Kinda like Remember the Titans, but from a Believer's point of view. CHECK IT OUT!

I was summoned for jury duty today, only the second time ever. The first time I was off at college and had to get out so this was my first time to ever report for duty. I was pretty excited, so excited that I forgot about it. Thankfully we've got a very close friend who works for the Clerk of Court and she called Audra at a quarter till to remind me that I had to report in 15 minutes. Audra called me, I took off flying and made it in time. I was #16 and got to go up to the jury box, that was pretty cool. They asked us questions to see if we were fit for duty but the one that must have knocked me out was "What do you do for a living?" "Uh, Youth Minister, First Baptist Church." Didn't help that the two prosecutors on the case are only a few years older than me and that everyone in town knows that they are very active members at our church. It wasn't a surprise that I was dismissed, but it was a bit of a dissapointment. I was all set for some kind of legal drama like Runaway Jury or A Time To Kill. Dang, I gotta pick up a side job. "I wash cars." Yeah, that might work.

Always dreaming, always scheming. I love my XJ, that's just all there is to it. I hunt, my kids will hunt, my wife wants to hunt again someday. We will always camp, we will fish, all that good stuff. We will always want to be outdoors so we will always want a vehicle like this. It's paid for, it runs great, it's not fancy so I don't worry about scratches or muddy feet, and I wouldn't be able to get much more money out of it than I put into it like I've done with my past 3 vehicles. There isn't much reason to ever get rid of it. While it's not too terrible on gas, we all know that prices are only going to continue to rise. I don't complain about gas prices because I know that someday I'll look back and remember how good it was when it was $3 a gallon. Because I drive a lot it would make a great deal of sense to eventually go back to a small car as gas prices rise. So I think I'm going to try to have my cake and eat it too. Here's my plan...

The tires on my Jeep are brand new so it will take a long time to wear them out. I'll keep driving it daily since it's not harsh on gas with 30 inch tires and I'll start saving money here and there for a used Civic. My favorite body style is the 92-95 model and those can be bought on the cheap. In a couple of years when my Jeep needs new shoes I'll buy the Civic. Then the real fun starts...

I'm waiting on the weather to clear so I can put on my lift, it's just a 2 inch budget boost to give it a little more room. I'd love to have 32's or 33's someday when this isn't my daily driver anymore so I came up with a plan and found a guy who did the same thing so I know it will work just fine. I can buy a new 3 or 3.5 inch suspension lift for a reasonable $500(with full leaves, not add-a-leaves), add my 2" spacers and shackles to it, and I've got 5-5.5" of suspension lift for half the price. Slap some big meats on my rims and I've got a sweet looking and very capable offroad vehicle. The money I'd save in gas on the Civic would be more than enough to pay for it's insurance. I had my Jeep and that Jetta on my policy at the same time for a little while and they were both super cheap to insure. I come out ahead. Go me.

The Jeep in the pic is lifted the same way I'm talking about, budget boost coupled with a 3 inch suspension lift, and it's sitting on 32's.

So I can finish my gate, build a dog house, and install a lift on my Jeep today. That was why I stayed home and didn't go with Audra and the kids, I've got all these outside projects that need to be done but it's rained every chance I've had to get out there so I haven't done squat.

Squat, what a word.

Audra had to work in Crestview today so she and the kids left yesterday morning and won't be home until tomorrow night. She took such good care of me, cooking meals and putting them away in the fridge for me. But word got out that I was home alone so a family took me out for lunch today and I just got a dinner invitation from another family a little while ago, you know, "since you're all alone right now".

I finally got an MP3 player for myself, and true to my nature I got it good and cheap too. It's not an iPod, I use iTunes, so that threw a kink in it for a little bit. All of the music on my computer was put on using iTunes, which encodes in MP4, and of course since I didn't know much about all that I didn't buy a player that could play that format. I had to give myself a quick education today, download some software to convert my stuff, and I was all set. I feel so cool, now if only I could play nintendo or sega or whatever it is that Charlie, Ryan, and David play online all the time.

Isaac didn't make it. He was extremely sick and the lady had to put him down Thursday night. JonMichael was asking about Isaac today so I told him that he was too sick and he died but he didn't know what that meant. I asked Audra if I should kill an ant or something and try to explain it that way but she said no so we left it at that.

