Early Decorating

Usually we decorate for Christmas on Thanksgiving weekend. We got the itch a little early this year. We are basically done decorating inside, but we still have to get the outside done. Check out the tree.

Quality Makes a Difference

If you are in the market for a new vehicle, you may expect that an investment in a higher end vehicle buys you a higher degree of quality. Likewise, if you need professional work done on your home, you would assume that paying a little more would help you sleep a little better at night knowing that the work was done right. In most cases quality costs. Usually higher cost = higher quality. Although that is true for the big things, I think I sometimes want to assume it doesn't apply to the "little" things.

Case in point: my running shoes. No, I don't buy cheapo shoes. I do invest in decent shoes because I know that when you put a lot of miles on a pair of shoes, the better shoes hold up longer. However, taking it one step further, the padded inserts of the shoes are just padding....right?

After having put quite a few miles on my running shoes, the orthodic inserts that the orthopedist gave me (when I had hip/knee issues a few months back) have reached the end of their life span. I've literally run holes into the part under the toes, so I figured I'd pick up a new pair. Rather than looking for a nice set (it's just a set of inserts after all), I decided to just pick up a pair of get inserts.

I got home and pulled out the old inserts, which have built in heel and arch supports in addition to extra padding, and put in the flimsy gel inserts. Whoa... It took me a total of about 60 seconds to realize the gel ones were total crap. More comfortable than the standard insert that comes with your shoes? Sure, but still crap. There is no doubt that they felt less comfortable, less stable and that they I'd be setting myself up for the possibility of more hip and knee problems. As crazy as it sounds, now I'm in the market for a nice set of inserts. I'll probably call the orthopedist and get their recommendation.

I know this sounds crazy for something as small as inserts for your shoes, but there is no doubt in my mind that the quality of that one small item makes one hell of a difference and considering how much I run (and love to run) that is one item than I'm not willing to take a risk on.

3 Piggy Opera

Jackson had his school play on Tuesday night; the 3 Piggy Opera. They did a really good job. It was fun watching him sing and a few of the other kids act. He had a good time singing in the choir, although he said he really wanted to be the big bad wolf.
Stacy was stuck traveling so I captured much of it on video and also took a few still shots, so she will still be able to see it when she gets home.
Here are a few shots. You can tell I'm very biased. I didn't get any shots of the actors; only my boys!

Alex getting ready for Jackson's performance. He is very excited. Somehow I ended up out of the picture, as tends to happen when you snap a picture of yourself.


Jackson and his crew getting ready to sing.


Jackson is enjoying the moment. While the other kids are quietly watching the actors, Jackson is seizing the moment to tell his friend a joke.


Jackson enjoying a post-performance snack. He sang so hard (and so well) that he wanted a little snack before bed.


Alex enjoying his own post-performance snack. Being good takes a lot of energy and he held it together during Jackson's performance so he, too, needed a snack.

The Rankings Tighten

I posted a few months ago about Championship Division football rankings (formerly 1AA). In that post I mentioned that the Southern Conference was extremely strong, or at least it was supposed to be. The week prior to conference play began, we had 6 teams in the top 25. Of course once conference play arrived, we beat each other up so badly that the rankings have been pretty fluid. Only App St was remained in the top 3 all year. I had basically written off my former team, Furman Paladins, after they dropped a second big conference loss. Turnovers in our App St and Elon match-ups blew the games for us. I assumed it was over, but all is not lost. I just looked at the rankings tonight and much to my surprise, we are back... or at least we were. That ranking was prior to our loss yesterday to Georgia Southern. We play our last regular season game next weekend in Spartanburg versus a top10 opponent (Wofford). I can only hope that we win and the right teams around the country loose to give us a chance at a playoff birth. I'm not confident in that scenario, but there is hope.

