Beat Down.....

I'm mentally exhausted from dealing with inspectors. If I were ever in a captive situation, I don't think I would ever make it through an interrogation! As a matter of fact, as I sit here, I can't even think of anything good to write about because my brain is tired of working overtime.

I'm happy to report that my back is begining to feel better, I'm hoping to start P90X again on Monday morning! My buddy Jeb posted a new picture of himself on his blog and the results are amazing. In only 5 days of P90X, Jeb already looks like Sylvester Stallone, in the first Rocky movie!

Hope everyone had a good week!

Only one more day and my inspection is OVER!!!!!!! Wahooo!!!!!!

It's "Go Time"

Today it's "Go Time" at work. We have prepared for at least a year now for a big inspection. Although, we are the Air National Guard, we have to follow and comply with all Air Force directives and our inspectors arrive today. I think our unit will do fine. We are going to get some write-ups but overall, I think we will do fine. Our leadership may not agree, they have set their standards to an unattainable level so we will just do the best we can and if that's not good enough then they will have to fire the entire base.

I believe one of my coworkers came up with the best idea for dealing with the stress and overtime we have all been working. I noticed that he had not been staying late like the rest of us and he seemed to not be stressed out. I thought to myself, "He must really be on his game" Come to find out, he has adopted a new attitude which I really like. He told me yesterday that he decided he could be stressed out for weeks, work tons of overtime, and take years off his life...OR he could take a thirty minute butt chewing from the boss. 30 minutes vs weeks of stress...I like his thinking! Kind of wish I would have adopted his theory a long time ago.

In an unrelated issue...we are still doing P90X at the ROC every morning. I am out right now with a back injury but will hopefully be back on Monday. I believe Jackie Dolan said it best...If you want to get in the best shape of your life, or die trying then come to the ROC at 5:00 A.M.

Hope everyone is having a good week.

Monday prediction...

I am positive that tomorrow is going to be a rough day! I know this because I am beginning a new workout regimine in the morning. I was doing really good and was planning to run the Little Rock half marathon but I fell victim to preparing for a big inspection at work and convieniently pushed excercise to the bottom of my "To Do" list. Tomorrow I am going to start the P90X workout with several guys from church. We are meeting at 5:00A.M. at the ROC if anyone would like to join us.

It's amazing how quickly I have gained back all the weight I lost while I was in Spain. It's so easy to maintain a regimine when you have food prepared for you everyday and have several healthy choices. It's also easy when you live in a hotel and you don't have any responsibilities other than doing your laundry, going to eat, and working out. So, for those of you out there saying "I don't have time for excercise" believe me, I can feel your pain...It's tough to find time. I heard a guy say one time that it's easier to make time to excercise when you are alive than when you are dead. I suppose that's true, so I'll give the 5:00 A.M regimine a try. I encourage everyone to get out and get a little excercise each day, it will make you feel better. If your having trouble finding time, you are more than welcome at the ROC for some P90X as long as you promise not to laugh.

Have a great week!

Punk'd

Lily stayed home sick today, she has been running a fever for several days but it had subsided over the last 24 hours. This afternoon around 4:00 pm she began crying and wouldn't stop so, Andria took her to the walk in clinic. Lily is our 4 yr old little girl, and you have to be able to read her mind to find out what is ailing her. When she was younger, she would have terrible ear infections and at one point, her eardrum was about to burst and yet, Lily acted fine. So, anyway, Andria took her to the clinic and her ear was infected. The doctor gave her some numbing ear drops and as soon as we put them in her ear, we had a totally different little girl. I think she was making up for several days of not talking a lot because every five seconds she was saying "Hey Daddy!" After answering a million questions, Lily said again "Hey Daddy!" I said "What piglet?" and she said "Don't call me piglet, PUNK!" From a parent standpoint, I probably should have disciplined her for that, but honestly, I couldn't stop laughing long enough! Lillers is so funny. A word of caution...don't call her piglet, even if meant as a term of endearment, she's might just call you a "Punk" too!

Warning! Random Ramblings...

It's been a while since I wrote, today is one of those times when I have tons of random thoughts so bear with me, this is probably going to be a long post, maybe I'll break it up into two installments.

