Where Have You Been -- It's Christmas

OK, OK, I know it has been a long time since my last post. October in fact, that is too long a span to try and make up here in this posting, but let's just say I have been busy with life, Thanksgiving, mine and Leeann's birthday, Katie.

But, enough about that, lets talk about Christmas. We had a great one to say the least. The past several weeks I have been putting together things I wanted to get Leeann. Since she has lost so much weight, it is almost like she is a new person. She is still the same person, but she is in a way a new person. She has gotten into wearing P.J.'s. She looks so cute in them that I went out for the first time since we have been married and got her some new PJ's from Victoria's Secret. I was not too sure she would like them. I knew they would fit, but I was not sure she would like them. SHE DID!! I was so happy.

This was one of the best Christmas we have had with Katie in a long time. In Christmas past she has either rushed through the gifts so fast that she did not know what she had or she didn't care what she got. Today, she smiled so big at each gift, she looked at each one with joy and happiness. She opened one gift, a blanket that was very soft to the touch and could be heated up in the microwave oven to warm her up. Anyway, she touched the blanket and said in the biggest "Princess" voice, "So Impressive" with a bit of attitude thrown in for good measure. You just had to laugh.



We let her play the rest of the day and just have some fun. Now, in the years past, she played with a few things, but moved on to her favorite toys she had before Christmas. This year was so different. When we finished with the gifts, she went up to her room and got her iPod on a danced around like she does most any other day. "Oh well," we thought, same as every year. But, much to our amazement and joy, she went to her new dress up trunk, played with her new cat and talking parrot. (Not a real one mind you, but you would think it was real the way it talks back) It was so much fun to listen to her play with her toys, to be a little girl and just to hear her have some fun.

I did a bit blue tonight as we were winding things down tonight. I made a garbage run with some of the big boxes and wrapping paper. There were not many people out and I was taking the long way home to look at some lights. I went by a house near our home and there in the window was a small, and i do mean small, Christmas tree with a few lights on it. It was the only sign of any Christmas in the house as the rest of the house was dark. It made me think back to my dad and one very special Christmas we had:

I had been out of the Army since March and i was living with my dad and two brothers. We didn't have a lot of money, but we did OK. It was late November or early December, I can't remember, and my dad and I were talking about what we were going to do for Christmas. I told him that I didn't want to do much of anything for Christmas, I wasn't in the Christmas mood, didn't want to go through all the trouble and such. I said, "Dad, I don't even want a tree to put up, it is too much hassle. Besides, who would notice?" He got so mad at me when I said that. He jumped up and said, "As long as I am alive, have a roof over my head and a dollar in my pocket, we WILL have a tree in this house!" With that, he went out the door and came back about 20 minutes later with a small tree, about 2 feet tall with a few lights on it. He stuck in on top of the TV we had in the living room. He looked at me, smiled at me and said, "There will always be a tree in this house no matter how small the tree or the house."

I miss my dad sometimes, I miss being able to talk to him about things. I miss the fact that he never got to meet Leeann or to see his first grandchild, Katie, or that he missed being able to play with her. Most of all, I miss him being in my life. I know that he is with me, but sometimes I wish I had one more day with him.

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas.

What a week!!!

We are home from our nice trip to the beach. We had a great time but, there were a few things that could have been better. I enjoyed the trip down there, but coming home was a bit tough. But, why start at the end, lets go back in time to Monday and out day at the beach.

We rented bikes and tried to ride down to the beach. Katie had not been one to ride bikes which I don't understand, she has great balance on a horse. She sits up and has great control of her core muscels, but when it comes to a bike, she just has no control. Well, we got her a bike with some training wheels and off we went. She did great for the most part. It just took a bit to get her to understand that she needed to use the brake. There was one time when she was going down a very slight hill and she forgot to break and ran off the sidewalk and into a bush. I just had to laugh. Of course, Katie didn't think it was too funny, but I was proud of her for getting back up on the bike. It took a bit of talking to get her back on the bike, but she did it and made it to the beach and back in one piece. A bit scraped up, but in one piece.

