A time for thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I think we would all agree, and some of you have written, about how we sometimes do more complaining than thanking in our daily lives. I include myself in that bunch and always promise to do less but yet it is not always the easiest thing to do. It's too bad that we sometimes wait until the last Thursday in November to stop and give thanks for all we have. That "L" word, you know "life" seems to always find a way to grab your thoughts and turn them sour. Well, not today at least. Today, let's give thanks. I'll start my list with the one who should matter most.

- Dear God, thank you for your son and his sacrifice.
- Julie, thank you for being my wife and being a good mother to our two boys.
- Jackson and Nathan, thank you for being such great sons and providing me with joy every day.
- Angel Belle and Paco. Thanks for being good dogs and learning how to go outside to do your business. :-)
- Mom and Dad. Thanks for being such loving, wonderful parents. I miss being with you all today and dad's grilled turkey.
- Jack and Martha, I couldn't have asked for more wonderful in-laws. Thank you. And Martha thanks for agreeing to make fried oysters for Christmas!!
- Mike, Chris, Anne, and John. We don't often say thanks or really that we love each other as often as we should. I want you all to know that I do love you all and wish we could get together more often.
- To all my extended family. Distance keeps us apart but know that you are always in my heart. Thank you for being a part of my family.
- To the President. Thank you for making tough decisions. Maybe not always the right ones but you have kept us safe since 9/11. Thank you.
- To our men and women in uniform. Thank you for your service and sacrifice to keep us and others safe.
- To all my Friends. Thanks for being a part of my life in some way, shape or form.

I know I am thankful for more in my life but it's the people that I am most thankful for. So Happy Thanksgiving and may we all be more thankful, more often in the coming year!

It's been awhile..

...since my last post. Let's see, how much has been going on since then? Tons. How about a quick update. I still haven't finished staining my fence. I have finished, thanks to my dad and sister, putting on the first coat all the way around. I just have one section left to put on a second coat. Now if I could just warm up the weather above 40 for a few days that would be real nice. Brrrr.

Speaking of family, my parents, sister and her kids all came to visit last weekend. It was great to see all of them. It's only been since last August. Too long. All the kids were great and got along for the most part. It was rather hectic with the little ones (2-2 year olds, 5 year old, and 10 yr.old) but was still manageable. Unfortunately, someone got sick and gave it to EVERYONE!! A special thanks goes to my sister and dad who assisted with putting on a first coat of stain on my fence! My dad also offered up his assistance with mowing my lawn (remember the tractor?). I think he loved it so much that he wants to buy one for himself. Thanks pops! We had a good time going to Savannah to let the kids run rampant at a play place, took them to the beach for pictures in 55 degree weather. Nathan was already feeling ill so we thought it would be neat to let him take his socks and shoes off and run in the ocean water. The water temp. was around 54. I wonder why he is so sick?

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to take Jackson on his first campout. The camp site was unbelievable. 100 acre family owned land right on the marsh overlooking the Atlantic. Cool place. We were able to see the Space Shuttle take off. It looked like the sun rising into the night sky. Beautiful sight. The only time I got worried was around 3 a.m. when I awoke to a huge flash of light....followed by a distant sound of thunder. Uh-oh. Thankfully it passed around us and not over us. We would have been in some trouble. But Jackson had a good time preparing and cooking food, tending the fire, wittling with his knife, making smores, and going on hikes. Hope we can do some more of that soon.

I will be happy when things start to slow down around here. Though I don't think I know what slow is. Maybe I will just settle for being happy when everyone has recovered from being sick.

Sometimes it's the simple things.

Hi my name is Bryan and I am an idiot. Each year at the end of the summer and into the fall, I like to mow the grass as low as possible then run the aerator over the lawn really good. This helps to decompact the soil, allow for more Winterizer fertilizer to penetrate deeper into the roots and supposedly provide for a healthier lawn in the Spring. Incidentally, the Winterizer I use is also supposed to help kill weeds and ensure that fewer of them return the next year. Not in this part of the universe. I am not sure that anything stops weeds from coming back except asphalt.

So in the midst of all the other projects that I have been undertaking such as power washing the house and fence, cleaning out the garage, staining the fence, and trimming all the hedges back, I decided to get to that project which seemed to be the easiest on my list...mowing the grass. I was actually excited about the last mow of the year. The grass has been slowly moving towards hibernation although I have still been watering it so it would grow another half inch.

So one day last week, it was time. Perfect weather for mowing. Out to the garage I went. Eyeglasses in place, hearing protection on, a quick turn of the ignition key and nothing. Let me repeat myself here. NOTHING!! Not a single noise came from the trustworthy mower (it's a Craftsman) I have been using for 3 years. I ran into the same issue last year when I had to replace the battery, but that was just a year ago. I was not a happy camper. Why would my mower die with only one cut left? It was a conspiracy.

