Whew...what a whirlwind

Special Thanks to Aunt Brandy and Aunt Ashley and Uncle Wes and Grandma and Uncle Jerry and Papa and Nanna for coming to the last soccer match and recital over the weekend. We also cut down a tree in the back in prep for the new storage shed. More firewood for the firebowl.... I really didnt get a good, clear photo of Ryles during the Recital rehearsal, but there you see a snappy of her ballet troup above.

...my jinx has worked its spell again. The Miami Heat go down in flames ( hah!), forcing me to have to change allegiances in mid playoffs and go with Lebron for however long he remains in the playoffs. I only say Lebron because I cant remember the name of anyone else on his team ( well, actually, Larry Hughes, but...i digress...)

...Today i get to go do bloodwork for my next Dr visit, then get back here for some weedeater work around the spots I missed with the ridin mower...

Today, tonight, tomorrow....

...still doing some spring cleaning. We have decided to purchase a shed to go out back of the house. It actually like a mini house. It should help us alleviate the disaster of our garage.... Ryles is in a fashion show tonight. That should be very interesting.... and tomorrow is I-Mans last soccer match till Fall. Papa, Nanna, Grandma, Uncle Wes and (new) Aunt Ashley will be in town, although I am not sure Wes/Ashley will actually be here for his match. Then Sunday will be Ryles dance/tap recital at Brooks. I will have to miss Ryles recital due to work, so i will go to Ryles dress rehearsal tomorrow. Other than that, it should be a quiet weekend.

Oh, and i am dissapointed

...the replacement skid pad came today. As I should have figured, no mounting hardware (i.e....BOLTS!!!) came with it. I only have 5 of the 8 bolts that were originally with the piece. So I will have to figure that part out...

...went to SED convention. I was actually pretty decent. No step show or banquet...all business, technically. But the social aspects were still there. I think that if they slowly incorporate the step show back in with definite rules, it will be fine in the future.

...I-Mans last soccer match of the school year is up this weekend, and Ryles dance recital is on Sunday. Then its pretty much summer for them...

Oh..the humanity..

Ok...i could go on and on abt the stuff that happened up at VaTech, but..I wont. I think enough has been said already.

...a few months ago, I ran over this large piece of rubber on the road and it put a huge hit on my skid pad on the Jetta. I was able to repair, but it was really only a temporary fix. The dealer wanted over 400.00 for what is essentially a large, hard piece of plastic with sound dampening material on it. Well, It eventually fell back down and has started to drag and I could no longer get it to stay up. So I searched high and long and..of course...there are parts stores who carry the OEM part for 135.00. So, i ordered it last night, should be here on Monday, and this morning i took off the old skid pad. Now I got to see if I can get over to the Harwoods and see if he will let me use his lift to put the new one on. My Jetta has done me good but it is starting to need replacement parts...like all new shocks, and well, I will need tires by June or July i figure. Then will come another timing belt replace. All of this will hopefully tide me over to the 200,00 mile mark, when I can perhaps think abt the eventual replacement... the question then will be to stick with diesel, try to go hybrid, or go BMW. At any rate, that is still over 2 years away... got other things to take care of first.

I am workin on a solution to where I will be able to post my pictures here at home. I hope to have that up and running by next weekend.

...tomorrow is SED convention. It is only one day this year and I can honestly say that I m glad. It will be good to see old friends again but I will also see them again in July, so the time missed away from home is valuable. Hence, the sentiments...

Happy Birthday to Lynn..Yesterday. Yep...we are startin to get a tad bit old...

oh, and I checked out the GTA 4 stuff

Brandy kinda clued me into a game that i might find interesting, and last last night, after my xbox had crashed, i was able to get it rebooted and downloaded the trailer for grand theft auto 4. Looks pretty impressive... of course it doesnt come out till october of 2010 or something like that, so I'll put that back on the backburner and continue to wait for forza 2

EASTER!!!!

Easter arrives and I-man and Ryles worked on Easter eggs last night. This was the first time they had done this painting gig. Aunt Brandy was visiting and was able to lend a hand to Ryles and I-man...

anybody know where this came from?...

...without doing a google search?

‘So once you do know what the question actually is, you’ll know what the answer means’

what happened to the holidays?

I remember growing up that when these special days like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas came around, there was a kinda buildup to the day. No, not the endless pounding of commercials hawking sales, Zales and Hallmarks shops. But...like... for Easter, there was always the TV movies about the Cruxifition and the events leading up to it, etc. Now i guess a lot depends upon if you subscribe to the biblical stories or not, but I look forward to introducing that stuff to our kids because the entire concept of religion, etc. is rooted in good morale foundation that I think is important to our kids...

... I also wonder where my son suddenly learned how to catch a ball. Yesterday, he starts thowing a small football to me and wanting me to throw it back to him. I'm like sure, thinking that this will be pointless. I throw it to him and he catches it. not against his chest, but with his 2 hands. I'm like...uh...hmmm.... he couldnt do that last week. And now he can. Interesting. Unfortunately, he is throwing with his right hand. Which throws out that dream of him being a left handed relief pitcher and paying for my retirement.

