because of your new child, then your priorities are off. Your number one priority is that child. If that means you cut your spending or time with your friends or if you don't get to watch as much TV, then that is what you do. Your number one priority in life is that child.

There is so much more I could say. Perhaps I will write another post with my wife helping me. For now, good luck. You are about to be a parent.

The long journey home

So it begins, the long drive home from Tulsa. We will make it to around St. Louis tomorrow. That is usually where we stay. Sometimes a little closer sometimes a little farther. It depends on how early we get going in the morning and if we make good time or not. RP returned to us today from visit her two aunts for the past two weeks. She seems determined and motivated to get things going when we return home.

All in all we had a good trip. No one got sick. No one got hurt. I was able to spend good bonding time with my friends. I got to spend father's day with my kids and my dad. I played a lot of Xbox. It will be good to get back into the normal routine. It will be good to get back to paint the basement.

See ya when we see ya.

My new addiction

Gears of War

I'd like to introduce you to Marcus Fenix. He is the main character in the Xbox 360 game called Gears of War. This is a game that has plenty of violence, swearing and shoot um up fun. I am not exactly sure about the over riding storyline behind the game. Basically you go around killing a bunch a gross looking monsters with a diverse set of weapons.

The two most notable weapons are the bow grenade launcher and the machine pictured above. The reason they are notable is because the bow grenade launcher sends out a laser beam to show you where you are aiming. When you fire, the grenade doesn't just explode on impact. Oh no, if it hits one of your enemies or you, it will insert itself into your body and THEN explodes.

The machine pictured above is special because in addition to the machine gun firing action it has a small chain saw on the front of it. Which means if you get in close to one of your enemies you can literally saw it in half. I mean body splitting in half blood splattering in your face gargled yelling of the victim and everything. It is quite a graphic site.

This game is not for kids of any age....except for the 38 year old kids.

The house I remember visiting when I was a small child

It is amazing what you remember from your childhood. I can remember playing hockey on the local elementary hockey rink every winter in Anchorage Alaska. I remember specific lines in the asphalt on the road in front of my house. I remember because we would have "wheelie" contest to see who could hold it the longest. There was a line right in front of my house that we would always use as a starting point. I remember so much from my time in Alaska. I have many fond memories growing up there.

But today I wanted to help you see what it was like going to visit my mom's parents house in Point Comfort, Texas. Point Comfort is a very small town on the southern coast of Texas. It is close to places like Corpus Christi and Padre Island. Point Comfort was right next to Port Lavaca. I specifically remember the name Port Lavaca because my dad told me a story about how Lavaca meant "cow" in Spanish and how a herd of cows were killed either in the bay or near the bay or something like that.

What holds the most memories for me in Point Comfort was the pier that extended some 40 to 50 feet out into the bay out behind my grand parents house. I spent countless hours on that pier fishing. I caught everything from croakers to red fish to the occasional crab. I could literally tell you dozens of stories I remember experiencing as a kid. Sometimes I would just enjoy being near the water. The smell of salt water. The sound of mullets jumping out of the water. The sight of seeing large ships passing way off into the distance. What I would give to be able to sit on that pier one more time. Perhaps sitting with my kids and watching them fish.

I also remember the large number of fish tanks my grandma had in the room just adjacent to the garage. We are talking somewhere in the order of 20 fish tanks. I couldn't tell you the types of fish that were in it. But I could tell you how all the fish tank bubble machines would sound at night when we were sleeping in the living room.

I remember loving to visit my grandparents because the non-animated TV show Batman was on the TV. I would stop whatever I was doing to watch Batman.

There is a sound I distinctly remember hearing as I laid in the living room to sleep. The sound of this old wall clock that hung just above the passageway between the kitchen and the dining room. It was so loud. Tick Tick Tick Tick. But it didn't bother me because I knew when I heard it, I knew where I was.

