raving lunatics and me

Awaiting the $$$

2008-10-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Crass as the title of this blog may seem, that is exactly what we are doing right now. We are doing a bit of construction on a temporary kitchen downstairs, but not much. The Leaches gave us an oven range, so now we're in pretty good shape. All the walls downstairs are gone from 4' down, and all of our possesions that were downstairs during Ike are in the garage.

Hoping to hear from Flood insurance soon, so then we can decide what to do next

Tuesday blues

2008-09-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

Day after Labor day. Didn't get enough relaxation in this weekend. But still...
I had some fun,
got some chores done,
saw the Dynamo run,
and they won.
New window in the Master Bedroom looking out over the water, also letting in some of that happy sun.

I got the Tuesday morning after Labor Day blues.

Come on, Weekend!

new school year

2008-08-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a lunchtime seminar on how to become a Certified Automation Professional (CAP). They served up some nice Bar-B-Q and iced tea and presented to us the reasons why and how we should and could become CAPs. Basically, the idea is to take an exam that, if passed, would be proof to the whole world that your competency in the area of plant automation is such that you should be respected and valued above the run of the mill engineer.

What is so nice about this program is that it is available to non-degreed people who have been working in the automation industry for ten or more years. Up until now, I had no certification or license that identified me as someone who could be counted on to accomplish the tasks associated with the installation of a control system in a plant. My lack of accreditation hasn't necessarily hampered me in my chosen field, but it may have, and I simply may not know it, as decisions about work assignments are usually made by my boss and his ability to sell me to a client.

So, I'm getting ready to start school, again, for the first time in almost 30 years. I guess I'll need to get a new backpack!

New York Style Pizza

2008-08-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

Dude! I just ate twice as much pizza as I should have, but I couldn't stop.

Sarah-babe suggested a few weeks ago that there was a new place we should be getting our pizza. I decided that I would satisfy my craving for some Italian sausage and green olive, since every person that I live with was gone for hours, or days, and no one would gag at my selection. There's a new shop just down the road with the unassuming name of Pizza King.

My first question when I walked in the door was "do they have green olives?". You may think that a silly question, but I really think that, if you do, you are taking too much for granted. As I said before, not many people like the green olives on the pizza, so I have found that many pizza shops don't even bother to keep them on hand. Upon getting the answer in the affirmative, I breathed a sigh of relief and proceeded to order my favorite pizza of all time.

It only took them about 15 minutes to make it, and in the meantime I jetted down to the Kroger gas station to fill up my lowered, tinted 98 Maxima with the cold air intake and Sony bluetooth CD/MP3 deck. Listening to The Waiting at what I'm sure all around me thought way too loud a volume, I popped on back up the road to secure my pizza pie.

As I pulled up I realized that I had forgotten to specify thin, thick, stuffed or flambeed crust, so I grabbed the menu I had stolen from the counter (I just picked it up! I don't think they suspected anything!) I found that I had ordered pizza from a man who only makes New York style pizza, whatever that is. Well, what it is is absolutely the best pizza I've had in forever!

Once I got it home to the privacy of my own home with the new windows overlooking the Clear Creek through the woods, I sat down to a bit of Yankees vs. Rangers on the HDTV and took a sip of my Coke Zero. What I found is this...The sauce is delicious, with a strong hint of oregano, and not too sweet. The crust was thin but not too thin. The toppings were generous and it was cut into 8 large slices. My standard way of eating thin crust pizza is to take the slice, fold it in half from point to crust, and eat away! Oh rapture, how wonderful it was!

No hyperbole here. Trust me. This is THE place to get you pizza in the League City area.

Bon appetite!

Edouard, my man!

2008-08-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

Small little storm, with potential to do a little damage, but not great. I think I can use it as an excuse not to come to work tomorrow, though. In all fairness, it just wouldn't be safe to drive to work in 70 mph winds, with all of the other crazy Houston drivers, unless, of course, there was no rain and it was always a tailwind.

Sent Mel and Sarah off to Jamaica with DeAnna and Nic on Saturday morning. Actually, I sent them off Friday night, after the Mercy Me concert at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion.

