Friday, September 29, 2006
Hell hath no fury...
Yada yada yada. Just got off the phone with Jalen and then his mom; apparently she's not going to be receptive to the conciliatory approach. Maybe she'd like it better if I called the cops and have them enforce our new court order.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
LCG to RCG
First Mark Mendiola, now Syd Hull. I wonder how the South African brethren will be affected, as well as the brethren in Mr. Mendiola's area.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Small World
I just found out that I know one of the contestants on this season's Survivor.
Her name is Stephannie Favor now, but she was Stephannie Howell back in the day. Her bio can be found here.
I still don't plan to watch though. OK, I might sneak a peek to see how she's comporting herself.
Her name is Stephannie Favor now, but she was Stephannie Howell back in the day. Her bio can be found here.
I still don't plan to watch though. OK, I might sneak a peek to see how she's comporting herself.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Lunch on the Feast of Trumpets
A group of us were at a local eatery on the patio with one other lady who wasn't a part of our group. She was sitting by herself near the entrance to the restaurant, smoking a cigarette and doing a crossword puzzle. This is part of our conversation as I passed her on my way to use the facilities...
Lady: "So, what's the special occasion?"
Me: "We're a church group."
Lady (henceforth, 'L'): "Which one?"
Me (henceforth, 'HBS'): "The Living Church of God."
L: "Where's that?"
HBS: "We meet in a dance studio on McGee Road. (Incredulous look by L.) Today's a special day, so we're meeting in the library."
L: "So what are you? What denomination?"
HBS: "Uhhh... We aren't a denomination. We're just Christian." *At this point I thought of going the "continuation of the Jerusalem church of God" or the "Apostolic Christianity" route, but decided against it* "We're not Catholic or Protestant though, as we have some different doctrines."
L: "What doctrines are those?"
HBS: "Well, there are several, but probably the one that makes us stick out the most is our observance of the OT, or what most people would call Jewish, Holy Days. For example, today we're observing Rosh Hashanah."
L: "You mean the Old Testament?" (Looks at me with pity) "You need to be freed by Jesus." (Pause) "You need to read the New Testament."
HBS: "Well, we do that too ma'am."
L: "I just don't understand." (Turns back to her crossword puzzle.)
At this point I pat her on the shoulder and excuse myself to go to the loo. One sharp-eyed person in our party noticed our exchange and asked me about it. She really got a kick out of the "You need to be freed by Jesus" line.
I bypassed the part of the discussion about whether I was the pastor, and where our founders (she meant Mr. Poole & Mr. Ehman) were from.
Lady: "So, what's the special occasion?"
Me: "We're a church group."
Lady (henceforth, 'L'): "Which one?"
Me (henceforth, 'HBS'): "The Living Church of God."
L: "Where's that?"
HBS: "We meet in a dance studio on McGee Road. (Incredulous look by L.) Today's a special day, so we're meeting in the library."
L: "So what are you? What denomination?"
HBS: "Uhhh... We aren't a denomination. We're just Christian." *At this point I thought of going the "continuation of the Jerusalem church of God" or the "Apostolic Christianity" route, but decided against it* "We're not Catholic or Protestant though, as we have some different doctrines."
L: "What doctrines are those?"
HBS: "Well, there are several, but probably the one that makes us stick out the most is our observance of the OT, or what most people would call Jewish, Holy Days. For example, today we're observing Rosh Hashanah."
L: "You mean the Old Testament?" (Looks at me with pity) "You need to be freed by Jesus." (Pause) "You need to read the New Testament."
HBS: "Well, we do that too ma'am."
L: "I just don't understand." (Turns back to her crossword puzzle.)
At this point I pat her on the shoulder and excuse myself to go to the loo. One sharp-eyed person in our party noticed our exchange and asked me about it. She really got a kick out of the "You need to be freed by Jesus" line.
I bypassed the part of the discussion about whether I was the pastor, and where our founders (she meant Mr. Poole & Mr. Ehman) were from.
The next Wensday (according to my clock)
The Feast is almost here.
Question about uncleanness: Would you feel comfortable using animal parts from animals that are unclean to eat? For example, would you use a brush with bristles made from hog hair? I've got to look into that further, but as far as I can tell right there doesn't appear to be wrong. I'm interested in hearing what you think. And no, I'm not contemplating starting a hog farm. :-)
We had a close friend visit us for the first time in 5 years this past weekend. She is probably the person most responsible for me meeting the M.R.S. I also dated her sister for 4 years, but that's a story for another day. She was coming into town for a baby shower for another friend. It was quite different trying to get into a "Trumpets mindset" Friday evening with a houseguest who doesn't believe what we believe; in actuality, I don't think she's very religious at all. We did enjoy her company, and we caught up on each other's lives. She comes from a pretty impressive family: She has a Master's in Public Health, and just graduated from the Georgia State School of Law; her older sister, whom I used to date, is an M.D.; and her baby sister has a PhD in Biochemistry - no, biomedical engineering from Duke. Their mom has a PhD in Entomology from Michigan State. One of my old college roommates came over Sat. night as well, and we spent the evening reminiscing and watching Michigan State and Boston College play the stupidest 4th quarters in human history.