Southern Conference ranked teams as of last week:
# 2 App St
# 9 Wofford
# 11 Elon
# 14 Furman
Georgia Southern (unranked but with votes)

High School Football

Last night we bundled the boys up to go see a high school football game. Their uncle Matthew is the defensive line coach at Ninety Six High School, so we try to get to as many games as we can. The second round playoff game was scheduled for Friday night, but due to massive amounts of rain many games around the state, including this one, were postponed until Saturday night.

The game was not unlike many games I've been to. There were high points, low points, bad and missed calls, fans irate at the refs, big plays, and blown possible big plays for both teams. I was impressed with the energy that Ninety Six came out with;scoring first and causing 2 turnovers in the first quarter. Unfortunately they were unable to capitalize on the turnovers. That would have been nice. After the excitement of the opening quarter, Chesterfield slowly pulled away throughout the game. I was impressed with the efforts of both teams.

A few items of note:
(1) I tend to see myself as a voice of reason. Nearly every game you go to, you will hear fans fussing about calls that the refs make and more importantly calls that they miss. Although I'm watching the same game the irate fan is watching, I quite often disagree with them. I lost count many years ago how many times I heard "Ref! That was a block in the back!!!", to which I would think to myself, "no, his head was in front of our player" or something along those lines. Anyway, you get my point. I try to call it like I see it and not call it in such a way as to help my team. Because of that, I think that most games that I hear people bashing the refs is really an overemphasis on one or two bad or missed calls. That was not the case last night. Linemen get away with too much holding. That was taken to the next level last night. Even more surprising, the receivers (whom rarely get away with much holding) were exercising such blatant holding that I was shocked at the "no calls". The wide receivers holding sprung so many long plays that it really did make a difference in the game. I was really disappointed in competency of those referees. I expect I higher degree of accuracy, especially during a playoff match up. That being said, even if those plays had been called back, Chesterfield was a good enough team that they would have went on to win anyway, however it would have been a much closer game.
(2) It was obvious that Chesterfield knew who our two college prospect linemen were an that their game plan was to cut and chop block those two throughout the entire game. They executed that plan well....but it was a bit excessive, even doing so during extra points and by the way, the illegal chop blocks were not called even once. Refer back to # 1. I expect more.
(3) Chesterfield has a few large linemen, but most of their team appeared very small to me....small and fast. I was very impressed with their speed, quickness, and agility. I will not be surprised if they continue to roll and win the next two week to take the Class A state title.
(4) After a disappointing season last season under a new head coach, Ninety Six really rose to the occasion this season (once again under direction of a new head coach. Ninety Six has been surrounded by a cloud of controversy for the past 18 months in terms of coaching. It was nice to see that cloud clear. After all was said and done, it is obvious that Ninety Six has found it's right fit in a very competent and inspiring coach. Congrats to Ninety Six for doing that. I see great things in the near future for all those involved.

Ending on a light note, my kids had a great time at the game; watching football, making multiple trips to the concession stand for candy, cheering and looking forward to their highlight of the night..... their race after the game. Once the games are over, we always walk down to talk to the team. This gives Jackson and Alex the perfect opportunity to run and play and get very dirty. Sounds like fun!!!

Early Christmas For Me

Jackson's school awards kids for good behavior. Each day they earn a color. If they remain green all day, that means that they were well behaved. I think the progression is green, yellow, red, blue (with blue resulting in a call to the child's parents). Anyway, for being green some many times, the kids earn tokens (called Braves' bills due to Satchel Ford being the Braves). These tokens can be turned in for items from the treasure box. The items could be candy, or small toys. Jackson is always very excited when he is able to choose something from the treasure box. Alex is not so happy because usually Jackson doesn't share as well as he should...but I digress.

On Wednesday when Alex and I went to pick Jackson up, he came walking down the hall with his hands behind his back and a big smile on his face. I asked him how his day was and if he was good. He said he was green! Then he told me that he wanted to give me a Christmas present but that I could have it now. I didn't have to wait for Christmas. I acted excited and asked him what it was. He moved his hands from behind his back to show me a florescent yellow golf ball. Excitedly he told me that he got to choose from the treasure box today and instead of getting something for himself, he saw the golf ball, knew that I loved golf and thought that it would be a great Christmas present for me. Awesome! I gave him a big hug and thanked him. I was very impressed with him thinking of me when he had a free shot at a toy. Of course Alex wanted me to share. :-)

What a nice early Christmas present!

