Gladiator

"If you find yourself riding thru green grass and feel the warm sun on your face... do not fear... you are already dead."

Maximus

Chicken Little

"The sky is falling."

Happy New Year! 2005

We took the family down to Nags Head NC and spent the week between Christmas and New Years on the beach. Fresh Rock fish tastes sooo good when you know the thing was swimming only an hour before!

It was great.
We had some snow flurries for the first couple of days, but then the weather turned warmer and the sun came out.
Our home town of Chesapeake got 6 to 8 inches of snow (absolutely unheard of) and we totally missed it!!!
We built sand castles to beat all sand castles (modeled after the strongholds of The Lord of the Rings Movies) and frequently ran in for hot chocolate.

I had forgotten how nice the early morning fog is for walking on the beach.
Good times were had by all and we came home on the 2nd.
I think my kids collected over a hundred shells which accounts for our weight and bad gas mileage on the return trip.

To our great joy no pets had died!
Our friends had remembered to water and feed them all (hamsters, guinea pigs, parakeets, geckos, cockatiels, and fish).
I was especially happy we cleaned the house BEFORE we left... I hate coming home to a mess... especially following a vacation.
:)
Let's see what 2005 holds... I see the winds of change.

ROGER WOKE UP FROM THE COMA!!!!!

Thank you all for your prayers that rose to our King as a sweet aroma.
HE has chosen to bring Roger back out of his coma and has restored his mind also.
My other brother Jonathan has been at his bedside daily and Roger said a groggy and labored "HI" yesterday back to Jon.
Today Roger gently laughed when Jon told him he was thinking of going on Vacation from the Hospital.

Praise God in the Highest!
More as we go.

Flying Squirrel

We had a Christmas Party at our home this evening and one of the little kids that came over tugged on my wife's sweater and said, "Excuse me, you have a squirrel in your pantry."

My wife smiled and asked her to have one of our daughters get it... She figured it was just on of the kids playing around.

Turns out... It really was a squirrel in the pantry!
But no ordinary squirrel - it was a FLYING SQUIRREL!

I couldn't believe it.
It was so cute. It was tiny (must have been a juvenile) and looked more like the a hamster with it's buggy little eyes and had baggy skin along it's sides for 'flying/sailing'.

I didn't even know those things lived in Virginia!

I scooped it carefully into a box and put it out on the back porch. I slowly opened up the box and BAM... It exploded out like a true flying squirrel should! It stepped once on the box lid, once on the top of the wood railing and then it touched down waaaaaaay across the yard near a huge oak tree!

Too cool.

My Brother

I don't have any biological brothers - but if I did - it would be my two best friends in Idaho (Roger and Jonathan).
I just got word that Roger was crushed under a truck that fell off the jack while he was changing the oil.
It crushed his chest and caused a stroke.
He is in a coma.
He's my brother... Please pray.

P.S. He loves Jesus as much as I do - I just don't want him to go meet HIM yet... Not before I have a chance to say Good-Bye.

Hang in there Rog.

Four Stages of Life

This was sent to me from my sister.
I don't care what everyone else says about her - She's great.

FOUR STAGES OF LIFE
1) You believe in Santa Claus.
2) You don't believe in Santa Claus.
3) You are Santa Claus.
4) You look like Santa Claus.

Currently, I am in stage 3.
I even drink the milk and eat the cookies.
The absolute best part is putting sooty boot marks on the hearth - and watching the kids hoot an holler about them!
:)

New Hamster Croaked

I heard some hysterical laughter coming from upstairs...
it was my oldest son.
I always love it when my kids are laughing (there are millions of kids out there that are not).
:/
Anyway... I asked him what was so funny and he held out his hand.
There it was... Another dead hammy.
My son wasn't laughing at the funky position the hamster was posed in.. He was laughing because we have owned it only 3 days!
We're off to the Petsmart Pet Shop today for a free refill.
14-day guarantee with receipt (but I tossed the receipt - who knew?!)
:)

Newest Webmaster

My son (13) has just entered the ranks of the webmasters.
He was tasked to make a website in one of his classes as school (incidentally he is home schooled and loves it when the assignments connect to real world situations/issues).
He developed a website for his sister's Soccer Team - Bengals Soccer.
He did the whole thing in FLASH to boot!
Way to go kiddo - keep up the good work.
:)

Where the Hamster's go to Die

My son woke to a rigomortus rodent today.
I had forewarned my kids of the perils of owning hamsters - they croak quicker than any pet I have ever know.
When I was a kid I would loose one every other month or so.
Weird.
Wet-tail is one typical illness they get if you don't keep the cage tidy.
My son's hamster did NOT die of wet tail - I checked.
It's a fairly easy check - basically they look like they hung their whole butt in the toilet.
You know, like when you sit on the pot in the middle of the night and someone has left the seat and the cover UP!
We have no clue why this little guy bit the dust... or the cedar chips.
The ceremony in the backyard was fairy uneventful.
I used a post hole digger and we found some brightly colored leaves to toss rather than flowers.
Quick goodbyes were spoken and we all headed in out of the rain for breakfast.
I can tell they all took it quite well... life lesson and all... since they want to head to the pet store to pick another one!
Why not... they're only $8.
:)

Dog Gone It

Dog Gone.
Skipper the Nipper is out of our home.
We had several episodes of his 'Dominance' where he nipped our friends.
He wasn't BITING them.. he clearly could have done damage... but rather, he was NIPPING them - to put them lower on the pecking order in our home.

