I will be hard pressed to keep my mouth shut if I hear ANYBODY complain about it raining at ANY point in time in the foreseeable future. The creek running behind our house is at midsummer drough level NOW. The only thing keeping the water flowing down the way is the fact that it has created a tunnel under the big rock and is flowing under it. I am sure this will lead to the inevitable breaking of that massive rock eventually... but that is probably decades away...

Three Down, Several more to go....

another year closes out tomorrow for the kids and they will be out of school until...SEPTEMBER FRAKKIN 6th..... what is up with this?

..anyways, Ryles was kinda upset that it would be the last day because she said she would miss her teacher. I tried to explain to her that this is the way it goes, and this wont be the last teacher she will miss. And I told her to make sure to go give her teacher a long big hug tomorrow. I am sure she will appreciate that way more than any card (which is getting from our family)...

...Ryles and I-Man both got awards for school with Ryles getting an award for ALL A's for the year, and I-Man A's and B's for the year...

So.. going into 4th Grade sees the twins in the Gifted/Talented Programs, I-Man on the Academy soccer team, and both probably the equivalent of halfway thru year one on Clarinet and Euphonium. I think they are progressing well...

... and to think people said our children would be at a disadvantage...

The weekend o Rama

Well. A Whirlwind of a weekend has ended with me back at work while everyone else is grilling hotdawgs today. But a quick synopsis....

Found out that Ryles was placed into Gifted and Talented class, joining I-Man and addressing an obvious point of contention with her....

We then went to a Braves game with Bozz and Khris, couple of current Frat. It was a great game that went into extra innings. Braves win too....

Yesterday i went to Coca Cola 600 and the 29 wins when everyone else runs out of fuel... A late night back and today sees me workin... The twins are off swimming and grilling, it seems...

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so the past weekend saw a somewhat busy time... Saturday we went to I-Man's first meeting for the Academy team. No real surprises in the info we got but we did also get a tentative schedule for some matches/practices/tournaments... We then headed to Charlotte to the All Star NASCAR race.. it was a lot of fun for I-Man in that his guy ran up front for a long time (#48) and he surprised me with actually keeping up with his driver on the track, etc. It was all good until a pit stop mired the 48 (actually the % on this night) back in traffic. Suddenly I-Man wanted to go to the car...

Top things I noticed and heard from I-Man...
1) "Why are all these people walking around with no shirts?"

2) a definite look of confusion when walking into the Men's bathroom and seeing
nothing but troughs

3) "Why are all these people smoking?"

4) "Can we get a ride on a bicycle?"

A late return home and Sunday saw me attend the CUTBA board of directors meeting where I feel I was able to represent some concerns of Kappa Kappa Psi, and in return I am able to address some concerns of theirs to the chapter...

... then to I-Mans year end soccer party for his current team (a pool party) and then we chilled out before starting another week....

I also started a flickr acct where I am going to be doing one of those POTD type of dealios... I will put a link here in a few days once I get my upload mechanism and pattern going...

So.. tomorrow is I-Man's first team meeting with his new team.. then he will go with me to the All Star race in Charlotte. I am interested to see how he handles what will be a longer race day than he has ever experienced. But it will be seven shorts races so he will be spared the monotony of 247 laps in a row without caution that can occasionally happen at a race... I am sure I will have to pony up some cash for a #48 diecast car but I hit Ebay for a 5 dollar Jimmie Johnson t-shirt that I will present to him to wear and avoid that transaction at the track....

... speaking of which, I found out I definitely have Labor Day off(Monday) and am ponderin getting a group of people to go to the Atlanta race (Sunday) on a day trip sorta gig for that race...

... by the way, referring to a previous post... I realize that not everyone is on facebook, etc and I wasnt trying to single anyone out or anything...

And this is supposed to be a step in the right direction? I bet there is going to a a HUGE market (black, I bet) for the old light bulbs when this starts.. and let me guess, they will all be made in China... As I sit here in my downstairs den/livingroom/kitchen area.. I see 10 (ten) TEN light bulbs that would need to be replaced... 50 dollars a piece? Are you serious? I guess people want us to simply not use light at night, I am guessing... are the poor going to be able to afford these. Oh wait, let me guess, they will get them for free...