SAW

When the first SAW came out in 2004 it blew viewers away. It came at a time that we were seeing the supernatural and special effects take front stage in horror in movies like the Grudge, Gothica, and another installment of the Exorcist series. I think horror lovers were looking for something realistic. Enter Saw and Jigsaw.

Saw not only provided realistic horror; it was also very clever. The villain (Jigsaw) was not a gun/knife/ax wielding psychopath. He was a smart, driven man trying to teach people a life lesson. It just so happened that the lessons that were being taught were to be learned in such a way that the characters would never forget. They had to make life threatening decisions in the form of some sort of sick game. The character’s games provided both the gore and anticipation of such future gore based in the decisions the characters had to make, that it kept the blood and guts horror lovers happy, while the twists and turns and clever situations kept the suspense lovers happy. It was just what horror lovers were waiting for.

Fast forward 4 years to 2008 and we’ve just had our 5th installment of the series with the promise of a new SAW movie every Halloween. As the sequels have accumulated the games have become much more intricate and the gore levels have gone out the roof, yet the premise behind the murders/games is still present. There can only be so many twists, so many torturous games, so many crazy scenarios before they run out of ideas, but until they do jump the shark, horror fanatics will be there every Halloween taking it all in and loving every clever gory moment.

I happen to be one of those fanatics. I cant wait to see what will happen next, how they’ll twist the story, what awful decision the characters will be forced to make, and wondering realistically if I were in such a predicament how would I decide? Luckily I get to watch from the comfort of the theater seats, squirming and jumping at every plot twist and bloody turn.

My excitement and expectations were not let down for SAW V, and I cant wait for next Halloween and the release of SAW VI. Yes, that is right. SAW VI will be coming. It’s already been approved. No plot line has been released, but that movie will definitely be coming out next year (under new direction). I have some ideas as to where the storyline will go, but I’m also really interested to see how it will all unfold. After all, in SAW V they wrapped up a lot of loose ends, freeing them to go in a slightly new direction. To the best of my recollection, only one major question (besides of course “what will happen next”) was introduced. If you have seen the movie and don’t know what I’m talking about, did you forget about the box? It reminds me of the briefcase is Pulp Fiction. I’ll say no more. I’m still hooked on this series and I anticipate that I’ll go see every one that Twisted Pictures chooses to release. If history is any indicator, I’ll also re-watched every movie in the series in the weeks before I go to see each new installment.

P.S.: I’ll be posting an update to this post in the year 2020 after having just seen SAW XVII and I’m sure I’ll be just as excited about it then as I am now.

The Good, The Bad, and The Politics...

One disclaimer before reading any further. I am neither Republican nor Democrat. I always vote a split ticket. I have a mix of liberal and conservative views, but do feel that I lean much more toward the average Democrat than the average Republican. Take that and what I say below however you like.


The recent election was one of great significance. There was a changing of the guard. For better or worse, we will now have a federal government that is controlled by the Democratic party. This is not so different than what we saw during a portion of the Bush administration. It may be different in terms of what issues are deemed important, but is very much the same in terms of one party having a lot of power. That fact may scare some Americans. My own inclinations are nor of fear; rather I am very excited about it. Not because my votes helped this happen, but because I like progress. I was equally excited when the Republican part had total control. I was excited because I assumed that a united front would mean much progress and few roadblocks. Is that what we saw happen? I would argue that we did not. Now the control has shifted and the Democrats find themselves with the power in their hands. What will they do with it? That is the question that I am wondering about. As I've already mentioned, I hope that the current makeup of government leads to less "politics" and much more progress. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

As a side story to the election and the political issues is the story that has gotten a lot of press. Of course I am talking about the issue of race. For the first time ever, we will have an African American man as the president of the United States. This has been a big story in the media and in many of our conversations over the past week. The talk has been both good and bad in my opinion. This is what I've seen and how I feel about it.

