Big daddy

Clarity

2010-02-18T20:56:00.000-08:00

The United States of America has been successfully attacked. Not by enemies, foreign or domestic. No invaders from a foreign land or military coup rising up within our borders. No, we have been devastated by Satan.

Our country was born on values and principles forged from the pages of the Holy Bible. But the chief of liars has exploited the cracks and weaknesses that our country has developed even as we have prospered and become the most powerful nation on Earth. However, throughout the history of this nation, we have grown ignorant and distracted. As the trappings of this world became more accessible, the citizens of this country became detached from the roots and foundations that were laid down to make this nation the first of its kind.

A cunning attack by the most advanced tactical mind this world has ever known. There is no man alive or dead that could outwit or out manipulate the devil. { John 8:44 ⁴⁴You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.} No crafty politician, no scheming war lord, no mafia boss, could stand a moment against this foe. He has been so successful in his accomplishments that his work has gone unnoticed and even praised as “advancements” in civilized living. By offering distractions and pleasures, the US has drifted into a trance of self-love and worship of worldly things. Oddly enough this is the same tactic Satan has used for millennia. New Testament writers warned of the exact same maladies and distractions, even before, iPods, BlackBerry’s, PlayStations, and Satellite TV, Satan was able to sufficiently distract humans from their true purpose. { 1 John 2:15 ¹⁵Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.¹⁶For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.} Satan has lead legions into darkness, forever lost, never to taste the joy that is the Lord. Sadly, these legions don’t even know what they are missing. So thorough was the devil in his mission to eradicate all need to rely on God from our daily lives, that we didn’t even know God was there, calling to us. Everyone feels the pull of the Holy Spirit at some point, but Satan offers to fulfill that call with a new car, a new lover, a new philosophy. God has rules. From the beginning of time he has set out to love and to be loved. He will not violate this rule. The great liar plays by no such rules and therefore can offer to intervene in the place of love. Satan does not require you to love him, only to ignore God. Actually, it often seems that the deck is stacked against God. The amazing thing is that every American has access to the truth, perhaps too much access. The word of God is so readily available that it is taken for granted (another deception). I have at least 6 Bibles in my house and cannot say I’ve read through one in its entirety. God is in there and with Him is salvation. I think that deep inside everyone knows what needs to happen in their lives. But it is scary and hard, much harder than flipping on the television or X-box. But at the end of the day, at the end of this life, we will all die in our sin without the love of Jesus Christ. { Ephesians 2: 1-10 ¹As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. ⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.} God doesn’t really ask too much of us, especially given what we get in return. If we were capitalists about our eternal destination His offer is about the best return on investment in all of history. { Titus 2: 11-14 ¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.¹²It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.} I write this as much as a challenge to myself as anything else but if you are reading this and feel the call of God, the urging of the Holy Spirit to take a step toward living an “upright and godly life” do not hesitate, in that hesitation Satan will swoop in and steal that joy from you. As a Christian I need this reminder to keep myself alert to everything that goes on around me that is not of God and serves only this world. GLORIFY THE ALMIGHTY CREATOR, THE GOD WHO SENT DOWN HIS SON TO DIE FOR YOU AND ME SO THAT OUR SINS CAN BE ATONED AND SO THAT WE CAN BE EQUIPED WITH A WEAPON TO STRIKE BACK AT THE ENEMY. That weapon is the holy word of God. You have a Bible…

New Caleb Pics

2009-06-12T18:11:00.000-07:00

Check facebook for new pics

More Caleb Pics

2009-05-30T21:33:00.001-07:00

Caleb Pictures

2009-05-30T08:01:00.000-07:00

Caleb Quinn was born on Friday May 29th at 3:51 am. He was 2 lb 12 oz and 15 inches long. He's a very tiny but strong boy. He has been breathing on his own and steadily improving in the few areas they were watching him on. He'll be in the NICU for a while. Angela is improving as well. We're still trying to get her blood pressure down. But she is up and moving around better and getting ready to take her first shower since Caleb was born. She'll feel like a new person after that. So here are a few pictures I took last night.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2009-04-01T11:48:00.001-07:00

Here's wishing my dad a happy birthday. Your gift...the mostly official declaration that our new little one will be dubbed.....Caleb Quinn Harshman!!
Hope you have a great day dad!

Praise God.

Sweet!!

2009-03-22T20:36:00.001-07:00

Sweet action it worked!! Now I can blog all quick-like and stuff. Score one for Vista gadgets.

This is only a test

2009-03-22T18:05:00.001-07:00

This is a test of my new gadget on my desktop sidebar. I found it a couple days ago and It allows me to post to my blog without having to log on or even open a browser. If this thing works There may be a drastic increase in the numbetr of postings to my blog. I know...you can barely contain yourself.

Praise God.

2009-03-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

Well it's been quite a while since I updated this blog but in case there's anyone that actually still checks it and hasn't been updated on what's been going on over the last month....here it is.

There have been two main developments in the last few weeks with many interesting and convoluted subplots intermingling with them. I was fired from my job at Lakeland Regional Hospital on Feb 20th. I won't go into any details but it was unexpected and a great blessing to me and my family. Yes, it has created some interesting financial situations but I feel that God has provided well for me so far and will continue to in the future.

The second is that we found out that our new little one will be a boy. He's due in late July. Angela will be totally outnumbered with little chance of regaining a hormonal majority in the household. One of the interesting subplots there, is that without a job, we have no medical insurance. So pray for that situation as we go through the next few months. We're hoping that she can get on medicaid prior to the child's birth and that will hopefully cover most of the problem (money being the problem not the baby). You might be thinking to yourself, "well, go get a job that has good insurance benefits." I would say to you "hold your horses there Mr. (or Mrs.) you haven't heard the rest of the story yet and your kinda getting too much in my business anyway." Soooooo... I have decided to pursue private practice. I have wanted to do this for quite some time but never had the "opportunity" to do so. Now I have the opportunity and I'm taking it. I have been working about half the time at a clinic in Lebanon called The Crescent Center. That was another God move that set up my ability to gather some new clients and get set up in private practice. Additionally, I have been doing some in home therapy around Springfield as I was prior to my termination. It's a strain right now but there is a lot of potential to grow my practice as we get back on our feet.

{{Commercial interuption}}
The Crescent Center in Lebanon, MO is now accepting new clients. In a related issue, Adam is now accepting new in home patients in the Springfield, Mo area.

I have more to the story but I have to go do therapy so I'll finish this little discussion later....like May or so.

Praise God.

Gender Bender

2008-12-18T18:23:00.001-08:00

Today was suprisingly exciting. Angela went for her first Dr's appointment for the baby today. I went with her to meet the Dr and make sure everything was ok. I was suprised to find out that the Dr was going to do an ultrasound right then and there. When we were with Cox, we only got one ultrasound and it was at 18 weeks. So it was exciting to see the little peanut (that's what it looks like at this point). No, you can't tell the gender at this stage (I knew what you were thinking), but it was interesting to watch the little heart beat since you can see right through the body at this point. We won't get to see him/her again for about 12 more weeks (yes, then we'll know the gender). Anyway, thought you'd like to know.

Praise God.

What's new!

2008-11-30T11:52:00.000-08:00

Braden is now 2. His birthday party was yesterday. We had a lot of friends and family over and he got a bunch of cool g stuff. Highlights include a Ford F150 power wheels truck. It was nice that all of the grandpas put that together instead of leaving it for me to put together. He also got a toy guitar that he really likes. This morning he got to play with his new toy train after Angela put it together last night. He got a lot of other cool stuff but I'm not going to go through all the rest. He is going to be busy for a while playing with all his new stuff. In case you are one of the rare readers of this blog who were not at the party or in my Sunday school class...the other big announcement is that Angela is pregnant and we are expecting next July. We are very excited of course, it will be a wonderful new challange to deal with a baby and a toddler at the same time. Braden was hard enough by himself. It will be a whole new ball of weasels to have an infant while he is running around in his Ford. So keep us in your prayers as we go through the next 8 months or so and prepare for another kiddo! Don't worry, I'll let you know when we find out the gender.

Praise God.

What is it with explosions these days?

2008-10-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

I had an experience this past weekend that I had never had before. I had the "pleasure" of going to a Dallas Cowboy's game in St. Louis. Any of you who follow football know that this did not go well for America's team. I watched as Brad Johnson, 40 year-old backup QB, paniced repeatedly as he threw perfect passes to the defense. It was nice that the Cowboys looked out for my fantasy football team by allowing Steven Jackson to gain 160 yds and a couple touchdowns (I am winning my fantasy game as I write this). But I had a good time with good friends and was pleased to see that about a third of the crowd was rooting for the Boys.

On the way out of St. Louis, we came upon a roadside sign warning that I-44 is closed ahead at the intersection of I-50. We had very little choice at this point but to continue anyway. We trudged ahead at a blistering 7 miles per hour. As we came upon the source of the blockage we found that there was no trouble in our lanes of traffic (except hundreds of gawking passengers). However, the problems on the otherside were numerous and devestating. The first casualty we came upon was a semi that was completely burned out, so much so that I couldn't even see the cab over the concrete barrier until we went up a small hill and I looked back and saw nothing but the wheels and undercarriage of the truck. The trailer was burnt out as well. It was easy to surmise from this damage that the gas tanks on this truck had exploded and melted the truck down to nothing. About 50 yards later we saw a pontoon boat on the back of a flat-bed tow truck that looked as if it had been launched off its trailer and landed upside down on the highway. Just behind that was wreckage of a Tahoe sized SUV that had all of its windows broken out and was smashed in on every side. All around these vehicles were car parts including the front bumper of a small white car that had been launced about 12 feet up onto a bluff. It was more debris than I had ever seen from a wreck. Obviously this had blocked all traffic. Traffic was being diverted onto an outer road at the nearest off ramp. This caused a traffic back up that lasted for probably 15 miles. It was like watching those videos of traffic trying to escape a hurricane disaster area. Even on the other side of the exit the cars were backed up almost to Sullivan. It was quite amazing. We laughed as we watched some of the cars beyond the traffic jam travel along having no idea what they were about to drive into. All those cars backed up had no idea that there lay so many miles of parking lot ahead of them.

So that brings be to today. I visit some clients that live about an hour from Springfield. I generally walk with them as we talk. I was walking along with a young man and a beat up old minivan passed us on a small side road. Just after it passed us, I heard a small explosion that sounded like a car backfireing. I looked back and the car was ON FIRE! It had been leaking gas and something sparked and set the engine on fire. The engine compartment was completely engulfed and flames were streaming back around the vehicle. The driver stoped the car and calmly walked out of the van as if this kind of thing was a minor inconvienence that happened all the time. I yelled to her, asking if she was ok and she ignored me as she waited for the fire to burn out. A passing officer of the law raced to the scene and offered to use his handy fire extinguisher but as I walked away it seemed that she had declined the offer. By this time all the fuel had burned off and the van was just sitting there smelling bad (which may or may not have been caused by the fire). I escorted my young client away from ground zero and back to his house. About 5 minutes later a fire truck raced down the street with sirens and lights ablaze. Out of morbid curiosity I drove by again on my way out of town to check on the bomb site. The van was sitting in the "driveway" from which it originally came, the engine compartment looked to be completely burned out and was just sitting there with the hood up and black soot covering most of the body of the car (which gave it a much more uniform color than it had before). Hope she had good insurance on that $400 tiki torch she was driving around.

Here comes a ray of sunshine!

2008-09-23T20:57:00.001-07:00

It's pretty sad that my wife has to hack into my blog and start posting for me to get this thing updated. Remember the time when posts seemed to appear daily, almost as if by magic? Remember the days you sat perched at the end of your computer chair, or sat comfortably on your couch with the warmth of your laptop radiating into your thighs as you eagerly read through the riveting commentary that I provided to you. You laughed, you laughed some more, and then you wrote heartwarming responses to add a special sense of meaning to my life. But then....you know....life gets in the way. A chasm began to form between us.... there wasn't the same feeling when you turned on that computer. You continued to check, daily at first, then a little less often. That spark of hope and joy inside you began to fade as the weeks and months went by and no further blogs were posted. I could feel it too. Your heart began to become hard and cold and the icy tundra of freezing death came upon us. Well.... get over it. It's just a blog. As I send this ray of sunshine down upon what has become likened to future Vice President Sarah Palin's home state of Alaska, I remind you that, like Alaska, there will likely be another long cold period of darkness right around the corner. But just when it seems like it's too much to handle and the darkness seems to be driving you to insanity, another ray will shine down on your face...and a little smile will tug at the corners of your cold pasty lips.

God bless.

Catchin Some Rays

2008-09-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

So, I decided that since Adam doesn't have time to update his blog, I would at least post a few pictures from our recent vacation to Panama City Beach, Florida. As you can see it was wonderful! We got to sit on the beach, catch some rays, and visit our wonderful friends Todd and Paige for a whole week. It was pretty wonderful!

Now, that I have broken the rules and updated Adam's blog for him, maybe he will feel the need to update you more on the adventures of the Harshman Family. Take care!

New Photos At Last!

2008-01-10T11:52:00.001-08:00

Contractors vs. Tennets: who is the bigger pain?

2007-10-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

This isn't really a new picture but it's cute! This was from August I think.

Well I ended last time talking about basement construction so I'll pick up there. The original drywall guy ended up quiting his buisness altogether and did not finish the job he was doing for me. So I have hired a third drywall contractor and he is finishing up Wed or Thur. I may end up doing a little better on price even though I've been through three contractors. The plumbers should also be here tommorow to put on the shut off valves and I'll be able to put in faucets and so forth. The granite guy came and installed new granite countertops on the bar, basement vanity and master bath vanity. It all looks very nice. Everything is coming together nicely even though not really on schedule.

