Pokes Win!

It was cool to see the Pokes won the Independence Bowl game last night!

I thought they were going to choke there at the end, but they didn't!

Woo Hoo!

Merry Christmas!

Well, it is Early Christmas morning, and I'm getting ready to head to bed.

I just wanted to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Well, it's Christmas Eve morning.

And from the Santa NORAD radar, Santa has been sighted in Japan.

This will be an interesting morning.
See, I'm preaching this morning. Yep, you read that right.

I guess I'm about a ready as I'm going to be.

Anyway, tonight we go to my in-laws for our big Christmas get-together there. I can't wait!

I hope everyone has a very merry, and safe Christmas Eve today.

Merry Christmas Adam!

I just wanted to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas Adam!

What?

You don't know what Christmas Adam is?

Well, even my 6 year old can tell you that Adam came before Eve.

:)

Track Santa

If you were not aware, NORAD tracks Santa on this Christmas Eve journey.

You can track him here.

Merry Christmas.

WL - 12/22 check-in

I have done a lousy job of exercising this wee. I have gone a total of zero times this week.

I've gotten back to more of a normal diet for me. Not completely pigging out, but eating more of the Christmas snacks and such people have brought. Even then though, I think I've done ok. So what does the scales say?

I've lost 3 pounds since last week. That in itself is a miracle.

We have Christmas Eve at my wifes parents, and Christmas day at my parents. And lots of good food at both. I've also got the week off next week.

We'll see how the scales look next week.

End of Year Greetings.

For my Democratic Friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great.

Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. And without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishes.

By accepting these greetings you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself or himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.


For my Republican Friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!


And for all other political affiliations:

Hi.

Ugliest Christmas Ornament

Last night, when I was talking about the new angel being the second ugliest ornament, my wife thought I probably should put a picture of the ugliest ornament on our tree.

I decided she was right.


I find it funny, that it is also an angel. This angel was made by our daughter when she was maybe 3 or so. She was very proud of it though over the years she'd rather have it in the trash.

Childhood Memories

I love my wife. I really do.

At Christmas time every year, my wife talks about this angel that they had on the top of her tree growing up. It was a green tin with an angel stamped on it. It also had angel hair on the bottom. (clouds?)

This is a picture of it.

Anyway, she found one on eBay. So she started bidding on it. I knew she REALLY wanted it so I encouraged her to get it. She could have it for her birthday present.

Anyway, she got it. She was the winning bid tonight. I'm happy for her. Next year, she'll get to hang this ugly lovely angel on our tree.

I'm excited for her. I know this really means a lot to her.

Now the second ugliest ornament on our tree is the most expensive.

(We only payed 100 times more than what her dad probably payed for it at TG&Y back in the day)

Children's Christmas Party

Saturday's Children's Christmas party went well. We ended up with 13 kids. And they had a blast! One of the kids said it "was the best Christmas ever". This is really good to hear. Some of this kids haven't had the best home life, so having something that was entirely made just for them was what many of them needed.

We watched the 2 movies. They got to decorate Christmas cookies, make Christmas cards, make bookmarks, and candy canes (non-eatable). The clowns where a HUGE hit! All of the kids just loved them.

Dinner was also a big hit. It all tasted good and I'm pretty sure I surprised a few people that didn't know I could cook. The turkey and ham both turned out wonderful. I almost burned the rolls, but I didn't.

When 7:00 rolled around, I was ready to go home. It had been a long day. I got to church Saturday morning at 10:45.

I'm glad we did it, and I would expect us to do it again. I'm just glad I have a year to rest.

Living Christmas Tree

The Living Christmas Tree at First Baptist Church Bartlesville was really good last night. I really enjoyed it and I think so did my son. Afterwards, we went to one of the local parks, and looked at Christmas lights.

When we left, I decided to stop and put gas in the van since we'll be taking it Wednesday to see the Rhema lights. So, I put gas in the van, and tried to clean the windows (stress on tried). Struggled to put the locking gas cap back on the tank, and by the time I did that, I got in the van and we left. I got about 3 blocks away, and realized I left the gas receipt. Normally, I'd probably just left it, but since I need the receipt to get reimbursed, we turned around and went back to QT for the receipt.

Next stop was Braums from some ice cream. I had a single scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough. My son had a double dip of chocolate and strawberry.

It was a really good evening. And as of this moment, I'm really looking forward to tonight.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Do I have a busy weekend coming up or what?

Tonight, I am driving our church van to Bartlesville for the Living Christmas Tree they are having at FBC. Then, tomorrow, we are having a children's activity at church. We'll be showing movies (How the Grinch Stole Christmas (cartoon) and the The Toy that Saved Christmas(Veggie Tales)). and having crafts. We'll have some clowns there (my parents) as well.

We are also cooking for the kids. Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, green beans, rolls, stuffing, and pie. I'm doin the cooking. That isn't bad. I like to cook, and know how, but this will be my first time for a Turkey. This could be interesting. :)

Sunday, I have Christmas food baskets to shop for. 3 of them. Again, this could be fun.

I'll need Monday to get here so I can rest.

Shoes

My son has FINALLY learned to tie his shoes.

It only took a girl that was a year younger than him to tie his shoes to make him do it, but I'm not going to argue why he learned, just that he finally learned!

Who's on First?

If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, "Who's on First?" might have turned out something like this:



Costello calls to buy a computer from Abbott

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look at the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business? What do you have?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal? What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue "W".
COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue "w" if you don't start with some straight answers.? What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?
ABBOT T: Money.
COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?
ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.
COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?
ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.
COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?
ABBOTT: One copy.
COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?
ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.
COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?
ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!
???????? (A few days later)
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?
ABBOTT: Click on "START"...........

Baby on the way

Not mine, though that would be a miracle.

I found out tonight, that my sister and her husband are expecting their third child!!!

This is really cool!

It actually gets cooler.

The other day, my niece asked her mom for a baby sister. My sister told her that she needs to ask God. A little bit later, she saw her with her head down and her hands clasped. It looked like she was praying. Then she ran over to my sister and said "Mommy, I asked Jesus for a baby sister, and he said YES!"

Timing was about right.

They just found out today, but my sister gave me the OK to tell people. I know of at least 2 family members who read, so don't feel bad they didn't tell you.

Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention. After Jesus said yes, my niece said "Thank you!"

Cables

I've recently found what appears to be a very good source for ordering cables.

monoPrice.com

I recently ordered 2 - 50ft RCA cables and a 75 ft monitor cable for a projector installation we've done at our church. I got the 3 cables with shipping for only $57.59

I've installed the cables, and the monitor cable looks great. the RCA cable is for use with a VCR (if needed). Anyway, the quality appears very good. I wanted to pass it along. I got all the cables cheaper than I expected to pay for just 1 cable.

Oh, and BTW, they have other stuff besides cables.

WL - 12/8 check-in

First off, I realize that I skipped my weigh in last week. A foot of snow can do that do ya. :)

So, it's been 2 weeks since Thanksgiving. Since Thanksgiving, I've gained 2.5 pounds. Which isn't too bad. Realistically though, I probably gained close to 5 pounds, and have then lost half of that.

Still, since I started, I've lost 34.5 pounds.

I've done a lousy job exercising this week. I think Sunday is the only day I made it.

Mothers Milk

This is just too good not to share with you.

I will also say that this is probably the funniest drawing I have seen my son do yet.

It appears that my son has a journal that they do at school each day. They write a sentence and draw a picture.