Friday was actually a pretty cool day. Mel and Sarah drove up from Pasadena and I drove over from Jacobs to meet Coop at KSBJ. We went to a goodbye lunch at On the Border in Atascosita (a cool little town I didn't even know existed) for Coop and I got to sit next to Susan O'Donnel, who is hilarious. I also sat next to LaRonda, who is very cool. From there we met up with Nic in Spring, and drove on up to the Woodlands and saw a very bad movie called Mama Mia. I don't recommend this, unless you are with people who like to laugh at stupid movies. Dinner at Cafe Express followed with the 5 of us, and we had many laughs. I think I remember Mel saying that her face hurt.

Well, anyway, Craiger picked up the girls from LaVeau's house (where I left them Friday night) at 4am Saturday morning (I'm glad I was home in bed) and they didn't get to Jamaica unitl late in the afternoon.

Coop moved back home for his final week of summer after getting "fired" (his words) by KSBJ, and I'm pretty sure he intends and doing a bunch of nothing this week.

I'm busy cleaning out the new upstairs guest rooom and it's closet in preparation for getting new carpet for the whole upstairs.

Dynamo vs.Pachuca

2008-07-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

Mel and I are taking Sarah, Abby, Jon, Juan & Josh to meet Coop at BW2 somewhere in Houston. At least I THINK we are. Plans are still forming. Whatever we do, we're all very excited about tonight's game. The boys have been playing very well of late, so we expect a WIN TONIGHT!!!

We shall proceed from the food to The Rob and gather with 30K of our closests friends. Hopefully there won't be too many blue crosses in the stadium (if you don't know what that means, Google it!) If we're lucky we'll get to see Jaqua play some minutes, and maybe even the new guy, Kamara.

You guys heard of Brad Davis? I LOVE HIM! Not "LOVE" love, but, you know, he's like my favorite player on the Dynamo. His wife told me she loves him too! Well, she didn't tell ME, specifically, but when I up and made a fool of myself by exclaiming the afore-mentioned "I LOVE HIM" phrase, she heaped on the embarrasment by telling Coop, Juan, Mel and I that, you know...She loves him, too! Anyway, GOORANGE! (pn: Goo-Range [courtesy of Chris Rackham])

Back to work, 1 more hour!

two days after

2008-07-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

'Tuesday' stands for two days after vacation ended. Or for some, It simply two days after an amazing weekend. Used to be Tuesdays weren't all that special. I still had four more days of school to make it through when I woke up as a kid on Tuesday morning. But now, Tuesday is hump day! Once I'm done with today, it's downhill to the weekend. I just love working 4 tens.

Saw 'The Dark Night' last night. The Joker was awesome. Batman needs to clear his throat, but I understand his dilemma. If he doesn't have the raspy voice thing going, everyone's going to know who he is. I think I'd figure it out from the teeth alone. I liked Mrs. Cruise better as Racheal, and I guess the producers/writers did too, cause they....

spoiler alert...

slay her!

Tivo.com is down this morning, so I'm not able to schedule my Tivo at the house to record the Dynamo v United game tonight. Guess I'll have to do it the old fashioned way...point the remote at the TV and press some buttons while I'm actually in the same room with the TV! How barbaric!

vacation grande

2008-07-11T05:13:00.000-07:00

I started vacation yesterday at 4:30 pm. Well not really. I am actually sitting here at home getting ready to start on some work I brought home that I could not finish by the end of the day yesterday. I seem to have quite a bit of work to to.

So here's the pregunta...If I get up in the morning and do a little work before every one else gets up, am I really on vacation? I mean, really?

my first grand niece/phew/child

2008-07-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

sitting here at st. john hospital, my niece, Lauren, is at 9cm and 100 pct. effaced and we are all excited. Sarah says she likes reading spanish, which is brought on by all the posters in the hospital that are printed in spanish.

I love babies so much. I like holding them, smelling them, listening to them. I like helping them grow up, and telling them their first joke, and, yes, I WILL be first.

Melissa is coming from work as we speak, Coop is coming as soon as he gets off work, and Sarah is sitting right here with me. we're watching stargate atlantis. We just ate at Fudd's, with Amanda and Cody, and DeAye. the weather is hot and muggy. Lauren's epiderual only completely took on one side, but she's doing much better than before.

future child's name will be Shaggy Cooper White or Alice Lee White.

all for now!!!!

