latest happenings

lets see here.....

• I am not dead as many of you may have speculated
• I am in fact far healthier right now than I was this time last year....dont ask please
• Christmas was a blow-out-a-palooza - Christmas in Tennessee/Christmas here/Christmas with my parents/Christmas with her parents and sister and brother....blow-out-a-palooza
• It was a Wii/Hannah Montana/Smart Cycle Christmas for the most part I think-oh and of course the upcoming trip out west will certainly be fun for us all-if we don't freeze that is
• I spent about 10 minutes or so yesterday with our childrens new snow cone maker (its a little turn the crank snoopy one) our son had about 8 pieces of ice in it at the time and my shoulders and neck have been screaming out loud in pain all day long I think from that - I'm not real happy about it right now
• we all went to a roller skating rink today - talk about fun - the kiddos did pretty well considering it was their first time in a pair of roller skates...kinda like riding a bike for me- it all comes back to you after a few laps around the rink-nice smell to the place as well...ahh the memories.....
• well I think its time for more medicine for my shoulder and neck if I hope to sleep any tonite
• OUT

update???

i know i havent posted on here in over 3 weeks time now-you can blame twitter for that-twitter seems much more fun to post on and to follow other on as well-you should check it out sometime i dont think you will be disappointed - lets see since i last blogged the GATORS actually lost a game (unbelievable) but we will take the rest of the season i am certain - i also have met 2 big GATOR fans at church - i like that also especially since the pastor is a big UGA fan....we will surely beat them later this year....well its 06.29 right now on Sunday morning coming down - daughter was snoring so loud i couldnt fall back asleep so i got on up- im sure i will be sleeping later today anyway especially with the little trip that starts later today....oh you dont know about that yet???? well i suppose you will have to stay tuned for updates and i will fill in the blanks afterwards for you all - hows that for a teaser???? CHEERS TO ALL!!!!!

wacky wednesday

• okay it hasnt really been a wacky wednesday i just thought that might catch your attention, of my many wonderful imaginary readers that i have
• im gonna have to get my wife to hook my (pressured into it) twitter account on here
• oh yeah i think im getting a new cell phone tomorrow its gonna be sweet - will post pictures of it if i can
• im taking off work tomorrow at noon - thats sweet
• im also off at noon on friday - suhweet
• got some new faces at the office the last few days they seem to be coming up to speed pretty quick so thats good
• i sure hope i get knocked off of the on call rotation - i think the amount of other work i have now would verify that i need to be taken off of it - to keep all the other work caught up as much as possible
• looks like big old IKE is gonna nail texas sometime this Saturday
• i need some rain on my yard sooner than that with the 45-0-0 fertilizer i put down earlier
• i dont want my whole yard to be paper bag brown due to the fertilizer burning it up
• OUT

MONDAY AM

• its just before 8 right now - and my body is running of fumes....praise the lord for coffee and plenty of it
• weekend was jam packed it seems
• we had some fire trucks/police cars/beach/sun/sand/furniture move/pennies in a lake/and dinner with a talking moose
• okay the fire trucks and police cars were part of HEROS DAY at our neighborhood on saturday - so nothing extreme with that
• the beach/sun/sand is some of what the lovely wife was enjoying this past weekend with a few other girls
• the furniture move was yesterday after church...moved some patio furniture with my parents
• pennies in a lake was with the big boy JCO at the lake where the furniture went
• dinner with a talking moose was at bugaboo creek last nite with some friends
• keep the coffee coming is all i can say right now

Friday mid afternoon

• actually its 4:20 (1620) right now....is that mid afternoon? I think so....
• well i got the kiddos up this morning/dressed them/fed them on schedule
• cousin alli got her on schedule/loaded all in car....got to school on time
• apparently i picked them up to early but im just glad i didnt loose anybody or anything like that
• so its near 1630 now and i am so freaking tired....i have had coffee, and a five hour energy drink today....why is it not working right for me?????
• dear wife is on vacation she desrves it i hope she is enjoying it to its full extent...im sure the kiddos will enjoy talking to her on the phone later today
• might go swimming later today
• OUT

north vs. south and other

most everyone here in the states knows about the old civil war and northern states versus southern states....and most of us southerners know about the typical thoughts that northerners are rude and generally abrasive.....well we all know that there are always exceptions to the rules but the bottom line is i had to call new york university this morning seeking a couple of course descriptions over the phone and to say that the lady i was speaking with was rude and abrasive would be putting it mildly....i should have asked to speak to her supervisor to lodge a complaint against here.....instead i sent an email message to them about the total lack of customer service.....i sorta got a kick outta the whole thing though....go figure....the other is a much more local thing where we live but our church starts this sunday as one church two locations....we are starting services at another location and will have video services essentially....well i am told that another local church on their sign says just that "one church...one location" - i think we might have a little brawl brewing up....should be fun

things dont stay the same

• if youve got enough years on you in life i think you would have to agree with that statement
• and i think its all around us in our life but with me it just hits me from time to time with certain situations
• well when i was still a youngster (5-10 years) is when the transformers first came out. Those are some of the first items i actually saved my money to buy at the store and i played with them a whole lot growing up and somehow kept them in decent shape and kept them over the years.
• well our son is all into typical 5 year old stuff that includes of course the transformers, it seems "they" are tyring to bring the transformers back into production again and attempting to rev it up again with them
• so his birthday has just happened and he got a transformers dvd from someone and i was watching it with him the other nite and i realized this is nothing like what the transformers were like when i was his age.
• the main good guy now has this large ax that he uses as his main weapon and it has all sorts of powers to it - in my day (now that really makes me old saying that doesnt it???) he could just shoot a laser beam or something and punch and kick and throw things - of course he always won and still does - but whats up with the mega ax???
• just a few thoughts right there....i think most of you would agree with me

