did I mention that SPEEDCHANNEL is in HD? guess what I can see now in HD... wait... wait for it... WAIT FOR IT..... MONSTER TRUCKS!!!!! as well as Nascar Trucks and qualifying as Formula One too... wow...its the little things, guys... the little things...

Saw this stuff today, INTERESTING...

"Liberalism is the transformation of mankind into cattle." - Friedrich Nietzsche

... Another wild schedule swing coming up... going from extreme early morn to midday into night. the bad...I will be at work late into evenings. the good...I will only work 4 days a week, plus I dont hav to be as concerned with getting to bed so early every night.

...went to the twins "Meet the Teacher!!!" night... of course, they have already met the teacher a couple of weeks ago, but I got a chance to meet her. It was Panda - Frakkin - Leeryum with all the kids running around and parents milling about the school, etc. Nice school that needs to figure out how to turn on the AC.

...watching the Little League World Series game that is more like a church league softball game... it's 10-7 in the bottom of the 4th... wait...moving forward 10-10 in bottom of 6th, the last inning in regulation at this level. It seems that ESPN is doing a better job of catching glimpses of emotion, especially from the losing side without really embarrasing kids like they have in the past...

sat and watched highlights of the Eagles game tonight with Bristol (the family dog) dressed in his authentic #7 Michael Vick Philadelphia Eagles doggie jersey...

summer windng down...

Today we went to the Children's Museum of the Upstate. It was actually fun and I think we'll be going back in the future.... there were a lot of people there in the middle of the day and the ladies at the door said they thought most of the families were from our school district, which starts school seemingly in the middle of November, in comparison to the rest of the United States. If you are in the Upstate, I definitely recommend you taking your kids there. Some of it is pretty childish, but a lot more of it is actually pretty cool. There were sections on music, autoracing, nutrition, water, etc... a whole lot more that I really cant describe but thought was kool. There is also this weird thingy in the middle were kids can climb and play. There is also a mini studio that kids can do a short news show or a music video. Anyway... thought it was cool...

I also took a couple of snappys of the twins... a kinda 7 year, 9 month snappy. I also wanted a couple of photos to give to my mother. I hope this gets her off my back in regards to having a current photo of both me and the twins.

p.s., Ryles hair is usually that wild... honest...

Hera ya go, Grandma!!

here are the photos for my mother, even though she doesnt really ever go to this website. I will print these out and give to her...

"Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated". -Martin Luther King, Jr

so... on the way home daycare today I-Man once again floated out that he wanted to ride the bus to school when it starts 4 months from now in this strange school district. We live less than a minute from the school yet they fail to understand that by the time they wait for a bus, then ride the bus to school, they could have driven by car there and back 25 times... but what do I know... i just rode a school bus for 10 of 12 grades even though...EVEN THOUGH... my mother and grandmother both drove either right past the school or taught at the same school. A few years have past and the details are fuzzy..but how is it I rode a bus an hour to a school that took only 15 minutes to get to by car... a car that my grandmother who was teaching AT THE SAME SCHOOL used? I think about this and just simply shake my head....

at any rate, Santa has confirmed to me that he is 90 percent DONE with toy creation for Xmas this year, extrapolating requests based on careful questions by me, since I have developed a somewhat close relationship with Mr. Claus over the past 7 years. Santa tells me he is confident that he will be spot on when the official lists get to him come November. in similar news, I am pretty much finished with Christmas, except for a family gift when we draw names ( if we still do that... that seems to be in limbo... might have to figure that out on Labor Day.) and Jessica wants me to do something with a ring. That will be a late Fall endeavor...

by the way, it seems charter changed their lineup with out any sorta notice... get home and all of sudden none of the channels ae in the same place. At least they added a couple of more HD channels... FOXNEWS is in HD, which while it is good isnt extremely necessary. Funny that they didnt give us MSNBC in HD. Guess that shows where the demand is with that one, And... SPEEDCHANNEL is in HD. Slowly but surely charter might give me reason to drop my lingering thoughts of putting a dish up on the roof... also some Smithsonian Channel in HD that seems fairly interesting...

As I said before, the Frat got off to a halting start but got a couple of issues resolved fairly quickly. I have big hopes this year for the chapter and I think that they are poised to recruit big numbers as well as renew emphasis on Service. I am hoping to direct the chapter to focus on a few key points this year instead of trying to spread themselves thin with too much stuff.

...did I mention that a put a quote on Facebook from Animal House about the Germans Bombing Pearl Harbor and I had one of the Actives correct me and tell me it was the Japanese? When I asked her if she had ever seen the movie, she hadn't. THAT was an eye opener...

Bristol this weekend. And I will have not attended either race weekend this year. Looks like if I am going to go to the Fall Charlotte race, I will have to simply go by myself. Not that big of a deal, but I do enjoy going with other people.

...other than Homecoming(maybe) and Florida State(definite), no Clemson games seem all that appealing. Like I said before, I am sure some last second change will have me over there for a game or two but as of now, not much to draw me there...

As baseball approaches September, I find myself talking to the tv more as each Braves game takes on more importance... even if they dont get to the playoffs, at least I will have meaningful baseball into September for the first time in two seasons... i still think NEXT YEAR will be the Braves year... yeah, i know...wait till next year...

Interesting....

Click here...

and this one too....

it is always interesting to see the subtle change of Summer to Fall... walked outside yesterday onto the back deck and it looked like... Fall. and I forgot to mention that the leaves are already falling, which for my house, is not necessarily a good thing. Fall brings tons o leaves, constantly falling... then, a few minutes ago, I walked out front, and... despite the heat of today, it looks like October.