The CCH golf tournament is this weekend so the weather should turn cold and rainy. My dad is coming up to play for the 4th year and we'll have our work cut out for us. The field is much larger and neither dad or I have played much this year (I haven't played at all). Our streak of winning one of the side competitions every year is at stake.

So I had to evict a tennent. This was an interesting experience and I will share with you the story. The first house I bought and rented had to be the one I learned everything on. I learned a lot about inspecting before you buy. I learned about heating and air. I learned about being a nice guy.

I was doing some of the finishing work one afternoon when I recieve a call about renting the house. The man on the line said he was in the neighborhood and was looking to move into a place right away. I stated that he was welcome to come on down and check the place out. He said he would be right there. He arrived a few minutes later. He seemed nice. He began telling me about his current situation. He stated that his current landlord had not been fixing things in their house and it was uninhabitable. He reported that his family was staying in hotels just to have a decent place to stay. He went through this story and explained that he needed to move into a place ASAP. I pointed out that there were a few uncompleted jobs in the house. He promptly volunteered to complete them if he could move in right away. He stated that he wouldn't have the money for the rent and deposit until the next week when his wife got her disability check. I agreed to let him and his family move in with the expectations that he would finish some work around the house and pay me within the week. I went by the next week and he stated that his wife's check had been mailed to their old address and was being forwarded to the new address. He stated that this would only take a couple days. I went back the next week and again he blamed some miscommunications with the postal service on his lack of funds. He stated that he was working though and would be paid soon. This went on for over a month as he racked up late fees and another months rent. I visited probably 20 times during this period, receiving every excuse in the book for not having the money. Then I received the utility bill. They had told me that the bill had been switched to their name and being the trusting person I am I did not check this out. They had not changed the bill and I was stuck paying another $200 for that. By this time I was warning them of eviction and serving them all sorts of papers and such. They would not move out until I filed legal action against them. So I had to hire a lawyer (which is not cheap) to get them evicted. I took the house over on Sept. 2 and it was trashed. There were clothes everywhere, trash all over the place, cat feces on every surface and rotting food in most rooms. In addition, the brand new range I bought and the brand new central air unit were stolen. Yes someone actually took that big air conditioner unit that sits outside your house as well as the coil inside the house. I hired a neighbor to clean out the house, had the HVAC guys back to replace the air conditioner and I'm getting ready for the final clean up before putting in back up for rent. All in all, this little mistake has cost me about $5k. But many lessons have been learned. I knew all of this would happen at some point, I didn't expect it all to happen at once, to my first property. Oh, I forgot to mention that all the interior doors were broken off their hinges, and a window, mirror, and two kitchen drawers were broken.

Other than that things with the buisness are going well. I have 3 houses now and hopefully they will all be occupied soon (one is at this time). The newest house is nearing completion and I have been receiving a lot of calls on it. I will put the sign up for the aforementioned house once that one is rented. I only have one sign so I can only do one at a time!

I do have to add one bright spot to the above tennant escapade. The last day, as the female tennant was moving some of her stuff out of the house, I approached her to discuss her situation. She appologized for everything and stated that she would like to make it up somehow. I told her that there was only one thing that I wanted her to do to get square with me, take her family to church. She began crying and I explained that I must offer grace because God had shown me much more grace. She stated that she would do this. So if she follows through, at least there will be a hope for salvation of souls, which will be a far greater treasure than the $5,000 it cost me.

Praise God.

Relaxation to aggrivation

2007-09-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

I think it's been so long since I've posted that no one is checking for updates any more. So if by chance you're bored enough to be checking this post even after an eternity without anythink new to read, leave a comment so that I know people are still mildly interested in what I ramble about here.

So I stated that I was going to write more about the vacation to South Dakota and I never did. It was a wonderful little getaway. The campground we stayed at was very nice, not like the state park campgrounds that have no facilities or runing water. This place had a pool, restaurant, and very acceptable "dumping stations" (that's an RV joke). We visited quite a few exciting places. If you've never been to South Dakota (and that's most people) you really ought to try it out. Considering that it's so close to North Dakota, you wouldn't think there is much to do. However, once you get past the 200 mile expanse of deserted nothingness that inhabits the greater part of the state, you get to the cool stuff. We visited the Badlands. It was very hot (but it's a dry heat). We did a little hiking and spotted some wildlife. This included big horn sheep and buffalo. This excited me greatly. We visited Deadwood (as featured in the HBO series "Deadwood"). Besides casinos there are a lot of cool 'old west' things to see there. I, being particularly interested in history, spent a lot of time in various museums althewhile, everyone else was bored out of their minds. People got shot in the street and we saw the graves of famously dead people buried in Deadwood. Of course Mt. Rushmore was on the agenda as you could see from the pictures on the last post. Again I spent more time in the museum and everyone else shopped in the gift shop. Mt. Rushmore is a lovely sight to behold. It's like looking at the gigantic stone heads of dead presidents. The black hills themselves were quite lovely (if you didn't know, that's what the South-west part of South Dakota is engulfed in). All in all it was a relaxing and lovely time.

As for what has been going on since then...

We have come a long way in fixing up the basement. We have carpet, sheetrock, trim and some cabinets in down there. We have had some difficulty in ascertaining quality help in some of these areas. The original sheetrock guy had a family emergency before he got started so I brought in someone else to try to get it done before the carpet was laid. The second guy (we'll call him the retarded one) came and bid the job very close to the price of the first guy. The retarded guy said that they could start the next day and would be finished by that Saturday. I said "great, let's do it." The next day came, the retard didn't. I called and he stated that his guys didn't want to come out that day and would be by in the morning, assuring me that the project would be done on time. The next day the sheetrock was hung and I was told the taping guy would be there that afternoon. Guess what? He wasn't. I called again and again I was assured that the job would get done no later than Sunday......That was the last I saw of them. I called Sunday night and left a message that his services would no longer be needed as he had been fired. The next day I was home with Braden. I went out for a while to run some errands after the carpet guys got started installing the carpet. When I returned, the retarded guy was there hanging corners. I asked him if he had checked his messages. He said no. I informed him that he was taken off this job because he did not fulfill his promise and complete it on the appropriate timeline. I informed him that the original guy was going to finish the job and I would pay him the difference between what original guy charged to finish and the price he bid for the job. Retarded guy took offence and indignantly stated that "you can't just pay whatever you want to pay." I responded "you can't just show up when ever you feel like showing up." He then stated that he would be sending a bill. Yesterday I received said invoice and it was silly. Like 4 year old girls giggling in the corner at something that makes you feel awkward for no apparant reason...that kind of silly. It was full of typos and stuff and he charged me $150 for the 20 min of work he did before I came back home. Additionally he didn't do a very good job on those corners because the original guy had to take them off and redo them. So for my unadvertisement of the year....Don't get your sheetrock done by Morris Drywall.

I running out of time on my lunch break. I'll post more later about stuff.

Praise God.

Travel warfare

2007-07-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

Most of you who have spent any amount of time with myself and Braden know either the term "Buttzooka" or "Buttsplosion" or both. Over the course of our vacation, specifically the last 3 days, I have come to realize that I previously spoke these terms in an amatureish and naive way. My previously limited knowledge of the potent and irreversable destruction that can blast forth from the hindquarters of an infant was like a Jr. high art student commenting on the wonder that is Michaelangelo. However, my horizons have been expanded, my experiences broadened, my wisdom in the ways of poo have been tested and forged like a fine steel rapier (that's a sword for those ignorant in the vernacular of s words). Those of you who have children should by now have a slight knowing grin on your face, those without children will be laughing, not truly knowing the atomic power of which I speak. Many of you want to know how our vacation went, what we did, where we went, but instead I'm going to talk about baby poop. The rest can wait until later.

The incident... Braden had been a little under the weather a few days prior to the return from South Dakota. It seemed that he had become a little dehydrated and he wasn't all to pleased about it. We pumped him full of electrolytes, formula, and food as we were trying to keep him as healthy as possible during his recovery. Anyways, we were driving back through Nebraska late into the evening. We attempted to stop at a KOA Kampground (yeah, they spell it with a K...quaint) however, it was full and we decided to continue on down the road and find a hotel for the evening (this turned out to be the best decision I've ever made in my life). We made it to a town called York and found a Days Inn after checking the rates at the other available hotel chains. Angela and her sister Arica stayed in the SUV while I was booking the king room, I returned and Angela informed me that she had spent her time laughing hysterically at the massive and continuous defecation sounds being emitted from the back seat... the laughing would soon subside.

I could smell the "incident" as soon as I opened my car door. It nearly brought tears to my eyes with its toxic stench. The distinct 34 day old cottage cheese smell combined with an acidity comparable only to battery ooze filled the enclosure. Quickly I parked accross the street as designated by the hotel manager that had checked me in. We began to unload. I was in charge of getting Braden removed from his carseat and taken inside. I began to remove him from his seat {sidenote on carseat anatomy. There is a small button one can push to loosen the shoulder straps, this button is located between the legs of the passenger.} pushing on the release button. I immedieately reallized that I had put my hand in some of the poo. This was easy to detect because my brain just realized that my eyes had registered a large yellow liquidy mass just where my hand was headed. Just to give you a visual, this mass looked like a pool of oatmeal mixed with that neon yellow French's mustard. I allerted Angela of this "incident" and decided not to remove Braden from the carseat, but to remove the carseat itself. We gathered our overnight material as Braden waited patiently for us in the breeze blowing over his fuming stool. We took him inside and formulated a plan of attack. I was in charge of decontaminating the child and his currently saturated clothing items. I removed him from the carseat delicately and took him directly to the bathtub, forgoing the issue of removing his clothes. I began running water, as as I waited for appropriately temperatured water to come, I began to remove Braden's clothing and diaper. I hollered back and forth to Angela as we continued cooridinating our attack. I hit the stopper and the warm water began to fill the tub and I began to wipe Braden down. I began to realize that when you have a layer of poo in the tub prior to the water entering and additionaly you have the stopper in, the result is poo stew. Realizing this, I unstopped the bathtub and tried to get the stew to evacuate the premesis. After completing this I cleaned Braden off and called for Angela to come with a towel to dry him off.

I should add the experience Angela was having in the other room as I was dealing with zookie. She got the pleasant job of cleaning the carseat. In her own recollection of this "incident" to me later she described, not the process of wiping down the carseat, but scooping out the fecal matter as you would ladle out punch at a reception. She got out some dish soap, previously designated for cleaning bottles and further cleaned the fabric. For further detail on her experience...ask her.

We finally brought this "incident" to a close and put Braden to sleep for the night. He laid silently for a while as we got ready for bed and chatted in disbelief at what we had just experienced and saying little prayers of thanks for a full RV site 31 miles away. Angela went to check on Braden before we were to get in bed and noticed a small spot next to the little man. Checking again, she realized that he had again blown out his diaper and soiled his clothing. With a little shock we again took up battle positions and retaliated against this second wave of putrid chem warfare being waged by our small son. Sparing the gruesome details (that are remarkably similar to the previous gruesome details) we conquered yet again ending this "incident" at about 1:20 am. We fell into bed laughing at ourselves and agian thanking God for unplanned accomodations.

Further details of our trip to the Black Hills will come. Nothing as exhilerating as this story I'm sure.

Praise God.

Well look who finnally showed up

2007-07-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

Well, it's about time I got back to this. I have today off and I'm supposed to be getting things done around the house. But first I will update everyone on what is going on in the world of Braden (since no one cares about my world, and everyone cares about his).

Since my last post Braden has done about everything you would have liked to have heard about when he did it. I'll start with now and work my way back. Yesterday he attended his first 4th of July celebration/fireworks display. He saw the first few colorful blasts and promptly fell asleep. Just prior to the show as we were sitting around with friends, he sat up on his own for the first, second, and third times. This was very exciting. He is getting up on his hands and knees a lot and rocking but hasn't made any crawling movement yet. He can push himself around backward on the hardwood floor and spin in circles on his belly. His first tooth started coming in and with it a fountain of drool. I thought he slobbered a lot before... oh no, it's like a constant flow of spit now. He's still a pretty happy kid. He smiles a lot and babbles at us all the time. He wakes up about 4 am most nights and hollers at us to make sure were still there and goes back to sleep (sometimes with a little help from a bottle). He had swimming lessons at the beginning of last month. He went 4 times and did very well. He didn't cry much except when he got really cold. With all the rain we had, the pool was a little chilly. He went down the water slides with Angela and I and didn't fuss at all when I dunked him under the water. I'll try to get pictures up of all those things soon. Prior to that, we went down to Memphis to see dad and Carol. He rode in the car pretty well (a nice omen for our upcoming vacation to South Dakota). He actually swam for the first time in their pool and enjoyed this immensely.

I'll try to post again after vacation. Right now I'm gearing up to get Moose married off this weekend. Sorry it took so long to get new info up for everyone.

Praise God.

Photo op

2007-05-10T19:38:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken on an outing to the park last week. He got some pretty awesome sunglasses and was checking out the ladies behind those shades.

This picture was taken moments after Braden threw up for the 5th time today. He seems really upset about it!? Angela was holding him just as the was projecting his stomach contents onto her shirt. I was impressed both by the content and projection ability of my young son.

Praise God.

Who are you anyway?

2007-05-06T19:57:00.000-07:00

I find that I keep getting external pressure to post and in an effort to support the institution that is peer pressure...here goes.

There are a variety of things that have been going on recently, none of which are particularly entertaining but I know your going going to read it anyway because everyone is soooooo interested in my life.

