What I’ve Been Up To

December 11, 2007 by Leave a Comment

Things have been crazy busy for me lately but it has been a good thing because it looks like I am going to meet my work goal for the year.  I’m so close.  We have added a lot of new capabilities to what we do at work so I’ve been on the road quite a bit lately spreading the word to clients. 
From Friday 11/30 to Friday 12/7 I traveled over 2400 miles by car and aside from an average of 5.5 hours of sleep each night the rest of the time every day was probably 85-90% work time.  If I had time to think of all the experiences I had along the way I’d be sure to write about some of them.  Maybe later…
Someone asked me the other day what I want for Christmas.  As I was staring at a mirror in my hotel last week, missing my family, exhausted, thinking about my inbox full of catch up work to do, smelling the coffee beside me…  I thought for a second, “hmmm, just what do I really need for Christmas?”  At that moment staring in the mirror I did this funny face I do that shows my teeth and realized… ALL I NEED FOR CHRISTMAS IS A BIT MORE SLEEP AND A LOT OF TEETH WHITENER.  Obviously my coffee dependency is taking it’s toll.  
Filed Under: Misc

Round Trip Ticket to Space Please

October 23, 2007 by Leave a Comment

Does anyone else remember Apollo 13 the movie? If I recall correctly the astronauts were put through hell just to be accepted to the astronaut training, and in training they had to pass tests of immortality. Maybe I’m exaggerating but it seemed pretty stringent.

Oh how things are changing…

The World’s First Spaceport
It’s tourism meets Star Trek. Architects have started preliminary work on the design of Spaceport America’s 100,000-square-foot terminal and hangar facility in New Mexico. It will be the primary base of the Virgin Galactic spaceliner, which, starting in 2009, will whisk travelers into space for a short trip into orbit if they pony up for a $200,000 ticket. The spaceport, expected to reach completion by early 2010, will also be the headquarters of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority.
(Source: Space.com)

I’m curious to know the details of how they can make such an offering to the public, but I have no intentions of ever paying $200k for a ticket. Maybe by 2040 the price will come down – like computers and cell phones. But by then there will be something even cooler – like studying abroad on Mars or a ticket to meet aliens in person. 

Filed Under: Misc

I Love Anderson Part 2

September 28, 2007 by Leave a Comment

I didn’t know until today that I’d be posting again on how much I love Anderson. I had to go to Atlanta today for a vendor demonstration. Since the meeting was just outside the perimeter in Marietta where I went to college I went early and drove around a bit. Part of me started to miss the high speed lifestyle I had when I lived there (and I’m not talking about the wild college stuff – I’m talking about the general fast pace of work and school and big city).

Those feelings went away really fast on my way home though. If you’ve ever lived or traveled through Atlanta on a Friday afternoon you know that if you are on any square foot of paved assphalt within a 50 mile radius of downtown Atlanta after 2pm you’re parked – not moving. It took me three and a half hours to make a two hour drive back home. I was ok for the first hour of traffic but after that I started losing patience.

By the time I got in the clear, which was almost in Commerce, I just had to get some frustration out of my system. Let’s just say the trip probably would have taken four hours if I hadn’t gone just a tid bit over the speed limit.

The only time we have traffic even near that frustrating here in upstate SC is if we’re trying to get through Greenville and somebody rams the middle wall like a nascar race, or if there is a home Clemson game and everybody waits til an hour before to cram in to such a small town via hwy 76 or 123. I love living in Anderson. 

Filed Under: Misc

I Love Anderson

September 27, 2007 by Leave a Comment

I’ve subscribed to another blog My Two Dollars.  I love what he writes here about moving OUT OF L.A.
I get so sick of hearing about L.A. and all the rich brats that live over there and can’t think of anything better to do with all the money they have than to do stupid stuff that gets them in the stupid news.  They make a bad name for the good people who live there.  Good for the My Two Dollars guy for getting his future kids the heck out of there.  Everything he wrote about living in L.A. just reminded me once again that I love living in Anderson, SC.  
Filed Under: Misc

Free Ultrasound

September 27, 2007 by Leave a Comment

Shawna is going on 18 weeks now. I mentioned before she is going to a mid-wife person this time. The midwife uses Greenville Tech for their ultrasounds because they let her patients get them free or something. Shawna’s appointment with Greenville Tech isn’t until sometime in November because they’re so booked up, so we’ve been kinda bummed that we’d have to wait so long to find out if there is a brother or sister for Devin & Skyler.