early tuesday at work

• just a quick post here......i carry a little pocket knife with me - its a lockblade that holds a single razor blade in it - i use everyday for something - it is very handy to have.....well one of my coworkers came in my office this morning and wanted to borrow it for a few minutes to do something in their office.....i dont have a problem with that at all
• i was ready to let her borrow it and i said "and what is the magic word?" and she starts into this elaborate "if it is okay may i borrow your pocket knife for blah blah blah...." again i said "and what is the magic word?" at that point she just said "forget about it" and stormed out of my office.....
• in detailing this in my mind i asked myself "would i expect myself to say 'please'" the answer is of course i would - "would i expect virtually anybody else* to say 'please'" the answer is of course i would - "should i spend another moment trying to figure her out?" the answer is of course i should not....*"virtually anybody else" if the current governor of our state or the current president of our nation wanted to borrow it or have i wouldnt "expect" them to say "please" but they are of such a high caliber that i am certain they would say "please" anyway....part of their normal behavior.....apparently not part of this persons normal behavior.....
• the book is closed on this one

labor day weekend and such

• first off i cant remember the last time i blogged.....it has kinda built up in me and i feel like i might explode if i dont blog soon....i mean i have so many readers out there i know they are missing out on this stuff....
• well i havent blogged b/c ive been so freaking busy it seems....work has me slammed again with work like there is not tomorrow and stuff around the house here has been crazy b/c we have been getting ready for the BIG PIRATE birthday party which i will get to shortly
• this past friday i got off at noon which was nice - no dice on that this week though....b/c first off it is a holiday week which means 8x5 and i also have this friday off to play mr. mom
• well yesterday was sunday and we all went to church as normal which closed out the alive series which was based on if you only had 30 days left to live what would you change and what would your life be like....i had no idea at all but there are several people in our church that have life threatening stuff going on in their lives right now...WOW
• one of points that he attempted to make sunday morning was the fact about how awesome heaven is going to be when we get there...that he was in their backyard recently playing pitch with their kiddos and everyone was happy and getting along...and it worked into hotdogs that they all ate and his whole family had an awesome day with it all and he was talking about that as good as all of that was that heaven is going to be even better when we get there....
• and i suppose that must have struck a chord in me or something because after church all of us and a few friends went to stone mountain for a few concerts and stayed for the laser show after the concerts and whatnot....
• by the way the old laser show seems to be a little better than the one they have right now
• but i was there sitting in my chair with a soft drink in hand just totally chilling out watching the kiddos play around and screaming and goofing off and having a really really good time with it all - awesome stuff indeed
• well the pirate party was everything it was supposed to be today we must have had at least 20 kiddos here and food and presents....and water balloons....which i got them all with a sprinkler from the deck....hahahahaha....that was fun but they all enjoyed it too
• well i need to run again b/c i need to move the sprinkler in the back yard....and whatever
• oh....JCO seems to be into transformers right now....they are trying to bring them back it seems to cartoons and all of that stuff...well when i was his age i saved up my dollars and bought several of them....i gave them all to him earlier today and was pumped about it....he has ran upstairs about 20 times saying that he is setting them up as models in his room....

monday morning

• it is monday the 25th of august
• it is near a quarter till 8 right now in the morning
• i can barely keep my eyes open
• i think the weekend is catching up with me right now
• i will post the details of the weekend a little later
• where is the coffee....keep it coming

early wednesday

• failed to post anything yesterday simply because i did not have time to post anything on here
• was planning to head home at 5 yesterday when my phone rang and was asked to meet pops at the ford dealership for my opinion (on his truck i thought)
• upon reaching that destination i was shown the ford flex vehicle
• jennifer will be picking up the new vehicle later today
• i am still trying to process all of this mentally, very difficult at the moment though
• zac brown just came on the radio - what a great band
• life is good folks, life is good

monday recap

• well it was a good monday - good that its over that is....just kidding it wasnt that bad
• its about nine o'clock right now (2100) and i think that hanna montana is on the disney channel right now and although our daughter (who is the big fan of that show) is fast asleep mommy seems to be enjoying a good bit - i think i even heard some laughter coming from her
• i doubt she would admit to it but now you know the truth
• we have another big birthday to celebrate later this week - i hope it works out good for the birthday person

busy weekend recap....

• lets see we all went to meet WKHX 101.5 a local country station at a nearby car dealership on Thursday i think - turns out nobody else was there so we really racked up on the goodies they had to give away - we got a frisbee, a couple of drinking cups, three or four bottles of franks red hot sauce (im digging that sauce lately anyway), two t shirts, two free tickets to charlie daniels concert on friday and six passes for another upcoming concert.
• one of my neighborhood pals wasnt able to go with to the show with me so me and another good friend went to it
• we had a really good time, met some people there - thats a whole other story though.....
• on friday morning the rest of my family headed out of town for a birthday celebration and they all had a really good time up there, somebody managed front row seats at the grand ole opry....wonder who that was?????
• i pretty much stayed at my parents house the whole weekend because a good many of our folks were down from virginia for a final summer trip/vacation
• so it was really good to see all of them down here for a change, seems the interstate only runs one direction most of the time......
• they all had a blast once the rest of my family got over there and everyone got to see and mess around with the kiddos.....go figure
• im sad to report that i did not make it church this morning, i didnt get outta bed until 9 o'clock this morning....i cannot remember the last time i slept near that late....musta been catching up on some of my sleep i reckon - hopefully i will start waking up with my alarm again in the morning.....six o'clock comes pretty darn early.....uuuugggghhhhhh
• im looking forward to going hiking with chickenwing sometime soon, as soon as we can schedule it sometime that will work for both of us that is.....
• well its near nine o'clock now (2100) and i feel like i could crash until my alarm goes off.....
• OUT

friday morning

• kids say the funniest things sometimes
• i was sitting with our son yesterday evening just messing around a little
• he said "are you with us tomorrow?" - "no i cant take tomorrow off from work" - "well if i was the boss at where you working i would make you work less" - "you mean i wouldnt have to work as much each day?" "thats right" "could i also work less days a week?" "yes" it was then quiet for a few moments and he said "if i was the boss at were you working you would just have to spell five words a day for me" i asked "could i just call them into you on the phone?" he said "yes"
• wouldnt that make for an easier job.....what a pipe dream i suppose
• he also got woken up early this morning before 7 to start driving and he said "im not ready to get up yet, give me a few more minutes" sounds like a teenager huh???
• gonna be a busy few days here...busy but good...will update later

