I didn't know this until it was too late for me to take off work. T.J. Had a graduation for fifth grade! When did this start? I didn't have one. This must be new, I never heard of it before. But since I was told about it the night before it occurred, I couldn't be there. How sad. Luck had it that Uncle Drew was able to go and take a few pictures for me. Mile stone after mile stone, my little boy is becoming a little man. You know it's times like these that always make me step back and take a closer look at him and evaluate the job I am doing as a Dad. I think I'm doing a good job. I think he's going to be a great man and make positive impact on our community. I love him!

Junie, Alea's man!

Everybody needs somebody... or so the saying goes. My friend Alea found her a man. He's a good man. His name is Raymond but he likes to be called Junie, he comes from the east coast, Virgina. He is smart, handy, helpful, kind and just an all around good guy. I like him and am glad to be able to call him my friend. He has taken on the responsibility of the two girls and that to me is stepping up and being a real man. Junie, welcome to the family.

another first for T.J.

Now I know that this may not be an exciteing thing for anybody. But is is a mile marker in the life of T.J. I found it yesterday, just sitting there, on the crease of his nose. Yes, T.J. got his first zit! It's a small thing but now he will be able to look back and know how old he was when....

screech hickup screeech

T.J. was in his 5th grade musical last night. It was a play that brought Art, History and music all together. The title of this musical is Yo! Leonardo. It was Composed by Mark Burrows. The musical brought artists like Leonardo Di Vinci,Monsieur Monet,Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picaso into light with song and illistration. All of the children did their jobs well but I do think that the direction left a lot to be desired. It seems that Ms. Joy Heideman, The Music Teacher and Director of this musical had too much on her plate. I feel that it did in fact lack direction and it seemed to me that she couldn't handle the children and keep them in order. There were several mistakes made which is what 5th grade plays and musicals are about, but when the Director herself is the one makeing the mistakes one must wonder. All in all the musical turned out ok, it was cute, and what one would expect. What annoyed us, (not just me) is that at the end Ms. Heideman took 20 minutes to thank everyone and say goodnight. The musical was an hour long and Ms. Heideman's talk for 25 minutes was almost half as long. In the words of Eddie Murphy, "shut the F#@* up and get off the stage"! Over all, always good to see my boy on stage.

Astros '09

Well here we are, a little late again with the blog page. Sorry. It's Baseball time again for T.J. This year he is on the Astros and his game is up a little. I have had to ask for help in teaching him the basics again because he doesn't want to learn from Dad. Are all kids that way? Was I? I can't answer that but it seems to be the way that it is, at least for us it is. Never the less, he is haveing alot of fun and I guess that, that is what matters. At this point we are 5 games into the year and in first place. We lost our first game due to "jitters" I think, and have yet to loose any other. I think that our Mgr. is to be praised for that. He is a great Mgr. and has the do it right or don't do it at all attitude. I am the #3 coach responsible for the outfielders and pregame streching & warm ups. I am looking forward to the first place trophy this year. Last year we took second place with the Diamondbacks.

Going to the races!!

T.J. and I go to the races every year. This year was special though, as we got to bring along some friends. Daren and his daughter McKenzie came with us this year and we all had a lot of fun. We got tickets on turn #4 where the crashes happen, but , they closed the section so we were rerouted to turn #1 where not much at all happens. That didn't cloud our day though. We had a good time teasing T.J. and McKenzie about being "close" friends. On the ride there McKenzie proved that she can hang with the best of men by dropping a rose to kill. It was nice to see at the track, they lowered the prices of beer by a dollar this year to help us out during these tough times!!? What the he#@! ok but it was nice of them...

Tore up house!

I bought this D.R. Horton home in 2003. I didn't get to move into it untill 2004 because the workers would all go to Mexico every two to three months and stay for weeks at a time.(that's what they told me.) So my completion date kept getting pushed back and back and back again. Anyhow, I am now finding out that D.R. Horton got a "great deal" on plumbing. They put all this great plumbing into the homes. The plumbing broke in several homes and now they have to go back and replace all of it in every home that they put it into. The only reason that I am not upset about this is because I don't have to pay for it or go through my insurance to get it done. That would have been a hassle beyond! They came in and tore the place up! These are some shots of the holes they cut all over the house. They finished today with the painting so now I can put the house back in order. Yah!

This is a little late but that's ok. Little bro's birthday. Little bro. turned 39 on Feb. 10th. T.J. baked his cake as he did mine. He wanted to attempt a dbl. layer cake. So that's what we did. It turned out ok as far as taste goes but it didn't look the best. The house nearly caught fire with all 39 candles lit. It took some time to light them too.

Where does the time go!?

Yes folks, another year has passed. I find myself a year older and a little wiser. I think we all wish that we could have stopped at 29 but let's think about that for a moment. Had I stopped at 29 would I have T.J.? No I wouldn't have the person that I hold dearest to my heart. That point alone say that we need not go any further. I am glad that I am getting older, I am glad that I am getting closer to living with my Lord in the Heaven, in the space that he promised me. I wouldn't be as smart as I am now, or as strong. 2008 was a hard year for us, but we are still makeing it through with baby steps and are looking forward to a much better year in 2009. Who knows, I may even find a special person this year to enjoy life with. (besides T.J.)

I had to work on my Birthday this year but that's ok because the one person that I wanted to spend it with was in school. I really enjoyed my day this year because my brother and my son baked me a cake that we all enjoyed very much. It almost started the house on fire because of all the candles but we caught it in time. (HeHe) The cards I recieved were the best yet. T.J.'s is here for viewing because when he got it for me at Wally-world, My brother put it in the cart faced forward. T.J. reached into the cart and turned it around, when asked why he did that he said "cause it's a little dirty!". That cracks me up. We ended the day with one of my favorite dinners, Pizza and beer. We played cards and watched a movie, and I fell asleep in my chair. Thanks folks!!