Sharathon on the worldwide KSBJ

2008-06-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

This has been a very fun day. I got to work, sat down at my cubicle, pulled up KSBJ on the webcast, a started listening to my favorite radio station as they gave us all the opportunity to be a part of the team. Though the day started out kinda rough for the KSBJ staff, they quickly got the phone glitch worked out and started rolling in the support.

My boy got to work a bit early, and I saw him walk across my computer screen, stop, turn and wave good morning to me (and I'm sure his mom, too) as he was looking up at the camera KSBJ had set up for their webcam. I've spent the next 6 hours watching my screen for him, watching him spin things on his finger, high five a coworker, offer help or conversation to one of the volunteers manning the phones, or just sitting there drumming on his legs to whatever song was playing on the broadcast at the moment. I am so much looking forward to volunteering tomorrow and getting to hang out with him for the day!

I guess I could have gotten a little bit more work done today, but, really...how many times in life does something like this happen? I guess if Coop gets a full time job with KSBJ after he graduates from Baker Univ. in Kansas, this could be a yearly thing, if not a daily thing (if KSBJ gets a full time DJ webcam, hint, hint!). Fun, Fun day.

initial ravings

2008-06-23T12:33:00.000-07:00

rave = blog

simple formula. What else might you talk about except that for which you have devoted much attention and probably some sort of excitement. Yeah, yeah, excitement may be strong for some things many of us talk about all day, but what will you take time to login, post, proofread, re-read, logout, re-read again. If you're not excited about it, I usually don't get too interested in it. Here's what I'm excited about...

New windows looking out over Clear Creek from my bedroom...
my new friend Chris LeVeau...
Beach house in Galveston...
my no.1 son interning at KSBJ this summer...

more to come. promise!

changing to job

2007-04-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

Quickly now, a short note for today...I've been out of town for a week and trying to catch up this week. I kinda wanted to update this on a regular basis, but sometimes I get so busy. What with American Idol and Deadliest Catch on TV, when do I have time?

I've submitted my resume' to my old company and they say they are going to hire me. That's good. I'm really not looking forward to telling my boss, though. He's a great guy. I hate to do this to him.

No profound thoughts going through my head right now, at least not that I have TIME to write about. Catch you later.

Parental Guilt

2007-03-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

This morning on my drive into the office I was listening to Focus on the Family with Dr. James Dobson for a few minutes before I switched over to Mike and Mike on ESPN radio. Dr. Dobson had a guest on that was apparently doing the talk show circuit, what there is of one in the Christian talk show world, hyping her book about parenting and guilt. The basic premise of their conversation, and I have no argument with this, was that moms generally feel more guilt than dads about raising their kids. Further more, that moms can harbor this guilt their entire lives. She mentioned research that she had done, and by research she means collecting surveys from women who had attended conferences she had been to, that had moms as old as 87 who still struggled with feelings over things they felt they had done wrong when their child was young.I made me wonder for a moment how my own mom might be feeling.

Those of you who have moms, and you know who you are, know that they come in all varieties. Some moms are the typical June Cleaver mom and some are the Mommie Dearest mom and every where in between. Still, even with the Mommie Dearest mom, and I don't remember anything about the movie except the coat hangers, I suspect that guilt plays a big part in their psychological makeup whenever they ponder their children. For a tough old bird like my mom, who I am very much like, she would fight tooth and nail to not have to own up to any failings, or any fault, on her part as to how my siblings and I may have been affected by our childhood. I don't think it's a matter of denial, rather it's a stance of 'why must we talk about this?'.

For me, trying to empathise with her, albeit from the distance forced on me by my maleness, I would think her approach is: 'I know what I did, you know what I did, I can't do anything about it now, this is who I am, I love you, let's move on'.Now, I realize I could be very wrong on that point, but for the sake of discussion, and for the millions of readers out there who CAN empathise with those feelings, I feel I must say something. There is something you can do. It's never too late to grow as a person and to heal relationships. I don't care how old or young you are, saying you're sorry, and meaning it, is magic. It's good for you, and, usually, good for them.

Our pastor told a wonderful story this weekend about a fight he and his wife had over the phone a year ago, and how he gave up his desire to win the argument and chose to do the thing that was best for his wife. It was as simple as 'I'm sorry, I love you'. Granted, years later, and it might be 50 something years later for the 87 year-old mom, it might take a longer conversation to hash out what the problem is. Your child may not even remember the hurt, but the essence of the matter is forgiveness and trust. Once you have identified your fault to those you feel you have wronged you give them permission to hold you accountable in the future. It's like taking a wall down that has to be scaled every time you want to get close to someone.