I remember the red velvet drapery, the large gaudy golden head board and the golden carpet in my grandparents bedroom. I wasn't allow to go in their bedroom other than to look in when I was standing outside. I remember going to the house to help paint and repair it after grandpa died. I remember seeing the rust stains in the carpet from the lead weights that were in the bottom of the red drapes to help keep them hanging straight.

I remember being in the car the night my uncle Dick ran over a rattlesnake. They brought it home and we cut it open. The snake had just eaten a mouse. Dad cut off the rattle and kept it.

I also remember the box of old toys that were like finding the pot at the end of the rainbow when I would come to visit. The toys were crappy little pieces of junk but I loved playing with them when we would arrive from making the long trip.

As I said, I could go on and on about things I remember about that house. I don't know why I thought to blog about it. I just thought it would be a nice thing for my family to read.

Why do you choose who you choose to marry?

Who you choose to marry can be based on one reason or on literally dozens of reasons. I have heard people say that they married for money. I have heard that people marry because they had a child (mistake) and thought it was the right thing to do. I have heard that people marry because they are just trying to get out of their parents house. I have heard that people marry simply based on a feeling. I have heard that people marry because they have so much in common with their significant other.

So why did B marry me?

I am not incredibly good looking. I certainly do not have a lot of money. It took us 9 years into our marriage before we had kids. I am not a world traveler nor do I much desire to travel extensively. We don't like the same music. We don't like the same movies. We are friends with completely different kinds of people. Heck we even vote differently.

So why does B continue to want to stay married to me?

Why did I marry B?

Sense of humor

I think the biggest reason was her sense of humor. She could make me laugh.

Feelings

I liked how I felt when I was around her. I liked how I felt when I thought about her.

Family

I met her family several months into our relationship and I really loved that her mom and dad had been married for so long. I loved how they accepted me into the family very easily.

Beauty

I really loved who she was on the inside. I REALLY loved who she was on the outside. Yes I know beauty is only skin deep but let me tell you, it never hurts to have someone around that is easy on the eyes.

God Fearing

I think that is enough to say about that.

Insight

She had a way of helping me see things from a different perspective.

Why do I continue to stay married to B?

She still makes me laugh. I still love how I feel when I am around her. I still love her family. I still think she is a stark raving beauty that was put here to torment my dreams. She still loves God. Her ability to make me see things from a different perspective has grown even deeper.

Why else?

She is a superb mother for my children. She is very forgiving of my short comings. She keeps me honest. Shall I go on?

Oh, and I can see myself growing old with her. Enjoying our retirement years together. Watching our grandchildren run around the house.

B makes me whole.

I love you my bride. Please never forget it.

We hit 1000 web hits

Yes more than 50% of the hits for my blog are probably from me looking or posting to the blog. But still, I hit 1000 web page hits recently and it is a very big moment in my life. Yes there are many moments that will be more significant, but....

Laser Quest

My wife has said that I have lived the birthday party of an 8 year old for the last week. Today was no exception. My best friend KS and I and his family all went to the Laser Quest facility in North Richland Hills, Texas.

KS and I had experience in playing a laser tag type game back in our post high school days. The laser tag of that day was called photon. Laser Quest is much more advanced compared to Photon. The laser gun actually sends out a red laser beam to indicate what target you are hitting. We purchased a three game set.

The first game was basically me, KS, his wife, one other adult and about 7 kids under the age of 10. It was very much like shooting fish in a barrel. I did not take "much" pleasure in racking up the highest score in the first game because it was at the expense of a bunch of small kids.

The second game included several more kids under ten but it also included a group of teenagers. My killing spree ability was severely curtailed because of the higher abilities of the teenagers. I only came in second.

The third game included another group of kids and a few more adults. I came in third. All in all I had fun and I got to spend time with my best friend and his cool family. I am hoping to move down to this area to be able to spend more time reliving our childhood.

Did I mention that we played a lot of Xbox 360 this week?