On November 8th, as you can see below, the sentence was "Mothers feed their babies milk."

So, what does my son draw? A naked woman with boobs. A baby at one boob, another kid in the background, and it appears the other boob is leaking. hehe. Click on the picture for a better view. It's too funny.

Snow, Snow Everywhere

I'm sure everyone is more than aware that Oklahoma had some snow storm last week. Here at my house, we had around 8 inches of snow on top of probably an inch of ice.


I really enjoyed it as did the kids since they got to skip school. I stayed home on Thursday and Friday. I worked from home on Thursday (much more than I planned on), and Friday since I had already worked all 40 hours that week planned on taking the day off (even though I worked several hours) *sigh*


I did manage to get to the Collinsville park with my boy and the neighbors. We all had a good time (except my wife who had to work).

This is my favorite series of pictures.

Take a close look at him in this picture. Especially his feet, head and rear. :)

Space Derby

About a wee ago, after I got off work. My boy and I started working on this rocket for the Space Derby next week.

He designed what he wanted. He helped some on the body, but had problems using the tools. And he painted it himself. (can you tell?)

He is very proud of his rocket.



Well, Tuesday was the race and he did very well. He came in second place in his race. They took the first and second place winners of each race (for each age group) and raced again. So, in his second race, he came in third place. I was way impressed. He got a little trophy that holds his racer and it has a little plaque on it saying he came in 3rd place in the Space Derby.

Language Arts Test

So, this is funny, especially if you know me. I expected at 60%, not a 98%. Proof it was an easy test.

Your Language Arts Grade: 98%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

Shopping Pt4

Wow, what a day!

I am so tired.

After looking at the ads all day yesterday, we came home, and I looked at the ads until about 1 AM setting up my game plan (or shopping plan as the case may be). The alarm went off at 4:00 AM, and I was at Best Buy by 4:15.

As I posted earlier, nothing went according to plan, but I did mostly get everything I wanted.

I took about a 2 hour break from about 2:15 till 4:15. I unloaded the car, sorted through everything, and had a bite to eat (first all day, too busy shopping to eat). I went back looking for a bit more, and did pick up a couple more presents.

I'm not home, and exhausted. But it was a good day. Now I just have to get the house looking like it's Christmas time, and not a train wreck.

Shopping Pt3

After standing in the check-out line for over an hour. I was ready to get out of GameStop. After that, I went to 5 more stores and only bought 1 present. Not the day I was hoping for.

After those 5 stores, I decided to back to Best Buy to see what else they might have. While I was there, I found what I was looking for earlier!!! It was soooo cool!

As I've been writing this, I've been in yet another line.

What started off as a rather slow day is turning out pretty well.

More Later

Shopping Pt2

Well, Best Buy went OK. I got 3 of the 4 things I went for. Unfortunately, I didn't get one of the presents I went for. I'll find what I'm after somewhere else. I'm now in line at GameStop. I've been here for 34 minutes already, and I've got 26 more to go before the store opens.

More later.

Shopping Pt1

I am Crazy!

It is 4:32 a.m. and I'm dead center behind the back of Best Buy. As I was walking to the back of the line I asked what time some got there (about half way to the back, and they got there at 3:30).

More later.

Black Friday

It's Black Friday!!!

I'm off to do some shopping like a mad man.

Have fun.

Happy Thanksgiving

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving everyone!

WL - 11/23 check-in

It's been 18 weeks since I started this process to lose some weight and basically just get in better shape (I still say round is a shape).

With all the eating I did last week, I would not have been surprised if I had gained weight.

Well, I didn't.

I lost 3 pounds since last Friday. No change in my stomach and chest.

Normally, I weigh in each Friday. But I'm pretty sure that I'll be getting up at the crack of dawn and going shopping. No time to weigh and measure, so I figured I'd do it today.

Baptism

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a very long time.
It's only 1:28, but worth every second. I'd even suggest it on dial-up. Especially if you go to church.

Police

Tuesday, my boys Cub Scouts den went to the Collinsville Police Department.

They got to see a police car and play with the lights and sirens.


They met with the Chief of Police, they were finger printed and they got to see dispatch.

The kids had a great time!

Jim Giles.

Wow, I knew this day was coming, but now that it is here, it's hard to believe.

Jim Giles, has been the Chief Meteorologist on KOTV for the last 25 years.
He is now retiring on November 22.

He's by far one of the best meteorologists that I have ever watched.

You can read more about his career on KOTV's web page.

Brother-in-law home

Friday, my brother-in-law came home to Oklahoma from Iraq (via Maryland for about a week). It was so good to see him (and his wife). We've spent the last two evenings with the whole family. Last night we had pizza and tonight, we had lasagna. It was soooooo good, both nights!

Friday was the first time I've seen much of the family since I've lost my weight. One of them asked me if I had malaria. I told him, "Nope, bird flu". When we got home from the airport, my father-in-law told me I've lost enough weight.

Anyway, it's late and morning comes early tomorrow.

WL - 11/17 check-in

17 weeks down.

I now stand at 5.5 inches lost in my stomach and still at 4.5 inches lost in my chest.
I'm also down 34 pounds since the start of this adventure.
(If you found any of it, you can keep it, please do not return to sender).

The medium shirts my wife bought me fit very nice. I've had lots of complements.

Four weeks ago, I talked about moving down a size in my jeans, well, it may be time to do it again. But I don't have any that I can try on, so that means it's time to go shopping.

What makes this week so good is the fact that yesterday was the first of much eating I'll be doing over the next week. And I didn't gain any weight. There may be hope for me to make it through Thanksgiving without too much gain.

Happy Birthday

Oklahoma. You turn 99 today.

Let the centennial celebrations begin! (which is still strange to me since we haven't turned 100, but I guess it in celebration of the upcoming centennial birthday all the things are planned.)

Well, no matter.

Happy Brirthday... Oooooooooooooooooooooooooklahoma where the winds come sweeping down the plains...

(You're sining it aren't you?)

Rolls Update

Well, the rolls I made were a hit. I had several compliments.

I ate 3. Not too bad. I would have had more if I hadn't have been losing weight and didn't want to gain it all back... today.

Rolls

Tonight, after getting home from church, I made homemade yeast rolls for the first time!

I love rolls. Shoot, I love bread! Especially yeast rolls. Tomorrow, our office is having a Thanksgiving lunch tomorrow. Mostly non-traditional stuff. The last few years, I've made my "cowboy dip". Not cowboy as in the Pokes, just cowboy. But there were already several dips that was being brought, so I didn't want to add another.

I really had a hard time, then I thought of bread. Can't eat a meal without bread. (OK, I can't eat a meal without bread). So I signed up.

Course, I never thought about the fact that I've never made them before.

Well, so far, so good. Guess we'll see how they are doing in the morning.

Happy Birthday

Today is my daughters 18th birthday.

Wow, 18 years. That's just crazy. She'll be graduating in May, and before we know it moving out. YEA! seriously though, there were days I wondered if she'd see 18.

Tonight, we are going to Red Lobster for dinner. She loves it there.

If you read this sister, I love you and I'm very proud of the woman you are turning into.

Veterans Day

Friday, at my son's school, they had a Veterans Day assembly. They asked all the Cub Scouts and Brownies that wanted to take part in the event to come in their uniform. When I told my boy of the invitation, he was excited!

Friday, he proudly wore his uniform to school. My wife and father-in-law got to go watch. My wife tole me I would have been very proud of him and that he did a great job.

