Valtool's Box

Been a long time

2011-10-02T12:38:00.002-04:00

Good Morning!

I don't know that many or any people read this anymore, but I suddenly felt like writing something today. It's been 10 months and a lot has changed in my life...

When I last wrote here, I was dramatically underemployed. I had lost my full-time job and was working one day a week to net about $60 for 8-9 hours work.

In late February I started working 3 evenings a week for Johnny's NY Style Pizza as a delivery driver. I know the owners of this restaurant from playing trivia there with some friends over the years and as I have pizza delivery experience from my college days. I was a help in this position because they had never offered delivery in the 12 years they have been open. Things began slowly but have picked up and the delivery business is steadily growing. It's been 7 months and I am still working with them for some extra money and because I find it fun.

In early May I was contacted by a friend from college about a job with her company. I know Suzanne from the Wesley Foundation (United Methodist Campus Ministry at UCF). She knew I needed a full-time job and she needed a driver/merchandiser at her Boar's Head distributorship. I started working there in mid-May, delivering deli meats and cheeses to Kroger and a few independent stores Monday through Friday each week.

My hope was to be able to move up into sales and my progress is going well. I started at a rate $1 higher than my rate at Walgreens. At three months I received an additional $1 per hour raise, and this week I met with the owner of the company to discuss a change in my duties. I will only be driving the truck 2 days a week and the other 3 days I will be just going to stores to merchandise product. I am also receiving another $1/hour raise!

We're just 4 days shy of our 10th wedding anniversary. On Wednesday, Amy and I are going to see Wicked! the Musical for the 2nd time. On Thursday we will head out to spend a few days in TN to celebrate with our now 3 and a half year old daughter, LynnMarie.

The Phillies are in the playoffs for the 5th consecutive year and I got to see them live on Wednesday of this week as they played spoiler to the Atlanta Braves, ending their playoff hopes.

I still follow UCF for my college football enthusiasm. They are 2-2 right now and about to start their C-USA conference play.

Looking for Work

2010-12-30T01:18:00.003-05:00

2010 is not ending nearly as well as I had hoped. After almost 3 and a half years with Walgreens I found myself without employment about three weeks ago. It was not expected, but it is potentially a good thing as I was spinning my wheels there. I enjoyed my work and my customers liked me and I performed well in the areas they seemed to focus on, but the economy hit the company hard and the advancement I anticipated when I first started there never happened, so if this is what it takes to get me into a better job, then this is what it takes.

In the meantime, to try to bring in SOME income, I have started delivering a once-a-week newspaper called "Just Busted." Just Busted takes the mug shots from about 10 North Georgia counties and publishes them along with the names of the accused and the crimes with which they were charged. It does not pay a lot, but it is income and I am responsible only to myself for my work. There is potential to grow the business, but it will take some work as there is another distributor in my area and a lot of retailers do not want to try it even though there is no risk for them, purely profit potential as they only pay for the copies that are not returned, and they keep 45 cents for each copy sold, so if they can sell 11 copies a week, they will earn $250 in pure profit without making any investment other than some counter space.

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt - Cuddly

2010-02-20T07:34:00.001-05:00

He's changed a LOT in the 3 years he's been with us!

DVD Time

2010-01-11T01:27:00.002-05:00

This weekend we hit the RedBox for two movies. They recently installed one at a Shell gas station within 2 miles of the house which is very convenient as it is outside and available 24/7.

We watched Julie & Julia last night. It's good. Meryl Streep could certainly be up for an award or two for her portrayal of Julia Child. It is a new take on the bio-pic as it blends Child's life in France through her death with the real-life experiences of a want-to-be writer in early 2000's NYC. Amy Adams plays the Julie who is trying to prepare every Child's recipe within 1 year and blogged about it and grew quite a following. Amy said she sees Amy Adams becoming the new Meg Ryan, and with her cuteness and diversity in roles, I could see this. It helps that Nora Ephron (You've Got Mail) was behind this film.

Tonight I (note the singular) watched Inglorious Bastards. All I can really say it is not what I expected. I like Quentin Tarentino's films so I was hopeful, but it was a bit hard to follow due to the speed with which subtitles were displayed and removed. Also, I expected more Brad Pitt and his guys running around killing people as that's what the trailor indicated the movie was about. The saving grace (though limited) was the casting of Diane Kruger who I became infatuated with in the National Treasure movies. Would I own it? No. Would I watch it again if I happened across it on TV, probably.

Snow Atlanta Style

2010-01-08T12:35:00.004-05:00

We got about 1/2 of one inch of snow here in Kennesaw. This is typical of Atlanta-area snow. We do have closings of most every metro school system. In our neighborhood we have a lot of hills and my brother told me that when he got home last night (around 10pm) the kids were out sledding. This had some merit because the snow will not last. We won't get above freezing today, but there is some melting happening.
Amy worked last night and has to work again today so we'll see how she does getting out of the neighborhood to get to work tonight. We have a new friend in the neighborhood, this funny-faced stray-looking black cat has been coming up the sidewalk to visit our house. He/she won't come close enough to be pet, and we've seen it across the street seeking shelter in the storm drain. This morning we awoke to 16 degrees with a high of 29 so I hope he has somewhere warm he can go.

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt - Lick

2010-01-02T00:00:00.001-05:00

PhotoHunt

U2 - New Year's Day

2010-01-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Five Months Later

2009-12-29T19:24:00.002-05:00

Well, I can't say as I intended to take a 5 month leave of absence from the old blog here. I have just not been inspired to write much and have been using Facebook and Twitter instead of writing posting anything here. I think I'm going to try to make a bit of a balance between the two for a bit.

Today was a special day for me as a Daddy. Back in March my wife Amy and I traveled to China and adopted a baby girl (one year old) who was born with clubbed feet (they were literally turned backwards when she was born). During her first year of life she was taken in by an American-run foster home called Swallows Nest in Zhaungzhou, Henan Province, China. They saw her through surgery and corrective casting to fix her feet. She wears a brace at night to keep her feet from turning, and she gets therapy every 2 weeks from Cobb County, GA. She had therapy today and though we've seen her walk a few steps and then fall to her knees, we were amazed to see this...

Reunion

2009-07-26T15:25:00.005-04:00

I guess that since I attended my 20th Anniversary High School Reunion last night, I am officially getting old. I still have a year and a half before I hit 40, but it is beginning to catch up with me. Here are some pictures of my fellow aging friends.

Saturday Photo Hunt - Flags

2009-06-27T00:42:00.003-04:00

Atop Lookout Mountain, Tennessee at Rock City. You can see 7 states from this vantage point; GA, TN, AL, SC, NC, VA and KY.

Saturday Photo Hunt - Advertisement

2009-06-06T10:13:00.004-04:00

I love these paintings on old brik stores. These are in Acworth, GA.

Food

2009-05-31T18:52:00.002-04:00

Wow! It has been a long time since I have had anything to say (or at least write). Food is the topic of the day. Amy and I have started watching some of the non-cooking programming on the Food Network like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and Unwrapped. Last night it was a show on hamburgers that included a Fuddruckers offering for about $250 that comes out as about 30 pounds of a single sandwich. You have to slice it like a cake, disgusting in an awesome way!

Today it was Guy Fiore doing a pair of shows on Barbecue. This is a very touchy subject because it is a very regional item. The regional nature is a major part of why Darden restaurants did not really succeed with a chain of BBQ Sports bars called Smokey Bones. The first show was specifically on Memphis BBQ. Memphis is pretty much accepted to be the home of BBQ, yet we were surprised that they featured 4 or 5 restaurants and did not mention Rendezvous or Interstate. We have heard of Rendezvous more than any other in Memphis. For the benefit of Jeff, who lives there, I will mention the restaurants they featured and see if he has any input on them... Leonard's (where they serve the sandwich with coleslaw ON the sandwich), Tom's (where they work fast and you order by picking a particular bag from a pile, and they serve a bologna-BBQ sandwich with dry rub the kicker here is the original owner was Greek and the dry rub is a Greek/Mediterranean spice blend), Marlowe's (which is near Graceland and started as an Italian restaurant and then became more BBQ, but they serve pasta as a side with their BBQ), and Cozy Corner (which features BBQ Cornish Hens).

Lunch today.

We returned to a local restaurant today that we've visited in the past, but we did not know that the ownership changed about 2 years ago. It is a family-run Italian joint called Bergamo (www.bergamopizza.com) . This was a FANTASTIC lunch. We went in and ordered a kid's meal for LynnMarie while we looked over the menu. LM got a chicken finger and fries meal, but they altered the meat to a nugget form as all the food is prepped to order the chicken was cut , breaded and fried specifically for our baby.

I went simple, ordering a calzone, the Bergamo, which came with pepperoni, ham, mushrooms, sausage and green pepper. I subbed out onions for the green pepper and it came with a home made marinara. All the sauces are made from scratch here. Amy ordered tortellini but on the waitress' recommendation they subbed the marinara sauce for a Gorgonzola cream sauce. It rocked! We got a Greek salad to share and discovered our baby does NOT like feta cheese, and they served the meal with their fresh-baked foccacia bread, which they topped with olive oil and Parmesan cheese, yummy!

We will definitely be returning to Bergamo and will take any out of town guests there to sample what we enjoyed.

Last Night

We joined some friends for a new experience last night, Korean BBQ. The wife in this couple is half Korean and they like this kind of food a lot. It is a different experience as all the meats are cooked at/in your table. They bring over a fire/heat source which fits into the center of the table, lay a grill over top of it and entree by entree they cook the meats. We had chicken, pork, beef, and squid. A large assortment of side dishes filled the table along with a rice cake soup. The extras included white rice, leaf lettuce, sheets of rice cake, two kinds of kim shi and a variety of greens, sprouts and similar add-ons. The eating is one by making wraps of the meat and extras on the lettuce or on the sliced sheets of rice cake. It was tasty, but expensive. We had a good time and certainly enjoyed the company, but it is not likely to be something to eat again, dinner for 4 adults and three kids under 3 was right at $100. Ouch. For that much we'll go to a Brazilian BBQ and fill our guts with yummy meats.

Pirates be bringing sexy back

2009-05-04T11:25:00.002-04:00

Saturday Photo Hunt - Walking

2009-05-02T22:15:00.002-04:00

BJ's Wholesale Club

2009-04-26T16:49:00.002-04:00

I'd never been inside a BJ's club before this afternoon. Amy and I are looking for cost-cutting tools and we used to be members of Sam's Club, but it expired a few months back. So we got a mailer offering a free 60 day membership to BJ's which is also about 8 miles closer to us than the nearest Sam's. This BJ's is about 4 miles from the house, next to our SuperTarget and it has gas.

