Great Song Post

I heard this song on XM tonight. I absolutely love it!

If Nobody Believed In You

by Joe Nichols

I watched him take the two strike call:
He hadn't tried to swing at all.
I guess he'd had all that he could take,
He walked away, for goodness sake.
His father's voice was loud an' mean:
"You won't amount to anything."

That little boy quit tryin',
He just walked away.
There were teardrops on his face.
Tell me, how would you feel?
You'd probably give up too,
If nobody believed in you.

That old man said: "One more try,
"I know I'm not too old to drive.
"I promise, son, I'll do my best,
"This time, I'm gonna pass the test."
"Give me the keys, Dad, an' get in."
His father never drove again.

That old man quit tryin',
He just turned away.
An' there were teardrops on his face.
Tell me, how would you feel?
You'd probably give up too,
If nobody believed in you.

We take His name out of the schools.
The lawyers say it breaks the rules.
Pledge of allegiance can't be read,
An' under God, should not be said.
I wonder how much He will take.
I just pray it's not too late.

What if God quit tryin',
He just turned away?
There were teardrops on his face?
Tell me, how would you feel?
You'd probably give up too,
If nobody believed in you.

Tell me, how would you feel?
You'd probably give up too,
If nobody believed in you.

Danville Hawks 28 Vinemont Eagles 14

This was David's first game of organized football. He is number 71. He didn't get to play. The coach sent him at the very end and then time ran out. I am so proud of all of the hard work and improvement he has made.

Facts of Life

Last night I spoke to David about the facts of life. I asked him some questions to see what he already knew. Very little. Good! I warned him that, like me at that age, he would probably find this gross. I explained both the biological and sociological aspects of this issue. Not to mention I also talked about the spiritual.

I asked him, at the end, if he was glad that I told him about this, he said, "maybe." Well, he needed to hear this and I'm glad it's been explained the right way to such a nice young man.

I really know that it was time. This week at work we interviewed a 15 year old client who already had two children.

Julio Franco

Happy Birthday, Julio!

Being Julio Franco

Last Night...

Last night David spent the night here with me by himself. I enjoyed our time together. I cooked hamburgers and did a little cleaning around the house while he read his early birthday gift, a new Alabama football media guide. We had chocolate chip cookies and milk for dessert. After eating together we played a game of MLB 2005 baseball on Xbox. I was the Mets and he was the White Sox. I won 7-6 in 13 innings. I was trailing 6-5 going into the 9th, when Andres Gallaraga hit a solo home run for me with two outs to tie the game. Pedro Martinez started for me, but only lasted four innings after giving up six runs. I brought in Tom Glavine in the 5th and he pitched nine shutout innings for the win. My strategy with Glavine was to paint the outside corner. David and I watched a special on Fox Sports South about Cal Ripkin between nine and ten o'clock. He went to bed listening to Christian music on XM 32. It was a really good night.

This Weekend...

The boys and I had a great weekend. Friday night we attended the "Meet the Eagles" scrimmage and introductions. Saturday we drove to Tuscaloosa and went to Alabama's scrimmage. There were about 12,000 people on hand to watch Alabama practice.

Prior to practice I took the boys to Dreamland BBQ in Tuscaloosa. I told David he could choose where we ate as a birthday dinner combined with a celebration of him reaching the 100 pound milestone. The funny thing about it was that he was not quite 100 pounds yet. We were just doing it early. He liked Dreamland so much that I joked that he might be 100 when he finished eating. Lo and behold, he called me upstairs Sunday afternoon and said, "Dad, you've got to see this!" He was 100 pounds for the first time!

It was a great weekend with the boys. I have continued to have some problems with headaches and my blood pressure has gotten a little high for the first time in my life during the past month.
Tonight David is with me so I will keep this short. We are going to play a game before bed.

After Work the Past 3 Days...

Last Wednesday night I visited my Mom and Dad. It was nice visiting with them, reading the paper, and I also mowed their lawn. I told them that I think theey need to have a dangerous poplar tree removed that was leaning over the house, so we talked about that for awhile. My Dad made ribs and a baked potato. Yum! Thanks Dad!

Thursday I purchased groceries on the way home, helped Matt with his homework, and supervised David and Joe's mowing while I heated up frozen pizzas. David also had a good bit of homework. I showed them our Bama tickets and asked them if they wanted to go to Tuscaloosa for Bama's scrimmage on Saturday. "Yes!"

