Take Me Out to the Ball Game... (Harry Carry)

Harry Carry here... Just wanted to say HEY ... and stretch 'em if you got 'em. (ok Harry, get out of here!)

Joel and I went to Bricktown tonight and watch the Pacific Coast League Champions take on the International League Champions. The Tuscon Sidewinders vs. the Toledo Mudhens.

vs.

Interestingly enough, I saw the Mudhens play a long time ago when we lived in Va. Beach and they played the Tidewater (now NORFOLK) Tides. Even the colors are different now (used to be Royal blue and Orange)! Whatever happened to tradition, huh?

Anyway Joel and I had a great time at the game. He learned about the pitcher and the batter and knows about where 1st base is. He clapped and cheered (charge!) and enjoyed the game. I think that he was trying to figure out what was going on though...

The funny part of the evening was when some of the inflatable animals danced out on the field. There was a monkey (NY Yankees) a giraffe, and a roach from Seattle (Ichi-roach funny... get it?). Anyway, this last inflatable sang the Take me out to the ball game song... and it is the famous song sung by legindary Harry Carry from Chicago. Singing in his place tonight, was Harry Canary (picture included) . BTW... I'd be afraid of this guy...

Well during the 7th inning, he caught Joel's attention behind us. We had seats that we about 15 rows up from the dugout and about 20 rows behind us was this big Harry Canary thing. Joel watched him for about 10 minutes when low and behold, he came down the stairs we were sitting close to and did his thing on the 1st base dugout. Cheers, laughs, waves, and so on. Joel did not take his eyes off this "thing." After about 10 minutes on the dugout, this canary decides to go into the stands... taking a step into the 1st row and then steping into the second row. Making its way up the middle of the stands and moving up. Then Joel sees what's going on... he's coming right for us! He started getting a little worried, but not too scared. Once that big ugly thing got right in front of him, I told Joel to give him five... no dice dad... don't let him come any closer! He started to shake a little... but didn't cry. Just clung to me harder and harder. After he passed by us, he sprayed confetti on all of us and it was just hallarious! We kept telling Joel that it was OK... but he knew that thing was around somewhere, and he was going to be ready for it!

All in all it was a good night.

I like it... I love it... I want some more of it...

Was that sung by the Rolling Stones? Can't remember...

Anyway... It has been a while since I've blogged, so I'll just write a quick one and see what happens. I just love coming home. A long day at school... class after class; then practice (which is going well) and then weight training for the girls. It's a long day. But the drive home, even though it is only 10 minutes, seems like forever! I can't wait to be in my living room, to see my wife and my kids! They are just a high for me that can never be fully explained. When I shut the garage door... the familiar, "Joel, whose that." Then you hear the scamper of little feet on the carpet and a loud, "DADDY!" as he tackles my legs. As I carry Joel into the living room, I'm greeted by a little girl who just smiles sooooooooooooo big when she sees me. She knows who's coming to play with her. And to top it all off, I get to kiss the wife, who I haven't seen all day, but in the picture on my desk. Nothing like a real-smile from your "honey" to make the drive worth coming home for. (there could be a serious biblical lesson in there somewhere...)

We've taught Lindsay her first conversation word... not sure if she knows what it really means... but it's "Oh oh..." She's so cute...

Off to school. We have our first newspaper coming out today and I need to be there just a weee bit early.

Another One Rides the Bus... (Weird All Yankovic)

Can you believe it?!?!?! 2 Days in a row! Don't get too lit up over it, though... this time I have PICTURES of my OWN!

Tonight... Joel got to pick dinner. "ungwee... pizzaahhhh?" So mom and dad gave in and we went to the new Mazzios on Penn and 122nd. One word... AWESOME! It's a new buffet. It started out as a buffet... then changed to carryout only (for several years)... then as Jeanise and I were driving by a few weeks ago, saw that it was a dine-in place. So we tried it out tonight and it was the cleanest place we've ever seen. And so much nicer... the people were nicer than the one in Edmond. Not to mention... it wasn't as crowded.

Anyway, Jeanise went to music rehearsal so the kids and I jumped into the wagon (the 2 kids, not me) and we went walking around the neighborhood for an hour. The kids did so great! Here are a couple of pictures.



