House Projects

This just in: my house will be sold!

I think it's funny that we have to clean our home before hosting a large party or gathering. Sure, it makes sense to have it in tip top shape, but the funny part is that post party it will sure be in worse shape than it was before you began cleaning pre-party! All that work for one point in time. Very funny. In much the same way, when selling a home someone will put in much time and effort to make it perfect even though the entire time they lived in that home it wasn't worth the time and effort to keep it that way for themselves. It's hilarious when you think about it, but so true. That is the situation in which I find myself currently. We've decided to put our house on the market. What does that mean? It means that every project that I've been putting off is now a priority. It means that all the dirtiness or messiness that I've not liked but learned to ignore will now be worth actually cleaning up or straightening up. Clean it up so you can move out. Hilarious. Such is life!

On my agenda:
(1) Redoing the kitchen: new counter tops, fresh paint on the walls and cabinets, and new hardware!
(2) Tearing out at least one more heat registry from a main room. If you've been a reader for a long time, you know what a project the first two registers were. Here we go again!
(3) Re-latticing (is that even a word?) the underpinning of the deck and the privacy wall of my carport.
(4) Repainting a few rooms, which will include spackling and sanding in more than one of those rooms!
(5) actually doing massive cleaning and straightening both inside and out (crap, that means straightening the basement too!)
(6) oh, and eventually trying to figure out how to disassemble those loft beds that were built in the room with no intention of moving later!

There will be much fun to be had over the coming weeks... and by fun I mean physical and mental work in hopes for financial gain. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?!

End of a Season

As I've said before, I'm coaching both of my boys basketball teams. The season was originally scheduled for 6 games each. Mid-season inclement weather caused one game to be canceled. Last Saturday was supposed to have been the last game of the season for both of them. Sure enough, more crazy weather came our way. This time it was worth it though. It was SNOW!!! In fact, the most snow in Columbia since 1973. It was amazing and the kids loved it. The only negative was that another game was canceled... or so we thought. As it turns out, the powers that be didn't want to cancel two of the six games. That would just be too many. Therefore the games were rescheduled for mid-week.

Jackson's team, the Gators, played last night and played wonderfully. He had an outstanding game, finishing up with either 12 or 14 points. I'm not sure which. The team as a whole played well and held on to a 27-26 victory to end an undefeated season. Awesome! Go Gators!

Alex's team, the Longhorns, get their opportunity to play tonight. In this age group there is no score kept, but trust me when I say that the kids know the exact score because they keep up with it! Anyway, as evident by our team's own stat-keeping abilities it appears that Alex also has a chance at a perfect season tonight! Incredible. I really hope they can pull it off.

Friday night is the final gathering at the church for this season. There will be a show for the kids, with a message of course. Also, the kids will probably receive some memento for playing. Last year it was an Upward book bag and Jack loved it.

Now that the seasons are ending, looking back, it has been great. I hope the Longhorns can complete the perfect season tonight giving both my boys undefeated seasons. To be honest though, win or lose, it has been an outstanding season for both teams and I've loved coaching all of the kids. Not to mention I love being in that role for my two boys. It means a lot to them and the impact that I have on them means so much to me. I want to stay involved in their pursuits with school and athletics, much like my parents did for me and I want to be the parent to Jackson and Alex that my parents were and continue to be to me.

Lack of Direction

My friends and I have discussed on numerous occasions the discrepancy between all of the agendas that President Obama wanted to pursue versus his involvement in actually pursuing them. It's funny that he was called out for this very thing by an outspoken member of his own party. Check this out. Senator Al Franken of all people laid into the administration for pushing for this Health Care bill, but not providing any direction as to what should be done to finish the job. hmmm, that sounds eerily familiar to many of our local conversations! Check out the Politico writeup here.

Funnies

Here are a few good jokes from the past month as told by the late night comedians. Enjoy!

Jay Leno: "President Obama last night ordered 30,000 more troops in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban, but on an 18-month timetable. In a related story, the Taliban announced they are on a 19-month timetable."

Jay Leno: "The good news, Obama said he expects to start bringing our troops home in two years. ... The bad news, Bush said the same thing seven years ago."

Craig Ferguson: "Everybody's talking about President Obama's speech last night. ... He's sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. Right now, in Scandinavia, the Nobel Committee is really rethinking the whole peace prize."

Stephen Colbert: "Yesterday, the Dems officially dropped from the Senate healthcare bill both the public option and an alternate plan for 55 to 65 year olds to buy into Medicare. At this point, the only reform left in the bill is government-mandated post-appointment lollipops."

Conan O'Brien: "During an interview last night, Oprah Winfrey asked President Obama what grade he would give himself for his first year in office and he said a 'B-plus.' ... Then, Oprah shook her head and said, 'I didn't pay for a B-plus.'"

