A Cuban in Ohio

2011-10-26T20:47:00.003-04:00

Hey... support a good cause!

http://www.movember.com/m/913476

2011-10-26T20:32:00.001-04:00

Testing 1,2,3... Testing...

I need your help

2010-11-05T23:23:00.000-04:00

Bloggers,

I need your help, I'm trying to make a differencce & this is all about changing the face of mens health issues...

I've donated my face to Movember! Now I'm asking you to make a small donation to support my moustache and the 1 in 2 men that are diagnosed with cancer.

Thank you: http://us.movember.com/mospace/913476/

Go Dolphins!

2010-10-04T22:14:00.000-04:00

Monday Night Football... it's great to watch when the Dolphins are playing. Hoping they spank the Pats tonight!

Today I took my final for this stupid psychology class. You know whats worse, I took the final today but I still have more schoolwork this week for the darn class. Man thats soo frustrating!

I have my algebra final on Thursday. Can't wait for this week to end! Two weeks off, then to what sounds to be a fun class... Human Sexuality! :)

Fridays

2010-09-24T07:10:00.000-04:00

I love Fridays! I really do. Fridays give me this sense of happiness and a feeling that everything is going to be all right! Everyday should be a Friday...

Yesterday was a beastly long day! Work & school... ughh! Factoring, Factoring Trinomials & Quadratic Equations. Love it... not really though!

Have a grand day!

Tonight

2010-09-22T21:54:00.000-04:00

What do I have planned for tonight?

Well I ate dinner, cleaned up after myself and did the dishes. Temporarily fixed a drawer in Adrians closet dresser. Put the little guy to bed. Sat down and took my take-home algebra quiz. Checked my psychology: tests & measurements discussions online. Watched survivor and going to watch Law & Order: SVU.

Sounds like a pretty eventful night!

Today, it was a pretty good day at work. Busy, and thats's better than being bored. Created a recognition tracking sheet. Created a spot award certificate. Had a team meeting. Performed some training regarding getting the customer to a lease end decision. Took a couple phone calls, handled & fixed a couple of accounts. These are just a few of the things I completed today. All in all a pretty good day.

Tomorrow I have work & algebra class afterwards. Sounds like a long day! That's what I get for waiting so long to complete my degree.

Friday I have t-ball with Aaron. We're on the Astros for fall ball. He really likes it. I'll have to post some pictures.

Have a grand night!

Rough Day

2010-09-21T21:41:00.000-04:00

Today was a long day at work. It seems to just have dragged, I was pretty darn busy. That's a good thing I guess, better busy than bored!

I got home and received a notice from a test that I took. 70% was the passing score I needed... I got a 75.82%! Excellent right? Nope, I wasn't in the top 50 to be selected!!! Dang it! Oh well, I guess I need to come to terms with the the answer I keep getting surrounding this test.

Ex's are difficult to deal with. Today I've been dealing with a situation regarding insurance coverage. I wish she understood how insurance works. Again, all I can do is try to explain and try to keep calm, regardless of the attacks. The important thing is that my little girl has insurance coverage and shouldn't go without.

Things always come back to haunt you. My past as Cuban's would say as a "mujeriego," or man whore if you'd like to know in English always has a way of getting back to me. Not that I regret anything I have ever done but somedays as I said above it's difficult to deal with ex's. I happen to have two of them! Some days are better than others. Days like today make me just want to scream.... arrrrrrrrrgggggghhhh!

Tomorrow will be a better day. Years from now my children will be grown up and make their own minds up about me. They can decide for themselves the type of father they see me as. In the end all I can do is be there when they need me.

Pray for my sanity. Pray that God give me strength & wisdom.

Been Busy

2010-09-19T21:35:00.000-04:00

Life has been pretty busy here at the "Rodriguez Hacienda!" It seems like all we do is work, school, work, school, do some running around, more work, more school... crap! I can't wait to be done with school! I should have got it done and over with when I was younger.

It's even tougher with Amy going to school too. Sometimes I really don't know how we do it!? It's friggin' crazy. I wish I could just win the lotto! :)

Seems like the stress never ends. There is always going to be something to worry about. The sad part is that everything we normally worry about has something to do with $$$. Why is that? Like I said earlier today, I am blessed and thankful for my many blessings. Yet, is it wrong to feel like I just need a little more to survive? and do I really? We have everything we need, sometimes even more. Yet, I want more. I don't get it!!!

I'm tired of credit! I'm tired of paying bills! Tired of paying for cars! Crap, I'm tired of having a mortgage! Life was so much easier when you didn't have to worry about all of that. Plus, add a family to the mix, now we really have stuff to worry about. The worrying seems to multiply!

Am I doing enough? Have I done enough? Everything I've done in life, what does it amount to?

As you can tell, my mind is running in circles. All I can say is one more year of school! :)

Wow!

2010-09-19T15:07:00.000-04:00

I sit here as the little guy eats and I'm amozed by how wonderful it is to be a father! I think to myself... wow, this little guy is my little guy. As I was thinking that, he looks at me and smiles!

All my children are awesome...

Andy - He is by far the BEST oldest brother I have ever seen! All his younger siblings look up to him.

Ashley - She is a wonderful sister, caring, loving and sweet!

Aaron - He is so smart... sometimes too smart for his own good!

Adrian - The little guy, always so happy!

I'm blessed... Thank you Lord!

Hi

2009-12-28T00:51:00.000-05:00

Hi, where have I been? Pretty busy if I may say so. It's Christmas break and Andy & Ashley are here visiting.I really haven't had much time for blogging; between family, work, school & church we have really been busy.

I almost feel like I'm new to this whole blogging thing. I can't believe it's been since March since I lost posted something... let's see how long I can keep his up.

All is well with me... God bless you!

Long Tough Day

2009-04-12T00:19:00.002-04:00

It's been a lon tough day. I need to hit the sack. Tomorrow will be better! Good night!

This is all I have to say:

Philippians 4:13 (New Living Translation)
13 For I can do everything through Christ,[a] who gives me strength.
Footnotes:
Philippians 4:13 Greek through the one.

Good night!

BTW - Pray for Aaron he's a bit under the weather.

It's been several weeks...

2009-04-07T12:33:00.002-04:00

Sorry guys! It's been several weeks but I haven't been slacking, I promise.

I'm a really busy guy... let's see.

Work: Made it through March, which was possibly the longest month ever. They did some re-shaping, re-organizing or re-structuring of the organization. Everyone knew it was coming because it was announced that it was going to be happening. Thankfully, by the grace of God I was not an affected employee. My responsibilities have increased, which is always a good thing, just no increase in pay at the moment. I'm sure that will come in time. Lot's of work and I think there's going to be lot's more work. Now I need to learn the two other processes I'm responsible for, April will be exciting.

School: Started two new classes. Psychology and Community & Personal Health. One is online and the other is on Saturday mornings. As you can imagine there's a lot of studying in the evenings going on. I need to make the grade!!!

Church: Well, Amy & I continue on with Sunday school for middle school kids and that is a blast! It's amazing how much of a blessing you could be in someone's life. Through the week we get text messages and calls asking about certain things in the bible and or about what we talked about on Sunday. Other times the text messages are just to say hi! I thank God and pray that I can continue to be a blessing in their lives as they are for me. Amy & I have also been doing a bible study with some other couples on the movie Fireproof. It's been interesting and the movie was really good!

Family: Being the parents of a busy 2½ year old is extremely tiring. Our little boy is something else and he's great fun! We're always racing and running around, playing with Monster Trucks or dinosaurs. It's a blast!!! We're potty training and he's doing ok... only a couple of accidents here and there, that's to be expected.

Ashley is here for Spring break and I'm loving it! My little girl is becoming a young lady. It's a blessing to have her here for the week. Aaron love's his sister and after about 30 seconds of being shy, he hasn't left her alone for a second! It's fun to watch them together. This weekend we went to Monster Nationals on Saturday, Church on Sunday and then we went bowling and roller skating on Monday. Keeping me busy!

My parents have been here this week too. They leave today for Miami again. I love seeing them and I wish they lived closer but I realize that Miami is for them. The warm weather and all their friends are there. Seeing dad is always a blessing... I'll leave it at that.

Hopefully this will explain what's been going on in this Cuban's life in the last few weeks.

Enough said for now.

This Weekend

2009-03-14T23:01:00.003-04:00

Ok, this weekend has been kind of weird. Friday is normally my day to get things done and I had a plan for this Friday. Only one problem, I didn't get to accomplish everything I set out to do. In fact I wasn't even able to stick to my schedule. It was like something was holding me back all day long! Everything took longer than it was supposed to. Can't really explain it.

Darts was good. It was a fun time as usual. I played in probably one of if not the most smack talking games ever. This other guy and I talk junk all year round. When we played, it wasn't for the team... it was a personal game (friendly of course). Just like all other times we have played each other, it was a good game, good competition, of course I won!

Today, Sams Club with the fam. Its always fun when we go to Sam's... we love going there! We also went to Old Navy. We bought Aaron some clothes. Came home & the boy took his nap. Amy & her mom went to the outlets to a maternity store. She came back with a couple of nice tops and a nice dress. Best thing about it, she's a bargain shopper. She does really well finding good deals.

Tonight we went to another church we were invited to. It was pretty neat. This is one of those really, really big churches. Almost to the point that it's too big. It was cool to see though and I really liked their worship band. The sermon wasn't all that, this associate pastor kind of lost me and possibly even bored me a bit. Wasn't impressed, would've liked to have heard the senior pastor. Afterwards we went to dinner with some friends from our church that we went with and a few others.

Reading Ashley's blog tonight, she springs on me something about a little boyfriend... OMG! It's friggin tough being this far sometimes. She's a good girl. Puppy love, remember those days? What scares me is that I don't want my little girl growing up too fast. Keep her in your prayers or better yet keep me in your prayers.

Tomorrow church. We really look forward to Sundays. We like our church and church family. We've made some good friends. God is good all the time. Of course as with all churches they're not perfect and need the congregation and members to pray for the growth of the church and the individuals in it. One of these days I'll tell you about my miracle. I just still have a tough time talking about it and I know that I shouldn't feel that way.

Amy is not feeling to good right now, so with that said. I'm going up and going to bed. Good night.

Busy couple of weeks...

2009-03-12T22:37:00.002-04:00

Let me tell you about the last couple of weeks... busy, busy, busy!

I had finals for my English & Accounting classes. Man they were tough! The older you get it doesn't get any easier to hit the books. No wonder you should finish college after high school!!!

Work has been rather busy as well. Making sure my team is performing & producing numbers. You would think that this crappy economy would affect how many people would take a credit card pitch but I tell you what; you would be surprised at the amount of people being sold day in and day out. In fact, my entire time will have sold over 100 credit cards each person by the end of the month! I'm pretty sure it's due to my coaching! ; )

Amy & I started to Fireproof our marriage. It's a couple bible study from the movie Fireproof. We're doing this with two other couples and so far we're both enjoying it. It's been fun and interesting as well as a blessing.

Last weekend's pig roast... was a blast. We went back to Amy's home town and I went to Billy's annual men's only pig roast! What a blast! And the pig was good too!