... with the twins today as the school district here seem to think that it's convenient to start school 2 weeks after everyone else. Tomorrow they will go the Sunshine House, which i dropped by to look at yesterday. Wow... nice place for the kiddies. They will be hooked up for the duration of there attendance there.

..starting to see more and more of the independent, almost arrogant, streak in I-Man as days go by. I largely ignore the occasional outburst, glaring looks and sassy comments as I know his control of those things isn't developed yet. But I can see the tiffs on the horizon, and they should be interesting. I do see a lot of his mental makeup mirroring me at times, and I sympathize with him more often than not. But the boy has a probable series of behind the woodshed moments looming for him, especially from his mother. Sometimes I sit there thinkin "um..I-Man...it would be in your best interest to go ahead and eat those green beans... seriously... dude... um... trust me... it REALLY would be in your best interest. a little discomfort now will save you a LOT of discomfort later..." meanwhile as he glares back at his mother, I am thinking..."DUDE... you have SO much to learn..." I don't think he is at the point yet where he can understand the adage "If Momma aint happy, nobody is happy". This was something I learned early on growing up and my Father used to tell me several times...

Of course, Ryles continues to instigate things. We are having to break her of the tattletale habit she seems to have developed, especially when she provokes I-Man then tells on him. That game has gotten old really quick and she spent time today alone in her bedroom for trying to tell on I-Man for something SHE started...

random

watchin the Braves... i like the solid blue caps with the grey road jerseys. I cannot stand the blue alternates that they seem hell bent on wearing. I feel that those, plus the red Sunday alternates should be shelved. batting practice only, please... i wish they would consider an off=white (almost yellowish) jersey that says "Braves" as their road jersey...

I still dont understand why it is that I can go lay down in bed @ 9am, and it feels SOOOOO good and I can slumber along in bliss... yet if I get an opportunity to go to bed early, it doesn't feel remotely as good. I dont get it...

A small blip in the Fraternity, but the year seems to be off on a good start. Now, if I could just get them to focus on doing what they are supposed to do, instead of constantly looking to tear each other down. A mini election this weekend and it won"t surprise me if someone tries to tear down the candidate instead of supporting someone who has stepped up and volunteered to lead. Especially when EVERYONE else declined to do so... maybe they will show me they have turned the corner. Maybe they will show me a level of maturity that they lacked last year. We shall see...

As of now I dont see myself getting to many football games this year. Probably Homecoming and FSU will be definites... but I say that every year and I end up going to a couple more than I figured...

I think I just missed the Saluda tractor pull this year. tsk, tsk... makes me sad...

Phineas: Hey, where's Perry?

Dr. Doofenshmirtz: Curse you, Perry the Platypus!

Haircut?

Ryles is off with Jessica getting a haircut. Not sure I am all on board with how this is going to look... but all the womenz state this is necessary... we'll see how this goes...

Summer coming to a close...

.. it was a whirlwind summer for us, with DisneyWorld, deep sea fishing, numerous trips to the pool, lake and grandparents as well as a trip to NYC/NJ for us. Sprinkle in family visits and it was pretty much none stop "vacationrama" for the kids... not looms the beginning of school again for the twins and as I have mentioned below, a new school. They started off in the private Catholic school, meandered over to the Magnet school and now.. well, this is just a regular elementary school less than a half mile from the house. I-Man wants to ride the bus to school and doesnt seem to understand that he could actually walk to school quicker in the time it will take him to wait, catch and ride a school bus to class. At any rate, the school grind of gymnastics, ballet and baton will start for Ryles and I-Man will start up with soccer season in September. Throw in an occasional Clemson foray for a game as well as usual family stuff with have us with a filled schedule once again. We hope to plan an Alumni event for the Frat as well as the usual impromptu events with friends this fall. Oh..and yeah... gotta do that work thing too...

But, of course, Ryles did bring up to Jessica last week that we had not actually gone to the beach this summer. Splash Mountain at Disney, the Waterpark in Fountain Inn, the pool every other day, deep sea fishin', the numerous lake swims at Granny Fran's... that all wasnt enough water it seems. So we hit the beach last Saturday...

It was typical of the two. I-Man hits the water and and if we were't constantly yelling for him to come back he would simply hit the water and keep swimming until he reached Italy, then suddenly realize that something was amiss... Ryles is a little more daring than she used to be but still keeps close to shore with a wary eye on our whereabouts at all times...

"You look like a man-o-lantern".

School update

... looks like things are falling into place...

A long week with mixed results

Since my last post... been to Saluda... SALUDA SOUTH CAROLINA, that is... then regrouped and joined family in Columbia, then on to Charleston in a last second change of plans for a day... back to Columbia, then on to Brooklyn, New York. Then out to New Jersey, then back into NYC and Brooklyn, before returning back home for good ole work. We missed out on seeing Kim, Brandon, Lisa, TJ and Trace because I ddnt pay attention to details and ask more questions. I assumed Saluda was in South Carolina... well..um... guess what? There is a Saluda, North Carolna and looking back in hindsight, I missed all the clues that should have told me to think instead of assuming.. so i missed a part of valuable vacation time that I had looked forward to spending with old friends. the plans for the kids AFTER we were supposed to see them in Saluda had them staying with Nanna and Papa in Columbia and time just didnt dictate that we could make the almost 5 hour trip it would have been to correct my mistake... so... those guys have to make up trips from us coming to them...

... we did get to see Cousin Madison and a birthay party for her... then the drive to NYC to see Erik, Pam and Kristen... actually did a couple of things in the City that I hadnt before... pictures coming tomorrow... time for bed now... but before I go, i must say that to be back at work and sit in the office and ponder your friends, it's just kinda sad at times... not the friends, but just how short the time spent with them now is, as apposed to the countless hours it used to be...