put up or shut up

...tomorrow is time to get off the porch and run wth the big dogs time for Clemson Basketball. I almost hate to say anything for fear I furthur jinx the team. They showed some moxie on the road at VaTech last week and this is definitely the best "program" at Clemson. They certainly seem to be the best coached, best organized and least affected by the permanent cloud of "getting punked" that floats over Clemson. on another note, the football team seems poised to get a small, but impressive recruiting class...

...someone actually commented at work today that we didnt really need to have Black History Month now that Obama is President... um...anybody who is reading this who beleives that, please speak up.

...looks like the frat Alumni retreat is a go. 15 dollars a person for Alumni. I am now looking forward to saee how many alumni actually show up. The last time the actives made efforts to accomodate Alumni, only 1 person showed up.... now that the Actives seem to have nailed down a place/time/etc, I think I will take a more active role in setting up an Agenda and Activities that would make it worthwhile for the Alumni to show up

... First Nascar race is this Saturday...

...but Jessica's parents ( and Aunt Ellen I think) are coming into town to assist with the re-do on the downstairs half bath. Jessica has ripped up the tiles, and has taken out the old sink....

the phenomena that is facebook continues. It is so interesting to see people from WAAAYYYY back back and see their families and kids, and think back to those many years ago...

Super Bowl!!!

Ok...I think that even if I were Pavorotti/Justin Timberlake/Ray Charles and James Cleveland all rolled into one, I would NOT sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl... even if they were offering me a whole huge wad o cash. Well, if I were that person, as wad of cash wouldnt be that significant, I hope. I mean, no one will ever top the Whiney Houston National Anthem from 1991 ( even though she lip synced it) and even Jennifer Hudson's seudo throwback anthem wasnt even close.... The Boss should have just sang "Glory Days" for 12 minutes...

...and the first 5 minutes of The Office was simply hilarious....

FINALLY!!!!

I finally got that Frakkin google virus off my lapper, after booting in safe mode (per harwood's recomendation) and running this removal tool someone had posted online, then taking another 3 hours to figure out that some random driver had installed for my Wi-i card, I FINALLY got my lapper working for Wi-Fi and normal searches. It wasnt that everything else was broken, its just that it annoyed me to not be able to search.

heading to Elon on Saturday for a frat thingy...should be interesting to see how Kappa Beta brothers interact with other...

I'll give you a Stimulus Package!!!!

"The yardstick of generosity is not how much you give others, but how much you want in return." - Leonid S. Sukhorukov

So... 816 Billion in Stimulus passed. And what of the 750 Billion last fall. Oh wait, half of THAT (350 Billion) has been spent..but...wait...NO ONE can tell us where and how that money was spent. And the majority of this Stimulus passed yesterday wont get out for another 18 months, just in time for the House and Senate elections....hmmmm???? And I bet I dont see any Bank or Car CEO's missing their mortgage payments, will I?

And why is it that when Bush was in office, there was a constant bashing of him on TV, Radio, etc. yet now that Obama is in office, any criticism of him (valid or not) is now subject to petitions and warrants? Is the man beyond criticism? If Limbaugh wants to say what he says, does that mean he should be taken off the air? I disagree with Limbaugh more than I agree, but I do beleive that if Olberman can basically call Bush names everynight for 4 years, Limbaugh should have the same latitude, whether you agree with him or not.

I was reading last night to I-Man and Ryles and they had picked out some random Dr. Seuss story... now, these stories are boring as all get out and somewhat long. So I was going to cut a couple of corners by trying to maybe skip a page or two. As I have said in the past, it is weird how they can figure this out. I'm reading and CAREFULLY skip a page in my hand before i turn the page. I turn the page and keep on reading without skipping a beat. After about 4 seconds, I-Man reaches over and says "You skipped a page". I'm like.."Whaa??" "YOU..SKIPPED...A.... PAGE!!!!! Daddy!!!" me thinking..."Curses!!!" Now this is a story I cant remember having ever read to them, but these guys can somehow decypher out in this endless rhyme that I skipped over something. I'm kinda thinkin "WHY AM I READING THIS TO YOU IF YOU ALREADY KNOW THE STORY?"...but... i digress...

Companies are laying people off left and right... hope no one I know gets caught up in the economy thing...

Monster Trucks!!!....

A friendship that can be ended didn't ever start - Mellin de Saint-Gelais

Went to see Monster Jam at the Bi-Lo Center here in Ole G-Ville. It was fabulous. I-Man went nuts because...just imagine...GRAVEDIGGER (his favorite truck) won. Now...let it be stated that GRAVEDIGGER wins 90% of the time. But then again, I don't think I-Man is sweating facts in this regard right now... Not sure Ryles and Jessica are really getting into this Monster Truck thing. Might have to start making this a boys night out sorta thing for the future...

