Happy New Year!

Not much time to write tonight. Off to a big party you know. Actually I haven't written all week. I have been on vacation between the holidays and not had much computer time. I actually spent the day today doing upgrades to the home PC. Works better now. Well gotta go. Happy New Year!

Busy Day

I won't be writing much today. We are busy getting ready for Christmas. I'm sure no one will read this post because everyone else is busy too. We are making food, wrapping the rest of the presents and cleaning up the house. We will get most everything done today so that we can have some R&R for the rest of the time off.

Merry Christmas!

True Christmas Spirit

I had a great experience last night that stuck out in my mind today. I was with a group that went Christmas caroling last night. In between houses as we were walking I was asking a few of the kids what they had asked for for Christmas. One little girl told me that she hadn't asked for anything. She explained to me that the presents aren't what Christmas is really about. I am not quoting her exactly but her message was clear. She said that she didn't understand where the big idea of presents came from. Christmas is really about Jesus being born. I told her that I thought our tradition of giving gifts came from the wise men giving gifts to the baby Jesus when they first visited Him. She was aware of the fact that they had given him gifts. We didn't talk much more about it but I was really impressed with what she had said. This is a good message for all of us. Have fun but at the same time keep things in perspective and don't loose sight of real purpose for celebrating Christmas.

Christmas is close

Time is short now before Christmas! Better get busy or it will be here before you're done with all of the things left to do. It seems that we always get so busy that we can't enjoy the time around the holiday. We don't remember what it is really about. What would we do if we had a year with no presents, not tree, no lights. Would we realize that it's OK and that the real reason for Christmas has nothing to do with those things anyway or would we complain and whine about all that we didn't get. I suppose everyone would react differently but it would be a good test. Lets all be glad that we can celebrate Christmas the way we do regardless of what we may or may not get or have.

Reflection

Yesterday was a tough day for my little town. I mentioned in an earlier post that we lost a freind last week to a terrible automobile accident. Yesterday was the funeral service for Steve. I had been asked to sing at the service and this makes it even that much tougher. You feel more drawn in and the meaning seems to be even greater when you are personally involved. Everything went well and the turnout was overwhelming. There was a portion of the service that was designated for people to stand and speak about things they remembered or stories that stuck in their minds about Steve. It was very inspiring. The one that really meant the most to me came from a coworker of Steve's. Steve was in the national guard and he was called to serve a few years ago. She said the she and Steve had talked a lot about our country and she was struck by the amount of love Steve had for this country. She said that when he was asked to serve she felt safe knowing that Steve was going to be protecting the country. This tells a lot about how he affected people. We also know that Steve is helping others even though he is not here with us anymore. He was an organ donor and recipients were found for his heart, liver and both kidneys. What a gift he gave those who have received a chance to live on because of him. His faith was strong and this gives comfort to all. He is in a better place now and waiting for his family to join him there in due time. I was honored to know him and he will be missed.

Frankenmuth Michigan

We took a trip to Frankenmuth Michigan a couple of weeks ago for a mini vacation. I took some pictures and these turned out pretty good so I thought I would share. Click on them if you would like to see a larger image. Hope you like them!

In Memory Of

More to add to the post that I wrote yesterday. The family of the friend who died in the car accident last week has asked me to sing at his memorial service. This is a great honer. He was so well known in the area and a great guy. I will be happy to be part of the service that they are having for him. I'm sure also that the family wants everything to be just right and that adds to the meaning of it for me.

Just a few thoughts about my friend. He was so full of life. He loved sports and this is really when I spent the most time with him. I loved to play basketball and he did too. We would see each other at pick up games an have a great time. He was always the last one standing. He never seemed to run out of energy and would beg for people to stay for one more game when everyone else wanted to go home. I would also see him at the basketball games at the high school. He loved to watch them and was most always there when I was. He would have a ball arguing calls or critiquing the players. He will be missed greatly!

Things In Three

Well, they say that things happen in threes and it has proved true in the past couple of weeks. As I said in earlier posts my niece's father in law and the father of my best friend died in past couple of weeks. We actually attended the funeral of my best friend's Dad just today. On top of this we found out that a good friend died in an auto accident in South Dakota. This is the third thing and it was a shock to us all. We will be at the third funeral sometime this week and it will be very sad. The whole town was a friend to him and I am sure that there will be a huge turnout at his funeral.

Today someone said that we should make sure that we tell the ones we love how we feel about them now. Don't wait! We don't know for sure that tomorrow will come.

Ohio Weather

Winter has really arrived now. We woke up to a dusting of snow and stiff winds. The commute was nasty. Icy roads made it slow going. Its midday now and the snow is coming harder. We won't get that much but it is enough to get the real feel of winter. The temperature is supposed to drop throughout the day ending up in the teens by this evening. I hope the winter doesn't have bad surprises in store for us this year. Just a note, it is 79 in Key West today. I'm ready for spring.

Bad News About James Kim

The news about James Kim is bad. He was found dead approximately 10 miles from the stranded car that he left in an attempt to save his family. What a unbelievably hard decision it must have been for him to leave his family. I can only imagine the things going through his mind at the time. He is a hero in my mind and fortunately his family will be OK. My prayers go out to them in this time that must be unbearable for them.