I'm all for saying I'm sorry. I wish I did it more often. I pray I have fewer and fewer occasions to have to say it as I grow older. But I also pray for the wisdom and humility to continue saying it.

yearly checkup

2007-03-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

Today was the day for my yearly checkup. I was mildly in fear of going, but not really. It's really more like an inconvenience. When you get to be my age, which is still fairly young by most standards, things start breaking down on your body. I won't terrify you with an exhaustive list here, but let's just say that I feel like I'm always having to learn a new way to live. Now, I don't mean 'live' as in 'live and die'. I'm referring to more of a 'you gotta LIVE life to the fullest!' live. Things like the missing cartilage in my right knee. Fun stuff like ultimate frisbee used to be a no-brainer for me as for whether or not I was going to participate. Now I must consider whether or not I'm willing to put up with the aching in my knee for four days after, and whether or not it's worth taking 800mg of ibuprofen four times a day during that time. You see, not only does the ibuprofen wreak havoc on your stomach lining after prolonged use, but it is also linked to elevated blood pressure and kidney disease. Please correct me if I'm wrong here, but that's a lot to consider when all you're wanting to do is go out and throw the frisbee with some friends.

It might seem like complaining, and I'm sure I can't deny it, but the whole knee thing was just a freak accident that didn't have to happen. I was already 30 something when it happened so it wasn't like I was some world class athlete whose super developed musculature and God-given speed brought about the inevitable. I was just a wild mannered (it sounds like mild mannered, which is a comfortable phrase that should help the reader feel more akin to my plight, but the truth is I was anything but mild in those days) athletic engineering type person, who really loved to compete in all different kind of sports.

This particular day was pick-up basketball in our church's new gym, with carpet on the floor and the basketball lines, key and all, right in the carpet. I continually ended up on a team opposite some other tallish kind of guy, and since I was the second tallish (I did it again, it sounds like tallest but it's not) guy out there that day, so I was always guarding this guy and having him guard me. Problem is this guy was extremely serious about his basketball, and I must admit I was just as serious about not ever losing, ever. Well this guy was making me work way too hard all day long, and I really felt I had to pace myself in order to continue to play, because we usually would play till we dropped. However, we were losing, and, as I said before, I didn't like losing, ever, so I decided that I would just take matters into my own hands, and put on a 10 minute or so burst of energy, which I figured would be just enough to get my team the win.

And about that word 'team'. Why do I care so much about these guys. 20 minutes ago half of them were trying hard to make me the loser. I mean, gee-whiz, who is even going to remember anything about this day in 5 years? Probably not even five days! That's the problem with boys. It's always about being the winner. Being the man! No matter what the cost. Deep down we know that guys are always going to remember that so-and-so was always the guy who was on the winning team in basketball, and so-and-so always hit monster home runs in softball, and so-and-so could make red kool-aid come out his nose at YMCA summer camp. That's important stuff.

But nobody remembers. Not that stuff. If they do remember anything it's not because you were such a great this or that, but that they liked you, and you were nice, and hopefully not that you were mean. Maybe they'll remember that when you played the guitar you really seemed to love doing it, or that you never gossiped about anyone, ever. Maybe they'll remember that you were always the shy one, but you kept showing up to youth group every week even though you hardly ever said a word. Maybe they'll remember that time you went on a hiking trip up in Colorado, even though you had a club foot, and it hurt like hell after a few miles, but you kept on going and hardly complained at all. Maybe it was your sense of humor, your generous spirit, your beautiful smile which always seemed to be turned on. You get the point.

Back to the game...because of my limited actual talent for basketball, my solution was to make up for it in hustle. Even though I shot 25%, I tried to make it like 50% by getting as many rebounds as I could and shooting again. This day, however, it was the wrong move. 6'-3", 180 lbs. moving swiftly in one direction, trying to stop on a dime as I reach the ball that was trying to find safe haven out of bounds. Body keeps going, all except that part of the body that was below the right knee. Somehow the grip of the carpet on that tennis shoe was more than strong enough to overcome the, up-until-now, stranglehold my anterior cruciate ligament had on the upper and lower bones of my right leg. Two surgeries, 15 or so years of relative inactivity and lots of excellent Mexican food have added 60 pounds to my once svelte frame. Again I'm not complaining. But really I am. I wish I hadn't been so stinking competitive back then, but how was I to know.