Summer Fun

Thursday the 18th

• i love typing with bullets like this - it is the way to do it!!!!
• its near 7:30 (1930) right now and JCRO is watching the sword in the stone again - she said she liked it
• JCO is hitting some golf balls at the driving range right now with sasha
• the lovely wife is at a drunco.....i mean bunco game right now here in the neighborhood
• i feel pretty stupid right now though because i know in my mind about JCRO's ear and we have to keep it dry and all of that b/c of the infection....so we had the sprinkler going and she wanted to run in it....okay not a problem
• then she wanted to take a shower....i didnt realize until 1/2 way through the shower that her ear was surely getting wet in the shower......oppps.....my bad
• outta here

Tuesday recap

• lets just say that today at work was a day from hades - i like to keep count of things and i counted a minimum of 51 phone calls or voice mails i had today....talk about busy
• a good many of them are not going to be looked at/handled until tomorrow b/c most of them are not quick fixes and can take 10 - 30 minutes plus to fully and adequately take care of
• there was open house for our children this evening where they attend
• i am certain that mommy is glad that school is starting again - hallelujah i know
• i surely need to shave tonite - i hate shaving
• i thought that shaving at nite to avoid doing it in the morning was an idea that i came up with until i was watching alvin and the chipmunks recently with the kiddos and notice that the main character Dave does the exact same thing in one of the scenes...so much for my original idea huh?
• but its still a good idea
• you know what they say that there are no more original ideas anymore - that we are all stealing and changing it around a little for a "new" idea...kinda the everything old is new again concept....

monday recap

• its just after 9 (2100) right now and the day is winding down
• our house is 1/4 asleep already, that would be the youngest of our family
• big brother is getting a shower right now because he kinda smells bad
• im sure its because me and sasha took him fishing at a little local place and then at the neighborhood pond - we got skunked at both of them
• several nibbles though
• we will get 'em next time
• thats the good thing about fishing, get 'em next time
• i think im gonna shower as well
• LATER

monday morning/weekend recap

• its about 10 till 8 right now
• i got up on time this morning - i hope i can keep that up for a while - oversleeping can really screw you up
• was a busy weekend (and its gonna be a busy week as well)
• friday was the georgia aquarium - that place is really fun and really huge as well - some catfish as long as your arm and 8 or 9 inches wide
• a couple of whales, several different sharks, stingrays, jellyfish, and many many others as well
• the children were not using their listening skills very well - but they were super excited about it all and had a good time - so that is all that matters i presume
• so that was friday
• saturday was the duluth margarita festival that showcased the zac brown band - my wife and alpo talked to coy bowles for a long time and had their picture taken by one of the guys in sister hazel
• met the guys after the show as they were signing items - really cool guys i think - they seem really down to earth and normal people - although they can totally rock the music
• they are so good that they are actually going to be playing at the grand ole opry this friday nite - lets just say i know a few people that are going to be there as well........lucky dogs - im sure they will have fun
• its near 8 - i gotta go

Saturday the 9th

• its about a quarter till three right now in the afternoon thats 1500 hours
• lovely wife is dropping the kiddos off at her parents for the night
• why? you ask - because we are going with a couple of friends to a big concert on the other side of town and its gonna have some kicking bands at it - should be a blast
• the fun part is gonna be in the morning for me when i have to get up at 5 in the morning to help with set up at church
• shoud be okay i can get some coffee up and i have a five hour energy drink to use as needed
• got the grass cut/got the weed whacking done/sprayed it down with grass weed killer/worked on the boats some - i have used all 50 screws so far so im stuck until i get more screws for it
• hopefully i will have them done short of painting by sundown tomorrow
• LATER

Thursday the 7th

• ive been meaning to blog for a couple of days but i couldnt remember my bloody password - again i had to rely on my wife to help me out with that one - thank you very much - my multitude of readers appreciate it as well
• tuesday of this week was a BIG day for us because it was our eighth anniversary- 8 years of wedded bliss to my wife - we ate dinner at cheesecake factory and are going to a big concert event this weekend as well in celebration - good times indeed
• monday was a sad day around the office for us old timers at least because one of the former employees/retiree from that office died - i think it was due to a sudden massive heart attack - like we have heard we never know how many days we have - we are not promised tomorrow
• the funeral services were a 1/2 mass because she was catholic - i didnt understand it all but certainly wanted to pay my last respects to her and her family and friends
• this morning was the second day in a row that i overslept for work in the morning - wednesday i overslept by 30 minutes which is totally unusual for me and even worse this morning by 40 minutes - i dont know what my problem is
• i am happy to report that i am borrowing two hiking backpacks from a coworker - me and chickenwing are gonna go hiking sometime soon i think....then im gonna have to cough up around 150 dollars or so for my own hiking backpack - talk about sucks....oh well it will be fun and will certainly last a good long time - help me get some exercise as well....a good deal all over i suppose....
• well i can hardly keep my eyes open now - suppose i should go hit the sack
• later!!!