The rest of Trumpets was absolutely amazing. Noah caused me to miss most of our local elder's morning sermon, but I got to hear the afternoon sermon - it was stellar! Mr. Ehman is always encouraging, and his explanations of the nuances of the Greek and Hebrew meanings of words is always enlightening.
Sunday morning, bright and early, it was off to the Barrel - Cracker Barrel, that is. Work was absolutely horrible. We recently switched to a Micros system (computerized tickets as opposed to handwritten ones), and the grill line was having all sorts of problems getting the orders correct. In addition, one of the cooks didn't show. Ticket times were in the 30-35 minute range for most of the day, and we stayed on an hour wait as a result. Everyone was stressing even more than usual; good thing I'd prayed about watching my attitude before going in to work. I was so busy that I took my coffee cup in to drink a cup before starting work at 9. It was 2:30 before I had the time to actually pour the cup of coffee. I missed out on the cleaning party because of work; I'm interested to see how it went. I guess it would help your understanding if I told you that we're moving to a new location for services. From what I understand, it has a full kitchen. I'm as excited as Emeril to use that thing. Yep, we might be having some fresh-outta-the-oven hashbrown casserole next potluck.
Question about uncleanness: Would you feel comfortable using animal parts from animals that are unclean to eat? For example, would you use a brush with bristles made from hog hair? I've got to look into that further, but as far as I can tell right there doesn't appear to be wrong. I'm interested in hearing what you think. And no, I'm not contemplating starting a hog farm. :-)
We had a close friend visit us for the first time in 5 years this past weekend. She is probably the person most responsible for me meeting the M.R.S. I also dated her sister for 4 years, but that's a story for another day. She was coming into town for a baby shower for another friend. It was quite different trying to get into a "Trumpets mindset" Friday evening with a houseguest who doesn't believe what we believe; in actuality, I don't think she's very religious at all. We did enjoy her company, and we caught up on each other's lives. She comes from a pretty impressive family: She has a Master's in Public Health, and just graduated from the Georgia State School of Law; her older sister, whom I used to date, is an M.D.; and her baby sister has a PhD in Biochemistry - no, biomedical engineering from Duke. Their mom has a PhD in Entomology from Michigan State. One of my old college roommates came over Sat. night as well, and we spent the evening reminiscing and watching Michigan State and Boston College play the stupidest 4th quarters in human history.
The rest of Trumpets was absolutely amazing. Noah caused me to miss most of our local elder's morning sermon, but I got to hear the afternoon sermon - it was stellar! Mr. Ehman is always encouraging, and his explanations of the nuances of the Greek and Hebrew meanings of words is always enlightening.
Sunday morning, bright and early, it was off to the Barrel - Cracker Barrel, that is. Work was absolutely horrible. We recently switched to a Micros system (computerized tickets as opposed to handwritten ones), and the grill line was having all sorts of problems getting the orders correct. In addition, one of the cooks didn't show. Ticket times were in the 30-35 minute range for most of the day, and we stayed on an hour wait as a result. Everyone was stressing even more than usual; good thing I'd prayed about watching my attitude before going in to work. I was so busy that I took my coffee cup in to drink a cup before starting work at 9. It was 2:30 before I had the time to actually pour the cup of coffee. I missed out on the cleaning party because of work; I'm interested to see how it went. I guess it would help your understanding if I told you that we're moving to a new location for services. From what I understand, it has a full kitchen. I'm as excited as Emeril to use that thing. Yep, we might be having some fresh-outta-the-oven hashbrown casserole next potluck.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Wensday
The Feast is getting close now! I set up an appointment for Friday to get our vehicle serviced. I took her to the mechanic’s yesterday to get a couple of estimates and the mechanic fixed one of the problems in about 2 minutes while I was giving my contact information. Apparently the air-flow meter was giving false readings due to the air horn being partially disconnected. The truck had been sputtering whenever we pressed the gas, sometimes to the point of cutting off. Next we’re going to get some bushings replaced on the front passenger side, which shall finally end the annoying loud squeaking that manifests itself every time I turn the wheel or hit a bump. It doesn’t look like I’ll get the A/C fixed, but hopefully we won’t be needing it in sunny Fla. We’ll get an oil change next week and we’ll be ready to go. Sixteen days and we’re OUTTA HERE!!!
Couch-to-5K took a hit last week. In other words, I didn’t run at all. I went out to the park yesterday to start at the 2.5 mark again and it was brutal. I had this incredible hitch in my side and in my chest. It’s not possible to lose that much ground in one week, is it? (All of a sudden I’m getting bad feelings about running post-Feast.) I had to stop at the 1.5 mile mark, walk a lap, and then struggle to finish the last mile. I did finish, but it was murder. Today I have a sore right calf to show for my efforts – as well as a small feeling of accomplishment.