I quickly got out the jumper cables for a quick start and after a few minutes turned the key and again NOTHING!! I grabbed Julie and the kids and ran to Sears to get a replacement battery. After all it had been only a year since this thing was replaced. Surely, it was under warranty. "You missed it by 10 days" is not a phrase you want to hear when you are ticked off. Long story short, I bought another battery brought it home and installed it. A quick turn of the key and silence!! It was time for me to phone a friend. Who else but my trusty neighbor Scott. He has had plenty of practice on mowers. His wife ran theirs into the house and he had to rebuild the front end so I figured he would be able to figure out what this problem was.

A few minutes later Scott came over and analyzed the situation. The battery seemed fine. Scott asked me for a wrench which he pressed against the Solenoid. A quick turn of the key and Whammo!!! The engine was on. The good news was that we knew that the Solenoid was bad. The bad news was that I just purchased a new battery for nothing. It was too late to mow the grass so I shut the mower down and was set on getting a replacement part and be up and running in no time.

A day or so later, I managed to get a replacement Solenoid part for the tractor and Scott came over to help install it. Within a few minutes, the new part was in and the tractor was all together again. I was finally ready to go. A quick turn of the key and again with that silence thing! Scott and I could not believe it! We checked all the connections and everything seemed to be fine. We were dumbfounded as to what could be the problem. I was all set to call Sears to have a technician come out and dreading the $180 service call when Scott started to go through the checklist. He reached the part about this certain lever that engages the blades when I got a really stupid feeling inside me. You see I glanced at the lever and sensed that something wasn't quite right. I went over and confirmed what I thought. The lever that engages the blades was in the "ON" position. In this position, the mower will NOT start because the blades would immediately start rotating. A Safety NO-NO. I pulled the lever down to the "OFF" position. Scott turned the key and WHAMMO!! The engine roared to life. A simple solution which I turned into an $80 dollar problem. Too late to return the battery.

So my tractor now works again and I have a replacement Solenoid for when the actual one really goes out. I still haven't cut the grass yet. I have no idea how the blade lever got into the up position, although I have a sneaky suspicion that it may involve a 10 year old or two. Having lots of projects to do is a good thing. However, trying to do too many too quickly usually means getting nothing done. In my case, it also cost me money I didn't have to spend.

Dear Norton

Dear Norton,

Thank you for screwing up my computer. Several days ago I had approximately 30 days left on my initial Norton Anti-Virus software. Other than the occasional pop up of you reminding me that I had 30 days left until I needed to update it, my computer ran somewhat smoothly. I kept reminding you to "Remind Me Later" that I will need to purchase a newer version. I guess that wasn't good enough for you. You see, somehow you managed to go in and erase all my passwords from my computer and not allow access to any previous pages that required passwords. I am not sure how that happened but rest assured it did and it pissed me off. Next I spent over an hour attempting to download the "newest" version of your Norton 360 which was supposed to be a cure all for my computer woes. Unfortunately, it seems to be just the beginning. It seems now that my computer continuously loses the internet connection, can't figure out my stored log-in information, streams me a continuous pop up ad, and generally makes the computer run slower. What the heck did you do???? Worse yet, what the heck did I spend my money on??? I am giving you exactly one week to straighten yourself (and my computer out) or else....or else what? I am screwed. Thanks. I should have bought an Apple. They don't get screwy, they just work.

"Yes Drill Sergeant!!"

I had an opportunity to play in the Marine Corps League fundraiser golf tournament this past Saturday at Jekyll Island. They had a pretty good turnout, somewhat surprising because it was the Georgia v. Florida football game which usually shuts everything down in this area. The course was in great shape and we had a great team and played very well. We didn't win but we also didn't figure to win. We just came to have a great time and support a great cause and we did.

The tourney started with the Pledge of Allegiance followed by the National Anthem and then some motivational words from three Drill Instructors who came down from Paris Island. Those same drill instructors were also stationed at hole #3 to either collect a $5.00 donation for Toys for Tots or provide you with some "extra" motivation during your shot or as in most cases BOTH!! Let's just say they did a great job of both. I don't think I would want to be an 18 or 19 year old kid and have to live through that every day for boot camp. Once they were done harassing, I mean motivating you, they were very respectful as one would expect and made sure to personally thank and shake hands with each golfer. Quite a difference from the not so fine folks I had a run in with during an anti-war rally in Washington D.C. back in 2000. The Black Bloc can best be defined as a group of 16-23 year olds who would rather cause as much disruption for absolutely no cause that be a contributing member of society. They are not about peaceful protest. They are about throwing trash cans through the windows of banks and Starbucks coffee shops. Let's just say that I enjoyed every minute of fighting with those idiots and I know we came out on top!

But I digress, back to the day at hand. The round was rather lengthy which is usually the norm for those type of events. On the tee boxes of every hole were placards of the hole sponsors. I didn't pay much attention to the sponsors until one particular hole when we had a little bit of time before tee off. In addition to the sponsor placards, each hole had a placard (or several) dedicated to the memory of a fallen Marine in combat in Iraq. I tried to make a point of reading each name and remembering that behind each name was a life with a family back home who will never see their loved one again. I was humbled by their service and sacrifice to this country.