Well enough said... gotta go, tomorrow is a busy day.

Start on taxes.
Dr's appointment for Amy & baby bean 2.
Accountability group/lunch.
Kia for new tires and front end alignment.
Start on laundry.

See ya.

A Thousand Questions

2009-03-03T20:55:00.003-05:00

This was a blessing to me, I hope it is to you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEY!!!!!

2009-03-02T22:43:00.006-05:00

Happy birthday my little monkey butt!!! I love you!!! I miss you and hope you had a great birthday. I can't wait to see you!!!

I LOVE YOU ASHLEY "MONKEY"!!! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!

Hello

2009-02-27T22:18:00.003-05:00

Here I am... it's been a couple of weeks. I'm sorry for that. Between home, work, school & church I really haven't had much time for blogging. As I promised a few of you, here is my post.

Let's start off with today. Ace is no longer in the family, he is now part of the Franklin County Animal Shelter family. I had enough. His chewing on things finally just got to me and it just wasn't worth having a dog around that couldn't learn that he needed to chew on his rawhides not anything else!

Today, I also discovered a treasure. A play place that is free of cost and filled with good people. I believe Aaron and I are going to start going there every Friday. He had a blast! The best part about it is that it's right here in Grove City!!!

Today we got creamed at darts! Shake & Bake only won two (2) games out of nine! We were only playing the best team on the league. We still were able to maintain our hold on 2nd place! Which in my book is a win because the guys in 1st place are sandbaggers! Don't get me wrong they are a good team!!! Really good!!! I honestly think those guys could play for money and be pretty good at it...

As if the two blogs I have aren't enough, I believe I am going to start a third blog. Haven't decided if I will or not; but let me tell you what I'm thinking about. What if I blogged a daily/nightly devotional or I'd rather call it a bible/prayer journal. Many times we don't talk about or beliefs or that we are Christian in fear of losing friends or being chastized by people or people thinking that you're a "holy roller!" Well, really, who cares? Look at 38 if I can't be myself and let people know that I'm a Christian, then I need to hang it up. The gist is that I'm not going to hang it up, I believe... so what? Let me know your thoughts about the 3rd blog. I guess I would really want folks to follow & subscribe if I'm going to do that. So your responses will be well received.

Let me tell you about my weekend... I know a couple of you are wanting to here. I went on a 72 hour walk. I went to the Walk to Emmaus. It's a three day mens retreat, but really it's not like a usual retreat because the journey is different each time. It's dynamic, I guess would be the best description. In a nut shell it's a weekend where you enjoy the fellowship of other Christian men. This is a non-denominational community of Christians. On my weekend we had Methodists to Menonites, Pentecostal (sp?) to non-denominational churches. The focus of the weekend was the love of God for us. All I can say is wow, what an experience. If any Catholics are reading, the Walk to Emmaus is the protestant version of the Catholic Cursillo.

The weekend made me look at myself and my priorities. Made me think whether or not some of my priorities were mixed up and they were. The weekend consisted of no watches or cell phones, 15 talks (5 on the Grace of God & the other 10 on different topics such as priorities, piety & discipleship), lots of food, no outside world distractions, the fellowship of Christian men, holy communion and the love of God. It was a mountain top excperience and I have to be honest, I've been walking on a cloud all week. The question is how to stay on the cloud?

I have a few ideas. I know that I have to keep it up. I know that I have to read scripture, pray, fellowship and have someone hold me accountable for doing all of the above!

Now, if you're reading this and thinking, man, where's Alex? Dude, I'm still here! I'm just not ashamed or embarrassed to say that I love God & he loves me back! I'm not saying my life is perfect, I'm just saying that I know I'm less than perfect. I'm not saying that I'm better than anyone or that I don't sin, I'm saying I'm a sinner and I know it! I also know that Jesus died on the cross for me & you!

Look, I had an amazing weekend and I want to hold on to that. We all have faith in something, I just re-evaluated my priorities and now I know where my faith ranks. Instead of leaving it somewhere towards the bottom, it's now up on the very top of my list.

By this point I've probably lost a couple of readers or bored some others to sleep. I just wanted to share my weekend with you.

This week I also found out that my employer, just like many others are looking at making some cuts. I'm not sure what that means for me. We were told that they really weren't looking at my area, but you still never really know. All I can ask is that you keep that in your prayers. I know that I was put in that job for a reason.

In two days is Ashley's birthday and then a month from now she will be visiting. I'm sooo excited! I'm sooo excited! Everything is going well with Amy & the pregnancy. Loving life folks, loving life!

After a post like this it may be a couple of days... maybe not!

Togetherversary!

2009-02-18T22:57:00.003-05:00

Amy & I have been together for five, yes (5) years! Wow... it seems like yesterday and at the same time it seems like forever ago. I've got to tell you, I love her to death.

Amy is a special woman. A great mother. A fun & loving step-mother. A giving friend. Above all else she is a phenomenal wife! I'm not saying our relationship is perfect... I'm just saying it's perfect for us. We were meant to be. You know what I mean?

Meeting Amy was pretty amazing. She was this young, cute, sexy, curly haired blond recruiter at the office in Ohio. I had butterflies when I first met her. Even though she won't admit it, she gave me a Christmas card because she wanted me!!! When she handed me that card, I knew at that very moment we were going to end up together.

Of course, it took a couple of months and even maybe a couple of drinks for me to muster up enough courage to tell her that I liked her. It was obvious, we spoke on the phone like almost every day.

When I moved to Ohio, we pretty much shacked up and have never left each others side. With a couple of exceptions where I have had to travel. I remember going to meet her grandmother... she told us that we reminded her of Ronald & Nancy Reagan. What she meant by that? I'm not sure but we took it as a compliment. I remember going to meet her sister in Tenn. for the first time. We hit it off straight away. I remember meeting Mom & John for the first time. It was like I had known them all my life. It seemed I passed the test for her family.

We went to Cheyenne to pick up the kids. From the very first second they loved her. I knew it. I knew they would! And when she met my parents, they loved her right away. I'm telling you she is a special woman.

We compliment each other very well. Sometimes I'm the voice of reason, other times she is. I thank God every day for such a wonderful wife. She is a blessing to me, my children, our children and everyone else.

I love you Amy... here's to another 5 years and then 5 more after that and then until the end of time itself.

I'm going to bed now... happy togetherversary!

Do you ever...

2009-02-15T21:47:00.002-05:00

Do you ever just want to scream? Cry? Lay there and not move? Yep, that's how I'm feeling. Don't know why, I just do. I'm not even in a bad mood or cranky!

This week will be a tough week. It's going to be a short week at work & school. But just because it's short doesn't mean there's less work to be done. I'm going to be going to a men's retreat this coming weekend (Thurs night thru Sun). Not sure what to expect. Didn't really want to go, but really didn't have a reason not to. You know what I mean?

I don't want to leave Amy. If you know us, we rarely spend very much time apart. That's how we like it. We find comfort in each other. Please pray that neither one of us has any anxiety while I'm secluded from life for a couple of days. ;)

Updates:
School has been going all right. Yes, I got an A on that one class that I predicted I would. Thankfully one out of the three classes are done! Two more to go. I'll be happy just to pass my accounting one. At this point I have a solid C in the class. Have I told you that I hate that class? Well, I do!

Ashley is coming out to Ohio for her spring break. We are soo excited! I am beside myself. I can't wait to see the little monkey!!! When we told her that she was coming she started to scream and told us that she was so excited she needed to run around. Kids are funny!!!

Well, that's my update for now. Good night.

Blog Updates

2009-02-08T00:07:00.002-05:00

I found these cool buttons where I can get your reactions to what I wrote. Simply click on one of the reactions and it'll keep tally. Make any suggestions if you see a reaction that you think should be on there. Thanks.

Good night!

Update

2009-02-07T09:11:00.002-05:00

Ok, I skipped darts last night for some time with my wife & child. Between work & school I really haven't had much time to just hang out with them. So last night we went to the OSU Hockey game. It was a good game, a close one for hockey! The final score was 3-4 Notre Dame in ot. Oh well, ND is like ranked third.

So we had box seats... I'm telling you this is the way to go. It was Amy's work's box and there was food, drinks and more food. Aaron had a blast watching the game. He kept looking for Brutus and at one point there was a big hit and he said "Knocked him on his butt again?" I'm telling you the kid is funny!

So I guess you're wondering how my dart team did without me last night? They did well, we won 6 games out of 9! We're doing pretty good this year. Chimmy was harassing me because I wasn't there but I guess last night was for the Rodriguez's. I can tell you what I have done for the team this week since I missed actually playing:

1. Sent everyone on the team a schedule of when there will be no darts due to other things going on in the Family Life Center.
2. Sent them a schedule of when it is our teams turn to set up, tear down and bring food.
3. Sent them reminders of each game for the last four weeks.

Ok, back to last night. Before the game we went to dinner with Mel & Katie. We had a nice time. I like them, Mel is one funny dude! Katie works with Amy and she is just one of the nicest people. They also went to the hockey game. Their son Aiden is a trip, the kid knows about all kinds of sports trivia. He liked the fact that our last name is ROdriguez; he also thought we should be family because that is their last name too. Funny how kids minds work.

We just had a nice time last night!

Enough said...

Shake & Bake -- Update

2009-02-01T22:28:00.002-05:00

Even though I was at school on Friday night, my team ended up winning 5 out of 9 games. Very good! I can't wait until next Friday so that I can throw some darts and further advance in the rankings!!! We're playing much better than we have in the last three years!!!

Powerful Skit

2009-02-01T15:24:00.003-05:00

I've been sent this via email a couple of times now and each time I watch it I burst into tears... I think I need to share this with you. Please remember that there is always hope and whatever it is that is bothering you God has a plan for you.

I hope you find this as good as I did.

Facebook

2009-01-29T22:27:00.002-05:00

Yes I am addicted to Facebook! I even joined a cause in support of my addiction...

Facebook Addiction Disorder

I am afflicted!

Have a good night!!! I'm off to Facebook.

Work

2009-01-29T22:03:00.003-05:00

I'm still loving my job! Ahhh!

BMW Financial Services took six J.D. Powers & Associates awards in 2008! That's the whole lot... I mean, none of the competitors in our class won anything! That's friggin awesome! We had the ceremony today and believe me it was a big to do. Everyone had to wear a suit and tie today. It was kind of cool.

My car, well, I have my production number and my car has been built. Now it is awaiting to be shipped to the US. I'm pretty excited. It'll still be about a month or so before I get my 328xi!

Other news in the BMW/Mini world:

MINI Financial Services Launches Game for iPhone and iPod Touch. On Monday the Marketing Dept launched “MINI Liquid Assets,” MINI’s take on an old-school favorite, available for download at no charge from the iTunes App store. Check it out if you have an iPhone or iPod touch!

You may also get a kick out of this...