We’ve been running to the mailbox every day looking for the letter from our attorney, but so far there’s been nothing. I think I’ll give them a call and see where they are in the process of finalizing things. I’d like to have everything finalized by the Feast. I think Daytona would be a good time to start making up for lost time.
The M.R.S. is almost halfway through the first semester of her final year of nursing school. I’m quite proud of the way she’s immersed herself in her studies. I think she’s going to do quite well this year, but I know she can’t wait until July when she’s done. She’s already tossing out ideas about us having a big blowout to celebrate both of our graduations – assuming I hold up my end of the bargain.
Hey Joe & Ashley – look out for the dreaded post-marriage weight gain!
Couch-to-5K took a hit last week. In other words, I didn’t run at all. I went out to the park yesterday to start at the 2.5 mark again and it was brutal. I had this incredible hitch in my side and in my chest. It’s not possible to lose that much ground in one week, is it? (All of a sudden I’m getting bad feelings about running post-Feast.) I had to stop at the 1.5 mile mark, walk a lap, and then struggle to finish the last mile. I did finish, but it was murder. Today I have a sore right calf to show for my efforts – as well as a small feeling of accomplishment.
We’ve been running to the mailbox every day looking for the letter from our attorney, but so far there’s been nothing. I think I’ll give them a call and see where they are in the process of finalizing things. I’d like to have everything finalized by the Feast. I think Daytona would be a good time to start making up for lost time.
The M.R.S. is almost halfway through the first semester of her final year of nursing school. I’m quite proud of the way she’s immersed herself in her studies. I think she’s going to do quite well this year, but I know she can’t wait until July when she’s done. She’s already tossing out ideas about us having a big blowout to celebrate both of our graduations – assuming I hold up my end of the bargain.
Hey Joe & Ashley – look out for the dreaded post-marriage weight gain!
Monday, September 18, 2006
The Emperor is Naked
Yes, the Emperor has been exposed. I've felt all season that Florida State was good enough, if they could get past Miami, to be in the hunt for a BCS bowl game because of their favorable schedule. I also thought they had the potential to lose to teams they had more talent than, as that's been their modis operandi since Jeff Bowden became offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (or whatever his title is) a few years ago. I rationalized the performance against Troy (in which they had to come from behind late in the 4th quarter) as a fluke. I see now that they are clearly not a top-10 team. While the defense is good, and extremely fast, the offense is still sputtering. You cannot be a top-10 team and still not have scored an offensive touchdown in the first half of a game all season. Yes, Mr. B, the M.R.S. is preparing a nice dish of roasted crow for our dinner tomorrow. At least my Cowboys won tonight. The beatdowns delivered to Miami and Notre Dame were nice too. Of course, the Miami beatdown further diminishes FSU's luster, as they had to struggle mightily to beat the Hurricanes. Looks like this is gonna be a long season. At least I can always fall back on my alma mater and jump on the bandwagon. Go Tigers!!!
Ladies, I could hear your eyes glazing over with boredom as you read this. Then again, most of you probably didn't even make it this far. That was probably sexist.
And I screwed up that Ross Jutsum song again!!! For the record, placing a hymnal in front of your faceSummer while laughing hysterically doesn't keep the song leader from knowing that you're laughing hysterically. At him.
Ladies, I could hear your eyes glazing over with boredom as you read this. Then again, most of you probably didn't even make it this far. That was probably sexist.
And I screwed up that Ross Jutsum song again!!! For the record, placing a hymnal in front of your face
Friday, September 15, 2006
Uh-oh...
It looks like trip to the conference in Brazil Sep. 18-20 is a no-go... By the time I finished dotting all my i's and crossing all my tees, the earliest I could receive my expedited visa is Tues/Wed, the 19th or 20th. I don't see the point in spending $2000 to miss a conference. I guess I can do some more data analysis and present my results at another conference in January (New Orleans!). My advisor is really gonna be ticked though. It's my own fault for waiting until the last minute to try to secure everything. I wasn't aware of all the requirements I needed to fulfill in order to travel abroad as a representative of the university. My boss is really gonna be ticked. I may as well send him an email now so he won't be waiting for me in the conference room tomorrow to check out my presentation. Did I mention he's gonna be ticked? Oh yeah, I was supposed to be giving another presentation there for someone else in the lab b/c she just had a baby. It looks like I'm gonna be real popular around here the next few weeks.
Maybe I can just take a vacation the next few days and let everyone just assume I'm at the conference.
I am so gonna get kicked out of grad school.
At least I'll get a 24-hour respite in about 17.5 hours.
Incidentally, I recently "upgraded" to Blogger Beta, which means that for the time being I can't comment on any non-Beta blogs, and at some point this will probably become a private blog requiring permission to read (I assume). I think I'll need to add the email addresses of those who want to read this. I'll keep ya posted.
Maybe I can just take a vacation the next few days and let everyone just assume I'm at the conference.
I am so gonna get kicked out of grad school.
At least I'll get a 24-hour respite in about 17.5 hours.