Saturday afternoon/early evening

• well me and chickenwing went to a couple of stores this morning with the kiddos and looked around at alot of hiking items and hiking backpacks - those things are freaking expensive - around 130.00 plus
• needless to say I did not buy a backpack today I am going to attempt to borrow one from somebody for the first time me and him go backpacking
• he assured me I would fall in love with it, and if that is correct then I will end up getting my own backpack. He suggests against borrowing someone elses because if its a good one and has been used that it has conformed to thats persons body and likely uncomfortable on mine. But 130.00 is still a good chunk of change to cough up just to try something out. So we will see how that all goes. He says he is thinking about going for an overnite hike sometime in September or October of this year. Im kinda looking forward to it already - should be alot of fun - I will keep you all posted on it as it develops.
• I was about to start on drawing some pirate ships for JC's birthday coming up when it started raining (a summer scattered pop up) and it is still raining so I cant really start on it (in the back yard) until it stops raining. Isnt that the way it goes....we all say "we need rain" over and over and here I am already saying I wish it would stop because Im trying to work on something in the back yard.
• LATER

Satuday the 2nd

• it is saturday morning right now - one child is still asleep and one child is at the grandparents house - woohoo
• i am leaving soon to meet with a buddy of mine who is taking me to a hiking store and show me around some - he is trying to get me to go hiking with him
• me and jco went to the braves game last nite and although the braves got the slop beat out of them (again/whats new lately) the firework show after the game was very good - it was worth staying for we got home around 11:30 last nite - thats why he is still asleep right now
• my lovely wife was at the mall with her mother and our daughter and at some point in time at the mall last nite came to find out that there was roach on her foot....Im not even going to try to tell that story - you will have to look at her blog for the details on that one - it may be there already I dont know....
• out

Thursday the 31st

• well i was on-call at work today and if i had a nickel for every item i had to deal with today i would have 30 -40 dollars extra right now.....kinda sucky - oh well though
• we are watching an extra child at the moment because some friends of ours are out on the town
• was glad when the clock got to 5 o'clock this afternoon
• i think i might be going to the braves game this weekend - should be fun - too bad the braves are in the toilet right now...
• hope yall like the pictures and tunes i added on here last nite
• i can hardly hold my eyes open at the moment....oh im falling in love with the 5 hour energy drink - AWESOME

some beach pics.....

updates and the like

how long has it been since i blogged on here??? i dont have a clue - a bloody long time though - ive just been so freaking busy with everything going on - so you ask whats been happening....uhhhh alot....well we had the big old family vacation at mrytle beach a few weeks ago with all of us and my parents and about 25 or so of the folks from virginia....it was a blast - my back started peeling earlier today i think from the sunburn i got....nice.....anyway - school starts again for the kiddos next month so we will transitioning back again to the old school schedule - like all the rest of america....my lovely wife has another trip to the beach coming up later this summer....she just put a really cool sticker on my car a few minutes ago....so if you see some guy driving around town with what you will think looks like a goofy sticker on my car thats probably me so smile and wave please....we had the third of three graduation ceremonies today at work...glad those are over with....one of the speakers was phil gingrey a great american (republican of course 11th district) dont get me started on politics though with the upcoming election in november.....our country could be going down the toilet fast - i pray it doesnt.....well im not sure what else to talk about right now....i think my wife is gonna post a few pictures on here....lets see

Monday the 30th

• I think its been a little bit since I last blogged on here - I've just been to freaking busy to post anything on here for my hundreds of readers (I wish)
• Well the Fourth of July holiday is near and are there going to be fireworks this year...we will see....
• this past Saturday was jam packed with digging up two large areas of monkey grass and then going to pick up 1.374 tons of stones that are being used as edging along major portions of the yard - it is looking GREAT - thanks alot mom and dad for helping out with this project in numerous ways
• I plan to probably cut the yard tomorrow when I get home after I finish stacking the stones around the house, I think I can make most of them three stones high at least - its gonna look awesome - I plan to also spray some of the grass that has managed to inside the flower beds with weed and grass killer
• I'm still having some problems with the trees in the backyard - but at least not as bad as our neighbor who lost one of theirs with the random storm that hit this area yesterday evening and the wind was so strong that it simply broke the tree in half....
• speaking of trees - as soon as my lovely wife purchases a couple of crepe myrtle trees and tells me where she wants them planted at (as long as I agree for the most part on the location) I will plant them for her. Easy as that - so go get em honey!!!
• my shoulders hurt from all of the yard work that has been going on - my back hurts as well - also my arms....okay thats enough of me whining
• LATER

fathers day weekend recap....

• a really fun weekend all things considered
• I got off work at noon on Friday (thats always sweet) and did a good amount of chilling out basically
• Saturday spent some time getting ready for the big Saturday nite party that was scheduled to happen
• Party arrived and we had a really good time, I crashed early because I had to get up early on Sunday morning to help setup at church
• Got up early Sunday and I cannot remember the last time I was so hot - Praise the Lord I had a tshirt on underneath my golf shirt - I was soaking wet with sweat - HOT
• the dumb battery on the van was dead so we were unable to drive it to the side of the theatre and therefore had to push all the carts on the back sidewalk and through all the theatres - much more legwork this way and much hotter as well - serving for the Lord though - so its worth it
• We had to head home after church to prepare for Fathers Day at Jennifers parents house
• was there for a while yesterday and had a good time while there
• upon returning home things changed - Jennifer felt terrible out of nowhere it seemed
• after speaking with an advice nurse they felt that she had a case of vertigo - I went and got her some dramamine and when she fell asleep she did not move all nite long - talk about a deep sleep
• I actually slept well also last nite - what a change of pace that is for me
• I havent talked to her yet today but I pray and hope that she is back to normal, bare minimum I hope she is at least at 90% of normal with only residual effects remaining.
• Got some awesome oil changing ramps from the kiddos for Fathers Day
• Jennifer is going to get me a boot tree as well - anybody know what one of those is???
• My brother called me yesterday on my cell - that was awesome - I hope we will be able to see him at the beach vacation next month somehow - with current gas prices it might be a problem though - hoping for the best though
• Was this a LONG blog or what....(sure am thankful for the spellcheck on here)

a few thoughts....