This is just a reminder to those that sometimes forget that there are those that walk the line of freedom in this country and around the world. They put their lives on the line so that we may enjoy the benefits, freedoms and opportunities that this country affords us. Too often those lives have been politicized and or forgotten too soon.

As we prepare to elect a new leader for this country and move in a new direction, I say that perhaps we should look to the past. John F. Kennedy asked us "to ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country." I believe that sometime during the past 45 years, that idea has been lost by a majority of people here. It seems that idea is now more about what can my country give me without me doing anything to earn it. I thank God that it has not been lost by those who stand that line of freedom each day and night.

Catching up.

Time flies really fast. It's hard to believe that over a week has passed since Julie went to New York. Somehow, I missed detailing my second day with the boys. It must have been the exhaustion. Well, the day was a complete success. I ventured south of the Georgia border and took the boys to St. Augustine where we enjoyed visiting a massive playground, the Ripley's Believe it or Not musuem, old town St. Augustine, and the Fountain of Youth. The boys were great. Jackson was very helpful and Nathan saved his screaming for limited moments. My favorite part of the day was getting our only picture together with the three of us at the Fountain of Youth. At that point, the camera battery went dead. The nice lady who took our picture told me that at least I have some proof of my visit. I like to think of it as a memory for my boys. At the end of the weekend though, we were all glad to see momma!!! So the weekend was a complete success and only small scrapes and bruises had by all. Oh I almost forgot another classic that I unfortunately could not get any pictures of. Nathan having a great conversation with a few peacocks at the FOY. I have no idea what they were saying but they WERE talking to each other. No one can make that much eye contact and yap that long without saying something. Enjoy a few pics from my visit.

Julie's away...the boys will play.

6:35 a.m. - Well this is it. Julie's big weekend away to the Big Apple. It seems to have started innocently enough except for the fact that I had to wake up at 4:30 this morning. Julie didn't wake me but I felt compelled to get up and make her a cup of coffee. Jackson was already awake and watching the tele' in the sunroom. As it turned out, I was too late to in the coffee making duties because Julie's ride arrived right on schedule at 5:00 a.m. and after a short goodbye she was gone. All we heard from her was the "hell yeah baby!!" on the way down the street. So Jackson and I watched Eli Stone on the DVR and began our morning of planning for the weekend. (Sidenote: if you haven't watched Eli Stone yet, treat yourself to it.) So what's on tap for the weekend you ask? I'm still not sure but I am determined to do something other than sit around the house.

11:07 a.m. - My first attempt at getting the boys out of the house fell far short of expectations. I began by researching the Brunswick Stewbilee held in downtown today. Sounded like fun, kids activities, street fair, dog show,and of course the best part the stew tasting competition. I prepared the boys by feeding them breakfast first. Maybe I should say prepared them breakfast. Jackson ate a small portion of his eggs and toast, Nathan greeted his plate of eggs and toast with laughter and spent most of the breakfast time out of his chair. Eventually I gave up trying to make him eat and let him run around. Next, I got a bag with diapers, wipes, and the all important camera and placed it on the counter in the kitchen while getting the boys ready to go. We finally hustled out the door by 9:15 so we could make it down to the park in time to watch the dog show. We caught the last part of it from the car as we were looking for parking. After putting Nathan in the stroller, I realized that I had left bag with the diapers and camera sitting on the kitchen counter. Great planning, poor execution. Walking down to the park, I caught the smell of all of the Brunswick stew cooking. Mmmmm..Mmmmmm...good. I knew I could count on a good lunch down here. What I didn't count on however, was the weather. Overcast and misty turned into dark clouds and rain. Nathan was getting soaked even though I brought umbrellas. Back to the car for plan two. On the way home, I made a short trip to Blockbuster for a PSP game for Jackson. Time to feed the boys lunch and think of a plan two.

7:25 p.m. - What a rebound!! After getting the kids home and fed. I attempted to put Nathan down for a noon time nap. Somewhere around 1:15 p.m. I was rudely awakened from my cat nap with Nathan screaming "outside dada outside!!" Truth be told he never slept and wasn't about to. So I jumped up and checked the weather outside. To my complete surprise it was beautiful! Sunny skies, 74 degrees. Time for Plan 2. I loaded the kids in the car, along with the diaper bag and camera, and headed down the highway to St. Augustine. We got from Exit 38 to Exit 14 before I could take no more. Nathan was screaming the entire time that he wanted to go outside and wanted some apple juice. Time for a U-Turn and Plan 3. Jackson said "Dad, where are we going now??" How about Jekyll Island? Jackson was less than thrilled with the idea. I stopped for gas, drinks, and snacks for the boys and suddenly everyone was in a great mood. Once we got to Jekyll, I drove over to the huge playground and let the boys have at it. Nathan got plenty of "outside" time and Jackson had a ball playing Indiana Jones. I even managed to get a few shots of the boys playing. Nathan and I shared some good father son time on the swing. We had a good conversation. I think it went something like this..."Nathan, are you having a good time?" Followed by Nathan's response..."Dada, weeeeeeeeee!!!" Awesome!!