Incidentally, I recently "upgraded" to Blogger Beta, which means that for the time being I can't comment on any non-Beta blogs, and at some point this will probably become a private blog requiring permission to read (I assume). I think I'll need to add the email addresses of those who want to read this. I'll keep ya posted.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Court
The court date has come and gone. It appears that I will now receive standard unsupervised visitation every other weekend, from 6 pm. Friday to 6 pm Sunday. Our attorneys got together before court and tried to work out a resolution before we were called in to see the judge. The defendant accused me of not taking advantage of the time Jalen was present, so we agreed that if I will not be present for a period of > 1 hour, then I must take Jalen back to his mom. Problem solved, right? Wrong! Then my attorney comes back and asks about us not allowing him to watch TV, particularly sporting events? What? I explain to him about not watching games on Friday nights or Saturday afternoons, but other than that there weren’t many restrictions on sporting events. If anything, I watch too many! So we agreed to allow him to watch a reasonable amount of television. Everything’s hunky-dory now, right? Wrong again! The lawyers huddle again, and then come back to talk to us. By this point even her attorney looked exasperated. She wanted Christmas and Easter (OK), and we agreed to split the Thanksgiving weekend each year. She was steadfastly opposed to Jalen attending the Feast with us, so I don’t know where we stand in that regard right now. I’ll definitely invite him anyway and see what happens. I found out that she thinks I’m a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses. My attorney is drawing up the visitation order, and will forward it to her attorney. Upon his approval, the judge will sign the order and everything will become official. Thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement!
Although I’m glad to have something official to go by, I’m still upset that we had to end up in court. I hate that we couldn’t work things out and not get the state involved in our family affairs. Hopefully this has brought an end to the tug-of-war with Jalen in the middle.
As an aside, it was interesting watching the other people there for court. One lady before us came out of the courtroom in hysterics and had to escorted out of the building. Apparently, the Department of Social Services was sending someone to check out her home, and a child or children were temporarily in the custody of their father. The case immediately before us involved two couples: one middle-aged, well-dressed, probably middle to upper-middle class; the other, young (early twenties), dressed in jeans and t-shirts, probably lower class (in the economic sense). The young guy, I noted, had marijuana leaf designs all over his jeans. I wonder how that case turned out. Another young man showed up to court with his mom; I guess his case was after ours. He had on saggy jeans, a jersey, and a baseball cap cocked to the side. I see now why my attorney stressed to us the importance of dressing up for court. Even if jeans are the best one has, jeans with an illegal substance on them??? C’mon now.
Although I’m glad to have something official to go by, I’m still upset that we had to end up in court. I hate that we couldn’t work things out and not get the state involved in our family affairs. Hopefully this has brought an end to the tug-of-war with Jalen in the middle.
As an aside, it was interesting watching the other people there for court. One lady before us came out of the courtroom in hysterics and had to escorted out of the building. Apparently, the Department of Social Services was sending someone to check out her home, and a child or children were temporarily in the custody of their father. The case immediately before us involved two couples: one middle-aged, well-dressed, probably middle to upper-middle class; the other, young (early twenties), dressed in jeans and t-shirts, probably lower class (in the economic sense). The young guy, I noted, had marijuana leaf designs all over his jeans. I wonder how that case turned out. Another young man showed up to court with his mom; I guess his case was after ours. He had on saggy jeans, a jersey, and a baseball cap cocked to the side. I see now why my attorney stressed to us the importance of dressing up for court. Even if jeans are the best one has, jeans with an illegal substance on them??? C’mon now.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Recap
Paul over at It's a Paul World has an interesting post today about a European military buildup in the Middle East. Speaking of the Columbus, OH based blog, our very own Prodigal daughter returned from C-bus and appears to be none the worse for wear... Well, except for that hideous OSU Buckeyes T-shirt she now owns.
The weekend was swell. Family came to visit and kept me up half the night Friday, and it was quite enjoyable. Services went well as usual, and the after-services meal was refreshing. We hadn't stuck around lately due to advice from our financial advisor (my oh-so-small bank account), but I'm glad we did. I splurged on some delicious beef/mushroom pizza on a hand-tossed whole wheat crust from a local pizzeria. It was absolutely fantastic - almost as good as that single ice-cold draft Bud Light I had at "Celebrate Anderson" yesterday.
Yesterday started well. I went to bed early Sat. night for a change (around midnight), and got up @ 6 to watch the Tomorrow's World telecast. After it went off, I stretched and did some crunches and push-ups (not very many of the latter), and drove off to the track to finish up week 6 of c25K. After nearly dying completing the first mile, the second mile and a quarter weren't as bed. I'm cautiously optimistic about making the jump to 2.5 miles today at Sertoma Field. Anyway, I came home, showered, and prepared to go to work when I noticed that my watch was dying. It wasn't 8:15 after all; it was more like 8:30. I leave home at 8:40 to make it on time. Needless to say, I did not shower, shave, iron, and dress in 10 minutes. I still made it to work only a few minutes late. You might've noticed that there was no mention of breakfast above. As you can imagine, I got pretty hungry during my shift... Eventually it died down though, and I made it through the day. The M.R.S. picked my up, we briefly swung by the Brooks' for a shower and change of clothes, and then we headed back over to the Anderson Civic Center's Amphitheater for a "Celebrate Anderson" concert. I really just went for the fellowship and fireworks, but the orchestra ended up being really good! They played a lot of patriotic tunes, but the song of the night for me was "Orange Blossom Special" as arranged by Robert Wendel. I was going to try to describe it, but you can give it a listen yourself.