...i think i am going to have to send Brown some cash and have him pick me up some Starbury stuff in NYC. 15.00 for sneakers? wow...

the next 3 weekends will be eventful... Frat formal in Charleston, Frat Convention in the ATL then Ryles recital in Clemson... then a weekend off, followed by Darlington race, All Star race in Charlotte and whew...take a breath....

on a side not

...well, maybe not exactly like that, but...in addition to what I-man was talking about with being a "conducter", Ryles has developed a sudden infatuation with my old band hat. Perhaps there is a future in band afterall. I plan on tryin to get to a Drum corps contest this summer, and perhaps going back to the marching band contest we went to last fall and seeing how they like that...

just moving right along...

jessica had her birthday on Friday, and she went out to Restaurant O with several chick friends. That seemed to go fine... then Saturday I-Man had his soccer match (and Ryles is now playing too) and then the new fridge was delivered. It is a different type of design than I am used to, with the fridge part on the top 2/3rds and the freezer on the lower 1/3rd. But it has more room and is definitely cooler....we also got a new hood for the stove to match colors..instead of the Easter type yellowish stuff, everything is white now. we seem to have upgraded all the appliances in the kitchen and probably are just new countertops away from having the kitchen done...

Braves opened up the new baseball season today, with a win. Bullpen seems to be better... and I am going to like playing as the underdawg for the first time in a decade and a half... I think that will serve the Braves best this year, to work under the radar and without the bullseye.

I-man stated today that he wants to be a conducter after watching an orchestra on TV. Hmmmm...now I never wanted to be drum major, for I liked playing too much. But obviously, his mother, aunt, and Grandma were drum majors so it might not be too much a stretch. Gotta get him that Tuba first...

Yesterday was Jessica's birthday, and She went out with some girls for dinner. Some of them surprised her and I think the evening went well....

...and also... why is it that EVERYTIME someone says they are delivering something/fixing something at your house and they say "we'll be there between 1 and 4", you can count on 4:15? We are gettin a new fridge today... one of those fridge on top, feezer on bottom gigs... but it doesnt have an icemaker on the door. had to sacrifice that gadget... But it has far more room and the sections are more readily available for I-man to come down and get his juice and leave the fridge door open for 8 hours...

classic ..just classic....

well. Clemson takes the gaspipe...AGAIN ... in what is increasing not just a trend with everything Clemson, but perhaps tradition, Clemson success is often tragically tinged with ultimate defeat... It just seems that there is a palpable air about Clemson. it is a sense that it can succeed but there is always a tragic flaw...be it an inability to throw the ball when 8 men are stacked against you, or hitting simple free throws 75 percent of the time... I can list off a veritable sadsack list of Clemson Achilles moments, from that baseball team in the 90's that went something like 60 and 10 with Ken Vining, Chris Benson and a slew of other now major leaguer pitching, yet when the got to the Series found that the team suddenly couldnt hit homeruns in a field 450 feet to dead center...or the many Danny Ford teams that had NFL players 2 deep that would lose to Duke ( oh wait, that STILL happens), or the team with Elden Campbell and Dale Davis that lost on a full court, no time on the clock, turn around jump shot against Uconn, springing that program to national prominence and Clemson Basketball into a spiral it didnt recover from until it lured Barnes, who of course,used Clemson to springboard to Texas, where they are now a powerhouse in basketabll. Funny thing is that if THAT basketball team would have hit its freethrows, they win. perhaps they go even deep in the tourney, lure more recruits and become a national Power, with Cliff Ellis being mentioned in the same breath as Roy Williams, etc... oh I could go on, but...i just dont care anymore...

American Idol has jumped the Shark

...now, i dont watch American Idol. But you cant miss hearing about it all the time from everyone else who does watch it. And i have seen/heard the clips of this Sanjaya fellow who obviously should not be singing on what is suposed to be a talent show of this level. As far as I'm concerned, if the voting "public" votes off the Sligh fellow (who actually has shown some level of talent) and keeps that Sanjaya guy in, then American Idol has no credibility with me and I can just call it what it is...a popularity contest. But, then again, isnt that what it is all about anyway...as I have said before, it is more about looks and marketing. Think that wasnt marketing when they showed that girl cryin the other day? Like i said before, place this contest in the 60's, take a young Stevie Wonder, or a young Ray Charles, or Roy Orbison and those guys would not have even made it pass the initial auditions....but when the "public" voting is young, white girls between 8 and 18, you can see why this contest (sic) is a farce and is losing credibilty every year...

There's Faith, Hope and Love... and the greatest of these is Love.... That's cool.

-Garth Brooks

tsk, tsk...

So...the Tarheels go and pull a Clemson in overtime today. i mean, like...that is something that would happen ( I should say, DOES happen) to Clemson in that type of situation. Blow the lead, then just take the gas pipe in overtime...oh well...

...Battlestar Galactica.???... hmmm...I knew what was going to happen, but even still, i was kinda caught offf guard by how it was shown. And I now have to gofind out what happens next season, in what has to be the last one.

race was 2 laps race, 1 lap caution. a wreckfest...but it was cool.

BRISTOL BABY!!!!

here at Bristol... tailgating watchin Harwoods satelitte tv, and connected to the internet via Verizon Broadband...isnt life great? Race starts in about 3 and a half hours...

ever wonder why?

why is it that the feeling of getting into bed at 10:30pm is so different than, say, getting into bed at 10:30am? The bed just feels so much better at 10:30am... and its just weird how that works...

I think I have seen a game that i need to get for my Xbox 360. its Burnout Revenge. i downloaded a demo and itseems pretty cool...of course i gotta read up on reviews first before I pull the trigger on a purchase... if anyone has any experience with this game, let me know... i also have toconsider that I-man will want to be playing this as soon as he lays his eyes on it.

I think my legs are just about recovered from how sore they were following the weekend. one more day and i will be fine... and I think I am going to start moving up bedtime from about 11ish every night to 10ish every night. It seems that we are getting p later and later every morning....

busy weekend...

...the twins saw Grandma Friday evening/night. We then did I-man's soccer match on Saturday morning. after which we headed down to Columbia for Uncle Wes/Aunt Ashley's reheasal dinner... did the rehearsal dinner, crashed at a local hotel, then did the wedding on Sunday. I took pictures for the wedding and I'm hopin they turned out satisfactory... I will have to do some slight edits to a few pix as outdoor situations and the constant change in lighting creates a challenge...