Broker Offers Mini Cooper to Land Madison Avenue Store Tenant
2009-01-28 21:03:35.490 GMT

By Brian Louis
Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- A commission check just doesn't cut it anymore for real estate brokers in Manhattan.
Prudential Douglas Elliman is so determined to land a tenant for a store on Madison Avenue it's offering an unusual perk to the broker making the deal: a 2009 Mini Cooper.
"We recognize that extraordinary times require exceptional incentives," Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman's retail leasing and sales division, said in a statement today.
The shop is at 717 Madison Ave. between 63rd and 64th streets. The broker who finds the tenant will receive the car as an added incentive to a commission, the statement said. The store, with 3,800 square feet on two levels and 600 square feet of space in the basement, is in the same area as luxury retailers Chanel and Hermes.
Sales and profit at retailers such as Coach Inc. are declining as consumer confidence slumps and shoppers seek discounts and lower prices elsewhere.
A 2009 Mini Cooper costs about $19,200 excluding extras such as a sunroof and 16-inch alloy wheels. It's manufactured by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG of Germany.
The building owner will pay for the car, Prudential Douglas Elliman said. The owner's name wasn't disclosed.

For Related News and Information:
Today's top Bloomberg News real estate stories: TOPR

--Editors: Alan Mirabella, Sharon L. Lynch.

School

2009-01-29T21:54:00.002-05:00

So, I've returned to school in pursuit of my bachelors degree. Maybe I'll finally get it done now! I'm taking an English writing class, Organizational Behavior Management class & Accounting. Let me break it down like this:

The English class, well, lot's of reading and writing papers. Not bad. A or B in the class.

Organizational Management, well, it's a condensed course in which I will be done with this weekend. I like this class, it's my thing. A or B in this class.

Accounting, I flippin' hate this class!!! It sucks! really! If you know accounting or are any good at accounting or know someone that can help me... give me a call, let's work a deal out so I can learn and pass this class! It's online, how dumb of me to take Accounting online! Call me cuz I'll be lucky to get a C in this class!!! I have 5 more weeks to go, please help me!!!

Next quarter I'm not taking three classes. I might take two though. I'm thinking possibly Religion as one of my electives and then I need to take a psycology class... so those may be the ones for next quarter.

Shake & Bake -- Update

2009-01-29T21:50:00.002-05:00

Oh my, it's been two weeks since I last posted!

Ok, Last week Shake & Bake did well again; winning 6 out of 9 games. We're on a streak! Tomorrow is a league night and I will be unable to join this week... sad! I have to go to school, I know I'm missing darts for a good reason but I still rather be at darts than school. Hello!

I'm hoping the team does well... I have no doubt in my mind that they will.

Shake & Bake

2009-01-09T23:12:00.001-05:00

We had a pretty good night... we won 7 out of 9 games! Way to go team Shake & Bake!!! We'll see how we do next week.

Response to Comment

2009-01-09T23:02:00.003-05:00

1. Thank you very much... I'm humbled. I'm glad you think so highly of me.

2. Who's Rus???

3. I cussed??? Where? I said, sucks & crap... both of which are said on national television. You've heard me say worse!!!

4. Allowance huh? We might be able to pull something off for you and Beth to go out to dinner. Red Robin one week... McDonalds or Wendy's the next.

I love you with all my heart Amy!

Hi.

2009-01-09T14:42:00.004-05:00

I'm here... I'm still alive! It's been a long week. It was my birthday earlier this week. Man, I'm getting old!!! I'm friggin 38, I can't even believe that when I say it. Holy crap!

I have been sick with the flu all week. That sucks!

I start school again next week, on Monday. Pray for me. I'm taking two online classes and one class on campus. Full load... yikes! I would really love to finish my bachelors degree this year considering I graduated high school almost 20 years ago! At least I'm going back to school to get it done.

Darts, start tonight. I'm excited and at the same time not so much. I've been helping with a few things here and there to get the dart league going this year. What sucked was that we announced it and tried getting people to sign up; the goal was 10 teams. We got nine! Of course, you know that's not going to work out and well I had to be the bad guy in telling some folks that we can place them on other teams but that we can't play with nine teams. Good thing was that my wife was one of the people on this new team (I'm bummed because I really wanted her to play) and it gave me someone to practice on before I called anyone else. I also knew the other folks... it just made me feel bad. Then I got to thinking and what if it had been totally new people? This is a church league... were we really going to turn those people away? Tell them sorry for your effort, your team looked good, but you can't play on that team? I can use you as a sub? I'll place you on another team? Wow! How would have that made someone new to the church feel? I guess you understand the "not so much" part above now.

I guess I should stop my bitching now.

Monster Jam

2009-01-03T22:09:00.002-05:00

We love Monster Trucks in my family... I mean, we really enjoy going to the shows and watching them race and do their tricks. Aaron has this same interest in Monster Trucks as the rest of us. He has almost all of the Hot Wheels Monster Jam Monster Trucks, this is of his own free will. He asks for them and we gladly encourage his love for the sport.

We have been going to Monster Truck rallies since I came to Ohio. We've gone to one or two per year and I even proposed to Amy at a Monster Truck rally. Now you may understand why we like them so much!

Last night was a moment to remember because we took Aaron for the very first time (I wish Andy & Ashley could've been here to see it!)... he friggin loved it! There was even a moment when The Gravedigger (his favorite truck) came out and his jaw dropped! I was LMAO... I think I peed myself! He's so fricken adorable! We enjoyed every minute of it and it was worth every last red cent!

Click Here for pictures.

Here we go... 2009!

2009-01-01T21:09:00.002-05:00

A new year begins... oh my how quickly the years are passing. I realized today that the older we get the quicker it seems that the years are flying by. Is it just me or is it just a fact of life to feel this way?

Today was a nice day. I got up and made pancakes for breakfast. Mom & John came over, which we normally have them over when we make breakfast. Breakfast is kind of a big deal in the Rodriguez home. We gather, we eat and we figure out whats going on for the day. During the week we're not able to have a big breakfast so we compensate for it on the holidays and weekends. I gotta tell you I though my pancakes were the bomb diggity! I even made a Mickey Mouse pancake for Aaron... he ate it pretty much all gone!

We went to this couple friends of ours from church for lunch. We had sourkraut and pork... I love the stuff! After a few hours though you can't be anywhere around me becuase the gas escaping my body is tremendous! I swear the farts are even better than avocado farts!!! It's like a I'm a walking symphony! : ) What is it about farts that make us smaile???

Let me tell you about last night. We went to Beth & Chimy's, it's kind of like a tradition now. Then we came home just before midnight because the boy was tired and we really wanted to check on Ace because he has some pretty severe separation anxiety when we leave and he has had some issues (to say the least with his crate). We had to buy a new crate last week... I'm not sure if I posted about this already or not. But last night when we came home he had an accident in his crate and minutes before midnight I was outside cleaning out the poop from the crate (as the water froze pretty much on contact) and then giving him a bath to clean him up. We're thinking that the meds the vet gave us for him are causing the bowel issues in the crate; so today we tried to put him in there with out the meds and thank God, he didn't have an accident. We'll be testin our theory tomorrow again to see how he does. Please pray for no messes and to calm his doggie anxieties!!!

We went to Amy's mom's for a bit and ate some more sourkraut!!! OMG! The stuff is good!!! Now we're home and all is good in the world. I'm pretty excited becase tomorrow we're going to the Monster Jam, Monster Truck Rally... Oh yeah. Of course these are always one of our favorite events and this one even more because Aaron is going for the very first time! Just in case anyone is wondering why the Monster Trucks are special to us it's because I proposed to Amy at a Monster Truck rally in front of 10,000 people! I can't wait for tomorrow night!

Last thing for today, I created a Facebook account and let me tell you that to my surprise, it's been a lot cooler than I thought and a lot less ghetto than myspace. I have gotten in touch with a lot of my old friends, friends I grew up with, friends from church, and friends from high school. All I have to say is "Wow!!!"

Enough said... good night.

Last post of 2008

2008-12-31T11:21:00.012-05:00

I will post little bit of everything on this post...

First, I'd like to summarize 2008. It was a good year, it had it's ups & downs. I was laid off, unemployed and in the end I landed a pretty darn good job! It was a blessing in disguise. Amy is pregnant again; another blessing, another A to add to our list of A's in the family! We've lost some good friends, we've made some good friends. We've grown in our walk and strengthened our faith. Ashley moved back to Cheyenne, Andy is still in Seattle. They weren't here for their Christmas break this year, but they will be next year and summer will be here before you know it! They are great kids. Aaron is a trip. My mother came out to visit three times in '08 (twice with dad). Hopefully she can come and visit several times in 2009 as well. All in all, I really don't have anything that I can complain about. Really I could, but what good does that do?

Secondly, In 2009, let's continue to motivate each other and grow. Let's make a difference in the lives of those around us. I'll pray for you, you just need to pray for me!

I want to wish all of you a Happy and Safe New Year; I hope that 2009 brings you peace, prosperity, good health and most of all, the love of family and friends. Thanks for reading, following, whatever you do on this blog. I appreciate you all.

Movie review:

The Dark Knight: Wow! The special effects on this movie were great! It was pretty good. I have to tell you that I was excited about the Joker, since all movie critics would do is talk about that performance. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed with the Joker; I thought Jack Nicholson was a much better Joker than Heath Ledger! I think they made a bigger deal out of it because he died... it just wasn't the Joker that I was expecting. I'll give it one thumbs up & just in case you were expecting more out of the Joker role; don't! It was entertaining at the very least.

Four Christmases: Funny! Funny! Funny! I went to the movies with Collin to watch this and I have to tell you that it was funny! I really enjoyed it because at some point in our lives we have all felt the same way that this couple has in regards to spending the holidays with family. The movie was very creative and I recommend this one to everyone. It's family friendly and did I say I thought it was funny!?!? I'm giving Four Christmases two thumbs up! Go watch it, wait till it comes out on video, whichever, but watch it. You've got to love Vince Vaughn.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

2008-12-28T22:22:00.001-05:00

You know where to go by now... if you don't here's the link you can follow:

Click Here

Enjoy!

The day after Christmas...

2008-12-26T22:16:00.004-05:00

What's supposed to happen on this day? Should it be a day that you don't even get out of your pajamas? Do you go shopping for all the great after Christmas sales? Do you go to work? What exactly is this mysterious day all about???

Ok, my day; we woke up, had breakfast, started some laundry and then the craziness began. Do we go to Chuck E. Cheese or not? Well, we ended up going, good thing because the place was practically empty! We took Aaron, Will & Ben (Will & Ben are the babysitters boys; heck they're like brothers, at least they act that way!). It was fun.

We did some other running around and by the time I was ready to come home I was beat. When we got home we found good ole Ace had broken out of the crate yet once again. I'm going to rename him Houdini!!! I've had it to my wits end with this dog. I was ready to throw him through the sliding glass door (don't worry, I didn't)! I was so mad! So mad that I decided that we were taking him to the pound and getting him out of our house. It's just not worth the headaches. We loaded him into the van and off we went. It was a quiet ride, even the dog was quiet and still like he knew what the heck was going on!!! There were a few tears, even Amy's mom cried and she doesn't even like the darn dog! We got to the pound and Amy went in to see what needed to be done. Ace and I sat in the van and he came up and cuddled me, then laid back down. Amy was inside talking to a person from the shelter and to make a long story short... neither one of us could go through with it. After talking to this lady and to some lady at PetSmart, we've come to the conclusion that Ace may have separation anxiety and this is why is gets sooo worked up in the crate when we leave. So we spent some money and got a different crate one that the internet and others suggest that he may not be able to break out of. We also are going to be re-crate training him in these few days that I'm off. Please pray for me!