After their performance, I got another treat - Dionne Warwick! While I wouldn't say I'm her biggest fan, I definitely like her big hits. She started with "Walk on By", and "Anyone who had a Heart", sang a couple more I didn't know, and finished with "That's what Friends are for". Even though she was quite congested, she acquitted herself well.
After that, the evening drew to a close with a 21-minute fireworks display that wowed the boys, accompanied by more tunes like Stars & Stripes Forever. They played other songs that I've heard a million times, but I don't know the title - one was that Thus Sprach Zoroaster or something like that. The theme to "2001: A Space Odyssey" - I think. I can't be sure as I've never seen that movie. Anyway, it was a great ending to a pleasant evening! I'm glad Patti, Country Girl, and the Brooks talked me into coming out.
I was going to post more pix, but blogger is trippin'. Later!
The weekend was swell. Family came to visit and kept me up half the night Friday, and it was quite enjoyable. Services went well as usual, and the after-services meal was refreshing. We hadn't stuck around lately due to advice from our financial advisor (my oh-so-small bank account), but I'm glad we did. I splurged on some delicious beef/mushroom pizza on a hand-tossed whole wheat crust from a local pizzeria. It was absolutely fantastic - almost as good as that single ice-cold draft Bud Light I had at "Celebrate Anderson" yesterday.
Yesterday started well. I went to bed early Sat. night for a change (around midnight), and got up @ 6 to watch the Tomorrow's World telecast. After it went off, I stretched and did some crunches and push-ups (not very many of the latter), and drove off to the track to finish up week 6 of c25K. After nearly dying completing the first mile, the second mile and a quarter weren't as bed. I'm cautiously optimistic about making the jump to 2.5 miles today at Sertoma Field. Anyway, I came home, showered, and prepared to go to work when I noticed that my watch was dying. It wasn't 8:15 after all; it was more like 8:30. I leave home at 8:40 to make it on time. Needless to say, I did not shower, shave, iron, and dress in 10 minutes. I still made it to work only a few minutes late. You might've noticed that there was no mention of breakfast above. As you can imagine, I got pretty hungry during my shift... Eventually it died down though, and I made it through the day. The M.R.S. picked my up, we briefly swung by the Brooks' for a shower and change of clothes, and then we headed back over to the Anderson Civic Center's Amphitheater for a "Celebrate Anderson" concert. I really just went for the fellowship and fireworks, but the orchestra ended up being really good! They played a lot of patriotic tunes, but the song of the night for me was "Orange Blossom Special" as arranged by Robert Wendel. I was going to try to describe it, but you can give it a listen yourself.
After their performance, I got another treat - Dionne Warwick! While I wouldn't say I'm her biggest fan, I definitely like her big hits. She started with "Walk on By", and "Anyone who had a Heart", sang a couple more I didn't know, and finished with "That's what Friends are for". Even though she was quite congested, she acquitted herself well.
After that, the evening drew to a close with a 21-minute fireworks display that wowed the boys, accompanied by more tunes like Stars & Stripes Forever. They played other songs that I've heard a million times, but I don't know the title - one was that Thus Sprach Zoroaster or something like that. The theme to "2001: A Space Odyssey" - I think. I can't be sure as I've never seen that movie. Anyway, it was a great ending to a pleasant evening! I'm glad Patti, Country Girl, and the Brooks talked me into coming out.
I was going to post more pix, but blogger is trippin'. Later!
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Finis
Here I am @ 3 a.m., back on campus to use a printer. Normally I would just wait until tomorrow, but tomorrow's the first football game and I'd never be able to get in here. They already have my building's parking lot blocked off.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Potpourri
The weekend was a mixed bag, mostly good though. I got to see a lot of cousins I hadn’t seen in ages. All my grandmother’s living siblings were present at the family dinner, and I was reminded that my Grandma’s kids/grandkids are the runts of the Cabbagestalk clan. (Thanks for being 5’8”, Grandpa.) It was weird seeing cousins who were little kids the last time I saw them all of a sudden towering over me (and I’m not a short guy at 6’2”). One of my little cousins is now a professional comedian, having been seen in bit roles on Saturday Night Live, BET’s Comicview, and Comedy Central’s premium blend. Another of my cousins there is a former major league baseball player, having played for the Mets, Angels, and Mariners. Unfortunately he played about 15-20 years too early, before average players could command multiple millions of dollars per year. Some of my relatives have not had it so well, and it showed in their faces. We actually missed the dinner portion of the dinner, having been to Sabbath services in Asheboro that afternoon. Services were good as usual, though Noah was a little whiny. I assume he was that way because services were two hours early, and his schedule was thrown off. Then again, maybe he was just having one of those days. It turns out Asheboro is the closest congregation to my parents’ home at 90 miles exactly. Charlotte is right at 100 miles, Raleigh (Warsaw, NC) is 116 according to Google Maps, and Walterboro is ~140-150 (though it’s only 103 miles from my brother’s crib).