The other one is just fine and JonMichael likes the name Chloe so we no longer call her Little Girl. She already knows her name and since there is only one we actually let her spend a good bit of time inside, mainly during the heat of the day. Since she spends so much time outside she is doing really well with housetraining and has only had a couple of accidents. That's when the ceramic tile is so nice to have. She still sleeps outside and never complains about it.

It wasn't easy to bring the puppy home but in the end I'm glad we did have him for those 3 hours and we plan to do it again Thursday night. I think it was good for JonMichael to see just how sick he was and we're using this time to teach him that he can pray for Isaac. If he doesn't live then we'll also use that to try to start teaching him about death. Thankfully we've still got Little Girl in the backyard so it's not like it will be painful for him, plus he's already used to Isaac being gone.

No really, this is about a dog. We got to bring Isaac home yesterday evening for a few hours to be around us again. It can be good for people to be around family when they're extremely sick, why not dogs? Once we got him home we wondered if we had made a mistake in bringing him because he was in such bad shape. He can't eat and is literally skin and bones. I wasn't even sure if he could stand up but he could and he even walked around some but it really wore him out. I had to keep him right in my lap around the kids because even their "gentle" touches seemed painful and he only wanted to be stroked on his head and neck.

We've got a friend whose new puppy did this exact same thing a few weeks ago and it took him about a week to get better but she waited a couple of days before bringing him to the vet. I think he got sick on Tuesday, got a little better the next, then fell apart Thursday and they got him to the vet on Friday and he ended up staying at the vet for 5 days. I knew we had serious problems on Saturday afternoon and got help for Isaac immediately so I'm hoping that tomorrow or Friday should see some good changes.

Yeah, I've got a myspace, so what. That doesn't mean that I particularly like it. It was only to talk with my students since many of them have one and to reconnect with some old friends from back in the day. But man is it aggrevating! Seems like it's having technical issues more often than not.

I was looking for a puppy for JonMichael, but why get one when you can get 2 for twice the price? Audra is still very unsure of my reasoning, but it makes sense to me. This is to be an outside dog and I felt bad just getting one because I didn't want it to be lonely, even though we spend lots of time outside. There was a litter that someone dropped off(illegally) at the Humane Society and since they were extremely cute I picked out 2 and brought them home to foster for 2 weeks. I'll decide then if I want to keep one or both.

Oh the joy, they're just great. JonMichael got to name them for the most part. The brown and white male he named Isaac, that is the Bible story he is learning right now. The black and white female he named Sugarbaby, which is the name of a very close friend's dog. He later changed his mind and he started calling her Black Girl. For obvious reasons this would not do but he could not be persuaded to go back to Sugarbaby. After having many names flatly rejected I suggested Little Girl and he found it acceptable. It's actually very appropriate because she is not only the runt of the litter but she's quite mischevious and playful and I'm often calling her Lil-girl like from Madea's Family Reunion.

We knew they were some sort of lab mix and the more I looked at Isaac in particular I was thinking it was some sort of bulldog. Our neighbor came over and she realized that they must have been from the same litter as the new puppy that a couple in our neighborhood just got. We brought them down to their house and sure enough they were all siblings. They even knew the exact date when their friend dumped the other 5 down at the shelter. They knew that the pups were lab-american bulldog mix. This worried Audra because she was really nervous about the bulldog part, but I actually liked it. I knew, and friends and a vet confirmed, that bulldogs are very very good with children and very family oriented. You have to raise them to be mean, which of course we won't. But I do like the protective streak, which is something I wanted in a big dog so that Audra could have a little more help for those times when I'm away on a trip. Once Audra learned that then she was cool with them.

Everything was great until Saturday evening when Isaac started having serious problems. Over a period of about 3 hours he lost all his energy and at one point I had a hard time getting him to open his eyes and they were rolled back when he did open them. He was trying to puke and was having other problems, I really thought he was about to die. I called the lady who runs the Humane Society and she told me to bring him to her house. She had to give him 4 IVs of fluid and a couple of injections over the night and I was surprised when I called early Sunday morning to find out that he was still alive. He's not out of the woods but she thinks he'll make it and that it's not parvo, which I was really worried about.

