The first of a few posts about Christmas and the Holidays since the twins Birthday. I-Man and his Lego's are getting more and more complex. 1000 piece sets and he is putting them together in a couple of hours. Meanwhile I am curious as to how Ryles got presents from Mckenna, her new American Girl (doll) friend who she asked for from Santa. Ryles seemed to make presents from her to McKenna, from Rebecca (her already owned AG friend) to Ryles, from Rebecca to McKenna, from McKenna to Rebecca... all before McKenna even was known  to be positively arrived on Christmas morning. I was amused at the positive thinking of Ryles by simply asking for it in her letter to Santa. I kept thinking what if Santa wasnt able to build that out for her. ...  Ultimately it all worked out for them, except for I-Man's request for an Iphone. Santa relayed to me that he didnt think he (and let's be honest... I-Man aint getting and iPhone without Ryles getting an iPhone, so I might as well say "they") or..err... they were ready for an actual cell phone yet... but a year from now will see them reach.. gulp... 12 years old. Santa told me to tell them that they can resubmit a year from now and maybe that order will be approved... maybe... maybe not.

I forgot to mention that we celebrated the twins birthday over the past weekend... Saturday we were treated to dinner by Grandma at a cool restaurant in Fountain Inn. We took in a toy train exhibit and a museum. We also hit some of the local shops and it was interesting seeing a place I grew near again. We were going to hit up Holly Wild but a two and a half mile line nixed that idea real quick like....
Sunday saw us driving down to Columbia and "the Vista" meeting up with Nanna and Papa, Aunt Ashley, Aunt Ellen ane cousin Meredith and Madison for lunch. Aunt Ashley had an owl cake for Ryles and a Lego cake for I-Man. Fabulous work.... we then made our way home after hangin ' in Lexington for a while...

Tonight was a somewhat low key celebration of our Anniversary. The twins fixed cheese fondue and a ricey chickeny casserole for us (with what seemed to be relatively wary supervision by Jessica) and we watched a little PBS before turning in for the night. On my way home I had listened to a song on my Note and I thought it appropriate for the most part....  you can listen here...

Last night out of the blue
Driftin' off to the evenin' news
She said "Honey, what would you do
"If you'd have never met me"

I just laughed, said "I don't know,
"But I could take a couple guesses though"
And then tried to dig real deep,
Said, "Darlin', honestly

"I'd do a lot more offshore fishin'
"Probably eat more drive-thru chicken
"Take a few strokes off my golf game
"If I'd a never known your name
"I'd still be drivin' that old green 'Nova
"I probably never would have heard of yoga
"Be a better football fan
"But if I was a single man
"Alone and out there on the loose
"I'd be lookin' for a woman like you"

Well, I could tell that got her attention
So I said, "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention
"I wouldn't trade a single day
"For a hundred years the other way"
She just smiled and rolled her eyes
'Cause she's heard all of my lines
I said, "C'mon on girl, seriously
"If I hadn't been so lucky

"I'd be shootin' pool in my bachelor pad
"Playin' bass in my cover band
"Restockin' up cold Bud Light
"For poker every Tuesday night, yeah
"I'd have a dirtbike in the she'd
"And not one throw pillow on the bed
"I'd keep cash in a coffee can
"But if I was a single man
"Alone and out there on the loose
"I'd be looking for a woman like you"

She knows what a mess I'd be if I didn't have her here
But to be sure, I whispered in her ear

"You know I get sick deep-sea fishin'
"And you make the best fried chicken
"I got a hopeless golf game
"I love the sound of your name
"I might miss that old green 'Nova
"But I love watchin' you do yoga
"I'd take a gold band on my hand
"Over bein' a single man
"'Cause honestly, I don't know what I'd do
"If I'd never met a woman like you"

Songwriters: BULFORD, JOHNNY / STONE, JONATHAN / BARTON, PHILIP

I took the kitties outside to the back deck this morning. And now they just sit on their perch and meow and look longingly outside. This is after I had to rearrange the gifts under the tree cause they seem to view the presents and their personal scratching post and hideaway....

I saw this earlier today and its been all over sports talk on XM this afternoon.... and I ponder this. What would this guy think of me. Am I a cornball brother simply for the fact I "am not down with the cause"? What? And I wonder what he (and the FOOLS who would ask that sorta question or even think like him) will think of my son in 10 years. I dare say he wont be "down with the cause"simply because he is supposed to be lock step in line simply because he is supposedly labeled as black. I am certain any "cause" he is down with will because it is what he thinks is right, not simply because he is supposed to do it because he is black....

... dont you get to date a White girl, Chinese girl, Black girl, Mexican boy or Eskimo boy if you want to? I didnt know you MUST date a black woman and be a Democrat if you are a Black Man in order to be considered cool or someone you wanna hang with? Or does that fly in the face of the myth that all conservatives are angry white men and the only possible cool people are Democrats? and that you must date a black woman in order to be Real and  have Street Cred....

So... I got me a new phone to replace the ole Thunderbolt.  I thought the Galaxy Note 2 might be a tad bit large but after handling it a bit I felt it would be just the right size.
I think the coolest thing is that I can talk to the phone and have it type it out here. I can also simply write in print or cursive and it puts it here too... this will continue to facilitate more frequent posts.

So... Ryles tells me that if Santa doesn't bring Mckenna (American Girl) this year she is going to cry... Think Santa has it covered from what I have been told. But ... Man.... Smh...

I estimate I will reach 300,000 miles on my Jetta approximately May of 2014. I plan to look to replace it with something like the car to the left when I reach that point. I will have paid off Jessica's car and possibly replaced it by then, as well. I think while the Jetta continues to cruise along, I can also see where when it fails it will probably be catastrophic when it does... like a major engine failure.. But hey, for 18 grand cash, I will have gotten my monies worth, dont cha think?

last night we were watchin' The Polar Express...I like that movie. It is subtle yet makes several points.