We made it to the beach agian the next day and spent most of the day there. There were a couple of tidal pools on the beach and we found some very small crabs in them. Well, that was Katie's day. She spent the best part of the day playing with the crabs while Leeann and I sat on the beach, reading. You could not have asked for a better day. Well, it was not as good as that, Leeann, Katie and I all got a bit of sun burn. mine on my right side, mostly my shoulder. Leeann on her right side as well, but also on her EAR?!?!?!!?!? How do you get a sun burn on your ear??? Leave it to her. Katie got her sunburn on her back since she spent the day bent over playing with the crabs.

We decided to hed off to Savahana and do some sightseeing. We also wanted to do Paula Deens' place. First off, I have seen a lot of her TV shows because of where I used to work. Leeann and Katie have loved watching her shows and it seems like she is a great cook. Well, you have to wait in line to get a reseveration, then wait in line for your table. The food is not the great. Think of a cafeteria type resturant and get the type and style of food.

I am tired, so I am going to wrap up for the night and tell you more tormrrow.

Fall Break

We are here in Hilton Head. We made the trip down here without any problems. It was kinda fun to make a road tirp after all the plane trips we have made latley. We got Katie a new game for her Leapster and that was all she wanted to do all the way down here.

We got here at about sundown and went to the beach real quick. MAN, it was wonderful!!! the sun sitting, the crimson sky, the cool ocean wind, Katie running around the beach in her bare feet looking for shells. it was so nice. We went to the South Beach area and had fun dinner at the Salty Dog Cafe. We are all beat. I will post a photo we took at the beach tomorrow, I am too tired tonight.

Bye

43!!!!! OH MY

Well, my birthday has come and gone. I am now 43 years old. Middle aged. On the the down side to 50. But, like Leeann says every time I complain about being old, I am just happy to be this old and to have the chance to see this age. She gets that from her great Aunt Gladys. When we first moved to Knoxville we meet Gladys Cantrell and we spent the next few years helping take care of her. I did things like little change light bulbs, fix a thing here or there. Leeann helped her with her day to day things and her bookkeeping. The great thing about here was she loved everyday she was alive. She never complained about a wrinkle, a stiff joint or much of anything for that matter. We may all need to be that way, just be happy for each day we have and enjoy that day what ever it may bring.

We had dinner with our really good friends Rick and Lisa. They are such good friends to have, I can't tell you how many times they have helped us with things. We are really lucky to have them as part of our lives.

Spent part of Saturday at the farm taking the horses for a walk. Yes, you read that right, we took the horses for a walk. We want to start riding trails with the guys and we want to get them used to walking in the woods with twigs breaking and such. Well, they did great. Sunny never flinched, or acted like she was in the least bit afraid to go through the thick brush, low hanging trees and branches.

I want to say a big THANK YOU to Rick and Lisa for the iTunes cards, can never have too much music. To Lynn and Lillian (mom and mommom) for the Target card, something good will come from that I am sure. But most of all to my wonderful wife and daughter for keeping my birthday very low key. They know I am not a big fan of my own birthday, but they did give me Madden 08 and that will keep me busy for some time.

43, lets hope there are 43 more to come

What has happened to us??

I am fast approaching my next birthday. I am not going to tell you the date, as I am not a big fan of birthdays. I don't hate my birthday; I just don't like to make a big deal of it. I tell Leeann to just kiss me in the morning, tell me "Happy Birthday" and that is it. Anyway, I have been thinking of my age a lot the past month, as I have been very sore the past month with the workouts I have been doing in "Boot Camp". So, I have been much more aware of my age the past couple of days. I have been thinking about what I have seen, where I have been and what I have done. I can tell you, I am very happy with my life up to this point. I have a loving wife and daughter, both very supportive of my dreams and hopes. But, something this week really made me question a few things
This week I have been a "door opener" at Katie's school. This is a volunteer service our school does to help traffic in the morning. There are about 4 of us each morning standing outside the school and we open the door of the cars dropping off the kids for school each day. These past couple of days have opened my eyes to a couple of things:

1. What happened to our excitement in life? I have been watching the kids coming to school and they have been running, laughing and skipping into the school. Do you remember being excited to get to school and seeing your friends, playing on the playground? I have been watching these kids laughing and having so much fun. Why don't we do that as adults? Why do we go off to work each day dragging our feet, head hung down looking forward to nothing more then the end of the day? Where is the excitement in our day? How much better would our day be if we went to work each day with the same laughter, joy and enthusiasm these kids have going to school? We each have chosen the path we are on and only we can choose to change that path or the direction of that path. We have the ability to be just as happy as these kids; we just choose to chase the dollar, and to see who can get the most toys. My only advice is this: There is no prize in heaven for having the most toys, only a prize for the heart for the most joy.