A new good friend

I wanted to share with you the experience I had when I was able to spend some time with one of the gentlemen I have the privilege of working with. There was a moment when we shared a friendly hug goodbye that communicated to me that I knew I had made a friend that would be with me for many years to come.

I don't make friends very easily. Call it shyness, call it incompatibility, call it whatever you want. But I have never been able to make really good close friendships since I originally left the DFW area almost 14 years ago.

It is the strangest thing. I have only known RC for a short time and I am already impressed by him as a professional as well as a person. He is a person of incredible integrity and morals. I am proud to call him a really good friend.

Another Truly Americana Experience

I experienced another episode in my travels that can only be explained as the quintessential Americana scene.

I went to see two movies tonight at a drive-in theater. Yes, we went to a drive in theater. There is a small town outside of Fort Worth Texas called Granbury. In this town there is a drive in theater called The Brazos. What an amazing and wonderful experience we had at this location.

Everything that is right and good and perfect about America and about this world can be summed up by watching a movie with your friends and family at a drive in movie. Mix in the perfect atmosphere of this particular theater and you will have the perfect evening.

The Brazos has everything you want in a modern drive in theater. There are kids running around, playing and having a good time. People bring coolers filled with drinks and snacks. There is a snack bar for you in case you need something. The sound is piped through your car stereo.

If we move down here from Ohio, you can guarantee we will visit the Brazos frequently.

FLUSH THE TOILET AND WASH YOUR HANDS

It's not that I am asking you to leave money. It's not that I am asking you to give up your first born child. It is such a simple thing and yet.....so many of you cannot seem to grasp the concept.

Far too many times I have entered a men's bathroom to find not one but multiple instances of people that have left their mark. The whole point to a toilet/urinal is so that people don't have to smell or see your precious gifts. Where were you born? Who raised you? At what point in your life did you think it was ok to NOT flush?

You would think that this phenomenon was limited to gross bathrooms in fast food restaurants or at a park. Oh no, let me say that there are people that wear suits and work in tall office buildings in a major metropolitan city that do not flush. FLUSH THE TOILET.

What is even more surprising is the amount of men that do not wash their hands after going to the restroom. Let's just set aside the fact that you just handled or touched an area of your body that only a few people would want to touch. Think about washing your hands because you don't want to get a cold from the last guy that came into the bathroom with germs on his hands.

JUST WASH YOUR HANDS.

I forgot my keys

So (does it seem that most of my posts start with So?)

I am sitting on the floor outside the corporate headquarters of my company. I usually don't come into the office simply because I am in a different state. But this week I am visiting HQ. I have had a key to the office for more than a year but it just sits on a shelf collecting dust.

The one morning I really needed to remember the key.....I forgot it. So here I sit....in the middle of the hallway, tapped into someone else's wireless connection, blogging about my predicament.

O woe as me....

Precious Moments Chapel

We visited the Precious Moments Chapel and Museum today in Carthage, Missouri. We had visited the location previously but it has been about 10 years and it was before we had kids. It brought back memories of when B and I visited Washington DC. Specifically when we visited the Museum of American History. More specifically it was when we looked at the display of all the things that had been left at the wall by friends and family of the men and women on the Vietnam War Memorial.

It was incredibly sad and depressing to read all the things people wrote about our fallen heroes. It was equally depressing to read about all of the people that had been memorialized at the Precious Moments Chapel. Because it was mostly about children. There was a book at the chapel that gave people the ability to write about a loved one they were remembering.

If you are ever in need of picking up a precious moments figurine, this is the place for you. If you want something to push you over the edge as far as depression goes.....this is the place for you.

Finishing the basement ....part four

The plan all along has been to do the drywall myself and then hire someone for a couple hundred dollars to come in to do the muddin and tapin. After striking out with several of my buddies that know how to do this type of work really well, I started calling some companies that specialize in it. The first one that called me back said that the price was going to be around $2,000. Needless to say we were a little shell shocked.