Once we left and made it home, it was time to fix a fine dinner of Macaroni & Cheese, pineapple, and Chicken Strips for the boys and a bowl of Cream of Wheat for me. As I write this, Nathan is fast asleep in bed, Jackson is in the sunroom writing in his diary and I am watching the end of the Michigan v. Penn State football game. What a day! I survived day one with all parts intact. I can't really say the same for Julie's car however. Nathan kind of had his way with the Cheese Nips I gave him for a snack. Hope Julie's having a good time, she's got some cleaning up to do when she gets back. Haha. Of course I am kidding! Looking forward to what tomorrow brings. I am actually toying with the idea of taking the boys down to St. Augustine tomorrow. We'll see.

Where's Nathan???

Another Saturday morning spent with coffee, maple bacon, and a stack of pancakes for the boys (Jax, Nathan, and Cade -Jackson's friend). My favorite breakfast meal. After the clean up, I figured that I would try to finish up power washing the fence so I could have Julie stain it later on this weekend while I am playing golf. I threw on my power washing uniform complete with my bleached Ireland hat and favorite cutoff Irish sweatshirt and managed to get half of the fence work done. Unfortunately, for me two things happened that prevented me from finishing what I had started. First, Julie had a hair appointment so I had to stop to watch the boys. Second, by the time Julie had returned, the Irish football game was coming on and I had to watch it. Luckily, it also started to rain which made me feel not so guilty about sitting on my butt.

Speaking of watching the boys (here we go again), Jules had left for the hair appointment so I decided to grab a quick shower and then settle down for some football and laundry duty. Jackson and his friend were busy watching Spider Man in the sunroom so I grabbed Nathan and headed off to the bathroom. I jumped in the shower and was enjoying the nice conversation I was having with Nathan who was busy trying to figure out how to put my deodorant on his face. At some point, I realized that this was a one way conversation with me being the only one in it. I called out for little Nater with no response. I suddenly had this bad feeling that he was somewhere that he should not be. I finished the shower in 1.2 seconds, half dried off and ran into the living room. Quietly playing in the sunroom were Jackson and Cade but no Nathan. The Terminater was nowhere to be found...in the house. I ran to the door leading to the garage, opened it and found that the actual garage door had been opened and Nathan was playing around in the garage by himself. Thankfully he had only managed to play around with a few garden tools. I actually scolded him about going outside without me or Julie or Jackson. He looked at me and knew he was in trouble. He held out his arms and when I picked him up he just started bawling. He wept and called for mommy (which really made me feel great). I took him back to the bathroom with me and he held on tight. I kind of felt like and idiot for not warning Jackson that I was about to get in the shower and to be on the lookout for Nathan.

Anyway, Nathan continued to do his sob/fake sob until I was completely dried off and dressed. I sat him down and we had a one on one talk about him not going outside without a parent and that it was dangerous. I then asked him in my fatherly stern voice if he understood me. Nathan calmly grabbed my hand and walked me out the bedroom door towards the kitchen. I said where we going bubba? He said "outside" and laughed. He's darn lucky he's cute.

I just saved a bunch of money...

I just saved a bunch of money over the weekend and I am proud of it. You see it's been awhile since I last had my house powerwashed. It's one of those "house" projects that sort of sneaks up on you over time. You usually don't even think about it until one day you ask "didn't our columns used to be white?" The last time that I noticed this, we hired a guy and his son (real nice folks) to go ahead and take care of the dirty work. Four hundred dollars later and they had done a nice job. Certainly, it made sense to do that again, right? Wrong. Upon consultation with Car 1 (that would be Jules) I discovered that it was going to cost approximately $400.00 more than we currently had to hire the same folks again. Damn! I guess it was up to me.

Since I didn't actually have a powerwasher, I had to borrow my neighbors. "Anything I need to know about this thing?" I asked. "Not really, use a bleach solution on the eaves and then hit 'er with the powerwasher. And one more thing. Watch how close you get to the actual surface." That is real good advice because as it turns it out, if you are not careful, you could actually put a hole right through the surface of whatever you are washing. At least that's what I have heard. (Nathan can now wave at me through the stucco wall from his bedroom. OOPS!!)

So I had it all set up, two garden sprayers full of 1)a bleach solution and 2) a Simple Green solution for the doors and windows. Off I went at 0900 on Saturday morning. I actually thought that it was going to be fun. I had messed around with the powerwasher on Friday night and there was something masculine about slamming water into the side of my house at 3000 mph and watching dirt fly off without any brushing. So here is how it went. I sprayed the bleach solution on the eaves around the house usually with me on my ladder and then hammered away with the water. Awesome. Dirty to white. I felt like yelling "dirty house? Clean it up with Orbit!!" I was making Tim Allen proud. Dirt and water flying everywhere. I was soaking wet but didn't care. I don't think I stopped for a full three hours. When I finally took a break, I realized that my favorite navy blue Ireland hat now looked strangely different. Uhhhh, or should I say DUHHHHH, a bleach solution is used to make things white. So much for my favorite hat. It has several large spots on it now and a cool sort of whitish mist look. No big deal.