Some neighborhood kids on scooters got the attention of Lindsay and then as they wizzed by, Joel just had to check it out. After Lindsay got bored of them... she took time out to pose with the "Check me out, I'm cute" look. Mom and Dad love this look...

Takin' Care of Business...

It's been quite some time since I've added to my blog, (which seems to happen quite often) so I thought that I'd share about my weekend.

Jeanise was very loving enough to allow me to take a small football trip to Stillwater on Saturday. Shane, my friend and my OSU dealer, met me up there for opening day of Cowboys football. I just love going to my anual game a year with Shane. We always have a lot of fun shopping at the stores (gotta hit every one of 'em, don't we Shane?) and eating somewhere on campus before the game. It was good to see the new editions of the stadium and where they're gonna put the new seats. It was also really good to see the Cowboys just steam roll over Missouri State.

Today... was Labor Day. Isn't that just funny? A day where everyone takes off a day of work. Jeanise and I took the kids up to OC to see Steve for lunch. Jeanise and I both noticed that everything on the roads seemed like it was the day of Christmas... nobody on the roads and everyone's business (except restaraunts) were closed. Funny... Jeanise took a 1/2 day off and spent it with her mom. It was good for her to get out of the house, since she doesn't get to do that without kids very often. With the exception of Lindsay having this nagging little cough all day, the kids were pretty good. I have good kids and can't complain.

Joel gets to start his new school at Memorial Rd. tomorrow. Mommy and Daddy are very excited for him. I don't think Joel knows what is going to happen tomorrow until Mommy drops him off at his new classroom. He likes to play with the other kids and do stuff. Anxious to hear how he did and if he enjoyed it or not.


Look 'e here... My little girl already has her eye on her friend Camden. Camden is 3 or 4 weeks older than Lindsay and they are just too cute.

Summer Time (Will Smith aka Fresh Prince) ... is over

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. School has officially been going for a week. Not a bad start so far. Classes are good. The office has given me 3 Web Design classes! and a newspaper class (again--guess I did too good of a job last year). Then I have a plan, 2 basketball hours... and then I'm done. Not a bad schedule.

Basketball is looking good. It's a lot more work being the Head Coach versus being the assistant. A lot more managerial kind of stuff than I had thought. But I think that once I get a handle on things, that it'll move a lot smoother.

Well... sorry so short, but gotta run off to school!

Here I go again... (Whitesnake)

I like what Jeanise is doing... I'm going to try to do a music title for everyone of my posts. We'll just see how long that lasts. My sports page kids on my newspaper last year had a music title or band name on every one of their newspaper articles. I was impressed...

Anyway... Tomorrow the teachers report back to school with the kiddos coming back on Thursday. Summer was great! I've had the opportunity to spoil and play with my kids all summer and enjoy time with my wife that I've not had in the past. Jeanise asked me tonight if I had a good summer and I told her that I loved every minute of it. It was just different this year... I hope that future summers will be like that too. We'll see...

WIth the new school year starting, there's going to be a lot more going on this year... but I should have a better handle on it. The classes that I'm teaching... I've already taught. Just have to modify and reprint the lessons. No big deal. The only 'new' thing is that I have to come up with 2 practice plans for basketball. I have a freshman team along with the varsity this year. Busy busy busy... Just pray for me this year that I can keep things in perspective and priorities in order. I know that right now I have good intentions, but know that I can let things blow by me out of control-like. Prayers are good...

Well. Going to go to be early tonight (sure... right) and get a good night's sleep for tomorrow. That's what mom always had my brother and I do before the school year. The only thing that I'm really enjoying right now, is that the kids are thinking, "I'm going back to school. AH!!!!!" I love that...

No really... NEVER say NEVER

About 6 years ago, some couples at church were laughing at some joke that included the subject of a small, blue dog on tv named... well, "Blue". I was intrigued and asked about it. Well, they told me, "O when you have kids, you'll know and you'll be singing all the songs too." Absoultely not! Not me... no way! Well... six years and 2 kids later... I like Blue's Clues and find myself singing those silly songs.