The most recent crack-like substance that I've been dealing with is a thing called facebook. Apperantly this is all the rage amongst young people these days. My wife signed me up on this crackbook and I suddenly feel hip and trendy. I have 45 friends on facebook and that is way too much information for me to actually keep up with. I guess if I was an actual young person, I might have the time to sit around and read the billions of posts that my friends put on their facebooks. I remember back in the day when you actually had to remember stuff about your friends (at least if you wanted to stay friends). Now you can just check their facebook for info when you forget (or never bothered to remember in the first place). Oh how technology is bringing us closer! So for any of you facecrackers (that combonation didn't work out as well) out there that aren't my friend already, go ahead and invite me to be your friend so that I can promptly forget everything I worked so hard to remember about you.

Other items of interest. I went to my first St. Louis Cardinals game last weekend. They lost badly. But I got to see Pujols hit a homerun. It was a lovely day at the stadium and I spent good time with my friends (all of whom I have to actually remember) so it was well worth the trip. I went to a Springfield Cardinals game today with the youth group from church, they also lost but it was fun. Braden is doing well and I'll try to get some more pictures up soon. He is learning to sit up and roll over (sounds like a Labrador) and this is very exciting to watch. He's a pretty happy kid most of the time. We can't complain too much.

I've continued to work on my rental houses as well. They are coming along ok. Apparently every electrician within 100 miles is busy right now. I've been trying to get someone to install a breaker box and the earliest anyone could get out to look at it is a month from now...that's not cool. As soon as I can finish up with those treats then I get to start on my own basement. That will be much more interesting. That pretty much sums up what is going on in my life right now. Thank you for reading. Have a nice day!

Praise God.

Nessisito mas pesos por favor.

2007-04-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

Continuing my report on my trip to Mexico...
Wed. and Thur. were similar in what was accomplished. We had finished with the digging and we were filling up the trenches with rocks and cement. Funny thing about the rocks was that we didn't have half the amount we needed. I realized this realatively early in the process and made a mental note to ask Dave to purchase some more materials for our work site. As we continued working (at break-neck speed) I began to realize that we were going to run out of gravel, cement, and water as well (pretty much everything we had). I had been expecting Dave to stop by, as he normally does, but he never did. Having no way to contact him, I took the libery of ordering truckloads of supplies to be delivered to the site. The fact that I had no funds with which to do this detered me not. So I ordered a dumptruck load of large rock, a load of gravel (to mix in the cement), 20 bags of cement, and a tanker of water. I also purchased 100 gallons of water to fill the barrels we already had. All in all I spent about 4000 pesos (roughly $380) with absolutely no guarantee that I wouldn't have to swipe my own Visa to pay for it.

After we returned to camp and resumed normal evening activities, I approached Dave and said:
Adam: "Hey Dave. Do you think there's any money in the budget for more supplies at Castanos?"
Dave: "Well, what do you need?"
Adam: "Well, we're running out of everything. We need a load of rock, a load of gravel, about 20 bags of cement, and a tanker of water."
Dave: "Wow, you guys must be working really hard!"
Adam: "Yeah."
Dave: "Yeah, I think we can handle that."
Adam: "Whew, that's good because their being delivered in the morning."
Dave: "Oh?"
Adam: "Well, I couldn't get ahold of you to ask so I went ahead and ordered what we needed."
Dave: "So how much is it?"
Adam: "About 4000 pesos."
Dave: "Hmmm."

So Dave gave me the money and I didn't have to explain to Angela why the Mexico trip cost me an extra $380 dollars.

A summary of the rest of the trip... We finished all the footers for the wall and got some of the wall poured. Excellent work. It was rewarding to see how much got done. We ate some good food that was preparred by the preacher's wife. We took more people every day we went out to the site and everyone worked hard to serve the community of Castanos.

That'll pretty much wrap up the series on Mexico 2007. I may pop in with a few more stories from time to time but that's all for now folks.

Praise God.

Mission trip to Texas

2007-04-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday of my trip to Mexico, I did something that I had never done in my 4 previous trips. {pause for dramatic effect} It all started Monday night. One of the sponsors received some bad news about a couple of friends of hers. Without getting into any details, the short story is that she had to return to the US. Now thanks to some sweet new border laws, you have to have a passport to fly into the US. So because this lady did not have one, we had to drive her back to the border. I volunteered to go with Dave to take her back and keep him awake on the drive. He accepted my offer and it was set that we would leave at 5:00 am Tuesday morning. The plan was to drive up, get her a rental car and head straight back, returning to camp about 1:00 pm.

The drive to the border was good. We chatted about stuff (and anyone who has chatted with Dave knows that this is good) and drove. We made pretty good time to the border. About 45 min from the border we began making calls to try to find a rental car or plane ticket to get our fellow traveler back home. We called everyone we could in Eagle Pass (the US side of the border where we cross) and we found nothing. We stopped at Colegio Biblico and used their phones and phonebooks to continue our search. The local rental car place had no one-way cars for rent and there are no real flights from Eagle Pass to anywhere. There was a bus but it didn't leave until late in the afternoon. So we began calling around to other cities in the area. Finally I located a rental car in Del Rio, about an hour away. I confirmed that they would keep the car and of we sped up the border. One cool benefit of being back in the good ol' USA is that my cell phone worked again. I was able to call Angela and she sent me some awesome pictures of Braden. This was perhaps the best part of the trip to Texas! We arrived in Del Rio and were able to get our friend on her way.

Since we were in the States, Dave decided it would be a good time to check on some vehicle parts to repair his turn signals. We went to O'Reilly's and the dealership, but no one could really help us much (by this I mean, they wanted us to take off the steering collum and we didn't want to). So we headed back down to Eagle Pass on the return trip. Needless to say, this little side trip to Del Rio added a significant amount of time to our estimated time of return.

We had also planned to go to Wal-Mart while in Eagle Pass to get some food and supplies we needed back at the camp. So we stopped in for a quick shoping spree. We divided the list and agreed to meet back at the registers ASAP. I was in charge of the food items. I went searching for these items only to find that I was in the worst stocked Wal-Mart in the world. It was bad (apparently Dave had a similar experience). I felt like I was in a K-Mart or something. Anyways, I finally scraped together things similar to what was on my list and returned to check out. Dave and I got out of there. We then went to Whattaburger to grab some lunch before heading back into Mexico. I've got to say, Whattaburger has some pretty tasty burgers, can't say much for the fries though.

We got back on the road and returned to camp without incident (except Dave getting out of the van to relieve himself in the middle of the desert).

Praise God.

Dirty...not like Christina Aguilara

2007-04-09T06:35:00.000-07:00

The first real workday in Mexico went well. I was assigned to be the co-leader of the group at Castanos (the 'n' is supposed to have the little ~ above it but I don't know how to do that on my computer). I had never worked at this site in previous years (because they just started working there last year). It was the site farthest from the camp (about a 45 min drive). We took 14 people out the first day. Our task was to dig a trench around the perimeter of the property for the footer of a wall. Then we were to fill it with large rocks (as filler) then with concrete to finish making the foundation for the wall. If we finished all that they wanted us to pour the forms to level off the foundation for laying cement block. The trenches were about 8 inches wide by 28 inches deep (24 X 30 at the posts) and about 200 feet long.

First day summary.... Everbody dug.

We got about 70% of the digging done the first day, that was incredible. As you might imagine, spending the entire day in a trench made us quite dirty and disgusting... so we all piled into the van with our nastiness and drove the 45 min back to camp.

At camp we ate dinner, had praise time, had small group meetings, and then the old people, such as myself, went to bed.

Praise God.

Once upon a time in Mexico (without Brad Pitt)

2007-04-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

So I covered the driving to Mexico and back and left out everything in between. [a tactic to build drama and suspence] In this post I'll cover Sunday.

Sunday we got to sleep in a little (breakfast was at 8:00). After that we had a church service with the Christians in the village. ___Sidebar___ To tell you a bit about Somberete... It is a small Mexican village of about 200 people. Most do not have indoor plumbing (but the camp does now, thanks to previous CCH work trips). ____End Sidebar____ That was a nice service, we kind of outnumbered them, I'd say about 109 to 15. However, their enthusiasm at least equalled that of our large group. They sang out loudly and worshiped along side us. One of the more amazing thing is that when they read scripture, they would all say it together...from memory. Yes, many of them had all of the scriptures used in the sermon memorized! Amazing.

Following the service we had a quick lunch and went to visit the worksites that we would be at all week. A general description of each worksite follows: dig, pour concrete, paint occasionally, the end. After an afternoon of driving around Mexico, it was time to eat. As per tradition we ate at a nice restaurant in Monclova for diner. They have awesome fajitas that we preorder (you could imagine this being necessary for 109 people) and stuff our faces with. Having done this 4 times in the past I was looking for something new to try. So I ordered a cappuccino from the bar. ___Sidebar___ Many of you may know that I'm a bit of a coffee snob. Not a snob so much as a conasuir...conasuor.....conawhatever. Anyways, I have an appreciation for good coffee. That being said ___End Sidebar___ I hadn't ever seen a cappuccino made the way this was. They steamed the milk in the glass it was to be served in and then poured the espresso through the milk. The frothyness stayed in tact and this created and layered effecct. From the bottom: espresso, milk, froth. It was beautiful. Of course you get a face full of froth when you try to drink it unless you stir it up...so I hear... As for the overall quality I would give it a 7.2 on the GCS (Guatemala Coffee Standard) Scale. For comparison purposes Folgers Breakfast blend ranks at a 2.6 on the GCS, standard Starbucks ranks at a 7.0 on the GCS, and Posada Organic Guatemalan coffee is a perfect 10 on the GCS. So overall it was a pleasant cup of java in the land of Mexicana.

We then returned to camp to wrap up the evening with praise time and small group meetings.

Next post...we get dirty!

Praise God.

Mex-a-licious

2007-03-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I recently returned from a mission trip to Mexico with CCH. 109 people went this year in 10 vans. I went as a driver/sponsor type person for the 2nd time and it was my 5th overall Mexico adventure with CCH. There were lots of interesting and new experiences on this trip, so over the next couple posts, I'll try to share as many as I can.

I'll begin at the beginning... the van.
It was my pleasure to have my good friend Andy as my co-driver this year. We made a pretty good team and kept each other awake when it was quiet in our van (which wasn't often). Our passengers initially included 10 girls and one guy. We lost one girl and the only guy to a less crowded van shortly after embarking. The remainder (nine girls) became BDAs (this will be explained later).

By some means by which I can not recall, our van was renamed "Big Daddy." Interestingly enough, that is the name of this blog. Consequently, Andy and I recieved the labels "Big Daddy 1" (Me) and "Big Daddy 2" (Andy). The girls, at some point in the trip, labeled themselves "Big Daddy's Angels" or BDAs (I told you I'd explain it).

The ride down wasn't all too eventful untill we turned on the radio. As we scanned the stations of central Texas, we came accross a program that, by all logical comprehension, I should detest. The John Tesh show. Yeah, seriously he has a radio show in which he plays music (actually a pretty good mix) and gives 'life tips' (not as good). A major bonding moment was when Fergalicious played and all the girls in the van began singing (with an emphasis on Courtney, who knew all the words). As the evening continued, they continued singing. This was amusing and entertaining for the drivers (who do not know all the words to Fergalicious).

In addition to the singing, we also had some good conversation and got to know the BDAs better on the second day of the trip.

[ In order to make this story more comprehendable I am now going to skip 4 entire days and pick up again on Friday as we leave to come back to the USA]

On the trip back, we had the same group in our van. One of the most enjoyable parts of the trip was the drive back. Andy and I were able to share with the girls about relationships and marriage and all the other boy questions that you would imagine emerging from a van full of young women. I won't go into any great detail, but we covered nearly every relationship-related question as well as other general Christian topics. It was a blessing to be able to share and get feedback from the girls. Thanks to all of you!

Post-trip info: It seems that the BDAs have also created a group on Facebook for BDAs. That will be an interesting site to visit. More Mexico adventure stories to come but that's all for now.

Praise God.

Big 50

2007-03-01T20:21:00.000-08:00

Yes sir, this is the big number 50! My 50th blog post. What better celebration than with a bathtime photo of Bradizzle. This is actually a 'just after bathtime' photo. The actual bathtime photos will be reserved for embarassing him in front of girlfriends and random other people as I see fit. Nothing too amazing going on. Still working on my rental property. Still excited about getting the basement covered by insurance. Good times.

Praise God.

Fight the good fight

2007-02-26T16:41:00.000-08:00

Oh, the sweet taste of victory! Long have I awaited my triumph. Many a moon have come and gone as I await to feast on the spoils of my advasary. Ne'er shall I endure suffering at the hand of my foe. I stand over his bleeding carcas holding his dismembered head in my... whoa, this is getting out of hand. The epic struggle has come to a glorious end. Justice has been put off far to long... but no more.

Yeah, their paying for the damage to my basement!!!

Today I received a call from the very last person that could overturn the previous adjustment. He's coming tomorrow to assess the damage and cut a check. Praise God for answered prayers! After talking to nearly every employee at Shelter Insurance, I finally talked to the right one. Apparently, Shelter had denied quite a few claims similar to mine and have finally decided to break from their previous statement and are covering these claims. Moral of the story; never give up, never say die, fight to the bitter end, oh, and pray. When it seemed all was lost and we were going to have to just deal with the damage alone, we finally got the good news.

Thanks for everyone who has prayed for us and supported us through the stress of having our home invaded by Hydrogen dioxide (no that's HO2), I mean H2O.

Praise God.

Thug daddy (you have to read the whole thing)

2007-02-18T19:47:00.000-08:00

So, I've been catching a lot of flak for not having a post up since the 22nd of January. So I suppose I shall saciate your appetite for a blogtastic report about what has been "going down" in my life.

I bought a house. Not to live in but to rent out. Actually my company bought a house, I just happen to be the only employee so I'm stuck with all the work. It should be a fun new challange. I hope to finish renovations of the property by April 1st (insert April fool's day pun here). With any luck (insert reference to St. Patricks day here) it'll be occupied by new tenents by May 1st (insert May day pun here). This project should monopolize much of my so called free time for the duration of that month.