2. The other thing that has had me thinking is the fact that when I was Katie's age, 8, I
lived a greater distance from school than Katie does now. I walked or rode my bike to school each day, not once thinking about how far I had to walk, or if I was in any danger. Today, there is not enough money being printed in the world today to let me allow Katie to walk or ride a bike to school today. That makes me so very sad that we live in a world where a little girl has to be watched over to make sure nothing happens to her. We all read the stories in the newspaper about what happens to kids by people who are very sick. I would love to allow Katie to play outside more, or for her to go to the park down the street and play with other kids, but that is not going to happen

I saw a story in our local paper the other day where they are going to make a playground area bigger, but when I drive around town doing errands I never see kids playing at any playgrounds without either a lot of parents around, or teachers right near by. Why are our kids overweight and video game junkies? Simple, we can't allow them outside to play the way we used to play (kickball, football, baseball games, running in the park, playing tag) because we have some very sick and dangerous people in the world and we are trying to get the most toys.
One more thing since I mentioned tag. There have been several school systems across the country have banned the game of tag. They say it is not good for the kids to be chased after or to be scared from others running after them. The simplest game there is for kids to play is being taken away because some parents don't want their little darlings to get scared or feel like someone is after them. Why are our kids overweight???

This one last thing and I will get off my soapbox. We got a notice from school the other day about the grading system Knox County will be using for kids. They will be using letter grades as follows: A, B, C, D, & U. Do you notice anything???
That is right, there is no "F"s. So kids can't fail anymore. This has to be some over the top mom or dad who didn't want their kid to feel like a failure in life. I got a few "F"'s in my life. I am not a failure, I don't have low self-esteem, and I am a pretty normal person and pretty well adjusted. The "F" made me work harder (along with a belt from my dad, more about that later) to make sure I didn't get another one. I felt bad for making that grade. I knew each time that I could have done better, and I did.

My birthday is in a couple of days and I have to ask, what has happened to us???

Two Down and Two to GO!!!

We are back from the big trip out west. We had a good time most of the time we were out there, but the last night there was not much fun. Understand that it was in the high 90's or 100+ every day we were there, Saturday being no exception. When we got done with the day we went back to our room and found it quite stuffy to say the least. We turned on the air and went out to the pool to cool off thinking this would give the room time to cool off. Well, while we were at the pool I found out something, while I have a heater for our pool here, because of the number of trees in our yard keeps the sun from hitting the pool most of the day, out there, they actually cool their pool water with a water cooling systems. We were told that if they did not do this, the water would be like bath water by the end of the day and you would not want to get in.





Anyway, we went back to our room to find it hotter than when we left. I called the front desk and after a 20 minute wait, the engineer came to the room and tried find the problem. He found it. The air unit was frozen. He had to turn the heat on to thaw it out. Took about 20 minutes and we were able to get the air going again. To make things a bit better, we had them send a fan out to the room to make it more comfortable.

I would not mind living out there, it was so nice. The roads were well done, smooth and new. The homes were very nice, and for the most part the people were nice. The sky was SO BLUE. Just a bit hotter than I would have liked. But the best part to me is that during football season, I would be in heaven. Since most games start at 12 noon on Saturday, that is 9am out there. They then go ALL DAY LONG. You get the east coast games, then you have the west coast teams that start around 6pm and go until 9 or 10 at night. It is like Thanksgiving every Saturday. You know, on Thanksgiving there seems like there are game all day long.

Then on Sunday's it starts all over again, NFL kicks off at 10 am, enough time to sleep a bit late, or hit the early service at church, then have brunch in front of the big screen watching games all day. Leeann may not like it out there for that reason, but for a football fan, it is the best place to be.