Meanwhile... just pondering the Xmas Season, or rather The Christmas season. I think the commercialization has toned down a notch this year... or maybe we are just getting used to all this stuff. But I think more and more every year I lament that we are constantly bombarded with Mariah Carey "All I want for Christmas..." and less and less of the traditional dare I say religious Christmas songs. If you listen to the 24/7 Christmas channels you hear Santa Claus is Coming to Town over and over and less and less of ANY religious based song. What?... are people afraid they might actually have to think about the actual reason this "season" exist?Look.. I am not an overtly religious guy and I am never going to be hitting church every Sunday, but I do remember why this all happens. And it makes me sad to hear of people getting upset over the mention of a bible verse in Charlie Brown Christmas? How was it alright in 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995, 2005 and now suddenly this is going to make our kids some sorta right wing Obama hating, racist religious zealots? Seriously? whatever happened to talking to your kids and knowing what it is they learned in school and .. if.. it differs from your view, taking the time to teach your view to your kid in your own home? Instead ONE parent deems that they get to dictate to everyone else who or what they should believe instead of that crap... i guess that is why i hear "Do they know it's Chistmas time at all" or whatever that song is that they play 4 times an hour everyday yet might be lucky to hear O Come All Ye Faithful once in a day.... oh well...

"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 it’s sweet sound. Though I have grown old, the bell still rings for me. As it does for all who truly believe" - Hero Boy  (The Polar Express)

Watchin' this last episode of iCarly the other day reminded me of how fast time is moving... just the other day it was the twins singing the theme song to Dora the Explorer and me thinking "WTF!?!?!"... then it was SpongeBob... then Jimmy Neutron... then Power Rangers.... then Backyardigans....then it became Suite Life of Zack and Cody morphing into Wizards of Waverly Place and Hanna Montana. High School Musical followed and since then its Phineas and Ferb and its specials, Good Luck Charlie and iCarly. And a whole bunch of Disney movies along the way.... man.... and tonight as we watched The Polar Express I ponder how much longer the innocence will remain....

it just occurred to me that the recent posts of stuff from the past months are actually not in order. But they span from July to now... I am catching up on photos from my phone so forgive me for the "phone snappyishness" of the photos... having the cam on my phone has changed my accessing my computer. I have decided that I will be returning to logging into my desktop regularly... that is if I can get the memory issues resolved. I usually have so much stuff that I think to blog about ... but I just never do. Why is that?

The big trip for the summer was a couple of days at Great Wolf Lodge with Grandma and Uncle Jerry. It was waterpark-o-rama and one of the highlights of the summer. As a matter of fact we are thinking of making it an annual event.... Magicquest too... The twins often bring it up... Especially the big ole water bucket.  Just a great time....

Went down to the ATL and hooked up with the Keaslers and saw Chipper Jones last game for the Braves... While the menfolk were at the ballpark the womenz were at American Girl getting "Rebecca" her hair did and partaking of some sorta foodstuffs ...

...going back a little further, we were happy to have Lynn and her family hang out with us one afternoon at the camper on lake hartwell...

lets start going backwards... last Saturday we went and met up with Kim, Brandon, Hiram and Martha at Stax for lunch then went and saw Brandon play in a tourny hockey match... it was funny as it was the same sorta feel and gig as the soccer match stuff I-Man does... he is here in the middle (crappy phone cam)and he played well...

I've been thinking a lot lately about a lot of stuff... some of it I am reminded of Lou Holtz and a book I read of his a few years back. I have posted about this before but dont feel like finding it... but here is what he said and some thoughts about it....

Per Lou Holtz, everyone needs 4 things in life:
* First, you have to have something to do. Stories of healthy individuals who die within a few years of retiring are too numerous to list. It’s also true that prisoners serving life sentences sleep for 12-14 hours a day because they have nothing in their lives that compels them to get out of bed.

I have often said that my Grandmother seems to almost immediately shut it down after she retired, and I have told my mother i expect her to get doing SOMETHING always... and I personally continue to subscribe to that even if it means just cleaning up around the house or doing some Fraternity thing...

* The second thing you have to have is someone to love. We are put on earth to love other people. Those who don’t have anyone exist without happiness.

I am fortunate to have my Mother Brother Uncle as well as In-Laws that I do love... And I certainly have my wife and kids.And I have a small circle of close friends that I hold close to my heart... 

* Third, you have to have something to believe in. I’ve always said that not believing in a god is not an option for humans. You might not believe in the Heavenly Father, as I do, but everyone has a god. It might be the quest for power or material gains; it might be a cause–environmentalism, conservationism, global socialism, or one of countless other isms, or it might be the search for peace–but everyone has a god.

What do I believe in? well... i KNOW i beleive in a few things... maybe I need to elaborate more....

* Finally, you have to have something to look forward to. In his famous book Man’s Search for Meaning, Dr. Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, made some interesting clinical observations in the midst of the horrors of Auschwitz. Dr. Frankl noticed that prisoners who had nothing to live for and nothing to look forward to died quickly of starvation, fatigue, or abuse at the hands of their captors. But those who survived shared one thing in common: They all had something to look forward to. Often the survivors lived for the thought of rejoining a relative, or escaping to another country. Sometimes they hung on in the hopes of exacting revenge on the Nazis. But whatever the reason, those who survived the greatest atrocity in history were those who had something to look forward to.

I look forward to the next event... be it the twins Birthdays, whatever is going to happen for us for Christmas... New Years Eve... the twins trip to Gatlinburg... i continue to be constantly planning...