Stolen Bibles

Last Wednesday I looked all over for my announcing CD's. As usual I was mentally and quietly blaming my wife for cleaning house and hiding them on me like she does everything else. At least that's what I think she does. I looked for over 30 minutes and checked everywhere at least 3 times. How many times could I check the truck? I gave up and took crummy cd's to my basketball game and had a rough music night.

For the last 4 weeks my wife and I have been using our older bibles since we couldn't find our newest leather bound bibles. Then Saturday our neighbor mentioned that someone had gotten into their Jeep Cherokee and stolen a bunch of Christian music cds. Then it hit us that someone probably opened my truck door and took both bibles along with my burned music cds.

The dumbest thing is I always leave my cars unlocked thinking there is nothing of real value in them AND my truck has an alarm that wasn't set either. Why didn't they take the 2 children's seats?

My police neighbor said that teenagers usually go around lifting door handles and will take small stuff since it is easier to carry.

Top 5 Things They Could Have Stolen

1. My gym bag with clothes and a $45 MP3 player.
2. My school badge-access to the building
3. My pay vouchers with SS# on it-still a maybe, could have been in the music case.
4. Car seats
5. Junk and trash-I am so glad my new truck has rubber floors.

Dishbeatscable.com

Finally switched our TV services today after getting my newest bill from Time Warner Cable. Our basic service with local channels and one DVR was going to cost us $80 with tax. I got online and checked out www.dishbeatscable.com and within a week will be getting more channels, 2 DVRS AND the sports package which will allow me to get St. Louis sports all for the low price of $42.99 plus taxes. Almost $40 less and with more services. After 10 months the rate will go up $10, but I am locked in at the price for 18 months. Now if I could find a cheaper electric company.

It rained really hard this morning before it cleared up and got really sunny outside. Then the wind really whipped up and by 3pm it is now looking like an overcast day. The wind has blown in a lot of dust and the sky now looks orange-pink. Looks really odd. Many branches and older trees have suffered under the 50 mph gusts. Couldn't imagine wearing contacts on a day like today.

Sending My Mom Flowers

I ordered my wife flowers from Proflowers.com that I heard on ESPN radio. I got the vase for free and she really loved the tulip display that she got. When Proflowers.com emailed me the after Valentine's day specials I couldn't resist sending my mom some flowers since she hasn't had a Valentine in years. I ordered a tulip vase and with delivery it would be $28. The delivery was set for Friday.

Friday came and went and my mom did not get her flowers. I tracked them thru Fed Ex and as of Saturday morning they were still "in transit." My mom left work Saturday at 1pm and did not get her flowers.

I called Proflowers and was given GREAT customer service. The lady refunded the $9.99 delivery fee AND said they would send another batch that would be fresh. My mom would expect to get them Tuesday. 2 sets of flowers, with vases, for $18.

My mom emailed today that she finally got the first batch of flowers which she said were nice. Well, tomorrow she should get another set.

If you know my mom I think she is related to the guy who they wrote Murphy's Law after. IF it can break, it will. If they will run out of a certain food as she orders, they will. Watches don't work on her and one year she went thru 6 computers before she got one that worked. She ALWAYS buys the extended warranties on anything she buys.

Well, this time she got 2 doses of love from her son.

TAP Week

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week AND my students recognized and celebrated my birthday Friday. One day we were treated to a 10 minute back massage(my back is now messed up.) Another day we were provided a nice "potato bar" and accompanying foods. We were give a small box of chocolates and carnations for Valentine's day and Friday was a day where parents made casseroles or gave gift cards to the teachers(I hinted for a giftcard and was rewarded.) It was a good week.

TAP Gifts:
$5 Blockbuster card
$20 Starbucks card
$5 Starbucks card
Handmade picture frame from popsicle sticks
2 -$21.50 tickets to Bodyworlds www.bodyworlds.com exhibit
I Krispy Kreme donut certificate
A parent is going to make or bring lunch one day
AND other stuff I can't remember

Valentines gifts included candy that I regifted. One listening parent gave me 2 cans of Fat Free Pringles and low fat popcorn.

Birthday gift
I was given a brief party that included great cake which I dropped on the parking lot and a $40 Giftcard to a local steakhouse... mmmmm. The students also gave me a school t-shirt which they all had signed.

Friday meal

As the students came in Friday morning a student handed me a bag and said the contents would go along with my Friday meal that would be coming. I saw a big bag of Wavy Lays and sat the bag down and realized it felt pretty heavy. I then saw a jar of dip along with 3 bottles of something that isn't allowed on campus, let alone IN MY CLASSROOM(some type of lemonade in a clear bottle). I quickly took the bag out to my vehicle. At the end of the day I also received a card along with a certificate to Pizza Hut.

I am really blessed to have such good students and parents this year. I really did feel APPRECIATED this week.

Upcoming Posts:

Sending My Mom Flowers

I Have Been Given Much

My 42nd Year

Things I NEED to do YESTERDAY

BodyWorlds exhibit

It's SO Cold.....

It has been a little cold this winter for North Texas. Wednesday night we went to church and just walking from the truck to the church building was brutal. The wind really has kicked up and made the temperature feel 10 degrees colder than it really is. The auto remote starter on the truck has really come in handy this winter.