Braden is now 12 weeks old (actually he'll be 12 weeks old on Tuesday). He's awesome. We smile at each other a lot. He sleeps through the night (starting about midnight going up to 10:00 am. We're trying to alter that to going to bed at 8 or 9 and getting up at 6 or 7. It's really been our poor skills of gettting him to bed early that is to blame for his current schedule. But were working on it. (Hey, we've only been parents for nearly 12 weeks now, cut me some slack)

For those of you not aware, my insurance company did not cover the damage to my flooded basement (insert "Aww, that's too bad type thought here). However, this provides us with an opportunity to work on the bathroom we've wanted to build down there without having to worry about messing up the carpet. Oh yeah, I removed the carpetburg from my front yard (with some help from my dad). That was all sorts of fun. Side note: carpet is much MUCH lighter without hundreds of gallons of water in it. Side side note: you should observe that I did not use bold or italics yet was able to emphaize my point effectively. Using a single medium for emphasis I was able to indicate the appropriate level of importance without violating existing standard usage of bold and italics.

Anyways... I also bought a utility trailer (again my company actually bought it). That was a mildly interesting experience and because I have a blog and nothing better to do I'll share that story. I found an ad in the Springfield News-Leader classifieds that described a utility trailer for sale for $550. I called about it and arranged a time to check it out. I arrive and the owner's son came to the door. I inquired about the trailer. He took me around to the back yard and I looked at the trailer, pretending I knew what I should be looking for in a used trailer. This amateur sales boy (who I could easily see not having a career as a used car sales man) begins to tell me about the trailer and how balanced it was and "light on the tounge" (which, by the way, sounds more like a description for brandy than a trailer). I nodded and pretended to know what he was talking about. His mother (owner's wife) had joined us at this time. Oh, I should mention that freezing drizzle was coming down on all of us at this time and I was the only one with an umbrella. I asked intelligent sounding questions about the title and stuff and then began the all important negotiations. A general rule of thumb I use is 'start 20% below what they are asking.' I did so offering $440 for the trailer. I was told that this would probably not be acceptable but she would call her husband (owner) and find out what he had to say. Her son stayed with me in the freezing rain and we had an awkward conversation about random junk in their yard including but not limited too; empty boat trailer, run down pop up camper, less run down pop up camper, old Corvette... Oh good mom's back (as in she had returned, not that we were talking about her back). She stated that her husband had said "How about $500." I would say that this attempt at negotiation was poor, at best, for the following reasons; the sad, defeated look on her face, the fact that she presented it as a question, there wasn't anyone else lining up to buy, the "I really want to get rid of the trailer" feeling she was putting off, and so on. So I made some comment like "Well, I guess I'll have to go look at some other trailers..." "So, $440 you said?" she replied. So I got a new trailer.

So that about wraps up this blog. Hopefully this satisfies those of you who have been hounding me about it.

Watch now as I bust out my mad salutations. Peace out on da West side homies, don't play cause you'll get a cap busted in ya, I gots ta chill wid my boo as I roll on my 20s, gotta holla at playa when ya see him in da street, so be straight gangsa thugin fo life my dizzle. Deuces.

Praise God.

Carpet Igloo

2007-01-22T21:24:00.000-08:00

Well, we survived the ice storm of 2007. After going over 200 hours without power I have learned the following:

Electricity makes life easier. The more you have (generally) the better off you are. When you have full power, life steams along at a normal pace. When you have none, life consists of a slow crawl back and forth between getting wood and stoking the fire. When you have a little (generator) you can crawl back and forth with a lamp on and pump all the water out of the basement at the same time.

Not having electricity makes life better. Nothing has been more clear to me over the last 9 days than the fact that I have great friends. Never did I have to ask anyone for help, on the contrary, I was turning away offers to help many times per day. It has also been interesting to hear the stories of others' experiences through this disaster.

Not having electricity makes life worse. My wife and child have been away for days and even before then I was gone so long during the day I saw them very little before I fell asleep each night.

Ice is powerful. This is undisputed by anyone within 100 miles of me right now.

Ice is beautiful. (story time) I decided that it was neccessary to obtain a generator to pump the water out of my flooded basement (different story). Supplies in the Springfield area were scarce and when you could find them they were overpriced and you had to wait in the freezing cold for hours to get one. So I decided to have one shipped from Memphis via DadEx. I met my father in Hardy, Arkansas to pick up the generator I had purchased from Home Depot in Bartlett, TN (thanks Dad). So on my way back I was looking around as I drove (I find the road a bit boring to watch). As I got closer to home, I noticed a drastic change in the scenery. It quickly morphed from a scene of leafless trees to a beautiful ice covered wonderland. I felt like I was in a giant crysal snowglobe or something. I looked around as the sun shone off the branches of thousands of trees (the glare did nearly blind me). Something came to mind that we had discussed on my last trip to Guatemala. Natural phenomena, when taking place outside the boundaries of our habitation, are considered to be beautiful, wonderous, and amazing. However, when these same phenomena occur within the boarders of our cities, we find them destructive and awful. The problem is not nature, it's that we feel that nature should not take its course in our back yards.

Doesn't it seem that people have this same view of God? God is nice to look at from afar but we don't want him playing in our yards for fear he might mess up what we have put in the way?

There will be more stories as I have time (there are plenty) but for now I will leave you with a shout out to all those who helped out during our time of need. Todd, Andy, and Tully: thanks for helping me create my new yard sculpture. Andy and Carlye: much love for the warm bed, coffee, food, and fellowship (oh and letting me hold Jack). My co-worker TJ for helping me get the generator up and running. My dad for taking his day off and spending it driving to get that generator to me. Andy and his dad for lending me space heaters. And to the dozens of people who called just to check in and offer assistance or a place to stay... you are all dear friends and Angela, Braden, and I are proud to have such a great group of people around us.

Praise God.

New for 2007

2007-01-11T20:55:00.000-08:00

Today was the beginning of a new endeavor in my life. I created a Limited Liability Company called Bluefish Properties LLC. This is exciting for me as I have been interested in the real estate buisness for quite some time now. For at least the last 8 years I have been developing ideas for my own real estate investment company and more recently I have been reading up on the subject. Today I not only created my company but also made it's first successful offer on a house... it's been a good day for Bluefish. The plan is to renovate and rent this house. My offer was accepted and buisness is underway. This is going to be a side buisness, I'm not planning on leaving my regular job any time real soon. However, it would be nice to eventually generate enough income so that Angela wouldn't have to work. So now I would like to generate some free advertising for myself...

If anyone knows somebody (or some somebodies) that need to lease a 2-3 bed 1 bath house for about $525/mo. then send them my way for more details.

On to more important matters. Braden is doing well. He has times were he will sleep 5 hours at night and other times he won't sleep more than 2.5. Generally he sleeps about 3 and wakes up to eat. We haven't had as many 12-3am shrieking sessions lately, this is good (very good). He is much cooler to hang out with now, he babbles a little, makes more eye contact, and can follow you with his eyes to some degree. To be honest he was pretty boring before! Angela doesn't really want him to get any bigger but at the same time enjoys his development too. As is evident by my severe drop-off in number of posts, I am much more busy now than in previous months. Angela and I have been keeping a pretty busy schedule. We're trying to keep pretty mobile despite the fact that it takes litterally 3 times longer to do anything with the extra 10 pounds we're lugging around. It's definately an adventure.

To Andy: Oh the sweet yet pungent odor of a newborn's seedy yellow poo! Hope things are going well for y'all (or y'uns).

To Shaun: Dude..........Good luck........... (for more information just try to understand what it would be like to have 3 children under the age of 2 years old, then figure out the math)

To Wyatt (or actually to Wyatt through Christina): There's nothing you can really do to prepare, but trying is still fun!

To Michael....Nevermind, he never reads this blog... and he already had a kid.... perhaps he should be writing comments to me.... oh yeah, he never reads this blog.

To the rest of the Big daddys out there: Never, NEVER, shake a baby!

Praise God.

Without a dope beat to step to

2007-01-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know, it's been a while since there was any action on my blog. My longest blogging break to date. However, I feel that my reason is justified... I have a newborn. Braden has been doing very well. He wakes up every three hours at night to eat and only screams til 3 am a couple times a week. We're still working on trying to get him to do his screaming a bit earlier in the day. Overall, it has not been as bad as I thought it would be. I thought that once I went back to work I would be like the walking dead. Angela has done a good job dealing with him on nights I have to work. It helps that I've only been working 3 days a week. This will probably be the last week for that. I will then either go back full time or take one day off a week. It's difficult to be away all day but we're dealing with it. Braden has a new friend in the world. Michaela Elizabeth Barr was born Dec. 27th to our good friends Michael and Amanda. Soon little Jack will join the ranks of the "infant invasion." A variety of other babies will be born this summer. In an attempt to expand the utility of this blog, I am opening up the opportunity for other new fathers to submit e-mails to me and I will copy them on to my blog. You can e-mail me at harshman1@hotmail.com.

Braden's first Christmas went well. We went to Competition, MO to Angela's Grandmother's farm. Braden got passed around and everyone got to love him. Of course, he had no idea what was going on. Next year will be an exciting Christmas for him.

My dad, step-mother, and step-sisters came to visit us at home Christmas weekend. My mother and Grandmother came up the weekend before to visit also. We tried (and succeeded) to limit the amount of holiday driving we had to do. We still have a few folks to see but overall it was very nice to have some people come to us instead of spending the whole weekend driving (we have a powerful motivator now).

Last night Braden hit the party scene for New Years Eve. He joined our Bible school class party here at La Casa de Harshman.

Otherwise our days consist of holding the baby, feeding the baby, watching the baby sleep, and praying for the baby to sleep.

I hope everyone had a wonderful end to 2006 and may you have a prosperous and happy new year!

Hope you enjoy the picture!

Praise God.

So far, so good

2006-12-10T14:48:00.000-08:00

Braden is 12 days old. He sleeps much of the time (except between midnight and 3 am, during this time he screams). I worry about pretty much everything he does... as well as everything he doesn't do. I have read a lot of material during the pregnancy and over the last few days. However, I still have so many questions that go unaswered. I feel pretty confident that I'll do ok as a father, it's all of the stuff that I can't control that worry me. I'm not too excited about going back to work, I'd much rather stay home and watch my son grow, but we have to keep paying the bills.

In just 12 days I have already seen changes in him. He is more alert every day. He makes a lot better eye contact now. He'll lay and stare at your face for 15 min sometimes. He can lift up his head and look around when he's on his belly (although only briefly before he plants his face into whatever he's laying on). He makes more faces than he used to and can smile (though people say it's just gas). The sleep sacrifice has been well worth the entertainment value of living with a newborn.

We took him to get his picture taken last Friday.

ANTI-Ad: JCPenney portrait studio...not the best.

Anyway, it was fun to take him out to the mall and walk around. He did well. It seems that Graco puts some kind of tranquilizer in the fabric of their car seats because Braden falls asleep pretty much as soon as you put him into it. I've included a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Praise God.

Kung Fu Fighting

2006-12-01T15:49:00.000-08:00

These are some of Braden's coming home pictures. [Going in clockwise order] The first is just after we got him dressed in his own clothes for the first time. The second and third are Just after we walked in the door and unloaded everything. The last picture here is just cute!He is doing very well so far. He likes to be up and screaming from about 1:30 am to 5:30 am or so. Needless to say this intereferes with what we used to refer to as "sleep." We are trying to catch up a little while he sleeps during the day, especially after that crucial 6:00 am point.

Visitors are still very welcome. Afternoon or evenings are the best (we generally sleep most of the morning hours).

I'll tell you one iteresting (perhaps bizzare or psychotic would be better adjectives) story. After we got up to our room in the hospital and they brought Braden to us; I sat there looking at him and had a brief but strange scenario play out in my mind. I was pondering the security precautions at the hospital and imagined that for some reason or another, a person tried to come and take Braden from me. Following this horrific thought I ran through various techniques I could utilize to kill a man without harming a baby in his arms...... Yep, I was seriously running through martial arts tricks in my head that were specially developed by ancient samuri daddys to protect their offspring. As I caught myself thinking these things I felt quite justified in my homocidal ideation. Good thing I'm off work for a couple weeks, they might not let me leave.

The lesson to be learned from this... If after only knowing my child for 2 hours I would be willing to entertain the thought of killing for him. How much greater is the love and passion of God who has known us, his children, far more intimately than I will ever know Braden? Furthermore, to sacrifice His Son for the rest of the world would be unfathomable. God is great.

Praise God.

Now I'm just showing off

2006-11-30T05:33:00.000-08:00

Since there are some people out there who are unable to come see Braden right away, I'm going to keep posting pictures so they can see what he's up to. At some point I'll get to photoshop all of the pictures, but for now you get raw uncut footage. We should be going home today, hooray! I think we'll be much more comfortable at home. We sent the little man off to the nursery a couple times last night so we could get a little more rest. I think we both got about 5 hours (two 2.5 hour blocks). Angela is trying to get a little more sleep in now as well. Some notes about the pictures; Braden is going to be in karate, that little girl on my shoulder is not laughing at me, and belly buttons start out really gross (as a matter of fact, life starts out really gross).

Praise God.

BRADEN IS HERE!!!!!

2006-11-29T06:31:00.000-08:00

Well the wait is finally over!! Braden Addison arrived at 6:00pm 11/28/06. He weighed in at 8 lbs 8 oz and was 22.5 inches long. For being the closest to the actual date and for rocking the house; Angela Harshman wins the baby pool!!!

Watching this little guy come into the world was an amazing experience. We got very little sleep last night but Braden and Angela are healthy and doing well. Obviously Angela is having some major discomfort but with the assistance of high-powered pain killers, she is making it through.