Friday David had team inroductions at the football field. The band played, all of the football players, cheerleaders, volleyball team, and others introduced themselves. The little league football players got to go out on the field with the high school team and do stretching exercises. Then the high school team had a scrimmage. We came home, ate, played some games, and cleaned up before we went to bed. David said, "You know what I like about Fridays?" "What," I said. "No Homework!" Can't say that I blame him!

Lost Glasses

David hung his glasses on the fence at the middle school football practice field. I enjoyed watching his practice tonight, but he was upset that he couldn't find his glasses. After walking along the fence several times I finally found them. Joe and I drove up to the field house where David was trying to talk to the high school football coach and looking around the locker room. Joe decided to play a trick. He wore them. I told David that, "we looked as hard as we could, but..." Then he saw his glasses on Joe's face and he grinned like a cheshire cat. Mystery solved, and hopefully a lesson was learned.

Hey BBQ Fans!

Here's my plug for Whitt's Barbeque. I get lunch from Whitts probably between 75-100 times a year. I love it! If you visit Decatur, Athens, East Lawrence County, or Ardmore give it a try. Tonight I stopped at the new East Lawrence location on my way to Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Wren, south of Moulton. The "half of chicken" with thick sauce was as good as ever. Their sandwiches are awesome and unique to North Alabama. You can choose beef, turkey, or pork. Unless you ask for something different, they come with mayo, vinegar slaw, pickles, and your choice of thick sauce, mild thin sauce, or hot thin sauce. I also have a card for a free drink that saves me over $50 dollars a year.

As Dad used to say, "Try it, you'll like it!"

More Weird Stuff

In court today, I looked out into the audience and saw what looked like a yellow pencil resting sideways on top of a lady's hair. I turned to a co-worker and said, "Why is there a pencil on that lady's head?" She didn't know either. Then another co-worker said that it was a comb. I looked over there several more times and it still looked to me like she was trying to balance a pencil on the top of her head. Then the worker who said that it was a comb commented, "That's so ghetto." Whatever...

A Master at Work

Last night I decided I'd take an opportunity to watch a master at work on the baseball diamond. If you know anything about baseball, you would have appreciated the effort turned in by future hall of famer Greg Maddux for his new team, the LA Dodgers, last night. What a treat. Here are a few links with the details:

AJC.com

Yahoo Sports

Sad News

My children's great grandfather, Laco Childers, died on Friday August 11 around 8:45 p.m. He was 92 and would have turned 93 on September 7. He had been diagnosed with leukemia recently. Joe and Matt got to see him that afternoon and he was alert enough to recognize them. David was at football practice at that time. David did get to see him later that evening before he died but he was not conscious at that time, according to Lisa. I think the boys were sad but I don't think they have spent a great deal of time with him. Lisa did make sure that they each took something home with them to remember him by. They each got a knife and David got one of his walking canes. Interestingly, Lisa said that the property where he and her grandmother lived was purchased in 1968 for $2000. It was 17 acres with two houses. She said that they found the deed. I would think that was an amazingly low price, even for that time period. "I started all of this." Laco Childers, on his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

From the Cullman Times:

Laco Childers

Funeral services for Laco Childers, 92, of Vinemont will be at 1 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 14, 2006, at Cullman Heritage Chapel, the Rev. Greg
Wilbanks officiating, with burial in Lawrence's Cove in Morgan County.

Cullman Heritage Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Childers died Friday, Aug. 11 at his residence. He was born in
Morgan County on Sept. 7, 1913, to Monk Oliver "M.O." and Vera Drinkard
Childers. He was self employed in the sawdust and shavings business.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two sons, L.C. Childers and
Bobby Childers; two brothers, Berlin Childers and O.Q. Childers; and two
grandchildren, Amber Wren and Brian Wren.

Survivors include his wife, Corine Childers of Vinemont; six daughters,
Patricia Shields, Rita Sizemore, both of Cullman, Faye Raney, Sandra
(Randy) Wren, Gwendolyn (Steve) Sherrill, all of Vinemont, Renay
Johnston of Good Hope; two sons, Gary Childers of Cullman, Randall Childers of
Vinemont; daughter-in-law, Paula Childers Knighten; five sisters, Ruby
(Hop) Bailey, Susie Childers, Lizzie (Millard) Holmes, Angie Veal,
Bernice (Raymond) Chesser; a brother, Billy (Sarah) Childers; two
sisters-in-law, Gail Childers, Mae Childers; 25 grandchildren; and 32
great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 6 to 9 p.m. today.