I kept calling some places and I found someone that would do it for $900.00. We weren't exactly excited about the price but it was either that or I could do it myself and have it look like complete doo doo. So they are coming out tomorrow to start the mudding and taping. We are hoping they will get it done by the middle of next week so we can paint it before we leave to drive to my sister's house.

i am already amazed at the transformation just with adding the drywall. Hopefully I will have some pictures for you before we leave next week.

stay tuned....

Have you ever felt the rush of getting away with something?

I have never fancied myself as someone that was a constant breaker of the law. Rarely do I speed, I don't shop lift, I keep the tags on my car up to date, I almost never allow my driver's license to expire.

So if I do violate the law it is going to be for a very minor infraction. You see I have this fear of prison and jail. Call me crazy but I don't want to experience some of the unique situations that occur while in jail.

I remember when I was in college and a group of us made a covert trip to the back of a grocery store to make off with milk carton crates. I remember the incredible rush I felt when we were driving away with our booty. I realize it was not a major offense but the feeling was real none the less.

Tonight we had to make a pit stop in the new build area of our subdivision because the pile of scrap was beginning to grow rather large in my drive way. 20 years later the feeling just wasn't the same. Granted I did not want to get caught and have to pay a fine. But I knew I wasn't going to jail.

MAN I have to get a life!

Basement project .... part three

The sheetrock/dry wall/gypsum/wall board or what ever you call it in your world, is finished. YEHAWW........

Next comes the mudding and taping. Going to pay someone for that. Stay tuned.

The world's most dangerous terrorist captured!

Ok so perhaps she is not a terrorist but this was a funny picture and it gave me an excuse to go on a little rant about her.

Can you name me someone that is as angry, bitter and negative about people that disagree with her than Rosie O'Donnell? While I don't watch the TV show The View, I am certainly glad she does not have a daily forum to spew her hatred and bitterness any longer.

THIS is my new toy

Yes I rented it but it is a wonderful thing. If you have ever tried to hang drywall on a ceiling you will know how much of a pain it is. This machine will change your life.

What a good neighbor I am....

A few weeks ago one of my neighbors approached me with an idea of how I could help her with the upcoming birthday party for here 8 year old son. She said her son wanted to have a Star Wars themed birthday party. She thought that it would be a great idea to have Darth Vader show up at the party. I happily agreed because I was more than willing to dress up as a character to make the party special for her son.


The few weeks leading up to the party I did not think much about the event. I imagined that there would be a a handful of boys that would be awe-struck at seeing Darth Vader at the party. I would have a few playful sword fights with the boys and then they would get their pictures taken with me.

The day of the party I started to put the costume together. I had a black cape with a hood. I put on my black dress pants and a black long sleeved turtle neck shirt. I found my black leather winter gloves and with the darth vader mask I borrowed, the ensemble was complete. See picture below.

Before I left for the party I did a little goofing around in it to see how well I was going to do in it. I noticed that the tinted grey plastic eyes that I was using to see through were getting fogged up pretty easily. But I figured with the air outside it wouldn't be so bad.

I arrived at the party about 10 minutes early so that I could coordinate my entrance. Everyone was out in the back yard so I went through the garage into the kitchen. I waited for a minute and the mom came in from the outside. She said "you can go out whenever you are ready." I was imagining some loud music, maybe some smoke and perhaps a strobe light. Nope, it was just me walking out the back sliding glass door and walking down the steps into the back yard.

Just before I went outside I was able to see what was going on outside in the backyard. There were no less than 15 boys all running around pummeling each other with make shift light sabers. The light sabers were a three foot piece of the foam water noodles you can get at Wal-Mart for $0.99. The handle was some duct tape wrapped around one end.

So there I was standing at the bottom of the stairs in my full Darth Vader outfit. Thinking to myself "These kids are going to be in total awe when they see who came to their party" Yea, it was nothing like that. As soon as enough of them noticed that Darth Vader was standing in the back yard, they formed a makeshift posse and all yelled "Get Darth Vader" as they all ran at me with their play light sabers.