First I would like to say a big "Thank You!" to Congress and the President for passing the Economic Stimulus Package. It's really comforting to know that my Grandchildren will be paying for our mistakes. We as a Country are really selfish, it's all about how we can fix our problems now, nevermind that generations later will still be paying for our screw ups. Honestly, I could rant about this for a long time. In past economic crisis, the government didn't bail out the automakers and big businesses, just ask Packard. I think I'll write a letter to GM, Ford, and Chrysler to see which one of them is going to give me my next car. Yes, you read it right, GIVE me my next car. See, I figure as much of my tax money as they are spending without any oversight, I figure they owe me a new car. Nothing super fancy, but something a little more than a base model, maybe they can name it the Spending Spree Special. Maybe if enough people write to them, they'll get the hint that they're a bunch of idiots, but I doubt they'll send me my car. I think I have some anger issues to work through concerning this whole deal and it would be best for me to stop rambling about this one.

I have been thinking a lot about duck hunting lately. Actually, I have been thinking about several outdoor activities. My problem is that I really like the idea of duck hunting but that's about as far as I get. I get to the idea and plan it all out in my head but I never put it into action. I think because there is no hunting to be done right now, I am day dreaming a little of all the hunts that I would like to do sometime. I mentioned to one of my co-workers the other day that maybe I need to decide on one or two types of hunting and just concentrate on that and try to get good at it. He told me that he had tried that several years ago and it didn't work. I wish I were really good at all types of hunting. If I had to pick just one, I would say that Turkey hunting is my favorite. I like deer hunting but I tend to get bored sitting and waiting. I have found that I enjoy hunting game that doesn't require a lot of sitting and gives the opportunity to get up and move around. I've only been duck hunting a few times but I enjoyed the social aspect of duck hunting, sitting in a blind with a couple guys, drinking coffee and telling lies...oops, I mean, uh, true hunting stories!

The other reason I have been thinking about duck hunting is that I can't help but think about Mr. Phil Robertson, aka. the Duck Commander. I want to be as bold as this guy! I remember him telling a story about a guy calling him to order duck calls and the guy was throwing out curse words left and right just as part of the conversation. Phil just hung up on him. The man called back and Phil finally told him "Man, you have a filthy mouth! Why would you curse the one God that can save you?" I find that I just let those around me, especially at work, say whatever they want and I never speak up. I admire Phil for his boldness and I plan to go hear him speak again in August in Bentonville, AR.

Speaking of hunting...I took Connor to the shooting range on Saturday. We had a great time! I think every boy ought to be taught how to shoot a gun. I let him shoot the .22 and he is really a good shot. I enjoyed spending some time, just he and I, out in the woods. We went to Jack Creek and threw rocks in the creek and went down a hiking trail before we went to the rifle range. I think he would have been fine with staying there all day, throwing rocks in the creek but he finally decided he wanted to go shooting. I think he had a good time.

You know, sometimes I find myself being extremely selfish! I'm sure we all do, but the last few days I have found myself irritated about not living in a house. For those of you who don't know, I live in a metal building until I build a house. So, today I had to give myself a kick in the pants and remind myself that God will provide me a house when it's time. There are people that live in a lot worse conditions than I do and sometimes I have to remind myself of that.

I have been lazy today, I went to church but as soon as I got home, I just layed around. I have been watching a lot of Man vs. Wild and so I did a little searching and Bear Grylls has a blog so I added a link to it. From reading it, it seems that Bear is a God fearing man and while he shows all these crazy survival situations, he is a true family man. He and his wife just had their 3rd child. I admire a guy like that and I really like to watch him demonstrate how to put survival techniques into action. I wonder if I would be able to survive some of the places he goes? Do you ever feel the need to test yourself? To see what you are made of? Maybe not in a survival situation but just in some type of situation that tests you mentally and physically. I used to love testing in martial arts because it tested me. I remember being put to the ultimate test prior to testing for 1st degree black belt. My instructor insisted that prior to testing before the Grandmaster, each black belt candidate was required to endure the "Meat Grinder". Eight hours of non-stop movement, it was brutal. Sometime I will write all the details. I honestly don't remember the pain from it anymore, but I will never forget the sense of accomplishment after completing the "Meat Grinder" Even more so, I will never forget how easy the actual black belt test seemed after going through that. I never thanked my instructor for that experience but looking back, I probably should have. We had a motto at our Kuk Sool Won school "Pain is temporary, but pride is forever" I am still proud of my accomplishments and one day hope to return to teaching martial arts.