I looked at the membership offerings online, and got a better offer when I got there. Instead of the $45 annual fee, they charged us $30 and they tacked the 60 days free on to the new membership giving us 14 months for $30. Pretty good I thought as Sam's was $35 for 12 months last I looked, maybe higher now.

We were given the monthly coupon book and a new member coupon book and we went a browsing. Our goal was to check pricing and see what the place would hold. We took advantage of several offers including a free bag of bananas (3lb), and a free 37oz box of Cheerios for buying a 228 ct box of Pampers that is the same as the one Tante Toma got LynnMarie as a shower gift.

We also picked up some cheese (shredded and block) which got us free Ritz crackers, my shampoo with a coupon, some condiments, some Weight Watchers deserts with a coupon, cat litter, and the baby-feeding bonus, a gallon of milk for $1.99! On the way out we filled the Honda at $1.84 a gallon, which saved us over a dollar on the tank compared to the regular gas stations.

On the way home we got 6 beautiful Florida tomatos from the roadside stand for $5 and picked up the newspaper on the way home. Now we're relaxing. Baby is taking a nap, the Phillies finished a sweep of the NL East leading Marlins and life is good except for Jeff Gordon getting 56 laps back by the halfway point at Talladega today.

Tuesday TV

2009-04-22T07:34:00.002-04:00

Most Tuesday nights I am working or catching up on other shows from the DVR, especially since we returned from China. The only thing I have to catch up on now is Chuck, and the DVR is down to about 20% full!

I had the day off yesterday and I began with watching 24. Granted, it's a Monday show, but I watched it on Tuesday.

24 - Jack Bauer has always had a good bit in common with John McClain, Bruce Willis' character in the Die Hard franchise. This week it really kicked in with the elements of "how can this guy keep standing after the physical toll his body has taken?"

We now know for certain that Jonas and Starkwood are NOT the end of the mega-conspiracy to usurp our government which NO ONE has a clue about. Tony is back to being a bad guy, now responsible for killing many FBI agents. Jack caught on, but of course his nerve agent exposure kicked in right as he was about to take Tony down. What's more? In the preview for next week we see Jack running around like he has zero physical problems again! The storyline is better than a few of the more recent seasons, but I'm about ready for it to end.

American Idol - We're still at 7 after last weeks Judge's Save, but we drop two tonight. Tonight we will likely see the departure of Lil (who the judges have been openly working against for over a month despite her trying to and sometimes actually doing what they have told her) and probably Anoop.

Lil - opened the night, a major strike against her. Only Adam and Danny can open a show and be guaranteed to be safe.

Kris - made Disco night bearable by making a disco song Santana-like. Good move.

Danny - nothing out of the ordinary or unique at all, but solid.

Adam - Takes the BeeGees in a totally different direction and it seems to work. I like the rock Adam better.

Matt - I like this guy. He may be channelling Timberlake too much, but I like his style.

Allison - the most OVER-rated performer this year. She's bettter than the skunk-haired nurse from last year, but she is not the talent they think she is and I can't look at her fake red hair.

Anoop - Last to perform and did a song I did not recognize. I won't miss him or his desire to be an R&B singer. V-103 in Atlanta would never play him.

Biggest Loser - From 6 to 5 and Kristin is gone!

Kristin has had so much more camera time than anyone else and Amy and I were tired of listening to her. Congrats on being the biggest woman ever on the show. She got SO very annoying at the end of the episode repeatedly telling Mike that he is "taking the easy way out to win the show" by eliminating her. Well, DUH! Ultimately it is a game to be won. His only real threats are Kristin and Tara, and Tara is a freaking machine! So yeah for the kid who has lost more than any other contestant in the history of the show and to his dad for helping him. I just hope that when they get home they can help brother Max who is left as the only big guy in the family.

Photo Tour - L.A. and 90210

2009-04-20T17:13:00.005-04:00

My Cousin Hope and LynnMarie. Hope has a 90210 address and she drove us around while we waited for our flight to Atlanta.

The Regency Beverly Wilshire (where Pretty Woman took place).

The Beverly Hills Hotel

The Roxy and The Rainbow Room

The Whiskey A Go Go

Mann's Chinese Theater

The Capital Records Building

The Hollywood Sign

Wow

2009-04-06T08:50:00.002-04:00

So it's been over two weeks since I posted anything here. Well, we were pretty busy the first week as we were still in China and then getting home. I wrote about t he experience as far as getting to Los Angeles over on the family blog and I have pictures to post from that point on.

We arrived in Atlanta at midnight last Saturday/Sunday. We worked on adjusting to the time change while sleeping through the NASCAR race with Amy's parents.

Monday they went home and I went back to work, for an hour. My foot had inflamed again to the point I could barely fit it in my shoe and I could not stand on it for 7.5 hours. I left and called the podiatrist for help in the form of steroids he called in for me. Tuesday was more like the same, another day missed at work.

Wednesday I made it to work, left at 1:30 to see the internist and returned at 2:30 to complete my shift. Based on the duration and harshness of my cough, she said it fit a CDC alert she had seen and about 5 other patients she has diagnosed with Whooping Cough. Yes, it is back. One of the symptoms includes coughing so much you vomit, which explains my China experiences.

We went to trivia Wednesday night to introduce the baby. I ate about half my entree and then said goodbye to it the way it came in.

I went to work Thursday morning only to discover shortly before lunch that my blood sugar had massively spiked, to over 500mg/l. (under 150 is typical). I went on break, shot up insulin and called Amy to take me home. By 5:30 or so we had it back to 150 mg/l.

Friday I returned to work and completed my first shift since returning to China.

Saturday I felt great early on. General strength was back. I had to run an errand at 10:30 for the store and I hit a Wendy's drive-thru for a jr. bacon cheeseburger on the way back. At 1:20 I went on break and I threw up the Wendy's. I ate my break food and finished my shift. I came home and cleaned the room my mom is using while she is here in Atlanta this week. I went downstairs to have dinner with Amy and immediately threw it up.

Since 8pm Friday I have kept my food down including the comfort food of mom's fried flounder and mac & cheese last night. LynnMarie LOVED the noodles and the corn side dish.

The cough is finally subsiding after a 6 day antibiotic pack and some strong cough suppressants. Now the shift is back to my feet and my inability to walk much. The podiatrist says gout. Amy and my mom want to hear my internist's opinion so we have a call in to her. We also have baby girl LynnMarie's first pediatric appointment this morning which will be a family affair.

So as it is, I have today and tomorrow off and I think I am out of sick days for the year now. Pray for my foot to heal so I can get back to life like normal, working, loving and caring for my baby and hopefully going to the gym.

Oh yes and yesterday was a mixed bag of emotions for sports as Jeff Gordon won his first race in over a year. Yeah! But the Phillies started an undependable hack for their first pitcher as World Series champions and he gave up 3 home runs in less than two innings including one to a kid who had NEVER been at bat in a Major League Baseball game in his life!

Final score Braves 4, Phillies 1. Mark Bradley of the atlanta paper (www.ajc.com) asked this morning why no bandwagon support for the Braves after one game. My answer, they know Brett Meyers is a hack who should be serving burritos at Taco Bell.

Swallows Nest Photos

2009-03-22T03:31:00.004-04:00

Reality is Love

2009-03-18T06:13:00.002-04:00

For about 60 hours now I have been a father. My world has changed for sure. We first heard about our daughter in late November and on Monday morning we got to meet her, hold her, and make her ours forever.

We left Atlanta for China on Wednesday morning of last week, arriving in China on Thursday. We spent Friday and Saturday touring in Beijing seeing Tianemin Square, The Forbidden Palace and I got to climb the Great Wall of China. Once in a lifetime opportunities for most people.

On Sunday we flew from Beijing to Zhoungzhou (pronounced Jung Jo) the capital of the Henan province. I slept surprisingly well Sunday night knowing that at 9am on Monday we would meet and receive our LynnMarie.

The entire experience has been wonderful. God placed a perfect baby in our family. She was born with special medical needs, but the care she received in her forst 12 months has done wonders already and her prognosis for a normal life is excellent.

LynnMarie was assigned to a specific orphanage in ths province, but with her medical conditions, she was allowed to go to the care of an American woman who is here to teach nursing but has starated a foster home for special needs orphans. This afternoon we met this lady and visited the two apartments she uses for the babies/children. It was an awesome experience seeing the heart of a woman and dthe hand of God working through her. Her kids have needs including heart defects, missing limbs, spina bifida, deafness and even an albino litle boy who will be going to a forever family in the USA pretty soon.

The greatest thing is these kids are cared for and are truly LOVED. Several nannies are emplyed full-time to care for the children and there is an American college student working as an intern at this time. It was a great hope for us that we would be able to meet our Angel in the flesh and see the environment in which LynnMarie was cared for and loved. The nanny's faces lit up as soon as they saw LynnMarie with us and though parting once again had to be bittersweet, they know the love they gave her will be continued forever.

I have a minor issue with downloading pictures from my camera to our laptop, but as soon as it is resolved, photos will be coming!

Lifechange

2009-03-14T05:55:00.002-04:00

I did not realize that it has been 11 days since I last took the time to write anything here. It is roughly 6pm on Saturday March 14, 2009 and I am less than a day and a half from becoming a father.

I am sitting in a hotel room in Beijing, China. Somewhere to the Northeast of here, in another province I guestimate to be 500 miles away there is a baby girl in a state-run orphanage who has had a major change to her life this week and is about to have an even bigger one.

Two and a half years ago Amy and I began a journey of days that has now become a journey of hours and miles. Yesterday was the first birthday of Lu Chun Ai, whose parents abandoned her for multiple reasons ranging from the fact she is a girl to her badly mis-shapen feet. She was placed in an orphanage with man other children left to the care of the Chinese government.

An angel came in to her life and removed her from that orphanage and placed her in a small foster home where she would be loved on by multiple nannies every day and where arrangements were made to heal her sweet feet and her tiny fingers.

I knew nothing of this precious child before late November. Two days before Thanksgiving I learned that she existed. One day before Thanksgiving I saw her face and was able to read about her life. Five days later I decided with Amy that we wanted this little girl to have parents again and that we wanted the job.

A whirlwind of anticipation has ensued. there were lots of initials for events in the adoption process that came on certain days and each one brought us a step closer and closer to holding this baby.

Two days before Christmas we received a pre-approval (PA) from China. About three weeks later we got our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) from China which means they agreed that we would become Lu Chun Ai's parents. Next came the Travel Approval (TA) which was the final hurdle to clear and the point at which we could start making travel arrangements.