My boy was part of the Color Guard when they Posted the Colors and when they Retrieved the Colors, he got to carry the American Flag.

My wife did tell me of one cute thing that happened. As he was carrying the flag back, he was concentrating on holding the heavy flag up and making sure it didn't touch the ground that he wasn't looking up. Well, in the gym where they had the ceremony, there were basketball goals with nets on them. And the eagle on his flag got caught up in the net. Thankfully, there was someone there to help him get untangled.

I wish I could have been there to see it.


We had several good pictures from the event, but since they had other kids in the pictures, I didn't want to post them. Here was a picture of him as he walked in front of my wife. Can you see the concentration on his face?

More Football

Ok, I can't believe it.

Unranked Kansas State just beat fourth ranked Texas, 45-42.

What I saw of it was a good game. But Kansas State almost blew it.

What a day. The Pokes are headed to some bowl, and Texas got beat.

Go Pokes!

Well, the Pokes one today. And if I remember correctly from what the news said last night. That makes us....

BOWL BOUND!

WOO HOO!

Soccer Over

Today, we officially finished our Fall soccer season today with our soccer party.

We met at Mazzio's Pizza here in C-ville and I handed out trouphys. I also made an award for each kid pointing out something good about their play this year.

Parents and kids liked this I think.

Whew.

Here are a couple of pictures from when we had our pictures made this year.

Cub Scout Popcorn Sales

Tonight I went and picked up the popcorn my boy sold so we can start delivering.

As I've stated before, he sold over $730 worth of popcorn. That is a lot of popcorn. But you should have seen what I saw tonight.

The pack sold over $18,000 worth of popcorn. That is right. I didn't put the comma in the wrong spot. over $18,000. That means that the if we sell all the popcorn that was ordered (order first, pay when you get it), then the pack will receive around $6,300 plus the fact that this region will also get $6,300.

I still don't know if my boy is one of the top 3 sellers, but the top seller sold over $2,500 himself. That's darn impressive (and from what I could tell, he did it, not his parents).

WL - 11/10 check-in

It's hard to believe that I've been working out for 16 weeks now.

As of this morning, I have lost 32.5 pounds. 4.5 inches in my chest and 4.75 inches in my stomach.

This week, my wonderful wife bought me 3 new shirts. Get this, they are mediums! I can't tell you the last time I was in a medium shirt. Sorta strange to go from XL to M. That'll be a hard adjustment. But one I think I can get use to.

This has really been pretty incredible. I still have problems not stopping at every mirror and just staring. Not because of being vain, but out of shock.

I've "wanted" to lose weight before, but the truth is I didn't. I didn't want to do what it really took to do it. What it took for me is to decide that I really wanted the weight off. And for me, it's been a two step process.

Eat less. I know this sounds crazy, especially with all the take this pill and keep eating what you're eating and you'll lose weight. That doesn't work. I've cut back a lot on what I eat. Instead of 3 cheese burgers, I'll usually now only eat 1 (may 2 )
Instead of 2 sandwiches at lunch, I'm eating 1. Stop drinking pop. There are 120 calories in a single can of pop.

Exercise. I'd say exercise more, but I wasn't exercising at all. I was spending between 1 and 1.25 hours 6 days a week. That was harder to do than the eating less. I've started slacking off a bit, but my weight loss has also slowed down. I'd spend over half of my time there on the treadmill and some time lifting weights.

I don't think I'm done losing weight, but with the weeks that are coming up, I think maintaining my weight would be a great.

Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away. Yummy!

Home Safe and Sound

My brother-in-law is home on leave from Iraq. Safe and sound. He'll come this direction next week to see everyone before heading back.

It's good to have him home.

I am proud of every man and woman that serve in our military.

Thank you!

Chess

I taught my boy how to play Chess tonight.

I beat him, but I got a bit worried a couple of times. I gave him lots of help, and in doing so, didn't pay attention. Oops. But it was a good start. I was very proud of him.

He'll also be able to earn his Cub Scout belt loop once he can tell me the pieces names and how they move.

He really liked it. We'll probably play again soon.

Fear

One of my worse fears has come to pass. The Democrats have control of both the House and the Senate.



This is going to be a long two years I'm afraid.

Fall Morning

This morning, I took my son to the bus stop. While we were waiting on the bus, I happened to look up and saw how pretty the moon looked. I also noticed a really beautiful tree changing colors. It was amazing.

After he got on the bus, I came home and got my camera and took a couple pictures before heading to work.

These aren't as good as the real thing, but I think they are still nice.

Black Friday

For all of you out there that can't wait till Thanksgiving to get all the sales ads, you are in luck. You can see many of the Black Friday Ads online.

Some include: Best Buy, Kmart, Khols, and the list goes on.

BlackFriday.info

Enjoy.

BTW, does anyone know why they call it black Friday?

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.

My boy lost yet another tooth tonight.

It seems like the tooth has been loose for a year. Probably not, but it has been loose all summer at least. He looks so cute.

And I guess he can officially sing...

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.

Truck wreck

This is different from a train wreck.

On my way to work this morning, there was a tractor trailer that looked like it tried to take the clover leaf from 169 onto I-44 a bit to fast and turned over.

First time I've ever seen one of those. Didn't look like much of a mess, so I don't think he was going real fast... just too fast.

I hope the driver was ok.

I saw the channel 2 news van there, but I couldn't find anything on their web page.

Voting

Today was election day.

I went to vote before going to work this morning. I took my boy with me today so he could see how it all worked. He really enjoyed it. It was his first time to go too. I doubt it will be the last.

We barely got him to the bus stop before the bus got there, but even if he would have missed it, it was a good experience.

Speaking of my children, in the next election, my daughter will be able to vote.

Scary.

Jam and Spice

I finally got around to making my blackberry jam preserves today. I made 8 - 8 oz jars.

They are not seedless preserves, but that's OK, I don't mind so much. Specially since blackberries are just so darn yummy.

I had also been drying some oregano from my garden this year and got that put in a jar. The jar reads 1/3 oz, but that really lasts a pretty long time. I had basically decided not to do spices next year because we just couldn't eat them as fast as we needed to. What I may do is harvest and dry all year long. Not sure. I have a months to decide.

Google Maps - Wireless

OK. I found this 2 days ago, and I'm afraid I'm just getting around to sharing... sorry.

I'm not sure if you have ever used Google Maps. Well, if you haven't it is great!

They have added another wonderful piece to their already wonderful puzzle.

It is Google Maps for Wireless Palm devices. It was specifically made for the Palm Treo, but it also works on my Palm TX. Only difference is I'd have to be at a hot spot to use it.

Anyway, it works on a boat load of devices.

Anyway, very cool!

Check it out.

WL - 11/3 check-in

15 weeks down.

Hard to believe it's been that long. I can really notice the changes. My face looks slimmer, shoot, I look slimmer.

For the most part, I did pretty good getting through Halloween with all the candy around and not eating too much of it.

I've lost another 1/2 inch in my stomach, so that's good.
I've also lost another 1/2 pound. That takes me to 31 pounds lost.

Good riddance! And if you are out there reading this and you say you found them, you can keep them.

First Freeze

We had our first freeze this morning, at least at my house.

26.3 degrees if I remember correctly. It felt nice. I really love this time of year.

Fall Festival - 12 pounds of candy

Tonight at our church we had our Fall Festival. We had it tonight to hopefully have people that don't normally go to church come. That way we may hopefully have some good prospects.