I think that it's funny that Joel is getting into this. It's taken him a while, but now Joel is monologuing with the guy (Steve or Joe--and that's a soap opera for another day) and shouting out to him, "A clue! A Clue! RIGHT THERE!" Just like the little kid does on the tv. I found Joel today shouting out those things today (when there wasn't really a clue--but it looked like one) and Joel just kept shouting like, "HEY YOU DUMMY! IT'S RIGHT THERE!" I found myself laughing and just getting a kick out of it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Now I would normally not be singing this to myself... nor would I be bragging about it, but I've had a wonderful birthday thanks to family and friends.

Last night, I went out with my parents, my brother, and Jeanise and the kids to Johnny Carinos. It was great! Ate until we were full and then went over to mom and dad's for cake and games. While the kids played with their toys in the floor, we played TURBO CRANIUM. Those of you who are Cranium fans... this was a nice upgrade to the game. More options of play and a little different rules. It was fun.

Today... our connections group surprised me with lunch at McDonalds. Remember as a kid always wanting to have your party at McD's? No? Well it was the thing to do where I was and I had my 5 years old party at McD's. It was a lot of fun. The kids played in the play area and the adults ate. Came home and relaxed... and then the family and Jeanise's parents went to Carrabbas. It was nice.

Now we're home and finally have the kids asleep. It was a wonderful day and I owe it all to my families! Thanks.

Getting there...

Got back Wednesday night from Tulsa. I went to the Oklahoma Coaches Clinic and went to the mandatory meetings as well as the occassional speaker. It was a nice trip but was glad to get home. It's kinda rough on a person when you're so used to being with your family and then leave them for 2 days. I also got to visit and stay the night with my friends Shane and Alice Coffman who now live up in Tulsa. Shane showed me his new congregation that he now works with as the Worship Minister. He's doing a really good job and he's doing something that he loves to do. Alice is has a job now too... but is looking for something a little more in her field (insurance).

Joel and Lindsay's cousin Trinity is here from NM. They just love playing together and it's funny to watch them play. Yesterday, Joel and Trinity were watering the garden for Grandpa Steve. I wouldn't be surprised if Joel becomes a gardner or a farmer. He loves to help is papa in the garden. And Trinity saw how exciting the water was and wanted to help too. It was really cute. If I can get a picture from Steve... I'll post it.

Well... today is trash day, so I'd better get going! I turn 34 on Sunday! I'm getting up there...

Bring on the heat!

Well... we had 109 degree temps today. The back porch read 120 at 6:00 pm! Go figure... Have to mow my lawns in the early morning just to stay cool. I don't have a problem with that. The neighbors might, but they have to get to work, right? :-)

Well, I got to spend the day with both kids today and had a blast. Lindsay is on this wake up for an hour or so take an hour or 2 nap kick and it's kinda funny. Just when Jeanise and I were about to sit down for lunch, she woke up and stayed awake for about 3 hours before she got a bit cranky. She helped my sort a bit of laundry. She watched me shave. We played in the mirror for about 15 minutes and when I put her down in the floor of the bedroom, she crawled over to Joel's bat!


SHE'S GONNA BE A SOFTBALLER! Look at this grip and this stance! I didn't even teach it to her. SHE'S A NATURAL! I love it! (sorry mom...)

Have another early mowing morning tomorrow! Have to beat the heat!

Getting close to the end of a summer...

Well, we had a pretty good week last week. I'll try to be brief...

Last Monday and Tuesday I was fortunate to listen to a great coach at a basketball coaches clinic at OC. His name is Jerry Kraus and he is from Gonzaga Univ. He is a great teacher of the game and I really enjoyed listening to him.

Thursday night... I had my first girls BB parent meeting. I wasn't sure how many people would come out, since I only got in touch with about 5 people directly and had to leave messages on the other 20 or so girls' numbers. BUT! About 60 people showed! That was cool. About 17 girls and their parents came and we had a great meeting. I think that things are going to go well this year. I've got a great group of players and supportive parents.

Friday and Saturday we went up to Newton, KS and saw my grandma and other family members that I haven't seen in a while. It was a good trip and it was good for the kids to see grandma. It didn't take Joel long to warm up to Grandma and it was just awesome to see Joel exploring grandma's house... kinda' like every grandkid did when they would visit. It was neat.

Yesterday (Sunday) we just hung out at home or Steve and Lisa's because it was so hot! 100+! And that's the way it's going to be for the next 7+ days! AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome to OKLAHOMA!