The fight was on! I stepped onto the grass and 7 of them were on me lionesses going after their afternoon meal. I managed to hold off the first wave of the terrorist with a combination of sword play and a technique I like to call "grab their sword and throw it across the yard".

At that point several of the more bold kids had dropped their swords and were just trying to wrestle me to the ground. Much like Jim Brown used to do, I resorted to stiff arming and throwing them to the ground in order to keep them from tearing the mask off my head. After a few of them realized I was big and strong and tougher than they imagined, they abandoned that effort.

I began to realize that not only were the afore mentioned glassy eye holes fogged up, they were covered in sweat. When I say sweat I don't mean a little sweat on your brow. I am talking, its 70 degrees outside, I have a plastic mask on my head with little circulation, I am wearing a black turtle neck long sleeved shirt, and I am having to fend off attackers like a scene from the Matrix when Neo is fighting hundreds of Agent Smith's.

I take my first break to go inside and dry off the eye holes so I can see to defend myself. When I take off the mask and start drying my face I realize that the towel gets so wet I have to wring it out. I was sweating THAT MUCH.

When I went out this time, I thought of a new strategy. I told the boys that everyone with the same color light saber I had, was on my team. This worked beautifully. I took about a third of the boys out of the enemy pool and turned them against the other kids.

All in all it was a big success. The boys liked that I was in there swinging with them. The mom was grateful and said that I probably saved her $500.00 from having to have someone come to the party dressed like I did.

Things to teach young adults...according to me!

So, one of the things I am trying to teach my niece is to act her age and to be more mature. She is an intelligent modern woman. The message today for all young adults is watch what you say and how you say it.

It is so easy to pick out a young person by the way they talk. For instance, their speech is littered with many instances of the word "like". (I am not saying that RP speaks with many "likes" in her speech)

"So I was like, NO WAY"

"I went to the store and the guy that worked there was like, "Can I help you?" and I was like "No thanks I am just looking around"

Employers want someone that will speak clearly and concisely to their customers. You are representing yourself and the company you are working for. The impression you give during your interview will speak very loudly as to how you will be received by the public. Having been on the hiring side of the table many times I can tell you that what you put on your resume is what will get you in the door. It will be your personality and how you handle yourself that will make the next biggest impression.

So like make sure you totally like talk like a grown up.

Third anniversary

Well....

Yesterday was the third anniversary of my Mom's passing. One of my sisters called me to find out how I was doing. My niece, who is staying with us, also made mention of it. Honestly I hadn't thought about it until they brought it up. Mom's passing has hit the stage with me personally to where I just remember the good times and not the last few months of her life.

Do I wish she was still around? Of course I do. Do I feel cheated that my kids will never know her? Yes. Is there anything I can do about it? No.

I love you mom.

I can't wait to see you in 60 years!

Children's nicknames

No matter what you put on the birth certificate, inevitably a nickname will emerge. It is like death and taxes, the ebb and flow of the tide, the rising of the sun every morning.

For JHGIII my preferred nickname is "buddy".

It was a very natural thing to call him. It just fit. he is my little buddy. For JCG the name that has seem to stick is "angel". I spent far more time trying to pick out a nickname for her than for her little brother. I tried noodle, buttercup and a wide variety of others. Angel is the one that stuck. She is my Angel! She is my gift from God.

What was my nickname growing up?

Let's see...Jonny Ponny

You see my two youngest sisters were the unwitting victims of my "creative" nick name creativity. Cathi needs and bathy and Kimmy Bimmy were the ones that I seemed to call them most often. Naturally, Jonny Ponny arose.

Dingleberry

My best friend of all time came up with this one. I don't remember the exact genesis of the name but I recall him saying that I needed a nickname and dingleberry came out of it. Gee thanks Kevin.

JJ

Stands for Jon Jr. Also another contribution from Kevin.