If it hadn't been the gym carpet, or my silly competitive streak, it probably would have been something else before long. The fact is, our bodies don't stay teenagers for ever.

But I still wonder all the time how I could be so young and have a kid in college.

anaesthetised by idol

2007-03-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

Yeah, Yeah...Yesterday I'm bashing the complacent American for watching Idol on Tivo and today I'm going to admit that I watch Idol on Tivo. It's not duplicitous. I've only been blogging for three days. I'm waking up and saying my piece. My anesthesia is wearing off and it's mostly due to a kid named Sanjaya Malakar. No flu-like symptoms left. I'm hopping mad. I knew who was going to be voted off and I did my part to try and save him for at least another week, but not enough of us took the 30 seconds required to vote 6 times for Brandon. Granted, Brandon doesn't belong on the show either, but it's just not right that someone like Sanjaya even made it to the final 12. Sundance was just starting to get in his groove, and I know there were three or four more out there that the three headed monster didn't even let get past Hollywood.

Why all the fuss you say? Well, I don't rightly know. I DO know that this proves, even further, that I'm just not in touch with the average American, and frightening as it may sound, I'm much more in touch with Paula than Randy. They've (by 'they' I mean 'The Man', 'Suits', etc.) axed my favorite shows in the past two years without giving them a chance ('Love Monkey' and 'Studio 60') and I'm crying along with Paula as I watch Melinda Doolittle's tears flow when she gets the standing O after Tuesday's performance. I've always been known to shed sympathetic tears for a lady now and then, and my daughter seems to be waiting on the edge of her seat to stare me down and laugh at me when I do. Yeah, and it's not just sympathetic tears either. Hallmark commercials, extremely inspired musical performances and Nic Cage movies do it to me also, and all for different reasons.

In reality, today's post it similar to yesterday's post in that I'm begging and pleading for America to stand up and be heard. Let's not promote mediocrity just because it comes in a pretty package, unless the pretty package is really what it's all about (and what's pretty about Taylor Hicks?). Just because Idol sucks 3 hours of our lives away from us each week, is no reason to be angry and vote for Sanjaya. Truth be told, I pulling for Haley Scarnato to turn things around, and start taking this thing seriously. She's got nothing to lose, and nowhere to go but up! And, boy, ain't she pretty!

alternative lifestyle and the military

2007-03-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I caught up with a running conversation on Gen. Pace's recent comments on homosexuals in the military that was happening via an online newspaper comments forum. I've got to say right off the bat that I've been a fairly closed minded individual for most of my life regarding the granting of civil rights over and above what the average guy is afforded. I've got friends who are gay, and in general, life around these guys is just the same as life around any other guys. I will admit that public displays of affection, say at the bowling alley, by these friends is viewed much differently than the same behavior between my wife and me in the same circumstances. I don't rightly remember ever seeing my friends actually behaving in the same way my wife and I would, though, and I suspect it is because of the potential reaction of the dis-approving public.

There are a couple of issues sparked by Gen. Pace's comments that I would like to briefly chime in on. The right of public officials to speak about their own views on issues, and the actual issue of gays in the military.

With elected officials, and people appointed by elected officials, it would seem to be incumbent upon them to do their jobs the best way they see fit while at the same time tempering their public commentary so as to allow them to continue to remain an elected or appointed official. Sometimes the decisions they make are just so controversial that any explanation made to justify the decision made is bound to offend someone. Sometimes decisions are made based solely on our elected officials opinion on the matter, and not necessarily on a complete set of pertinent facts. Therefore, because that official has the power to make the decision and have it carried out, many policies are set based on the personal biases and prejudices of one individual. This happens on both sides of the political spectrum. It's not just a Republican thing or a Democrat thing, it's how our government works.

So, now that I've established my viewpoint that we have chosen people to make decisions for us, and that they are all going to make decisions at some point based on who they are, and that we have the right to try and hold them accountable for what they say and do, I now want to address how a small group of people who are angry can end up being more powerful than a huge amount of people who are apathetic. Complacency with the status quo has most of us anaesthetised to the little stings of a needle here and there that threaten the very status quo that has us asleep in front of the TV watching American Idol on Tivo.