• I seem to have a problem seeing the big picture and seem to get to focused on the details
• I think this may be a case of a persons best quality becoming their worst quality at the same time
• we desperately need some rainfall around here
• am looking forward to going out tonite with the folks and friends
• looking forward to guys nite out this Friday nite
• fathers day is this Sunday
• looking forward to the BIG party on Saturday nite as well
• I think its going to be a busy weekend
• Also help setup this Sunday morning - that means alarm clock set for 5 AM - better have some coffee ready
• ditto the coffee for Friday morning and driving to the airport - leaving around 6 likely
• out

real quick

• if your feet are rough at all - go to the store and buy the pedegg - that thing works incredibly - nuff said

Thursday the 5th

• today was a good day at work, our supervisor got pizza for us all - from papa johns - two veggie pizzas and one pepperoni pizza - i ended up eating four slices...nice indeed
• me and chickenwing are going to the braves game tomorrow - we are gonna have a good time indeed at the game, im looking forward to it
• my parents get back in town tomorrow only to turn around and drive to virginia
• one of my aunts is in the hospital, she had a mini stroke yesterday and was going to get out today but they kept her because her blood pressure was something like 200 something over 180 or 190...pretty scary
• i am praying for her recovery
• later

weekend wrap up

• its a new month now (actually it started yesterday) and thats always a good thing
• busy weekend but alot of fun as well
• our whole family along with a few friends went to Medieval Times on Saturday nite, that was a pretty cool experience. They had a live falcon which did some free flying around the arena. Several horses and jousting along with weapon fighting. Turns out our knight, the yellow knight won the battle that nite. GO YELLOW!!!!
• I cut the grass this weekend, I will likely raise the mower up a notch the next time I cut it b/c its starting to get a little brown when cut at this height.
• we got a little bit of rain over the weekend, of course the drought marches on around here
• Looks like our church is soon going to start at the second location somewhere really near our area of town. I reckon at the moment though that we will continue to do the 9 o'clock service up at the theatre
• speaking of theatres we took JCO to see speed racer yesterday - do not waste your time or money on this one - dont even bother once its out on video for rental - I woulda had a better time watching some paint dry I think than sitting through that film. A little strange on top of all of that. Enough of that for now.
• Im now parking across the street here, because the parking location I was using is now closed down and we are all parking across the street at what they call the TownPark location. I think I am going to walk to my car in the afternoon when the day is over because the shuttle makes so many stops between here and there I can likely beat it simply by walking over, Im sure the exercise aint gonna hurt me any either.

random items

• Its just after 2035 or 8:35 Wednesday evening/night
• a good day at work - it seems I am getting a little more responsibilities put to me which I am okay with, because it seems to me they must think I can handle it all - I agree with them on that one
• I am also getting more phone calls from folks around the place asking me questions that I can certainly help them with, seems my name must be getting out there in certain places
• my dear wifes birthday is gonna be here real soon - I sure hope I am ready for it
• I think the kiddos are asleep, I havent heard any noises for a little bit

Tuesday the 27th

• felt like Monday today but sure enough it is Tuesday, hopefully I will have it straight by tomorrow
• My dear wifes birthday (the big 30) is coming up real soon
• She already has the celebrations going on, talk about a party animal (that changes some with 30+)
• Me and the kiddos went out earlier this evening and we have our cards for her and we also have our present for her (I hope they keep their mouth shut about it all and dont ruin the surprise for her)
• The GE repair guy is supposed to come back again tomorrow with a new control panel, they said it would not cost anything if an additional trip was required - they better not ask for or send a bill for another penny from us on this one. I will be glad when the oven works again.
• Im pretty sure I have been able to save the tree that was turning brown in the backyard - thats a big relief for me.
• The kiddos are watching A Bugs Life right now - havent seen that one in a long time
• LATER

Sunday the 25th

• it is 10:10 right now according to the computer clock...actually 10:11 now
• have had a pretty darn good time so far here at the lake house with my lovely wife, our children and a good family friend and her son as well.
• the pool was alot of fun today, I think we will hit it one more time before we leave sometime tomorrow
• I need to get back in time to cut the grass before it gets all dark
• Another good family friends is going to take us all out on his boat tomorrow morning about 10:30 - so that should be alot of fun for sure
• A good friend of ours back in the hood got baptized this morning at the annual tailgate service which is held in the parking lot. I hate that I missed it but I am certain that she and her family were blessed by here baptism and the blessings will flow I am sure.
• I was cooking some hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill earlier this evening and the neighbors had a rather interesting conversation going on, I was not even trying to snoop on them but they were talking so loud and I was in clear view of them, apparently they might have seen me and just not cared much at all. Whatever I suppose.
• Going back to work on Tuesday is gonna suck a little bit, but it will be a short week I reckon so there you go.

Wednesday evening

• a good day at work, I was on call today, not much action there, thats a good thing
• have at least attempted to contact all of my problem folders from our recent graduation
• my brakes seem to be working fine and dandy so far
• the GE repairman did come to our house today, he did not have a control panel with him (which I specifically requested them to have with them when I scheduled it yesterday)
• seems he wont be able to come back with the new control panel until Wednesday of next week....thats real nice since the guy I talked to last nite said "90% of the time they are able to fix the problem on the spot or with the equipment in their vehicle." I asked "what about the other 10% of the time?" He said "well they order the part that day and it is available the next day and they will return to your house the next day with that part and fix your stove with it." Well......it did not quite turn out that way did it????? Talk about a rock and hard place....like you have much of a choice on it you know???
• We had a large celebration at work today for two of our "long marchers" their last day will be the end of this month, many changes coming for our office I think.
• I get off work at noon tomorrow - WOOHOO - we will head out of town tomorrow nite or Friday morning some friends of ours will come as well - it should be a good time for us all I think. I am looking forward to it for sure.
• LATER

hmmmmm

titled this one hmmmmm because I'm not sure what all I want to tap out here lets see....