Have a great week!

Here comes another one...

Ah the summer! This summer hasn't been one of your 'typical' Oklahoma summers as far as the weather goes... been rather mild... upper 80's to the upper 90's usually. But August is just right around the corner and that's when mother nature turns up her oven on us, but we'll see.

About 3 weeks ago I had a drive to complete a project. I was at my parents and went into my dad's office for something and on his wall is a really nice golf-ball display case of all the various courses that he's played at or been to. It is really nice and it holds quite a few golf balls... say around 70-80 or so. I have one too that I got for Xmas or a birthday a long while back ago and it's been full and has about 12 balls sitting on top of it. Needless to say, I needed a new one. Well, long story short (yea right... me and short stories) I decided to build myself one. I took wood shop in junior high and loved to build things... but today's educational system is really eliminating wood shop (sad). So using my 1980's knowledge and my keen sence of what I wanted it to look like, I drew out my plan of the case. I priced the wood that I wanted at Home Depot (have to support my stock) and purchased what I wanted for about $30... which is a lot cheaper than buying a case in a store. It took me about 4 days, but I did it! It holds 80 golf-balls... it's a cherry finish (I even did a finish on it) and put some green felt on the backing to make it look like it was done professionally. Anyway, here's the final product.

I'll cut this off for now... but will return with the 'one that got a way' tomorrow!

We're back...

Well... we made it back safely and are glad to be sleeping in our beds again. They like that familarity (sp?--too lazy to use the spell checker, forgive me) and that their things are close by. They both traveled very well. Joel went the whole 3 1/2 hours without a nap and Lindsay was talking to the tv for the first 45 minutes of the trip. It was funny. We went thru 1 thunderstorm on the way up... and then about 15 minutes later... all hail broke loose. YEP... HAIL! That was interesting. Little pea size hail raining down on the car. Strangely though... almost every motorist pulled over on the side of the road during the storm. I'm thinking, "I wanna get out of here! not just stay and get pelted!" Needless to say, the hail lasted about 5 minutes and we were clear. No damage to the Honda, though... that's good.

Well... it's about time to watch fireworks on TV.

Done it... and got the t-shirt

We arrived in Ft. Worth to visit several of Jeanise's relatives on Sunday after church. We've had a really good visit and it's always sad to leave and go back home. On the otherhand too... it's good to return to 'home.' Ya' know?

The trip has been a good one as far as the kids go. Joel has always been a really good traveller and Lindsay did real well on this trip. She slept, watched a couple of movies... but watched her big brother A LOT! It's so funny seeing how much she watches Joel. She just loves her brother! That's a good thing. Joel is really sweet to her too. How do you teach that? You may ask? Well... I DON'T KNOW! Guess when you show your kids love they'll return it in their lives. That's really neat.

Well... gotta run and visit. Catch you all when we arrive!

God is GRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!

Ok... I've had a lot of news since Friday of last week. The only way that I can really do this without totally going marathon with this story is to do it day by day:

Friday am... 8:30. I got a call from my AD and he wanted to meet/talk to me about the job that I applied for (read earlier posting). I got up there around 9, sat down in his office, and he told me very nicely that they were going to offer the position to the present asst. coach. I understood his decision and had accepted it (for the most part) and began to make the phone calls to family, friends, and fellow coaches who were interested to hear the verdict.

Saturday afternoon... 2:30 pm. Got a call from a friend of mine who had heard that the guy that was offered the job, had in fact turned it down. Still rumor, but wasn't sure about it. Just waiting again...

Sunday afternoon... more calls about the rumor. News travels fast in the Creek.

Monday morning. Hadn't heard anything from a school official about the rumor. Tried to call my AD but he was smart and turned his school phone off while he's on vacation. 12:00 had to go to Oklahoma Christian Univ. to drive a bus for the church camp kids. They were going to an inflatables building for some recreation. 3:15 took the bus back to the school where I got it from. 3:20... checked my cell phone to call Jeanise and noticed a missed call. Come to find out it was my principal. Called and chatted with her... to make a long story short the rumor was true and they offered ME the girls' head coaching job, if I was still interested. ABSOLUTELY! So now I've got my first high school head coaching job.