The reality of the past 30 months and the energy of the past 15 weeks is really hitting home. I am about to achieve one of the biggest things any man can do in his life, become a daddy. I will be responsible (as part of a two-person team) for the care and guidance of another human being. I will have my heart melt when I hear a tiny voice say "Daddy." I will have my heart break when she tests me with her actions and words. I will rejoice over the milestones of her life. I will cherish the Cinderella moments that Steven Curtis Chapman sings about with his daughters.

The past two days have been a vacation. My lifechange is looming. Like any other lifechange it is entirely voluntary, but it is powerful how huge an event this is. For me it ranks only with two others in my life, giving my heart to Jesus and sharing my heart and life in marriage with Amy.

There is so much about what I am about to do that I know nothing about. For these things I ask for your prayers and guidance and support. I will make mistakes. I will need help, sometimes knowingly, sometimes not. Ultimately I know the correct outcome will happen. God's hand will guarantee it, but it is still a scary prospect, but it is one I have chosen to create for my life and to face in every minute of every day.

Lu Chun Ai, prepare to experience lifechange like none you have known. Prepare to feel love in a way you have never known. Prepare to become LynnMarie ChunAi Christopher Atlanta, GA.

The Great Adventure

2009-03-03T23:16:00.002-05:00

I haven't written or posted much here in the past month or so. I haven't been too inspired to write, but I've had a lot on my mind. It's almost 11:30pm right now and that means I am 175 hours away from rolling down a runway at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, heading to Newark and then onward to Beijing.

In about 10 days the actual reality that I will be a dad will become true. I always knew this day would come. I never planned or expected that my first child would be adopted or that the child would be from China or that the child would be a girl. I always expected I would be the father of boys. The men in my family have a tendency to father boys, ,about 70% going back 3 generations. I will have a princess to call me daddy. I will be worried about her growing up, protective of her when she begins dating, encouraging of her as she learns and grows and becomes a woman I will be proud of.

I know I have a lot to learn in this process, but it is the greatest adventure I will ever do.

Brevity

2009-02-25T17:57:00.001-05:00

A friend posted about haveing a lot to say (on her blog) but not having the time to say it. That got me thinking about the concept of brevity. Here are a few related quotes.

Good things, when short, are twice as good. ~Baltasar Gracian, The Art of Worldly Wisdom

It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what other men say in whole books - what other men do not say in whole books. ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
I will be brief.
~William Shakespeare, Hamlet

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do. ~Thomas Jefferson

My great-grandfather used to say to his wife, my great-grandmother, who in turn told her daughter, my grandmother, who repeated it to her daughter, my mother, who used to remind her daughter, my own sister, that to talk well and eloquently was a very great art, but that an equally great one was to know the right moment to stop. ~Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Friday Flashback

2009-02-20T18:16:00.002-05:00

Yes boys and girls, we're setting the Wayback Machine for the 1980s and its a video (or more) each week here at Valtool's Box. Since Mark Lee, the awesome guitar dude in Third Day mentioned John Mellancamp/Cougar/Cougar-Mellancamp today, we'll go with the man from the heartland.

The Ipod/mp3 Shuffle Meme

2009-02-19T22:33:00.002-05:00

I was tagged by Frigga at http://www.anyapples.blogspot.com/ and here's the deal. Take your ipod or mp3 player. Set it on shuffle. Use the songs that randomly play as the answers to these questions. Here are the questions and my answers.

How would you describe yourself? Eyes on the Sky (Von Ra)

What do you like in a member of the opposite sex? Urban (Cirque du Soleil - La Nouba)

How do you feel today? Knowing Me, Knowing You (ABBA)

What is your life's purpose? Fad of the Land (Newsboys)

What's your motto? Father, Spirit, Jesus (Casting Crowns)

What do your friends think of you? Does Anybody Hear Her (Casting Crowns)

What do your parents think of you? In Me (Casting Crowns)

What do you think about very often? Between You and Me (DC Talk)

What is 2 + 2? He (Jars of Clay)

What do you think of your best friend? Cloud of Witnesses (Mark Schultz)

What is your life story? Running Just To Catch Myself (Mark Schultz)

What do you want to be when you grow up? No Signal (tobymac)

What do you think when you see the person you like? Lifesong (Casting Crowns)

What will you dance to at your wedding? Higher (Creed)

What will they play at your funeral? Loved You All Along (Von Ra)

What is your hobby/interest? Lord You Are (Mark Schultz)

What is your biggest fear? Rockstar (Third Day)

What is your biggest secret? Let My Words Be Few (Rebecca St. James)

What do you want right now? Scene Six : Home (Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory)

What do you think of your friends? Jesus Is Just Alright (DC Talk)

What will you post this as? Im Not That Girl (Wicked Cast Recording)

What time is it? Ignition (tobymac)

Since I have no idea who if anyone reads my blog, I tag anyone who reads this blog to do this meme and then come back and let me know you did it!

Flashback

2009-02-16T23:46:00.001-05:00

Tonight Amy and I were watching a movie and I heard a song I recognized but could not remember the name or the artist. So I checked the credits and went to Youtube. This wouldn't qualify for my 80's blog, which I have not done anything with in over a month, so I am putting it here. From 1979, Blondie with "Dreaming."

Date Night

2009-02-09T15:00:00.001-05:00

Last night Amy and I enjoyed are last major date night as childless parents. We attended the WinterJam concert as guests of Tour Pastor Tony Nolan who is also about to become the father of a Chinese princess. Here's a taste of what we enjoyed.... tobymac.

Have you Ever Meme

2009-02-08T15:47:00.002-05:00

Taken from Frigga at www.anyapples.blogspot.com

1. Have you ever been on TV?
Yes, barely. There was a news report from the tailgate at a Jimmy Buffett concert in orlando I went to back in the 90's. The stock footage they shot included me playing congas with our Parrothead club band in the parking lot.

2. Have you ever sung in public?
Yes, I've done karaoke on 3 occasions that I remember and I sang the lead in a church production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown back in '95.

3. Have you ever dyed your hair blond?
No, but I did get frosted highlights once, back around 2000. Was going for a Sugar Ray look.

4. Have you ever eaten frogs' legs?
No.

5. Have you ever received a present that you really hated?
Hate is a strong word. I've definitely received some I don't care about. I remember getting an Allman Brothers Band album when I was about 11 years old.

6. Have you ever walked into a lamp post?
No.

7. Have you ever fallen or stumbled in front of others?
Sure, but everyone does. No big deal unless you do something to make it memorable.

8. Have you ever done volunteer work?
Lots. With the Parrotheads of Central Florida we did river clean-ups and adopt a highway plus events for tornado victims in FL and the Make-a-Wish foundation and the AMerican Cancer Society Relay for life. Recently I have raised money for Relay or Life and the Juvenille Diabetes Walk for a Cure through my work, selling pictures I have taken and organizing charity poker tournaments. I have served at a soup kitchen and done construction at youth outreach camps in Tn. I have been a volunteer leader/counselor for Younglife and for my churches.

99

2009-02-05T19:01:00.002-05:00

This number 99 is the jersey of Wayne Gretsky. He is called "The Great One." Today is a 99 day.

Before work we had an appointment to meet our likely pediatrician. He is VERY positive about LynnMarie's current and future health.

I went to work. It was pretty much dead. Photo was a wasteland, but we had some vendor deliveries and stock issues to address.

After work I went straight to the gym. I spent 35 minutes on the eliptical (down from my regular 55) and burned just over 400 calories. I then moved to a number of the weight machines, all the time listening to music on my mp3 player. I was particularly motivate and moved when I heard songs by Burlap to Cashmere, DC Talk and tobymac. The last thing I heard was tobymac singing "Whatever I gotta be, I be for you."

That lyric struck me in two ways, as I want that to be my motivation regarding my God and my family.

As for 99. Let me say aome more. This morning I took my oral meds and after the meeting with the doctor I had a chicken breakfast burrito from Chick-fil-a. At work I had some natural almonds through my shift and lunch was a baked chicken breast and some corn. I had taken no insulin since last night and when I got home I checked my blood sugar level to find it at a very awesome 99!

Barney's Video Resume

2009-02-04T23:59:00.001-05:00

Ten on Tuesday #21

2009-01-27T08:55:00.002-05:00

My 10 Favorite Articles of Clothing

1. Mike Schmidt 1980 throwback Phillies jersey.

2. Atlanta Thrashers Home Jersey.

3. UCF Polo - received this Christmas.

4. Hard Rock Cafe Denim Jacket (London) bought in 1994.

5. My "work" socks. I buy Starter brand black athletic socks, great comfort for being on your feet all day.

6. PokerStars polo shirt - it was free from the site.

7. UCF t-shirt that says "Mess with one Knight, mess with all 45,000."

8. Black denim shorts. They have finally worn out after 8 or more years.

9. WHTQ 96.5 FM baseball jersey from when I interned with the station back in '99-'00.

10. Autographed Debbie Gibson "Dare 2 Dream" t-shirt, only worn once, it's another 10+ year throwback.

Dream Theater - The Spirit Carries On

2009-01-26T15:53:00.000-05:00

Catching Up

2009-01-26T09:51:00.002-05:00

I noticed today that I have barely done a thing here in the past month. I used to post about 25-35 times a month and so far I'm at 7 or 8 right now.

So what's up? Most of you know about our international adoption and it is coming VERY close to being complete. We started the journey about 27 months ago and suddenly (in the past 2 months) we have found ourselves about 7 weeks away from being in CHINA, bringing home an awesome baby girl. It's kind of like being 7 and a half months pregnant. Very soon, I am going to be a daddy.

Facebook is kicking in a bit. My 20th HS reunion is now just 6 months away. In addition to about 150 or so HS friends on Facebook, I have recently added 4 more family members and last night I started finding old Parrothead friends from Orlando, Dennis & Betsy, Lou & Pat, JT, T Scott, Laurie, & Doc. Some of them may be her ein Atlanta later this year for an Atlanta Parrothead club meeting.

If not for the Parrotheads and their concert for tornado relief back in '98, I would have never met Vaughn Rhea and his band and family. I know where he is, but have not been in touch with him since the band played at a Tower Records here in Atlanta to promote the release of the Soundtrack to the TV show Smallville back around '02 I think. He's a great guy and a great husband and dad to Jordan, Jacob, and Olivia.

When Love Takes You In

2009-01-22T23:59:00.001-05:00

I know you’ve heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You’ve heard about a place called home
But there doesn’t seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

And somewhere while you’re sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could ever
cause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in it takes you in for good
When love takes you in

Ten on Tuesday #20

2009-01-20T13:44:00.003-05:00

Ten Favorite Sports Moments

1. 1980 - The Phillies beat the Royals to win the World Series. Tug McGraw says "You gotta believe!"