Ryles was a flower girl and I-man was a ring bearer. I was extremely nervous about them doing the event but they held up fine. But they just have reached the age where the can be trusted to stand still for the 20 minutes it took...

We finally got home a little while ago and Ryles and I-man watched a Thomas the Tran video...on my bed...of course they fell asleep and I've now got to figure out a way to get them to their rooms without waking them up. But the somewhat busy weekend is over...and Ashley is now added to the roster.

On deck for next weekend...headin to Bristol on Saturday with Harwood in the big black ambulance...

and where did this come from?

...putting Ryles to bed last night, and she starts talking/pointing to her "pectorals, and biceps, and triceps, and trapezoids"...and she is pointing to the right places. i'm like..."uh...what?" where did she learn this stuff. i never knew that stuff when i was 5 years old. and then, when we were discussing cleaning her room, she made made a point to say that our room wasnt clean. hmmm... I can tell that future arguments are going to be testy with her...

the time change

evidently, this time change thingy was a big deal. I had to deal with it at work and it seems people have a real problem if their calenders are off an hour. my only thing is that it is like...8am and it is still dark.

by the way... Clemson Basketball got screwed...again.

..we decided against mounting our new TV but if I come home and find greasy fingerprints all over the screen again, I might have to revisit that decision.

...and this morning came news that Fred Thompson is thinking about running for president. Now that would be cool. I am not sure of his politics, but I would love listening to him.

So...its seems to be decided...

Ok, so we thought initially that the twins would go to the Spanish Immersion school...but...bureacracy raised its head. But, thanks to much diligence by Jessica, the twins will be attending the Academy of Mathematics and Sciences in G-town. Its one of those there magnet s schools, as they seem to be called in these here parts.

so..now the hot rumour is that Anna Nicoles daughter father (or as some people call it "baby daddy") is...now this is rumour... her dead son. Goodness... i can only just shake my head bout that one...

DST

Evidently, this DST thing is a huge deal....like...people are losing their minds. Appointments will be off an hour. Goodness..now... like...Microsoft (and others) have been warning people for like 6 months now. But now, there is a crush of people tryin to get their Outlooks and Exchange servers patched, and the wait time at Microsoft is almost 5 hours for help. heh..heh... and no Josh, i dont want to hear about how there are no problems with Linux or anything like that....... But I guess this is serious stuff... a lot of people are worked up over it. I guess if you have a lot of appointments, etc. it would be a pain...

...and I am wonderin why that chick on Idol is still on there when they punted the black chick a couple of years ago for a similar "outrage". Hmmmm...go figure.

Clemson Basketball takes the gaspipe...AGAIN....

...

DST

Evidently, this DST thing is a huge deal....like...people are losing their minds. Appointments will be off an hour. Goodness..now... like...Microsoft (and others) have been warning people for like 6 months now. But now, there is a crush of people tryin to get their Outlooks and Exchange servers patched, and the wait time at Microsoft is almost 5 hours for help. heh..heh... and no Josh, i dont want to hear about how there are no problems with Linux or anything like that....... But I guess this is serious stuff... a lot of people are worked up over it. I guess if you have a lot of appointments, etc. it would be a pain...

...and I am wonderin why that chick on Idol is still on there when they punted the black chick a couple of years ago for a similar "outrage". Hmmmm...go figure.

Clemson Basketball takes the gaspipe...AGAIN....

...

ok...well, uh...hmmm....

...ok, got the new TV. looks bout like i expected. of course, normal cable tv is definitely exposed for its shortcomings now, but the DVd's and Xbox 360 look pretty spiffy. Thursday, the cable guy returns with the hdtv/dvr thingy. Then we will be getting the HD channels and also be able to record the cool Noggin stuff that comes on while the twins are at school.... I guess the only thing bad right now is that i didnt really think thru how i was going to do the sound switching for the AV stuff here at the house. And the current Amp, for all its goodness, isnt going to be good enough, in the long run. Well, actually the problem is that if it takes me 2 minutes to figure out the 2 or 3 remotes I need to switch from DVD to TV to Xbox or Gamecube, well... i think I know where the twins and jessica are going to on the learning curve here... So I am scouring ebay for a cheap deal on an AMP/receiver with HDMI pass thru so I can setup to be able to switch everything from the amp and not have to mess with changing inputs on the monitor. Whew...

There is this huge argument raging in the Frat (National) message board about alumni and their "rights", etc....I wish I could speak my mind to sme of the people ranting on and on, but..these things have to be timed just so.... and I may have to wait till orlando to speak.

my favorite show, Battlestar Galactica, is winding down for the season, and wont be back till..gulp...next year. Lucky for me that Baseball starts in April, nascar keeps rolling on when comes football, to keep me occupied.

"Life has a melody. A rhythm of notes that become your existence once played in harmony with God's plan. It's time to do your part and realise your destiny."

Oh, by the way..

pretty typical day in regards to the cable guy, and UPS. Cable people call at 8:15am..."we'll be there between 9 and 12 today". So, you know how that goes... cable guys shows up at 12:45pm, just like clockwork. (had to have the lines checked because the signal was weak and the impending HD stuff<see below next post>was having a problem working correctly) Then I am waiting on a delivery, and watching tracking online for UPS. Said the package was out for delivery at 4:45am this morning. I'm thinkin maaayyybe it might arrive in the morn. Well, its 1:45pm...and no glorious Westinghouse 1080p HDTV to bring the realism of the sweat, dirt, grimaces, etc of sportin events. But, i digress... I can wait. gotta get all the cablin correct anyway. That is a mess...