I came home Wednesday night with the kids while my wife stayed for Praise team practice. It was already 8:30 so my goal was to put the kids in bed ASAP. They didn't fight me one bit. I was excited to finally have some ME time for about 1 1/2 hours. I put on the Travel Channel and watched the World Poker Tour, popped some popcorn(which I didn't eat*), stretched out the unread USA Today and made a pallet with 2 blankets on the floor. Ahhh, all was well.

I remember cranking the heating unit up to 65 degrees because it was REALLY cold in the house. As I lay there doing my thing I made sure I stayed under the covers. It was still really cold in the house.

My wife comes home and states how cold it is. The fan had been blowing for over 2 hours now and it was not getting any warmer. Then my wife notices that my son had taken the step ladder and switched the HEAT control over to COOL. The AC had been running since they left the house around 6pm. 4 HOURS OF AC when the temperature outside was already in the 20's.

Imagine if she hadn't caught that the unit was on AC. We may have lost a family member during the night.

*Don't buy ACT II 94% fat free popcorn. You're better off buying dog food.

Fitness Update

Friday was a rewarding day for me. I left the house right at 201 pounds and when I weighed after my workout the scales read 199. Finally hit the 200 pound barrier in reverse. I had a few personal bests at the gym also. I walked/jogged 6 miles, burned 800 calories and lasted 80 minutes. My shins are a little sore today.

Even after having many beverages last night along with going out of bounds on junk food the scale only read 200 this morning.

"Looking good Billy Ray!
"
"Feeling good Lewis."

Home Alone......with kids

The wife left tonight for a girls getaway weekend. Not the typical go away on a cruise or go gambling weekend though. She and about 5 other women are renting a place about 30 miles away for a Scrapbooking or Stamping weekend. Last year my wife took a year's worth of pictures and made a nice photo album. A little different from the ones my mom made 30-35 years ago.

That leaves me home alone with the kids. Not to worry because I've done this before many times. Many of you know that I've traveled to and from St. Louis on 10 hour trips with my kids. I AM NOT AFRAID! I do know that for the next 4 nights I will spend one hour each night trying to get them to bed on the first try. I will also probably let them eat every snack in the house. At least they usually make good choices. I will also take advantage of the kidcare system at the gym both Friday night and Saturday morning for 2 hours at a time.

I always figure in my head that I am earning invisible points in times like this. I can use these points to play cards one extra time this month or next. I can possibly go to the movies and leave the kids with the wife.

I just hope I get to sleep in Saturday morning.

Superbowl Fun..........not

Arranged for a $10 an hour sitter to watch the kids while went and watched the Superbowl with some old church friends. We arrived by kick off just in time to watch the opening kick off return. We enjoyed snacks and soft drinks while socializing. At half time I looked at my wife and she wasn't doing too good.

Earlier in the morning she started sneezing and became stopped up while at church. As the afternoon progressed things got worse for her. She visited a nurse practitioner neighbor who recommended Benadryl. She had broken out in hives.

We left the party at 7pm and stopped by one of those "hybrid" emergency care/doctor places and were denied since she didn't have her ID. We drove home to get it and in the meantime informed our sitter what was happening.

Fortunately for me the game was on at E-care. We got there about 7:45 and left about 10:15. I only had my sitter scheduled until 9pm so I offered to pay her more, but she graciously declined.

After visiting Walgreens and picking up the prescription I was finally back home about 11:30pm.

Superbowl costs:

Wings, 7 pounds thawed: $12
Wing sauce- $1
Honey mustard sauce-$1.50
Vegetable oil-$4
Sitter $40
E-Care co-pay $25
Epi-needle co-pay $75

Payton Manning winning the Superbowl-priceless

The Cat is Gone

Last night while I was searching for cheap MP3 fm players the phone rang. Imagine that, I was online and the phone rang. The new found world of DSL.

On the other end of the line was a lady inquiring about the cat that I had posted online. About a week ago I submitted an add offering our 3 year old siamese for free on Craigslist. I told her albout Shamus and we set an appointment for them to meet today about 12:30. The lady came with her husband and her mother in law to check out the cat. The lady was just as I had imagined.

She had lost her 3 year old siamese 3 weeks ago to disease. After Shamus warmed up to her the husband simply said, "Should I get the carrier?" It seemed like the perfect match. After a bit of a struggle to get Shamus in the carrier he was on his way to his new home.

For us it was a mere convenience of not having a pet that would scratch the hardwoods and the leather furniture. For this lady she should be able to fill the void left behind by her previous cat. It was nice to hear them talk about how much he looked like Harvey their other cat. Who knows, they may have been brothers.

Tear to My Eye

I'm not sure even BillyV could have escaped this moment.

I went to an open house today and was watching a slide show during the presentation and the last picture that was put up was one of my son. He's 2 1/2 years old, outgoing, and usually gets positive comments even from strangers. The picture was of my son holding his guitar with the director of the program he is in also having a guitar. This man plays guitar often and before Christmas my son just knew he wanted a guitar so Santa brought one by the house.

It was one of those proud moments to see your child being bragged about by someone else and this someone else really wasn't aware that I was the dad. I actually had to hold back a tear or two. I'm sure BillyV would have even had to look the other way or excuse himself from the room had it been his daughter on display. The day can only be anti-climatic when the most rewarding part occurs at 10am.

Side note: Got on the scales this morning......200.5. My wife says to get back on again to make sure......200. Maybe I can go to the gym and sit in the dry sauna for an hour and lose another pound and break that 200 barrier. Especially since I'll be chowing down during the SUPERBOWL!