Got some sorta Yahoo/Google Redirect virus on my laptop and it is annoying as hell. After hours of research, I think I have it figured how to get it off my laptop without a format. you tech guys reading this might wanna take a look at this one. It's really the first virus I've gotten on any of my machines in a long time ( yeah, I have gotten an occasion spyware infection, but nothing like this) and I and somewhat annoyed with this...

Finally got my white muslin last week and I think in a couple of weeks I'm going to start experimenting with high key....

This is really kinda slow time for sports... nothing on TV and not much going on. The Superbowl does not have me really excited and I guess it will be about the commercials this year for me. Two week till Nascar Spools up and Pitchers and Catchers report. Then I will have some stuff to watch again, I guess. Which is pretty much it for me right now.

..other than the occasional frat stuff...

Did I mention that we played Cadoo tonight?...and of course, i won!!!!!

I think the whole worlds addicted to the drama

Times tickin fast.... too fast... just yesterday I was pickin out clothes for Ryles to wear...now, whenever we havent laid out clothes for the week, I will put out an outfit for her to wear before I go to bed. Funny, now... without fail, she walks past my outfit, I hear her scrum around in her closet for 30 seconds or so, and see her come out with another outfit. EVERY single time. And I am confident that the outfit I pick out is perfectly fine... meanwhile I-man just groggily gets up.. throws on the jeans and plain color polo shirt I have picked out for him (backwards) and stumbles down the stairs without complaint. The only issue I have with him is his fascination this past week with the sweatshirt Jessica picked up at Target for .97 cents in a pinch when we were going to the Planetarium and he had no shirt on except for the plain color polo that he had managed to get turned the right way. He wears this like 3 days in a row and I'm tryin to get him to wear any other sweatshirt because I am sure his teacher is probably thinkin that his parents aint got no skillz...

I am somewhat impressed the Ryles fashion sense. I must admit to being a little saddened by the fact that I was walking through the mall the other day and realized that I see many outfits I think she would look good in. But I just don't know for sure anymore... while I know I can get I-Man virtuallly anything, as song as its green or has something to do with soccer.

Its Obamamania!!

So..cool...Obama is now President. It is historical in its significance along racial lines. I am glad that that barrier is seemingly broken. I am glad that this event at least signifies that a lot of people voted for him based on what they thought of his ability to lead, etc.

Now what? Are we still going to simply fawn and try to re-create Camelot? How much is the reporting now going to be over what dog is in the White House as opposed to how much of our tax money is going to the CEO's of the auto companies and banks? How much more time is going to be spent gushing over what dress Michelle Obama is wearing as opposed to addressing the Middle-east/Asia stuff? yeah...I know...Obama isn't asking that the media fawn over that stuff. But I am already tiring of the constant excuses being given for him..the "its going to take time to fix this mess" argument, "blah, blah, blah... it George Bush's fault...blah, blah, blah..." Well, that is a legitimate statement. But I want to see it being fixed... not reports of what the kids are doing tonight at the White House. I guess this is more directed at the media that seems to be trying to create a story, or recreate JFK. And I still have not seen the answer to the question of where all this money is supposed to be coming from to bailout everyone, except me. When it comes time for me to make my house payment and car payment, do I send the bill to Obama?

Nice to see the two Baritone players from Brooklyn and Tallahassee respectively kinda come to a "Lets Agree to Disagree" stalemate. I could and do see the argument from both sides... although when I see all the crap we try to recycle here at home clutter our space while we wait for the recycle day, only to see the trash guys take the recycling and throw it in with the trash, I simply shake my head and start wondering why waste my time... and space. But I suppose the efforts of Brown and my wife are a good cause... albeit an uphill one.

'bout time for me to start spooling up prep for the May Races. I am wondering what kinda participation I will have with me this year as I realize that funds are somewhat tighter than in the past, and i suspect a closer look at budgets may affect some decisions. I am already pondering trying to get more people involved to dilute the cost per person for the usual camping event. However, the more people, the more agendas... sigh...

Next up..Monster Trucks this weekend... I'll be taking a shield to watch out for flying parts...

random...

My mother and brother are going to Washington next week for the inauguration of Obama and it does make me ever so slightly nervous, because you never know if some fool KKK jackass might be wanting to do something, or some fools from the middle east might wanna be wanting to meet their 40 virgins or something equally whacked....

...eating my genero rice krispies from Aldi this morn and just wonder whatever happened to milk. Yeah, I know I have been eating the 2% fat free skim devoid of life milk for sometime now. But its so sad to almost feel as those I am eating cereal and water with a touch of white...