Tuesday. Still feeling the 'high' of the news from Monday and woke up at 2:00 am to a 1/2 crying 7 month old. I waited for her to keep going for about 10 minutes... but by 2:30 figured that she had gone back to sleep. And then for the next hour I could not go back to sleep; thinking more of the new job and what I'd have to do. Had a great morning (thanks to Joel starting it at 6:40 am) of playing with the kids and watching tv. I went back and drove the bus for the OC programs. [now here's where it gets fun]

On the way back from OC to the school (no kids--done for the day), several cars were honking at me and telling me something about the bus. I couldn't understand them for one because the engine noise is so loud and I just assumed that they were telling me that I had a flat tire. Well... I knew that I could make it to the school which was only 2-3 miles. As I started to pull into the street that the school is on, a lady in a SUV rolled down her window and I told her that I was going to check out the 'problem'... and she said that you had better get out of there because my tires were on FIRE! That wasn't good. I quickly stopped the engine, put the emergency brake on, put the bus in gear and jumped out to see. It was a little fire on both tires in the rear... it looked like it was on the rim, not the tread. So I ran to get the extinguisher and couldn't pull it out. After calming down, I pulled the release lever and raced over to play fireman. I used 1 whole bus extinguisher and it didn't put it out... it came back. Someone at the school saw me and ran another extinguisher to me. Tried that one... still no dice. I'm thinking by this point that I'm going to witness a bus explosion! Someone from the street then told me that they called 911. The firetrucks were at the scene in about 4 minutes. About 3 of them were in full-gear and crawling under the bus. Long story, short (yea right) there was some brake fluid that was leaking and something (heat maybe) ignited the fluid, causing the fire. That was pretty freaky. I was just glad that the news people didn't come out to do a story on it... that would have been just great after the news I got yesterday. Anyway... I'm just glad that God was protecting me and watching over me and my stupidity.

Tomorrow (Wed.) I'm going back for the last day of bus driving... hope that it's uneventful.

Later.

Just so blessed...

... to have my family. Father's Day was great! My son made me a card in his Sunday school class for me and it was the cutest thing. And my wife spoiled me for Father's Day too... a great card and wonderful omelett cooking pans! (I don't know if omelett is spelled correctly or not... spell checker isn't working)

It's been a nice summer staying home with the kiddos and getting to play. Sunday, I started a little 'project'... a golf-ball display case. I like building things and thought that this would be a nice little project for me to do this summer. It's been fun. I'll post a picture of the finished project. I've also had some summer league games this week and it's been nice getting to see our varsity boys work hard and get things done.

I haven't heard about the head girl's job yet. Still waiting on that ever-anxious phone call. I 'should' find something out the end of this week. I'll keep you posted.

OK... gotta get up early tomorrow morning and go over to Casaday HS and play basketball... 6:15 am! AH!!!!!! Am I nuts?!?!?! Well I guess we'll find out tomorrow. I've been trying to play 1 or 2 times a week as well as walk about 1 hour a couple of days a week. Trying to lose a bit of weight and get a bit in shape too. Anyway... I'm off!

Spring/Summer-time Spring-Spring/Summer-Summer-time

It's been about 3 weeks since I've been out of school... first week we traveled to ALB, NM (not going to spell it for fear that it may show my lack of spelling ability) and visited Jeanise's brother and family. It was a lot of fun and a great beginning to the summer break. The last 2 weeks have been full of family time with the wife and kiddos. It's been a real blessing to wake up and spend some time with Joel and Lindsay and get to play with them.

Today is Jeanise's birthday! YEA YOU! She went out with a friend and her mom and just had a 'girls' night.' They had fun. I'm glad that I'm 'dad enough' to watch the kids and allow her to do that. It also helps to have that little thing called 'timing' so that the baby will eat her jarred food and then when mom walks into the door, the wake-up call begins. :-) No... she's a good baby. It's getting a little easier to handle 2 kids than it once was for me. It used to be a whirl wind but it is getting easier. Having a 2 year old that is a good kid helps too.