The good:
(1) Our mentality as a nation has progressed. There was a point when a candidate for any office would not stand a chance only due to the color of their skin. We've progressed to the point that we are now basing our votes on the person, their stances and their ability to lead... and NOT based on their ethnic makeup. I'm proud that we've made such progress and proud to be an American.

(2) It has been a major issue that a minority has won the presidency of the United States. A lot of focus has been put on that fact. I see this as a good thing. In some discussions I've had with others, they feel that this is being fussed over too much. I disagree. I do agree that race should not be THE issue of the election, but is AN issue and one of importance. It's significance is that anything is possible....for anyone, regardless as to which race they may be.
To elaborate on this topic a little bit, I grew up somewhat privileged to a white family. When my parents told me that I could do anything I wanted I took that as a fact. At a young age it was easy to accept such a statement from my parents, especially due to the fact that when I looked up to the people I may aspire to be like (coaches, doctors, lawyers, elected officials), I saw people that looked like my family members. As hard as I can try, it is difficult for me to fully understand how a "non-white" child feels when he or she is told that same thing. When they look to those same occupations (or at least in the past), they see mainly white guys. I would hope that this would not dissuade the child from believing what they could or could not accomplish, but I have to assume that it at minimum made their dreams seem a little less believable. As time has gone on and we have progressed as a nation, this has become slightly less of an issue and as of November 4th, all expectations have been rewritten. I am happy about that.

The bad (2 things I've heard people say repeatedly):
(1) Even though our mentality as a nation has progressed, I still still many who are lagging behind.
For instance: I have lost count how many people I've heard say (in one way or another), that "we will have a black president and I'm ok with it". I'm sure they are saying such things with the best of intentions, but to me if you tell me that there is an issue that you are "ok" with, then your telling me there was an issue to be decided upon. In my mind, there is no issue. Maybe it's unfair for me to expect others to share my view or maybe I'm reading too much into what people say, but dont think so. I'm glad they are "ok with it", but I hope soon they will realize that they are either happy or unhappy based upon the person and not which group he/she falls into (whether that be race, gender, or even political affiliation).

(2) After having seen how American voted, I've heard many "Christians" say or write that "now I have to pray for America". I take issue with this for multiple reasons.

First: we live in a post September 11th America, we have thousands of troops over seas fighting every day, there are many homeless and high needs people here in the America, and we are in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, yet the one thing that leads them to pray for our nation is that Barack Obama has been elected president. Wow. That baffles me. I'm not telling everyone that they should pray, but if you are a person that does pray (as I am) then I would hope that you were already praying for our nation and if you were not and it took Barack Obama winning this election to prompt to you pray, then praise God that Obama won.

Second: I really dont understand the disdain Evangelical Christians have with Obama...or with Democrats in general for that matter. I can only assume that it has to do with his stance on Roe v Wade. If that is the reason and that one issue is important enough to ignore the of the other dozens of issues, then so be it. I personally think that all of the issues (or at least many of them) matter and that a vote can not be cast based on a single issue.
That being said, many of the other issues that the Democratic party focus on seem very Christian to me. Many of their stances are for the protection and assistance of those that lack the ability or means to help themselves. Restated, I see one fundamental Democratic focus is helping the poor and those that are less fortunate. Without going into any specifics (which would make this about 20 more paragraphs long), I see this as one major difference in where the two major parties diverge. I would assume that the focus on helping those that are less fortunate would be a point that would draw Evangelical Christians to the Democratic Party, but this is not the case. Evangelical Christians are a strong Republican base and I just don't get that. To me it is just a confusion distinction that I've never understood. I have this listed under the "bad" category because for many people that I've seen, the individuals that fall into this category happen to be the same people that fall into the first category that I have listed under "bad". In reality, it may not be all bad. It may be (as I've already mentioned) the focus on a single issue (abortion)... or it may not. Judge for yourself.