It was strange for me to hear about this when it happened because I had recently started to listen to James on a podcast that he did for Cnet. I also watched some video reviews that he did on Cnet for MP3 players. It made this a little more shocking and personal.

The ear thingy

Is just me or have all of you noticed a lot of people talking to themselves. Well at first it appears that way. They may be moving there lips or you may notice someone waving there hands or arms when they are alone in there car or walking down the street. It's the ear thingy. That explains it. Bluetooth! The new status symbol is the ear thingy. A person that at first glance appears to be a little weird is actually sporting a new trendy ear thingy. They go from being strange to elite in an instant. You see them everywhere nowadays. I say now, that I will never wear one! Whatever, this will be another thing that at first seems ridiculous but after you realize the advantages and capabilities you gotta have one.

Feline Fiasco

Well here we go again. The cat is sick. The cat that was free is now costing me big time. She was just at the vet and has an ulcerated lip, fungus on her ears and potentially a urinary tract infection. After shots, meds and $135.00 she is now resting peacefully at home. I have always been told that pets are supposed provide soothing comfort to their owners. Well it ain't working for me. I'm stressed about going broke. I think that I have spent more on vet bills for the cat then I have for medical bills for the whole family. Oh well enough complaining.

School Choice

I listen to the nationally syndicated radio talk show host Neal Boortz most days. He is big on school choice and believes that the government involvement in schools is a contributor to the education problems that we have today. I tend to agree with the points that he makes. One important aspect of a child's education is the role the parent plays. Today's system doesn't require any thought or decisions with regard to where your child goes to school. Neal points out that when a family moves to a new location one of the first things that the parents will do is found out where the kids will attend school. No research or investigation is done into the quality of the school or the capabilities of those who will teach the children. You get what you get and in some cases complain about the way things are run in the school that you are assigned to. It doesn't make sense that we are satisfied with this when you compare it to all other areas of our lives. With other things we demand choice and competition works to our advantage. What would keep us from believing that this would not be the case with education. It seems that school choice would result in a more competitive educational environment which in turn would theoretically improve the quality of the education our children receive. Just a thought........

Just checking in

Not a lot of time to write today and not much to say but wanted to check in. A sad time yesterday . I attended a funeral. I didn't know the man very well but the from the reaction of the family he will be missed. My brother in law did the service and did a fine job. Here today and gone tomorrow. Times like this really give a perspective to things. It always seems that you can't really grasp the reality of this until times like this.

Sad Note

We got some bad news on Friday. My niece's father in law died the day after Thanksgiving. it was a shock. He wasn't sick or in the hospital. He actually was with his grandchildren and had just taken them to see a movie. After they returned he complained of a headache and wanted to lay down to sleep awhile. He never woke back up. The family is still not sure what happened but hope to after getting the results of an autopsy that was done. We will be attending the funeral this week to pay our respects. Prayers go out to the family in this tough time.

Black Friday

Well I didn't go out early in the morning on "Black Friday", I waited until late in the afternoon. I wasn't out to buy much I just wanted to look around. There is some really cool stuff out there this year. The thing that I am really interested in is the new entertainment type PC stuff. Watching and recording TV on your PC seems like the way of the future. Sitting on your couch with a wireless keyboard and mouse checking email right before you tune in for the new episode of CSI. What could be better. I am in the market for a new PC and I will surely be looking for something that will give me all of this functionality. I spent all evening in Circuit City looking at all the things that I think I need. (I really don't NEED it)

Thanksgiving

What am I thankful for? The list is long. I'm thankful for my great wife and my great kids. I'm thankful for all of my family, that I have a good job, for our troops that fight for our freedom, my dog, my health, friends, good food to eat, books to learn from, TV shows, movies, advances in medicine, computers, my house, my cat?, mentors, sports, church, the coffee shop I frequent, Summer, the beach, digital cameras, fresh water, schools, Buckeyes, my truck.......

The list goes on and on but the point is that we take so much for granted and tend to talk more about the things that we are not happy with than the things that we have been blessed with. I know I am guilty of it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Perspective

and other significant people in A buddy of mine has found out that his Dad has cancer. On top of that he had a stroke. I talked to him and he seems to be handling it OK but who knows. We always hear about this happening to others but when it hits this close to home it really makes you think. Everything can change in an instant. It really changes your perspective and you refocus on the things that are really important. It is funny how the bad times bring you back to the basics of life. You suddenly concentrate more on the things that mean the most to you. You spend more time with family, friends and other significant in your life. How long does that last though? It seems that it doesn't take long before you fall back into the same routine, until something bad happens again.......

OSU vs MSU

Well the big game is only two days away now. I'll bet the players can hardly think of anything else. People have been spending a lot of time this week talking about the game. Where they will watch it, what time they will start drinking and hoping they make till game time. Everyone has an opinion about game strategy and who will win. This could be the biggest game that some can remenber. It's great to see #1 play #2, but even better when it is OSU vs MSU. It shoul be a good time.

GO BUCKS!

Introduction

This is the first post of this Blog. I will post whatever might be on my mind at any given time on any given day. Most times I suspect my posts will be related to current events, politics and sports. We'll see what happens.