Ok, enough about today. Let's talk about yesterday. It was a great day! I love Christmas, next to my birthday it's my second favorite holiday! My gifts include, a pair of Puma Voltaic's (very cool!), a black tie with lil' skulls on it (super cool!), an OSU jacket (that's hot!), several sweaters, OSU pajamas, a Husky "stubby" tool set, OSU pint glass set (get ur drink on!) and one cool hat (pimpin!). I also received a pair of OSU silky shorts (comfy!) and a brown button down shirt. We know that Christmas isn't all about receiving gifts... I pray that everyone else took a moment to remember the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ!

Aaron had a good ol' time. He received some tools, I think the boy officially has more tools than I do. Some classic games like Hungry Hippos & Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Robots (very cool!). I have to say that his most favorite toy this year was a Hot Wheels Monster Truck Arena. I must say that I think it's mighty cool as well!!!

Amy received a Kathy van somebody purse, a pretty Starbucks coffee mug with gift card, some pretty cool purple Ug like boots, cool pj's with skulls on it, a dress and of course her favorite would be her yearly "I Love Alex" shirt along with a "Mama Rodriguez" sweatshirt.

I've said a lot, you must be bored by now... have a good night! God bless you and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Helping Chimy out...

2008-12-26T22:01:00.002-05:00

New Spanish words, these may help out with him trying to be more "Latino!" Make sure to lay the accent on pretty thick...

The teacher told Chimy to use the following words in a sentence:

Here are his replies:

1. Cheese - Maria likes me, but Cheese fat.

2. Mushroom - When all my family get in the car, there's not mushroom.

3. Shoulder - My fren wanted 2 become a citizen but she didn't know how to read so I shoulder.

4. TEXAS - My fren always Texas me when I'm not home wondering where I'm at!

5. Herpes - Me and my fren ordered pizza. I got mine piece and she got herpes.

6. July - Ju told me ju were going to tha store and July to me! Julyer!

7. Rectum - I had 2 cars pero my wife rectum!

8. Juarez - One day my gramma slapped me and I said, ' Juarez your problem?'

9. Chicken - I was going to go to the store with my wife but chicken go herself.

10. Wheelchair - We only have one enchalada left, but don't worry wheelchair

11. Chicken wing - My wife plays the lottery so chicken wing

12. Harassment - My wife caught me in bed with another women and I told her honey harassment nothing to me.

13. Bishop - My wife fell down the stair so I had to pick the bishop.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T23:09:00.003-05:00

Ahhh, Christmas Eve. Here we are just hours away from wonderful family time, presents, breakfast and more family time. It's kind of bitter sweet; I really enjoy Christmas aside from my "Bah Humbug" attitude. It's just tough when Andy & Ashley aren't around. Don't get me wrong I understand that, that is my life and I must lay in the bed I made. It just hurts because I miss them so much...

Yesterday, we spoke to them and they opened a gift each. It was so funny because they get so excited about their gift. I just wish I could see their faces. Today Ashley called asking if she could open another... Hello, of course she can. So she did and she was so happy because she got the shoes she had asked for. A pair of black & pink DC shoes.

Today we went to church to the traditional Christmas Eve service, then we went to Amy's mom's house for dinner. I love them, they are such a great family! Then we opened our Christmas Eve pajamas.... awww, I have new flannel pj pants! They're so soft.

Chimy & Beth came over for dinner and it was nice to have them with our family. They are and have been a blessing in our lives and I thank God for them. Chimy has some new thing, he wants to try to be more "latino" are you friggin kidding me??? More "latino"??? What is that??? ** Beth if you are reading, please stop your husband from doing something silly!** I truly don't know what he could do to be more "latino"... maybe he can talk like a chicano or a cholo or maybe he can wear a zoot suit! Pointy shoes? Force a Spanish accent when he talks English? I don't know, but I do know that I love the guy, he's funny as heck!

Well, I gotta go, have to write a letter from Santa and then I have to wrap my last gift. Good night and Merry Christmas. Pictures soon to be posted.

Four more Days

2008-12-21T20:22:00.002-05:00

Four more days till Christmas! I'm kind of excited about Christmas... I guess it's probably the little kid in all of us! Could be that I still believe.

What is it about Christmas that can be so happy and so depressing at the same time?

What ever it is that you are feeling... I hope that the grace of God works in your life and that you have the best Christmas ever.

Protect Your Data!

2008-12-21T16:08:00.000-05:00

Some of you may already know about this... you can get 2 GB of free storage space for data on Mozy. You could have all your data backed up should your hard drive ever crash. Click on the link below and give it a try. Benefits:

1. You back up your files.
2. You get extra back up space for referring a friend.
3. No spam mail from them.
4. It's free!!!

https://mozy.com/?ref=LZ2RFN

Give it a try.

Movie Review

2008-12-19T18:00:00.004-05:00

Wanted: Ohhh Angelina! She is probably by far my favorite female movie actress. I've got to give it to her, she's pretty good in just about any role she decides to play in. Plus on top of that she is a beautiful woman! Ok, ok, the movie I know... I really liked it. It was pretty cool kinda like a Matrix but not really! How many times are you in your cube or at your desk thinking "Geez, I could do better than this!" or "This just isn't exciting enough!" Well, the excitement came to this guy and what a difference it made in him. Just because I enjoy sci-fi movies I have to give this one a thumbs up for the plot and the action. Pretty cool. Rent it!

Wall-E: Cute! A movie about lazy coach potatoe humans and how they poluted the earth to kingdom come! Because of their lazy nature everyone ended up fat! Now geez if you can't read the message between the lines on this one your an idiot! Go green & get off your ass! But, I'm going to send this message to you in a movie so you can get my message while you're sitting on your ass. All in all the animation was good and it had it's funny parts. I really wasn't thrilled about the plot. I'm gonna give this one a thumbs down and tell you not to even bother because I just summed it up for you! Thanks Wall-E!

The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian: Now this was pretty darn good. Not as good as the first movie; then again they rarely are. The message was great! Fiction with a positive message. I really enjoyed watching this movie and hope that the next one comes out soon. It's a family movie and I just have to tell you that I love Aslan. Even when we think he's not around, he's watching over us and protecting us; all we need to do is believe, have faith and trust! Two solid thumbs up. If you haven't watched it you should!

Hancock: Yep, it's Will Smith. Cool acting. Great special effects. Yes, one of my favorite playboy pin-ups Charlize Theron is it; but I can't say that I really liked the plot! I didn't understand the plot. The movie didn't really do much for me. It's a shame because I had high expectations for it; but maybe that was part of the problem. Sure there was action and some funny entertaining parts to it but still didn't like it. Two thumbs down!

It was a good day!

2008-12-13T19:51:00.003-05:00

This morning we got up early and went to Wal-Mart and then to the UPS store. We were out & about at around 8:30am... it actually felt nice.

We shipped Andy & Ashley's gifts and they should be receiving them by the end of next week. I'm pretty stoked for them to receive their boxes. I wish they could be here! This really sucks when I can't even see their excitement!

We had company today... Don, Sheree, Dan & Collin all came over for a brunch. It's super cool to have them come around. What a great family! We got Dan & Collin some OSU shorts for Christmas... they loved them! Collin immediately took his shorts off and put the new ones on! Dude is funny! Don & Sheree got Aaron this vtech piano with a microphone, it is f'ing cool. Aaron loved it! Specially the microphone! After brunch they hung out for a while and just we all just chatted. Dan & Collin tried to squeeze an egg without breaking it... there is a way to do so.

When Don & Sheree left, Dan left for work and Collin stuck around and hung out with us for a bit longer. Then Collin and I went and caught a movie. We watched Four Christmases... very funny and worth seeing. Movie review to follow.

Tonight I'm going to church to spend the night, the youth group is having a lock in and I'm one of the adults pulling the all nighter with them! Pray for me!!!

Have a good night...

Meet Ace

2008-12-12T10:51:00.000-05:00

Click here to meet Ace!

His Hard Head

2008-12-11T23:48:00.003-05:00

-- Update --

Yep, the kid has a hard head. Not sure who he takes after???

Just in case you didn't already know, on Thanksgiving day the boy fell and cracked his head open. Didn't even flinch... I mean he cried for less than a minute, got back on the floor and kept dancing, singing, playing and even trying to wrestle with me. Tough kid!

He had to get five stitches. Now when you ask him about his boo boo, he says he doesn't have a boo boo, he has stitches! Stitches should be coming off here in the next few days.

Unconditional Love

2008-12-11T23:35:00.003-05:00

There is nothing, absolutely nothing greater than the feeling that someone just absolutely loves you no matter what...

This evening I get home from work and when I walked in I hear a little voice yelling "Daddy! My Daddy! My Daddy! My Daddy!" As he is running towards me and hugging my legs. It just choked me up and made me feel sooo good... sooo loved! The kid makes me smile... what can I say?

This is cool!

2008-11-26T22:56:00.002-05:00

Try this out... my lowest age is 26 and I'm going to continue playing until I'm 11 again!

The site is Japanese, so read below:

1. Touch 'start'

2. Wait for 3, 2, 1.

3. Memorize the number's position on the screen, then click the circle from the smallest number to the biggest number.

4. At the end of game, computer will tell you the age of your brain.

5. Forward the message and type your brain age in the subject line. Good luck!

http://flashfabrica.com/f_learning/brain/brain.html

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T22:50:00.002-05:00

I pray that you are all well and safe during this holiday season.

I thank God for my family... my children, my wife, my parents, my in-laws, my pets.

I thank God for my friends, my health, my work and my life.

I thank God for the many blessings in my life.

I choose to be thankful! During good times, during bad times, exciting times and dull times. I choose to be thankful!

What do you give thanks for?

Thank you Lord... for all my blog readers.

A Thanksgiving Story

2008-11-26T22:45:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving Is a Story of Pilgrim's Progress: Caroline Baum 2008-11-21 05:01:06.820 GMT
Commentary by Caroline Baum

Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- It is the tradition of this columnevery year at this time to relate the story of Thanksgiving. Forsource material, I rely on the accounts of William Bradford,governor of the Plymouth Bay Colony for 30 years between 1621and 1656. Bradford's history ``Of Plimoth Plantation'' was firstpublished in 1856.

Most Americans think of Thanksgiving as a day off fromschool or work, a time to gather with friends and family andcelebrate with a huge feast. If children know anything about theorigins of this national holiday, declared each year bypresidential proclamation, it's that the Pilgrims, grateful fora good harvest in their new land, set aside this day to givethanks.

Adults aren't any better informed. They may know somethingof the hardships encountered by the Pilgrims, a group of Englishseparatists who came to the New World to escape religiouspersecution. What they probably don't know, as it's not part ofthe politically correct high school curriculum, is how theseimmigrants overcame the obstacles and prospered in the NewWorld.