After all this happened it really got us thinking about if we really want to have 3 dogs in our home because of the potential cost. So the hard part is deciding which of the new pups to keep and which to send away. At first we were more attatched to Isaac, he was very loving right off the bat. Then after all he's going thru, if he survives we wanted him. We also liked his chocolate coloring and I think he's going to look more bulldog than Little Girl will. But now we don't know, Little Girl has really warmed to us over the past 2 days and she's much more loving now than at first. She's a bit independant so I wouldn't worry about her being alone in the backyard as much, even though we do spend lots of time outside and they would never go more than a few hours without contact from us. She plays a lot more than Isaac did, but now we know that he probably wasn't feeling very good when we brought him home so he may be more perky once he gets well. Who knows, after we get Isaac back we may find it impossible to send either one of them away, I hope so.

I love Molly, my devoted and intrepid Shih Tzu, but it's time for something larger and little more sturdy and more fearsome than 7 pounds. We want a good lab type dog that we can roll around with outside and something that might instill a bit more confidence when I'm out of town. I had the perfect dog once upon a time, that's her in the picture. Audra brought home a White German Shepherd that was about a month old and I raised her. She was actually a mix between that and a black lab, but she looked like a pure shepherd. Best dog in the world, but when we first moved here I just didn't have the space that she needed so I gave her to my in-laws who have lots of room for her and their lab to run. One time Shelby was in the house with Audra and someone knocked on the door. It made Audra feel good when she opened the door, Shelby walked up to the glass door, and the person outside took a couple of steps back. She was huge and looked bad to the bone, but was the sweetest dog in the world. My homeowners insurance won't let me have a shepherd, even if it's a mix like Shelby, so we're looking for a lab-ish dog.

I checked the shelter here in town and there are a couple of hopefuls, perhaps today I'll get a chance to run to Panama and see what they've got at their very nice shelter over there. The Humane Society is really the last place on earth I need to visit as I end up wanting 4 or 5 so I've just been lying to myself and telling myself that they'll all get good homes soon.

Currently I don't have a team, or salery, but I must be a pro. I always hear about football players getting "turf toe" so since I've got it now I must qualify as a pro. I didn't get it when I returned that punt for a TD in the big game, no, I got mine while playing dodgeball. But it was intense and people were cheering me on, you can count on that.

My brother leaves tonight for Iraq. This will be his 3rd tour and will last over a year this time. Thankfully he's single so it's not really a big deal for him, and all that tax free war pay is nice to come home to. His only dissapointment was that he was hoping for Afghanistan just for the change of scenery and to say he'd been somewhere other than Iraq. They knew they were going at the end of July or beginning of August for months now, but just a few weeks ago they were told they weren't going afterall. Some of the family men in his company had already moved their families back home to be with parents and this news came, pretty hard to deal with. One guy had just moved his family all the way back home to California. So they thought they were staying until at least Febuary so my bro decided to buy a house. He signed the papers and a couple of days later was told they were leaving in less than a week. He packed his old house and moved it into the new, spent a couple of nights on the couch, and now has to leave his brand new home for over a year. Talk about timing. But there's nothing he can do about it, afterall, he is property of the U.S. Army. He loves his life so I'm proud of him.

Yeah, this look is old. I know. But I have nothing to replace it with right now and more importantly no time to do anything about it. What I'd really like to experiment with however is video blogging. That would be cool. No major productions or anything There are times when I wish I could hear an author read to really get the point of what they're saying, so I guess I'd like to be able to do the same with the stuff I write. You guys know me, I rarely if ever write about anything serious, it would just be another fun way to keep up with my friends and have a good time on our blogs.

I love my XJ much more than I ever expected. It's got the power, it's got the 4 wheel drive, it's got the looks, it's got everything I could expect from a 4 door suv. And I'm also very impressed with the gas mileage. I really expected to be filling it up all the time, but I find that I'm at the gas station much less than I ever was with my F-150. My speedometer broke just after I got my new rims and tires so I'm not sure what I'm getting, but the best I could manage in the truck was 13mpg in the city, so I'm really wondering if I'm close to 17 in the Jeep. Thankfully my "city" driving isn't exactly big town stuff so I can take it easy on the skinny pedal. I miss having a truck bed, but since I can't drop $15-20K on a 4 door pickup, I'm happy with what I've got. When I was talking with the previous owner I was so excited to find out that it had vinyl flooring rather than carpet. Good thing too. Since owning it I've flipped down the rear seat and hauled wood, lumber, dirt, sod, 860 lbs. of quickcrete one time, and trash. Here's something I find pretty funny - The clearcoat is peeling. Normally that wouldn't be funny but where the clearcoat has peeled it is actually a much brighter white(still offwhite) than where it is not peeled, so let it peel! It's taking the scratches off with it, so once it's all gone(which doesn't take long in the sun) I'll see about putting a coat of wax on it. When we first got it we talked about painting it a navy blue someday but I don't know if it'll ever come to that. Then I might get concerned about scratches and fading and stuff that doesn't show up on the offwhite. I smile every time I drive it, my neat little find.