HDTV!!!!

Today, we arrive into the new era. The 1080p 37inch HDTV arrives. Just in time for March Madness, Nascar warming up and...baseball season. also today, I-Man starts soccer practice and games again. Of course, Ryles has her ongoing Ballet and Tap classes...

temps are rising and the schedule is starting to fill up for weekends... Soccer matches, Uncle Wes gettin married, Bristol Spring race, Jessica Birthday, frat formal in Charleston, frat convention in the ATL, Darlington race, All Star Race in Charlotte taking me up to the beginning of June. Always got stuff to look forward to...

wonder why

Now, i'm not some bible thumpin Christian or anything like that. Frack, I actually pondered at dinner tonight if turning to this new Gospel Channel on Sunday mornings could qualify as going to church. Jessica seemed cool to the idea. But with James Cameron touting that he has new info on Jesus, etc. that debunks the very foundation of the entire shootin match, i kinda wonder what would happen if someone came out with some sorta similar finding that debunks Islam, or Buddhism? think there would be rioting in the streets in Bagdad or Tehran and cries of "Death to the American infidel"? ... yet there hardly evena ripple when this stuff come out. Go figure....

Evidently, its a small world...

Soooo...... Al Sharpton is a descendant of a slave owned by relatives of Strom Thurmond. Hmmmm.... seems Thurmonds great-great something or anothers owned Sharpton's great great something or another. Wow... and of course, i am always amused to ponder about the fact that Thurmond was running around championing segregation, all the while having a concubine in his bed who just so happened to be black.... and fathered a child. tisk, tisk... I just find this sorta stuff amusing and, well... ironic. Where is that Alanis Morrisette MP3 when I need it?

continued random

So... Charlie Parker won an Oscar last night. Wow, i thought he died a few weeks ago when Luka shot him on ER. Scored pretty good with his wife though... out punted his coverage there. Its kinda funny that you can kinda know to not bother watching till about 11pm to see the important stuff....

Hilary and Osama

so..the snipin has begun. Fighting over donors...tthese two are going to pull a Mark Martin/Kyle Bush and be so preoccupied with each other they dont see HArvick (read, Edwards) pulling up fast in the outside line...

oh, yeah...hmmmmm....

So..Tom Brady is going to be a father. Ok... The mother is an actress (Bridget Moynahan) he isnt married too...Ok... oh, wait, they are not even dating anymore.Hmmmm. And all is fine. I wonder how people (read, the sports media and talking heads like Limbaugh and Combs) would react to this news if it was Michael Vick, or Donavan McNabb, or Vince Young? but its Tom Brady, so we dont have to spout the moral indignation line...

Dont get me wrong, I am not judging Tom Brady. Thats not my place. Someone mentioned to me one day a while back about glass houses or something like that so I am going to leave Mr. America be. I am judging the people who would be in an uproar if it was another type of person, and not the "Golden Boy".... And the Wonder boy is now dating supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who he conveniently starting dating immediately after he broke up with Moynahan...which was in December...which was 3 months ago.... and the report is that Moynahan is, what, no way... 3 months pregnant. Go figure?

FINALLY!!!!!

the #29 wins at Daytona. awesome.... and XM and Sirius are going to merge. of course, not like they suddenly will be all merged tomorrow or anything, but eventually Nascar, Baseball, etc will all be on one unit. Dude...that will be awesome... and i got to see some more of my prediction coming true on MSNBC a couple of nights ago as the pundits started to way in on whether or not Osama Bin Laden is black enough to run for President. I dont normally watch MSNBC, but Oberman is pretty funny and adds much needed humor to some things... I like that.

yipeee!!!!

Ok...Valentines day was cool. The twins got me a pit pass to the All Star race in May. pretty sweet, if you ask me....

watchin the 125's today on TV, listening to the team radios on the internet, watching the car telemetry online too... I might have to subscribe to the online thingy this year. You can actually watch a single car real time as it goes around the track....

a week passes

I swear i am not even realizin how past time is zootin past between posts... got to see Kristen last Thursday. She was nearby and we had an opportunity to do dinner and chat for a couple of hours...

Every once ina while, a song and its lyrics really hit home with me. While I know this is a re-do of a song, the version by Rascal Flatts seems so much better....


Life's like a road that you travel on
When there's one day here and the next day gone
Sometimes you bend and sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind
There's a world outside ev'ry darkened door
Where blues won't haunt you anymore
Where the brave are free and lovers soar
Come ride with me to the distant shore
We won't hesitate
To break down the garden gate
There's not much time left today

Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long

Through all these cities and all these towns
It's in my blood and it's all around
I love you now like I loved you then
This is the road and these are the hands
From Mozambique to those Memphis nights
The Khyber Pass to Vancouver's lights

Knock me down get back up again
You're in my blood
I'm not a lonely man
There's no load I can't hold
Roads are rough, this I know
I'll be there when the light comes in
Just tell 'em we're survivors

Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long

Gimme gimme gimme gimme yeah

Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long

There was a distance between you and I
A misunderstanding once
But now we look it in the eye

There ain't no load that I can't hold
Roads are rough, this I know
I'll be there when the light comes in
Just tell 'em we're survivors

Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long

Ryles wasnt totaly sure about this snow stuff....

Ryles did make one sled run....

I-Man started to get the hang of things

I-Man showed no fear....

I-man and Ryles went to birthday party the other day....