A big thanks to all who kept us in your prayers even after keeping you hanging for 5 days beyond his due date. Come by and see us if you wish, or see us later at home. We are at Cox South. Give me a call if you need further directions...the phone is charging. We have baby CPR this morning at 10:30, so anytime after 11:00am we'll be hanging out in the room I guess. So much more to be said but I'll save it for later.

Praise God!!!

A lesson in patience

2006-11-26T13:22:00.000-08:00

I know many of you are wondering about Angela and I. No, Braden isn't here yet. We didn't forget to call you, it just hasn't happened. We spent our Thanksgiving weekend with each other, watching a lot of TV and getting a little stir-crazy. I think our patience is being tested. We feel as prepared as we can be and now we are just waiting around. I guess this has been a good lesson on God's timing. As much as we have planned on having a new baby around this weekend, God decided that it was not to be so. It has been very nice to be home with Angela. For the most part we have spent that time with just each other. We had family over on Thanksgiving day, it was nice to have family here for a change. We normally have to do the driving. It's amazing the power a 40 week pregnant lady can have over people.

I know that he'll be here soon but I can't help but wish Braden were here. We'll keep you posted (get it) on what is going on with us. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Praise God.

Not yet

2006-11-21T21:27:00.000-08:00

I was hoping that my next post (this one) was going to announce the arrival of my new baby boy. However, this is not the case. I am very excited that he will be here soon though. We went to the hospital last night to get Angela monitored but no luck getting that baby out. Angela is getting bored at home and I would rather be at home than at work. Though all I have been doing most of the time at work is moving into a new office. I guess I might as well finish out the week now. I only have to make it through tommorow and it'll be a full week. 9 of you have been knocked out of the running for the baby pool, just 5 lucky contestants remain. The more I think about it, the more it seems that Angela might be holding back on us to win the pool. She has an unfair advantage I think. With just 2 days until his due date, I'm very excited about meeting him. I got to see Braden's 2nd cousin Ezra (born Nov. 7th) and this made me even more excited and impatient to have Braden here. Thanks to everyone who are keeping us in your prayers. Updates and photos will be posted right here for all to adore! Happy Thanksgiving to all. Get those pre and post Thanksgiving posts up, everyone has been slacking on the posts! My next post will be number 40 and hopfully will announce Braden's arrival.

Praise God.

Impending chaos

2006-11-15T06:08:00.000-08:00

Only 8 days until Braden is due. I realized yesterday that we were into the single digits. A cold chill of excitement shot through me when I first thought it.

I made an exception to my baby pool deadline to include the illustrious, ever-welcome, spanglish speaking, campus minister Dave Embree. He explained to me that he is "too busy" to read blogs but wanted to give his guess anyway. So I added him in. Unless Braden comes today the Ferguson's will be eliminated from the pool today. That will leave 11 in the running. Right now I am actually rooting for the 17th or 20th (neither of which are my official guess) because these are the days that Angela's doctor is on call. Otherwise, Braden may be delivered by another doc. This is fine, but it would be nice to know the doctor in whose hands is the life of my wife and child.

I have found that I have relatively little interest in going to work lately. I am actually doing my job better as a result however, because I always assume that I won't be here the next day, so I am always caught up on everything.

Angela is pretty uncomfortable all the time now. But she is still working (amazing!). Pray for her during these last few days (only three work days left including today). As a matter of fact I would appreciate it if you would pray for her as soon as you finish reading this, then she'll get prayer all day long as different people check out the bloggers. Thanks.

Praise God.

Awwww, that's so sweet

2006-11-10T06:47:00.000-08:00

It is done! No further entries for the baby pool will be accepted. For those of you who waited too long, that's too darn bad for you. I'm going to rearrange the list of entries from earliest to latest so we can all check them off as time goes by. HEY CARLYE YOU'RE NUMBER ONE! (remember the thing about the caps!...for more information see "How do you say?" in the October archives). Were down to single digits in the countdown de Braden (assuming that I am correct on my baby pool guess). The doctors (know-it-alls) say we have 13 days left. But that's still less than 2 WEEKS! Hate to disappoint Carlye but I think Angela's going to make it to your shower. Angela has her last shower today. Afterwards we are going on the "BRADEN'S COMING, BRADEN'S COMING!!!! Shopping extravaganza" to pick up what we still need prior to his arrival.

I want to take a min to say how awesome Angela is. Throughout this pregnancy she has been a phenom. I know she has been uncomfortable (understatement) but she never whined about it or made it a big deal. She continues to work even in the 38th week. She is the strongest woman I know and I love her for it. I owe her two of the best things in my life; her hand in marriage and my son. Angela, I love you and thank you for everything you mean to me.

Ok, I'm not going to sit at work and cry so the rest will have to come later.

Praise God.

Making my voice heard

2006-11-08T05:57:00.000-08:00

I mourn for our nation and our state. Yep, I'm going political on you.

As many of you have heard me say, "so goes Missouri, so goes the nation." It is my feeling that Missouri voters most closely resemble the nation as a whole and it also happens that we are a swing state and the fate of many elections has rested in our hands. I'm not all too upset that Democrats (whom in general aren't bad people) have taken the house and seem to be in a good place to take the senate; I actually think that it is good for the democratic process to have a change in power every so often. What saddens me the most is that we (MO) passed the stem-cell research amendment. As I was driving to work today, I was thinking about how history might judge this period of time in our nation. I was trying to project myself into the future and I thought that if I looked back and observed a nation that legalized abortion in the 70's (and still hasn't done anything about it) and now legalized the cloning and destruction of millions of living embryos, I might compare that to how we currently look back on blood-letting, leaches, labotomies, and human experimentation. I can just hear 7th graders of the future asking their history teachers "What were they thinking? They were pretty stupid back then."

I find some solace in the fact that I had to stand in line for 30 min to vote yesterday. I have never had to wait in line to vote, and I liked it. It has been reported that 56% of registered voters cast a ballot in Greene County yesterday. There were places in Missouri where they were running out of ballots and had to wait hours in line to vote. I pray that even more people turn out for the next election. The worst thing that could happen to American democracy is people not voting. So despite the fact that nearly every statewide issue I voted on went against the way I voted, you can bet your mom's last copy of 'Ghost' that I'll be standing in line next election to vote...Hopefully for an hour.

Praise God.

Something deep inside

2006-11-06T08:20:00.000-08:00

We are 17 days from Braden's due date. I'm setting the official cut-off for the Braden baby pool at 8:00 am CST, Friday the 10th of November, 2006. There haven't been any recent submissions to add to the pool but I've been told by a few people that they are going to submit a guess that haven't. So there's your warning people.

I have discovered (vicariously) that I have misranked the organs of the body. I have a top 10 list of organs I would prefer not to lose if given a choice (this list was first constructed in 1972 and has been updated periodically). Up until recently I have ranked them in the following order:
1. Skin
2. Brain
3. Heart
4. Man parts
5. Stomach
6. Lungs
7. Liver
8. Pancreas
9. Colon
10. Bladder

However, after recent conversations with my wife and an inspired message from Weird Al, the new ranking is as follows (with some explaination for the changes):
1. Bladder (because it is used far more often than any of the others. Source: Angela)
2. Pancreas (because it connects to the duodenum, and that's fun to say. Source: Weird Al)
3. Skin (because it's gross to walk around with no skin)
4. Man parts (I don't care what happens this one isn't falling below #4)
5. Brain (I have observed that many people exist with only half of one)
6. Heart (actually a muscle but it still makes the list, it's that important)
7. Lungs (take a deep breath, now thank your lungs)
8. Stomach (without this, the following two wouldn't have much to do)
9. Liver (Mmmmm, mmmmm, gotta love liver!)
10. Colon (no one likes to think about it, but what would you be without one?)

Praise God.

I'm going to throw up on Myself

2006-11-02T06:59:00.000-08:00

YIIPPPPPPEEEEEE!!!!

Really, that's the best I could come up with. It's official. Braden is full term as of today. That means he could come any time now, seriously, any time now would be fine.... Yeah, any time... Oh, you know I just realized that Braden doesn't read this blog, so nevermind.

I hope everyone survived Halloween without too much automotive paint repair, domestic ovum removal, or other typical vandal related cleanup.

Myself: "Boo"
Me: "Ahhhh"
Myself: "You didn't think you'd see me again didn't you?'
Me: "Actually I can't see you, you're imaginary."
Myself: "Shut up, you know what I mean."
Me: "Get on with it then."
Myself: "You kind of let yourself go on the candy there didn't you fat boy?"
Me: "But it's Halloween!!"
Myself: "Yeah, keep making excuses."
Me: "I swear, no more candy...until Christmas."
Myself: "Right, and what about the little candy pumpkins on the dining room table?"
Me: "Uhhh... Well, maybe just a couple per day, that won't hurt."
Myself: "I guess, if you only want to get a little fatter."
Me: "Shouldn't that be 'a little more fat'?"
Myself: "I don't know, ask Andy."
Me: "Why are such a stick in the mud?"
Myself: "Because you keep choking down the sugary death nuggets and it's getting on my nerves!"
Me: "Well excuse me for living!"

It took a while but I got there.

Praise God.

Hold on, it's a trivia explosion

2006-10-31T12:31:00.000-08:00

I wanted to come up with something clever to write for All Hallows Eve. But I just couldn't come up with anything. So I came up with some Halloween info nuggets that you might enjoy.

1. Halloween is celebrated by more Americans than Yom Kippur.
2. Halloween night sees more arrests for vandalism and disorderly conduct than any other night of the year.
3. Princess (all varieties) is the most popular girls costume of all time. Athlete (all varieties) is the most popular for boys.
4. Halloween has higher holiday sales revenue than Easter.
5. More adults between the ages of 18-38 dress up that don't have kids than adults of the same age that do have kids.
6. More candy is purchased and consumed around Halloween than Christmas and Easter combined.
7. There are more prank phone calls on Halloween day than in any other entire month.
8. There are more accidental injuries on Halloween than the 4th of July.
9. It's easier to make up a bunch of false info nuggets about Halloween than any other holiday.

Subject change: We are 23 days out from Braden's due date. That's fewer days than I am years-old. So either I'm older than I feel or Braden's coming really soon. Other interesting 23s: The number of flavors in Dr. Pepper, Michael Jordan's jersey number, How old I was when I graduated with my Master's degree, it's a prime number, and it's how many hours have passed in the show 24 before you get to the season finale.

Stay safe and remember "Goblins are not the same as Hobgoblins."

Praise God.

I love you guys!

2006-10-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well, financial fun night wrapped up last night. Oh, and there is a special ffn related post on My Jesus Book for all ye who are interested. It has been a great 4 weeks and I feel that our little group has grown closer for it. Anyone who does not have a close group of God-loving friends is missing out.

It is Oct. 27th and there are 27 days left until Braden is due. Weird.

It seems that there has been some confusion as to what the winner of the baby pool is to recieve as a prize. I found out that some folks believe that their name would be mentioned only in italicized letters. However, if you will refer to the post "No purchase neccessary, void where prohibited" it clearly states that your name will also apear in bold letters. I wanted to clear up any misunderstanding for anyone who might be holding out becuase italics just aren't enough.

I'm going to keep this post a little short. But I would like to comment on my own post from yesterday. See, no one cares about my football. I have to stop now before I start to cry.

Praise God.

Do you care?

2006-10-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

Fantasy Football Update Time!!!

Before I get started, it has become quite apparent to me that no one cares about my stupid fantasy football teams. I know this because on all of my posts in which I focus on my fantasy football, there are very few comments. But you know what? This is MY BLOG and I'll write what I want!

It was a pretty good fantasy week. There are no longer any undefeated teams in any of my leagues. I am tied for first place in one league and have first outright in another. I went 4-1 this week. Most importantly I beat my favorite Ohioan (Poo Diddy) to tie him for first.

Subject change:
We are only 4 weeks out from Braden's due date. If you haven't submitted your guess yet for the baby pool, I'd suggest getting it done. I'm ready to meet my son!

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: My mother knows a young lady (I think she's 16 or 17) who is pregnant and has very few resources (financial or otherwise) to support herself and her new baby. If you know anyone who has baby stuff/maternity stuff that they don't want or need anymore, I am going to try to put together some things for her. This young lady has had a difficult life so far and it seems that things aren't getting any easier for her. It would be nice if we could bless her and her child in any way we can.

How do you say?

2006-10-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

Well it seems that some people (ok... a person) has a problem with my method by which to get someone's attention on my blog. Apparently when I type in all caps, that indicates that I am yelling at someone in a harsh and/or angry manner. So I have come up with a way that might be better suited to gain one's attention without giving the impression that I am in any way irriatated at that person. A concept I learned about in my perception class as an undergratuate was that if something looks different from the things around it, you tend to notice it more. So in the future, I will draw attention to a particular message by decreasing the size of the lettering. For example: hey Todd, you're hot!! So pay attention to that.

Hold on, I'm getting a call....................

Apparently the Southwest Missouri chapter of the National Association for People with Visual Deficits (NAPVD) is not pleased with this new policy. Irene Seymore just called (apperently she is telekenetic) and stated that is a violation of NAPVD guidelines to decrease the size of a font to such a tiny size. So I'm stuck in quite the quandry. Ok, how about this. I will begin all special notifications with the following *^* and end it with *^*. For example: *^*It's not salmon, it's pink*^*. Ok?

Hold on, it's the phone again.........................

Well crap. That was the PR rep for the National Board of Censors, Printed Word Division. Apparently Mr. Mark Tout feels that using such symbols in print might be confused as explitives and using symbols in such a manner is copyrighted by the Cartoon and Animated Drawings Guild. Hmmmmm.....