2. 2008 - The Phillies beat the Rays to win the World Series after a two-day delay to finish game 4.

3. Tiger Woods wins anything.

4. Georgia Tech owns Georgia in the 3rd quarter and breaks a way-to-long losing streak by defeating the dogs between the hedges, 2008.

5. I attend my first professional hockey game and see the Atlanta Thrashers beat the New Jersey Devils in December 2006.

6. Cal Ripkin, Jr. breaks the Iron-man record by playing in 2131 consecutive scheduled games, beating Lou Gehrig's record of 2130. The game was stopped when it became official and Ripkin was recognized before play resumed. I cried.

7. UCF enters the Conference USA in 2005 and hosts the innaugural Championship game and plays in the school's first ever bowl game.

8. At age 40, Randy Johnson pitches a perfect game against the Atlanta Braves. 2004.

9. Clint Bowyer finishes the 2005 Daytona 500 UPSIDE DOWN AND ON FIRE!

10. George Steinbrenner fires Joe Torre, who is then hired by the LA Dodgers who leads them to the NL Championship series in the same year that the Yankees don't even make the playoffs, 2008.

The Not So Magic Kingdom

2009-01-13T21:53:00.003-05:00

I was previewing any news and special info for our visit to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World on Thursday and I found the following scheduled closings...

* Mickey's PhilharMagic : Closed for Refurbishment [January 18, 2009 to January 31, 2009]
* Splash Mountain®: Closed for Refurbishment [January 13, 2009 to January 18, 2009]
* The Hall Of Presidents: Closed for Refurbishment [January 13, 2009 to January 31, 2009]

The Mickey thing I have never heard of, but it closes after we will have been there.
Splash Mountain is fun, but I don't like getting wet while clothed and it will be cool weather on Thursday.
Hall of Presidents is closing 7 days before until 11 days after the inauguration.

A Cold Winter's Night

2009-01-12T21:44:00.000-05:00

Jack is Back!

2009-01-12T00:01:00.002-05:00

Horay for the American TV audience! Tonight was the return of 24 and the return of Jack Bauer, the man who got blackjack with only one card!

I totally forgot that Jeanine Garafalo was to be on this season. She has lost weight but she still annoys me to Hell and back. I have a hard time separating her politics from her art. From what we saw in the first two hours tonight, I fully expect she'll be the one to blow things for Jack by worrying about loved ones and leaking to the world what is going on behind closed doors at the FBI.

Aside from that, I like the idea of having Jack face a former friend as a new nemesis. I liked the pick-up on the assassin's shoes outside the Columbia building, and the female FBI agent he is paired with is hot, nice freckles!

American Idol starts this week. We are watching the Biggest Loser, and we are already behind almost 3 hours from last week needing to watch DVR'd ER, Grey's, and Private Practice.

Orlando Skyline c. 1999

2009-01-05T00:42:00.003-05:00

The skyline has changed a great deal in the past 10 years. This shot was taken from aboard the Blockbuster Video blimp!

LynnMarie in Video

2009-01-03T12:48:00.001-05:00

We received a tip from someone who had recently been to the Henan Province and we found this video on YouTube. This is my daughter!

Wordless Wednesday - Flashback

2008-12-31T07:46:00.002-05:00

I started shooting pictures with an SLR about 10 years ago, and this was one of my first that I also developed and printed myself at a dark room at UCF.

The Bro Code

2008-12-27T19:11:00.002-05:00

One of the gifts I received for Christmas was a book from my brother Peter. This book is titled, The Bro Code as "authored" by Barney Stinson and Matt Kuhn. Barney Stinson is a fictional character on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother played by Neil Patrick Harris. Barney is the ultimate guy's guy and lady's man. It's funny how well he plays the character considering the actor is openly gay.

According to the Bro Code...

If a bro gets a dog, it must be at least as tall as his knee when full-grown.

When wearing a cap, the Bro may position the brim at 12 o'clock or 6 o'clock, anything inbetween is reserved for rappers and the handicapped.

A Bro must always post bail for another Bro unless it's out of state or like, crazy expensive. (crazy expensive equals # of years you have known Bro time $100)

A Bro shall stop everything he's doing and watch Die Hard if it is on TV. The same goes for the Shawshank Redemption, Top Gun, The Big Lebowski, the first half of Full Metal Jacket, and porn.

If a Bro forgets a guy's name he may call him "brah," "dude," or "man," but never "Bro."

A Bro shall drop whatever he's doing and rush to help another Bro dump a chick.

Bros before Hos.

If two bros decide to catch a movie together, they shall not attend one starting later than 4:40pm.

If a Bro should pick up a guitar at a party and start playing, another Bro shall point out that he is a tool.

Travel

2008-12-26T23:42:00.002-05:00

Almost 15 years ago I traveled the furthest I ever have traveled when I went to London, England for a week.

In about 3 months I should be traveling to China. It's something like 17 hours on the plane.

What's the farthest from home you have traveled and what was the purpose of the trip?

In my case it was London and it was as an unofficial chaperone on a trip with the high school I was student teaching at. We visited museums, historic sites and saw theatre shows. I remember we stayed in Hampton Gardens and visited Cambridge and Stratford-on-Avon. We saw An Absoute Turkey, Cats, Les Miserables and Macbeth performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. I fell asleep during MacBeth, but I fell in love with Les Miserables.

Thursday Thirteen - Christmas Expected/Unexpected

2008-12-25T12:52:00.003-05:00

Thirteen Things about Mike's Christmas, the expected and the unexpected.

1. Expected - Bluejeans. I realized I last bought new bluejeans in the Spring of 1999 before going on a mission trip to TN with my college ministry group. I asked for 2 new pair of Wranglers. I received 3 new pair of Levis and a nice wool-lined denim jacket.

2. Expected - Boxer shorts. Last year I received 3 really nice pair of J.Crew boxers from my s-i-l and this year it was 3 pair of Izod. We'll see how they compare. Again they were from Kelly. Here's a tip. It is okay for your sister-in-law to buy you underwear. It for a guy to buy his s-i-l underwear (except maybe longohns).

Well, that was all that I ASKED for, so the rest of these fall in the Unexpected category.

3. Number 3 in this 13, but number 1 on my list. A daughter. By early Spring I will be a daddy. Go to http://www.thechristopherfamily.blogspot.com/ to learn more.

4. An Xbox 360! I would have enjoyed a refurbished Xbox so I could continue to play the games I have for it, but Amy got me the newer one and it should play some if not all of the older games.

5. A Jeff Dunham DVD. Jeff Dunham is probably my favorite comedian. Granted, he's a ventriloquist, but I have been watching him for over 10 years and even got to see him live back in '98 or '99 at the UCF Homecoming Week Comedy concert. "Peanut, you lost a shoe." "No I didn't. I FOUND one!"

6. The Bro Code - from our favorite sitcom, How I Met Your Mother, authored by Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) a copy of the book The Bro Code.

7. An itunes gift card. I hope that it works for downloading songs I can use on my mp3 player because I don't have an ipod.

8. The Dark Knight - in my opinion the best movie I saw this year. Now I own it.

9. A new UCF hat, white with the UCF logo.

10. A new UCF polo shirt, primarily black with gold and white stripes and the UCF Knights logo.

11. Whatever is coming from my brother and his family (it didn't arrive yet).

12. A book on being a daddy (from Amy).

13. Step-brothers (the movie). We have not seen it, but we generally like Will Farrell and the ads looked funny.

Merry Christmas to those of you who read my blog. I found out there are a lot more of you than I realized. make me happy and leave comments sometimes. I'll find out who some of you are and some conversations, discussions and relationships might just begin!

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A Very Special Announcement

2008-12-23T18:36:00.001-05:00

Please visit http://www.thechristopherfamily.blogspot.com to meet..... my DAUGHTER!

Merry Christmas Y'all!

Cold & Cold

2008-12-22T11:34:00.002-05:00

A few days ago, like Friday, it was in the high 60's here in Atlanta.

Today it is currently 21 with a "feels like" temp of 16. Ouch

Add to this I now have a cold.

Bleh.

I had yesterday off from work and today too.

On Saturday we had a couple from our small group over for dinner and a movie and we watched Love Actually by my reccomendation. I totally forgot that one of the subplots involved a couple who meet on the job, which happens to be working as stand-ins on s movie set so they can fix the lighting before the stars come out to act. Well, they work on a porn set so they have to keep getting undressed and simulate sex acts and here I am showing this movie to people from church. I reall was embarassed. Aside from that, it is a good movie, with a fair bit of dry British humor.

Sunday we went to church which was really good. I found the sermon intriguing and wanted more of it when it was over. We hit the grocery store on the way home for things needed for dinner and sandwiches for lunch. We then watched the 2nd half of the movie Juno. It was good, not great, not one I need to see again.

Later last night we had some friends over again, another couple we know through adoption. We had chili and grilled cheese sandwiches and we watched Christmas Vacation and part of the Jeff Dunham Christmas special.

I wasn't necessarily wired, but I sarted looking for elementary school friends on Facebook and found a couple who I have not seen or heard from in 25-30 years. It will be interesting to see if they remember me at all.

I went to bed after 1am and it was COLD upstairs. I awoke just before the 8am alarm and made it to the doctor (I had an appointment arranged al;ready). I did a few errands on the way home and am now just killing time until Amy takes her nap so I can go do some Christmas shopping for her.

If you make it over to my 80's music blog, www.rockingthe80s.blogspot.com I think I am going to scrap the daily theme for a while and just post videos at random.

A meme stolen from Frigga

2008-12-16T14:27:00.002-05:00

Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? Yes - not my favorite, but yes.

Favorite late night snack? Popcorn

Do you own a gun? Not yet (this was Frigga's answer and I like it too)

What’s your favorite drink at specialty coffee shops? Bottled Water

Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? No - anxious about the time I have to wait, yes, but not nervous

What do you think of hot dogs? Good for any meal and most snacks.

Favorite Christmas song? Christmas Eve Sarajevo by Trans-Siberian Orchestra

What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coke Zero, Unsweetend Iced Tea

Can you do push-ups? Can I? Yes. Do I?

What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? My cross. My Nana got it for me on her last trip to Athens before she died.

Favorite hobby? Poker

What’s one trait that you hate about yourself? Being void of willpower.

Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. - I like the movie Iron Man, I have to dress for work in about 30 minutes, our adoption is making progress.

Name 3 drinks you regularly drink. Coke Zero, Unsweetened Iced Tea, Jaeger-bombs

Current worry right now? Finances

Current hate right now? Bills

Favorite place to be? On a cruise

How do you ring in the New Year? Same as any other day of the year. New Years Eve/Day has never been anything special to me.

Like to travel? Sure.