Relient K - High Of 75 Lyrics

I heard this song by Relient K on XM 32 yesterday and really liked it...

We were talking together
I said, "what's up with this weather?"
Don't know whether or not
How sad I just got
'Cause on my own volition.
What if I'm just missing the sun

And tomorrow, I know,
Will be rainy at best.
And the forecast, I know,
Is that I'll be depressed.

But I'll wait outside
Hoping that I'll catch sight of the sun.

[Chorus:]
Because on and off,
The clouds have fought
Their control over the sky

And lately the weather
Has been so Bi-polar
And Consequently so have I

And now I'm sunny with a High
of 75
Since You took my heavy heart
And made it light

And its funny how you find
You enjoy your life
When you're happy to be alive

[Chorus]
And the temperature is freezing
And then, after dark,
There is a cold frost sweeping
In over my heart

And we might break up
If I don't wake up to the sun

[Chorus]
Sunny with a High of 75
Since You took my heavy heart
And made it light (made it light)

And its funny how you find
You enjoy your life
When you're happy to be...
Alive

Thoughts from the past few days...

I always enjoy getting any "extra" time that I can with the boys. I was especially glad to be able to do that Wednesday. I picked the boys up from school after their first day of school. I also picked them up from school yesterday. This morning was tough at first but ended sweet. David was a "bear" at first. He was so hyped up last night that he was not able to get to sleep before 11. This morning he was nearly impossible to wake up. He was nearly in a coma. After I finally got him into a semi-conscious state, it was like pulling teeth to get him to actually get up on his feet. And was he ever grouchy about it. I was being as patient as I could, but my warnings seemed to go unheeded and his back-talk was getting on my nerves. This "teenage" stuff is not fun.

Actually he's not usually that bad if he gets enough rest.Anyway, he ended up helping without too much argument. He took out the garbage and straightened up his closet. Fortunately, we had time to read the Bible and pray together. I usually pray out loud and they repeat what I say out loud. I did this today and also we prayed silently together for a few minutes. Then I prayed out loud again for a few minutes. I am so very thankful for David, Joseph, and Matthew. They are the greatest joys in my life. Have you ever had one of those times in prayer when you really felt strongly that God's presence was with you and that He was helping you and the people with you? This was one of those times for us. I even shed a few tears of thankfulness as I pondered how blessed that we are in so many ways. As we prayed, Matt cuddled up next to me and all of us seemed to have much more positive spirits after we prayed. I gave the boys each a dollar for break and watched them cross the street to the school. They all turned around and waved. It was special to me.

A few more random thoughts:

David was so very excited to tell me all about football practice. When asked which class he liked the most, he said that all of his teachers seemed equally "nice" so far. David blew me out in an Xbox baseball game. I beat him the other day. He really likes it when he beats me in a game, because it is still not the norm. Last night before he fell asleep, he told me some funny things that happened in school. He laughed about one boy who farted out loud in class and another boy who thought Kentucky was a city in Tennessee.

Joe has expressed several times lately that he would rather be outside than inside. He truly has all of the makings of an outdoorsman. He spent a few minutes each of the last two afternoons shooting his bb gun at various objects in the backyard, including a katydid. He blew me out in an Xbox football game. He was USC and I was Alabama. He got an early lead, so I had to gamble, and lost. He always wants to wait out on the front porch in the morning before we leave rather than in the house.

Matt and I played an Xbox baseball game that was older and more "juvenile" than the one I played with David. His "players" were actually clowns. I blew him out but he enjoyed every minute of it. I haven't heard him laugh so much in a while. He liked beaning my batters because he wanted the players to fight on the mound and do all of their spastic antics. I have been teasing Matt (and his brothers) a lot lately about the stuff that they watch on the Disney Channel (i.e., "Hannah Montana" and "That's So Raven") as being girls' shows. We all tease Matt about having girlfriends. If there is ever a cute girl on television, we say, "Ooh, Matt, look!" When he does, he makes this angry face at us for teasing him about it. He's so cute.

First Day of Football Practice

Today was David's first day of middle school football practice. He has never played before, but he's pretty excited about it. I picked Joe and Matt up after school then we watched David practice. We celebrated by getting some Domino's pizza for supper. The boys still haven't had any homework, so I played games with them tonight.