Noggin

How do my kids know EVERY show that is on Noggin? And they sing all the songs....

by the way, I have an XBOX 360 that my mother dropped on me for xmas, and I can access the internet on it and actually connect to my pc at home and play video and music off it, etc. But I was wondering if anyone who reads this has an XBox 360 too... if so, drop me a message on Xbox live...my userid is cubari

Its goin to SNOW!!!

ok...snowed some this morning. Big deal... but Ryles and I-Man did get to go out and slide using their Bass Pro Shops snow slider/discs before it started pretty much raining. And I noticed that the creek run off was a kinda mustard orange color...I guess from the snow. kinda makes you think about what Ryles was eating when I asked her to not eat the snow this morning....

I love Dr. Dre....

Did I fall off? Got you in your room rippin every "Chronic" poster on your wall off
Just cause I put away the sawed off
Now I got you sittin back with a smirk;
listenin with your arms crossed
Questionin Dre's credibility {What?}
Wondering if it's still in me to produce hits

same ole same ole....

ah...Tiger Woods!!!, Ladies and Gentlemen!!!!! still kickin tail where he left off a couple of months ago... twins are sick with some sorta stomach something or another... both were throwing up all day.

Goodness

...Ok...so i NEVER watch tennis. But I caught the end of the Australian open a few minutes ago. Kinda had to check out Serena Williams... she put the royal beatdown on Maria Sharapova. I mean...it only took an hour. Sharapova was in tears at the end. Kinda funny... i will repeat. It was a butt whoopin....

oh..uh..yeah..uh...my bad!

so...NOW...they say they made a mistake in the clock. The ACC admits it made a mistake and gave Duke back too much time. of course, i wonder why that wasnt obvious when they actually made the error.... and of course, the results arent changin....

Tigers got screwed over

...last night the Tiger Basketball team got screwed. Clemson guy hits shot and the put far more time on the clock than was warranted. of course Duke goes the length of the floor and scores.... sigh... whatever... motivation for the return game @ Clemson.

Ok...there is a God.

Down go the Patriots...down go the Patriots!!!!....sigh...Thank God. FINALLY...i dont have to hear Tom Brady this and belichick that and hoody this... and dynasty that.

...and it might be more interesting to find out who is NOT running for President by the time this all shakes out....

...took down the picket fence from around the front of the house. Actually, Jessica, Ellen and Nanna took down the fence. And the appliance upgrades continue with Papa putting in a garbage disposal...

...and as an afterthought, above are a couple of classic photo from Brown's visit....

Uncle Erik and Aunt Pam come to town....

Brown always does this for his pix....
They were visiting family and took the time to swing thru Greenville....
Pam was gracious to take time and read to the twins....

MAKE SURE TO RECYCLE!!!!

trash people came real early today. perhaps because of the supposed ICE STORM OF THE CENTURY today. But I noticed that the trash guys hopped off, took all the bags of trash, then proceeded to take the recycle bins of bottles, plastic and cardboard, and toss that stuff in the trash truck too.... makes me wonder why we devote so much space to recyclin when it is going in the trash anyway. Go figure....

things happen so fast

I think that the fact that I see my kids everyday kinda hides the fact that they are growing up so fast. This morning as Ryles dressed i noticed that she took her shirt and smelled it to see if it was dirty. I wondered to myself "no one taught her that...where did she learn that?" or watching I-man rip through a level on Lego Star Wars. I did not even teach him what buttons do what. he figured it out on his own. And he plays with a purpose. not a "big picture" purpose, but he still realizes that things are attacking him, and that he must attack.

Its been 72 degrees here up until last night. Suddenly its a tad bit colder. callin for snow tomorrow morn, although I cant see it being too much.

I threw away the twin's boombox. It was the boombox that virtually played 24 hours a day in their room when they were born for over three years. Finally it started actin strange and now is headin for the street for some random person to come pick it up. Yes, if we put furniture or electronics out by the street, it is gone in abt 5 minutes.... of course, bags of trash might stay there for days, but that another story...

in addition

ok...so I guess a lot of people really didnt post too much over the holidays, so I dont feel that bad that i neglected to post for a couple of weeks....

...clemson basketball seems to be doing well this year. Ok, I probably jinxed it the same way all my other teams seem to have a dark cloud following them....17-0 so far. ok, they'll probably finish the year like 21 and 11 or something, but the NCAA's are looking possible.

Jessica got me a pedicure for xmas. I was a notch skeptical at first when i went, but it was actually not that bad. left my feetsies all tingly and stuff...

its been a month without the jetta. seems the insurance company and the body shop are in argument concerning the fact that the body shop couldnt get my brakelights to work once they fixed the other stuff. They actually had to put it on a flatbed and take it over to the Volkwagon dealer, who got the problem resolved, but the insurance was not wanting to pay for it saying that it wasnt crash related or something like that. Anyway, I aint paying for it so I guess they will get it figured out sometime this year. meanwhile, I continue to drive the rental from Hades.

Xmas was truly good. the twins got so much stuff I dont know what to say. Between their birthday and xmas, its a constant stream. I guess I should really just count blessings and be fortunate that the twins have grandparents and friends and family that are great benefactors.

well... 2007 is here. lets see what happens...

uh...you have a blog?

yes..it has been a while. Xmas and New Years have passed. It was a great time with a boatload of stuff for the twins. I think my usual blogging time has been taken up by new videogames for the twins and myself. But...tsk, tsk, that is no excuse. more tonight....

just thinkin...

was listening to XM the other day when someone brought up a good point...somebody like Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles would never be a star today. Wouldnt even get a sniff...and thats sad.

... and after having to wait in line at Walmart the other night, I still gotta wonder why there are people who still write checks. I know their are times it would be warranted, but....

my car is missed. At least i miss it. It was supposed to take 4 days to get it fixed. took it in last Monday morn, got a Chevy Cobalt. Boy...there is a car for you. This car shouts "rental". about the only thing this car has going for it is that it has that automatic light option, where your lights come on automatically... and off too. I never even touch the light switch. might have to investigate that option on my next vehicle. i think my tartget for the jetta is 200,000 miles.