• I had to help get the rest of the family up and outta bed this morning starting with my dear wife at about a quarter after six.....that was fun
• we attempted to carry the children to the minivan and thought they would simply continue to sleep in their seats....they both woke up....but they were fairly quiet which was nice I'm sure because they were at least half way asleep still
• We did all of this so I could drive my car to a friends driveway who is the main teacher at a local high school auto tech class. I needed my brakes worked on.
• I totally trust this guy with a vehicle because he has been doing it for several years now, he knows his stuff
• it still cost me 150.00 dollars though.....are you kidding me???? he had to put two new rotors on it which cost about 40 dollars a piece or so...so thats 80....what is the other 40 dollars???
• the mystery 40 bucks I suppose
• I think I'm gonna ask him for a line by line receipt of services rendered on my vehicle while there
• Monday is over- WOOHOO
• two and a half more days of work this week and we will be lake bound for the weekend with some friends of ours.....should be a good time for all I think - looking forward to it
• I'm sure my lovely wife will read this sometime soon....got a few ideas for your birthday - lets talk about it
• I hate the post a few down from here where I didnt know to click "spell check done" button and some word is still highlighted in yellow....I cant spell worth anything...praise the Lord for spellcheck - I used to get papers back that looked like a red paintbrush had been all over it with all the spelling errors on it
• OUT

a few quick hits

• it is FRIDAY.....YES
• yesterday was a tough day here at the office....not good
• i hope today is better
• guys nite out tonite - that should be fun
• last weekend of soccer games for JCO - thats good
• Im gonna need to cut the yard again this weekend I think because with the rain it has gotten this week it has grown a good bit
• the yard is starting to look pretty darn good
• Im still a little worried about the one tree in the backyard
• I need to take a few pictures of it and email it to Walter Reeves to see what he thinks about it
• I get to have lunch on Monday with a guy from our old church who has also moved on - that should be fun
• well its near 8 o'clock now - better go

Wednesday the 14th 10:17 pm

well lets see here....

• four graduation ceremonies for Spring 2008 are OVER -PTL we had a little over 1600 students that attended the ceremonies, each ceremony had over 400 in it
• There is SO much work that goes on behind the scenes for those ceremonies, off the hook
• I think a good buddy of mine who teaches auto shop at a local high school has ordered and received the appropriate parts needed to put new brakes on my car, they are starting to squeak more every day lately.
• our oven still doesnt work I have gotten home to late the past two nites (graduations) to call the service line and be able to talk to anybody so hopefully I can talk to somebody there tomorrow and schedule them to come on out here and fix the control panel on our oven.
• A guy from our former church wants to meet with me next week to discuss ways I might be able to help him in his new position which includes attempting to reach out to more college students. I think it might could be a huge way to serve the Lord more and better, I am excited about the potentials of this.
• I think I'm going to take a long Memorial Day weekend with the 12 or so hours of comp. time I got from the graduation ceremonies.

Monday the 12th

Well it is Monday nite just after nine o'clock and I am sitting here on the couch with the TV on and the children watching a movie upstairs (more on that in a minute) and my lovely wife is with some friends (more on that in a minute) so basically I am just chilling right now. I need to load up on as much chilling as I can before tomorrow at work and the day after. What happens tomorrow and the day after at work you may ask? An excellent question - the answer is that we have two graduation ceremonies each day. One at two o'clock and one at seven o'clock. We have over 400 graduates at each ceremony for a grand total of over 1600 that plan to attend the ceremony. Thats gonna be alot of fun. I stopped by wallmart earlier and got two four pack of ROCKSTAR. I plan to basically drink ROCKSTAR and coffee for the next two days, sleeping tomorrow nite is gonna be alot of fun I imagine.
As far as the children watching a movie upstairs to go to sleep with (hopefully) its kinda funny that we had some really good hard lines when we had only one child and we did a pretty darn good job holding to those lines. One of those lines was that we would not ever, or hardly ever let him go to sleep while watching a movie or childrens programming on TV. By the time the second one came around lets just say that totally changed. Well things happen you know, Im not to concerned about them watching to much TV or anything like that because I watched more TV growing up than you can shake a stick at and I think I turned out alright.
My lovely wife is with some of her friends and they are having a girls nite out watching the finale of the bachelor tv program. I think its called London Calling or something this time, I only know that because it has been on our TV every week and you can only tune stuff out for so long you know.
Well I feel like I have wasted enough time for now on the blog.
Thanks for reading.

Sunday nite near 9:30

Well its another weekend almost for the record books now, and it's been a good one I must say lets see here

• Mothers day weekend, we really love our mommies around here - I think my mom enjoyed the pictures we gave her of the grandchildren and overall the other activities of the weekend
• I think my dear wife really like the knockout rose bushes we planted in the front yard for her - I just wish we could fast forward a little bit and have them getting full grown and filling out
• The current series at church is called JAIL BREAK, today he spoke on breaking free from unforgiveness, a very good message that I think hits everyone in some way or another, full forgiveness only comes from God above
• Its kinda weird but it seems I am going to have to start shaving again every day, because I skipped shaving this morning because I shaved last night and tonite I took a shower and had to shave afterwards because my face just felt bad...better after a good shave
• we got some painting done at the in-laws house this afternoon, I think they will be working on it some as the week goes on, its part of a mothers day surprise for her I think
• I am also working on one of the islands in their front yard, attempting to weed it out and will be available to put some mulch down for them upon supplying it.
• its back to work tomorrow morning, we have four graduation ceremonies this week so I am going to have at least two long days at work, I plan to stock up on some rockstar energy drink for both of those days, I will probably be free basing it or something.
• will probably call GE this week and have them come out to fix the stupid oven for us, I am going to tell them to bring a control panel with them to avoid an extra service trip for us and more $$$ being paid for an additional trip on their part.
• I reckon thats enough for now, thanks for reading leave me a comment people so I know who was here, I dont know how to add a counter or anything yet.