My wife's sister left with two bandaids on her nose after she had simply bent over to pet Skipper. He lurched into her face and his tooth cut her nose.
Sheesh.

Obedience training didn't work either.
After recent training, he would sit, stay, laydown, etc., but he attempted another NIP just last week.
I was petting him and saying "GOOD DOG" for not barking in the house at a friend that was visiting. My buddy bent over and pet skipper on the head right next to me and BAM.

I was able to catch Skipper in mid-air by the lower jaw.
Don't ask my how I was able to move faster than him...
May be a remnant from my time in THE MATRIX.

You think that's air you're breathing?

Anyway... The next morning (last Saturday) we took a ride back to the SPCA where we got him back in February.

Happy Trails Dude... just can't trust you in our home when we are always inviting friends over that have little kids.

Hemeroids

You know... now that I really think about it... Hemeroids really are a big pain in the butt.

Eminent Journey

I've got a journey ahead...

For most of my life I have been self sufficient (though I know God has guided and strengthened me along the way). I tend to always do things in my own strength... and recently have 'seen the errors in my ways'. I'm finally exhausted of coming around full circle time and time again. I find myself at the same spot I was only a year or so ago... again.
I liken my life right now as one living on one side of a great forest. A forest of immeasurable thickness and unknown width. On the other side lies an incredible land of unfathomable riches and glory and peace and all else that appeals to me and God.
Being too ragged to walk another 'loop', and not knowing what lies ahead - I have decide to enter the forest in an attempt to reach the other side.
If I die in the forest - I will at least have attempted to reach the other side - and I count it as gain.
My own selfish heart is in hopes the forest isn't too wide... but I am going to let that feeling go as well.
And I am fully aware it's a 1-way trip... God knows I don't want to be here again.

I feel the first branches of the thicket brushing on my shoulders as I enter.. It's going to be quite a journey.

I've got a handful of promises as my only supplies.
One of which is...
Psalm 23

Soccer Madness

I know many folks involve themselves in the Soccer Phenomenon in America - and somehow I too have been sucked into it's vortex.

4 kids in Soccer practice during the week, games ALL WEEKEND LONG and now Tournaments - is killing me.
I can't seem to get anything else done around the house - anything.

When the season first starts I am all for it (this has been going on for several years).
I cheer and hoot and holler like the rest of the freakazoidal parents.
By mid-season I begin getting this killer headache and knotted stomach when the weekend approaches (which is totally NOT what is supposed to happen - I used to LOVE weekends).
Here at Season-end with 3 tournaments ahead and countless practices - I swear I will NOT do this again (I swear this every year).

My young daughter (11) asked me when 'Jack the Yak' (4) was going to start playing.
I paused for a second to let the question register and allowed it to mingle around in my head with all the other thoughts on the subject (knowing the idea was going to get beat up badly by the ideas on the 'hate-soccer' shelf in my mind)..
surprisingly, even to me, I said "Next season."
The next thing I said was really cool and I don't know where it came from.
I suggested that everyone currently involved in soccer take a sabbatical for a season so we can all go to the Yak's games and cheer.
No dropping kids off here and there and missing each others games.

I love it.
I sure hope I can follow up with such a great idea.

Yak would certainly benefit.. And I really think we all would too.

US Presidential Election

Vote.
If you decide not to... just sit down and shut up.

Another Great Tip for Presentations

This tip is actually for someone attending a presentation - not for the presenter.

Write these down or memorize them if you can, but for heaven's sake USE them each at least once during every presentation you attend.
With a 'concerned or focused' voice simply state each of the following:

1. Stay the course.
2. Is this true?
3. If that's your only idea we're in big trouble.
and
4. I'm sure there is a worse way of doing it, but for the life of me, I can not think of it.

Also... Do NOT quote any movie lines nor song lyrics that you think of during the presentation.. save these for a nice quiet intimate eventing out with your spouse.
:)

It's a Mystery

"Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words - "mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind."
-- Jack Handy

freakin' Godless euroweenies.

Follow this link to what is going on at the European Union in Brussels Belgium and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Tough Times at the Office

You know your office is really going thru some tough times when they replace the "Starbucks" coffee that used to flow like milk and honey with "Maxwell House"!

Oooogh!
:(
All of us had a very rude awakening when we got our first cups this morning.

The worst part is..
I am here for the coffee... So now I don't know what to do!

Home-School Network Admin

Little did I know that when we decide to home-school our children I would become our principal and Network Administrator.
It's just about a full time job dealing with the setup/connections/workflow of 2 desktops, 3 laptops, a DVD recorder/burner hooked-up to our satellite dish (classes for the kids pipe in from Bob Jones University) and a printer/scanner/copier.
Sheesh.
I had to train my son quickly and give him administration rights to our home network... especially when it comes to loading the education software while I am out of the 'principals office'.
What has complicated things even worse is the recent addition of a wireless network.
We are currently trying to get it up and running so we can all have internet connectivity and also take advantage of the single printer station from anywhere in the house.
I am soon to become the Network Security Manager as well.
:)
Gone are the days of college-ruled paper and pencils!
Woof.