The twins birthday was yesterday, and so began the birthday/xmas toy o rama. But i am struck more about the fact that some people had the nerve to imply that our kids wouldnt make it that far 8 or so years ago. I will always remember the people who talked of what of the kids, etc as if they would meet doom and gloom. Instead, Disney reps are asking to take pictures of my daughter at Disney on Ice in her Cinderella outfit... i dont know ...whatever...and to those of you who doubted...tsk tsk...like I said back then. the good ship Happy set sail, and those who were on board have had a good time. those who chose not to be on board have either been left behind in their own sad worlds, or have been playin catchup ever since... yeah i know, some of you are probably saying something like "let it go" or whatever. In this case...I dont think so.

more random stuff

Does anyone play tennis anymore? and perhaps more profound...does anyone care?

Been getting to sleep a little earlier recently, and it certainly feels better in the morning.

With the impending delivery of bikes from Santa to the twins, look s like Jessica and I will have to get our bicycles down from their hanging perches in the garage. Which will be a good thing.

Its a Barack Star!!!!!

cheapest Nintendo Wii i see for sale right now are at $400.00 and that is ...uh... a tad ridiculous. it sells for 249.00 but you cant find one in a store...ANYWHERE.

Ryles posing again

While getting ready for our Xmas card picture thingy, Ryles thought she would mug for the camera.

Just for the heck of it...

I think sometimes I get too bogged down with lighting, etc. when trying to take pictures and sometimes simply just dont take the picture. but some pictures arent meant to be hung up in a gallery, but i thought that I-man might find this one interesting one day in the future. he's wearing my Peppers #90 Carolina Panther jersey....

sigh...

got into a car accident. got rear-ended by a 77 year old man. messed up the right rear corner or my bumber. not really that bad, fortunately and the card is drivable. No frame damage but about $1700.00 in damage. takin the jet into the bodyshop on Monday. get a rental and all that and the guy says it will take him a week. Thank goodness it was the old mans fault, and his insurance is forkin tha bill... should be good as new..well...good as a five year old car soon...

still wonderin how police keep shootin and killin black people and seemingly nothing happens to them.... how can these guys justify shooting those guys in New York 50 times? how many shots does it take to kill somebody? i mean, one officer completely unloaded his pistol into the guys, and... RELOADED and started shooting again. and people wonder why i have such a low opinion of the police. and dont give me that "they rammed the police van" crap...New York police policy is to only shot at moving vehicles if they are being shot at themselves. And there were no guns on the guys, and they werent shootin. New York police are trained to aquire, identify and fire twice, then evaluate. what?!?!...i guess after the second shot, the guys weren't down on the ground enough? had to put bullets in the bottom of their feet? (holes were found there)... and people wonder why i have such a low opinion of the police. Most of the people reading this, if they get pulled over by the police, they are thinkin, "frak, gotta pay a ticket for speeding". If i was to get pulled over, i would be thinking "is this just a traffic deal, or are they going to pull me out of the car, beat me down, search my car, beat me some more" and i have to hope somebody captures in on tape. Think about this. how many tapes have we seen of police putting a beat down on people.? you would think the police would know they might be filmed. Ever wonder how many times this actually happens and we dont see it on Foxnews? and people wonder why i have such a low opinion of the police... oh, the cops in new York will probably get off, as well as the police in Atlanta that killed the 92 year old black woman in her own home after busting through her door. . Oh and those guards in florida too.... and in a year, we'll see it happen again... and nothing will be done about it.... and people wonder why i have such a low opinion of the police.

???

some thoughts

Went to the last informational for the Frat tonight. weird seeing how young those kids are. as i was driving back, I was thinking about all the alumni I saw yesterday...Danny and Sara, Kevin and Holly, Andrea and Will, Spacholtz, Tariq, Crowell, Claire, Melanie Muldrow, Chris Sloan among many. But i was also pondering others like i have said before. Kim and Jeremy had to miss the game due toa last second change of plans, and i really missed getting to see them. And Wyatt and i werent able to sync plans either. But sometimes things happen and you gotta roll with it. And that is only from that era of friends for me. certainly hope that Lynn realizes that I kinda ponder what shes doing too, as well as the whole high school crew. man...time is smoking along, isnt it?

Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving saw my family come into town for a visit. It was indeed good to see all again. Ryles has shown an ability to wipe out a drumstick of any size.

Playing

Seems like any trip to the grandparents (or in this case, great grandparent) means an endless supply of tos readily available

I-Man starting to wind down after a long day of crochet and driving bigwheels..

Jessica's side o' tha family

I posted this picture unedited or anything because while the lighting isnt great, there are some subtle things abt this picture that I feel gives it a different quality. Some one once said "a picture is worth a thousand words" or something like that.. I was looking for a specific effecr once the lighting got a little darker than I wanted for the original. i thing I was able to get it with the wide angle at its longest length. Of course, Ellen was all freaked out because she felt the camera was too close to her or something....

Ryles

Ryles in her Cheerleader outfit at USC game

I-Man

he's a little ticked about having to leave

I-Man at his talent show

I-man at his Talent show... taken with my Treo.

oh, and another thing...

So Brown's boy from NY wants to bring back the draft, huh? smooth move, bruh.... real smooth. Keep floatin that stuff out there and we'll see the majority swing right back where it came from... real smooth, Rangel.

The holidays, they are a comin....