The last week I've tried to go walking about about 2 -3 times a week, play basketball 2 times and just try and stay active. I had a good week this week, so let's see how it continues. The morning walks are nice. I listen to a local radio station and just get to hear songs from the 70's-90's... it's kinda nice to listen to those 'old school' songs that I grew up with. Kinda' makes the walk a little more enjoyable. I get out about 6:30 am and I've been walking about an hour a day and cover about 5-6 miles. It's more like a power walk and I do get passed by joggers who are also out in the mornings. My knees don't handle the jogging part very well, so the power walking is perfect. Not to mention... I can keep breathing and not have to stop when I get tired. I like that. I've also been nice to go to Oklahoma Christian Univ. and play noon-league basketball with guys I've played with in college or during basketball camps. It's a lot of fun and this year, I'm handling it a bit better... may be due to the walking and the fact that I coached boys basketball this last year and shot a boys ball during practices. No telling...

Still haven't heard about the head girls' basketball job yet. Still waiting on that phone call. I know that God has HIS plan for that and we'll just keep waiting to see what happens. I do know that I'm in the running... and with a program that is continuing to grow and with a school that is moving up in the class size, it's a good job to have. We'll just see!

I just love these....

From Jan Bost... I just love reading her stuff and it gives me more ideas for writing:

5 things in my fridge:
a gallon of milk
a 1/2 bottle of Diet Dr. Thunder (thank you Wal-mart)
hot dogs (the SAMS pack)
Jolepeno and Cheddar cheese dip (yum)
an energy drink that I bought in Alb. NM

5 things in my closet:
basketball shoes (2 different pairs)
bunch of athletic shorts for coaching and playing
three words-- T-SHIRTS, T-SHIRTS, T-SHIRTS!
about 2 dozen baseball caps
Jeanise's clothes

5 things in my briefcase:
pens and pencils for grading and class stuff
deck of cards just in case I get bored
fill-it-ins... again... just in case I get bored somewhere
my travel zip-USB drive
folders for school

5 things in my car:
sunglasses (ok... I have 3 more pair of 'extras' in my glovebox)
cds
carseat for the Joel-meister
Pike-pass
sunshade... you really need those in Oklahoma

5 things I did this week:
coached 2 summer-league games (won 1 and lost the other)
played basketball with Joel at the gym
went to dinner with Jeanise for our anniversary
went to a coaching job interview (hope I get it!)
told my wife and both kids that I loved them

THAT'S ALL FOLKS! Have a great week!

12 Years!

TODAY... 12 years ago, we tied the knot! Yep... 12 years. We were talking about that this morning and talking about how much time and how much we've done in 12 years! Can't believe it. We're almost getting close to that mark in our lives where we've been together almost 1/2 our lives. Interesting huh? Still have a few years to go, but it's pretty close.

We've been so blessed to have all that we have and have had the success that we've had in the last 12 years. We now have 2 wonderful kids who just light up our lives and make every day SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO interesting. We have a great place to live (could turn down the heat a bit though) and wonderful families that live near by. What more could you ask for?

Well... I love my wife more and more and she is just a beautiful today (if not more) than that day I saw her come down the isle. And she looked awesome that day and I about passed out! She is still my best friend to this day and I treasure her so much. Thank the Lord that she's been patient enough with me all of these years and put up with me this long. She has supported me in everything that I've ever done or wanted to do... and that's just amazing love! She's (as they say at school) the 'bomb'!

Getting closer...

The whirwind is slowly coming to a gentle breeze... just 3 more school days until summer! It's really hard to believe that it's already that time of year. So much has happened in the last year and it's all gone by so quickly. Amazing how time really does fly when you have good things to remember and going on in your life. I remember this time a few years ago at my other school... just dragging the days out until relief was close and attainable. I've been fortunate enough to have been working at a place where the administration and the kids will let me do the job I want to do in the classroom. It was great! I think I may have given out 1 or 2 C's this semester! And my students weren't making A's and B's because I was GIVING them out... they were doing the work and earning the better grades. I'm happy where I'm at...

... I think, too, that Jeanise is happier because I'm coming home with smiles on my face. I really appreciate her sharing me with the school and the ball teams that I've been working with. I know that it's tough with 2 kids and trying to get some work done in between naps. I'll be helping with that a bit more this summer. I've got 2 kids to play with and do stuff with this summer and I'm pumped about it! And then Jeanise and I get to go on some vacations this summer... loving it!

Well... all is fun... OOOPS! It's almost 7 and I have to get to school to get my finals ready for today! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Getting closer to closer...