Well this is embarassing. I really don't know where to go with this. Well for lack of a better (and PC) method by which to notify people that I need their attention.... HEY CARLYE, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH MY BIG LETTERS!!! No harsh tone or anger intended!

Praise God.

THANK YOU!!!

2006-10-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

I want to write a big THANK YOU to everyone that came out and suprised me Saturday morning and worked on my house. I'm not the best at verbally expressing my gratitude but I am deeply grateful and sincerely appreciative of what you all did for us. More was accomplished in the few hours that everyone was here than I could have done by myself in weeks. Thanks to Todd who apparently organized the event. Thanks to Dana and his heavy equipment (the carpets look better than they have since we moved in). Thanks to Theresa for helping me with my mirror and the patio. Thanks to Christina for cleaning the patio furniture. Thanks to Anne for tending the fire in the rain. Thanks to the Sinnokrak's for being everywhere all at once. Thanks to Andy for hauling all my junk away. Thanks to Wyatt for getting muddy helping remove the stump from my front planter. Thanks to Jason for providing media coverage at this event (and clearing out my unwanted dead plants). Thanks to Angela for feeding everyone. Thanks to everyone for picking up all those walnuts. I know all of you did much more than what I listed here. There was so much going on I couldn't keep track of it all.

You guys are awesome and I thank God that he has put you all in my life.

Praise God.

A special post

2006-10-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

Please see my post on myjesusbook.blogspot.com. There is a link in the left column.

Praise God.

Folding like a seven deuce off suit

2006-10-18T10:24:00.000-07:00

Angela and I are trying to get all of Braden's stuff washed before he arrives. I have taken on the responsibility of sorting things by sizes and finding some way to organize and store his clothes, blankets, etc. The biggest question I have so far is; What is the proper way to fold a onesie? For those of you who haven't been around a lot of babies, or just don't care to know anything about them, a onesie is that cute little one piece (hence the name) article of clothing that has snaps in the crotch for easy access to the production end of the fecal plant. The 9-18 lb variety are quite small (about the size of a chihuahua sweater). The arms on these things are so small it is nearly impossible to fold them back as you might on a human-sized shirt. I tried three different methods of folding, settling on a tri-fold method resulting in a package the size of two packs of spider-man playing cards laying side by side. The second issue I had with sorting and storing (Huh, sorting and storing have the same exact letters but in a different order, how will I know when I made a typo and got them backwards?) the clothes was the 'matching set.' So I thought that I would have a seperate drawer for blankets, a drawer for onesies, and hang up outfits. This method was completely disrupted when I came across the 'matching set.' These typically include a onsie or sleeper (don't get me started on the different kinds of sleepers), a hat, a blanket, a bib, and sometimes little booties. What am I supposed to do with that? Do I seperate them and try to remember that it has stuff to match (am I supposed to care that there are matching items?)? Do I put them together in yet another drawer and try to come up with some excuse why I should be using the matching blanket when there's already a perfectly good one in the diaper bag already? Do I set them on fire in the back yard and when asked by the person that gave them to us how we like the matching set respond, "It kept him very warm." I don't know. My solution was to stack the sets up and stick them in a drawer and figure it out later. Regardless, our kid is going to be very well dressed when he has clothes on.

Angela and I went to Baby Days child development class last night. That was semi-interesting. For those of you who are parents out there (or plan to be at some time) DONT SHAKE YOUR BABY!!!

Subject change: Hopefully the Cardinals can wrap things up at Shea tonight. We don't need no more drama after that end of the season stink fest they put us through (I am aware that this is not gramatically correct writing, but in general, people interested in sports are not interested in grammar).

Another subject change: I finally got a new post up on My Jesus Book if you care to check it out. The link is below the baby pool guesses. Speaking of guesses HEY CARLYE! YOU DIDN'T GIVE ME A LENGTH!

Praise God.

Fallout

2006-10-17T05:50:00.000-07:00

This was not a good week for fantasy football. I got beat by my dad who had not won a game yet vs one of my undefeated teams, and I went just 2-3 overall. The good news is that I won in my work league and church league. I lost in both leagues of people I dont care about. Next week I play against my favorite Ohioan who is the only remaining undefeated team in any of my leagues (except me in my work league, but I can't play myself now can I?). It should be a rough week next week also, I have a lot of players on Bye that I don't neccessraily want to replace but may have to unless I want to sacrifice a win to keep them. For any football fans that didn't watch MNF last night, you missed an exhibition by the Bears defense on "How to let your offense off the hook for a terrible performance."

On the baby front: Angela and I have a class tonight on child development....that should be fun.

Praise God.

Championship form

2006-10-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

It's over! Today Todd and I wrap up the weight loss competition. The final result is (drumroll).....

Starting weight: 230 lbs
Current weight: 214 lbs
Total loss: 16 lbs !!!

I'm pretty sure that this will seal the deal (unless Todd cut off his arms or something, which could have happened while he was watching the Cards play last night).

Renovation update: Not a whole lot got accomplished this weekend. My dad and step-mother were here. Dad helped me install the final cabinet door on the vanity and we put together the 'hillbilly golf' game he made for me for my birthday. Upon completion of the construction of said game, my father beat me 4 times in a row. For those of you who do not have any idea what hillbilly golf is (as was the case for me until dad got me a set), you'll have to come over and play sometime.*

Dad and I played in the 10th annual CCH golf tournament on Saturday. We placed 4th with a score of one under par. This wasn't too bad considering neither of us have played any golf in a couple months. Dad won the long drive contest so at least we had one notch on the belt. Between us we have won the long drive and long putt contests 2 of the 3 years we have played. We have placed 4th twice and 3rd once.

Angela had her second baby shower (note: initially I left out the word baby, assuming people would know what I was talking about. However, after reading it again, it sounded as if she had been walking around soiled for some time). I, of course, did not attend but got another "see what we got" show at home and some more cake (note: Sarah Crowe made the cake, she makes the best cakes on the PLANET, I'm not kidding, thanks Sarah).

We are 38 days from Braden's due date. Isn't that exciting!! (apperantly exciting enough to get 2 exclamation points) For anyone who isn't following my blog closely, there is a baby pool (for more information see 'No purchase necessary, void where prohibited' on this blog) enter your guess now for a chance to win stated prize. So far there are 10 submissions with only 1 person claiming that Bradizzle will come late and only 1 duplicated day. Apparently no one has faith in the medical community and guessed the actual day he is due. Keep 'em coming folks.

Praise God.

*This offer not valid for people I don't know, random blog readers, and creepy people (sorry Todd).

Social experimentology at its finest

2006-10-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a great response to the baby pool. It took me quite a while to get them all on there and formated correctly but it's quite an impressive list. The only duplicate days are the Ferguson's, they both must like Wednesdays.

PUBLIC UNALERT! Apparently I left the camera in my truck when I sold it to my dad. He found it three days ago and had been planning on holding it for ransom. However, he came clean and agreed to bring it up to me this weekend. Thanks dad! (really he was just going to suprise me)

So then I no longer would appreciate any 'consumer reports' regarding digital cameras. I really don't want any feedback on this. However, I would like any info you might have regarding video cameras in the "cheap" to "very affordable" range.

I did not get the doors put on the vanity due to having practice for worship team. Hopefully those will get done tonight or tommorow. Tonight Angela and I are taking a night off of running about and doing things all the time. As could be expected, she is a bit exhaused from lugging my kid all over the place. We have been very busy this week and will continue to be busy for the next 18-25 years (25 to account for more children, not to account for my son being a loser). So we're going to take it easy.

As a final comment for today; today is Friday the 13th. Many people believe that this is a spooky day or a scary day or whatever. Those peope are absolutely right! If you don't believe me get arrested and spend the night in jail tonight, you'll see*. As a note: I would not reccommend public intoxication as a means by which to get arrested, it really takes away from your ability to observe the freakyness of all the other people in "the tank." I think the best way to go would be misdemeanor property destruction, or walking your dog without a leash or something like that. Feel free to comment about your experiences here on my blog!

*I do not condone the violation of federal, state, or local laws in order to conduct interesting social experimental observations. This comment and most other comments made on this blog are simply provided for your amusement and mine. (This disclaimer brought to you by: "The Law Offices of Schemp, Beadle, and Musgrave")

No purchase necessary, void where prohibited

2006-10-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

It is time for my last Thursday update of the weight loss challenge!!

Starting weight: 230 lbs
Current weight: 214 lbs
Total loss: 16 lbs

I have officially hit Todd's original goal for this time period. Next Monday is the final weigh in.

Renovation update: The guest room is completely done and put back together. I hung pictures and a mirror in Braden's room and attempted to get the doors back on the vanity (this has not worked out so far). I also did the touch-ups in the basement. Tonight after "Financial Fun Thursday" I'm going to try to get those dad-blamin' doors on the vanity.

PUBLIC ALERT!!! If anyone has seen my digital camera, please let me know. I have not seen it in well over a month. It's a Sony Cybershot in a black leather camera bag. Thank you.

Oh, yeah. I'm going to be looking at buying a new camera soon. If anyone has any 'consumer reports' (this phrase used without permission, copyright owned by "consumer reports") on cameras you have purchased or used, feel free to post a comment about it here. I value your input!

Braden is 42 days from his due date (38 days from my predicted birthdate). I'm going to begin a pool on when people think he will arrive and his length and weight. I will be posting this in the left column of this blog. To submit a guess comment on this blog entry or any later entry. The winner will be whomever guesses the date correctly. Tiebreaker will be weight. Double tie-breaker will be length. No duplicate guesses will be allowed (One per person, no exact copies of a previously submitted guess). The winner of this pool will win a special mention on this blog in bold and italicized letters (maybe all caps too). My submission will be first and is as follows. Born on 11-19-06. Weight 7lbs 6ozs. Length 22.5 inches. Let the games begin! No submissions will be taken after 11-10-06 or after Angela has gone into labor.

Praise God.

It's like traveling back in time

2006-10-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to mess up yesterday's blog with a bunch of other stuff so today I'll write all the stuff I was going to write yesterday.

I went 4-1 on fantasy football bringing my totals up to "rockin." I feel really bad for my Dad though. He has lost 5 games straight in the league we are in together (sorry Dad).

Speaking of dads, I'm going to be one soon. 6 weeks from tommorow is Braden's due date. I'm pretty excited. Last night I stayed up a little late and read The Expectant Father for a while. And like any good male, I've been thinking about financial things, life insurance, etc. Most of the time I feel pretty comfortable with the whole becoming a dad thing, but once a day or so it hits me a little harder for some reason. The house is almost ready for Braden to arrive. Angela and I are convinced that Braden should see the house looking really good before he gets old enough to destroy it. I have installed the sink and mirror and hardware in the bathroom. There are no doors on the vanity, I have to get those finished up and put the knobs on. I'm puting tile on the surround this weekend, probably, and maybe building a frame for the mirror (hey Dad, can you bring your Miter Saw up this weekend?). I also finished up the guest room and got it pretty much situated. All I have left is touching up the basement, cleaning the basement carpet, killing the basement cat, the bathroom finishing touches, and hanging Bradens decorations on the walls. There are a few other non-essential wants that I could do but my main focus is on the above.

That's about all for yesterday.

Praise God.

Me, Myself, and Me.

2006-10-10T06:20:00.000-07:00

Myself: "Hows that feel?"
Me: "Not good."
Myself: "I told you not to eat the cake, but you didn't listen."
Me: "I know, but it was tasty."
Myself: "Well I hope it was worth it." (not really hoping it was worth it)
Me: "You should try some."
Myself: "Shut it flabby."

Praise God.

Once a week, even if you don't need it

2006-10-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday began the "shower season." Angela had her church shower and brought home some cool stuff for Braden. I got to stay at home and paint the guest room and the vanity in the bathroom. Once the vanity is done, I'll be able to install the sink and mirror. I hope to do that tonight. The guest room needs some touchups and then we (this again means I) can put that room back together. The best part of shower season is I don't have to go. I stay home and unload the car and look at stuff. This is great! Oh yeah, the Dutch Boy paint is ok. I still like the American Tradition paint. However, due to the fact that we got the Dutch Boy on clearance, it may be the better paint per-dollar-spent. Todd and I are one week out from our contest end date. Here's the current standing.

Starting weight: 230 lbs
Current weight: 215 lbs
Total loss: 15 lbs

I think my metabolism is up or something because I didn't do to well on my eating this weekend. I ran a couple times but less than I would have liked.

My goal by next week is not to gain 5 lbs. You see, the one big problem with shower season is that it directly coincides with Angela bringing home cake season. This is bad. I shall do my best to resist the sweet temptation of that moist delicious goodness. [smack in the face]

Myself: "Hey fatty, whatcha thinking about."
Me: "Uhhhhh, cake."
Myself: "If I catch you eating that cake, I'm gonna kick your butt!"
Me: "How 'bout just a little piece."
Myself: "I guess that's ok.....If you want a little piece of my foot up your backside!"
Me: "Fine, I won't eat the cake."
Myself: "Good, that's real good" (low evil voice, like he's up to something, not an encouraging one)

Anyways, I think I'll do ok....at least until next Monday.

Praise God.

Remodel: the story of me and my bathroom

2006-10-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

Neither Todd or I got up our Thursday updates. So I don't feel too bad getting this out late.

Starting weight: 230 lbs
Current weight: 216 lbs
Total Loss: 14 lbs

To be accurate, I had gotten down to 215 but I was back at 216 when I did my 'official' weigh it Thursday morning.

Renovation update:
I have painted all of the walls in the guest bath and installed a new light fixture (in that order).
One of the more interesting parts of this process was that I painted the walls by the light of a lantern and Maglight (big flashlight). It was kind of a mystery.... where had I painted, where had I not? I still have a lot to do. My goal is to have the vanity painted and the counter installed by the end of the weekend. If I do really well I could also get all the hardware installed and actually hook up the sink. If I do really, really well then I'll be able to get the tile surround done and the frame for the mirror built.