Kiva means kava turkey bird

This one I will leave to one of my sisters to explain.

Update on finishing the basement...

Well...

I have approximately half the basement covered in Sheetrock. I have several major items (pipes and breaker box) all boxed out and covered in Sheetrock. I am very pleased with the progress so far. I hope to get a few more sheets hung tonight as well as making some progress on the built-in entertainment center.

The next major challenge will be building the wall and installing the door way for the water heater and air conditioner. After that it will be to tackle the ceiling.

More updates to follow as well as pictures.

JCG Joke #1

From the mouth of my beautiful daughter....

How do you make an elephant float?

Just add ice cream!

My prayer...

Dear Lord,

Having the ability to pray to you is a most wonderful blessing. I know that through you anything is possible. I am so thankful that you have laid yourself upon my heart. I know that everything good in my life comes from you.

I praise you for all the many blessings you have given me in my life.
I praise you for my happy, healthy and beautiful children.
I praise you for a wife that is way more than I could have ever hoped for.
I praise you for a job that I love.
I praise you for my health.
I praise you for all of my family.

I pray that you help me to stay focused on you above all other things.
I pray that you would help me to make good decisions in my life
I pray that you would help us sell our house to be closer to our families
I pray that you help RP find the motivation to move forward in her life
I pray that you would help guide the hearts and minds of the people running our country
I pray that your will be done in our lives
I pray that your word and your spirit would touch those that have not heard the good news

You are the beginning and the end. You are the one and only King. I submit myself to you in all ways. Please use me in whatever way you need.

I praise you for everything

I pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ

Amen!

Update from Girl's Night Out

So B returned around 2:30 pm today from her night of sin and debauchery. Apparently there was a lot of alcohol involved, closing down a bar at 2:00 am in the morning and something about throwing up on the way home. B says the throwing up wasn't her.

B says that she is over all the "partying" but I think she still has a hidden wild streak left in her.

That's okay, she can party all she wants. I know she loves me and our kids. She won't do anything too crazy.

Have fun my darling!

Basement project .... part two

I went to Home Depot this evening and purchased a bunch of wood in order to hang Sheetrock (a.k.a. wall board) over the cinder block walls in the basement. We are hopeful that this will allow us to get more for the house when we sell it.

I will keep you posted on my progress!

Old mother hubbard....B is not in the cupboard

B is going to stay in hotel room with her friends as they are getting together for girl's night out. They are celebrating the life of a friend who is having a double mastectomy this month. Her friend wanted to cut loose and they are going here.

This will be the second time she has attempted to spend the night away from her kids since JCG was born more than 4 years ago.

The first time was a complete disaster. JHGIII was not two years old yet, he was still breast feeding and had never been without his mommy. As soon as B left he was waiting by the front door waiting for her to come home. He cried and cried. I was devastated. I couldn't do anything to get him to stop crying.

You see to make this situation worse, B was staying in a hotel just outside of Cleveland and was not driving her own car. Thus she was stuck.

This did not cross my mind at the time. All I could think was trying to come up with something to get him to forget about mommy. So I broke down and called B. This only made the situation worse. Mainly because it just made her feel terrible. I probably didn't help the situation by some of the things I said out of desperation and frustration.

I vow to make this time better. The kids are older. JHGIII is done breast feeding. My 21 year old niece is here. I will not call B unless one of the kids gets hurt.

I am always aware of how lucky I am to have B in my life. She is very good to me and is a great mother for my children. But I especially think about her when she is not around for an extended amount of time. Her eyes, her smile, her soul and her heart all warm this house like a constant burning flame. Her absence makes a noticeable difference in the over all mood of the house. We are not a whole unit without her.

Hurry home B. We love and miss you!

My softball bat

The Mizuno Orange Crush G3 is the newest weapon in my softball arsenal. I hadn't purchased a softball bat since 1994. So I thought it was time to upgrade my bat. I have to say I am happy with my purchase. The bat is like a new golf club. It adds more power and distance to my swing.