Aunt Ellen was in town for a job interview... went to a Talent show at I-Man and Ryles school on Friday night. They sang "This little light of mine...I'm goin to let it shine" with the lights out and little flash lights making lights on the ceiling. in case you are new to this, I-man and Ryles attend the little catholic school that could, and attend Mass once a week, dressed in white shirt/blue pants/black Dickies boots (for I-man) or White blouse, Blue skirt, white tights and blue mary janes ( for Ryles). what...somebody asked me what they wear, so I figured I'd describe it...

Saturday saw a failed attempt at a last soccer match, where the Clemson team didnt bother to show up..IN CLEMSON!!!!. So we then shopped around in Clemson, got Ryles a Clemson cheerleader outfit and a couple of other x-mas gifts for people. Came back, blew some leaves off the driveway, watched part of the Ohio State/Michigan game then went to dinner with Jamie, Ben Aunt Ellen, the Twins and Jessica. Went to Fatz where I ate 47 of those little rolls they have. Afterward, ellen stayed with the kids while Clemons, Ben, me and Jessica went and saw Casino Royale and I ate some buttered popcorn. Actually, it was double buttered. It was pretty good eats and the movie was above average, except for the lovey, dovey stuff towards the end for about 20 minues...

Turkey day events will include my mother and brother here on thursday, Columbia on Friday for jessica's family, hopefully back here to meet up with Wyatt Friday evening/night...then going to USC game and meeting up with Kim and Jeremy and maybe hanging with them a little afterward, depending upon schedules.

just kinda wonderin....

we have this small space heater i used to use at work. i placed it downstairs and the damn thing is pretty much warming the entire downstairs. go figure....

...running some errands today and went to skins for 3 chili dawgs...noticed a couple of horses standing in a couple of parking spots and one cowboy/marlboro man lookin dude holding them while another younger woman was talking to him. What struck me is why is it everytime (well, its pretty rare now) i see some people with some horses, the chicks all seem to be some version ( larger, smaller, taller, shorter, older, younger) of Lynn... kinda strange.

I-Mans last soccer match of the Fall on Saturday. Will break out the videocam and will try to post a small clip perhaps...

makin a cd.... here is something that i thought profound, after hearing all the talk about O.J. today....

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some
Oh, but just for everyone.

Ugh

Usc game at Noon. oh boy... want a spot atthe brooks center. gotta be there by 9am is my guess...

By the way, can somebody

By the way, can somebody please redesign the Panthers logo? I've been complainin for years now. Don't change colors or uniforms. Just the logo.

My man wins at PHX...

My man wins at PHX... Looks like the 29 will finish 3rd. Can't really complain about that... Now gotta have the Panthers pull thru tonight...

the weekend that was...

...this just in. Clemson's QB sucks. yeah, i know, he's cute and all that (supposedly) Ever notice that they dont ask him to even try to throw the ball downfield anymore? Although I did notice a couple of rollouts and tosses to the fullback. still< itsobvious that the coachs have no confidence in him other than he is a 5th year senior and is probably a better option right now than the backup....

...we puchased a new xmas tree on saturday. got a 299 tree for 199, and this one is far easier to put together and light...

...really interesting watching my daughter reading her book and listening to country music in her bedroom....

...oh, the and twins both have a small tree in their room already. no decorations, but they are lit up...

Jessica is looking forward to going up and seeing Brown dance at his club. Im not so sure i want to...

I-Man crashes the bed

The twins love these two

The twins love these two tv channels. Boomerang and any version of Jetix. Sorta like me only watching Law and order and Battlestar Galactica.

oops?

I just actually looked at my blog and noticed that my posts from my phone have not been making it here. So I guess the last two are lost out in cyberspace somewhere...

note to police: if you are beating someone, assume that it will show up in video on msnbc or cnn soon....

Went to a Parent/techer conference yesterday to I-man and Ryles. It was interesting to see how they got along with their teacher(s)

I'll post more tonight, tomorrow and Sunday...

Ryles as Tinkerbell for Halloween

This year I-Man was the Green Power Ranger for Halloween....

Homecoming!!!

Ok...It was great to see everyone. As usual, the time was WAY too short visiting with several people, and I felt the abscence of several...including Kim, Avolio, jdwyatt and Brown. I did break the news to some that Brown is dancing for some extra cash in NYC these days and the news was taken well by everyone...Of course, more news that some are expecting additions to their families from Ohio to New Jersey.

in many ways, things have changed..in some, nothing has changed.

i think my daughters hair is getting a tad long....

Brandy and Tariq at tailgating....

Andrea at tailgate

Clemons, Crowell and Lisa at tailgate...

here are Lisa and TJ, right before heading off to Aluminum Band

just saw

...the new Jay-Z video on Monday night football, of all places. And wasnt he supposed to be retiring? it was kinda interesting, with Dale Earnhardt jr and Danica Patrick in the video.

speakin of football, I think i am going to wear my new Czech Republic soccer jersey to work tomorrow... pretty slick.

...wanted to go to bed early tonight, but Battlestar Galactica replays at 11 and i messed up my time in tryin to vcr it the other night. so...GOTTA watch it now.

you gotta wonder...