It is so nice to have friends like Tathie Baughman. She was listening to His Radio and heard that Piedmont Women’s Center is doing some kind of ultrasound training and needs some pregnant volunteers to come in for free ultrasounds so they can do their training. Tathie called us and told us about it and we called to set it up (the person to call is Trish Dillard @ 864-979-4631 in case you or anyone you know wants to take advantage of this offer).

So now we’re very excited that we should know what we’re having next week!! Isn’t that exciting??? 

Filed Under: Misc

Under 6 Soccer Update

September 25, 2007 by Leave a Comment

We’ve played four games so far and we’re 3-1. We are much better than I anticipated we’d be, but what am I talking about – these kids are 4 and 5 yrs old. The team that beat us last night is very good. They had a kid that was bigger than everyone on the field, faster than all but one kid on the field, and could kick harder than anyone on the field. I asked their coaches if he plays for Clemson and they laughed. They said we are the only team that has given them a close game so far because they’ve been blowing everyone else out.

Devin is going after it much better than last year but Skyler is having the first year timidity that Devin had last year. She just stands there, follows me around (I’m on the field with the kids), or does little dance moves when the ball is on the other side of the field. Even if the ball comes towards here she will stand there til it hits her and then she cries when some other kid bumps in to her. Maybe next year she’ll like it more or maybe she’ll stick to her real passion – dancing.

Devin took a hard spill last night. He was hustling after the ball and some kid cut him off and he went down hard – head to the ground and all – he bit it – ate dirt – however you want to put it so it sounds as bad as it was – like a blind sided blitz in football except this is soccer. The difference is last year that would have been game over for Devin. This year he cried for a minute and was ready to come back in the game.

There are a couple of kids I like to get pumped up and talking tough to theirselves to motivate them to not be scared to get in there after the ball (Devin is one of them). They’ll grit their teeth and flex their muscles before the kickoff that turns them loose. After that I just have to get Devin to focus his agression on going after the ball instead of THE KID closest to the ball.

We don’t have a team name this year like we did last year, but this year our uniforms are solid navy blue. The team name we had last year is more appropriate for the uniforms we have this year – Blue Thunder.

I think Shawna has taken pictures but I’ve been so busy I haven’t even had a chance to look at them. By the end of the season I’m sure I’ll post some pics. 

Filed Under: Family, Misc

Eventful Birthday Party

September 15, 2007 by Leave a Comment

We had an awesome birthday party planned for Devin. It was going to be at the oustide ‘Water Works’ area at the YMCA. When we realized earlier in the week that the water has already gotten too cold outside we decided to do the party in the inside pools with this huge inflatable toy they put in the pool. Then right before the party the thunderstorm started, so we couldn’t get in any of the pools. So we took all the kids in to the gym and lowered the basketball goals. Most of the kids still weren’t big enough to shoot a basketball goal high enough to get it in there. Some dads were helping but most of the kids just decided to run wild all over the place making up their own games as they went. It was all good – nobody cared that we weren’t getting to go swimming. Then there was a tornado warning. Everyone in the building was herded in to the locker rooms to wait out the storm. By the time we got out of there we just went to the party room and had pizza and cake and let kids run wild some more. It was crazy but definitely memorable. The most eventful birthday party I’ve ever been a part of… 
Filed Under: Family, Misc

Rarely Stolen Items From a Fellow Jesus Freak

September 12, 2007 by Leave a Comment

Last week as I was traveling I heard a radio show host speaking of an incident he had recently been through. A thief had taken UPS packages off his porch while he was at work. He couldn’t figure out why in the world they had not delivered yet so he called the company he had ordered from and they eventually figured out there is a thief stealing packages in the area.

What was ironic was the goods that were in the box. He had ordered some Christian CD’s of various types off the internet. There were some preaching CD’s and I think he said there were some Christian books on CD and maybe even some Christian music on CD. You have to assume the thief didn’t know that’s what he was stealing and you have to wonder what he thought when he opened the box to find all that stuff. I imagine Christian goods being stolen is probably a rare occurrence.