Conan O'Brien: "A new poll asked Americans who their ideal next-door neighbor would be. The number one answer was the Obama family...mainly because the Obamas are the kind of neighbors who would lend you a cup of sugar or a trillion dollars."

Jimmy Kimmel: "Congratulations to President Obama on becoming an uncle. His brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, and his wife just had a son in Oregon. Or so they claim. Lou Dobbs is demanding to see the birth certificate."

Jon Stewart: "I know that the Yemen thing complicates the war on terror, but on the plus side, getting attacked is really the only way we Americans learn about world geography."

Jimmy Fallon: "Everyone around the country is still focused on healthcare. President Obama recently said, 'We've spent so much time talking about the House bill versus the Senate bill that we haven't been able to talk about how great the bill is overall.' Then someone asked him how great it was and he was like, 'Not that great.'"

Jay Leno: "Well, this is kind of embarrassing. At a speech to school kids in an elementary school in Virginia, President Obama used the teleprompter. He had a teleprompter set up to talk to the kids. The topic of the speech: Never taking the easy way out by bringing a cheat sheet to school."

Jimmy Fallon: "Well, the Oscar nominations were announced today, you guys. Best Actor nominees included George Clooney for 'Up in the Air,' Jeremy Renner...for 'The Hurt Locker,' and President Obama for the 'State of the Union.'"

Jimmy Fallon: "I read in 'The New York Times' that the Obama Administration is planning huge changes to President Bush's 'No Child Left Behind' law. The new law will be called, 'Let's Face It, Some Kids Are Just Duds.'"

Jay Leno: "Here is a historical fact. It was on this day in 1690, the first paper...money was printed up in the colony of Massachusetts. The pilgrims realized that when they ran out of money, they could just print more. Thus, the Federal government was born."

David Letterman: "President Obama's having a big Super Bowl party. This is very shrewd. He has invited a group of Republicans to come to the White House for his Super Bowl party. He's going to seat the 'you lie' guy next to the 'not true' guy."

I hope you enjoyed these, had a laugh or two, and that it brightens your day!

The Computer Guy

How many of you are "computer people"? What do I mean by that? Trust me; if you are one, you know exactly what I mean. You may have a job that deals with computers; you may just play on them so often that people realize you have a little knowledge of some computer related subject. Either way, once you're dubbed a compute guy (or girl), at that point you become tech support.

Some of my friends and I have discussed this subject on many occasions. It's funny to me because I have been dubbed a computer guy by some. The truth is that although I understand programming and database work, I don't have a clue when it comes to hardware and much third party software, nor do I set up networks or anything of that nature. Yet I am dubbed a computer guy, so I'm asked questions all of the time about how to get around some problem or I'm asked whether I'll take a look at something that is broken. I always agree to take a look and my typical response after "checking it out" is, "I really don't know. You'll have to talk to someone else.". hahah. Of course there are occasions that I can offer some assistance but in reality those instances are few and far between.

The truth is that a computer is not a single all encompassing subject. In much the same way that I can't profess to be a car expert just because I can change the oil or rotate the tires, I also can't profess to be a computer guru just by knowing what I currently know. It's funny how people realize that fact when it comes to vehicles but it does not even occur to them in regards to computers.

I stumbled onto a cartoon on the web today that I thought was perfect for this post. Check it out: Very funny.

Travel Plans

I love to travel. Whether it be for a major vacation or a quick trip to a nearby city, I love to hit the road for an adventure. So far this year it appears that 2010 will provide much in that arena. Nothing over the top since I am on a budget, but right now it looks as if I'll end up an average of one fun trip per month.

Surely other trips will pop up as the year progresses, as will numerous trips to the lake, but for now the first four months of the year appear to be off to a nice start. Last month (January) it was a trip to Atlanta for a cousin's birthday. This month (February) I'm headed to Myrtle Beach for the Alice in Chains concert. AIC is one of my favorite bands of all time and I cant wait! March brings the Bridge run in Charleston, followed by a return to Myrtle Beach for a golf trip in April. What to do in May? hmmmm. Only time will tell.

Running Update

I'm currently 3 weeks deep into my 11 week running schedule. How am I doing? I guess that depends on who is doing the judging. I think I'm doing very well, although I have not stuck completely to the schedule.

The one negative so far is that I've not stuck to my schedule completely. However, on the flip side of that is the fact that when I have strayed from my plan I've done so on an "easy" or less important day by skipping a 30 minute jog or in one case a tempo run. To me, the most important parts of my training schedule are the long runs and the interval training, which account for 3 of my 6 training days. For those days, I've done well. On the other days, when I've been busy or sore, I've slipped a little, but I still consider my training a success thus far.

3 weeks down. 8 weeks to go.