... its supposed to be getting super cold here later ths week. Wasnt it not too long ago that everyone was talking about global warming... er... "Climate change"? ...speaking of which, with all the Clinton people Obama has chosen to posts (whatever happened to "Change we can beleive in" for Washington?), where is Al Gore? Oh wait, I guess jetting around in his Lear jet burning fuel all over the world making speeches...

...While I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop with Tiger basketball, I remain optimistic that this team will make some noise this year. speaking of which, after watchng them knock off NCstate the other day, I am ready to see what happenes now that the true tests on Wake, UNC and Duke loom on the horizon. But I must admit that the long term future of the team seems very bright...and where did this Tanner Smith kid come from? just when I had him typed as the slow white kid picked up from Fike, he goes zooming in with the ball in one hand, then switches to a two hand power slam. I'm like.."whoa...kid's got skillz!!!" when I saw that and i bet a lot of people in the ACC suddenly sat up when they saw that and definitely changed their opinion of him.

...still wondering why Isaac and Ishmael are fighting over sand and rocks after all these years. Saw plenty of room in Nevada the other week. I would have long ao caught the first boat out of dodge from the land of milk and honey...

Rawr!!!

Go Panthers!!! oh...wait...um... nevermind.

well lookee here...

checkin out the "National Championship" game on right now and who do I see as Referee, but good ole Ron Cherry. He of ACC fame. He has been a lead ref in the conference for several years now and it is actually a great accomplishment to get to Ref the "National Championship Game" he is famous (or infamous) for several calls he has made against Clemson over the years, although honest assesment of history shows he has made equally bad calls that have favored Clemson too. I will always remember him for the time I was standing with Dr. Hosler watching Tiger band do script Tigers and he comes walking over to us and says "I just absolutely LOVE Tiger Rag. I just love hearing that song!!!" I just remember casting a glance at Dr. Hosler when he said that while chuckling with the ref. We both commented afterward that I bet the other team would have just LOVED to hear him say that....

And off we go.......

The first normal week of the year... basically starting the grind, I guess. It kinda always seems to be a sorta letdown at this time of the year. No big holiday on the horizon, cold weather socked in... nothing but routine on the horizon. But I wonder if routine is so bad.

At any rate, I have always tried to offset the routine by having things to look forward to, and the family schedule is starting to fill up for the first half of the year... Monster Trucks is up first, with soccer, Gymnastics, Dance the daily things going on. On the horizon are Nascar Races with trips to Florida/NY/NJ to see friends coming in late June/early July. I also have the usual Frat stuff with conventions and rituals and meetings, as well as Valentines day, Birthdays, Mothers Day and.. BASEBALL!!!

I think that I am going to try to concentrate on those resolutions with figuring out how to fit in the Y membership and utilize it, while addressing the house here and there. We have so many things to keep us entertained here at the house, with the kids games and GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR!!!!.

My mother and brother are headin to Washington for the Obama coronation.

and finally...

Happy New Year!!!

So Christmas was pretty good. Santa hit up the twins with some stuff and I was blessed to get some stuff from friends and family.

here are my resolutions for 2009...

1) Live Healthier!!!

2) get some things about the house fixed (baseboards downstairs, carpet for stairs, cleanout of house)

3) See a Celtics game, either in Charlotte or Atlanta

4) Rent an RV

5) take the twins to Wally World

On deck...

we opened family gifts last night... finally broke out the Guitar Hero World tour band kit, which is pretty cool, although I think I may be able to wean Ryles off the drum thingy because of this...she started to get tired after the 7th song or so... I-Man took his turn on the drum set and lasted about a quarter thru the first song before quitting. I think it will eventually be Ryles on vocals, I-Man on bass, Jessica on lead guitar on.. gulp...me on drums.

..today see us hitting Grandma for lunch, then continuing on to Nanna and Pappa's for Christmas eve, with Santa finding his way down there tomorrow morn. I will return back late Chrismas day for I have to work Friday. I might use time on Saturday to catch up on some stuff around the house....

Dude...you like..um...SUCK!!!!

I kinda think Kanya West is average. But his performance on Saturday night live left something on the table... ouch... click here or google it on the web...

Happy Anniversary!!!!!

We celebrated 10 years on Friday. A lot of times I have a tad bit of chip on my shoulder concerning this but I wont delve into it this year.