Thursday night - just after nine o'clock

Well it feels like its been a pretty busy day in my life, but Im sure that I am the only one that thinks that. I know there are plenty of people that did a ton more than I did today - so how about it was a somewhat busy for me. Lets see, I started off the day by oversleeping about 40 minutes - so the first thing that means when I get out of bed is that I dont need a shower to wake up, the second thing that means is that I am likely to skip or forget something of the normal process. Well I forgot to brush my teeth this morning....nice I know. So then I was at work until 6 this evening, we started final audits for the Spring term today so its a really big crunch time basically looking at a huge report of over 100 sheets of paper and taking information from one sheet to the folder to verify graduation or not for a whole lot of students. We have four different graduation ceremonies next week. I think we have around 1600 students graduating this time. So that will be alot of fun I'm sure. So I leave the office and head to what our church calls "The Warehouse". Turns out it really is a warehouse, it is also the main offices of the staff members of the church, we meet in a local theatre. He recorded a message tonight for something called The One Service. Several churches around the nation are participating in this, it should be pretty cool. So I get home and mess around a little bit and then I give JCRO a quick bath in the tub. So they are up watching Toy Story (a new movie I know) and will likely go to sleep while watching it. Its funny when it was just our son we would NEVER let him go to sleep watching TV or a video, it has become the normal procedure around here. Things change I suppose. So that it is after nine o'clock on a Thursday means one thing at this house, that my lovely wife is watching GREYS. So life goes on you know. I feel I have rambled far too much on this one. LATER

cell phones

okay, I have had a cell for several years now, technically I have had a few different cell phones over the years, now I understand that technology (including cell phones) is advancing and more/better/faster services becoming available.
There are two factors that really get on my nerves about cell phones in general (and no one of them is not hearing them ring at inappropriate times, I think that is rather funny actually)
issue A: why, why, why do people send text messages on a cell phone, much less a big conversation all by text messages on their cell phones. If person A has a cell phone and is texting person B on their cell phone, then clearly both people have cell phones - CALL THEM ON THE PHONE!!!!
issue B: now it is true that I get zippo reception in the office building here at work on my cell phone - but even if I had all the bars and perfect reception, why do people (who have reception in this building) keep their cell phone turned on and receive calls on it during work hours. I would imagine most anybody that has your cell phone number is going to know your work number as well.....why dont they simply call you on your office number, if its between 8 and 5 there is a good chance you are at work.

just wondering.....

Monday evening

well lets see here...oh lets try bullet style again

• Jennifer got the camera up to me at work in plenty of time, and I did the best I could to record the little event, now I gotta work on transferring the recording to a regular VCR tape and to DVD as well for the person the party was for, it will be free for her and it will cost all others
• Our GE gas stove that has been flashing a F7 error code for several weeks now apparently decided to take it to the next level on us today and not let the actual oven work at all. Like most things in your house you dont realize how often you use something until it doesnt work. So much for cooking a pizza in the oven for now
• I called the GE 800 number about it and talked to Ralph - nice enough guy I suppose - "so the house call charge is 69.95" "now wait a minute, I got a few other places to call to check prices" "yes sir I understand, but you need to know that each of our technicians is GE certified and they often can fix the problem while there the first time" "well thats nice but the problem with this one is the control panel and I doubt he would be able to fix that on site while he was here on the first visit" "possible sir, you also need to know that the 69.95 house call charge includes diagnostic check on your equipment." "Thank you I will call back if we decide to schedule with you" "sir, sir you need to know that cancellation of a service call is as simple as a phone call to us even the day of the scheduled appointment." "okay thank you, goodbye"
• a big thank you to my father in law for coming over and taking a look at it and checking some of his trusty websites for this kinda stuff
• its always something isnt it folks?
• so does anybody have any suggestions on local electricians, GE stove people anything that might help us out with this situation???? Just post a reply to me if you have any idea on this one.

a quick post

• gotta be quick here
• I feel it was a really good weekend with the kiddos and events in general
• I'm freaking out a little bit here because I cant get JAMO to answer the phone and I want to let her know I need the camera by 12:30 at the latest
• I suppose its not totally critical that I get the camera by then, but it will add a nice touch I think
• the camera is for recording a birthday party here at the office today for one of long time marchers who is turning 60 today and also retiring later this month - so its kinda the last big hurrah for her, should be a good time
• The weather was absolutely incredible this weekend - I LOVE this time of year - dont you?
• still loving life!!!!!

Saturday the 3rd 11:06 am

Well it is Saturday now getting toward noon. Lets see here - me and JCO went to the Braves game last nite, I was not able to park where I thought we would park at because roads were closed and blocked and all kind of dumb stuff like that so we parked at what looked like a decent lot near the IBEW across from the stadium. I felt okay about it because the folks working that lot looked decent enough and they said that they would be there watching the lot the entire game. So we parked and walked on up to the stadium - got to our seats (with his first slice of pizza and a coke of course) and sat down it was the top of the third inning at this point in time. He talked to the people around us alot, especially another child his age behind us - you would have thought that they were best friends or something. So the Braves won 2-0 against the Cincinnati Reds and we stayed for the firework show after the game which was a pretty decent show in my opinion - I like firework shows a whole lot. I hope he will have some of the memories that I have of a couple of baseball games with my dad when I was his age. He seemed pretty excited about the whole event, so we will see. Moving on, I took him to his soccer game this morning which was an early game for us all at 9 o'clock this morning. His team seemed mostly asleep on the field this morning and they were playing an older team this morning as well, its okay though because at his level of teams they do not even keep score. He says he had a good time though so that is all that really matters. They are watching a Disney movie at the moment, I am waiting for my fertilizer spreader to get back to me here and JAMO is eating lunch before she goes to the store for us all.


I ask again, does anybody read this stuff?????

Thursday the 1st

• it is 9:24 right now.....it was a good day today
• I got home and JCRO was asleep on the couch
• JCO was running around
• JAMO was not feeling to well at that point in time
• I decided to go ahead and start cutting the grass here at the old homeplace
• I was glad that I was able to get the whole yard cut
• JCO followed me around alot while cutting it- he likes to do whatever daddy is doing most of the time
• What is a little more shocking about the day is that JCRO wanted to lie in her own bed to go to sleep, and I think she is fast asleep by now
• JCO is asleep in our bed as usual while watching the movie again, I think that DVD is going to wear out sometime soon from over use
• I reckon I will crash sometime soon myself

Tuesday the 29 near nine o'clock

Well lets see here.....

