Popcorn Anyone?

So, I pick up my boys from school yesterday and as soon as Tyler, my 6 yr. old, gets in the car he told me that he and a friend of his came up with this great idea. He said that they were going to travel the world selling buttered popcorn to the masses! He was so excited and so serious about this plan of theirs. So I thought I would ask him a few questions about this entrepreneurship. The first question I asked was if he would leave his family behind to do this. He immediately said, "I knew you guys wouldn't want me to do this!" I guess my question wasn't being supportive of him. LOL. I was laughing so hard while driving down the road and I think it just started to burst his bubble. He started to look sad like I had stolen his dreams away. He then got so excited and said that he had another great idea. He said that he wouldn't have to leave us because we could travel the world with him to sell buttered popcorn. That way we would all still be together! He also said we could sell cheddar popcorn, too.

It was a very funny moment and one that I'll remember forever. The fact that at 6 years old he was trying to think about a way to make money (internationally, too!) was very cool! Hopefully, he will continue to think forward like this and one day he will be this big international business man (even if it is selling popcorn)! I did follow our conversation up by telling him that his mother and I would support him in whatever he chose to do with his life and if it was selling popcorn, then have at it! After all, Orville Redenbacher had to start somewhere, too, right?

With that being said, would anybody like to place a future order for some buttered or cheddar popcorn? If you have any special request, let me know and I will share them with Tyler!

(3 days until BAMA vs. Clemson ..... ROLL TIDE!)

5 Days To Go

Well, it looks as if all of the experts aren't giving Alabama much of a chance against Clemson. That includes the many "experts" on http://www.cbssportsline.com/ and http://www.cfn.scout.com/ just to name a couple. There are many other sites with "expert picks" that all have picked Clemson, but I did find one expert that has picked Alabama to win. That one expert is Clucko the Chicken on http://www.cfn.scout.com/. Here's how the predictions for Clucko the Chicken are made. Put down two feed dishes, one representing one team and one representing another and whichever dish the chicken goes to first is the team that's going to win (really, the pick is a coin flip). Don't laugh, "Clucko" won the 2000 Bowl Pool among 24.

You know, I can actually see why all of the experts have picked Clemson to win. On paper, they are loaded and have lots of depth. I don't think that their offensive line is as bad as everyone is saying it is. These are very talented college players and I know that Clemson will be ready to play. An interesting fact that was just released today is that Alabama will be starting up to 10 freshmen for this game! Are you serious? Yes, I am dead serious. Half of our starters will be freshmen. Another reason for the experts to pick Clemson to win. Alabama is also on their 3rd offensive coordinator in as many years. This doesn't bode well for our QB, John Parker Wilson, but JPW is a very talented kid and has done well with the previous 2 offensive coordinators. If he can minimize his mistakes, we should at least be in the game. But, here's my thoughts (What you didn't ask for them? Well, here they are anyway). Yes, Clemson (on paper) should win this game hands down and all of the experts have rightly picked them to win, but the game still has to be played. Alabama had a dismal 7-6 record last year, but they didn't lose any of those 6 games by more than one possession (3-7 points). Hopefully, this year the Tide will turn! It begins on August 30th and I will be there!

Fortunately, this is a non-conference game and the outcome of this game won't kill either team. Hopefully, the outcome of this game won't kill my marriage! I'm only kidding Boo! You know I will love you through your loss! I mean, you know I will love you no matter what happens! After all, it's only football. Did I just say that? In the words of Dolly Parton and Whitney Houston (clean Whitney), I will always love you!

As I've said before, I am first and foremost an Alabama fan and 2nd a Clemson fan (by marriage). In fact, we have both flags waving on the front of our house! I hope it's at least a close game and a very exciting one at that! So in the spirit of college football and my loyalties ..... ROLL TIDE ROLL! In the spirit of keeping my marriage a happy one ..... ROLL TIDE ROLL! and GO TIGERS!

First Day of 1st Grade

Today was Tyler's first day of school! I can't believe how much he has grown over the past year. Not just physically, but maturity as well. Don't get me wrong, he still acts like a 6 year old, but it is amazing the difference between age 5 and age 6.

Last night we went to the open house at his school to meet his new teacher. Tyler was so excited. As soon as we got out of the car he kinda arched his shoulders back and started walking taller and more confident. He wanted to lead us into the school because he said he knew exactly where to go. He looked so big! His teacher is Mr. Galliland. After meeting him I think he will be a great teacher and good for Tyler. I have heard great things about him (even though he is a South Carolina fan). Anyway, we were the first parents to show up in his class last night. As each new student started to show up in the class, Tyler would greet them as they came in and would help each of them find their chairs and stuff. He was the Welcome Wagon!