Quick free ad:
I used American Tradition paint from Lowes to paint the bathroom. I have always been a big fan of Kilz paint (from Wal-Mart) but I think I like American Tradition better. I think it's a couple bucks per gallon more expensive. However, it covered very well and did not run. I'm using Dutch Boy paint (Wal-Mart again) for the guest room (Hey Todd, we got it on clearance). I'll let you know how that goes.

Quick free anti-ad:
While I'm talking about paint. I really hate Sherwin Williams paint. It's way too runny and expensive.

Praise God.

You can stop calling now

2006-10-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for their comments. I truly appreciate it.

I didn't include my weekly update of my fantasy football (and the phone has been ringing off the hook) yesterday. I felt it would detract from the novella.

I went 3-1-1 this week. I actually tied in one league to remain unbeaten and I'm still unbeaten in another league and snatched my first victory in my winless league. So my current records are (best to worst).

4-0-0
3-0-1
3-1-0
2-2-0
1-3-0

Total: 13-6-1 Not bad

I had to take a break from running. My knees were killing me. So I think I'll get back at it tonight, and perhaps run again in the morning if that goes well. Our church softball season is over and we lost our last game. However, I felt we played the best game of the year. Everyone was playing well and being aggressive. It was fun. I got to steal 3rd as well!

My demolition is done on my bathroom. I'm going to go home now and work on putting it back together.

Praise God.

Classic struggle between man and machine

2006-10-03T05:53:00.000-07:00

A while back I reported that I had some difficulty with my mother's boat (for more information see: I'm no Jack Sparrow...er, Captain Jack Sparrow). In that post I stated that I could probably go ahead and write the story about how I tried to repair said boat. Well if I would have done that then, I couldn't do it now. And now it'll be a true story, and everyone likes a true story (for more information watch "Rudy").

It was a beautiful day in the Ozarks yesterday. I took my ginormous Ford Expedition on a little joy ride down to Shell Knob. The colors are just starting to change on the trees and you almost didn't notice the bagworms. There was very little traffic on a Monday afternoon so I very much enjoyed the drive. Then, all of a sudden, the joy stopped. I arrived at the boat dock. For those of you who have journeyed down the "hill-of-certain-death" you know why the joy stopped. Anyways, I took my tool box down to the boat. I was told by the local boat dealer, whom I called last week to see about a part, that there was a serial number on the propeller (the part I was replacing). I examined the prop (that's the boat-people term) and found no such number. So I pulled out all of the paperwork concerning the boat to search for some random number I have no idea how to find. After about 10 seconds of this I became discouraged and decided that I would simply (simply is going to the the ironic word) take off the prop and take it to them to match. The thing about outboard motors is that they hang off the back of a boat. This creates some problems when you can't get to the back of the boat due to the 100' of water under it. So after staring at the prop and trying to reach out with my wrench to unscrew the prop nut and succeeding only in turning the prop (cause it's designed to go 'round and 'round), I decided to take my discouraging paperwork to the part place and let them figure it out.

So I arrive at Sport Boat USA, a lovely boat dealer specializing in Mercury motors (that's the kind I have). As I walked to the door I noticed something odd. There on the door was the "hours of operation" sign. I studied this closely as I pulled on the door. At the same time I nearly dislocated my shoulder I read "Monday........closed." I stared at this for a few minutes (literally like 4 whole minutes) and began to become quite frustrated with myself for not calling and making sure that a place of buisness was OPEN ON A MONDAY! So I scavanged through my brain and remembered where another boat place was (right next door). They are not a Mercury dealer so I held little faith that they would carry the part I needed, but since I was already there I thought, "Why not spread my misery around a bit." I drove up and lo and behold they were OPEN! I entered the store and walked to the counter. A middle-aged woman asked if she could help me. I made my prop request. She began asking me questions about the prop I needed. I, of course, had no answers except "It' s not my boat, it's my mom's." I provided her and Bob (I don't know if that's his name but I figured it's a good guess), who had joined us, with the paperwork from the boat. After scrounging through said papers and finding nothing of use, Bob decided that I needed a 13 pitch prop. I said "ok" and held my breath after asking how much this particular part was going to cost. It was $40 less than what those crooked-no-work-on-Mondays people told me at the Mercury dealer, so I was happy....briefly. I asked if there was anyone that could install the prop and she told me it would be a couple WEEKS. I asked if it was a long proceedure and she said no, they are just very busy. I stood there, looking dejected, pitiful, and helpless (which I was) in hopes that she would have mercy on me and call her brother or uncle or nephew who 'just happened to know something about motors.' You know in movies and books and on TV there's this perception about small town folk who are just there to help a feller out and do what's right? That's not the case at the boat store. So after standing at the counter for a few minutes and getting no feedback, I took the prop and headed back to the boat. As I was driving and contemplating my predicament, I glanced back and saw my brand new tow strap in the back of my vehicle.

(jump forward 15 min)

So I'm hanging off the back of the pontoon boat, straped into a makeshift body sling I created from a tow strap. I begin to work on the motor (akward not just because I'm wearing a Polo, Khakis, and hanging off the back of a boat, but also because I have know idea what I'm doing) and succeed in getting the original prop off the boat. Now, as I mentioned before, the water here is about 100' ft deep. So it is imperitive that I not drop any parts or tools into the water. This becomes a difficult task when trying to hold on to a prop, a wrench, and a nut at the same time. However, I managed not to drop anything. I make the repair and decide to take the boat out to test it out (per the recommendation of Bob). This becomes difficult when I find out the boat won't start. I had taken all of the ropes off the boat and was drifting out into the water when I figured this out. I ran to the front of the boat and caught the dock and pulled myself back in. I jumped out and tied a rope to the front of the boat and got back in to try again. I began drifting back out again and expected to feel the gentle tug of a rope keeping me safely tied to the dock...no tug. I looked up and found that the rope I tied to the boat was only tied to the boat, not the dock (I have a Masters degree?). So I jumped up ran to the front of the boat and pulled myself in, this time tying up the boat. After coming to the conclusion the boat would not start, I decided to call it a day.

So all in all things worked out. I have a new skill (making slings from tow straps) and all is well in the world of pontoon boats!

Praise God.

This title's just six words long

2006-10-02T06:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday everybody!

I should have an interesting story for tommorow. This afternoon I'm going to Shell Knob to fix my mom's boat that I messed up (for more information see 'I'm no Jack Sparrow...er, Captain Jack Sparrow.)' So tune in for that report.

This has been a busy weekend. Angela and I went to Monett on Saturday to see my grandmother and uncle (in from Colorado). Then we left there and drove to Lebanon (the city, not the country) and visited my in-laws. My sister-in-law turned 11, that was fun. To top it all off, we drove back home at 11:00 pm. My food intake was quite appaling during that 24 hours but I made up for it on Sunday. I ran last night and this morning (though not as much as I hoped to). My knees and calfs (the muscles not the animals) didn't seem to agree that it was a good idea to run this morning. However, I still managed a combined 6 miles between last night and this morning (though probably a good 1.5 miles was walking).

I also began demolition on my guest bathroom. Initially Angela and I had just planned on replacing the counter and sink and painting the vanity. Now we're (by we I mean me, but me're doesn't sound right) going to redo the entire bathroom. I'm replacing the light, building a new frame for the mirror, replacing the counter, painting the vanity, replacing the hardware on the vanity, tiling the floor and surround, and maybe repainting the walls!!!!!!

Time for the weight thingy.
Starting weight: 230 lbs
Current weight: 216 lbs
Total loss: 14 lbs

Todd and I have two weeks from today left in our challange. Good luck Todd!

Praise God.

STUFFing

2006-09-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

Well I missed my posting deadline. Sorry.

Buisness first:

Starting weight: 230 lbs
Current weight: 218 lbs
Total loss: 12 lbs

So Todd, congrats, you gained a pound on me. Hope you enjoy the brats and nachos this weekend!

I have been continuing my running. I had a long run of about 4 miles and other runs of 3.5, 3 miles, and 2 miles. I have had a couple of days with multiple runs. I have also been trying to add some push-ups and crunches.

I have been particularly busy at work and this has provided me with an excuse not to keep up with 'My Jesus Book.' I hope that I can get back on that and keep with it. I have found that the more I read, the easier it is for me to pick up on things going on around me that shout GOD at me (other than my patients, followed by explitives). I'm going to his some Ephesians next.

I am considering setting another goal following my competition with Todd. I think that my weight loss goal will be to get down to my marriage weight by the time I become a daddy. This would mean getting below 210 (208 to be exact). I don't think I've seen that since I got back from my honeymoon.

Praise God.

AN IMPORTANT STORY

2006-09-27T05:44:00.000-07:00

OUR GOD IS GREAT AND POWERFUL AND AWESOME!

I wanted to share with you something that happened yesterday.

Now, if you've been reading this blog since it began, you know that I don't believe in coincidence. If you know me personally, you know I'm not delusional (most of the time). So that's the disclaimer for the following. I was talking to one of my patients yesterday, on the unit, near the nurse's station where a few employees were talking. I overheard them talking about mystical / wican practices. I began to pray to God that he come into the hospital and fill it with His Spirit. Immediately (and I'm talking within 2 seconds) the nurse manager was called away to a meeting and she asked another employee to go off the unit and the other employees went off to do other things. Their conversation just stopped. I have been trying to be a good example to them and I am encouraged tremendously that God would answer my prayer so immediately. Now some may write that off to coincidence but I MUST BELIEVE that God answers the prayers of His children. My spirit was lifted by this event and I write it here so that other's might be uplifted.

Be encouraged and HAVE FAITH, God is with us and He answers prayers.

The order of things

2006-09-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

It's Tuesday! Time for the fantasy football report! I can feel the anticipation building inside you already. Your insides are screaming "JUST GET ON WITH IT. I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" So, before you explode, here it is: I won 4 of 5 games this week. That is good. I'm undefeated in one league and completely defeated in another.

Now, it may seem slightly wrong that I reported my fantasy football information before I gave the report on Angela's doctor's visit yesterday. However, fantasy football is exciting. Our (her) doctor was not available due to the insensitivity of another woman (actually 3 other women) who decided they'd just go ahead an give birth when their doctor was obviously busy. So we saw a nurse, did the heartbeat and measurement thing and left. Nothing too exciting. Braden is the exact size he should be at this time (boring). Seriously though, I praise God that Bra-dizzle is in good health (Angela too).

Got to keep it short today, I have a lot to do at work. For those of you who read 'My Jesus Book' I will have both yesterday's and today's post up tonight. I think I'm going to do some new testament stuff for a little change of pace.

Praise God.

Weight a minute

2006-09-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

I never in my wildest dreams thought that the following words would ever seep through my lips (assume I'm talking while I type this): I enjoy running. I don't get it. There is no fun in running, no game to play, I'm not good at it, I really don't understand what is going on. But nevertheless, I have found myself enjoying my nearly-daily runs. I ran 2.5 miles Friday night. I ran 3.2 miles Saturday night, and I got up at 6 am this morning and ran farther than 3.2 miles (I haven't had an opportunity to measure that one yet). I did not walk to work this morning, but I feel that the running made up for it. Oh, yeah, I should clarify that my walk to work is 4.6 miles, not the 6-7 I thought it was. Oh well. Anyways, this phenomenon of running is odd and I actually feel good about it when I'm done. Another note, thanks to Shaun (and almost Andy) for the advice on water and breathing, I have had far less trouble on my last two runs.

I had a pretty good food weekend, despite the fact that Angela made home-made pizza (which is probably my favorite food ever). I weighed in this morning (after my run) and the following resulted:

Starting weight: 230 lbs
Current weight: 218 lbs
Total loss: 12 lbs

This is the first time I have been under 220 in probably 2 years, maybe 3.

I hope every one had a lovely weekend. I've missed reading blogs for the last three days. I'm telling you, it's like CRACK! So please, please, please, write in your blogs if you have one, post comments if you don't, and have a nice day!

I'm no Forrest Gump

2006-09-21T06:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Thursday. That means it's time for another weigh-in. But first I want to discuss this exercise phenomenon. I have been reading up on running... on Andy's blog (see link in the left column for more information) and I thought I'd give it a go. So last night I ran. I ran from my driveway to a given destination of unknown distance from my house. The good news is, I did it! And I didn't die. The bad news is, I thought I was going to die. I don't know what causes this but I was running and I got a sharp pain in my ribs area. Inspired by Andy's story of perseverance (it's a good story, you can read about it at andyschmickle.blogspot.com) I pressed through the pain until I reached my destination. Once there, I stopped and tried to regain my breath (which I figured out later, I had left at home). Once I gained my composure, I began walking back home. I walked a ways and then decided that I should man up and try to run back home. So I ran. Apparently I'm overweight and out of shape. I ran about 1/4 of the way back and had to stop for fear that I may have to amputate my torso to alleviate my discomfort. So I walked the rest of the way home. So that's the story. Anyways, on to business.

Starting weight: 230 lbs
Current weight; 220 lbs
Total loss: 10 lbs

It seems that I've entered some kind of holding pattern.

Praise God.

At least I'm not cramping

2006-09-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

An odd thing happened last night.

I came home from losing a nail-biter softball game and sat down in my favorite chair to watch a little TV before I went to bed. Nothing I normally watch was on and my DVR was empty so I ended up watching a new show called 'Smith.' I didn't get to see the whole show so I really had no idea what was going on but that's not important anyhow. What struck me as odd was that during the final scene of the show, the main character (who is a professional thief) came home early in the morning and went to wake up his son. He sat there in a chair by his son's bed and stared at him for a while. He then brushed the kid's hair back with his hand in that loving, paternal, TV kind of way and what happened.... a little tear came to my eye. What the..? I started conjuring up these images in my head of me and my son and (this might sound creepy) watching him sleep. It was a new experience for me. They say a man's hormones change when his wife is pregnant. This could explain both why I was getting choked up during a TV show I didn't even watch and why I can't hit a softball to save my life. I'm pretty sure I'm going through MAN-o-pause. I'm pretty sure this goes away with time because I know lots of guys with kids that can hit a softball.