The Pilgrims' first winters after they landed at PlymouthRock in 1620 and established the Plymouth Bay Colony were harsh.The weather and crop yields were poor.

Half the Pilgrims died or returned to England in the firstyear. Those who remained went hungry. Despite their deepreligious convictions, the Pilgrims took to stealing from oneanother.

Old-World Baggage

Finally, in the spring of 1623, Governor Bradford and theothers ``begane to thinke how they might raise as much corne asthey could, and obtaine a better crop than they had done, thatthey might not still thus languish in misery,'' according toBradford's history.

One of the traditions the Pilgrims had brought with themfrom England was a practice known as ``farming in common.''Everything they produced was put into a common pool; the harvestwas rationed according to need.

They had thought ``that the taking away of property, andbringing in community into a common wealth, would make themhappy and flourishing,'' Bradford recounts.

They were wrong. ``For this community (so far as it was)was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retardmuch imployment that would have been to their benefite andcomforte,'' Bradford writes.

Young, able-bodied men resented working for others withoutcompensation. They thought it an ``injuestice'' to receive thesame allotment of food and clothing as those who didn't pulltheir weight. What they lacked were appropriate incentives.

A New Way

After the Pilgrims had endured near-starvation for threewinters, Bradford decided to experiment when it came time toplant in the spring of 1623. He set aside a plot of land foreach family, that ``they should set corne every man for his owneperticuler, and in that regard trust to themselves.''

The results were nothing short of miraculous.

Bradford writes: ``This had very good success; for it madeall hands very industrious, so as much more corne was plantedthan other waise would have bene by any means the Govr or anyother could use, and saved him a great deall of trouble, andgave far better content.''

The women now went willingly into the field, carrying theiryoung children on their backs. Those who previously claimed theywere too old or ill to work embraced the idea of privateproperty and enjoyed the fruits of their labor, eventuallyproducing enough to trade their excess corn for furs and otherdesired commodities.

Incentives

With proper incentives in place, the Pilgrims produced andenjoyed a bountiful harvest in the fall of 1623 and set aside``a day of thanksgiving'' to thank God for their good fortune.

``Any generall wante or famine hath not been amongst themsince to this day,'' Bradford writes in an entry from 1647, thelast year covered by his history.

We now know the Pilgrims' good fortune had nothing to dowith luck. In 1623, they were responding to the same incentivesthat, almost four centuries later, have come to be regarded asnecessary for a free, productive and prosperous society.

(Caroline Baum, author of ``Just What I Said,'' is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)

Movie Review

2008-11-22T21:06:00.003-05:00

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - I had not seen any of the animated series, I didn't think I would like it. To my surprise, it rocked! I guess you have to be a Star Wars fan... but it was friggin' cool! Just amazing I thought. A definate must see for any Star Wars! Really, really good! Two thumbs up!!! "See you must. The Force strong it is."

Good night!

Temper, Temper, Temper!

2008-11-22T20:50:00.002-05:00

I hate to get angry! I'll tell you why, two reasons...

1. I see red!
2. It consumes me!

Seeing red is bad because, it's like there are no breaks, no stops, no filters! It's ugly and mean!

Let's see what the good book has to say about anger...

Proverbs 14:29 People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.

Psalm 37:8 Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper - it only leads to harm.

Ephesians 4:26-27 And "don't sin by letting anger control you." Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

Pray for me and I will pray for you!

A bit down...

2008-11-21T21:53:00.003-05:00

This morning I received one of the best calls I could ever receive in the morning!!! It was my little girl Ashley. She had just woken up and wanted to talk to me. Man, that really makes my day when she does that... I just love it!

I've talked to her four (4) times today! Hearing her squeaky voice really puts a smile on my face and just makes me feel all warm inside. It's just a great feeling to hear her voice.

It's how I feel afterwards that sucks! Today she told me that she misses us really bad and that she wants to see me really, really bad! Are you kidding me??? What do you say to that? Of course, I'm a friggin' sap and automatically start balling!

I've talked to Andy a few times tonight as well... He's a great friggin' kid! He's a goofball too, just like his old man! He has a knack for making people smile! God bless him!!!

My heart hurts. Really bad... I wish I was closer. I wish they were here!

As if my heart hasn't had enough... I'm off to call Ashley one more time to make it the fifth conversation in one day. I have to take advantage of the days she wants to actually talk to her old man!

Enough said... g'dnight!

Today

2008-11-21T14:16:00.002-05:00

We are having the carpets cleaned... both Amy and I like it when they come out to clean our carpets. We'll have it done once or twice a year depends on how much it's needed. Ultimately, we would love to get rid of pretty much all the carpeting, we just can't make that happen yet!

Well, I have a few things to finish off. I try to stay productive on my days off!

Laters!

My Addiction

2008-11-21T14:12:00.002-05:00

I'm addicted to the mobsters application on myspace!!! I find myself wanting to buy more property, more equipment and trying to finish more mobster missions!!! The problem is my mob isn't big enough...

Look, if you have a myspace account, friend me and then join my mob!!!

I know, it's ridiculous... but it's cheap entertainment, then again it doesn't take much to entertain me!

My Friends

2008-11-15T20:50:00.002-05:00

Today, the "thinker" in Alex is in and for some reason, I just want to share a few things with you all...

Friends are important. We all like to have them. We all want to be one. But, friends come few and far between. We have many acquiantances but very few friends. Allow me to explain...

We think someone may be our friend, but really they're not. How many times have you been disappointed with this person?

People come and go into our lives, some for a brief minute, some others a little longer and some for a lifetime. Here are a few words from one of the greatest men that I have ever met; my father.

For a person to qualify as a friend, they must meet this criteria:

It starts with the Spanish word for friend... AMIGO. Each letter stands for something, and what they stand for is a real friend, a true AMIGO.

A = Amor (Love) a friend must love you.
M = Misericordia (Mercy) a friend must have mercy in his heart for others.
I = Intgridad (Integrity) a friend must be true in what he believes and understanding.
G = Gratitud (Gratitude) a friend must be grateful to have you in their lives.
O = Obediencia (Obedience) a friend must be obedient.

Take it for what you may. If you qualify your friends by the above, trust me you won't be disappointed! So, for those of you out there reading this blog, you know who you are, thank you for being my friend. Thank you for being a part of my life and my family.

Be good. Enough said for today.

10 Ways to Pray for Obama

2008-11-15T20:47:00.003-05:00

Deep into my McCain Hangover (wink, wink TimT)... I was checking my email this evening and my mother sent me this email. I liked what it had to say and decided, well I'm just gonna share it with the world. I hope you like it as much as I did and I hope you do what it is asking of us.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10 Ways to Pray for Barack Obama

By J. Lee Grady

Whether you are happy about this week’s election results or not, all Christians must unite in prayer for our new president. Please don’t forsake this responsibility.

It’s over. We’ve reached the end of the longest, angriest and most nerve-wracking presidential campaign in American history. Finally the “I approved this message” ads have ceased. The endless robot phone calls have stopped ringing. The debates, and the annoying post-debate comments from “experts,” are history—until the next election cycle.

More than half the nation is celebrating today while others are mourning. We are a divided nation, split into unhappy fragments by abortion, gay marriage, global warming, a failed economy and an unpopular war. Those who voted for Barack Obama have claimed a historic victory; some on McCain’s side are already looking for scapegoats. Politics is politics.

But when I got up this morning, I turned all my attention to the fact that Jesus Christ is still on the throne. His government is what is most important. Regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, the Bible says “the nations are like a drop from a bucket” to God (Is. 40:15, NASB). That includes the United States. We may boast about being “the greatest nation on earth,” but He who sits in heaven has a different perspective. Let’s take a big sigh of relief now and remember that God is sovereign.

I’ll admit this election did not turn out as I had hoped. I supported McCain primarily because I am pro-life and I prefer his small-government mindset. But now that the election is over, I’m not going to harbor bitterness toward Obama supporters or go into attack mode. Obama has been elected president of this country, and that means I have a biblical responsibility to support him in prayer—even if I challenge his policies.

Whether you voted for Obama or not, you need to pray for him. Here are 10 ways I plan to intercede for him regularly:

1. Pray for Obama’s protection. We already know that some weird, neo-Nazi fanatics in Tennessee plotted to kill Sen. Obama during his campaign. Let’s pray that racist hatred is not allowed to spread. Let’s cancel every assassin’s bullet in the name of Jesus. May civility triumph over bigotry.

2. Cover his wife and daughters in prayer. It is not easy to live under constant media scrutiny. Pray for Obama’s wife, Michelle, and their two daughters, Malia and Natasha, as they face invasive cameras, nosy reporters, maniacal fans and dangerous enemies. Obama is not only a politician but also a husband and a father.

3. Pray that Obama will govern with God’s wisdom. God rewarded Solomon because he asked for wisdom instead of wealth, long life or vengeance on his enemies (see 1 Kings 3:11-12). Pray that Obama will order his priorities like that. Despite Solomon’s tragic character flaws, his legacy was wisdom. We can ask God to give our president the same grace.

4. Ask God to keep our president humble. Many great American leaders became corrupt after they moved to Washington. The fatal attraction of fame, wealth and power proved irresistible. The only thing that will guard a man or woman from this pitfall is humility. May God deliver President Obama from the curse of pride.

5. Pray for wise and righteous advisers to surround him. Godly leaders cannot do their job alone. Even the best leaders have failed because they trusted the wrong people. Pray that Obama will not select his counselors based on party, race, pedigree or political cronyism but on godly character and proven wisdom. Pray also that he will not allow secret traitors into his inner circle.

6. Ask for the spirit of reconciliation. Some segments of our deeply divided society want nothing to do with Obama now that he has won the presidency. Even some Christians will be tempted to harbor resentment and nurse political grudges throughout his term in office. Pray that God will grant forgiveness and healing so that leaders on all political levels can have constructive dialogue.

7. Pray that Obama will adopt pro-life convictions. Many politicians have changed their views on key issues while in office. In the 1800s some leaders who favored slavery later denounced it. In the 1950s some who opposed racial integration later became champions of it. Even though Obama won approval from many voters because he sanctions abortion, God could soften and change his heart.

8. Bind all evil forces assigned to manipulate our president. The specter of Islamic terrorism looms over the United States, and dark forces are ready to infiltrate. Our only hope lies in prayer to the God who is able to expose and outwit the schemes of the wicked. This is truly a time for spiritual warfare, and intercessors must not come off the wall in this hour! Pray that no foreign government, terrorist organization or demonic principality will use Obama as a tool. We must stand strong against the spirit of antichrist that promotes dictatorship, persecution of Christians and hostility toward Israel.

9. Pray that Obama’s door will remain open to the church. The loudest voices of secular culture—from Bill Maher in Hollywood to atheists in academia—would be happy if religion were removed from public life. Pray that Obama, who claims to have a personal faith in Jesus Christ, will unapologetically welcome Christian leaders into his company and seek their counsel. And pray that false religious leaders (who claim to know Christ but deny His power) will not have his ear.