Do you own slippers? Not in the last 30 or so years.

What color shirt are you wearing? Currently? I am topless.

Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I think I would, but I don't believe I ever have.

Can you whistle? Yes

Favorite singer/band? Jimmy Buffett/Casting Crowns

Could you ever make it 39 days on the show Survivor? I'd like to think I could physically, but I know I would be booted pretty quick either for being a Christian or for being a smart-ass.

What songs do you sing in the shower? None.

Favorite girl’s names? Margaret, Jennifer, Rebecca, Jordan, Sarah, Elizabeth.

Favorite boy’s names? Michael, Steven

What’s in your pocket right now? Nothing

Last thing that made you laugh? Barney's perverted Christmas Carols on last night's How I Met Your Mother.

Like your job? Most of the time.

Do you love where you live? Love? maybe a bit of a strong word, but I like it.

How many TVs do you have in your house? Three

Do you drive the speed limit or speed? I speed.

Does someone have a crush on you? Yes :)

What is your favorite book? Where Is Joe merchant

What is your favorite candy? Nestle Crucnch

Favorite Sports Team? UCF Knights, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Thrashers

What were you doing 12 AM last night? Watching TV

What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up today? 10:30? Did I sleep 9.5-10 hours?

Casting Crowns - I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day

2008-12-15T08:50:00.000-05:00

Questions

2008-12-14T15:22:00.002-05:00

What are the differences between things like a CD-R, DVD-R, CD-RW, etc?

What the crap is a 3G network and does it have any bearing on a non-tech-geek like me who actually uses a phone to make phonecalls?

To the lady in the school bus renamed a Toyota Sequoia, did it make a huge difference rushing and swerving around the pedestrians in the Target parking lot so you could get stuck at the traffic light?

Why does my dog ONLY bark at my brother, who lives in this house, when she does not bark at anyone else?

Why do I own 3 unopened Monopoly games?

What Christmas Movie Are You?

2008-12-12T16:36:00.001-05:00

Your Christmas is Most Like: A Very Brady Christmas

For you, it's all about sharing times with family.

Even if you all get a bit cheesy at times.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

Change

2008-12-11T22:10:00.002-05:00

In the past week I have been thinking a lot about attitudes. I have thought about my attitude towards my work, my wife, my life in general, people in general.

Little things have come to mind like getting on the interstate tonight, knowing the two ramp lanes merge into one and not caring what place in line I am because I will get where I am going eventually.

Bigger things have come to mind resulting in a desire to express a new philosophy through my words and actions. The basis of this philosophy is "What can I do to make YOUR day better?"
I put it into practice today, and despite a major threat to my attitude early on, I rebounded and made a very positive impact on two of my customers today.

This afternoon I took my wife out to dinner (Chinese, which we have not done in a while) and a movie.

My fortune cookie message was "You will develop an interest and appreciation for the culture of China." WOW. (note: fortune cookies are NOT part of the culture of China)

The movie.... we went to see Fireproof.

What a re-enforcement of my attitude/philosophy. This is one to own and to share with your friends, churched and unchurched, married and unmarried.

I have to think and digest (mentally) and I hope to write more later.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

Ten on Tuesday #19 Favorite Christmas Songs

2008-12-09T10:07:00.003-05:00

U2 - It's Christmas, Baby Please Come Home

George Winston - Christmastime Is Here

Olivia Olsen - All I Want For Christmas is You - Love Actually

Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas?

Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve Sarajevo (Carol of the Bells)

Casting Crowns - While You Were Sleeping

Point of Grace - One King

Steven Curtis Chapman - All I Really Want For Christmas

Debbie Gibson - Sleigh Ride

Amy Grant - Grown-up Christmas List

Faith Hill - Where Are You Christmas

Casting Crowns Christmas Show

2008-12-08T11:35:00.004-05:00

Michael English performing "Mary, Did You Know?"

Natalie Grant - an awesome performance of "Oh Holy Night"

Hometown band Casting Crowns hosted and performed throughout the night.

The latest incarnation of Avalon - Jana Long (2nd fr left) is only original member.

The guys from Casting Crowns doing "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch"

To open the show - and midway through, a beautiful ballet performance.

Finale with all artists and a choir from First Baptist of Woodstock.

Completely Random

2008-12-05T16:33:00.002-05:00

About 15 minutes ago I was in the shower thinking about the evening ahead with friends from the area who have adopted or are adopting internationally. This idea came to my mind.

The one thing I look forward to the most in this part of my life is hearing a child call me "Daddy!"

A Grammy Nominee In the Family

2008-12-04T18:39:00.001-05:00

My wife's baby brother, Wes Pentz, aka Wes Gully, aka DJ Diplo has been nominated for a Grammy for 2008! He is a DJ and producer who worked with dance artist M.I.A. whose single "Paper Planes" is up for RECORD OF THE YEAR. Their fellow nominees include Robert Plant, Adelle, Coldplay, and Leona Lewis. Here is the video for "Paper Planes."

SCC - Narnia

2008-12-03T23:17:00.002-05:00

Prince Caspian - the 2nd Chronicles of Narnia movie came out on DVD this week. In honor of that release, I am posting this video by Steven Curtis Chapman from the soundtrack of the 1st Narnia movie.

Steven Curtis Chapman - "I'll Be Remembering You"

Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-03T00:42:00.002-05:00

Uninspired

2008-12-02T13:26:00.004-05:00

Yeah, so it's been a week since I wrote anything here and that was half of a meme. can you say uninspired? I've bene working a lot, having done 6 straight days last week with a day off on Sunday. I then started another 4 day stretch yesterday which will be followed by one day off, one day on and one day off again.

As for work, it's pretty much the same every day, with the exception that we now know the ssue that was stressing my photo printer, a worn gear that holds a chain drive tight so pictures got too close to each other and caused the sensor to miscount and sometimes jam.

I hear a good bit about the potential of becoming a manager, which i have less and less faith in happening and whether it is something i want anymore anyway. It seems there is no sense of rank and direction among the management I serve and there is no accountability for the things that go wrong or don't get done. Excuses are made and life goes on. The money is my only real incentive.

I did get up and out today to vote in our runoff election, trying to re-elect our incumbant Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss. We have a personal stake in his re-election because he helped us fasttrack some of our adoption paperwork through the State department. There has been a ton of negative advertising, spearheaded by national groups wanting to influence the balance of the Senate. the best the Democrats can come up with is to misrepresent the Fair Tax and Chambliss' support of it, hoping people are too dumb to know it's a misrepresentation. Sadly, they are right.

Just under two hours til work tonight. I have to make a little time to pull the Christmas tree out of the garage and set it up (always a pain becuase it's prelit and i can never get the cords connected correctly to light the whole thing.

In the meantime i am watching Grosse Pointe Blank on Encore Love. it's a black comedy, anda in no way a love story, but it is a great movie especially for fans of John Cusack. Here's something i learned about it today. Dan Akroyd has a role in it that I always thought wass named Grosser. it turns out his character is named Grocer. I have to think if there is any signifigance to that.

Minnie Driver, Jeremy Piven, Joan Cusack and Hank Azaria also are in this movie.

Ten on Tuesday #19

2008-11-25T10:04:00.002-05:00

Today's Topic - Ten Things I Want For The Holiday

1. Some new jeans, last bought them in '99.

2. Some new boxers, sis-in-law got me some nice ones last year. BTW it is okay for a s-i-l to buy a b-i-l underwear, but it should NOT be reciprocated.

3. New socks, the white athletic kind because ours seem to disappear here, in volume.

4. There is honestly nothing else I need and the wants I have are way outside our budget, things like...

A new Xbox (not a 360 mind you) just a working original one.

An external flash for my camera. The Canon flashes are in the $200-$350 range.

A buyer for my Jeep who will help me get out from under the $2500 I put into it in the past 2 years. CarMax offered me a ridiculous $400.

The Long Weekend

2008-11-21T13:26:00.002-05:00

I almost wish I had to work part of this weekend. I would rather be busy and making some money than sitting around trying to find things to do that require little to no money. When I got married I was making about twice what I am making now. I left that job for an equal-paying job which I lost about a year and a half ago. I took the first thing I was offered because I needed income and there was a good prospect that I would work a regular service level for about 6 months and then be able to move into management where even as an assistant manager I would be back to my old income.

The big problems are these. Our expenses have not changed though our income has. i have not been motivated to look for new work because the market is not friendly to my need. Bottom line is it will take more work and I am too lazy to make the effort.

Thursday Thirteen - Firsts

2008-11-20T00:00:00.001-05:00

Thirteen Things about Valtool.Valtool's firsts...

1. Home that I remember - a split double house in Coatesville, PA. 1004 Olive Street to be exact. You can see it on google earth maps.

2. Movie I remember seeing in a theater - Star Trek the Motion Picture.

3. Album I bought - The Muppet Movie Soundtrack

4. Cassette I bought - Kilroy Was Here by Styx

5. Important Person I met - Jimmy Carter (I was 5 and he was running for President)

6. Time I rode a horse - December, 1988 at Younglife's Windy Gap

7. Broken Bone - November 1997 - L2 vertebrae when thrown from a horse!

8. Car - 1986 Chevrolet Cavalier (a red one, literally for all you fans of Swingers).

9. Hockey Game - Atlanta Thrashers hosting (and beating) the New Jersey Devils, December 2006.

10. NBA Game - Orlando Magic, 2000, only because Avalon was performing after the game.

11. Trip outside the USA - went to Canada when I was about 8, only remember Niagara Falls.

12. Musical Instrument - started trumpet in 4th grade, played through 9th.

13. Beer - Moosehead. This should not be ANYONE'S first beer, especially at 15 years old.

Wordless Wednesday - Caption Please

2008-11-18T23:52:00.004-05:00

Saturdays

2008-11-16T14:09:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was the second consecutive Saturday that I really enjoyed. Last week it was a day spent with Amy and Autumn at the basset bash and then Heather Whittaker's blog party.

This week Amy and I went to watch the UCF football game with the Atlanta Alumni club. It ha not been a good year for UCF. I attended two previous viewing parties and both were horrible losses. Last night we redeemed ourselves after losing our homecoming game on the 8th. Last night we were the homecoming opponent for Marshall and we ruined their homecoming by beating them 30-14 in a cold, rainy West Virginia autumn night.

On the way home we decided to go by Starbucks and I texted some friends from church to see if anyone wanted to meet us. We got a response and rerouted to Marlows Tavern with the Mantooth family. We'd never been to Marlows and it is an upscale tavern that we enjoyed a great deal. As the evening progressed they had live music too.

we got home just before 11pm having been out for about 8 hours and it was a great day. to top it off we flipped to snl in time to see Justin Timberlake tear it up in an unannounced appearance.