My mom and I got into our semi-annual argument Friday night because I was taking the time to go to services Saturday. (Is it still an argument if only one party is speaking?) She doesn’t understand why I won’t forsake church to spend the entire day with the family. I’ve pretty much given up explaining why, and just let her vent. That ended what had been a great dinner put together by my brother and his wife. I guess it’s our turn to be hosts this week, as Clemson’s football season kicks off and my brother is a season-ticket holder. So I went to bed Friday night in a less-than-stellar mood; we overslept Sat. morning, and we ended up making it to services about 15 minutes late. We drove my Pop’s F-150 because my A/C is shot in my truck, and that bad boy drinks gas like a baby drinks milk. I slapped $30 bucks in and the truck laughed at me. So after the family get-together, we stopped by my brother’s house and ended up not going to my parent’s until midnight. Then I got the evil eye from the folks because they’d been waiting up to spend more time with the kids. Dad usually goes to the local convenience store for breakfast before going to work around 10, so I assumed that was going to be the case this time. Therefore, I left the carseats in his truck (assuming he would want to take the boys to breakfast like he did the last time I was home), and I was also planning to gas up his truck then as well. Guess what? This particular Sunday he leaves home around 8 without waking anyone up for breakfast, and he decides to drive his truck. Needless to say, he was not too thrilled about having to get our stuff out of his truck before he could leave; he was even less pleased at not having as much gas in his truck as he was anticipating. Eventually we all get up as mom is preparing to go to church. I tell her we’re leaving early that afternoon so that we’ll get back fairly early. I also tell her we’ll be at her mother’s house saying our good-byes when she gets out of church. I assumed she knew we’d be leaving directly from Grandma’s, but apparently she didn’t. She was already there when we got there (yes, we were behind schedule again), but she left without us saying our goodbyes. After we’d been on the road for a while, Mom calls and is a little peeved b/c we didn’t stop back by the house on our way out. My bad. More guilt.
Anyway, we’re back safe and sound. I think Noah and I are going to go to campus and begin the wife-selection process. If he’s going to put in his 7 years of hard labor to win some lady’s hand, he should probably start now. And why is he calling me Mike?
Whether he killed JonBenet Ramsey or not, John Mark Karr is one sick puppy.
Week six, day 1 of couch-to-5K. What a time to figure out I’ve been doing the program wrong.
My mom and I got into our semi-annual argument Friday night because I was taking the time to go to services Saturday. (Is it still an argument if only one party is speaking?) She doesn’t understand why I won’t forsake church to spend the entire day with the family. I’ve pretty much given up explaining why, and just let her vent. That ended what had been a great dinner put together by my brother and his wife. I guess it’s our turn to be hosts this week, as Clemson’s football season kicks off and my brother is a season-ticket holder. So I went to bed Friday night in a less-than-stellar mood; we overslept Sat. morning, and we ended up making it to services about 15 minutes late. We drove my Pop’s F-150 because my A/C is shot in my truck, and that bad boy drinks gas like a baby drinks milk. I slapped $30 bucks in and the truck laughed at me. So after the family get-together, we stopped by my brother’s house and ended up not going to my parent’s until midnight. Then I got the evil eye from the folks because they’d been waiting up to spend more time with the kids. Dad usually goes to the local convenience store for breakfast before going to work around 10, so I assumed that was going to be the case this time. Therefore, I left the carseats in his truck (assuming he would want to take the boys to breakfast like he did the last time I was home), and I was also planning to gas up his truck then as well. Guess what? This particular Sunday he leaves home around 8 without waking anyone up for breakfast, and he decides to drive his truck. Needless to say, he was not too thrilled about having to get our stuff out of his truck before he could leave; he was even less pleased at not having as much gas in his truck as he was anticipating. Eventually we all get up as mom is preparing to go to church. I tell her we’re leaving early that afternoon so that we’ll get back fairly early. I also tell her we’ll be at her mother’s house saying our good-byes when she gets out of church. I assumed she knew we’d be leaving directly from Grandma’s, but apparently she didn’t. She was already there when we got there (yes, we were behind schedule again), but she left without us saying our goodbyes. After we’d been on the road for a while, Mom calls and is a little peeved b/c we didn’t stop back by the house on our way out. My bad. More guilt.
Anyway, we’re back safe and sound. I think Noah and I are going to go to campus and begin the wife-selection process. If he’s going to put in his 7 years of hard labor to win some lady’s hand, he should probably start now. And why is he calling me Mike?
Whether he killed JonBenet Ramsey or not, John Mark Karr is one sick puppy.