Well, my boy had a great time. He went as Darth Vader.

When we got there, they had a "Guess How much candy is in the jar". He ended up guessing 279 pieces of candy then we went off to play games and collect booty.

He collected so much candy and snack cakes. A couple of balloon animals too. About an hour later, we got word that he had won the jar. 266 more pieces of candy.

We stayed for about 2 hours. We came home with a HUGE bag of candy.

I weighed it before letting him have at it.

Have you ever wondered what 12 pounds of candy looked like? Well, here it is.

Jack-O-Lantern

This afternoon, my wife and I helped our son make his Jack-O-Lantern.

He had a blast. He went with his grandmother a few weeks ago and picked out the pumpkin that he wanted to use. So we took the time this afternoon and made it.

Here are some pictures.




We had finished and he was happy to show it off. H really liked the knife in the head look.

Those are freckles. He insisted on having freckles. He made them himself.

Go Pokes!

What about them Pokes?

That was a great game. Wow. What can I say.

Now, all they have to do is not get cocky and get ready for next week.

Texas at Austin will be a hard game. It's at 6:00 p.m. on TBS.

Here is hoping it's another good game.

WL - 10/27 check-in

14 weeks and counting.

Totals:
30.5 pounds lost
4 inches loss in my chest
4 inches loss in my stomach

My average is I've lost a little over 2 pounds each week, which is a nice pace.

This also puts me back around what I weighed in High School!

Here is the kicker though. Thanksgiving is 4 weeks away. That means I have 3.5 weeks to lose 9.5 pounds. That is a bit over 2.5 pounds per week. That will be tough.

If I can get to 185 by then I'll feel pretty good.

Timechange this weekend

That's right boys and girls, it's that time of year again. Time for time change. On the bright side, we gain an hour of sleep this time round (my favorite).

For my one reader in Guam, I believe that you do not have time change. The only good thing about that is there is also no time change in the spring.

Firefox 2.0

It is finally out. Firefox 2.0

There are several things that have been updated, but one of my favorite is that you can change one of the settings to open the tabs from the last session you had open.

So, if there are a hand full of pages you read, you can open them in separate tabs, close Firefox 2.0, then when you open it next time, all your tabs open.

Crazy Hat Day

It is Red Ribbon week this week at my son's school. (Say No to Drugs Week)

Today, was pajama day. (He wore his camouflage pajamas.)
Tomorrow is Crazy Hat day.
Friday is wear Red day.

So, to get ready for tomorrow, my son and my wife sat down this evening and made him a Crazy Hat.

What do you think?

Lost thoughts

Not to be confused with the show Lost.

I've lost it. yep, I've lost my mind. I've had numerous things I've wanted to blog about, but when I'm actually at a computer, can I remember a single one?

Nope, nadda, zilch, zero... you get the idea.

Oh well, I guess I got a blog post in anyway, but not what I wanted.

Cub Scout Awards

Last night at my son's Pack meeting, he and his den were the color guard for the flags. They did such a good job. They followed the Webelos down and followed their lead. It was cute.

From the quick survey last night, it also looks like he was one of the top 4 popcorn sellers. The top 3 sellers get gift cards from Academy. The top seller gets $50, 2nd gets $30 and 3rd gets $20.

Of those there last night, he and another boy set down when they went from the 700 to 800 mark. So, I'm not sure if he'll get that extra bonus or not. We'll have to wait and see.

He got 2 awards last night. They are belt loops (that go on the belt). He got one for fishing and archery. He was very proud going up and getting his award.

He also got his Space Derby Kit last night.
What is Space Derby? Imagine Pine wood derby, but the "cars" hang from fishing line and have propellers. That Derby is next month, right after Thanksgiving.

Get your popcorn here!

After our soccer game this morning, which went very good, we came home, changed cloths and went out to sell popcorn for Cub Scouts.

My boy has had his eyes on some 2 way radios as one of the prizes for some time. It took $700 worth of popcorn sales to get that prize. When he set that as his goal I told him he would have to sell it. I'd take him, but he'd sale it, and I wouldn't make him go sell. If he didn't want to he wouldn't have to.

I had already taken it to my work, and my wife to hers. All said, there was probably $200 already sold before he started.

Well, the popcorn sales are due Tuesday. And as of this morning he still needed $240 to reach his $700 goal. So, we went to his baby-sitters neighborhood, and started knocking on doors. (OK, he knocked, I mostly stood at on the sidewalk making sure he was safe and answer any questions he couldn't.)

After about 2 hours of knocking on doors, he only needed $13 to reach his $700 goal. I really couldn't believe it. That is a stinking lot of popcorn. Once we reached that point, I knew he had it. My grandparents hadn't bought any yet, and neither had we.

I was impressed. He sold over $500 worth all by his onesies.

I think what impressed me more was he set a goal, and accomplished it.

By selling $100 worth, he'll get a Pack T-shirt that we are designing.
By selling $500 worth, he'll get to go to the week long Cub Scout Day camp next year for free (our pack pays the dues if they sell that much)
By selling $700 worth, he'll get his 2 way radios (walkie-talkies).

He filled up 2 complete order forms.

Guess the only thing I can say is...

WOW!

Cub Scouts - Woolaroc

Thursday, the Cub Scouts went to Woolaroc. which means Woods, lakes, rocks. For those who don't know, it was created by Frank Phillips the founder of Phillips 66. So I took off work so I could take my boy. It was the first time he had been there, and the first time he had been to a museum. (I know, I've been a bad dad.) Anyway he loved it! Just the drive in was an adventure as we saw so many animals that he had never seen before.

They have a watch tower, or whatever you want to call it on top of one of the buildings. From it you can see all around. That is were I took the above picture looking at the front of the Museum.

After we watched a movie and slide show, we went into the museum and looked around. He loved it. He enjoyed a lot of stuff in there. He liked the guns and shrunken-heads, arrow heads and a lot of the other stuff that was in there.

After that, we went back across to the other building and had lunch. The Cub Scout Pack supplied bottomless PB&J sandwiches. When we finished, we fed our trash to the Trash eating Buffalo (a vacuum buffalo that sucks up your trash). This has always been one of the coolest things to me and my wife about Woolaroc, and he loved it too. Then off to a hike we went.

It wasn't a long hike, but considering the temps were low, it wasn't bad. There is a bit more to the trail that we my take later that we as a pack did not go on. But for Thursday, it was good.

After the hick we were done. Me and my boy stayed a while longer and went and looked at the old lodge, and he got to climb around on some rocks down by the lodge. On the way out, we saw many more animals really up close and personal. We drove through a huge heard of buffalo as well. They were very close. One was about 3 feet from the car. Me and my boy had a blast as did the other Cub Scouts.

WL - 10/20 check-in

I'm 13 weeks in.
I'm continuing to eat less (most of the time) and exercise.
I lost 4 1/2 pounds this week. Mainly making sure I didn't skip my workouts and really making sure I don't pig out.

Overall, I've now lost 27 pounds. I'm feeling pretty good. But to stay on track for 10 pounds a month, I have to lose 3 pounds next week. That'll be tough. But if I keep my goal in mind, watch what I eat and make sure I go work out 6 of the next 7 days, I may make it.

Really, the thought of being under 200 lbs is crazy. I still can't get use to the scales being below 200. I said last week that I switched to some smaller sized jeans that I still had, well, this week, my belt quit fitting. My wife brought home a leather punch so I could add a few more holes to my belt, and I really wanted to do it with real leather tools instead of and ice-pick. I know I'm going to have to go buy some more cloths soon, but I really want to wait a bit longer. I don't really want to go buy some jeans, then a month or so later, have to go buy more.