It's Friday

2008-11-14T13:12:00.002-05:00

A day off!

Amy didn't know I was off today, so she was a little surprised when I was still in bed when she got home. We watched last night's episode of ER to enjoy the return of Dr. Mark Green and we were surprised to see other returning cast members including Dr. Romano (who like Green is dead), Dr. Carey Weaver (who moved away), Jerry the desk clerk and Chuni the nurse. There was also an introduction memorial to co-creator Michael Chrichton who died this past week. The intro was done by former cast member Eric Lasalle who played Dr. Peter Benton.

Last night I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The best I can say about this DVD is that the special features were more entertaining than the movie itself, though I am glad to see they brought Karen Allen (Marion Ravenwood-Williams) back for this film.

After Amy went to bed I went to the gym - for the second time in 3 days! I enjoyed it, working out for an hour on the eliptical and the weight machines. I then went to Publix to get dinner preperations for the next couple of days.

Autumn the basset hound is a complete needy whiner. she hates to be left alone and wimpers and whines at the baby gate if you leave her. She was very happy to see me come home and now she is in a deep sleep on the couch behind me as I type this and rewatch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Driving home from the store I was listening to Boortz and heard this funny story. A Pennsylvania man went into a bank planning to rob it. As it was near closing time the teller he went to had no cash in her drawer. this angered the would-be bank robber and to relieve that anger he went to the branch manager to file a complaint about the teller having no cash!

The Origin of the Name

2008-11-12T12:06:00.000-05:00

Last night I had a great experience meeting bloggers. You might think, what? What a geek? Well, blogging is hip in it's own way. My blog is where I can talk about things I do and like and think and whatever else.

Heather Whittaker www.whittakerwoman.typepad.com hosted a blog party at a restaurant in metro-Atlanta. Heather had a popular following as does her husband Carlos www.ragamuffinsoul.com and we had probably 50 people sign up for dinner and socialization.

Stephanie Lee, wife of Third Day guitarist Brad Lee helped Heather coordinate a lot of the evening and as Heather lost her voice this week, Stephanie did most of the emceeing for the night.

So we were all hanging around chatting and eating and having fun but I kept getting asked what is the meaning of Valtool's Box (the name not the blog itself) and I have realized it is not something I have ever explained. so here it goes.

in the late 80's I was a big fan of a pop singer named Debbie Gibson. Her radio popularity fell off in the early 90's but I continued to buy her recordings and in the early days of the internet there were the usenet news groups. That's where i met a number of other Debbie Gibson fans including Mike McNamara.

Mike and I knew each other online and met in person in July '96 at a Gibson-organized fan convention in New York. Mike was then a student at the University of Florida and I was between degrees at UCF. We got to be friends and made a couple of road trips to FSU for football and other events. Mike was one of my groomsmen when Amy and I married in 2001.

In those early days of the Internet, long before AIM, facebook and myspace there was a MOO. A Moo was a site we could log into and interact with other people, setting up our own "rooms" and people could come and visit you or you could meet in common spaces like a coffee shop.

In '94 I went to London and saw Les Miserables and chose Valjean as a screen name for the MOO. McNamara had an account there as did another guy from the Gibson fan base named Rob Polinsky. During the '96 election, Mike and Rob decided to create their own virtual political party which was dedicated to 80's pop music, sports, trivia, buffalo wings and beer. They named this the Tool Party and adapted their screen names to represent the party. MacDaddy became MacTool, Poman became PoTool and Valjean became Valtool.

Rob and Mike were the President and Vice-president nominees. I was the party press secretary and social planner. So since '96, holy cow 12 years ago now, i have been called Valtool. When i was looking for a blog name i wanted to incorporate Valtool. well, where do you store your tools and tool-related things? a toolbox right? So Valtool's box was born.

Wordless Wednesday - Basset Hounds

2008-11-12T00:00:00.001-05:00

Snoopy is a beagle, but this basset wants to be a WWI Flying Ace too.

Deputy Dawg

This one is ours - our Autumn.

Don't forget if you love or miss the 80's, visit www.rockingthe80s.blogspot.com for today's Wednesday's Women post!

Presidential meme

2008-11-11T23:23:00.001-05:00

You Are Most Like George H. W. Bush

You're considered boring by people that don't know you well. But like Bush senior, you do crazy things.

Maybe you'll end up banning broccoli in your house, or puking on the Prime Minster of Japan!

What Modern US President Are You Most Like?

Knock knock

2008-11-09T22:14:00.001-05:00

Election

2008-11-09T14:31:00.003-05:00

I forgot that I had this picture to post. I actually shot it with my cell phone.

Look Who I Met!

2008-11-09T00:06:00.003-05:00

Me and Carlos Whitaker - he writes www.ragamuffinsoul.com

Saturday photo Hunt - Together

2008-11-08T17:16:00.002-05:00

Justice

2008-11-07T17:51:00.002-05:00

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website, www.ajc.com Brian Nichols is no longer the accused Fulton County Courthouse Murderer.

He IS the Fulton County Courthouse Murderer.

Word had been that the defense was willing to take an offer to plead guilty if the prosecution would remove the option of the death penalty. So in other words, he would admit he shot and killed a Fulton County Deputy Sheriff, a Fulton County Judge, a court reporter and a United States Customs Agent if they wouldn't seek to have him put to death, otherwise they would say he did not do it.

There was never any doubt that he committed these crimes. There were plenty of witnesses. The only reason to escape responsibility was to claim he was insane at the time he killed these people. His reason for insanity, the defense said Nichols felt as if the courtroom was a slave market.

The whole reason he was in the courtroom to behin with was that he was on trial for kidnapping, raping and sodomizing his ex-girlfriend. In his killing spree he also kidnapped and carjacked a number of other people, beat another deputy so badly she has permanent brain damage and held another woman hostage overnight while doing drugs in her apartment.

On Monday the penalty phase will begin.

For One Night Only, The Triumphant Return of The Blues Brothers Rythem and Blues Revue

2008-11-07T00:33:00.002-05:00

My brother Peter and his friend Gary last Friday night.

Lyrics - Amen

2008-11-06T22:18:00.002-05:00

It's another night in hell
Another child won't live to tell
Can you imagine what it's like to starve to death

And as we sit free and well
Another soldier has to yell
Tell my wife and children I love them in his last breath
C'mon now amen, amen, amen

Habitual offenders, scumbag lawyers with agendas
I'll tell you sometimes people I don't know what's worse
Natural disasters or these wolves in sheep clothes pastors
Now God damn it I'm scared to send my children to church

And how can we seek salvation
when our nations race relations
Got me feeling guilty of being white
But faith in human nature, our creator and our savior,
I'm no saint But I believe in what is right
C'mon now amen, amen I said amen, amen

Stop pointing fingers and take some blame,
Pull your future away from the flame
Open up your mind and start to live
Stop short changing your neighbors
Living off hand outs and favors, and maybe
Give a little bit more than you got to give

Simplify, testify, identify, rectify
And if I get high stop being so uptight
It's only human nature and I am not a stranger
So baby won't you stay with me tonight

When a calls away to break the sound
I'm faden down, I need someone Oh to be someone
They just sinken down, and holden back
I hold the dawn and run They don't save a child
Oh, to save a child
It's a matter of salvation from them patience up above,
So don't give up so damn easy on the one you love, one you love
Somewhere you got a brother, sister, friend, grandmother, niece or nephew
Just dying to be with you

You know there's someone out there who unconditionally, religiously, loves you
So just hold on 'cause you know it's true
And if you can take the pain
And you can with stand anything, and one day
Stand hand in hand with the truth

I said amen, I said
said amen, I said amen,

Amen

Upcoming Events

2008-11-05T23:18:00.002-05:00

The BHRG Basset Bash and Waddle is this Saturday. It's an annual event sponsored by and benefiting the Basset Hound Rescue of Georgia. I don't know how many people attend as it will be our first such event, but I can imagine there will be a lot of long-eared hounds waddling around. Of course pictures will be coming.

Later the same day we have another gathering coming. It's a blog party! Coordinated by Heather "Whitaker Woman" Whitaker with her husband Carlos (www.whitakerwoman.typepad.com and www.ragamuffinsoul.com) we'll be meeting this couple and a good number of other bloggers who have crossed paths through this couple's blogs. It will be a dinner and social event

Every day is an event at www.rockingthe80s.blogspot.com. If you like music from the Decade of Excess, click on the link and see what day it is and what the theme is for that day. Leave comments about your likes and dislikes, your memories associated with the videos and leave your requests for Long-distance Dedication Friday!

Ten on Tuesday #18

2008-11-04T11:18:00.002-05:00

This week's topic - 10 Things You Like Talking About

Adoption

Poker

Trivia

TV

Movies

Sports (sometimes)

Travel

Myself

Music

Photography

Did the deed

2008-11-04T10:20:00.002-05:00

Voting is done.

Voting was fun.

Now, let all the people start all the complaining and fighting saying things were done unfairly or fraudulently (let's talk ACORN).

I'm just glad that they kept things right in Georgia, making sure that you must be able to prove with a photo ID that you are who you claim to be in order to vote.

BTW - it was 50 minutes from getting in line to walking out the door having voted, so to those who complained about a 6 hour wait last week during early voting, thanks for going early and making the line shorter today.

Fasting

2008-11-02T12:20:00.002-05:00

I'm curious about what kinds of fasting there are and what those of you who have fasted would suggest.

Our church www.northmetro.org is calling on a day of prayer and fasting tomorrow for the benefit of our nation as the following day is election day.

Obviously there is a pretty big rift between people suporting the candidates of the two major political parties. I personally support John McCain, but I fear too many people cannot separate the failures of President Bush from Mr. McCain. They are NOT the same person and it is hardly a reason to turn the leadership of our nation and our military to a man with no military background, very limited leadership experience, and a questionable background that includes openly and willingly associating with a known anti-government terrorist and a pastor who preaches hatred from the pulpit, and what do we really know about Obama's Muslim background/upbringing in a day and age that Muslim extremists want to destroy our country.

Blah

2008-10-31T23:59:00.002-04:00

Today was kind of rough at work. Part of it was the volume of business. Part of that was the special project I had, setting up a studio-like backdrop and taking portrait photos of kids in their costumes. it was kind of fun, but I could not see myself working in a studio. There were a lot of cute and adorable costumes.... an infant in a giraffe suit, another in a tiger and a third in a Mickey Mouse. Toddlers and preschoolers as Dorothy and Glinda, Tinkerbell, Minnie Mouse. Employees as a pirate, mod dude, witch and M&M.

The thing that got me the most was wishing I had a child to do the whole costume thing with and to take trick or treating, son or daughter, it does not matter.