Funny.

Go here...

Yesterday was my birthday... I got tix to a Drive game in June,which is ALWAYS fun... got some materials to make a Manhattan and Ryles got me so Calvin Klein cologne I also got a lot of "Happy Birthdays!!!" on Facebook, which was really nice. I know that the reminder thingy makes it easy to remember birthdays and all that, but you still have to make the effort to send a message so it it was awesome to hear from so many friends. Birthdays are somewhat anti-climatic now in that you kinda personally look forward to it, but you know that the reality is that it isnt as "special" to others as it is to you, for obvious reasons...

..but it did make me happy to hear from friends from all over... texts, Facebook messages, AIM and calls were all nice... now onto the next thing...

Last year about this time, I-Mans soccer season ended and he found out that a couple of his teammates from his Rec League Championship team had tried out for the Academy team and made it. He was friends with them and was upset that he didnt get the chance to try out. I had not had him try out because, even though he was an integral part of that team, I felt he wasnt ready for the increased demands and expectations playing at the Academy level would place on him. Looking back on it, and seeing his overall level of play transcend Rec League at his position, it may have been a mistake. But not much we can do about that now. so...

...Five tryouts and a couple of evaluations during actual games later, I-Man is selected to U9/10 Academy team. And I am somewhat taken aback by his reaction as he is genuinely overjoyed to be chosen. He has said several times that he wants to play "at the highest level..." and obviously we are a loooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnng ways away from anything of that sort.But this is definitely a step in that direction. Now he will get a true taste of how competitive it is. This will now be a lesson of "there is always a bigger fish..." for him as he will no longer be able to be lazy and turn on burst of speed to catch up and take the ball away from less talented players. Now if someone gets by him, it will be a clear shot on the goalie that is likely to be a score(and a lot of screaming from the coach... and suddenly it will no longer be "everyone gets a trophy, thanks for coming" but "too bad, you lost.. no trophy for you... maybe...MAYBE.. we might be able to stop at McDonalds... maybe... we'll see" it will be good for him on many levels as the level of expectations and responsibility get amped up. I see many lessons, some hard, on the horizon... but I am willing to bet he will make some long time friendships too...

So the past weekend saw a trip down to Florence for everyone... I went to the Darlington races while Jessica went to a Sorority gig in Myrtle Beach. The twins hung out with Nanna and Papa.

I went down early on Friday and took the opportunity to meet Aunt Ashley for lunch in Lexington... and then did some quick shoppin for Mothers day. I then dodged the rain and watched Sprint Cup qualifying before meeting up with Papa and Uncle Wes for the Nationwide race. The race was uneventful, I must admit...


Saturday saw the twins heading to the lake with Nanna and Papa where I hear that both Ryles and I-Man caught fish, and rode the jetski's. I went to the track and met up with a guy from work. We then walked around the souvy trucks and got a chance to see some drivers... I was particularly excited to get to see David Pearson from relatively close range although he was kinda being mobbed. Pearson was my favorite driver growing up and if you look at the stats, Pearson won 105 races in less than half the amount of starts Richard Petty had... 105/400(Pearson) to 200/1000+(Petty) is pretty impressive. Notice the dude with no shirt... classy..(reference a previous post)... i thought about photoshoppin him out but figured you would miss out on the ambiance if I did... by the way, Pearson is the gentleman (right in middle of pic) looking obviously bothered by Mr no tshirt...

We then got a chance to see Mark Martin up close. I was stunned at how small he is. I honestly mistook him for a kid when I first saw him backstage because I was going to try to squeeze of a picture of him. I saw him but thought "that CAN'T be him... that's some kid that looks similar to Mark Martin"




We then reveled in more Americana at the NASCAR RACEDAY on SPEEDCHANNEL... I started to ponder at times if there were any black people at this event... (actually, I'm kidding. There were lot's o black people... still dont see many Hispanics or Asians though...) but not many rebel flags anymore... used to be I'd see a bunch of them but, as I have often said, that crowd and ilk is slowly phasing out. Its till exists, but eventually it will be somewhat a footnote... or at least I hope so... Anyways, I hope I can get some people to go to a race later this year. Maybe the Charlotte race or Atlanta race in the fall...