So, this morning we were on our way to the school and I told Tyler that I would be walking him into the school. He told me that I didn't have to because he was in 1st grade and that he could go in by himself. I told him that I had to go in anyway because I had to go the cafeteria to put money into his lunch account. He then asked if that was something that he could take care of. I got the feeling that he didn't want me going in with him. Despite his wishes, I went in with him anyway. After all, how often is it that he starts first grade? Well, hopefully once!

Ryan has handled all of this very well. He is ready to go to "big" school, but I don't think that he quite understands that it will be another year before he starts. Last night, he walked into the school just as tall as Tyler did. I mean his big brother was starting 1st grade and I think Ryan thought that was a very cool thing. It will be "fun" when Ryan finally does start school. Right? Somebody convince me, please!

So with the first day of 1st grade out of the way, the next big date on my radar is August 30th (11 days). We got news this past Sunday that we finally have confirmation that we have tickets to the Alabama vs. Clemson game in Atlanta! Whoo-hoo! Pray for me! I will be sitting in the Clemson section with my wife and our best friends who are all Clemson fans! Look for me on TV. I'll be the one wearing the lone crimson shirt (and houndstooth hat) in the middle of a sea of orange and white shirts (and overalls). That shouldn't stop me from hootin' and hollerin' though.

ROLL TIDE!

B

Bahamas – I love the Bahamas! The beaches, the sun, the clear blue water .... ahhh!

Barack Obama – This man scares me!

Barlow Girls – An all girl Christian band that rocks!

Basketball – My favorite sport to play.

Beach – A bad day on the beach is better than a good day in the office!

Bear Bryant – The Man, The Myth, The Legend
www.espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Bryant_Bear.html

Belbow – When Tyler was a few years younger, this is how he use to say “elbow”.

Bible – What a book! Salvation lies within!

Big Brother – I’m a sucker for this reality TV show! Don’t be surprised if you see me on there one day!

Big Wheels – Does anyone else remember The Big Green Machine Big Wheel? That thing rocked!

Billy Joel – Listening to him reminds me so much of high school!

Blood Diamond – One of my favorite movies! Here is a little bit of information about blood diamonds:

Diamonds are symbols of wealth, elegance and love around the world. But in several African nations, they have been a means to power, a reason to terrorize millions of innocent civilians, and may have even helped finance some of the world's most brutal terrorists. Because they are portable, easily concealed, and untraceable, diamonds lend themselves to smuggling and corruption. In several underdeveloped African nations, warlords have used diamonds to help finance wars, while the rest of the world has turned a blind eye. Rebel armies have forced tens of thousands of people to mine diamonds in brutal, dangerous conditions under the threat of death, their pay as paltry as a cup of rice per day. In Sierra Leone, rebels chopped off people's hands, arms, feet, lips, and ears indiscriminately for years during a civil war financed in part by the trade of illicit diamonds.

Blue – My favorite color!

Bob Marley – His music just goes hand in hand with enjoying cruising!

Braveheart – Another one of my favorite movies! FREEDOM!

Burgers – I could eat a burger everyday! Favorite places to get burgers: Five Guys, Bubba Annies, Fuddruckers and my own grill!

A

Actually - A word that Tyler and Ryan use quite often. It is hilarious.

A.D. - My Dad's name. That's it. They're initials that don't stand for anything! So we just call him D!

Adam Sandler - One of the funniest actors there is.

Airplanes - I hate taking off, but I LOVE LANDING! There's nothing like seeing the runway just under the plane! Whew! Thank God!

Alabama - I was born in Birmingham, Alabama.

Alabama Football - Near and dear to my heart! ROLL TIDE ROLL!

Alaska - I would love to take an Alaskan cruise someday!

Alligators - Alligators are awnry 'cause they can't brush their teeth.

Allman Brothers - One of my favorite bands!

Apple pie - My nephew Drew loves apple pie. He is also moving to Hawaii tomorrow. Yes, I'm
jealous!

Aquatic Engineer - Bobby Boucher! I'm the wa-wa-wa-waterboy!

Art - I use to take art classes downtown at the art museum as a little boy and was "actually" quite good at it. I should have stuck with it! Now, I'm a systems anaylyst, yeah!