I continued at a feverish pace only stopping to refill the fluids (gas, bleach, and Simple Green) and finished 90 percent of the house on Saturday. I finally stopped six hours into the job to watch the Irish football game (victory!) I am happy to report that the only real issues I had were a few extremely hard to reach areas, the occasional swallowing of some bleach dripping from the roofline, a few ladder issues, and the occasional tangling with a spider or two. I did happen to blast a huge spider about 60 feet in the air. That was cool!

Saturday night I collapsed with more aching muscles than I could recall I had. So my doctor ordered up an 800 mg Motrin. Ahhhhh, relief. Bright and early Sunday morning, I finished up the dirty work on the remainder of the house. I was really in awe of the difference that it made. I was so impressed, I decided to start on the fence. About an hour into that job, I had a sort of what the hell were you thinking moment. Too late. Keep going. So I did. I managed to finish the entire inside of the fence and was elated before realizing that I needed to do the outside of the fence as well. Crap, that was for another day.

So Sunday evening, Jules does the walk around and congratulates me on a job well done. "Thanks", I said. It was alot of work and admittedly, I wish I could have afforded to have someone else do the job. But at the end of the day, I felt alot more satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment at having done the work myself. Now, when does the real weekend start??

I got it babe.

So Nathan turned two a few days ago and I have finally had a chance to write something about it thanks in part to his brother Jackson who felt the need to wake me up at 4:00 am this morning to tell me that HE couldn't sleep. Thanks buddy. So I am now awake early on a Thursday morning trying to type away before I have to get my sick wife out of bed and make breakfast for Jackson.

Nathan had a great birthday party. Actually his whole day was pretty good. Jules had some friends drop in from North Carolina on their way to Orlando. Nathan was in a great mood and played with the kids and laughed and carried on like a birthday boy should.

So on to the party. Everyone arrived and Nathan was still asleep. After waking, it took him awhile to figure out why everyone was here. In fact he probably never figured out while everyone was there. To him, it must have seemed that all of those people were there to stuff their faces full of ice cream, cake, taco dip and anything else we could. Good enough for him. But instead of eating his cake (except for about two bites) he decided on the other birthday treat...olives. Don't ask me, he's Julie's son!! HaHa.

All went well until dad was entrusted to watch out for Nathan. "I got it babe". Several minutes later, I "watched" Nathan jump up on the couch and then flip over the couch face first onto the floor. I initially thought he broke his neck. I actually wanted to throw up. Thankfully, all he managed was to get a nice black eye and a major headache. My little trooper. The whole incident reminded me of when I was entrusted to watch Jackson after Christmas dinner at the in-laws house. He was probably a little over a year old. I told Jules that "I got it babe". I wanted her to have some down time to relax with her parents and sister. A few minutes later, while "watching" Jackson, I observed him playing with a nice Christmas ornament. I didn't realize that a one year old could squeeze a glass ornament hard enough to break it. I also was surprised that a Christmas ornament, when shattering, sounds very similar to a shotgun blast that everyone else could immediately hear. Thankfully, Jackson wasn't hurt. "What was that dear?" I was asked. "Uhhhh. Nothing dear. Don't worry, I got it babe."

Now I know why I am not ever asked to work the nursery at church.

As a footnote, just as I finished this post, the aforementioned non-sleeper came in to tell me that he is ready for me to fix his breakfast. He also let me know that he never went back to sleep and almost woke me back up to fix his breakfast early. He has been watching television and playing with his Playstation since 4:00 a.m. He should be really ready to go at school today. Time to start locking the doors.

Typical day off - golf, chores, and monumental decisions.

I am trying to figure out a nickname to refer to myself on this blog. I like my father in law's reference to himself as "the Old Man" on his blog and thought that I would like to do the same for me. Hmmmm. I wonder where I could go with this? I am going to give that some thought. If you have any suggestions, feel free to throw them out.

So today I took a much needed day off from work. There has been plenty of stress around there lately. We have been working like crazy due to a shortage of instructors in our branch and no shortage of students. This has at times created a somewhat less than hospitable environment because people are exhausted and need some "down" time. I have also been waiting to hear about a possible new job opportunity that I had put in for over three years ago.

So my boss told me to take a day off of work and go golfing. I did. At least the weather was nice. I actually hit the ball off of the tee like a PGA professional. From that point on, however, my golfing game resembled that of a drugged out porn star. I couldn't get it up and I couldn't get it in, any hole period. Was that what they call TMI??? I had to chuckle a few times also because I kept telling my playing partner about my father in law's shot descriptions like the dreaded sand bunker to sand bunker shot (Saddam Hussein). We both hit a lot of Barbara Streisand's also (something like ugly but still working). We got a lot of laughs at those. It was so much fun we started thinking of a few names for some of our own shots hit throughout the day.

The John Deere - a shot where large portions of dirt and grass move further than the ball.