The Circus is in Town

Today, my wife took our son to the Circus that had come to town.


I wish I could have gone, but that just didn't work out.

They went with my wifes friend and her son (the one that has been fighting cancer) and they all had a great time.




He managed to get on the elephant, but didn't make it for a ride. :(
Do you see that big grin on his face? I live for those moments. They are too awesome!

Google Chat

I had heard about Google chat back when they first came out with it. But I already was running ALL the other chat programs possible, so a new one didn't appeal to me.

Until today.

My brother-in-law is currently in Iraq. He does a lot of sitting at a desk, and he has communicated with his wife via Google Chat. They use the voice chat capability it has. Anyway, because of that, my mother-in-law wanted it on her machine. She had a P2 running Win98. Google Chat wont run on such a thing. And her computer wouldn't run XP. So I helped them go shopping.

Anytime I get to buy a computer with other peoples money, well, that is always a good day for me. :)

Anyway, We got a new computer home and set up, and I got Google Chat installed for her. We called my sister-in-law that was online and gave it a try. Once I got past the mic problems I was having on her machine (machine/user problem, not Google chat), this thing is great! It sounded like she was in the same room as me.

Yet another reason not to have a long distance provider. Go out to Google Talk, download it and sign in. It uses your Gmail account name as your user name. If you don't have a Gmail account, you can get one here. if you have a cel phone that can receive text.

WL - 10/13 check-in

It's that time again boys and girls.

Another week has gone by on my quest to lose weight.

I have lost 1/4 of an inch in both my stomach and my chest.
I was able to get into some jeans that I have not been able to get into for years. That felt really good. Yesterday, I also noticed that I'm at the last notch in my belt. I can't tighten it any further.

I did gain 1/2 a pound, but that isn't bad.

Best Buy

I just got some good news today. Of course, my wallet didn't.

The new Best Buy they are building in Owasso is set to open on Friday.

Owasso just about has everything you need for your shopping pleasure which may save me a trip to Tulsa this Christmas season.

Cub Scout Campout

This weekend was the Cub Scout camp out at Osage Hills State Park.

It was a blast.

We came home from our soccer game (which was ok) and we finished loading up the car and got on the road by 10:40. I had wanted to leave by 10:30, but that's not bad.

We got there and found a spot to set up our tent. We unloaded and set-up. After I finally found a place to park the car, we sat down for a sack lunch we packed. About the time we finished, most everyone was getting ready to go fishing, so I got our stuff ready. We ended up not going with everyone else and stayed behind to do some leather working. Both me and my boy made some cute pieces. His had a skull and crossbones at the top with a snake at the bottom. Between them was a shortened version of his name. Along the left was OHSP and 2006 on the right. We tied it around his walking stick, he was very proud. I had the Tiger Cub symbol and a fish. with 2006 and OHSP along the sides. I also beveled my edges a bit. I hung mine from the wrist strap on my walking stick.

Afterwards, we hiked to the fishing hole (lake) to do some fishing and take a look at the old CCC camp site. I was glad I paid attention a month ago when I went with my dad as I was able to tell the couple kids and parents with us the same stuff he told me. We fished for a bit, but didn't catch anything.

On the hike back, we saw some turkeys, armadillo, a hawk and some deer. We found some really good turkey feathers that we also put on our walking sticks. The kids were most impressed with those, as were the kids at camp.

We had dinner, burgers and hot dogs, and it was good. After dinner, we went to the water falls. But with the lack of rain, it wasn't a water fall, but it was very pretty.




Later, they had smores and boy scout cobblers made in the dutch overs. They had apple and cherry. They were GREAT! The kids continued to have a good time, but I heard several talk about being tired (as was I) around 8:30. My boy and I finally got to the shower and back to camp, played several games of UNO and then finally went to sleep around 10 to 10:30. I got up early this morning to help cook breakfast and left my boy to sleep but he finally got up and around before breakfast. I was amazed at how early some of the kids got up. We had biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs and pancakes. (again, it was good).

Since by the time I helped clean up and get our tent down and put up, we had missed church. So my boy and I went on another hike and then finally to my parents to drop off the camping stuff we borrowed.



The trip overall was a blast. My only complaint (and the only complaint I heard from everyone else) was the parking situation. Part of that was the fact we did not camp in an actual camp site, but with 75 people (2 - 4 per vehicle) that left us with a lot of cars, and no place for them. Other than that, everyone had a great time!

I know my boy did as he slept most the way home and is still sleeping.

WL - 10/6 check-in

At 11 weeks of working out and eating less, I am happy so say I have lost a total of 23 pounds!

I also broke the 200 pound mark this week. 3 out of 4 days, I have woke up at less than 200 pounds. For me, that is WONDERFUL!

I'm not sure when the last time I was under 200 lbs was. Probably in college.

It's going to be a tough week though. Since my wife is having surgery today, my mom is talking about bringing lasagna over for dinner tonight along with chocolate pie and maybe cinnamon rolls.
Camping with the Cub Scouts this weekend promises hamburgers for dinner and eggs, biscuits & gravy, sausage, bacon and pancakes.

Anyway, Pray for my wife today as she has this surgery. Nothing major but it's still surgery.

Last weeks Soccer Game

Wow, here it is Thursday, and I didn't talk about last weeks soccer game.

Bad dad!

Anyway, it was a good game. All but one of my kids (remember, I coach, so I call them all my kids) scored in Saturdays game.

That's right, MY BOY scored his first goal of the season! WOO HOO!

I was so excited. And being the coach, you can't go nuts on one goal without doing it for the others.

Luckily my wife and my parents were and saw it.

The kids are starting to pick up on the positions though they still don't like it, but the girl on my team scored a goal from the back half of the field! It was too cool!

Also, during Saturdays game I said something you wont hear coaches tell their kids very often. "Stop talking!" See, most of the time, coaches want the players to talk to each other, things like "spread out", "go up", "I got it" stuff like that. Things that help them play more as a team. Well, my boy (I think) and one of the other boys were just chit-chatting about who knows what, and had basically stopped playing.

Our head Ref heard me tell them that, and she laughed. She knows that is something we drill into the kids on the field.

Next week, we will take this years photo's. So, Monday will be an easy practice. Now I just have to figure out what I'm doing tonight.

Police Comments?

I received an email today that said the 15 comments below were taken from actual police car videos around the country.

Is that true or is this just another funny list? I'm not sure, but from the police officers I know, I think there is a good chance these are real.

Anyway, here they are, enjoy.


The following 15 Police Comments were taken from actual police car videos around the country...

#15. "Relax; the handcuffs are tight because they're new. They'll stretch out after you wear them awhile."

#14. "Take your hands off the car, and I'll make your birth certificate a worthless document."

#13. "If you run, you'll only go to jail tired."

#12. "Can you run faster than 1200 feet per second? In case you didn't know, that's the average speed of a 9 mm bullet fired from my gun."

#11. "So you don't know how fast you were going. I guess that means I can write anything I want on the ticket, huh?"

#10. "Yes, sir, you can talk to the shift supervisor, but I don't think it will help. Oh, did I mention that I am the shift supervisor?"

#9. "Warning? You want a warning? O.K., I'm warning you not to do that again or I'll give you another ticket."

#8. "The answer to this last question will determine whether you are drunk or not. Is Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?"