Blogging Through the Alphabet

I know it has been a while since I've posted anything to this blog, but you know how things get sometimes. Anyway, here I am again. I am going to steal an idea that I saw on another bloggers site by "Blogging Through the Alphabet". I will post a blog about each letter of the alphabet. We'll see hot it goes. It may be stupid, but at least I'll be posting something, right?

Lion of Judah

Lion of Judah, originally uploaded by Jeviar.

I found this cool picture of the Lion of Judah on flickr and thought I would share it here. I'll explain why I posted it on here later.

Hmmm?

Pray For My Momma!

I have just a quick prayer request that I would like to ask of those that read this blog.

(By the way, I have no idea who reads this. If you do read this, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail sometime! If you don't have my e-mail address let me know.)

I'll try to keep this short. As some of you may know, my Mom has had a terrible time with her leg. She broke it back in January in the mountains while her and Dad were trying to get away for the weekend. She had a really bad time with the healing process and with her incision closing up. She had to go to the wound clinic to get some help with the healing process. After many, many months, the incision healed, but she still had the bone itself trying to fuse back together and she has been doing physical therapy. She has also been unable to work most of this time. Last week she went to the doctor and found out that she had a staph infection in her leg so the doctor decided he needed to do surgery to remove the metal hardware that was keeping her bones together and clean out the infection with something similar to a pressure washer. The bones appeared to have fused back together nicely so he didn't reinstall new hardware in her leg, but she does have a pretty new incision about 4" long to go with the rest of her incisions. I just ask that you pray for her leg to heal quickly this time and without any bumps in the road. I know she would appreciate your prayers and so would I!

Mom, hang in there! Hopefully, this time will be the trick! Love you!

Up on the Knee Board and Finally in the Water

This past weekend we went to Brian and Jessica's lake house and had lots of fun! However, the fun was almost ruined on our way down to the lake. On the way there, we were driving on a long stretch of a 2 lane road (Highway 79 in Lincolnton Georgia about 15 minutes away from the lake house). Megan always gets on to me about driving too fast! Anyways, way ahead in the distance coming from the other direction the sheriff saw me speeding and turned on his lights. Megan said, "Chris, I think you're getting pulled over!" He and I were the only two cars on this road so sure enough he was coming for me. So, I slowed down and started to pull over and as he passed me he turned off his lights and continued to go down the road. My lucky day! Megan said that he probably just wanted to slow me down and that he was probably on his way home for dinner and didn't want to stop. I think he may have been a fellow Alabama fan and when he saw my BAMA tag on the front of my car he decided to cut me some slack! Just kidding! I don't know why he decided to let me go, but I'm glad that he did!

Anyway, Tyler tried to ski several times (which really surprised me) because he's always been so scared to try before. He did okay for his first time trying. Maybe next time he will try again and actually get up! He did, however, get on the knee board and did great! He went around a good ways on the lake and even made it through several big waves without wiping out! We circled around and let him go by the dock where Megan was swimming. I think she was more scared than he was. It was a very proud moment for us! I only wish that we had pictures of it!

Also, Ryan has never shown any interest in getting into the lake, but this time he finally got in! Granted he had the choke hold on whoever was holding him in the water, but he did get in! He constantly asked me if I was going to keep holding him or let him go. He was very loud about it, but he was very cute, too! I'm sure next year we won't be able to keep him out of the lake! That's the way it was with Tyler, too! Now, Tyler is like a fish!

Oh well, 19 days until our vacation at Myrtle Beach! 47 days until BAMA vs. Clemson!

ROLL TIDE!

Blog Remodel

So, I decided to remodel my blog! I think it looks much better if I do say so myself. I may make some minor changes, but change is good, right?

Not much to post right now. Tyler successfully turned 6 on July 4th and we had a pretty good 3 day weekend. I spent most of the 4th putting together Tyler and Ryan's new basketball goal that "Tyler" got for his birthday. Friday night we went down to the neighborhood pool and watched some fireworks. Saturday we had some friends over for a cookout and our kids played while we talked. It was great to get together with them! Sunday we tried a new church. The music and preaching were great, as well as the kids program, but it was just a HUGE church. Sunday afternoon we went and looked at new cars and came home with a brand new '09 Camry XLE. Very sharp car! It has all the bells and whistles! Last night we went to a birthday party at Pump It Up! Tyler and Ryan have a baseball game on Thursday and we are all going to the lake on Friday for the weekend! I won't be able to ski or anything because of my knee, but it will just be nice to be at the lake!

So, now that I've remodeled my blog, I guess it's time to get back to remodeling the house. Yeah, right!

ROLL TIDE!