First Day of School

It was great picking the boys up from school today. We walked home and sat down long enough for them to each tell me about their day, their classes, teachers, and classmates. They all seemed tired. Matt actually fell asleep for a little while as we were talking. We drove over to the Dollar General and picked up a few things, cleaned up a little, watered the watermelons, cooked and ate fried chicken, played some games, read some stories, and I put them to bed at about 9. Since them I've been catching up with some weather and sports stuff on the internet. I had a nasty headache today at work that finally went away this evening. Thanks Lord for another good day!

Back to School 2006

Yesterday was open house at the school for the boys. The boys met their new teachers, saw their new classrooms, and found out who was in their class this year. David starts seventh grade. He will be dressing out in PE for the first time this year and he also plans on joining the middle school football team.

After open house, which lasted from about 5-6 for us, David and Joe came over to the house awhile until about seven when their mom arrived.

Tomorrow is the first day of school. David was the only one of the three tonight who told me he was looking forward to school. Summer vacations are not as long as they were in the "good old days"!

What's Up With This?

Here's the court question for the day: If you are charged with contempt of court for failure to pay child support (facing the possibility of jail), and furthermore, you are wearing a t-shirt that says, "UPS - United Pimpin Service", are you wearing appropriate court attire?

Answer: Yes or No?

Comments anyone?

Just another day in court for my co-workers and I.....

How did America ever get to this point?

Weekend

The boys and I had four really good days.

Thursday evening: We worked our tails off in the heat. We mowed, trimmed, picked up sticks and trash, watered and harvested in the garden, and sweated in 97 degree heat. After all of that I cooked breakfast for supper. I made bacon, eggs, and we drank chocolate milk. Yum!

Friday evening: As a reward to the boys for all of their hard work, I took them to the local roller skating rink. We were there for about three hours, from 7:30-10:30. They were a bit rusty, not having skated that much. There were a lot of bumps and bruises, but they had a large time. Their muscles were a bit sore, too, from all of the exercise. David did not want to stop. Joe was ready to quit a few minutes sooner than Matt.

Saturday: We travelled to Mom and Dad's. We watched the Braves lose to Cincy with my Dad. After that we played touch football at the park. David and Joe went up against Matt and I. The game concluded with a 7-7 tie. We gave one point for each touchdown, so we did a good bit of running in the heat. It was extremely hot out there and we were sweating like crazy. As if the football game wasn't enough, we all ran the bases several times. Yes, I even did it with my 40-something body. I think I needed the exercise.

Sunday: We mostly hung out with my Mom and Dad. David and I looked at some of my old baseball cards. We watched the Braves degeat the Reds and the Cubs win behind the solid pitching of Rich Hill. We saw Hill dominate the Memphis Redbirds when he was with the Iowa Cubs a few eeks ago. I gave each of the boys about 65 baseball cards. Mom made an awesome meal; peppered ham, corn, and baked potatoes. The Blue Bell ice cream finished it off just right. Joe opted for the chocolate chip cookies, as usual. We did a little grocery shopping. On the way home we talked to Cara on the phone and got an update on the kitten.

Weird Stuff From the Garden

Let me intoduce our new friend, Bob!

Catching Up

I guess it's time for a little catching up on the blog. Since we got back from vacation I have been trying to play catch up on so many things. We drove back from Kansas City on July 24th and we spent the 25th at my parents' home. I washed clothes all day that day and the boys helped as we organized all of our things. Joe and Matt washed the vehicle and David mowed my parents' lawn that day. On the morning of the 26th, they went back to their Mom's. Boy did I miss them, even though they were with me again on Thursday the 27th.

I have spent the last week catching up on things at work and by today I have recovered pretty well from being out so long. I don't hate my job like so many people seem to do. I did need the break, though, and it felt better coming to work after having two weeks off. It's always good to recharge the batteries.

Sunday evening I did some weed eating. I hate using the weed eater. The string always gets caught up in the spool and I have to turn the thing off, respool the string, and start again. That must have happened 10-12 times Sunday evening.

I have been spending some time writing updates on previous posts about the vacation as well as posting some more photos, so I haven't made as many "new" entries as usual during the past week. Things are starting to fire up in the tropics so I will be watching the weather closely to see what Chris will do. I will be posting some updates about Chris on my weather blog.

Terry's Pizza is Gone

My Mom informed me earlier this evening that Terry's Pizza is closing in Huntsville. Too bad. Terry's has been a Huntsville institution and family favorite since 1959. Here is an article from the Huntsville Times.