#7. "Fair? You want me to be fair? Listen, fair is a place where you go to ride on rides, eat cotton candy, and step in monkey poop."

#6. "Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster oven."

#5. "No, sir, we don't have quotas anymore. We used to have quotas, but now we're allowed to write as many tickets as we want."

#4. "Just how big were those two beers?"

#3. "In God we trust, all others we run through CPIC/NCIC."

#2. "I'm glad to hear the Chief of Police is a good personal friend of yours. At least you know someone who can post your bail."

And ... THE BEST ONE!

#1 "You didn't think we gave pretty women tickets? You're right, we don't - Sign here."

What Superhero are you?

Today, while trolling some blogs, I ran across this Superhero personality test.

Being the geek I am, I had to give it a try.


You are Spider-Man



You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Spider-Man		100%
Superman		65%
Robin		58%
Green Lantern		55%
Iron Man		50%
Supergirl		48%
Catwoman		45%
Wonder Woman		43%
The Flash		35%
Batman		25%
Hulk		20%

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

WARNING: if you try to post your results on your blog, you may have problems as you can tell my how this post turned out. I think blogger doesn't like tables. Give it a try anyway and let me know what you are.

Almost Lost

That's right boys and girls. It's almost time for Lost to start back up.

That would be tomorrow night!

I'm so excited.

Cub Scouts Uniform

This week, my son came home from the neighbors house with the shirt for his uniform. We hadn't had the money to go get it, but I had really wanted to. So anyway, I was extremely excited when he came home with it!

I went to the Scout shop to pick up a couple patches that he was missing as well as the belt and the scarf.

Thursday, I sewed the patches on so we could go start selling popcorn door to door.

Both my boy and me had a blast selling. He was so cute. Only one person that was home turned him down, and that was because he had already bought popcorn from a guy who had the form at his work.

Of course, who could turn down such a cutie?

I know I couldn't, but I'm also a little biased.

Men's Retreat

I've been promising an update all week, and haven't given one, so I guess I'll try now.

Last Thursday, I got up and around and my dad and I went to Roaring River State Park. My uncle and grandfathers (that's too people, cause my uncle is not my grandfather, that would just be weird) church was having a men's retreat there. It's a chance for a group of men to get together, do some fishing or golfing and praise God.

The trip down was nice. (As was the Dr. Pepper I had. It had almost been 4 weeks since I had one.) Once we got down there, we found us each a bunk and unloaded the car. Then we headed down to the meal cabin to grab lunch. Just a quick sandwich, then we went down to the River for some fishing. This was my first Trout fishing trip, so I had to figure it out. Man are those trout tricky. I did manage to land 3 (my grandpa put one on my line, so I wasn't able to get my 4th, but that was fine).


Dinner Thursday night was lasagna. It was ok, but not as good as what I make, course most frozen aren't. But it was still pretty good.

The worship service was great. Good music, and a good message. The man there has been preaching at an inner city church in Dallas... did I mention it was a black church? 75 Baptist men was a deafening experience I'm sure. (He mentioned they cannot even do announcements without some "amens" or "preach it" from the people.) As soon as we were done for the evening, I crashed. I was exhausted.

We woke up bright and early Friday morning with fishing on our mind. My dad and I got to the river around 6:30ish or so I guess since the flier we had said fishing started at 7:00. Well, come to find out, that is August timing. In September, fishing starts at 7:30. So we had to wait a bit longer. I caught 2 and my dad 1 before we left for breakfast.

Breakfast was soooo good. Scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, and hash browns. It's making my mouth water just typing it. After breakfast, we went back out to finish catching our limit. But when we got back, the fishing had slowed WAY down. When we FINALLY finished catching our limit at 12:30, I was more than ready to stop (mainly cause it started heating up). We got the fish cleaned and took it back to the cabin to drop off. I wanted to take a picture of the ice chest that was FULL of trout. We go there, and they had already took out 120 trout for dinner so they could finish cleaning them up and stuff like that. But even with 120 gone, this was still a lot of fish.


After that, we went out on a hike.

I've been looking forward to hiking up there ever since I decided to go. For my birthday, my wonderful wife bought me a really cool hiking stick with built in compass. Very nice, and very helpful climbing those mountains. I had lots of good pictures. Overall, the hike was at least 3.5 miles long. Maybe longer.



Dinner that night was smoked trout, corn on the cob, green beans, brown beans, salad, and baked potatoes. Again, delicious. I was so full afterwords.

Again the worship service was terrific.

I wasn't as tired Friday night as I was Thursday night so I stayed up a bit longer, but nothing crazy. We again set the alarm for 6 a.m. so we could pick up our bunk areas before the morning fishing time. But when I woke up, it was thundering and lightening. No fishing thing in that. I reset the alarm for 7 and rolled over. By 7, the storm had moved on. We contemplated not going fishing since fish don't usually bite very well after storms, but we decided to go. I'm glad we did. We both caught our limits before the 9:00 breakfast time. Once my dad finished catching his limit, we loaded up in the car, went and cleaned the fish, and headed back for breakfast. We got there about 10 after 9, but that isn't bad. Well, breakfast was over. Not sure they really had it. But it was already packed. In fact, everything was just about done. Nothing for me and dad to do except go and pick up our bunks and make sure the cabin was clean (which it was).

We finished up, and checked in to see if there was anything else we could do, (there wasn't), then we hit the road.

I so needed this trip. To get away from my kids, and work and everything really (except for my wife, I don't usually need a vacation from her). The worship services were really good.

If you are interested in seeing more pictures of the trip, you can see my Roaring River Flickr set.

WL - 9/29 check-in

After making my goal last week, then going on my camping trip, my weight is up 1.5 lbs.

Though, it isn't as bad as it could have been considering I gained at least 5 lbs on my camping trip, so I still lost weight this week, just not back down to my starting number.


So, since I've started I've lost 18.5 lbs.

Funeral

Today is one of those mixed blessing days.

Monday night, one of the men from my church, Lyle Tillinghast, passed away.

He lived a good long life, loved and served God, and was always there to lend a helping hand. I believe he was 75.

He had accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior, so when he passed away Monday night, he went from a weak and hurting man into the presence of our Lord.

So, that, as you can guess, is the mixed blessing. We will miss Lyle very much, but we know he's no longer in pain and he's in Heaven right now.

His funeral is this morning at 10:00 at Floral Haven.

If you would, please when you read this, pray for his wife. They have been married for a VERY long time. I know I miss my wife when we are separated for short time and we've only been married 8 years.

(Now you know why I haven't posted on my trip last weekend)

3 Months and counting

I noticed today while doing some scheduling, that it is exactly 3 months to the day till Christmas!

I love Christmas. I love Thanksgiving too. But I do not have the money for Christmas to be here yet. It's about time to start shopping.

I have a few presents already, but not as many as I'd like. Granted, the presents isn't what Christmas is all about, but they are a really fun part. I love the shopping and the giving. The getting isn't too bad either. :)

Now I've got Christmas songs in my head. hehe

Cub Scouts Outing

Saturday when I got home from the Fishing trip (still another story) I picked up my boy, and took him to the big Scouting Fall Festival. This is a big event where the kids can go and see a lot of the things that scouting has to offer.

There was all types of things going on. By the time we got there, we only had an hour before it was all done.

My boy got to climb a rope and ring the bell at the top. He liked that, and didn't look like he had too much help (but he did have some).
He also go to drive a push cart (all I got to do was push) :)
He also got to do some archery. He really liked that, but he had problems pulling the bow back. I thought he did real good though.