The dialogue between theses two opposing forces in this newspaper forum was enlightening, and did tend to alter my viewpoint on the general issue. Yet I'm still left wondering 'where are the complacent ones?'. The angry voices of the minorities are heard loud and clear, and yet it seems that the complacent majority is mostly silent. There are a few standing up every now and then, and being pushed back down because their speech is not politically correct enough. Still, yesterday I read and watched as two people from drastically different sides of the issue, managed to make it through the hate talk, and accusations, and attacks, and slowly but surely end up seeing where the other guy was coming from. They started to listen to each other, and realize that there is another, legitimate side to the story. They found out that all conservatives aren't idiotic Bible thumping, hate-mongers and all liberals aren't me-first whiners who want the destruction of our country's moral fiber.

So, what about gays in the military? I love 'em! They've been there for years and will continue to be there for years. They have fought bravely for our country, and died for our country. They are honorable US soldiers just like the heterosexual soldiers. No different. But there is a line that I feel must continue to be drawn, and it works to the benefit of gays and non-gays. As in any workplace, sexual harassment is not tolerated, and from my own personal observations, the great majority of people never cross that line. Our jobs are just not places where our passions for our teammates are going to offer us much help and acting on these passions at the workplace more than often leads to problems. Multiply those problems by degrees as you move into the stressful world of a soldier, and problems can become disasters for the lives of the people involved.

For those who feel that practicing homosexuality is a sin, and a great majority of Americans feel that way, they've got to remember that we are all sinners. We are face to face with our sinning brothers and sisters everyday, watching them in their sin as they fail to do what their heart tells them is the right thing to do. We must choose to love these people, whether their sin is something we consider major or minor. To truly love them, however, doesn't mean it is your life's duty to make them think like you do so that they can be saved. To love them is to follow Jesus' example and truly, deeply, long to know and be known by them.

For those who feel that practicing homosexuality is just OK, they must come to grips with the fact that their sexual behavior is something abhorrent to the majority of the world. You can try and flaunt your sexual preference out in public in hopes of slowly changing America's mind on the subject, but that method just seems naive to me. Whether or not homosexuality is something that our society will one day embrace is something for the future to decide. Nations have risen and fallen throughout history with morals right smack dab in the middle of the conflict. Certainly, it is your right to try and make that day come about and that right is being defended day in and day out by our soldiers all over the world, both straight and gay. Just remember, they are also fighting for the other side's right to try and make it not happen.

true feeling on futbol

2007-03-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

There's not a lot of adults in the US, compared with the number of adults who enjoy other sports that are popular, that really get excited about soccer. I listen to sports talk radio on my way to work each morning, Mike and Mike on ESPN, and you seldom hear one word about soccer. Why should we? Professional soccer in the US draws fewer fans to the stadiums than Arena football. It's a far, far cry from the soccer that is played in Europe, where the fans are so rabid for their teams, they make the Oakland Raiders fans look like sissies. They had to keep the visiting fans from Barcelona out of the stadium the other night until after the game had started so that there wouldn't be any fights. These people aren't any less civilized than Americans are, they simply live and die for their teams. It encompasses every level of social stratosphere, from the CEOs down to the homeless guy on the street. Gang members to church members.

For most US fans they just can't figure out what's to get excited about. I really don't think it's something that can be explained. It's really something that just happens to you one day. Maybe you're watching your six year-old play, or maybe you happen to stop and watch a game on cable as you're surfing, looking for another cooking show. You find that the crowd is roaring every 20 seconds or so as ball after ball is being passed low on the ground, threading its way through two or three defenders, to a sprinting forward who may have a chance at getting a shot off. Maybe it's a ball being passed in the air, by a player running full speed towards the endline, from one sideline to a point in space roughly 5 yards in front of the goal about 8 feet in the air, where 1 or 2 teammates are waiting to get any part of their body on it so that they can score the winning goal. Maybe it's you own son or daughter, playing defense, running down that superstar kid from the other team, and laying out everything, skin, blood and pride, to make sure that kid doesn't even get close to their goal. I choke up just writing that last sentence.