The race saw us in the usual seats Papa has every year that I am fortunate that he lets me have. These seats are virtually perfect... at the top of the bottom section where you can see most of the track, but close enough to feel the ground shake when they go by... and at the end of the row... with the concessions stands right behind us... and the bathrooms right beside them...

Anyways... Sunday was Mothers's Day and Ryles and I-Man got Jessica a card (I-Man made his) and a couple of Cd's she had been wanting... We hung out in Florence for a while before heading to Lexington where we met up with Uncle Wes/Aunt Ashley/Aunt Ellen and cousin Madison for Ice Cream with Nanna for Mother's Day. She got a Kindle from her kids, which is about as cool a gift you can get if you think about the advance in technology that will be seen as in 300 years or so...

We then went and watched Cousin Madison get some more experience riding her bicycle without training wheels... a few crash and burns, but that is to be expected...

Finally, we headed back up the highway, stopping off at Grandma's house to see her for Mother's Day. We hung out there for about 45 minutes before heading back to TRY to miss the budding T-Storms I could see off in the distance. we ended up getting caught in one super heavy storm, which serves to clean my car nicely...

And now we are into this week... work/school/soccer/lessons/homework/PASS testing/Soccer Tourney...

yesterday was Easter. First of all, I dont really like when Easter is this late. Seems like there are two or three Sundays of pseudo Easter Egg Hunts before Easter even gets here...but I also dont like when its early either. Easter should be the first or second weekend in April, right about the time of the first real warm open-your-windows-in-the-house-weekend. But i realize some monks somewhere came up with some algorithm based on the full moon and stuff so the date of Easter gets all jacked up occasionally...

.. Second, I grew up when Easter seemed to be a bigger deal than it is now... seems like there was this long buildup to it in Sunday School with the stories, lessons, etc. and that there was also Charlton Heston on TV at some time... not sure if this happens anymore. And while I certainly like the plastic eggs full of jelly beans, I am kinda limited in how much of that I can have. And it really isnt what I mentally think 0f Easter being about. And similar to Christmas, I know my kids are aware of the religious background of the day, but it is so pushed into the background, it hardly seems to register. Perhaps I need to make sure to project a stronger emphasis on the actual meaning of this, and ANY holidays and make sure that the secular side of the religious holidays, while fun, are not the sole reason of these days...

...because I kinda miss seeing all the Easter dresses and men in their new suits.. oh wait, that isnt the reason for Easter either... but I do kinda miss that too...

..maybe I should get up on Sundays and go to church? I know my son is quietly a religious person on some sorta level. The one book he has ALWAYS read in bed at night has been his "kids" bible, with illustrations. I have mentioned this before, I know. But I see a start contrast in him and his Sister in this regard. He is reading his Bible in bed... she is on her iPod Touch surfin the web... maybe I will get him down to Grandma's this summer for Sunday stuff... we shall see how it works out..



oh... and when we put out the pseudo Easter eggs, I put one on a paper plate and pushed it across some water. I though I-Man might jumpin after it...

weekend o rama

the weekend started off pretty sporty with some yard work... cutting grass, trimming back the "hedges" from the driveway that hang over the cars and blowing off the resulting brush/shrubs/leaves started us off... then we then went over to Greenville and hung out with some friends at a park and the kids played and did the usual kid-at-a-park stuff.... I dont remember these type of parks back in the day, but they are all the rage in this era... and some of the contraptions that are being built are not the old slide and swing set anymore...we then went to some sorta Thunder Yogurt type place that was actually pretty cool, in that you totally built your dessert, including how much of everything (at a price)

I think we have learned the hard way that racoons like cabbage... three cabbage plants sitting out beyond the back deck in front of the creek the other night went from being all leafy and huge to a pitiful short resemblence of a stalk. At first we thought perhaps I-Man had used the swingblade on them, but I didnt see the leaves or any other remnants around. And I-Man isnt that underhanded (yet) to have gotten rid of evidence. So since there has been a racoon sighting here recently, I googled "what likes cabbage?" and all sorts of references to racoons eating all of a gardens worth of cabbage came up... there are also references to a particular type of cabbage that is poisonous to racoons... hmmmm...

in the "well its obvious" class... i think it is oh so interesting to see on facebook, especially within the Frat groups, how entertwined the whole damn shoooting match is in a Six Degrees of Separation kinda feel. I have been fortunate to know several different "groupings" of people come thru the Frat and it surprises me to see people i dont expect to know each other (from different "eras") talk to each other and seemingly know each other from these "groupings"...