Afterward, we went to Sonic for chocolate shakes.

We had a good evening. Just wish we could have been there longer and could have done more stuff.

I'm back

I've made it back from my fishing trip to Roaring River. It was great and I want to talk about it, but I'm tired. Expect a good update in the next day or two.

Trips are good, but it's good to be home with my family.

Wreck

As those who read my blog know, I normally get up every morning to go work out. And I usually leave the gym around 6:30 to come home. Because of my trip I didn't today.

That is a good thing. Just another example of how God watches over us even when we don't know it.

As I was getting around this morning, I heard a wreck around 6:30. I went an poked my head out the door, cause I knew it was close. Shortly thereafter, I heard sirens, but by the time I got to the door, I didn't see where it went. A Few minutes after that, more sirens. This time, I saw the Fire/Rescue truck go through the stop sign and turn off his sirens.

I went for a walk.

2 pickups (a mini and a full size) had a wreck at the corner of 12th and Broadway. Which is where I probably would have been in the car if I had gone and worked out. And that would really have put a damper on my fishing trip.

The dark little pickup was off the road and at first I though it had ran the stop sign and skidded off the road. However, as I go to 12th street, I saw the gold full size pick-up, UP SIDE DOWN.

My guess is the little pickup did run the stop sign, and hit the full size just right to flip it.

It wasn't pretty. However, the doors on the ambulance that was at the site was not open, so my guess is seat belts were used and no one was hurt too badly.

Pray for the people involved in the wreck. And for me as I drive to Missouri this morning.

See y'all when I get back.

Welcome Home

Welcome home Atlantis!

She landed 6:21 ET this morning.

WL - 9/20 check-in

I know it's not time for a Weight Loss check-in, but since I'll be on a much needed vacation on Friday, and leaving Thursday morning, I figured Wednesday is my best time this week.

I've now gone 3 1/2 weeks without Dr Pepper. (I think that is a record.)
This week, I saw some drop in body mass as well as weight.

Overall, as of this morning, I have lost 20 pounds. I've lost 3 inches in my chest, and 2.5 inches in my waist.

People have started noticing and my cloths are beginning to fit anywhere from a little to much looser.

I've made my goal for this month. Which also puts me half way to my total goal.

Though I will admit that hitting my total is a bit of a stretch, but I think I should be able to hit another 10 to 15 pounds. We'll see.

Of course this trip this weekend will be tough. I know I will gain weight. It's just how much will I gain. I'm lucky for 1 to 2 meals a day normally, while I'm gone, I know they make 3 meals a day. I know I'll hike at least one day, but not sure about the others, so that will help... a bit. Though I don't think fishing burns many calories. We'll see.

Highway 20 Bridge back!

Back in July, I talked about the State closing the Highway 20 bridge between Collinsville/Owasso and Claremore.

Today, the Highway 20 bridge over the Verdigris River is fixed and open.

The news report initially said it would be closed for 90 days. Today's report said 75. Either way, that is a long time. They ended up getting it done in 57 days.

Course at $3000/day bonus, I'd work my tail off too.

Cruisin'

I got the cruise put into the Caliber today. Yippee!

I dropped it off about 7:50, and they called me at 10:30 telling me it was done and ready to be picked up.

They (and I) didn't expect it to take long, but this was the first they had put into a Caliber, so you never know what complications might show up.

It was a nice drive home today not having to worry about my speed.

Caliber Update

We have had the Caliber for almost 4 months and I love it

Plus, I have good news. Monday, I will take the car in to FINALLY get the cruise control installed. They had 2 come in today and my salesman called me. I was impressed and happy.

I'm getting ready to take that trip this weekend, and I really didn't want to do it without cruise.

Also, I've learned something very important. It is important to put the right kind of oil in the car. I'm sure it is possible to hurt the engine if the wrong kind of oil is in it (maybe), but it can also hurt fuel efficencie. On my first oil change, I took it in to the dealer to change the oil. They had a special for a $10 oil change. I couldn't change it for cheaper, so I used it. Well, they used 10W30. The car said it wanted 5W20.

On the first tank of gas, I noticed my miles per gallon drop. Well, it was still new, and the gas mileage fluctuating wasn't surpising. But the next tank was just as bad if not worse. As was the next and next and next, etc.

On the last oil change I made sure to put the correct oil in it, and my gas mileage toped 30 MPG. I was happy. My next tank was around 27. So it appears that the oil was what cause the problem. It sorta surprised me.

WL - 9/15 check-in

Ok, 8 weeks down since I started eating less and exercising regularly.

How am I doing?

Well, come this Sunday, I will have gone 3 weeks without a soda pop.
This week, I've lost another 3 pounds, which takes me to a grand total so far of 17.5 pounds.

I'm also pretty much on track for my 10 pounds this month.

Funny thing as I've kept track of my weight loss, I noticed something interesting from the last few weeks. I've lost 6 pounds, and measurements in my chest and stomach have not dropped, course there are other area's to lose weight, but you'd think I'd a little!

Anyway. I'll weight next Thursday morning. A day earlier than normal because of a Men's retreat I'm taking with my grandfathers church. I'll be trout fishing, hiking and from what I've been told, eating well. This may not help my weight loss. Though, if I do enough hiking, it may not be bad.

Top Front Tooth #1

Come one, come all! My boy lost his first top, front tooth this morning.

First, his top 2 teeth have been lose for some time. But he's patient, and doesn't wiggle them.
Earlier this week, he was playing on the playground at school, and slipped and hit his tooth and his nose. That really made his tooth wiggle. He really only complained about his nose, but it almost knocked his tooth out. When he went to bed last night, he was willing to wait till it fell out all by its onesie.

This morning, I was going to fix him some cereal, and he said he couldn't eat it because of his tooth. I told him we could pull it, that way one, he could have cereal, and 2 he wouldn't have to worry about losing it at school and not having it for the tooth fairy.

He let me pull it.

Sleepy

Last night was the cub scout meeting where I learned more about the pop corn sales.

What's neat about the pop corn sales that the cub/boy scouts do. 70% of the money goes back into scouting.

Well, while I was there, I got paged. Long story short, at midnight I went to bed since I was still waiting for people to answer the page.

I got an hour of sleep before I was paged again. I was then up for almost 2 more hours before getting to go to bed. On the bright side, everything was working when I went to bed.

Course, I couldn't get up and work out this morning. I never heard the alarm even though my wife told me I turned it off.

Tears

Tonight, I made my son cry. I feel so bad.

He was taking a shower and got water EVERYWHERE in the bathroom. I mean everywhere. Took me several towels to clean up the mess.

Of course, I got mad at him.

I went back in a few minutes later to check on him cause I thought I heard crying. He was. Big, huge tears were just pouring down.

"I thought you didn't love me anymore" he said through his tears.

I felt horrible.

I explained to him that no matter what he ever does, no matter how much I may be mad at him, nothing would ever stop me from loving him. That made him feel better.

Course it still didn't make me not feel horrible.

Cub Scouts Den Meeting

Tomorrow was suppose to be my son's first den meeting, but because of some leader/parent meeting it won't be.

*sigh*

We were both really looking forward to it.

So, it looks like he will only have 2 den meetings a month. One week there is a parent/leader meeting, and another week is the pack meeting.

*sigh*

34 Years ago today

34 years ago today, I was born.