We celebrated at The Eiffel Tower Restaurant and that Filet Mignon was as tasty as tasty can be. They came out with a special small dessert (some sorta Chocolate thingy that was flat out awesome) for Jessica and I to share. Jessica also had some sorta souffle that took 30 minutes to cook for dessert. It looked awesome... I just sipped my French Martini, which i had several of during our stay... We all stayed at Paris Las Vegas, and while the view from the room was uninspiring, the hotel itself was pretty slick. It was a definite change of pace from the typical casino hotels. We spent a lot of time sitting around and drinking spirits and people watching. And boy, were there people to watch. The things some women chose to wear was...um...questionable.... yet entertaining. I figure we gambled less tha a 100 dollars while there, but it was nice playing the games and never quite figured out the deal with the supposed free drinks to you when you were playing. I guess me playing at 25 cents a play didnt warrant the "high roller" treatment. We didnt really do a club/dance thing but I dont figure I missed much. Maybe when we return in ten years... I also didnt get to a strip club... sigh... oh well... not like I'm missing out on anything.... the interior of the hotel was like you were sitting outside in Paris with shops and tables outside for people to sit and watch everyone else. Really did remind me of Paris in that while inside, even at 2 in the morning, it was still a glow to the air... all in all I had a blast on the trip and I think it was appropriate for the event. I guess all else I want to say is that I am grateful to be blessed with my family... Jessica , Ian and Rylee. I think we have done good so far and I look forward to 10 more years and the many adventures that it will lead us to...

I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you

[Chorus:]Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

VEGAS!!!! Baby!!!!

So... we went out to Vegas for a couple of days to celebrate our Ten Year Anniversary. It was a lot of fun and I think overall, the trip went fine. I will post some pix tonight once i get home... the only thing kinda weird about it is the letdown now...I have devoted so much mental time to this trip tha i am now kinda at a loss...gotta spool up for the next event, whatever that is going to be. In the meanwhile, after arriving back home @ 2:30am, I am back at work.

Yea!!! we are more better 7!!!!!

Ryles and I-Man celebrated their official birthday last night...a day early. They couldnt wait to open their last couple of presents from us and themselves...now all that's left today is another cake... Seven Years!!!...wow... I-Man continues his Star Wars/Clone Wars/Iron Man/Batman/Transformers/Hotwheels/Speed Racer/Lego/anything green run O' Loot while Ryles continues to be a little more diverse, hitting Hanna Montana/Miley Cyrus/Barbie/Bratz/Baby Born(in her hand)/"Butteryflies"/anything pink along the way... by the way, that's a Star wars Tie fighter I-Man has, and he went to bed with it over his head last night with his head under it...

by the way, Congrats to Josh on the birth of his Son... way to go, guys...

Next up...10 years of marraige....

KNIGHT RIDER HAS BEEN CANCELLED!!!!!... how could they cancel such a fine and well produced TV show?

in other news, the twins had their birthday party last Saturday at the YMCA. It was a pool party and i must admit that it went better than I initially thought it would. About 10 kids showed up, along with various adults. Most of the kids were from the twins' class at school. And the swimming was a big hit evidently. It was an indoor pool and when you walked into the pool area you were hit by a wall of heat. It felt like it was a 100 degrees inside, except for the blaring sun, which made it actually cool to be inside... imagine a sauna with an olympic size swimming pool. And the twins got a bunch o stuff... a week early at that. Their actual birthday isnt until next week... Today I-Man and I finished the X-Mas shopping by getting his gift to Ryles at Wal-Mart. Did I mention that the twins' Piggy banks (with an aditional jar of money from Pappa) netted them $156.00 for Birthday and X-mas gifts for each other? They will open these on their actual birthday and when we open gifts for family. So..I think we will stick with this program for the future.. nothing like taking a couple of jars of change you have been collecting all year, dumping them in a machine, and having it ring up 150 dollars. I'm like...BONUS!!!

Turkey Week

Wednesday saw my Mother and Brother coming to town and bringing turkey meat. We had Thanksgiving food stuffs with them and put up the tree... Thursday we then headed to Florence and met up with Aunt Ellen, Uncle Wes, Aunt Ashley (and her Mother and Step Dad), Cousin Madison, Grandma Catoe and Nanna and Pappa for Turkey Meat. I actually baked a Chocolate Applesauce cake and it seemed to go over well... Friday saw us come back to Lextown for more turkey meat with Grandma Moore and the long lost enigmatic Uncle Buddy from Knoxville. Came back to the home ranch Friday night and I went over and watched Clemson beat USC...(yawn)..again... like...ISN'T THIS SUPPOSED TO BE A RIVALRY OR SOMETHING??? gets to be boring if we win all the time... tsk, tsk... Then Saturday night went over to Brandy and AJ's house for a while...played this strange new game called Costanza. Went to Frat meeting tonight and listened in on discussions on giving bids to candidates...seems like everything that was said I have heard about people since 1994, but it is always interesting to hear the slightly different twists every year... twins having an early Birthday party this coming weekend...more on this at another time...