I've got a son in college, playing soccer, loving soccer more all the time. He's achieved so much already, but he knows there is so much more to learn. My wife and I haven't been able to see him play college ball yet, because the one time we made the trip up to Kansas, he was injured during warm-ups. We did get to see his team play, though, and it was very impressive. We thought we'd seen our son play good soccer before, for his high school and club teams, but this was a whole different level. I was very impressed, and very proud that the coach of this team saw something in my son that said he belonged on this field with these other men. Now, consider this; My son, at the time, was on the JV team for an NAIA member school, which is probably somewhere between D-1 and D-2 level NCAA soccer. Above college soccer, in skill level going up, are professional development leagues, semi-pro leagues, professional indoor soccer, professional soccer minor leagues, Major League Soccer (MLS), Mexican League , South American League, Various regional professional leagues in Italy, China, Africa, Japan, Germany and Spain, and then tops above all that is the English Premier League. My son is playing on a team where every player routinely does various things with a soccer ball 20, maybe 50, times a game that I couldn't even dream about doing even one of them once in 100 tries.

I'm not sure what my point is, other than this; soccer at any level is a constant celebration and exhibition of the fruit of hard work and passion, of dedication and discipline, of teamwork and athleticism. Every moment of every game, wherever the ball is on the field, and very often away from the ball, soccer players are exhibiting skills that are worthy of cheering for. From catching the ball with their chest and having it drop right at their feet, to firing a shot with their foot with a ball that is three feet in the air moving at 30 mph. Defenders knowing just where their teammates are going to be and midfielders putting a pass perfectly at the feet of a streaking teammate. I love this game!

mini cooper musings

2007-03-08T13:54:00.000-08:00

Thanks to CCCC for promoting Financial Peace University at the church. Although my wife and I are just 6 weeks into it, it has already made a life changing impact. I honestly just feel foolish that I haven't applied these principals before. There's nothing really new here, for me, except the encouragement that it is worth the trouble to figure out how much money you are spending every month. I know, I know, that seems elementary. But that's just the point! I've always felt I made enough to cover it all so why bother knowing exactly? Well, in the words of Brian Regan "I know now!" The fact is, I was spending way too much on little things here and there, and, every now and then, a little bigger thing.

Dave Ramsey, on the DVD presentation, is wonderfully encouraging each week, and, for me, is reinforcing things that I already knew about but wasn't applying. I highly encourage everyone who hasn't done this series before to do it.

busy life...LOVE it!

2006-01-02T11:54:00.000-08:00

The Cooper Household on the 2nd day of the year...

Josh asleep on the living room couch, it's8:45am. Alisa asleep in her bedroom (aka Lauren's room, Kelly's room, Pop and Gram's room, David's old bedroom, Lauren's old bedroom). David asleep in the garage. Sarah asleep in her room (aka David's old room, Mom and Dad's old room). Mayhem asleep in our room (aka the old living room, the old pool room). Sun shining, 65 deg outside.

My children are a joy to me! It's wonderful being a dad to three great kids like them. Each of them so amazingly unique, and yet so alike in their love for their family and God.

It seems like an ending, with David getting ready to go off to college somewhere, but it really is a beginning, at least in my mind. Our three children are going to go off and make lives for themselves and Mayhen and I will be honored guests at their tables, and recitals, and soccer games and whatever they decide to do with their lives.

Alisa just woke up. She says she's not a morning person. She's alright!

L8r

Good dog

2005-08-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

Great talk with Konzo tonight. Urk, Stevo, Brent, Coop and Danielle stopped by while we were talking at Starbucks. All G's, all the time.

Much thanks to Alyssa for the kind words the other day. I was worried you thought we were a little strange. Maybe you do, but that's just the way you like it.

hairy brown organism, heard the bell and knew it was time. hbo gets in a fight and it was time. hbo chases its tail, it's time again, or its time again. hbo doesn't know punctuation, can't even type, doesn't care, but would if it were some other type of o. Good dog.

mission statement

2005-07-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

OK...It's been a long time since I put anything on here. Just let me say that being busy has its good parts and bad parts.

I enjoy being able to do music for the youth ministry at church, especially because I get to do it with Dave and Chris.

I've often wondered what reason I could possibly have for posting any thing on this website. It would appear to be a great forum for informing the world about my life, but there are billions of people in the world and there's like 5 people who even see this thing. I guess I could just put stuff that I want to say here, and if any body reads it, good for them.