On a slightly related note, I have decided to attend National Convention this summer in Colorado Springs.. I am also pondering getting back into the game on a National Level at some point... probably not this year, but in two years...

...and the built this huge ramp to nowhere on I-385 that I drive by every day. It looks like they are getting ready to build a 4th Pyramid of Giza. Except they explained that it is supposed to allow heavy machines easy access to the project... since the ramp leads up to a bridge, I hope that bridge holds up...

OK.. I think I am pretty much aligned with his guy... I have spent to months tring to find a suitable swimsuit for my daughter because... while I certainly understand her sense of independence and individuality, I also want her to understand that if she wants to be treated with respect, she must respect herself as well.... it kinda goes along with this gig with my son, who seems to think it is ok to walk around the house without his shirt on. While certainly within your home in private, things are different, I also subscribe that it is a show of disrespect to the women in the house to be walking around with no shirt on... I never have liked that with guys who do that, be them fat and hairy or greek god built.... I just think it is a show of narcissism to do this.

Oh.. wait, but back to the original link/post... I just think that my daughter should not dress like she is going "to the club" when she is 10 years old and is not about to go to the club anytime soon...

I have been avoiding mentioning the Braves. The have gotten off to a slower than expected start, but not disastrous... several young players are sprinkled thruout the lineup... they will probably be fine... I think the will be going on the tentative docket for short day trip "staycations" this summer... although i think staycations mean you are actually at your home...

I spent last weekend in Athens at the Southeast District Convention. I came away rejuvenated and looking forward to implementing some long range strategic planning.... some of which ties into a project the new chapter Alumni chair is doing... Frat Alumni should go here if they wanna join the new Facebook Group Dedicated to the Kappa Beta Alumni...

lifted this from one of the sites i visit occasionally...

so... i had have of my bonus from work taken from me earlier this year.. 4 figures is what the government took out of my bonus... they take 20 percent every other week... i just had to pay another 4 figures to the government. For what? for them to give to people to who dont pay a dime??? .. can someone tell me how this is even REMOTELY fair? and I will have to get up in the morning and go work to keep paying more taxes... and dont give me that Obama crap about "the fortunate" either...

I am always a little sad after returning from big Frat conventions like SED or National Convention. I spend time there wishing that any of my "peers" were there with me. While I enjoy hanging with the "kids", I kinda start to feel like some sorta old hard up guy who has no life following around 20 year olds. But it is kinda boring just sitting in a hotel room for the entire weekend.... but I am also resigned to the fact that no friends from my "era" want to come with me... perhaps a recurring theme, it seems... I keep wondering as I am driving home from events whether or not I am totally out in left field at times. I am blessed from my Father in Law with tickets for the Darlington Race but I will be hard pressed to find anyone who wants to go with me... I think what confuses me is that I love going to this sorta stuff, but seemingly I am the only person. At the root of my issue at times is that I can always get one of the kids from Clemson to go if I say "FREE!!!" but I dont wanna always do that... plus, I really enjoy being able to have a similar frame of reference. I like being able to talk about my family with someone who kinda knows similar experiences. But it just seems like I spend a lot of time talking to myself at times these days... I guess people just think that the can just know what is up with me by just reading this... I suppose there is some truth in that... Addendum: now, I am not asking for some sorta pit part.. I just wonder why it seems so difficult now...

its kinda like an gut check when you have to go into your twins amazon list and remove stuff that they are now "too old" for... I look at stuff and remember when that was so cool for them... and now they would think that it is for a child. It is the way things keep churning forward, I suppose. One day it is suddenly them singing the words to Dora.."Backpack, Backpack!!!"... now it is being fascinated with The Amazing World of Gumball (yech) or Star Wars, The Clone Wars (actually kinda cool)