The "Oh Shit" - one of my favorites - a shot that when hit goes directly toward a glass window on a nearby house. (P.S. Just missed the window but I am sure left a dent in the siding)

The Chinese National Anthem - a shot that sounds so good but looks so ugly. That's my personal favorite. If you remember the scandal during the Opening Ceremonies at the Olympics this past summer. They had a beautiful little girl with a great voice singing a song (not the anthem but it's all I could remember). Then we found out that she actually lip synched the song and that the girl who actually sang the song wasn't allowed to be on television because she was too ugly. That's where that came from. Plenty of those today. (Feel free to rename)

Well, I got home and decided to help out Jules by mowing the grass for her. That way she didn't have to worry about doing that tomorrow while I am playing golf again. I had to give myself a pat on the back for that one!! I felt so good that I mowed my neighbors yard too. Then I took my trimmer and shredded everything I could until I ran out of string. Am I crazy? No, you see, my neighbors have moved out. Victims of foreclosure. Unfortunately, they left a mess of a yard and it's driving me crazy. So it took awhile but it looks better. Not great, but at least mowed.

Okay, so finally the big news. I finally received my call from the job I have been waiting to hear from for the past 3 years. I politely declined their offer to take a $40,000 dollar pay cut and move to Norfolk, VA on my own dime. Ummm, that didn't seem fiscally responsible. I blogged before about getting older and the pain that comes with it. Well today, I realized that perhaps I had started to inherit another trait of getting older....getting wiser.

My doctor said the "M" word

I can't remember when it all began and never really gave it much thought. It seems like it just happened and there was nothing I could do about it. Oh sure, there were signs that it was coming but I paid no attention to it. After all, I am invincible. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you what I am talking about. I am officially getting older.

Yeah, it's true. I know you are probably thinking that I seemed to always look 21. Oil of Olay folks that's the secret. I wish they made that for bones and muscles. I got home from work the other day and felt like a Mack truck ran me over, backed up and apologized for running me over and then ran me over again before driving off. I have been nursing a twinge in my lower back which has shot pain down through my psiatic nerve (literally a pain in the ass- HaHa). I also have an old football injury (left knee) from my sophomore year in H.S. The doctor at the time -1985- said "don't worry, you're young and it will heal". Twenty three years later, I am happy to report that at times, I can't squat and stand without seeing stars or keep my knee stationary for long periods without the feeling of someone pounding a nail into it. (I would like to have a discussion with that "sports" doctor about now) I also now have a shooting pain through my left shoulder which prevents me from laying on my left side for any amount of time. And just recently, I have noticed a pain beginning in my right knee when I go on runs. Nice. Isn't exercise supposed to keep you in shape not break you down? Oh, I almost forgot about waking up in the morning and having to walk gingerly to the bathroom to avoid my ankles from giving out. One night, we forgot to turn on the fan for that white noise effect. In the morning, after getting out of bed, I turned around and Jackson was standing two feet away. I asked why he was up and he said that he heard the Rice Krispies popping. I soon figured what he had heard wasn't Rice Krispies. He had heard my bones popping!!!!

Okay, so maybe it's not always that bad. I remember at times feeling pain here and there but it always seemed to go away and hide in it's hole. For some reason, I am now conscious to the fact that I have some sort of daily ache here and there which for some reason won't go away. So I guess it's true what they say, everyone gets older at some point. I remember as a kid eating a Flinstones vitamin everyday. Then I remember taking vitamin supplements. Then on to the one a day Centrum. Now I have officially graduated to the new Vitamin....M. Have you heard of it? That's Motrin folks. My doctor didn't say Mylanta, he said 800 mg. of Motrin!!

It takes a golfer to raise a village.

The U.S.A. finally won back the Ryder Cup in golf today. This is the first time since 1999 that we have won the cup. For those of you who may not follow golf, the Ryder Cup is played between the Americans and the Europeans every other year. It is a great competition, a team competition, and every golfer wants to be a part of it. It is unique because golf is not a "team" sport. Golf is all about the individual. Whether you win or lose all depends on how YOU play. The Americans seemed to dominate this competition for a long time throughout the 60's, 70's, 80's. Lately, however, the Europeans have been getting the best of the American team.

Since 1999, the last time the Americans won the cup, there have been many excuses about why we have lost. We don't play well as a team, we are too cocky, too many egos, Americans just don't care about the Ryder Cup, just to name a few. Perhaps. You see the Ryder Cup is not about money. No team or individual wins any money for playing in the competition. This contest is about playing as a team to represent your country. The U.S.A. teams have been favored to win every Ryder Cup competition since winning in 1999 and really have had the best players in the world to do it. For whatever reason, probably all of the above listed, until this week they have fallen short.

The Americans and the Europeans each displayed excellent sportsmanship and unbelievable golf for three straight days. After the match was over, U.S. Team Captain Paul Azinger was commenting on the American spirit displayed by the team and the crowds. He was asked whether this was a great win for the country. Azinger was quick to praise not the golfers first but the men and women in our military serving our country and trying to help spread democracy throughout the world. That, he said is a bigger win for our country than golf ever will be. Wow, someone who gets it!

