"Should auld aquaintance be forgot, And never brought to min'?"
- Robert Burns (1759 - 1796) Scottish poet

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." - Luke 2:8-12; 13-14

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

Santa whispered this to me...

... Santa told me the other day that Ryles had asked for a Ipad for Christmas from him... he told me that he also knew that making an Ipad for Ryles would mean that he would have to make one for I-Man too.... and that this (TWO IPADS!!!) was, errr, perhaps not financially prudent for him at this point in time. But... he thinks he has a acceptable solution for Ryles and that Santa figures the Ipad2 and Ipad3 will probably make parts more available for the Ipad by next Birthday for the twins... we shall see...

"Whatever else be lost among the years, Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing: Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears, Let us hold close one day, remembering its poignant meaning for the hearts of men. Let us get back our childlike faith again". - Grace Noll Crowell

"At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe". -from The Polar Express

i find this part of Star Wars so profound on many levels...

Officer: We've analyzed their attack, sir, and there is a danger. Should I have your ship standing by?
Governor Tarkin: Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances.

Today we celebrated 9 years with the twins... I truly am amazed that we are this far into this... and that they will be 18 in under a decade.... it is hard to imagine a life now without them and look forward to continuing the adventures and stuff in the following years to come.... they certainly keep us busy!!!

Today they celebrated by not having school due to ice, playing with their new Tony Hawk Shred Board and Metal Detector and finished dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Tomorrow night will see 5 of I-Man's friends coming over for a Mexican, Xbox, Wii sleepover... followed by Nanna, Papa and family coming to town midday on Saturday... followed by Ryles having 5 of her friends come over for an American Girl gathering and sleepover Saturday night.

Whew....

amusing...

This was posted on Facebook by someone I know... I found it.. um... amusing....

Jessica and The Twins got this for me on Thanksgiving weekend and i have had it on my desk this Holiday Season....

Linus Van Pelt: after Linus and Charlie Brown discover the little tree "Gee, do they still make wooden Christmas trees?"

Charlie Brown: "This little green one here seems to need a home".

Linus Van Pelt: "I don't know, Charlie Brown. Remember what Lucy said? This doesn't seem to fit the modern spirit".

Charlie Brown: "I don't care. We'll decorate it and it'll be just right for our play. Besides, I think it needs me".

picks up tree; a lot of needles fall off

first of all, it is getting dark at 3:30pm these days.. has the planet toppled over on its axis or something? Everyday i look ut of the office window and its like, oh.. DARK at 5:00 now... did I miss something? I dont remember it being quite this extreme growing up... or even a couple years ago.

then, I think there is one less weekend before Christmas this year.... just seems like we have less time between Turkey Day and Christmas Day to visit with friends.. that, and my crappy work schedule...

a sign of the times?

... we usually have wrapped all our gifts for people and placed them under the tree on Thanksgiving in the past, but this year for some reason i have been paranoid about some loser breaking into the house and stealing the gifts. You hear about this happening every year, but I am worried that the more dire economy will drive more people to desperation. So I have kept the gifts for kids in another secure spot. But, this kinda sux... I think I am going to bring it all out today and tomorrow (it isnt that much, really)... and wrap it up... Santa doesn't have these issues, does he?

it was pandaleerium, i tell ya...

ah... Americana... since we have the Christmas gift/shopping/mall thingy long done weeks ago, we are not stressing the Mall/Shopping/crazy traffic stuff during the holidays. SO this means a carefree family evening of...

First.. a stop at Pizza Inn. (a side note, Ian told me that one of his invites to a Birthday Party had his name spelled INN... i took me a second to see how it might be thought to be spelled that way) This was a madhouse... but I think I had 12 slices of thin crust pepperoni, 1 slice of cheeseburger (still dont like it), 1 slice of Chicken alfredo and 5 glasses of Diet Coke, all while dodging flying pizza slices, breadsticks and chocolate chip pizza and listening to screaming kids chase after each other and redneck women fight over who would sit beside the window.... but it was fun. Far better than sitting at home. Seriously....