There you have it. The Good, The Bad, and Politics that we've already seen and are yet to come.

A Weekend of Work...(and fun)

This weekend we decided to dedicate some time to finishing some home projects. So ensure we had adequate time devote, we kicked the kids out! They are with Stacy's parents for the weekend. We thought that if they were not here to dissuade us from working, we might actually get something done.

On the agenda were 2 big projects: finishing the dining room and finishing the porch.
Today we put in about 4-5 hours on the dining room. All of the molding was cut and nailed in. Also, the nail heads have been filled. Tomorrow morning we sand and paint. We had considered painting before nailing in, but we'd have to touch up anyway to cover the nail heads and joints...so we decided to wait and paint after the "construction phase" was completed. There is good and bad to report:

The good: It already looks much better than the bare wall had looked. The project has not been difficult so far, and only painting is left to finish.

The bad: The wall behind the molding has so much spackling that some cracks appeared as I nailed in the molding. I'm quite annoyed by that due to the fact that the walls took a lot of work. You may recall from a previous post that we had a base paint, followed by a wash, and finally a sealer....basically impossible to match, so I cant really fill the cracks. Anyway, it doesn't look awful, but it could definitely look better.

We still haven't started the second project: the porch. Due to the dining room taking a while and us enjoying some of the day, we never spent the time on the porch. That means tomorrow it will be a priority. When Stacy heads to Greenville to pick up the boys, I'll be working on the porch. Hopefully all with go well.

Aside from our work on the dining room, we did have a fun day as well. We started the day with a nice run. We never get to run together since someone must always be home with boys. This morning we seized the opportunity and went for a run. It was my first long run in 2 weeks (the 2 week respite was due to my procedure - see my short post of "My Family is the Right Size"). We ran Stacy's new 5 mile route and it felt pretty good. Not to mention I now have a new route that I can run. After running, we headed to Starbucks for a light relaxing breakfast. It was a nice start to the day.

Also today we worked in a little shopping and 2 meals out: lunch at Tabouli (new restaurant next to Za's) and diner at Solstice. That was our first trip to each and both were very good and worth a repeat trip.

It was a good day. Hopefully tomorrow will be equally as productive and fun!

Continued Excitement

My hopes, like those of many others, came to fruition last night as we watched the the votes come in. I ended my last post with this hope:

I really hope that when all is said and done, and all the votes are counted, that I will have voted with the majority yet again....and in conjunction with that, I hope that my candidate actually wins the election.

As I sat back and took in the news of the night, it was all a bit surreal. Not only did Obama win the electoral vote in a landslide, but also the popular vote by (from the last numbers that I've seen) over 7 million votes. Unlike the past couple of elections that came down to a key state or two, this Obama win was decisive. I think that speaks volumes for the position of the people. What it says may be disagreed upon, but I think it is a combination of the following issues:
(1) The need for change in economic, social, and foreign policy.
(2) The involvement of more people than ever in our election process.
(3) The positivity and inspiring nature of president-elect Barack Obama.
(4) The fact that the virtues of the person outweigh the classifications that they fall within. The bigotry associated with those classifications do not exist to the extent that they once did.
(5) The nature of the man, not the politician. The fact that a large number of people felt a rapport with president-elect Barack Obama, as someone close to them; not just another political figure.

Now that the months of the buildup have reached its climax, the votes have been cast and the election has concluded, where do we go from here? I think that is a very, very important question.
(1) Will McCain supporters decide to support the new president? Will we be as Obama stated we are; not a blue state or red state, but the United States? I hope we can unite.
(2) Will all of the excitement and promises of action translate into progress? There are many expectations of change. Combining the new president with a president friendly partisan makeup of both the House and Senate, I really hope that we have the ability and foresight to get done that which needs to be done. The roadblocks that had been there in the past, in terms of filibuster and partisan red tape should be lessened. Much like a portion of time under the previous administration (when all three were Republican controlled), the new administration will have a greater ability to act due to having a majority. I just hope that they do so and do it in such a way that is positive for our country.
(3) Will the newly involved citizens of our country remain involved or was it a one time political involvement boom that reached it's highpoint yesterday? I hope that this was just the beginning and that the people will remain excited and involved. I also hope that the administration does it's part in keeping us all involved. I heard one man speak last night about whomever won this election having the burden of the engagement divided. I really liked what he said. He said that the country has many people that are newly involved in the process; people that are now "engaged in the process" and that it is up to the winner of the election to keep them engaged, to not let the engagement become a deficit, but use the new found interest for the betterment of the country. I was very impressed with that perspective and hope that we keep the "engagement dividends".