10. Pray that our nation will enjoy God’s peace and blessing during the Obama administration. The apostle Paul instructed early believers to pray for all in authority “so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Tim. 2:2, NASB). God’s will is for America to experience peace and prosperity so that we can continue to export the gospel to the nations. This must happen whether a Democrat or a Republican is in the White House. As we cry out for God’s mercy on our wayward nation, pray that He will allow us to be a light to the world as we finance global missions, feed and heal the world’s poor and share Christ’s love at home and abroad.

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.

TimT

2008-11-15T17:01:00.001-05:00

This one goes out to my buddy TimT...

1. Nooo, I'm not on a McCain hangover! I still believe that he would have been the better choice for our nation. However, I'll give our new president elect a fair shot... really all I want is whats best for our nation, for our kids and grand kids. I just don't want people getting anymore free handouts or free rides, we work to hard for what we have and I would rather choose who I give my hard earned money to. Truthfully, I'm for the best guy, hopefully Obama can give this nation what it needs; if not there's always 2012 (& I'll be saying "I told you so!"). Maybe Jesse Ventura will run for president!!!

You're a funny dude!

2. I dear sir, am not one of those guys in fantasy football... I still think you and all of the rest of our dear friends in our league royally SUCK!!! The problem is my team has most definitely sucked ass this season!!! Just like there's always 2012... there's always next season!

Trash talking, tss, tss, tss, letting one good season go to your head!

3. My friend, I want to thank you for always being a friend! You know what's funny? Weeks, months and maybe even a year can go by without any conversation, yet, when we do talk it's like we pick up right where we left off! There are probably a handful of people that have the pleasure and honor of being called my friends and you sir, even with your political views and fantasy football madness are one of those!

I've got to give it to you, you really stepped it up this year with the trash talking in the league. I'm proud of you!!!

May God bless you and your family... thanks for reading my blog! Take care brother...

Movie Reviews

2008-11-13T20:47:00.002-05:00

Made of Honor: Amy actually watched this movie with me!!! Wow! It was funny. I tell you what, it was a typical chick flick! The acting was good and I have to say it again, it was funny. You know, I think I liked it so much because Amy & I watched it together. We normally don't watch many movies together she doesn't like watching movies and I am a movie fan... I love to watch movies. I'll give this one a thumbs up and highly recommend it. Thanks Amy for watching it with me!!!

The Forbidden Kingdom: C'mon now, Jackie Chan & Jet Li... do I need to say anything else? This movie was awesome! I really liked it a lot. Martial Arts films are the bomb, and Jet Li is the master! It was excellent! Two thumbs up, go out and rent it tonight!!!

88 Minutes: Al Pacino, the guy is like the best actor in Hollywood! This was an interesting movie that kept you thinking the whole time that you knew who it was and in the end it was someone totally different. Hmmm! Kind of cool. It wasn't his best but it wasn't too bad. I'll tell you to make up your mind for yourself because I'm not sure if it's worth a thumbs up, but it's not worth a thumbs down. It was just ok...

Indiana Jones: I watched this with my parents while they were here visiting. It was ok, and they really liked it. I thought it could've been better. He's too old to be Indiana Jones! It's like if they came out with another Star Wars movie and he played Han Solo again!!! He's just too old for the role. Thumbs down!

The Flight Before Christmas: Ahhhh! Aaron's favorite movie. We rented this and well we've watched it soooo many times that Grandma went and bought the movie for Aaron and since that happened, there's a standing daily request to watch Niko the reindeer. It's cute, it's not Disney, and Norm MacDonald plays one of the characters! It's ok, but it's been played one too many times in our home!!! I'm tired of it...

I've been tagged

2008-11-13T20:41:00.000-05:00

I was tagged a few weeks ago by Emily... here goes nothing:

7 Things you may not know about me...

1. I'm a first generation American, my parents immigrated to the United States avery, very, very long time ago (1961 I believe).

2. I would love to travel the world. Really, the entire world minus a few places.

3. I've always wanted to be a police officer.

4. I'm a Freemason... no it's not a secret society! It's a fraternity.

5. I teach Sunday school with my wife.

6. I love to swim... I could've been a fish.

7. I like to work with my hands and getting dirty!

8. Deep down inside I'm a nerd. I like history, I like the discovery channel, TLC & the animal planet.

I think that's it... Emily I hope this meets your expectations!!!

I am a SLACKER!!!

2008-11-13T20:40:00.002-05:00

I haven't blogged in almost a month! I know I have let you all down... that's probably why I can only keep very few readers or no one subscribe to my blog! Well, I'll make up for the time I've been away, so make sure to leave lot's of comments.

My Parents

2008-10-21T19:42:00.002-04:00

They left today for Miami... sad, sad, sad! I love having them here and it was a blessing to have them here for 10 days!

They won't arrive in Miami until 10pm tonight... talk about taking the long route. Geez! I hope my dad has a good flight, he's been in pain for the last few days. His body and bones have just been aching. I hope he starts feeling better.

Sunday

2008-10-19T19:58:00.002-04:00

I like our Sundays... normally they're really fun!

This morning we woke up and went to church. Aaron wanted to stay with Aya... that was kind of cool because they never really get that type of attention from him. Amy & I went to our Sunday ritual of going to Starbucks and then going to church.

At church I worked the sign up sheet for the Dart's tournament that another gentleman & I set up. I'm really excited about this. I love shooting darts!!! Then after service we went to our Sunday school class... I really like those kids.

Today it really hit home because one of the children told us that they depended on us to teach them and keep them in check regarding their Christian walk. Go figure... me? A role model? I never really wanted to be a role model for anybody other than my own kids! Why me? What's the plan? Wouldn't it be nice to know??? Point is that I have other people's children looking up to me for direction; that's impressive! Who would've thunk it? Please just keep Amy & I in your prayers for direction & wisdom. It's a pretty large responsibility placed on us.

Service today made me think of a few different things... it was about financial planning. The bottomline message was about the 10-10-80 plan. You give to God/Church the first 10%, you pay yourself 10% for savings and future and you pay the other 80% to your bills and the extras. I'm glad to say that we have been able to continue paying our weekly contribution to the church and some how we have managed to increase it as well. Living beyond our means... it's a bad mistake. I'm sure there are a few things that Amy & I could cut out of our lives! Did you know that ¼ of Americans spend about $1600 more a year than what they make? Wow! Did you know that the average American doesn't have a $1000 in their savings? Makes you think...

After church today we went to another pumpkin patch, we took Aaron with Mamaw, Papaw & Aya. They all had fun! Pumpkins everywhere... I love this place we go to every year. They have the best sausage sandwiches ever!

Once we got home, I raked up some leaves in the yard and sacked them up... I'm beat! Have a good evening.

I Love My Wife

2008-10-19T00:37:00.003-04:00

I love my wife... I added some pictures to this and fianlly completed so that the song plays all the way through. Enjoy!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Fall is here...

2008-10-18T09:58:00.003-04:00

I believe fall has officially arrived! Yesterday & this morning have been a bit chilly. Yesterday it was chilly all day long. Brrr. Had to wear a sweatshirt! Dang!

I worked on the garage. Painted the walls and started on the shelf I want to build for the garage. Dad, did help me, he supervised very well! It looks different already with one coat of paint. Funny how that works...

Last night Amy had a Tastefully Simple party. Very interesting. The food wasn't bad at all!

After the food party thing, I went to Friday Night Lights at church. I helped with re-wiring the tv command center in the youth room. Pretty interesting set they have, we hooked up 4 tv's to one digital converter box antenna, an x-box & a dvd player. Hooked up four speakers for premium suround sound (wink, wink). All in all it worked out pretty good and we ended up cutting down the amount of cable & wiring they were previously using plus we cleaned it up a bit.

Once a came home, well, I have to say I was pretty pleased Amy was still up! Wow! I know! Good thing is that it's still "go week!" Lucky me... yahoo! I love go week!!!

This morning Aaron and I have been playing football... that's my boy! He'll either end up in the band or end up playing football because he loves both of them alot! Gotta go now to help with breakfast. Peace out!

Day Off

2008-10-16T21:30:00.004-04:00

I took the day off today to hang out with my folks... it was a good day! Funny thing is that nothing really ever goes as planned. Dad & I went to Home Depot for some paint. We will be painting the garage tomorrow. I know, I'm horrible for having my 80 year old father help me. More than likely he will end up supervising...

I fixed the faucet in the upstairs bathroom... it's been broke for a while and I've been procrastinating. I'm a master at procrastinating! It's done now!

I drove a Mini Cooper the other day. I loved it! Those little things are like go-karts! They are friggin' fun! I think I want one!!! I'd like to see how big the Mini Clubman is, it's supposed to be like 4 to 6 inches bigger. Funny thing about them is that they look tiny from the outside, but when you sit in it, it's really no smaller than like my Corolla. From what I hear they get really good miles to the gallon. That's a plus. So, from my excitement, I'm leaning towards the Mini for my second vehicle.

Ok, I've been playing that Mobsters game on MySpace. It's fun and addicting... however today I found mecca... I found poker on myspace! Ahhhhh! (Angel's singing!) Ahhhhh! It's friggin' awesome! That's all I have to say! Sweet poker!

Well, I'm gonna go now. Gonna go eat a donut hole and drink a glass of milk! I'm on the phone with Ashley righ now, so I really can't post and talk on the phone and eat and drink... that's just way too much going on for a simple guy like me! Good night!

I've been tagged on one of my comments... I'm not ignoring you Em, I'll get around to it later tonight or tomorrow. Fyi... I love all the comments all you readers have been leaving. Shout out to all my homies; even the ones that don't leave comments! Would be nice if you did every now and again. God bless you!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

2008-10-16T00:34:00.001-04:00

You know where to go... click here!

My Oldest Kids

2008-10-15T23:55:00.004-04:00

My Daughter Ashley (Monkey)-

My little monkey called me tonight like four different times. I love it when she calls me. I love it when she sends me an email. She's my little girl. I guess there's a special bond between a dad and his little girl. We understand each other!

I can close my eyes and hear her little laugh. I can close my eyes and see her, beautiful, slender and tall. A very nice complexion, dark hair like her dad and the most beautiful eyes ever. She's my little snuggle bug...

When she calls it makes me really happy! I'm glad to hear she has good grades in school. All A's & B's... I'm so proud of her! She is one smart cookie.

I can't wait to see her again! It hurts!

My Son Andy (Slick or Junior)-

My oldest son, he's a good kid! He's gotten pretty tall, he was measuring 6'3" this summer. An inch taller than his old man!!!

I haven't talked to him in a few days. I have received a couple of text messages from him. I must be an old fart because that really doesn't count as communicating in my book! He's also doing good in school. I'm proud of him as well.

I can't wait to see him again!

I love these kids with all my might, all my life and all I have. I wish I could see them more often. It hurts, somedays are much worse than others. I pray for them everyday. I pray for their lives and their minds and their health. I've been blessed with really good kids! I'm a lucky man!

Temper, Temper, Temper!

2008-10-12T19:26:00.003-04:00

OMG! Today has been a great day, however, one little person I know was just in a bad mood. Little man today has just been in a bad mood and for the first real time ever has decided to throw a temper tantrum!