This past week, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents all came together to cheer on and watch a group of individual golfers work together as a team to accomplish a specific goal. They (golfers) finally put aside personal agendas and egos and pulled for the greater good. In the end....victory! Let us all hope that as this election cycle ends and new leaders are elected that they can all finally cast aside their personal agendas and egos and start working as a team to solve some real issues facing our country. Let us all hope that our leaders play golf.

Ready, set, go (a.k.a. Saturday morning)

What a beautiful Saturday in the South! I woke up this morning around 7:15 (way late for me) and went through my daily routine of making coffee and checking out the news on T.V. Jackson was up quickly after me and I wondered for about 10 seconds why he was up so early. Jackson got the new Star Wars game for his PSP yesterday and he needed to start playing it early so he could finish it in a day and a half. So he quietly settled down in his "play chair", hooked up his headphones so I could hear the television and began his quest. Soon after that, Jules arose just in time to order us up two cups of coffee. Perhaps the most underrated part of the day is the first sip of coffee in the morning. For that one moment, all is right in the world. Peace in the Middle East, gas prices at $1.50, money in the bank account, no screaming kids. That's about as far as I got until I heard the first scream from the Terminator! Well at least I had that.

Little Nathan was in pure form from the get go. He needed a snack so we gave him a small bowl of Lucky Charms. He proceeded to dump them all over the couch so we picked them up. He got a hold of them again and dumped them into his toy bus on the floor. Then came the lego box. Dumped all over the floor. Then came the vacuum cleaner hose. Pulled out, thrown around, and then the container which holds the hose was thrown on the floor. All the while, little Nathan smiled that sinister little smile that says "I am too cute for you." It was going to be one of those mornings after all. Well at least I could put on the golf and try to relax to that. Of course nothing is that simple. Our local NBC affiliate was experiencing technical difficulties and was unable to produce any sound at all. Can I get a mulligan????

So I just started getting busy with the Saturday chores. Vacuum all of the floors, then grab the mop and get to mopping the wood floors. That was hard work but wow did they need it. I felt pretty good about it and really didn't miss watching the golf after all.

So the house is clean (mostly) and Nathan is now napping. Jackson has finished his quest, and the sound is restored for the golf match. There must be peace in the Middle East now! Ha! So now I can relax for the rest of the afternoon and surf the net, blog, watch golf, football or whatever. Damn, I'm bored.

Recently de-classified 9/11 photos...

I just received a power point presentation at work from recently de-classified 9/11 photos. The first few photos are from the ground level at Ground Zero. After a few slides, the photos are ones taken from the air on 9/11. Compelling to say the least. I am not sure when these photos first appeared as de-classified but I am certain they are. Don't worry, Uncle Sam won't be hunting you down. I know that 9/11 has passed us yet again but these photos are worth looking at. The photos left me speechless as I tried to imagine what it would have been like to live through that. The destruction and devastation is unimaginable. Needless to say, it is why we can never let that happen again.

Unfortunately, I have tried every way to get them here on the blog page but can't seem to find a way to do it. For those of you I know I will pass it along as an email. For those of you who don't receive it and would like to please email me at bafeeney@yahoo.com and I would be happy to forward it to you. You may need PowerPoint on your computer to view it.

One and done...

Well, I have managed to last a whole week or so with this blogging thing. What I have come to realize is that it's not so easy to just get on the computer and start striking keys. It's kind of like when I tell my boss that work keeps getting in the way of my personal time. Life (including work, yard work, kids, mutts, fixing gourmet meals) seems to always find a way of reducing my blog time to a minimum. Now I know why some people have a weekly post rather than a daily post. I have decided that my posts will be more of a "surprise" post. Whenever I get the time to put something down will probably be a surprise to me.

And so it is that today, Sunday, September 14 I finally have some free time. Nater is asleep, Jackson is at a birthday party, Jules is busy typing away as she usually is and I have finished my chore for the day. That would be cleaning the grout from the kitchen floor on my hands and knees (ouch) and then mopping the floor. So how about an update on my french sliding door.

When last we left, Scott and I had ripped apart all of the molding around the door. Scott remarked how great a job the builders had done putting the three piece molding around the door. I felt good knowing that we were tearing it all apart and that it may never look the same again. Nathan just smiled and poured water all over the floor again as he usually does. At one point, I could swear that Nater looked at me and said in a sarcastic "French" accent "you stupid American...you're mother was a hamster and you're father smelled of elderberries!!" This was a bad Monty Python skit and Nathan was about ready to slap me with a fish!! That boy (Nathan) has some funny faces. Well, we managed to get the door fixed and started to put the molding back together. We are actually rebuilding it a little different so that if the "termi"Nater tears the door down again we can hopefully do this a little easier. We had to stop for a day to let a couple of pieces "set" in place before finishing up. With any luck as Scott said we may not even have to repaint. Amen. That was Tuesday.

Fast forward 24 hours to Wednesday. I was at work when Julie called and informed me that Scott had been rushed to the hospital and had suffered a heart attack. The doctors had to put in a splint after discovering an 82% blockage in one of his arteries. Hopefully, he will be okay. He is now back at home and resting. He has sworn never to eat my lasagna again. I don't know why? There was nothing in there that could have caused that to happen (Cheese, Cheese, Cheese, Sausage, Ground Beef, Eggs). Damn, I could be next!!! I had to have another word with Nathan not to break anything for awhile so we could let him recuperate. Nathan said "no" and then proceeded to break the cap off of my cologne bottle. Thankfully Julie has gotten used to my smell and said as long as we have soap and I use it I would be okay.