I don't really have that much to say though. I'm pretty much a simple person who has devoted my life recently to being a good dad and husband. Out of everything I do, I measure everything against those two things. First of all, my wife, who I will be with until I die, and who is my best friend who I would rather hang out with than ANYONE in this whole world. Second, David, Chris and Sarah, who will live with me for a time, then hopefully go off into the world prepared to succeed, and then buy a house somewhere within a 30 mile radius of Paradise ( League city, TX.) and provide me with a son and two daughters in law and many grandchildren who will want to go surfing, and skiing, and shopping and to movies and to the beach, etc. etc., with their grandparents and in-laws. Above all this, and over this, and within this, and securing this, is our love and trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior and friend.

You know, at some point each week, there's time left over for church (the local one) and being in service there is awesome. CCCC is a wonderful part of The Church, and, as I saw this weekend at Camp Creek, has many wonderful people who are revolutionaries on fire for Jesus and sharing His good news with our community. What a wonderful priveledge to be a part of this amazing organization. We are truly blessed with an excellent staff, most of all Bruce Wesley.

For those of you reading this who don't turn over your every care to Jesus Christ on a regular basis, or who really don't have a clue how to do that, let me just say that you are loved. The God of Creation desires personal contact with you. It is no small thing that Jesus died on the cross, and he did it for you. He lived on this earth 2000 years ago, he is an historical person, not just some story from a book. He lived a perfect life and then died a horrifying, brutal death on a cross, an innocent man. It is His gift to you, to get your attention, to prove to you that He loves you. Witnessed by hundreds after his death, he rose from the dead, and walked among us before returning to His Father in heaven. He sent His Holy Sprit to live in us, and all you have to do, is to pray to your Father in Heaven that you know you can't help doing the wrong things all the time, and that you want help to not do those things. Tell Him you believe that Jesus died for you, and that you want Jesus to be the ruler of your life. Ask for the Holy Spirit to come into your heart and you will be changed forever.

I put this here because I have some friends who don't seem to have taken hold of God's wonderful gift of grace, and it makes me sad to see them so lost, and sad so much of the time. If you're reading this and you know someone who seems lost in this world, this very message might be what they need to hear. Share it with them. God's blessings for you and those you love.

another day

2005-05-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

Monday afternoon gave up some excellent surf down in Surfside. Lil'coop and I went down and met Urk D'ag about 500 yards from the jetty. the wind was coming in from the west a bit so the waves didn't start until that far away. When we first drove up, lil'coop was disappointed but we quickly saw the waves up the beach a bit and called Urk on his cell and told him the new location. There were about 50 surfers out there, but there was plenty of waist high, good form, long riding waves for everybody. Urk and lil'coop caught quite a few, and I even rode one for about 30 seconds standing up! (well mostly standing up) I'm so out of shape and I was really sore when I woke up tuesday morning. I wish Coop could have gone with us! He would have had a blast! Lil'coop wants to buy a long board now. any body selling?

Spent Tuesday hanging with Mayhem, iow, I was playing hooky from work. I just couldn't drag myself out of bed. Went down to the taco shack am, and then we spent most of the day unpacking boxen from my mom's apartment. She's just moved into the nursing home around the corner.

Afternoon time, after we got the piano fixed for $110, and looked at some furniture in Dickinson, Mayhem and I stopped by and watched Coop practice football for a few minutes. He looks very confident out there. We then went down to 4bucks and hung out with Matt Davis for about 45 minutes. He no longer works at the starbucks, he just happened to be there and he's looking for a regular type 9-5 job now.

Mayhem took Shley, lil'coop, minicoop, saracinamon to kick boxen with her and she said everyone had a good time. She's very sore though.

I went to Fry's, Sam's and Walmart and ending up buying a 20" LCD TV at Walmart for my mom's room at the nursing home.

Mayhem, minicoop and I watched American Idol. Mayhem and sistahsarah think Vonzie is the best, but I think Carrie is the best. I actually think that Bo might win it all though, because he is just so cool, and can apparently sing any song in the world well. I wish that blond headed guy would just go away!!!

I'm hoping to be offered a new job soon, working for a longtime friend. It would mean a big pay raise and exciting assignments. We're also waiting on a loan approval and then I go down and order my new metallic copper colored convertible supercharged Mini Cooper. Mayhem drove one the other day, and she loved it.

later y'all