First it was because he didn't want to come home from the pumpkin patch. Then because mawmaw & pawpaw left. It has been over an hour of a wonderfully screaming child. The screaming doesn't bother me as much as him trying to hit his mother or me when he is upset. I don't know where he gets that from because the child has never been spanked or hit...

So, after swinging at his mom, I intervened and made him sit down with me. I gotta give the kids this much... he is STUBBORN! He would not sit, so I had him sit on my lap and I held him there until he finally gave. He asked nicely to sit on mommy's lap and then he apologized to both of us for his bad behaviour. What a stinkin' pistol!!!

Ain't he cute?

Today

2008-10-09T21:46:00.003-04:00

Today, I had lunch with my old staff from my old job and a very dear friend. It was really nice to see tham all. They're a good bunch of people. Of course the stories never end at that place and it just seems that it gets worse and worse. Please pray for these folks!

I just have to tell you that it was good to see them, nice to hang out for a bit and chit chat. I miss them. You know I have to tell you that the one thing I miss from that place it's some of the people, friends that you make through the years.

I was a little disappointed because there were a couple of people that were supposed to meet us for lunch and they didn't. Oh well! Their stinkin' loss!

It's always good to see Lisa... she was like my first friend in Ohio. She's my buddy! I can tell you a few stories about her, but I won't, cuz she gets embarrassed and she also reads my blog! If she didn't read I would probably spill all the beans on her... not! Ha ha!

Missy, she's about to have a baby. Her belly is huge! She's gonna name the baby Alexis... it's a girl. I mess with her telling her that she's doing that so that she will never forget me. Of course, she plays along with me everytime.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to have lunch with them again.

It was a good day at work today. Productive & fun.

Have a good night!

Prayer for Wisdom

2008-10-08T23:03:00.005-04:00

A prayer for wisdom, probably the one thing you can ask without being put through the fire. Here are a couple, choose the one you like and pray. Pray for our country, our families, our churches, our children and our friends. Most importantly pray for the wisdom and light of God to guide you through your life.

Almighty God, you know the perils that surround me, and how easy it would be for me to slip and fall. Give me the wisdom that I need to do your bidding, and avoid the snares that are set before me.

My path is dark before me. Send your Holy Spirit to fill me with your light, and to guide me.
Help me do your will, and to do what is best for me and those who depend on me.
Grant me the grace of wisdom. Make me wise enough to choose truth over falsehood, that I may not be deceived to my own undoing, and to the harm of others. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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O' Father in heaven, we pray that you put the wisdom of your light and truth in us!
We pray that your truth will be a lamp for our feet and we stumble not! For the world is in darkness!

Rain your light and truth down upon us O' Lord and we will turn to the way that is right!

Give us of your wisdom Father God, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and saviour; Amen.

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Oh heavenly Father, we pray for wisdom from above, to help us spread your peace & love. May we live each moment of each day, guided by wisdom. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Have a good night!

Ok, Ok, Ok

2008-10-07T21:16:00.003-04:00

Enough about politics... the only thing I ask of you and urge you to do, is to go out and exercise your right to vote.

Work is still going well. I really enjoy working at BMW... very nice!

The kids are well... I miss Andy & Ashley a whole bunch.

Aaron, the little guy is a friggin' riot! He is funny as heck...

Amy, what can I say about the woman? I love her. She is amazing. She is beautiful.

Abbie... our little pooky pooky pooh. SHe can be a pain but she's one fun pup!

My parents will be here on Saturday... need I say more? YAHOO!

I know, bullet point format tonight... gotta love it!

Enough said...

Interesting!

2008-10-07T21:13:00.001-04:00

Iran Confrontation Coming
http://www.forbes.com/business/global/2008/0901/013.html

A New (Raw) Deal

[Senator] Obama has proposed lifting the tax cap on earnings subject to the 12.4% Social Security tax, which now covers only the first $102,000. The Heritage Foundation analyzed the effect of eliminating the earnings cap. Heritage found that the take-home pay of 10.3 million workers would be reduced by an average of $5,650 in the first year alone. Taxes would be raised on four million workers over the age of 50. Taxes would also be raised on 3 million small-business owners who file their taxes as individuals. By fiscal 2015 the number of job opportunities lost would exceed 865,000 and personal savings would decline by more than $55 billion.

And if you think this would raise taxes only on the "rich," think again. Taxes would be raised for 97,065 carpenters, 110,908 police officers, 254,992 nurses, 208,562 postsecondary teachers and 237,000 dentists. That would make a lot of people bitter. Eliminating the earnings cap as Obama wants would raise taxes for many middle-class families, impose a huge burden on small business, slow the economy and cost jobs. You don't help the people riding the wagon by punishing the people pulling it. But Obama would.

-- Investor's Business Daily

Poll on PBS

2008-10-07T21:03:00.001-04:00

PBS Poll on Sarah Palin - Takes 2 seconds!

Another "vote" taken by NOW on PBS expecting that their 80% liberal viewers will dominate. Let's prove that wrong. Send to every non-liberal you know. Let's get some balance into the voting group.

This is the easiest vote you will ever make. It takes literally two seconds. Let's turn this around!!!

PBS has a short video on Sarah Palin on their website. Also included is a poll that asks: Is Sarah Palin qualified to be VP? I logged on a few minutes ago and 37% percent had voted YES, 62% NO.

Let's turn this around..... You don't have to give your name or email address in order to vote. It's very simple.

I just voted and it already has turned around.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

2008-10-05T21:11:00.003-04:00

You know where you need to go to see the family pictures... if you don't just click here! Enough said for today.

What do you guys think if we start some picture sharing posts like they do on some other blogs? Please comment and let me know if you would like to play. Thanks.

Followers

2008-10-05T14:25:00.002-04:00

Do you follow this blog? Are you a blogger? Well, if you answered yes to either one of these, you can follow my blog by clicking on the Followers link to the right and adding your self as a follower. I'd like to see how many of you are out there reading my blog. Thanks & enjoy!

Fridays

2008-10-03T15:03:00.003-04:00

I only work a half day on Fridays and I really enjoy that! I get to spend some time with Aaron and I get to start our weekly chores around the house. Today, he took a nap, woke up played for a sec, ate lunch and is down for a nap again! Lil dude said... "Daddy I tired!" Heck, back to bed he went. So with the open time I decided I might as well post.

I've started laundry... ohhh my favorite! I have some dishes to do. I also have some clothes to put away. You all must be suprised that I have all this to do. Well, even superhuman heroes like myself have day to day things that need done!

I'm pretty happy because I get to see my parents again. They will be coming out on the 11th and staying until the 21st. It's so great to see them! They are great people... I love them so much it hurts to think of it. My parents are my friends, mentors, examples of who I want to be when I "grow" up!!! They love each other, they play around, there is always an upside even during the tough times! Amzing people they are... I could keep going and going about them. They point of my thought was to tell you that I am ecstatic that they are coming for a visit! Woot! Woot!

I had a trip planned for the weekend of the 17th but with my parents coming I cancelled that trip. I think I will have to reschedule for November. I guess that will work out or at least it will have to.

Amy is working late tonight, that kind of sucks but it is much better than if she had to work late every night! See, I'm already turning into my parents... there's an upside to everything folks!

Just as an update, Sunday school is going well. I really enjoy the class. All the kids are super nice. Last week I brought in the video of when I proposed to Amy. They really enjoyed that. Then we dove into our Sunday lesson. I have to tell you, Amy does a nice job. She is a very good teacher!

Thank you Danny!

2008-10-01T21:40:00.002-04:00

Ahhh Hialeah, Fl... Sweet Home Hialeah!

Music

2008-09-21T14:48:00.003-04:00

I tried this before for a while... decided to give it a try again. I've added a music player on my sidebar towards the bottom. You can shut it off or let it play either way, hope you enjoy it. The music I put on this playlist are some of my favorite songs. Some might have a bit of profanity so, don't be offended jusy enjoy the tunes.

OMG!

2008-09-20T22:22:00.002-04:00

OMG! I went to clean the fish tank today and well to our surprise we have baby fish!!! Can you believe that? Since we have cichlids, which happen to be carnivores I really can't move most of my ornaments to get them out because then the big fish will eat my baby fish! So, I replaced a bit of water and we'll see what happens. I have confirmed at least four baby fish...

Wow! My fish are happy... they're breeding!

Updates, Updates, Updates

2008-09-20T00:07:00.002-04:00

I've made some changes, deleted somethings from the sidebar, added a few new things... a way for you to subscribe to my blog, world clocks, game of tic tac toe, etc. etc.

Let me know what you think... really, tell me what you think, leave me a comment and that goes for all of you. Thanks for your participation!!!

It's been a while... take this quiz!

2008-09-18T21:43:00.004-04:00

You Are 16% Pure

You've been a very bad boy...

And you probably enjoyed every minute of it!!!

How Pure Are You?

I just might...

2008-09-18T21:43:00.002-04:00

I think I'm going to shave my mustache this weekend! Yes, it will take me all weekend to do it. I haven't shaved it off in a long time... hmmm!

BMW - Vote for the slogan!

2008-09-17T21:13:00.001-04:00

"The Ultimate Driving Machine" has been nominated for the fifth annual Advertising Week Slogan Contest sponsored by Yahoo! and USA Today.

BMW's slogan, "The Ultimate Driving Machine" has been nominated for the fifth annual Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame – a celebration of America's top icons and slogans.

You can help us win a national title by following this link to the Yahoo! website where you can cast your vote by simply clicking "slogan" and then "The Ultimate Driving Machine."

Voting is limited to one vote per computer and will end on Friday, September 19, 2008. Winners will be announced on Monday, September 22.

Tell your relatives, family and friends to vote and thanks for helping BMW make advertising history.

This week...

2008-09-16T22:31:00.002-04:00

Life is good. I'm still enjoying working at BMW. What a friggin difference! It's nice to go to work and go somewhere that you like!

The family is doing well. And the kids are good.

This weekend we had some pretty serious winds here in Ohio. Gusts up to 75 or 80 mph! Wow! A lot of people without power here in the Columbus area. Good thing we were only without power for a day. We did lose the trampoline, it blew out of the yard and ended up in the woods behind the house. It's all mangled and screwed... oh well! I will provide pictures later on when I download them to the pc.

Pizza!

2008-09-16T22:14:00.003-04:00

So, we go for pizza today and I have to tell you it was the worst friggin experience ever! Pizza Hut in Grove City sucks ass! I will never, never ever, ever, ever go there again!!! Seriously! Little Ceasers or any other pizza joint just got all of our business as of today.

Let me repeat to you, if you live in or near Grove City, the Pizza Hut on Stringtown Rd sucks! NEVER GO THERE! If you do, go at your own risk!

Ok, so we go, we order fairly quickly. We knew what we wanted... 40 minutes later still nothing. I get up, I complain and magically the pizza appears no more than two or three minutes later. Hmmm! Only one server and you know it just goes down hill from here.

I asked for the manager and then complained a bit. About came across the counter to choke an employee and well, here I am telling you all about it. never go there! Ohhh, I'm getting ticked off just thinking of it...