So for now the door remains fixed but unfinished. Our project was put off by a more pressing one Scott's health. The door is a reminder that some things are less important than others. Knowing that Scott will be okay and that my neighbor and her kids still have a husband and father is good enough for me.

I'd rather "belated" than forgotten...

Alright folks, I was planning on some kind of remembrance for 9/11 which actually came ON 9/11 however, I was unable to find the time nor the energy to get it done. Thanks to all for your various blogs, emails and posts about that event. I enjoyed reading them and take all of them to heart.

I had a great talk with a co-worker who was in Manhattan on that day and lived through that experience. As a Deputy U.S. Marshal, he had an opportunity to respond and work through the rescue and recovery phases. Watching it on television really gives you no perspective of living through it. I was able to see the damage at the Pentagon first hand and as bad as that was, nothing could possibly have been worse than to have been in Manhattan on that day.

I know that there were plenty of 9/11 tributes that went around yesterday but I wanted to share one more with you if you have a few minutes.

http://www.comdac.com/911/911.swf

Let's pray that we truly NEVER FORGET!!

For Sale

For Sale: Soon to be two year old boy who is full of piss and vinegar. Great for remodeling projects. Can assist with the demolition of furniture, destruction of pocket french doors, pulling down and smashing pictures, altering paint projects, and various other tasks.

Okay, obviously I am kidding. However, I don't mind saying that he's lucky he's cute. So I get home from a long, hot, dirty day at work and the first thing I am greeted with is Jules saying "hi honey, guess what Nater did today?" Then I am quickly directed to our pocket french door which slides in and out between our sunroom and living room. As I take a first glance I notice that one side is completely hanging down on the wood floor and not hanging where it is supposed to be. Incidentally, the second thing I notice is the various fingerprints and smudges and Cheetos/Doritos hand prints all over the door as well.

So after getting the 411 from Jules about how Nater was ticked off that he was in the Sunroom and Jules was not and he took it upon himself to "Hulk" out and rip the door off to the sliders I decided that I should take a look first hand. My first thought was "surely re-hanging a door can't be a difficult task". As I was soon to find out, I know why people have "second thoughts". In fact, in my vast experience as a handy man, it seems nothing is ever "easy". (But that's another story - Ha Ha)

Anyway, after carefully inspecting the situation, and attempting to rehang the door, I decided that I needed help from an man who is relatively handy at these things...my neighbor Scott. Why not Jules you ask? Because as I was messing with the door, she was yelling at Jackson about homework, fixing dinner and finding a way to shove the aforementioned almost two year old into a Doritos bag and stow him in the pantry for the night. No success. So it was down to me and Scott.

About twenty minutes later Scott was here. We both quickly figured out the "how" of the "how does this door hang in the first place?" What we were not so successful with was the "how the hell do we do it" phase. Every attempt we tried met with utter failure. After a closer inspection of the molding around the door frame it was clear that the original "hangers" of the door had done so before the molding was placed around the frame. It was the only way to do it and have the necessary room to lock in the hanging pins. Now this "simple" project has been put off until tomorrow so we can now do the following: pull apart the trim work and molding around the door frame, reset the door, re-attach the trim and molding (if no damage has been done - otherwise cut new molding) and finally re-paint the area. Nice!

In the meantime, I have placed Nathan on notice. Any more destruction and he was going to be placed in time out behind bars in the laundry room to sleep with our dog Bella. After advising Julie of my new found stance she calmly let me know that Nathan loves to sleep in the dog's room on her new bed anyway and he would love it. Great. I am running out of options.

How about "Free to a good home....."

"Fore" Starters

Okay, let's get something straight right off of the bat. I am not a gifted wordsmith. That gift has been passed down from my father in law to my wife. I was given the gift of sitting on the couch watching football...we all having our weaknesses. However, it seems that everyone I know is getting in on the "blog" thing. As I stated before, Jack (my father in law) and Jules (my wife) have started blogging as well as my sister and I have really enjoyed reading and chuckling at their posts. So Jules said that I should start a blog and of course I said "you're right".

What I didn’t know was how hard it was going to be to attempt to put words and thoughts on a stupid computer screen. This is probably my fourth or fifth time attempting this first blog. I doubt I will ever be giving Stephen King or James Patterson any writing tips. So I guess the only thing that you can do with this blog thing is to have fun and share your thoughts and memories as only you can. I am looking forward to the challenge and hopefully getting better at the “writing” thing (You are never too old to improve your skills). I only hope I can find the time to do this because it seems like a lot of fun.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you why I titled my blog “Fore”...Right. Like a bad golfer who has no idea where his shots will go (most tend to slice right), I have no idea where these blogs will go. So heads up!! Look out!! Watch it!! Or should I just say “fore”...right!!