Plus....it looks REALLY cool in my bat bag!

My new "cool thing"

So I was scanning the radio while in my car headed towards softball on Monday night. When I came across a radio station that I hadn't noticed before.

http://www.thepath.fm/

This is a christian radio station that originates on a college campus. What a great idea! I am hooked! I love the sermons! I love the music! I love the message!

Charades....a proper form of daily communication with your spouse?

What do you think?

Do you think that you could accurately convey the day to day messages to your spouse by using charades? Charades is used fairly infrequently at our house to communicate between B and I. This morning for instance I was swishing the Listerine teeth whitening solution around in my mouth for one minute (as described on the label). During this minute I had a conversation with my wife through the use of charades.

While the speed and immediate accuracy of my message were skewed I discovered that we laughed as hard as we have in quite sometime. So while I don't recommend regular communication channels to be funnel through this one media, try it sometimes. You may find some hidden laughter to emerge when you least expect it.

Stepping back to gain perspective...

It's amazing how even the littlest time away from your everyday routine will help you gain perspective. I play softball now two times a week. The field that I play on is about 25 minutes from my house. I am so thankful for the time I spend in the car driving with just me and my thoughts. I can listen to the radio for music or talk radio or I can just listen to the wind rushing by the car.

Sometimes I think about the day I had at work. Sometimes I think about my relationship with God. Sometimes I think about my marriage. Sometimes I think about my kids. Sometimes I just listen to what is on the radio and let the thoughts flow freely to where ever they might take me.

The point being that I am able to spend just a little time outside of my daily routine. Just enough to let me think about things with a fresh perspective.

This particular night I listened to sermons on a local christian radio station. It was very uplifting to hear someone talk about God and Jesus. It made me rethink a stance I have about whether or not those that do not accept Jesus as the Son of God will go to heaven. It made me think about the methodology I have been taking with my niece in order to get her life going. It made me think about how to handle difficult situations at work differently.

Have you taken a little time lately to just sit and think about your life from outside your daily routine?

Modern portrayal of women in movies

I went to see Grindhouse yesterday. I will set aside my disgust that movie prices are so high for now because that is not the point of this blog.

I have grown to be a fan of Quentin Tarentino movies. I especially loved the Kill Bill movies. What I really like about his directing style is how he portrays women as strong hero types. It is a largely growing trend to show women as strong not only mentally but also physically. I am not a feminist. I will not be marching in a parade that glorifies women's rights (that is not to say that I disagree with equal rights of women and men). The point here is that for too long movie directors have tried and miserably failed to put women in believable hero roles.

Mr. Tarentino has created a series of movies that actually make it OK for a guy to watch a movie that shows a woman in that kind of role. I thought the Beatrix Kiddo character was superbly acted and directed in the Kill Bill movies. Yes the movie was over the top with violence but that is not the point.

The point is to make me believe that a woman is capable of performing the types of activities being shown in the movie. Most movies fail where his movies succeed. I especially loved the end of Grindhouse where Kurt Russell's character was crying like a little baby while the three women were beating the dogsnot out of him. It was very amusing.

The process of selling a house...

We have our house up for sale. If you have never been through the process of selling a house, I am here to tell you that it is NO fun. Putting the house up for sale is EASY. Keeping the house in a state to where you are able to show it to a prospective buyer (AT A MOMENTS NOTICE) is a huge pain in the hind quarters.

If you don't have any kids, you can imagine what it would take to keep a house relatively clean. You basically just pick up after yourself. Imagine having two little tornadoes running loose in your house. That is what it is like trying to keep the house clean with two kids under 5. In fact, keeping your house clean in general is a major challenge with two kids under 5.

You can spend an hour cleaning up an area in your house only to have it dismantled within 3 minutes. Its as if are working in slow motion when you are cleaning up after your kids. They are running around in front and behind you making messes that cause you way more work than you intended.

It is nerve-racking stuff.....