Week six, day 1 of couch-to-5K. What a time to figure out I’ve been doing the program wrong.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
A semi-real post for a change
With the court date approaching to set up visitation rights for me, I received from my attorney a counterclaim from the defendant's attorney. It appears that she is trying to get my petition for visitation dismissed outright; if that fails, then she wants me to have supervised visitation b/c of the relationship between Jalen and the M.R.S. Apparently the attorney is under the impression that the M.R.S. yells at Jalen and shows favoritism to Nick. I haven't seen that myself. I'm just sick of the whole mess. Of course, they want me to pay her legal fees as well as my own, and they want the judge to deny recalculation of child support monies... This whole situation is leaving a bad taste in my mouth; hopefully this will be the only time we go to court, and hopefully the judge will deliver the most equitable ruling for all parties. (A man can dream, can't he?) Anyway, I hope the court proceedings don't turn into a dredging-up of who-did-what-to-whom. I'll probably have the M.R.S. stitch up my mouth to insure that I don't say anything I'll regret later. On second thought, maybe I should stitch up her mouth...
Anyway, I'm off to visit the folks this weekend. We're meeting up at my brother's place, and my parents are coming over to spend the night. Lil bro was already marinating the steaks when I talked to him earlier this evening. I think the plan is for us all to stay at his place, but I think the me and my crew will drive on over to my folks' place to bed down. That'll knock an hour off the trip to Asheboro Saturday morning - which is especially important since services begin at noon. After that, we'll come back. We'll see most of my Dad's side of the family that evening; I'm still trying to figure out just when we're going to get together with Mom's side. There's no way I can go home without seeing them - Ma would kill me. (I felt so 12-years-oldish when I typed that line).
Nick is missing the opening of football season this week, but he hasn't expressed any disappointment. I'm quite proud of that fact. Hopefully the Sabbath won't ever feel like a burden to him (or Noah), but I know that Jalen does (did?) feel as though he missed out on some things when he was with us on the Sabbath. It's probably going to be a bigger problem once he starts playing high school football - especially given the importance of athletics in his mom's family.
Anyway, I guess I'll start working now. See ya...
Anyway, I'm off to visit the folks this weekend. We're meeting up at my brother's place, and my parents are coming over to spend the night. Lil bro was already marinating the steaks when I talked to him earlier this evening. I think the plan is for us all to stay at his place, but I think the me and my crew will drive on over to my folks' place to bed down. That'll knock an hour off the trip to Asheboro Saturday morning - which is especially important since services begin at noon. After that, we'll come back. We'll see most of my Dad's side of the family that evening; I'm still trying to figure out just when we're going to get together with Mom's side. There's no way I can go home without seeing them - Ma would kill me. (I felt so 12-years-oldish when I typed that line).
Nick is missing the opening of football season this week, but he hasn't expressed any disappointment. I'm quite proud of that fact. Hopefully the Sabbath won't ever feel like a burden to him (or Noah), but I know that Jalen does (did?) feel as though he missed out on some things when he was with us on the Sabbath. It's probably going to be a bigger problem once he starts playing high school football - especially given the importance of athletics in his mom's family.
Anyway, I guess I'll start working now. See ya...
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Endorphins, schmendorphins
So... how long until I experience the mythical "runner's high"? And why do my calves burn so when I run? And when does running stop being boring?
Saturday, August 19, 2006
I haven't even made it to the church picnic yet...
Nick's football team sold Krispy Kreme doughnuts as a fundraiser. We ended up with 4 boxes that we didn't sell. Well, make that 2 1/2.
I may as well finish off the cake the M.R.S. made for today's potluck. Might as well knock back the last of the butter pecan ice cream too. Looks like I'll be running tomorrow after the picnic.
I may as well finish off the cake the M.R.S. made for today's potluck. Might as well knock back the last of the butter pecan ice cream too. Looks like I'll be running tomorrow after the picnic.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
You can't make this stuff up.
Breast implants save Israeli woman from rocket
Updated: 7:11 p.m. ET Aug. 15, 2006
JERUSALEM - An Israeli woman's breast implants saved her life when she was wounded in a Hezbollah rocket attack during Israel's war with the Lebanese group, a hospital spokesman said Tuesday.
Doctors found shrapnel embedded in the silicone implants, just inches from the 24-year-old’s heart.
"She was saved from death," said a spokesman for Nahariya Hospital in northern Israel. The woman has been released from hospital.
Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
At least there are no doctored photos accompanying this article. Sorry; I couldn't not type that.
Updated: 7:11 p.m. ET Aug. 15, 2006
JERUSALEM - An Israeli woman's breast implants saved her life when she was wounded in a Hezbollah rocket attack during Israel's war with the Lebanese group, a hospital spokesman said Tuesday.
Doctors found shrapnel embedded in the silicone implants, just inches from the 24-year-old’s heart.
"She was saved from death," said a spokesman for Nahariya Hospital in northern Israel. The woman has been released from hospital.
Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
At least there are no doctored photos accompanying this article. Sorry; I couldn't not type that.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
10, 560 feet
TWO MILES.