Later in the day I spoke with a friend from church about a mutual friend/couple. I received a voicemail that the wife had emergency surgery last night, but no details. The other friend knew more and shared that it was a matter with an eptopic pregnancy. I don't know that they even knew they were regnant and of course this condition causes a serious threat to the mother and that is why the surgery was required. I am told she is fine, but obviously the couple is devastated. We hope to go see them tomorrow as an invitation to visit in the hospital has been extended. It's just sad.

Champions

2008-10-29T22:49:00.002-04:00

My lifelong favorite baseball team won the World Series tonight. A lot of people said it would not happen, that the Tampa Bay Rays were the better team and had the worst to first story going for them in their first post-season appearance in the history of the team.

The only other time the Phillies won a World Series Championship was in 1980 and I was present at game 2, watching my boyhood idol, Hall of Fame Member Mike Schmidt. Tonight I am feeling very good as are a lot of people in the Philadelphia area.

Congratulations guys!

Ten on Tuesday #17

2008-10-28T12:24:00.002-04:00

10 Favorite Horror Films

I need to first say that horror movies don't do much for me. The standard blood and gore slasher film does not interest me, so it takes something more along the lines of a supernatural creepiness to draw me in. That being said, here is my list, not in a ranked order.

1. Signs - the scene where you see the alien in the alley at the birthday party actually startled me.
2. Scream - It was more a murder/thriller, but it made light of the horror genre.
3. The Others - I only saw it once, but I liked the gothic drama of it.
4. Bram Stoker's Dracula - the 90's version with Anthony Hopkins and Gary Oldman.
5. Nightmare on Elm Street - the only slasher series I ever liked.
6. The Lost Boys - Kiefer Sutherland as a badass.
7. The Blair Witch Project - a little school pride as the guys who made this were from UCF and you have to appreciate the budget and the marketing campaign.
8. Nightmare Before Christmas - very clever.
9. The Birds - what a concept!
10. Poltergeist - they're here!

Flashback

2008-10-28T11:34:00.002-04:00

So NBC has a series called Chuck, about a an average nerdy guy who gets an entire intelligence data system downloaded to his brain. He is then paired with a hottie CIA agent and a stiff NSA agent to find and deal with intel threats.

In last weeks' episode, a high school classmate of the CIA agent bumps into her and Chuck ends up identifying the classmate's husband as an intel threat. That character in Chuck was named Mark Ratner.

Being part of a high school theme, the inside joke was that Mark Ratner was the name of the kid who worked at the movie theatre and wanted to date Jennifer Jason Leigh in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Something like this is not an accident, and it is put in there for the amusement of the writers and trivia geeks like me who pick up on such things.

Drama and Disappointment

2008-10-28T10:56:00.002-04:00

So last night was the potential final game of the 2008 World Series. It was not the final game. It was the first 2/3 of the final game.

It rained the entire game. It was cold and windy. It was not a night for the boys of Summer.

The Phillies (my heros) got off to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Rays got one run somewhere around the 3rd or 4th I don't know because I was driving home and there is NO radio in Atlanta broadcasting the World Series.

The grounds crew came out several times to check the status of the infield and the pitcher's mound. They made it to the 6th inning with the Rays up to bat. They got a runner on 1st and he stole 2nd. Another batter got a base hit and the runner scored from 2nd (he's very fast even with the sloppy field conditions), so we then had a game tied at 2-2.

The umpires were the ones responsible for the game status, play, delay, suspend.

With the game tied and the Commissioner of Major League Baseball in attendance they called for a suspension of play and the tarps were brought out to cover the infield.

No more baseball was played last night. The game will resume, if possible, tonight at 8pm. The weather is not supposed to be good. The game time calls for 50% chance of rain, high winds, and temperatures around 40 degrees with a wind chill of 29.

If the umpires had suspended play as much as 5 minutes earlier, the game would have been officially over, having played more than half the game, with the Phillies in the lead 2-1, they would have won and the World Series title would have been theirs.

It's a tough situation for a fan like me because I would like to see the Phillies be the World Series Champs, but not by winning a final game that was called off short of 9 innings due to weather. I don't think it has ever happened in the past and it would give the 2008 World Series an asterisk feeling when it goes in the record books.

So we are faced with a poor forecast for the weather tonight, but I am hopeful for the clean Phillies win. If they lose, they have to travel to Tampa and win one of two games to be held down there. I would almost like to see that now because I have to work tonight and would miss the end of the series if the Phillies win.

Frigga's meme

2008-10-27T17:08:00.003-04:00

I answered thee questions on Frigga's Blog (www.anyapples.blogspot.com) and I encourage you all to do them here.

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
05) Favorite vegetable?
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
09) Worst Habit?
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
11) What is your favorite sport?
12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
22) What color eyes do you have?
23) Ever been arrested?
24) Bottle or can soda?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
26) What’s your favorite place to hang out at?
27) Do you believe in ghosts?
28) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
29) Do you swear a lot?
30) Biggest pet peeve?
31) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
32) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
33) Favourite and least favourite food?
34) Do you believe in God?
35) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

What's legal isn't always what's right

2008-10-27T09:48:00.001-04:00

This one falls under the "What were the adults thinking?" category.

WESTFIELD, Mass. — An 8-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun under adult supervision at a gun fair.

The boy lost control of the weapon while firing it Sunday at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman's Club, police Lt. Lawrence Valliere said.

The boy, Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., was with a certified instructor and "was shooting the weapon down range when the force of the weapon made it travel up and back toward his head, where he suffered the injury," a police statement said.

Christopher died at Baystate Medical Center.

Although police called it a "self-inflicted accidental shooting," police and the Hampden district attorney's office were investigating, officials said.

"We are going to review all the circumstance regarding what happened, who was involved, what authorities they may or may not have had, who was supervising," District Attorney William Bennett said Monday.

It is legal for children to fire a weapon if they have permission from a parent or legal guardian and are supervised by a properly certified and licensed instructor, Lt. Hipolito Nunez said.

Those conditions were met in this case, he said. He declined to release the supervisor's name.

The club said on its Web site that the event, run in conjunction with C.O.P Firearms and Training, is "all legal and fun." People are allowed to fire weapons at vehicles, pumpkins and other targets, it said.

Officials of the private club and the firearms group could not be reached for comment. There was no response to a message left on a club answering machine. The C.O.P. group's machine clicked off without taking a message.

The sportsman's club was founded in 1949 and describes itself on its Web site as promoting "the interest of legal sport with rod, gun, and bow and arrow, both directly and through training."

It has eight firing ranges as well as archery and fishing facilities located on 375 acres in Westfield, about 100 miles west of Boston.

A Long, Fun, Long, Awesome Day

2008-10-26T10:46:00.009-04:00

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Well, no, I had no troubles yesterday.

9:30 ish - wake-up. Amy woke me up because her parents were on their way over from their hotel to say goodbye before they left back to Florida.

10:30 ish - loaded up the car and headed down to PetCo to hang out with BHRG, the Basset Hound Rescue of Georgia. We helped hang out and hold dogs after first making Autumn our officially adopted rescue Basset Hound. We'll do this as much as possible as they always need people to hold leashes at the adoption events and it's a lot of fun interacting with the people who stop by to look at and meet the dogs. Yesterday we had Pretzel, Hugh, Elijah, Dottie, and about 8 more hounds.

12:00 - we left PetCo and swung by Winston's to drop off the prize from the poker tournament we held two weeks ago (52 free Chick-fil-a sandwich coupons).

12:30 ish - back at the house to grab a blanket and bone and Amy, Autumn, and I loaded back into the car and headed North up to Octoberfest at Helen, GA. Helen is up in the mountains, the southern end of the Appalachians and pretty close to the gold rush town of Dahlonega. Helen was developed as a tourist attraction, where all buildings are required to fit a certain code so they all look like Bavarian Alpine buildings. Basically the town is full of shops selling t-shirts (beer, biker and party-oriented), German-looking nick-nacks, candy (mostly made in the shops), restaurants (mostly overproced but one excellent Mexican restaurant) and a lot of cabins for rent, mostly with hot tubs.

Autumn had a very over-stimulated day. She enjoyed meeting the other bassets at the adoption event, and she rides in the car very well, curled up and sleeping on the back seat. We walked her around Helen and she met other dogs, she got lots of attention from people and kids and she got a little scared by the horses pulling carraiges.

Up close with Autumn

Old barn

Red barn and Fall colors.

The Tomato House

Shopping with pumpkins and gourds

Fresh tomatoes in October!

A boy and his dog

Northbound into Helen

A walk before heading home.

Chattahoochee River in Helen.

Adirondack chairs for sale - very inviting.

Octoberfest always means live music at the International Cafe.

We drove home, arriving right about 8:30pm which was going to be great so I could watch game 3 of the World Series. There was a rain delay, and the game did not begin until 10:06 pm. Taylor Swift performed the National Anthem, country style with her guitar. Tim McGraw read off the Phillies starting line-up. His father is the late Tug McGraw, the star Phillies relief pitcher from the 1980 World Series Championship team. Jamie Moyer, a Philadelphia-area native cut school to attned the 1980 series. He is the oldest pitcher in Major League Baseball and was the starting pitcher for the Phillies last night. His hero from 1980, Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton was there to throw out the first pitch of the game.

Jamie Moyer (45 y/o) reacting to a pitch that was almost hit out of the park.

Game 3 Victory

Hall of Fame Member Steve Carlton threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Peter and I saw him live at game 2 of the 1980 World Series.

It was an excellent game. Three Phillies hit home runs including slugger Ryan Howard who broke out of his month-long slump. A bad call by the 1st base umpire, coupled with a pair of stolen bases and a throwing error caused a tie game in the 8th inning. It remained tied into the 9th when the Phillies came to bat. A hit batter got a runner on first. When he stole second the throw was off and he advanced to third. The Rays then intentionally walked 2 batters to load the bases with no outs and they pulled their right fielder in to be a 5th infielder. The next batter tapped the ball down the third base line. The runner on third advanced to home plate and the 3rd baseman's throw was way off, so the Phillies scored a run, making it a 5-4 final, winning game 3 and taking a 2-1 lead in the best of 7 series. Games 4 and 5 are tonight and tomorrow night in Philadelphia. if the Phillies win both games, they will win the World Series, otherwise it is back to Tampa for one or two more games on Wednesday and Thursday.

Oh Hapy Day

2008-10-22T00:01:00.002-04:00

It's been 15 years since the Philadelphia Phillies appeared in a World Series. It was a dismal performance against the Toronto Bluejays.

Previously it was 1983, when they lost to the Baltimore Orioles.