• my dear wife is asleep with our daughter on her bed - nice
• our son is likely asleep on our bed watching "The Princess comes to life movie" otherwise known as Enchanted again - nice
• Earlier this evening I got two tickets to this Fridays Braves game at the TED, and I have checked with two people so far to see if they are interested and neither can make it due to previous commitments, I know its kinda a last minute thing - but I will find the perfect person to go with me I know it - so I am excited about that
• I am looking to get a hairs cut tomorrow - not a hair cut - I have more than one piece of hair on my head - I intend to get them all cut or trimmed at the same sitting therefore "hairs cut"
• I dont think I have anything Thursday - at least not at the moment
• Friday I will be off work at noon - YEE HAW!!! and leave for the Braves game around 6:30 or so I imagine, I think I will attempt to get the grass cut between those things and maybe put some more fertilizer down on the yard as well, after it is cut.
• Does anybody ever look at this blog anyway?????

some random thoughts

okay I am going bullet style here.....

• I REALLY like the house we live in right now
• I also REALLY like the street we live on, we have some awesome neighbors around here
• I REALLY love my wife
• I REALLY love our children
• I am VERY happy with life right now, more so than normal it seems for some reason.
• LATER

Monday the 28th

Well it is just short of eight o'clock this morning right now - I overslept a little bit this morning but thats okay because I set the alarm early enough that if I do oversleep or whatever that I will still likely be on track and not be late for work in the mornings. Well JAMA made it back safe yesterday I was in the yard with the kiddos playing and we were racing around the house again when she arrived so that was some good timing huh? We got a few things painted for her over the weekend and I think she was pretty happy to see them done when she got home. Now I just need to figure out what to do for Mothers Day and her birthday coming up next month. I have an idea or two but if you have any suggestions feel free to let me know.

Sunday the 27th

It is just after a quarter past two right now on Sunday afternoon. I am expecting to get a call or see my great bride any time now. They should be done up there I think based on past weekend it should be a similar schedule they are following this weekend. Well my in-laws kept the kiddos overnite last nite and I went to church this morning and it felt kinda weird being there by myself without Jennifer and without the kiddos. I imagine we will be back to normal next Sunday with all of us there again. I will be glad when she gets back with us here, things aren't the same without her around here thats for sure. Its been a somewhat productive weekend around here, we got most of the weeds picked out of the yard and got a couple of special things done for Jennifer while she has been out, I hope she likes them when she sees them later today. Well the kiddos are starting to act up a little bit so I need to check on them. LATER

Thursday the 24th

Well I am at work right now, taking a little break that is - in an attempt to keep this thing current and possibly somewhat interesting for others to read....It is near a quarter after two right now and my lovely bride has reached her retreat location earlier today and Im sure enjoying it already - I am busy as always here at work right now and am looking forward to hanging out with the kiddos for a few days while mommy is at the retreat - should be a good time for all of us - well onward and upward LATER

Tuesday the 22nd

Well this was my first day back to work from a three day spiritual retreat and I am happy to say that my desk was not slammed with folders when I got there this morning - that seems to happen all too often when a little vacation is taken. Around this neighborhood Tuesdays are trash day, so I usually pull the trash container down in the morning before I leave for work. Well yesterday I pulled it down in the evening because I was testing the trash pickup company to see if they would take everything I had placed by the curb and next to the trash container. You see I did a little bit of cleaning up yesterday and basically had two larger pieces of trash that I could have easily taken to the dump, but thats not much fun and I'm really not sure where the closest dump is to our house, maybe HWY 92? So anyway I had the trash bin there with the top not closed all the way because we had so many bags of trash in it. I also had an old (cheap) wooden table sitting upside down with a large plastic snap top container that had long since served its purpose. The top of this thing was busted in two, the latches had been long since busted and the container was labeled in black marker as "MISC. CRAP" Clearly items that were not worth keeping around, and in the ever constant battle for more room in a house many of these things were chunked to the trash. Well the good news is that the trash people took it all!!! I came home from work and all that was by the curb was the empty trash container. I was happy about that one. I feel like I sorta snuk one under the radar. Changing subjects here - Jennifer leaves for her retreat this Thursday and will return sometime Sunday evening. I know that she is looking forward to it and she certainly deserves a little break from the normal around here, I think that this retreat will be very beneficial to her much as my retreat was beneficial to me. Well I feel I have rambled on enough for now. Lets see if anybody reads this stuff.

first post by me on my blog....

well i am pretty much a rookie at this thing - there are a good couple of other blogs that i read, we will see if anybody looks at mine or not....well today is monday (yes i hardly ever capitalize anything because i dont much like holding down the shift key to capitalize a letter and we all know that typing in all caps is not smiled upon) and i had today off work as well, i have been off since last thursday - i participated in a church based retreat and worked in the kitchen - its a little tough feeding around 120 mouths a day three times a day - especially if you are on cooking for breakfast - your looking at 5:45 at the latest before you fire up the stove top and get the coffee brewing up....so anyway yeah im pretty darn tired from it but yes i am much refreshed in my spirit and feel my relationship with God (I do capitalize that) has been refreshed and renewed again, so those are very good things indeed. I was very blessed when i got back home yesterday to see that my wife with a little bit of help had started and done a real good bit of putting pine bark nuggets around the whole yard and the islands and all of that stuff. So that is the main thing i have worked on today is finishing that job up for the most part. I (I usually do capitalize at the beginning of sentences) went to the new depot this morning and bought 20 more bags of pine bark nuggets and have 3 of them still unopened at the moment. Based on the $ spent for this so far it is coming a little below what having some delivered here would have cost. So thats a good thing i figure. Well its only 8:19 right now, but i can hardly keep my eyes open. I think im gonna go read something and may well fall asleep for the night. I reckon I still have some sleep to catch up on.

Ok I set it up

Ok I set it up for you, now it is time to start blogging, Brandon!!!