One last thing today...

2008-09-12T16:01:00.003-04:00

My Aunt & Uncle are on their way here! I'm pretty excited because I haven't seen them in a couple of years! It's a shame because we only live like 6 or 7 hours away.

Too funny not to share...

2008-09-12T15:57:00.001-04:00

The picture says it all...

Movie Reviews!

2008-09-12T15:22:00.010-04:00

21: Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! What a great movie. Inspired by a true story; could you imagine? Highly recommend. Good actors, good storyline and keeps you interested. I have to give this one two thumbs up! I would watch it again, I liked it that much!!!

Juno: Well, I rented this to see what the hype was. To see why is was so talked about and why it was nominated as one of the best pictures last year. I wasn't impressed! Sure, it had some funny scenes, but due to what the storyline was about, I'm not sure it should have been a humorous movie. You be the judge, if you like! I don't recommend it and I give it two thumbs down, plus I'm sticking my tongue out at this one! Don't do it!

The Water Horse: I had my reservations on this one. I rented it because I was going to be home with Aaron and I thought maybe he'll like it. Well to my surprise, he loved it and for the next three days all he wanted to watch was The Water Horse. What did I think of it? It was great, I thought. Recommend it, it was a pretty cool movie. It gets a thumbs up!

What Happens in Vegas: OMG! Too funny! I was laughing my ass off! I watched this late at night while in bed. Amy was sleeping hard, there were scenes that just made me crack up and in the midst of that in her sleep, Amy begins to laugh and laugh hysterically! I paused the movie and started laughing at her laughing in her sleep. She ended up waking up and we laughed over nothing for the next 20 minutes! She went back to sleep, I finished my movie. It was funny and cute. I enjoyed this one a lot, not sure if it had anything to do with my wife's episode of sleep laughing, but I really enjoyed it! Go out and rent this one, you won't regret it. Two thumbs up!

You have got to read this...

2008-09-10T23:07:00.002-04:00

You have got to read this...

Click Here

Most of you probably read this on MSN, as it was one of their cover stories today. The article talks about legalizing drugs, more specifically marijuana. Weigh in your thoughts, I'm interested in what most of you have to say.

My opinion, legalize pot. Create revenue, create jobs, and get some drug dealers off the streets. Suprised to hear me say that? Shouldn't be if you know me well enough! It really wouldn't be any more different than people smoking cigarettes or drinking beer and whiskey. Hell, drunks are dangerous! They get tanked and then want to drive... pot heads smoke and wnat to eat and sleep!

Enough said... Good night!

Ladies & Gentlemen

2008-09-10T21:57:00.004-04:00

I have an important announcement... I'm going to have a BMW!!! I have ordered my BMW. OMG!!! It will be a 328xi sedan, like the one pictured above. It won't go into production until mid to late October and then it will take another 5 or so months before I get it. Obviously as an employee, your order is at the bottom of the production list! First, special orders, then dealer orders, then employees... regardless, I'll be getting into mine sometime in late March.

My three color choices were: Monaco Blue Metallic, Black Sapphire Metallic or Titanium Silver Metallic. All with either black or grey leather interior. Of course, I ordered mine with all the bells & whistles... NAV, Sirius radio, Cold weather package, park distance control, comfort access, you name it, I ordered it. The beauty of it all, it will not change the cost to me one bit!

I'm pretty excited! Ok, more updates when I get word about it going to production. Click on the link above and build your own.

Visiting

2008-09-09T22:13:00.002-04:00

My Uncle Walt & Aunt Linda are planning on coming to Columbus for a weekend visit. I'm very excited about that... I'll keep you posted once it is set in stone!

BMW

2008-09-09T22:02:00.006-04:00

Still happy with work... today I went to New Associate Orientation. Part of the orientation included "Brand Academy," some pretty intersting stuff!

Let me begin with this statement:

BMW is the 13th most recognized brand WORLDWIDE! Think about it... the entire world! Leave me a comment with who you think is #1!?!

There are over a 120,000 employees worldwide!

They have been using the same tag line "The Ultimate Driving Machine" since 1973! And it still holds true! Amazing!

Finally, let me leave you with this thought... "There is power in the roundel!"

News

2008-09-09T21:59:00.001-04:00

This news just in:

All of the Wal-Marts across Alabama sold out of ammunition as of yesterday. A reliable source said that one of the purchasers commented that while Russia may have invaded Georgia , they sure as hell ain't doin' that to Alabama .

It's been a few days...

2008-09-07T00:08:00.002-04:00

ALl is well. I've been busy at work and at home and I haven't had the opportunity to blog. Life is good. I'm still enjoying working at BMW a lot!

Last week I bought a flat panel lcd hdtv and I love it!!! I mounted it on the wall and I love it!!! I also upgraded dvd players to one that upconverts to 1080p and I love it!!! I get some hd channels and I have to tell you that the dang difference in the picture is absolutely amazing!

Now I have to get rid of the other tv I have... a 57 inch big screen projection tv. Which is a friggin monster compared to the lcd. I'm not sure if I'm gonna list it on Craig's list or donate it to the church for the youth group. Either way, I just want it out of our way.

I've been working on the garage and all I need to do is sand the joint compound and paint. After that I'll be building my storage shelving unit and then hopefully will be finishing the garage floor as well. I really need to get some organization going on in the garage!

Not sure what the next project will be after that but I'm sure there will be something! I have a few movie reviews to post, hopefully I will get around to it on Sunday afternoon. Goodnight!

Ohio Aces Video

2008-09-01T15:32:00.001-04:00

I love this handshake... maybe you can learn it too!

Pictures, pictures & more pictures!

2008-09-01T10:22:00.001-04:00

Pictures...

Click Here

These were still from Dave's visit to Ohio.

**Julie you made my blog again. Plus, I'm still waiting for a comment from you!

Presidential Resume - Short & Sweet

2008-08-30T22:29:00.002-04:00

I know I haven't said much during all of this political campaigning this year, so I thought you would all like this...

Presidential Resume- short and sweet

THE PRESIDENTIAL RESUME
I know that some of you don't like to read long drawn out resumes...
so here's a summary...

John McCain -- Congress: 26 Years / Military: 22 Years

Barack Obama -- Congress: 143 Days / Military: 0

Summary Concluded!

TBDBITL

2008-08-29T16:19:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new season for Ohio State Football!

O-H-I-O!

What's up?

2008-08-25T22:37:00.007-04:00

Ok, I know it's been a week since I posted anything. Andy & Ashley have gone to their mom's again. It's always a tough week when they leave. I don't know how to explain it, it just makes me sick to my stomach! I have talked to them every night since they left, which of course just makes my day!!!

Let me update you on Week 2 at BMW. Well it was just as good as days 1 thru 5! Let me tell you this; this week which happens to be week 3 is looking to be just as good as the other two! I am happy going to work! I get up and look forward to go to work! What a difference! What a blessing!!! My favorite thing to say is that the folks that work for me "Drive BMW's!" It's a whole different caliber of people.

This weekend was draft weekend. On Saturday I drafted on my fun league, which is just a bunch of guys that I've known for a while, plus some that are family. I love playing Fantasy Football with these guys because it's a bunch of fun and a bunch of smack talking Then on Sunday I had another draft which is for my money league. Some of those guys are fun loving folks as well, a few others I could care less about... so let's pray that I do well and I can win some cash!

This coming Saturday is OSU's first football game of the season. There's this big deal going on because as of last year they were only televising their games on the Big Ten Network and it was a premium channel last year, yet some games were still televised on National networks. This year they are all supposed to be on the Big Ten Network and I think one or two games on ESPN. No local channels and of course the people here are going nuts! Well most of the cable companies here have added the channel to their listing and have just made it part of their expanded basic package. However Time Warner whcih is probably the largest cable company in town is yet to sign the Big Ten Network on to their list of channels and their are a bunch of upset folks round these parts! Luckily, I have WOW cable and I do receive the Big Ten Network! So I will not be missing any games this season!!! I know SWEEEEET! Talking about OSU, this weekend Amy got me a new beanie cap and it is the coolest, it looks like a football helmet! I know, you don't have to say it; that's pretty F'ing sweet!

Good night!

Thank You!!!

2008-08-17T19:24:00.002-04:00

I've got to tell you that Amy is wonderful!

Thank you Amy for always packing the kids suitcases so that I don't have to worry about it, think about it, stress about it or do it... that would be one of the hardest things for me to ever do. Thank you Amy for being so wonderful, supportive and understanding!

I love you!

BMW - Day 5

2008-08-17T15:25:00.002-04:00

Sorry, I forgot to tell you about day 5... let me put it this way; the folks that report into me are not on the busline, they drive BMW's!

This concludes my first week at BMW.

Darkest Time of the Year

2008-08-16T23:59:00.003-04:00

The coming days are going to be tough in our home. My two oldest are just a few days shy from leaving to be with their mothers again. This is always tough, I don't want them to leave! It's tough (to say the least) on me and I know it's tough on Amy as well. It hurts her to see them go and to see me in such pain.

You would figure that one would get used to this from one year to the next. Let me tell you, it doesn't get any easier. This morning we were having breakfast and Aaron wanted to go outside; Andy told him ok, let's go and grabbed him and off they went. At that moment I thought to myself, "Wow, what a good big brother! Andy is so good with little Aaron!!" This instantly made my eyes swell up... Ashley puts her hand out as to not see my eyes and says, "Why are you crying?" Of course, this brought me to another thought which made my eyes swell some more. I'm thinking, "My kids are about to leave and I'm not going to see them for a year!" I hold my tears in and I tell Ashley that I'm not crying... she says "You're about to..." she is still holding her hand up to not see me, because she will start crying if I do.

I explained to her that it's sad when they are getting ready to leave. At this point Amy's eyes are swelling too. She explained to Ashley that this happens every time they leave. For the first time I was able to actually put into words how I felt. I explained to Ashley that it's like a hand going inside my chest and squeezing my heart, ripping it out and throwing it on the floor... she says "Daddy, that sounds painful!" I responded "Yes, it hurts a lot!" I tolde her that I love her and Andy very much. That was the end of our conversation.

I know that I have caused all this pain and grief on myself through my mistakes in life. I don't regret any of them though... Andy & Ashley are wonderful kids and anyone that meets them always expresses that as well. They are amazing with their little brother and show him so much love and give him so much attention. I thank God for them and their wonderful hearts!

The feeling around the house when they leave is that we are a bit lost, even the dog! Pray for my household and that the peace of God come over us and allow us to rest in him. I know this makes two prayer requests one right after the other. Thank you.

Thanks for listening to me ramble, there may be a few more.

Today, Andy & I hung out and Amy & Ashley hung out. Afterwards we all came together at home and then we went to give Amy one of her Birthday gifts (her b-day is on Monday). We went to Home Depot to get this storm door she has been wanting for over a year. Tomorrow we'll be giving her another gift. After Home Depot we went for ice cream with Chimmy, Beth & Kelsey then we went and hung out with them for a while at their house. I love them, they are just great people!

Enough said... goodnight!