In 1980 they won their last World Series, a 6-game series against the Kansas City Royals. I was at game 2 and got to see Steve Carlton pitch and win, with stars like Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, Bake McBride, Gary Maddox, and Manny Trillo.

In less than 24 hours they will be playing in another world series. It will be the first time the Tampa Bay Rays (formerly the Devil Rays) have appeared in a World Series. The Phillies have a great offensive line-up and a great bullpen. The series will hinge on the starting pitching which includes Jamie Moyer, who is old enough to be the father of every other starting pitcher that will play, but he is the most-experienced and has beaten every team in both the American and National Leagues.

I am excited and I am hopeful.

The United Tour - Michael W Smith & Steven Curtis Chapman

2008-10-18T00:58:00.002-04:00

Saturday Photo Hunt - Family

2008-10-18T00:54:00.002-04:00

We got a new friend last Sunday, Autumn the Basset Hound - she is a rescue dog we are fostering, but we are probably going to adopt her ourselves.

Walk for a Cure

2008-10-17T23:48:00.006-04:00

On October 18th, I am participating in a Walk for the Cure event for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I have a personal goal of raising $300 and I need sponsors to do it. If you would like to help, you can make an online donation at my pledge page by going here...

http://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=87158946

Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated, and if I hit my goal before you can get there, it certainly does not mean you can't donate too!

Thanks!

Originally Posted on 9-19-08 - donations as of 10/16/08 are $300. Goal is $300.

Satisfaction

2008-10-16T22:37:00.002-04:00

I have never done a lot with charities in the way of fund-raising, but I feel pretty good about the level of success I have found in the past month.

The company I work for has two charity drives per year. In the Spring it is for the American Cancer Society and their Relay for Life and in the Fall it is for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In April and May I was working in a store where my store manager was the district coordinator for charitable efforts, so we worked together, trying to set up a casino night as a major fund raiser. It fell through, but we organized a poker tournament instead, using prizes donated by vendors we work with in our retail business. We had no costs on our end, the bar that hosted the tournament aid the tournament director and we raised $750 in a night's work.

I changed stores in May and at the store level a volunteer "captain" is needed. Because JDRF is an organization I have close ties to, and because it looks good to my district manager, I volunteered to represent my store.

To open things up, we set up a table with 8x10 photos I have taken over the years and sold them for $4 each or 3 for $10. Next, we held a bake sale with employess making the treats and we sold those to our staff and guests over a weekend. Between these two efforts, we raised $120. Outside of the store I coordinated another poker tournament. Our top prize was donated from Chick-fil-a and I used the $120 to buy Visa giftcards to use as 3nd and 3rd place prizes.

We had fewer people turn up for the JDRF poker tourney, but we managed to turn the $120 into $580!

In addition to the above, it was made possible to create a walker's account at JDRF.org and people could log in and make a donation to support me as a walker. Our store goal was to raise $500, and I considered that to be a goal to be met by forming a team of walkers each with a goal of $100. I only found 2 other willing employees, so I set my goal at $300. I then went about emailing friends and promoting my walker's goal on this sblog and on my facebook account. Amy helped too, hitting up her blog readers and friends from work and school.

As of this morning I was at $210 and we have until Saturday morning before the walk (which will be at Centeniel Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. Tonight I received a very generous donation that brought me to my goal. I want to thank this person (respectfully anonymously) for the donation. The weird thing is I have been thinking about him a lot recently. We had a falling out earlier this year when I said some thoughtless things, thoughtless as to how they would be taken and as to how they could offend.

I have been thinking for about a week about posting a public apology. I have been thinking about him quite a bit as a lot of my attitudes towards others are changing. Part of it is probably due to better mental health as a result of better physical health. Part of it may be a change in my awareness of how God wants me to be. I am really trying to improve as a person, with the biggest part trying to be less judgemental of others. It's difficult especially when we find ourselves being judged so often. And is it just me or is this intensified due to the fact we're in the peak of the political season?

I digress a bit, but here's the point. I want to thank everyone who has made donations. If you still would like to or can help, you can find the link in the post above. Just because I met my goal does not mean I can't exceed it too! And to my friend who I wronged, I am sorry. I hope that in our limited interaction you can see the changes I am efforting, and I hope you can not only forgive my words but re-establish the relationship we were developing before I was such a jerk.

Autumn - The Basset Hound

2008-10-12T18:01:00.004-04:00

This morning we got up and went out to church - great sermon on temptation, focussing on Joseph and the temptation he faced with Potipher's wife. We hit McDonald's (a rare thing) on the way to Publix to get ingredients for enchiladas tonight.
We came home and relaxed until 1:30 when we coralled Samson & Delilah to take them to the vet for their rabies updates. We brought the cats home and headed out again to Roswellto the BHRG event. What is BHRG? It is the Basset Hound Rescue of Georgia. We met a few of the dogs they have on their website and we signed the paperwork to become foster parents. The hound with the longest time in their boarding kennel is Tulip. Tulip was rescued from an animal shelter in Murray County, GA. She is believed to be 3 years old and is considered a stray, but little else is known about her.
On the way home we stopped at Publix for some doggie supplies and a few things we forgot earlier. We then went to the pumpkin patch at a local church. There we brought the dog out again, by this time having decided to rename her Autumn. She had only been called Tulip for a month and only at a kennel, so they said we could rename her.
Autumn loves to be out and loves to meet people. The first people we met at the pumpkin patch just hapened to be a couple with their adopted Chinese daughter. Imagine that! So we hung out a bit and got some pumpkins. Autumn does VERY well in the car, sitting in the back seat and just enjoying the ride.
We got home and set up the baby gates for the first time since May 31 (when Lucy died). We took her out back with Pixel and they played a bit and Autumn loved running around and rolling in the grass. She loves her belly rubs and we heard her Basset voice when Pixel ran off through the fence to where Autumn could not reach her.

Anniversary Trip Pictures

2008-10-12T13:13:00.000-04:00

2008 NLCS - Here We Go

2008-10-09T07:33:00.002-04:00

This evening the Phillies start their best of seven series against the Dodgers. If you look at the stats, I believe they should win, but it should take seven games. Here is why....

The Phillies and Dodgers played each other 8 times in the regular season this year.

Four games were played in Philadelphia.

Four games were played in Los Angeles.

The Phillies won all four games at home and lost the four on the road.

In the National League Championship Series the Phillies have home-field advantage, meaning that if the series goes seven games, the majority of the games will be played in Philadelphia. The first two are in Philly, the third and fourth games are in LA. If needed, a fifth game is in LA and if needed, games six and seven are in Philadelphia.

It would appear that these teams are very well matched. Here are some other stats from this year.

The Phillies outscored the Dodgers 27-5 at home.

The Phillies were outscored 22-16 on the road against LA.

The Phillies pitchers who won the games against LA have a cumulative record this year of 34 wins and 27 losses or a 55.7% winning rate. The Dodgers pitchers who won against Philly have a cumulative record of 23 wins and 23 losses or a 50% win rate.

Based on this simple analysis, the games should be good, and if the Phillies can win one of the first two games in LA, they ought to be World Series bound.

Thursday Thirteen - I Miss My Dog

2008-10-09T00:00:00.002-04:00

Thirteen Things I miss about Lucy the Basset Hound

1. Puppy Power - doing laps full speed around the back yard

2 Sideways Head - She would stand on her hind legs with her front paws on the top of the baby gate and look at us with her head tilted.

3. Engine Noise - Amy could scratch/pull her ears and she would make a noise like an engine trying to turn over and not making it.

4. Big Sad Puppy Dog Eyes - If we were eating ANYTHING, she would sit and stare at us hoping we would share.

5. The Adventures of Lucy and Pixel - Amy always said she should write a children's book based on the play of Lucy and Pixel the cat.

6. Doggie Daycare - About twice a month we would take her to Man's Best Friend for doggie daycare. She loved to play all day with the other dogs and when we got home with her she would be the best-behaved, quiet dog.

7. Rides - She loved to go for rides and enjoyed sticking her head out the window and greeting anyone who saw her.

8. Ears - Well, she's a basset, so she had these big soft floppy ears.

9. Naptime - When it was time to rest, a blanket was all you needed to have a friend in your lap for hours.

10. Warm blankets - Amy spoiled this dog. Every night she got a blanket or towel that had been run in the dryer for a few minutes. It was an excellent way to get her to go into her kennel for the night.

11. Walks - She loved to take walks and I enjoyed taking her. I was proud of our dog.

12. Hunting - Lucy was a basset hound and they are bred to hunt small mammals. One morning around 5:30 I let her out and she started an alarm bark. I went out with a flashlight to find she had cornered an opossum. Another day she cornered a chipmunk in the drainpipe, and a few months later she and Pixel found the chipmunk burrow.

13. Kids - Lucy was great with kids. Oour neighbor has a daughter who was 3 when they moved in. Natalie loved to come up to the fence and reach through to pet the puppy.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-07T17:45:00.004-04:00

Appreciation

2008-10-06T00:13:00.004-04:00

It has been an interesting few weeks for me. I have become active in a pair of men's Bible studies. I have become more enthusiastic about the worship experience at my church. I have been actively working to raise money for a health-based charity that is close to both my family and to me as an individual. I have been reading a work of fiction that is touching me in some very unexpected ways.

If it makes sense at all, I would like to say I have a better appreciation of God now than I have in recent months. That sounds pretty weird, but it's the best word I can think of to explain it.

I also have a better appreciation to report and that is an appreciation of a gift I received from God. That gift is my beautiful wife Amy. Today marks 7 years since we were married and more than anything I find myself thankful for the fact that she loves me both for who I am and in spite of who I am.

A minor setback but cause to celebrate

2008-10-05T11:53:00.002-04:00

Good morning Y'all,

It's Sunday and there is Phillies baseball to watch today! I had actually hope this would not be the case, but the guys had a hard time of it last night in Milwaukee where the best the commentators could say about the fans was that they are professional tailgaters and they like beer and brats.

The Phillies lead the National League Divisional Series 2 games to 1 now, and a win today or Tuesday will advance them to the NL Championship Series against the LA Dodgers. Yeah for the Dodgers! They kept the Cubs out of contention by sweeping 3 games from them including two in Chicago. Dodgers manager Joe Torre is showing he can lead any team to and through the post season which is funny because he was fired from his position with the Yankees last year and this year the Yankees did not even qualify for the playoffs.

There is another cause for celebration and that is that I am about 12 hours away from celebrating my 7th wedding anniversary with Amy. The traditional gifts are either wool or copper. Since we also have our church directory photo tomorrow, I am thinking that matching sweaters may go over better than matching suits of armor. What do you think?

In the backyard

2008-10-02T23:08:00.002-04:00