High School Reunion

My 25 year high school reunion is tonight. I am so looking forward to seeing some old friends...most of which I have not seen since the day of graduation. Facebook has allowed us to get back in touch over the past few months - amazing what a little technology can do - but it will be far better to catch up in person.

I hope to have pics tomorrow to post.

Death

A found out this morning that a co-worker became suddenly ill over the weekend and died yesterday. Matthew Kahn also coached soccer for his son's team while I coached my son's team. We scrimmaged each week after practice for two seasons. Matt was only a year older than me. He has 3 kids. Matt was a nice guy and I enjoyed his enthusiasm for soccer and seeing not only his son improve in the game but all kids. He always cheered on my Matthew.

I found out tonight that a guy that graduated a year ahead of me in high school died last week. I did not know him that well.

It makes me take pause and think if all my proverbial ducks are in a row...on all fronts. Will my children be cared for? Am I right with God? Have I done all the things I really want to do? I truly am thankful for my boys and my family. Life can be gone in a minute. No doubt we ALL need to value and savor each and every morsel...even the bad ones.

United Way Day at Work

Survivor Day for United Way

This is the IS Team. Barbara, Jerry, Nick and myself. We each had to do a "Survivor" type game to earn points. Jerry had to do the Hula to a hip hop song, Barbara had to eat gummy worms, swedish fish and olives and Nick had to unwrap 10 foiled chocolates and eat them faster than the other teams.


We could either be the GRAPE team or the PINK team. I voted for PINK to honor Breast Cancer Awareness. Jerry was able to find these shirts at Dick's Sporting Goods. Interesting that Nike make pink golf shirts for men and then we realized why. Their shirts had the small pink ribbon on the sleeves.

Mine was lifting 10 marbles out of a bucket of ice cold water. I won handily. I guess those toe stretches in yoga class paid off! lol


We came in 3rd out of 8 teams. It was a nice break from the work day.

It makes me sad

It makes me so very sad to see parents arguing with their children. Yes, it is one thing to disagree as well as to put kids on point when they mess up. I am referring to no holds barred yelling and fighting.

This morning on my way to work I passed a car with a father and young daugher just outside of Nathan and Matthew's school. We were running just on time so by the time I saw them I am sure they were late. The father was yelling at what looked like the top of his lungs at his daughter. She was younger than Matthew so I am guessing she is at the elementary school next door. Poor thing was in tears. I can only imagine how her school day has gone this morning.

Then just a little bit further down the road I was at a stop light and looked across the intersection to see another car with a mother/daughter argument in process. The mom was on her cell phone AND was yelling then reached over and hit her daughter three times. And it was not just a light tap either. The daughter looked to be high school age and had a look on her face like this was business as usual.

I know we all get frustrated as parents. I know I certainly had my days. However, I simply cannot imagine having a KNOCK DOWN DRAG OUT in the car (much less on a cell phone and driving) on my way to school with my kids.

And we wonder why some kids are not doing well in school...

This bothered me all the way to work. Made me sad. Thankfully I have a very good relationship with my boys. I pray it stays that way.

P.S. Yes, I guess I could look at it from the other side. Maybe the kids did something to get on their parent's last nerve. Maybe the highschooler did drugs or wrecked the car...but still, do you really have to SCREAM and HIT?

Snow 2009

Here you go! From the land of sand comes the pics of snow... lol

(Sunday around 6 ish)

(30 minutes later....)

(9 ish....huge flakes really coming down...)

About 30 minutes after I took the picture above our power went out..... :(

(the next morning......so pretty but we were VERY cold)

(Look at the snow on the diving board. By our crude measuring we came up with nearly 10 inches.)

Pretty...but look closer.....

(Just outside the front door. Our neighbor's tree uprooted and fell into our yard.)

(Top of a cypress just cracked and fell onto the edge of the shed causing a slight dent.)

Around 1 a.m. Monday morning both Mom and I woke up just shortly before hearing a CRRRRACK then a THUMP.....this is what I found.


Turns out there were two large pine trees down. Thankfully neither tree hit the fence or anything else for that matter.

I like the snow. It is quite beautiful but I hate being cold and without power. Mom and the boys were troopers through it all. More pics on some of the fun we had later.

Sickness

Sorry for not getting the house pics up but we have all been sick the past several days. I was out of work Monday through today. Ugh - this is the sickest I have been in many years. Matthew has been out of school. Thus far Nathan has been immune.

Evidently there is a flu-like virus having fun in our town. Nothing like a sinus infection, chest congestion, sore throat, cough and just being exhausted.

FINALLY on the mend and back to work and school tomorrow.

I will try to get pics posted tomorrow of the house.

Have you voted?

I hope you voted. Please exercise your right to vote.

I voted this morning. Took me about 90 minutes. Lots of people at my polling place.....all ages and races.

My sister lives in New York City and last I heard she had been in line for nearly two hours. Only one voting booth there. Amazing! Only one in her district in NYC. Wow! I surely hope voters do not get frustrated by the lines today.

Please go vote. No matter who you vote for...just vote. Make your opinion heard.

Home Fix It......

In the Spring of this year a pipe broke in the boys bathroom upstairs. When I came home from work that evening the water had flooded their bathroom and created a nice big stain on the kitchen ceiling. I have not been motivated to fix it until now.

So yesterday I went to Lowe's and got spray Kilz and spray popcorn. (Yes, the ceiling is that old yucky popcorn.) The Kilz worked pretty well but this morning it was still yellowish. So off to Lowe's I go again for ceiling paint as I really did not want to use the popcorn on such a large space.

Well, the painting started well but then I hit the spot where the water had saturated quite a bit. The popcorn just started coming down and down and down. UGH! The bad stuff is now all scraped away and I will be calling a "professional."

Kilz, paint and special rolling brush - $35

Hiring a professional - Pricey











Doesn't this almost look like an eagle with it's wings spread???

Apples

Via Shelly's list of blogs she follows I found a blogger that is pregnant with her second child and has developed a love for Honeycrisp apples. I have enjoyed checking in on this blog from time to time as she is a fantastic photographer and writes great blogs. Over the past month or so I have seen her passion for Honeycrisp apples. I had never heard of them. I am a Gala fan myself....until now.

Last weekend at Bi-Lo I saw they had these lovely red and yellow fruits. I am officially a convert. If you have not tried them...go to a farmer's market or to your local store TODAY and get some. They are crisp and a little sweet. I like to slice them up and put peanut butter on them. My Mom eats them that way.

Mhmmm. Yummy stuff. : )

P.S. I hope my fellow blogger does not mind but I added her to the blogs I follow.

Update

Work and home have been busy so sorry for the lack of updates.

Matthew has a football game this Thursday against Mabry. They beat Mabry 12-6 at the last meeting so we look forward to another win this week. Matthew is still not so thrilled with football but is seeing the season to the end. Their last game is next week.

Nathan has had band competitions the past several Saturdays. No first place yet but hopefully before the season is over. Homecoming is this Friday for Spartan High and he has been working hard on the music. I promise to get a pic of him soon in his uniform. He has this precious girlfriend and I promise to get a pic of them soon as well.

The pool is officially closed for the winter. The leaves are already starting to accumulate on the pool cover. Fall is upon us. I will miss the warm weather but it is nice to to see the color change in the trees.

Work is going very well. I am meeting all of my team members and just getting myself acclimated. I hope to move to my new office in the next few weeks. I will actually have a door!! Looks like I will be heading to New Jersey in early December to meet some new customers. It should be a short trip.