I was sitting on the back porch Saturday just thinking. (Yes, that is dangerous.) About how God has blessed me so much.

I've grown up with parents that loved each other, and me and my sister. We weren't beat (spanked, more than once, but that's not the same no matter what "they" say). And was taught how to love and care about others.

I've know all four of my grandparents and 4 great grandparents.

I was able to go to college (mostly on my parents tab... Thanks Mom and Dad!), and a great college at that (GO POKES!)

I have a wonderful, beautiful, creative (I could go on) wife! 2 great kids. 3 cars, a house and a good job.

Anyway, that's enough I guess.

Left Behind: Eternal Forces

While glancing through the News headlines today, I saw this very interesting story from Yahoo News of a popular Christian book spawning a video game.

The only popular Christian book that I could think of was the Left Behind books. And I was right. There is going to be Left Behind Games.

Here is the description from the Left Behind Website:

Wage a war of apocalyptic proportions in LEFT BEHIND: Eternal Forces - a real-time strategy game based upon the best-selling LEFT BEHIND book series created by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Join the ultimate fight of Good against Evil, commanding Tribulation Forces or the Global Community Peacekeepers, and uncover the truth about the worldwide disappearances!

• Lead the Tribulation Force from the book series , including Rayford, Chloe, Buck and Bruce against Nicolae Carpathia – the AntiChrist.
• Conduct physical & spiritual warfare : using the power of prayer to strengthen your troops in combat and wield modern military weaponry throughout the game world.
• Recover ancient scriptures and witness spectacular Angelic and Demonic activity as a direct consequence of your choices.
• Command your forces through intense battles across a breathtaking, authentic depiction of New York City .
• Control more than 30 units types - from Prayer Warrior and Hellraiser to Spies, Special Forces and Battle Tanks!
• Enjoy a robust single player experience across dozens of New York City maps in Story Mode – fighting in China Town , SoHo , Uptown and more!
• Play multiplayer games as Tribulation Force or the AntiChrist's Global Community Peacekeepers with up to eight players via LAN or over the internet!

This could be a very good game. There is a downloadable demo of the game from their web page which I probably will download and give a shot.

The news article talks about how some people are in an uproar because this game is violent.

"It's reprehensible," said Florida attorney Jack Thompson, a critic of video game violence. "They're basically using the phrase — Christian game — to disarm parents into thinking it's going to be OK for our kids."

Well, I have a something I'd like to point out to this guy. No one said the Bible was not full of violence. It is. Lots of it. The Bible is full of lies, murder, deception, adultry, wars, insest, and probably much more stuff that I can't think of as I sit here and type.

Now, the Bible isn't a "How to" book on doing these things, but this stuff is in there.

Also, this is a GAME. Suppose to be fun to play. The developers are also trying to reach people with the gosple of Jesus Christ and at the very lease talking about things that will have eternal importance. A game with a Teen rating is about the same thing as a PG-13 movie. Most parents don't flinch an inch about letting their teen's watch PG-13 movies.

I acutally like how the developers responded when asked if the violence was needed to make the game fun. They replied "Violence is not required to make a fun game. However, it is required to make a game about the end of the world in the Left Behind book series. We have taken great care to make certain that there are real consequences for poor gamer behavior, unlike most games in the market. For instance, unnecessary killing will result in lower Spirit points which are essential to winning."

The game is expected out in October, but as I've said before, a downloadable demo is already available. I think I read they expect this game to cost in the $50 range and be rated Teen.

Birthday Party

My wife threw me a little birthday party. Both of our parents came over, and she cooked stuffed hamburgers! She also made cherry delight for desert! It was so good, and I ate WAY too much.

Oh well, how often does a person have a birthday right?

My boy made me a card and gave it to me. It was cute. It had a PlayStation on it, and Lego Star Wars II. He told me, we could get that game, and it would be for me! hehe

While I was opening my presents, my daughter ran off, and wrote me a short IOU birthday card. (she couldn't be one upped by her brother)

My mother-in-law actually got me a birthday present. I was shocked. She never gets birthday presents. It wasn't anything major, but I really liked it. It was an OSU toothbrush.

My parents went through a lot to get me my present, but finally found it. It was Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves Wide screen DVD. I use to have it on VHS, and the tape broke just a few weeks ago. So I really wanted this.

My wonderful wife got me an OSU T-shirt, and a really cool walking stick. It is awesome. I've wanted one for a while, but I've never found one I liked. This is too cool! She knows me so well.

I've had a great birthday party.

Monday is my actual birthday, and I'm sure I'll have more to say about that then.

Cowboys and Indians

Tonight, the Pokes played the Arkansas State Indians.

I was WAY worried in the first few minutes of the game. It wasn't looking good.

Game got much better. 35 - 7

Overall, they looked pretty good. Hopefully they'll keep that up the rest of the season.

(If they can skip the I don't know how to play football section at the very beginning of the game, I wouldn't mind!)

First U8 Soccer Game today

Today was our first U8 soccer game today.

The kids did great! 3 of the 6 kids scored points I think. 1 of the new kids that have never played before scored 2 points. I was excited. The funny part of that, was each time, his mom wasn't looking.

My most experienced kids did great. I'm going to have to watch them. They both look like they have tempers. That is not good.

It was a really good game. Though we still do not officially take score, one of the kids informed me that it was 17 - 2. I'm not sure if that is acurate or not, but it probably was.

I tried to slow down of the girls that was scoring to it didn't get worse. It didn't go so well.

I even had a parent volunteer to coach for me that game I'll be on that Men's Retreat on the 23rd. That was good to get the help. I hate having make-up games.

Atlantis has launched!

I'm excited to hear that Atlantis has launched!

It is headed to the ISS to add more solar arrays. These new arrays will double the power output of the station!


This is cool. Nothing else could be added to the station until these arrays were added to the station. Once this is done, there will be enough power supply to finish the station!

Wow, launches are so cool!

Happy Birthday Star Trek

The first episode of Star Trek originally aired 40 years ago today.

Hard to believe it's been around that long.

In it's 40 years, there has been 10 movies, 4 TV series, 1 cartoon, and books and comic books galore!
(and I've heard rumors of a new movie)

I can't imagine what life would be like without Star Trek.  It's had an impact on just about everything.

WL - 9/8 check-in

It's been a week and things are going ok I guess.

I've lost 3 pounds this week.

So, finishing up my 7th week of trying to eat right and exercise almost daily (6 days a week) I'm lost a grand total of 14.5 pounds.

I've had a couple people actually notice which has been nice.

It's going to be hard to lose another 5.5 pounds in 12 days. Really it is 14 days, but I've got a Men's Retreat I'm going to and will be gone for my normal weigh in.

Blog mishaps

This morning, I walked by the computer as my wife was looking at my blog. Was I shocked to see that one of my posts was all screwed up. So, I open it up, and it looks fine.

The difference? IE vs FireFox.

I've corrected that horrible error, and it looks fine in both again.

ahhhhhh All is right in the world.

Gmail drive shell extension

Stumbled across an interesting article at Lifehacker today.

Long story short, it lets you use your Gmail email account as an online hard drive.

Once you install this tool, you drag and drop the file using Windows Explorer, and it basically emails you the file, but you can see it like a hard drive. Download it as an email attachement elsewhere.

Oklahoma State Quarter - Vote

It is getting close to the time that the Oklahoma quarter will be released.

You can have a say on what will be placed on the quarter.

There are 10 finalists to chose from. You can pick up to 5.