What I thought was even more unexpected than what got stolen was who it was stolen from. If you live in upstate SC or have ever been here for any amount of time you have heard of the popular radio station B93.7 and their morning radio show hosts Hawk & Tom. These guys are hilarious along with Kato and Heidi.

Anyway, you can listen to these guys long enough to tell Hawk is the one with the best head on his shoulders and who really knows about the rest (my opinion). I had wondered before if they are Christian or not even though they are on the secular radio station (there is nothing wrong with that). Now that I heard Hawk tell his story of having all those Christian materials stolen from his front porch and make the statement “I like to listen to all that stuff during the week too” I think it is safe to assume Hawk is a Christian. I was very glad to hear this.

Now I’ll be praying that he can first of all withstand the others around him and second of all that he can be an example to them that they need Jesus. I think Tom needs brains first and then he needs Jesus, and Kato might be alright if he stops listening to Tom. Heidi just needs to stop hugging her tree and maybe she’ll listen about Jesus too.

I’m just kidding. I don’t really know any of those people and I could have them all wrong for all I know. All I know is what I hear come out of their mouth on the radio. But I think it took some guts for Hawk to mention that he is a Christian on the radio show that he is on and I commend him for taking that stand. 

Filed Under: Faith, Misc

Go Florida State!!!

August 31, 2007 by Leave a Comment

I will probably lose 3 of my 4 readers (I really have no clue how many people read this) because I am surrounded by Clemson Tiger fans. The problem is I lived in FL as a child and I have some uncles who taught me to love the Seminoles. I don’t follow sports nearly as much as a dedicated fan would but I still root for the teams I grew up with, and moving all the time as a preachers kid I rooted for several (Ole Miss, LSU, FSU, Ga. Tech). Since I live in SC now I like to see Clemson and Carolina win, but this Monday night I’m cheering Go Seminoles!!!

Filed Under: Misc

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

August 20, 2007 by Leave a Comment
  • I watched my neighbors dogs last week while they were gone on vacation. It was simple but they insisted on paying me. Does anybody else need me to watch after your dog?
  • I’m selling some stuff on ebay lately but I’m not making any money because I’m spending what I make on stuff I see on ebay.
  • You might remember several months ago Skyler had a dance recital. We just went and picked up our copy of the DVD yesterday. I’ll just say they need someone to do a professional video. This is a good business opportunity for anyone with a good camera and some editing capability – call The Dance Warehouse in Anderson, SC. I could have done a better job with my own home video camera. I was pretty upset about the poor quality for several reasons. They insisted that no one could bring cameras into the auditorium (even though many parents did – they must have already known of the poor video quality that would be provided for sale on DVD). So they lead us to believe the DVD on sale would be worth buying. It wasn’t! I won’t buy one next time unless I see about 3 professional videographers in the auditorium getting good shots from more then one angle and with more than a home video camera! Also, they were charging $15 for these DVD’s. If they were selling something of value it would have been worth $15, maybe even $25. But through most of the show the quality is so bad you can’t even tell who is who, and the song titles that were edited in had mispelling (heaven forbid they should have put the name of the class that was performing on the screen or even the names of the dancers – no, just the song titles). The only way I knew which kid was Skyler on one of the videos is because she does this one little leg move uniquely and when I saw them do that move I could tell which one was her. That’s bad. Somebody made a lot of money selling those DVD’s and what they should have done is refund everybody’s money. Now I’ll stop ranting about that.
  • Perry’s message yesterday made me feel better about this crazy post from last week. In fact he could have used it as an illustration.
  • I don’t want to be negative about anything that ain’t none of my business but when is Lee gonna let Orion play drums again? I haven’t talked to O in several weeks. O – If you’re reading this tell me when you’re scheduled to play again. Is it next week?
  • Next Sunday is going to be unbelievable at NewSpring for a lot of reasons – other than O might be playing drums.
  • Somebody anonymous left a comment last week something about thanks a lot for letting them know we are expecting. Sorry I haven’t called or emailed everyone personally or I might have even failed to mention it when I saw you anonymously in person. I’m still trying to wrap my own brain around it – we’re going to have 3 children in our house. The 18 year counter is going back to 0. 
Filed Under: Misc
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