That's how far I've run these past two days. I was visiting the in-laws yesterday, so I took advantage of the unseasonably cool weather and drove on over to Sertoma field in Walhalla. It was quite relaxing running on the dirt trail, next a small creek (brook? stream? malnourished river?). They were a slooow two miles, but I'll take it! Today, I went back to the track while Mr. Heisman 2020 practiced football. I'm down from 231 lbs to 215 since dieting/beginning couch-to-5K.
We registered Mr. Nick for school today and it took two hours. The actual registering part only took about 15 minutes, but when we went to meet the teacher... ...it turns out that she taught at the M.R.S.'s elementary school during the years the M.R.S. attended. So they spent pretty much the next two hours getting caught up on every teacher who ever taught at South Pine Street. She's been a finalist for the Golden Apple award (given to teachers who excel by a local television station), so I guess that's a good thing. She doesn't appear to have any problem with the Feast, so that's a good thing too.
The M.R.S. begins her final leg of nursing school next week. She attended orientation today and is all giddy and whatnot. By this time next year she should be receiving her LPN degree. I think at that point we'll have a big ol' party, and then I'll settle down to my new life as a kept man. Keep your eyes open for the invite.
That's how far I've run these past two days. I was visiting the in-laws yesterday, so I took advantage of the unseasonably cool weather and drove on over to Sertoma field in Walhalla. It was quite relaxing running on the dirt trail, next a small creek (brook? stream? malnourished river?). They were a slooow two miles, but I'll take it! Today, I went back to the track while Mr. Heisman 2020 practiced football. I'm down from 231 lbs to 215 since dieting/beginning couch-to-5K.
We registered Mr. Nick for school today and it took two hours. The actual registering part only took about 15 minutes, but when we went to meet the teacher... ...it turns out that she taught at the M.R.S.'s elementary school during the years the M.R.S. attended. So they spent pretty much the next two hours getting caught up on every teacher who ever taught at South Pine Street. She's been a finalist for the Golden Apple award (given to teachers who excel by a local television station), so I guess that's a good thing. She doesn't appear to have any problem with the Feast, so that's a good thing too.
The M.R.S. begins her final leg of nursing school next week. She attended orientation today and is all giddy and whatnot. By this time next year she should be receiving her LPN degree. I think at that point we'll have a big ol' party, and then I'll settle down to my new life as a kept man. Keep your eyes open for the invite.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
If I can just stick with this school thing long enough to graduate... My committee member from Washington State U. is here for one of her other student's oral exams. She's pretty much offered me a post-doctoral position in her lab to work on some bioinformatics projects. I was also offered a position in central California, as well as one in Alabama. Unfortunately, accepting a post-doc position requires one be finished with one's doctorate, which I am not. *sigh* OK Mike - just suck it up and put your all into it for a year and knock this thing on out! Kiwigeek, you think you can give me a crash course in Unix & Perl?
This week has been hard as far as running goes. I just haven't had the energy or desire to continue. I missed yesterday, so I went out around 11 this morning to make up for it. The 90-degree heat beat me down halfway through, so I didn't finish. I think I'll take another stab at it while Nick's at football practice. He's loving it, btw. At least he's stopped asking to put on his football gear @ 9:30 in the morning (when practice isn't until late evening).
Noah is having a ball feeding himself. The first thing he does when he wakes up is run into our room, jump on the M.R.S.'s head, and cry, "Eat-eat" over and over again until she gets up. The boy eats constantly. Constantly! Anyway, his vocabulary is increasing rapidly, although I don't think many people other than us can understand what he's saying. Nick's lucky he's the older of the two - Noah definitely has bully tendencies.
Jalen started 8th grade two days ago, and football practice yesterday. I have a teen-age son. Seems like only yesterday I was trying to keep his little three-year old behind from playing on my stairs. "Eat-eat" was one of his favorite words too.
I found some pics from 3-4 years ago on some floppy disks. Here's one of my favorites.
This week has been hard as far as running goes. I just haven't had the energy or desire to continue. I missed yesterday, so I went out around 11 this morning to make up for it. The 90-degree heat beat me down halfway through, so I didn't finish. I think I'll take another stab at it while Nick's at football practice. He's loving it, btw. At least he's stopped asking to put on his football gear @ 9:30 in the morning (when practice isn't until late evening).
Noah is having a ball feeding himself. The first thing he does when he wakes up is run into our room, jump on the M.R.S.'s head, and cry, "Eat-eat" over and over again until she gets up. The boy eats constantly. Constantly! Anyway, his vocabulary is increasing rapidly, although I don't think many people other than us can understand what he's saying. Nick's lucky he's the older of the two - Noah definitely has bully tendencies.
Jalen started 8th grade two days ago, and football practice yesterday. I have a teen-age son. Seems like only yesterday I was trying to keep his little three-year old behind from playing on my stairs. "Eat-eat" was one of his favorite words too.
I found some pics from 3-4 years ago on some floppy disks. Here's one of my favorites.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