I could go on and on, but I think I've probably lost your interest by this point so I'll stop now. I'm very hopeful for our future and can not wait to see how it all plays out.

Excitement

I'll save you the pain and agony of hearing a line item list of all of my political stances. Regardless of where you stand politically, if you stand at all, you have to feel the excitement when it comes around to election day.

The election of 2000 was the first time that I participated in our political process. I really liked one of the candidates, cast my vote, and stayed up late to see the results. I think the fact that it was so close pulled me in a little more for future races. In addition to caring about the issue, it was also actually quite exciting to watch. For the record, that night I voted with the majority, although my candidate did not win...

In 2004, neither candidate blew me away. I felt the current administration was doing well enough so I decided to give them another 4 years. I voted with the majority and my candidate won.

Now, in 2008, we have a monumental race going on. I am not in the situation I was in 4 years ago. In this race I definitely see one candidate as MY candidate. There is no question. Not because he is the better of two mediocre choices; not because I agree with a few of his stances; rather, I fully identify with him, I believe in his ability to lead, I believe in his direction in which he intends to lead, and yes, I also agree with him on the majority of his stances.

I dont think there will ever be a viable candidate that I agree with on every issue, but I think Obama is pretty much as close as I'll get. I intend to go out and proudly cast my vote. I really hope that when all is said and done, and all the votes are counted, that I will have voted with the majority yet again....and in conjunction with that, I hope that my candidate actually wins the election.

A Break in the Laziness

Typically on the weekend we get a few small things done and spend much time being lazy while watching football. I cant say that we've totally avoided either the football or the laziness, but today I did get more done than I do on most weekend days. It was a day of progress.

I posted a while back (or at least I think I did) about one of our newest house problems being a leaky porch. Basically the porch has settled such that the portion nearest the house is the portion that is now lower. What that means is that any rain water that falls on the porch drains toward the house....and though the cracks in the porch, causing wet wood!!! Not Good! Normally the settling of the porch would not be a huge issue, but our roof line stops too soon, leaving half the porch uncovered. Thus, much rain water pools on the porch.

Back to my progress. To fix the porch, we had options. We could pay a contractor to rip out the porch and pour a new one or fix it ourselves. We priced the contractors. It was more than we wanted to pay, so I figured I've five it a shot. I bought some items at Lowes to fix the problem. Rather than rip it out and pour a new one, I thought it would be worth a try to seal the leaks and change the angle of the porch. The first part is much easier than the second. Today I knocked out step one by ripping out the old cracked seal between the front wall of the house and the porch itself and then resealing the cracks.

Tomorrow I will use some cement crack sealer to patch up some cracks in the middle of the porch.

Then next week (I hope) I'll be using a patch kit (or so I call it) to build up the low spot. Then I'll reseal and repaint the entire porch. It sounds like a lot of work left to do, but I felt pretty happy about having finally gotten off my ass to handle the leaky seal. Step one finished. Step two tomorrow. Oh, here are a few progress pictures:

These pics are of the old ugly leaky crack before I did anything:




This is after I stripped away the old cracked seal:



This is after I applied the silicone to the cracks (it will be painted so it's ok that it's stark white):



This is the one obligatory pic of the kids since they were there watching me work every step of the way:



With helpers like those, how can this project not go perfectly! I'll make sure that they are there for ever remaining step!