I got back from the lake Thursday night, dealt with the stinking fridge, and then left Monday morning for a trip to Atlanta. I took a small group to Six Flags and had a blast. Charlie wanted to know, so here it is. Goliath is great, even though it doesn't go upside down at all. Kind of a let down at first, but it is quite tall with steep drops and is a decently long ride. My tip for this one is to sit to the far right and hang over the side when you're taking the drops, especially when over water. That made the ride much more satisfying after the 4th or 5th time. The Superman ride was awesome! You sit in the seat, get strapped in, then the whole seat tilts so that you are hanging horizontally with nothing but air below you as if you're flying. It rocked, and you get cool points if you hold one fist out like Superman did.One of my all time favorites is still the Mind Bender. An old coaster but it's just incredible. The loops are just so tight you can really feel the g's. A loop on the Mind Bender feels a lot more forceful than a loop on the newer ones, guess they softened things up. But I like the workout, it's great fun when your riding partner has never ridden this ride before and is slammed into you because they don't know how to brace themselves for what is to come. Great fun, I just love that ride! I'm not as into the wooden coasters since they shake your teeth out, but the Georgia Cyclone is still an awesome ride with the constant drops. Warning, it felt much rougher this time than what I remember before and it really battered us, but was still worth it. I was quite miffed that the new Acrophobia wasn't operating. They said it would be 18 months before it reopened!

So the deal about the Flash Pass. Here it is, I don't care if it means you have to save for 6 months to rent one, it is worth every cent! There are 2 types, the standard and the Gold. Don't waste your time with the standard, go for gold! The cheaper one holds your place in line, which isn't a bad deal really. You scan your device and if the wait is 1 hour, you go hang out in the shade for an hour or go lose some money trying to ring the bell at the top of the rope ladder to win an iPod Shuffle. When your pager goes off, you go get in the special Flash Pass line and get on your ride. But with the Gold pass, it reduces your wait by 75%! Average wait is 1 hour, you wait 15 minutes. The most I ever waited was 10 minutes one time for Deja Vu(one of the best rides they've got). We usually only waited 5 minutes at most, and often times we walked right up and got on the ride with zero wait. You feel special as you look over at the people who have been waiting for 45 minutes, knowing that you'll be riding in 3. It was $150 for the 5 people on my pass(you can put up to 6) but I would even buy it for myself if I were the only one going, it really is worth it. You don't stand there and die in the heat, you ride your brains out. And that's why I went.

trip 1

I never did post this stuff about our vacation but things have finally slowed down so here goes. Our vacation was great. We did lots of skiing, both conventional and non. Skiing properly, on either 1 or 2 skis, that's fun, but after a while you start to get creative and try new stuff. Here's a couple of pics to demonstrate.
One is of my bro-in-law and I sitting on a kneeboard that is turned sideways. After this pic was taken we actually got the thing turned around and pointing in the proper direction, Len sitting in front with his feet planing the water and me on my knees behind him. I was going to stand up but we crossed another boat's wake and bit it. The other pic is of him in a very small inflatable boat and me on a cheap pool float.

It looks easy in the pics but trust me, both of these were hard. The floats just battered you and before we got up on the kneeboard we were dragging behind it with just our upper bodies on it, lower bodies dragging in the water. We were forced to roll over onto our hips as the crotch disagreed with the notion that we ride on it at 20mph. We tried to get up on 3 skis(sharing the middle ski) but my rope broke a couple of times so we abandoned that idea.

Next year we will have a disc with us, which will be nothing more than a sheet of plywood that is cut into a circle and treated to keep it from getting waterlogged. Those things are a blast. We also are currently desiging a way to get a lawn chair bolted down to a pair of skis and also 2 lawn chairs bolted to a sheet of plywood, that way we can both sit and ride together. It would be great to also have a cooler out there with iced down cokes. Don't go stealing our ideas now, remember, this stuff is patent pending.