...just thinkin about the whole thing with the NBA player shooting at someone outside a "nightclub"... this is what I think of when i hear about this sorta thing...if you feel that the place you are going to requires that you have to take a pistol with you, then perhaps, just maybe, you might wanna reconsider if it is really worth going. When i think about going out for some entertainment at a gentlemans club, the last thing I want to be worried about is where my gun might be and if I have enough ammo to hold up in a shootout. And since i dont own a gun (well, I have a 30-30 and a couple of other shotguns at my mothers house), I am already behind in the argument. Lets see, go to gentlemans club, drink a beer or 2, smoke a cigar and then shoot my way back to my car. I dont think so.

gotta get back into the groove

...my new work schedule has kinda changed when I do posts to this blog.

last night it was interesting that Ryles (when time for bed) stomach was hurting so bad (suddenly) that she was rolling around in uncontrolled fits of pain. Then suddenly, it was her mouth that was hurting. Then jessica said that she could sleep with us. suddenly the pain seemed to go away...then she got up and ran to her room, and shows back up with her pillow.... meanwhile I-Man, long ago banished (again) for not eating dinner, was snoring loudly in his bed. I think I-Man has not slept in his bed a total of maybe 1 time (when he had a true fever) , while Ryles goes thru 2 or 3 day spells of wanting to come into our bed at 5am.

rare anger

I rarely get too upset about stuff, but this deal with all these guys ( notice that they are always hard up white guys?) going into schools and shooting kids, then shooting themselves annoys me. I think what really gets me is that they shoot themselves, and dont have the balls to face up to what they did. that is just plain cowardly....

ya know...i think this Merideth Viera chick is starting to grow on me. At first, i was like..."She aint Katie..." but now I am starting to warm up to her....
...and i am pondering a layout change for the blog. Not sure though...

more random musings...

It is kinda nice to just wash 5 pairs of blue pants and white shirts for the twins every week. sure does simplify things...

... and it is amazing to drive down the road and only hear a faint videogame sound from the back. the twins have gameboys (with headphones) and they get in the car, turn them on and i dont hear anything from them..except.."hey Ian, lets switch games. Ok Rylee. let me get this last mail from Blue"...

...why is diesel still 2.35 a gallon while regular is under 2.00? this is highly annoying, even if i still only put gas in my car once or twice a month....

..."Oops i did it again....."...ah yes, old school Britney Spears... and following that up with a little n
Naughty by Nature.

Fall is here...again...

temps have fallen. leaves all over the driveway/porch. Fall always brings back flashes of memories of times past. Always kinda sad, but the memories are all good. The Harwoods have had their daughter, and it reminds me that time just keeps moving forward. Who would have thought at one time that Harwood would have a kid. Wow...but..its a good thing, and i think he's going to be a fine father.

I am seriously contemplating going to the Charlotte game (Temple/Clemson)...

I-man scores

I-Man had his first soccer match of the season on Saturday. he scored his teams only goal against the obviously older, wiser, experienced mexican goalie. After a scrum outside the penalty box, the ball was kicked to the far side of the net, where I-Man was patiently waiting , and blasted a 1 timer into the goal. Look for the report in the easley paper, as I-man was his teams Man of the Match. I forgot to mention that the other team scored like 6 goals or something....
..Ryles is doing dance again, and was actually promoted after a couple of classes to a higher class, and also placed into Tap class. So, she is now taking 2 dance classes....

Tigers took North Carolina to the woodshed on Saturday. looks like another 2 weeks of blowouts before Wake Forest, who might present a challenge., meanwhile the Panthers seem to have stopped the bleeding for the moment

did I mention that it is virtually impossible to find blue pants for girls size 4t or 5t?

what am i listening to?

...Tupac...

We gotta make a change...
It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes.
Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live
and let's change the way we treat each other.
You see the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do
what we gotta do, to survive.

then Clint Black...
Your mind is made up you won't even try
You didn't even cry this time
You say that we could never see eye to eye
And one of us just must be blind
We have our differences
We're still the same
See what we want to see
But you take a second look
And maybe things wouldn't seem the same
If you could see what you mean to me

Put yourself in my shoes
Walk a mile for me
I'll put myself in your shoes
Maybe then we'd see
That if you put yourself in my shoes
You'd have some sympathy
And if i could only put myself in your shoes
I'd walk right back to me

Goodness.... its those types of songs that always make me at least stop and take a listen to country music every once in a while...

then... The Gap Band ( Burn Rubber on Me ) here is a song that is basically about as rock as rock can be.

next up..Everlast...

on to Califonia Love (Dr Dre and Tupac)

then I hear Michael Jackson in I Want You Back. That song gives me chills when i listen. I hear innocence, pure joy of performance and raw, unbridled talent. So sad what it has become....

Folson Prison Blues is next. Ah..Johnny Cash.

The some Kelis and Too Short in Bossy.

Finally I am at Evanescence with Call Me When you are Sober. Here is a song that I actually like more for the music than the lyrics. pretty rockin...well, about as rockin as you can get with an orchestra and piano mixed in with you. i do like that they changed meter some and just basically mixed things up a little

And who can be heard singing this?

We've all seen a man at the liquor store beggin' for your change
The hair on his face is dirty, dread-locked, and full of mange
He asks a man for what he could spare, with shame in his eyes
"Get a job you fucking slob," is all he replies
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues

What was God doing?

...Last night, we were watching a thing on PBS about God and 9-11 and people pondering about how God could have let that happen, etc. Well...I was only kinda half watching and reading a magazine at the time, but I kinda thought that those people were all kinda off track somewhat. What about the thousands of other people who died that day in the world. From Cancer...Aids...Car wrecks... killed by guns... all sorts of stuff. Was God supposed to ignore all those people and only save the people in New York? was it any less a tradgedy for the families of all those other people who dies that day? I dont mean to lesson what happened to those 3000 people. But if God is the All powerful entity he supposedly is, then the events in New York were a small peice of the puzzle in the whole scheme of the universe that day.

Wow...five years...

I will always remember standing in front of my TV in my office watching the second plane hit live. I remember thining immediately..."well, I guess I aint flyin to New York for kristen's wedding"... I also remember thinking that this was going to screw up a lot of stuff for a lot of people forever....