So, since I'm just rambling I do have to tell you about my supercool Valentines Day plan. I left clues for Andria in her vehicle on Friday and they eventually led her to me. I had a suite reserved at the Residence Inn and I got Olive Garden take out and had a candlelight dinner waiting on her when she arrived. After dinner we went to see a movie I think the title was "He's Just Not That Into You" and all I can tell you about it is "I Wasn't That Into It!" It was terrible and we left about 30 minutes into it. I took Andria shopping and then we called it a night. We got up the next morning and went to breakfast and then went to watch Connor's basketball game. It was a pretty good Valentines surprise, if I do say so myself!

OK, I have to switch my brain off or this post will be like reading a novel, it might be already but don't say I didn't warn you. Guess I should've considered that whole "Two installment" thing, huh?

Hope everyone has a good week!

Dream Season....

My buddy Jackie Dolan, future mayor of Greenwood, called me up a couple days ago to ask me if I would like to sign up with him for Drury Outdoors Dream Season. After asking a couple questions about what was involved, I said "Sure, it sounds fun!" So, next hunting season we are going to film all of our hunts, edit the video, and get three good films together to send in. If they choose our films, we get to go hunting in some pristine hunting areas and have it filmed plus I think we win some prizes or something...I don't know all the details yet. I'm looking forward to it. Since I got the new camera for Christmas I have really started to enjoy taking pictures so I'm hoping that I'll be able to get good with the video camera too. With the way my last deer season went, I'm beginning to think that looking through the camera lens may be the only way I get to see a deer, I sure didn't see any while looking through my rifle scope. ha ha Hmm...now that I think about it, Jackie may have made a bad choice for a hunting partner! In my defense, I was gone to Spain right up until season opened so, I didn't get a lot of opportunity to scout.

Lucky for me, a guy by the name of Woody showed me some tricks for Turkey hunting last time Jackie and I went to Kansas, maybe we'll get a good turkey hunt on film, although, we may have to do a little editing if we use all of Woody's turkey hunting tactics.

Well, be sure to look for Jackie and I on the Outdoor Channel in a couple years. How could they not choose us for the show, I mean just think about it...We're both incredibly handsome. We can both provide comic relief for the show. Jackie does all his own stunts such as diving in ditches and hanging from treestands. Most people don't know it, but I'm a professional stunt driver. I have experience crashing 4 wheelers and performing my signature stunt of leaving my trailer hitch unlocked so that it pops up and smashes the tailgate of my truck. I've also been know to bring the right shells for the wrong gun or the wrong shells for the right gun...however you want to look at it.

With all that going for us, we'll surely get a call from the Outdoor Channel; they might just call to laugh at us over the phone, but at least maybe we'll get the call.

Cruisin' with the camera

After work today, I got home, changed clothes and the whole family went for a drive. We took the camera just for kicks and I got a few shots that were decent. We drove out by the lake and Deerwoods Estates. We counted 60...yes, you read that correctly; 60 deer! It's like driving through a nature preserve or some kind of animal park. The deer are just roaming around and they are so used to people that they aren't really scared.

Despite having to work all weekend, it turned out to be a pretty good evening!

Have a good week!

Valentines Day Ideas....Anyone??

This post is really more for the guys I know. I'm posting this as a public service to all my brothers out there who may have "Let time get away from them" and not realize that Valentines Day is only 7 days away. We guys don't ever "Forget", we just let time get away from us every now and then. If you believe that, then I have a great deal on a warm paradise island off the coast of Alaska for you! ha ha
I think I have a good plan in place but would like to hear other ideas. I can't say what my plan is on this form because my wife will read it and ruin the surprise! So, leave me some comments and let me know what your Valentines Day plans are...


Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Random acts of kindness....

Over the years I have had people that have done random acts of kindness for me or my family and I am a firm believer in passing that on to others as much as I possibly can. For instance, I had a guy, sometimes guys, that took care of my mowing the entire time I was gone to Spain. I have had complete strangers buy my lunch because I was in uniform. I even had one lady give me a hug one day while in Books-A-Million. It was right before Christmas and I had gone there on my lunch hour (in uniform) to look for a gift. I noticed that this lady kept ending up on the same aisle that I was on. Finally she just came up to me and said "Can I hug you? I just want you to know how much you are appreciated and I pray for you and many like you everyday!"

Yesterday I had a chance to give back to someone and hopefully it will make a difference in this persons life. One of my co-workers is going through a tough time right now. He has some medical issues as well as some family issues that he is going through. When I left for lunch I saw he and his wife talking and I could tell that things were not going well. For some reason, it hit me that I needed to get him something that he could use to seek comfort when it felt like his world was falling apart. So, I bought him a Bible while I was out for lunch. I told him that I was by no means a Bible scholar but that I had found words of wisdom and comfort in the Bible when things weren't going right in my life. Now, this really put me outside of my comfort zone because the Bible, God, Jesus, or Church are not words normally associated with my workplace. In fact, it is more the opposite end of the proverbial dictionary where most of my co-workers choose their words from, if you get my drift? He said he appreciated the kindness and would always keep it. I hope that it becomes something that he will use to help him through his tough times.

I tell you all this not to boast or toot my own horn, I tell you this to challenge you to look for opportunities to do something for someone. Step out of your comfort zone! "Try the spicy mustard" as my friend Philip says! That's another story for another time, just trust me, it means the same thing as try something different, do something out of the ordinary! In this crazy world we live in, it's nice to know that there are still people out there who will help someone when they are in need or lend an ear when a friend needs someone to listen. You never know, if you do something nice or helpful for someone, eventually, when you least expect it God will send someone to help you in your own time of need.

Proverbs 11:17 "A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings disaster on himself."

The last few days...

These last few days have been absolutely crazy! When I last left off with this, we were without power and were staying at my parents house. I'm happy to report that our power was back on the next day. There are still a lot of people without power in NW Arkansas, I talked to one of my friends from up that way and he and his family live out in the country and were told it could be another two weeks before they get electricity.

The Outdoor Sports Banquet was a big hit again this year. There were approx. 2000 people in attendance. There were 61 people who either made decisions to become a Christian or asked for more information. There were tons of prizes given away and silent auctioned. I bought a dutch oven and a cookbook from the Arkansas Dutch Oven Society, so guys, get ready because I may try out some of these dutch oven recipes at deer camp next year.

There was something about the OSB that bothered me. During the door prize giveaways, Steve "Wildman" Wilson asked who was in charge of getting all these prizes together and someone threw out my name. Wildman then asked for the crowd to give me a round of applause leaving everyone to believe that I single handedly collected all the prizes given away. I'm one for giving credit where credit is due and I have to say that Jackie Dolan and Henry Smith are the real reason that we had so many prizes to give away. These guys are the bomb! They have so many contacts in the outdoor industry and they are the real reason that the prize team did so well. It certainly wasn't because of anything I did. As a matter of fact, I tried to get out of being the prize leader because I have been so busy at work, but Harold wouldn't let me off the hook. In a way, I'm glad he didn't because I think I would have been dissapointed in myself for quitting. It was worth all the time on the phone and additional stress, and although I say that next time, I probably won't be involved, I'm sure when they ask, I'll gladly accept the task. It's great to see a kids face light up when he wins a prize and you couldn't wipe the smile off the guys face that won the 4 wheeler we gave away. Overall the event was awesome but I just want to say "Thanks!" again to Jackie and Henry. "You guys Rock!"

This morning we got up and went to church, but before we left, I snapped a few photos of Lillers. I'm amazed at how quickly kids change. I'm also amazed at how little I still know about my camera. Hopefully I can take a class on it soon.

Here's wishing everyone a great week!