Second... we went to some random place on the outskirts of town called.. Tiny Town. It was the place/house/group who had all this.. stuff, in little houses. Museum quality exhibits of... stuff. And a billion lights that Clark Griswald would be envious of. Seriously....

Third... we meandered back toward town and to the Greenville/Pickens Speedway where another slice of Americana was being shown... some sorta Festival of Lights where you would drive thru in your car listening to Christmas music and supposedly oohhhing and aweing... but not quite. There was also a petting zoo, which actually was interesting for the numerous goats, cows, a couple of Alpaca pa's and some sorta genetic Circus interpretation of a Bison. They even has an ice skating rink. People were skating. On plastic. Seriously...

So... I was a great family evening. One which I am sure will be remembered 10 years from now in one of those "Remember Daddy when we rode around looking at Christmas lights, and Momma was getting all annoyed because we paid 10 dollars to drive thru those light?" moments... I am glad we did it even as I look at my wife and kids asleep in my suddenly small King Size bed and resign myself to sleep on a small sliver of mattress...

this cyber thing has me pondering perhaps siphoning off a little cash every month and putting it under my mattress. Serious. All it takes is some crazed fool (or group) to attack the banking system full bore, or attack the power grid and things will get whacky for a while... we might need to have some paper money on hand.. i mean, i virtually NEVER have any actual money in my wallet anymore. Perhaps this is not a good thing...

... just watched Cam Newton's interview on ESPN. He was pretty convincing. But, the telling thing is what he supposedly said off camera after the interview, when he admitted that he has never directly asked his father what he did in regard to his recruitment to either Mississippi State or Auburn. Plausible Deni-ability. seems like a plan to me... kinda how I would play it too... but until it is proven that he was a part of or absolutely knew (and is PROVEN), i say he deserves the Heisman... but if/when they find out he was/is guilty, the fall will be looooonnnng and hard, cause his mugging for the camera last week was borderline pathetic. Oh well, he is the best guy in college, no doubt.

Yesterday, all over the lace on TV and radio... it was John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, Monday Night FootBall.... John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... Monday Night Football... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... but... the day before, on December 7th you heard a few mentions in the press/media of what happenedon that day and the significance on WORLD HISTORY that event had. Why was this? you mean to tell me that Lennon's unfortunate murder is far more important than the events of December 7th, 1941? 2,402 personnel were killed and 1,282 were wounded. The US was launched into the world conflicts overtly and the financial impact on the country was profound... yet John Lennon gets more play? dont get me wrong, any of you that know me know the importance of the ARTS and most important, MUSIC in my life. But I cant see the curious things of the past two days as being right...

last weekend, I-Man had a birthday party of a classmate that he was invited to... he went to it and it actually turned into a sleepover. Ryles had a conniption fit and had to be consoled the entire time he was gone because she perceived that she had not been invited to a couple of birthday parties that girls had in her classroom. Of course, she doesn't know what type of restrictions those girls might have had for their invites (how many, how long, family, etc.) and hat it may have simply been a numbers game because our experience is that they want to invite 20 people... but I could only think to myself that this isnt the last time she wont get invited to a party, for whatever reason. Some lessons in life really suck. And it makes me sad when I see these play out with my kids because I really would like for everything to be perfect for my kids. Unfortunately, I know that this is unrealistic and not in the best interests for them. Sometimes, someone will call them a name. Somewhere along the line, they will fall and get a big knot on their head. Eventually, a boyfriend or girlfriend will breakup with one of them... one day one of them will make a "c" in school or fail an audition... it's going to happen. No matter how much we try to shield them, at some point the "negative" parts of life will happen to them. I guess my part in this is to guide them thru it, or prepare them for it....

Lebron James sent this out via twitter today. I have read this before but was glad he sent it out. A good statement...


"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat". - Theodore Roosevelt