Praise God.

Sir, yes Sir.

2006-09-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't noticed, the left column of this blog has all sorts of interesting notes, links, etc. The most interesting one is the note and link to My Jesus Book. Take a look.

So, it's Tuesday. That means all of my scores are in for fantasy football. I did a little better this week. I won in 4 of 5 leagues including the two I won in last week. So that is nice.

I walked from Angela's office to my own today. It's getting cold. I'm trying not to be a wuss but I really don't like the cold. As stated in an earlier post (see Turning over an old leaf) my plan is to continue my walking regiment until I wuss out. I am hoping that this will not be untill after my weight-loss competition is over, but if it get's much colder in the mornings... [smacked me in the face]

Myself: Snap out of it you pansy!!
Me: Owwww!
Myself: You've got a da' gum contest to win. You can't go on letting a little thing like the weather get you down (condecending voice, not an encouraging one).
Me: Fine! But you don't have to take that kind of tone.

Anyways, I'm pretty sure I'll find the motivation to keep going.

Praise God.

I'm no Jack sparrow...er, CAPTAIN Jack sparrow

2006-09-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard that saying "When you borrow your mom's boat, something will go terribly wrong."? No? Well you have now.

So, I wrote about the awesome weekend that Angela and I had with some friends this past weekend, however, I did leave out one small incident that caused some mild stress and discomfort. That story goes as follows: A couple of weeks ago Angela and I went down to Shell Knob to familiarize ourselves with my mother's new 24' pontoon boat. She warned us about some slight difficulties she had been having getting it started out of the boat slip but Don (her new husband) showed me a neat trick to make the big boat work. I was instructed to report back to her any problems that I had with the boat this weekend. Here's how that conversation went:

Mom: Hi, so you had some problems with the boat? (I had been talking to Don earlier and she had overheard his end of the conversation)
Me: Well, yeah, you could say that.
Mom: What happened?
Me: Well, Shaun, Andy and I went down to the boat and got it all ready to head out and pick up the rest of the group. We had a little difficulty getting her (the boat) started but I didn't think much about that because you had warned my about it earlier. So we went on our way, the boat ran well. We filled up on Gas at Campbell Point marina and had a little difficulty again getting started. But it worked out. We picked up the rest of the group at the lake house and headed out to find a place to fish and swim. We drove around a few min and found an area that looked good and decided to stop. We cut the engine and were ready for some fun in the sun. However, there was a stiff breeze blowing and it just happened to be blowing us in the direction of a large rock bar. As we got within about 15 yards of the rock bar, I jumped behind the wheel and tried to get her started....No luck....I tried again....no luck....We were just getting over the gravel bar (my attention at this point was wholly on the ignition) and I tried again.... Lucky me! It started up and as the propeller started it hit a rock and broke a blade off the propeller. I got out and pushed the boat off the rock bar (creating some chuckles on board when I couldn't get back in the boat) and got back in. I then decided that the water was not so bad and I jumped back in for a swim. When I came around the back of the boat to get back in, I checked out the propeller and found the blade problem. This caused some concern. I alerted the passengers and we decided to head back toward the lake house. As you could probably imagine, we had some trouble getting the engine started. To make a long (45 min or so) story short, we made a lot of attempts to get the engine started again and we failed a lot. We ended up docked to the Kanakuk camps dock (empty at this time) as our mechanics (thank God for Mike and Cory) worked on getting us under way. They did and we decided that we would not cut the engine until we got back to the boat slip. And it was so.

Mom: Well, that happens when you have a boat.

Seriously? That's what happens....I'm never buying a boat.

So, that's my story. It will be a good one to tell for years to come. I'll probably have a follow up story about how I tried to replace the propeller blade by myself and how hilarious that was (I haven't tried this yet but I could probably go ahead and write the story).

Moving on to another topic. It is Monday and it's time for a weigh-in. I would like to mention that I successfully completed another trek from home to work this morning. I completed the walk in 10 min less time than last week. It seems that my weekend did not impact my goals as negatively as I had imagined. My stated goal was to break 220 by this weigh-in. I did not break 220 but here is the result.

Starting weight: 230 lbs
Current weight: 220 lbs
Total loss: 10 lbs

I'm pretty happy with this and will set my goal at a reasonable 3 lbs by next Monday's weigh-in.

Praise God.

Like rabbits

2006-09-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

I go away for a weekend and I come back and find two more bloggers to add to my blog links. This is exciting.

I just had a great weekend with my wife and some good friends of ours. We went to an AMAZING lake house (7 bedrooms, 9baths, great view). It was wonderful. In a previous post I referenced that it was going to be a difficult weekend to maintain my healthy eating. It was. I did very well until Saturday night (resisting an amazing breakfast and having a sensible lunch). It does make me feel better that Todd had his "free day" on Saturday, so I may not have fallen too much. Saturday night I consumed a few more nachos than I should have and I could have resisted the adult beverages. Today I ate a decent breakfast and we ate Chinese for lunch (but I didn't eat it all) so I don't feel too bad about that. After reading Andy's blog (for more information see "blog links" in the left column) I feel that I am wholly inadequate to even consider considering calling myself a healthy person. So Andy, thanks for smashing that small glimmer of self-confidence that I had in myself. Just kidding.

Tommorow I will be sharing an incredible story about a different side of this getaway weekend, look for that.

I hope you all are having a wonderful day, night, or morning (whenever you're reading this).

Praise God.

I don't believe in coincidence (conincidentally I do believe in God)

2006-09-15T06:32:00.000-07:00

Just yesterday I was thinking:

Me: "What is the point of writing in a blog that no one reads?"
Myself: "Well there's the weight loss tracking thing and it's kinda fun to do.
Me: "But no one ever leaves any comments for me to read and that is really discouraging."
Myself: "Suck it up, whiner."

And then something amazing happened! People left comments on my blog! I was so excited to see that this morning. I was just telling Angela last night that she needed to post comments (to make me feel better) and I was half expecting both of the comments I found to be from her (you can still post comments honey). So anyway, thanks for the kind words and know that I appreciate any comments, even if it's just to say you were here and read my blog. If you are asking yourself, "how do I post a comment on your blog?" then here is how.

1. Scroll down a little
2. See that off colored word that says 'Comments' preceded by a number (hopefully not 0)?
3. If you answered yes to #2, click on that word.
If you answered no to #2, keep looking and then come back to the beginning of #3.
4. Type in your comment in the box provided.
5. Click on the Publish button.
6. Feel good about yourself for learning how to use new technology.

Helpful hint: I would like to know who you are. So if you are " anonymous said* " then include your name, social security number, and the numbers of 2 major credit cards (also include the three digit security number on the back of the card)........Or just your name, whatever.

Keep the comments coming in, I'll keep the posts rolling out.

Praise God.

*For more on this topic see "I am easily influenced by my peers" posted Sept. 7th on this blog.

10 weeks used to seem like a long time

2006-09-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

Well, today we are only 10 weeks out from Braden's due date. 30 down 10 to go. Last night I stayed up late again cleaning out what used to be my closet and is now Braden's closet. The closet is clean... now everything is out in the middle of the room. So tonight guess what I'll be doing! As we close in on counting weeks in single digits, the % of thought that is baby-related continues to increase, as you could imagine. At work I've been talking to my boss at every opportunity to insure that someone will be hired to cover for me prior to my leave. At this point there is no one to cover my job when he is born. At home I spend much of my time preparing one thing or another for Braden's arrival. And any free time I have I am generally looking a baby-related stuff on the net. In general I am enjoying the experience of getting all of these things taken care of (some of them should have been done a couple years ago anyways).

An interesting note about fatherhood (or pre-fatherhood actually): Even in this era of increased expectations that men will assume greater responsibility for child-rearing, nearly all resources on becoming a parent cater to the mother. I am signed up to receive newsletters from Babycenter.com and even though when I filled out the profile I stated that I was the FATHER, every single newsletter refers to "mother's like you." There are a handful of websites dedicated to expectant fathers but they are second-rate compared to those available to mothers (and nearly all of them focus on two things: money and changing diapers). The one resource I did find that was pretty good was the book "The Expectant Father" written by a guy that found pretty much what I'm finding as far as quality resources for fathers-to-be.

Ah, yes. It is Thursday and I'm required to post my weight loss progress (even though Todd has been holding out on me). It was a disappointing morning, though I can't say that I'm surprised. The last two days have not been my most disciplined and I haven't done a lot of physical activity (unless cleaning out the closet qualifies). So here it is:

Starting weight: 230 lbs
Current weight: 222 lbs
Total weight loss: 8 lbs

Yes it's true I GAINED a lb over the last three days. But this has provided me with a little extra motivation to be more vigilant with my eating discipline and reinforced the fact that I must also exercise. I walked from Angela's office to mine today and plan to do the same tomorrow. Monday will be my next walk to work from home experience. My goal by the next posting is to get under 220. This may be difficult because this weekend I'm going to the lake with some friends and we will probably be having some good eats. Hopefully I'll manage that well.

Praise God.

The worst thing about old leafs

2006-09-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

My feet hurt.

I estimate that I have walked between 10-12 miles in the last two days. My poor lazy feet weren't ready for that. I have some quite painful blisters in the middle of each foot. However, my resolve is strong! I will resume my walking tommorow, despite the pain. I figure I'll develop some tough feet over the coming weeks.

They say that when you start a diet (if you want to call it that) you lose the most weight in the first week and then you actually have to work to lose it. I'm not so much looking forward to that. I'm at about 10 lbs down from my start weight (an official count will come tommorow) and yesterday was probably the hardest day so far. I felt like I was starving almost all day.

This wasn't the best fantasy football week for me. I won only 2 of 5 games. However, the 2 I won are in the 2 leagues I most want to win in (co-worker league and the league my dad and friends are in). I'm also in a league at church but since I missed the first 4 rounds of the live draft and got quality picks like Joseph Addai and Jake Plummer, I don't hold out much hope. The other two leagues are public and I don't know anyone in them.

Tommorow will mark the 10-weeks-til-baby mark. I'll have some comments on that tommorow.

Praise God.

Turning over an old leaf

2006-09-11T06:39:00.000-07:00

When I was a freshman at SMSU (now Missouri State) I lived in a residence hall on the far north side of campus (Hammon's Hall). This required me to walk a considerable distance to all of my classes and any other activity going on around campus. I was also walking to Christian Campus House multiple times per day which added to my walking significantly. On top of this, the parking situation was dire and once you found a parking spot (especially one close to the building) you never moved your car. So this promoted walking to destinations off campus as well. The point is I walked a lot. In combination with generally not horrible eating habits I lost about 25 lbs my freshman year.

Today I walked from my home to my office. I estimate that this is between 6 and 7 miles and I completed this feat in just under 1 hour 20 min. I actually quite enjoyed the experience (except for the developing blister on my left foot). My new plan is to make this trek once a week (probably on Mondays) and to car pool with my wife and walk from her office to mine (probably about 2 miles). This in an effort to meet two goals. One, to beat Todd in our little weight loss thingy. Two, to accomplish a goal I set 5 months ago, to be more healthy when my child is born. To date I had not really done anything to accomplish the second. I will totally wuss out when it gets too cold, but until then, I'm walking.

As for my required posting of progress in weight loss:
Original Weight: 230
Weight this morning: 221
Total weight loss to date: 9 lbs

It should be noted that I ate at Ryan's Steakhouse and McDonalds over the weekend. However, I maintained discipline in my eating and feel pretty good about my eating despite the overwhelming desire to eat steak until my eyes fell out and french fries until my arteries jammed.

Praise God.

Fooseball

2006-09-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!

FOOTBALL IS HERE!!!

Last night was the opening game of this season of NFL football and consequently fantasy football. I am managing 5 fantasy teams this year along with a handfull of other fantasy related teams. I'll probably keep some kind of record as to how those teams do on this blog.

It is interesting to me that now that my wife and I are expecting, most of my thoughts turn toward "what if's" of the future and pondering about what my son will and won't like/dislike etc. I was contemplating earlier whether or not he will like football, if so, what team(s) and so on. It's an odd new way of thinking about things. It also makes me think of how my father's interests influenced my own as I grew up. Dad likes Golf, so do I. Dad is a Cowboy's fan, this is my team of choice (stop laughing and/or groaning). It makes me wonder what my child will pick up from me... and what he'll reject (that's the scarier part, i think).

On a completely seperate note: I have issued a chalange to fellow blogger and friend Todd. I chalanged him to a weight loss competition. Over the next six weeks we will be documenting our progress on our respective blogs. We should be reporting each Monday and Thursday but to make an official report this week I will post today.

Starting weight: 230 (from the start of Todd's blog not this one)
Weight this morning: 227 lbs
Total loss (not including my latte today): 3 lbs

Hope your day is blessed!

Praise God.

I am easily influenced by my peers!

2006-09-07T06:45:00.000-07:00

Seriously...

I have a blog?

Stop laughing.

My main motivation for starting this blog is because I don't want to be "anonymous said" on other people's blogs anymore. But as I think about it, it would be interesting to keep some kind of public account of my daily actions. As I enter a new phase of my existance on this planet (becoming a father) it might be interesting to document this experience and get feedback from Todd, the only person who will read this blog because he sits at his computer all day and he owes me for reading his!

So I will be daddy-tracking and sharing any other random thoughts here. Posts will be short and easy to read because I don't have time to type an essay every day.

Praise God.