Everyone wants to know about Boot Camp. Well, I am two weeks in and have two more to go. The mornings are getting a bit better but that alarm clock going off at 5 am is still tough. The works outs change everyday so we don't get into a habit of doing the same thing everyday. I come home every day covered in sweat, sore, tired but feeling good for the most part. Some days are better than others. Like yesterday for example, we were using those rubber cords that offer strength training. But, man those things kill your arm if you use them the right way. And we are doing lots and lots of sit ups, push ups and running. I have hurt my knee so running has been limited, but walking is no picnic either. When walking, you have to keep your arms moving all the time, mainly over your head. I was talking to one of the other boot campers on Tuesday and he asked me if this was the same a basic training in the Army. I told him "Oh no, this is much different than Army basic training." He said "oh, so this is easier?" "OH NO, much harder, I would rather be back in the Army than do this." In basic training we did not do as much aerobic activity. It was mainly jumping jacks, sit ups, push ups, stretching, then off for a run of a mile or two.

My arms are hurting, my abs are hurting, my legs are hurting, my every part of my body is hurting. But I am having some fun. Would I do it again??? NO!! Is that simple enough for you.

MAN IT'S HOT!!!!!

We had a pretty good trip yesterday (Thursday). The day was pretty crazy getting ready to leave, getting to dogs to the boarders was my job and it is was just that, A JOB. I took all 3 at one time and to say I had my hands full doesn't even come close to telling you the story. Sophie tried to escape on me but was caught after a short run on the lamb. But, we were able to get everything done and when the wheels went up on that jet, I know I let out a big sigh of relaxation.

We flew from Knoxville to Dallas for the first leg. I had not been in Texas for almost 20 years. The airport was HUGE and not laid out very well. We landed and got off the plane at gate B4 and had to go to C6. When we got off the plane we saw a sign, a BIG sign mind you, that said C & D -> So we went that way. WRONG, we were told by not less than 3 people to go the other way; surely they must be crazy, the sign said otherwise. But, the sign was wrong and we had to backtrack a long way to get to our gate. Made it with time to spare, but way too much walking.

Our flight to Palm Springs was nice, we had a bulk head seat and all of us sat together so we had lots of leg room and got on and off pretty quickly. The flight in was beautiful; the sun setting over the mountains was something else to see. When we got off the plane, the gate area and the baggage claim area were the only areas inside. The rest of the terminals and walkways were outdoors under cover. It was cool, but the air was hot.

I have to tell you what a great traveler Katie is. I know I have said that before in this blog, but to see her travel is just amazing. She goes through security without a hitch and talks to the TSA agents and thanks them for helping her. She goes right to her seat and knows when to turn on and off her iPod and game boy. She is just something else when we travel. She is what makes most of our trips the most fun.

Well, Katie helped me get the luggage while Leeann got the rental car and off we went into the night to find a hotel that we had no idea where it was. But, if you know me, you know I had the GPS loaded and had the address to the hotel already set. And, you would have been right. So, we just got to enjoy the drive to the hotel and look around a bit. It is very nice here; the roads are even, not bumps or potholes. Kind of makes me miss Tennessee (NOT!!!!)

We have a very nice room with an enclosed patio. Not that we have sat out there, but it is there nonetheless. Got up this morning and helped Leeann get to her class and took Katie to her kids camp. Man was it hot!!!! About what it feels like on a 92 or 93-degree day in Knoxville with high humidity. But it was 104 for a high today.

I did get my stuff set up last night for the stuff today. I was on my feet for at least 9 hours getting everything on tape. Then when class was over I had to get some B footage of the hotel grounds and such. I am doing an interview with the lady who runs these boot camps tomorrow, so that will make my day even longer. We have to get up really early and go garage saleing at 7am, yea, that will be fun. But, it will be some good video.

It is very nice out here, who knows, we may end up here?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!

Two days in and I'm hurting

I am two days into my boot camp and I have to admit, it is kicking my ASS bad. I went through Army basic training and it was not this tough. I have to admit, that was more than 20 years ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was not sure what to expect, but now I know how tough this is going to be. We had to meet Monday morning at 5:30AM (yes, in the morning) and go over rules and such. I have a little log book I have to take with me everywhere I go, I have to keep track of all the food I eat and all the workouts I do. I don't get a day of rest even on the weekends. We have homework to do on those days.

Anyway, the first day was just a PT test. To see where we were physically and I have to admit, I am in not so good shape. The first thing we did after a warm up was run a mile. I ran, walked, ran, walked, ran, walked and finished the mile in 9:51 and was the last to cross the finish line. Then it was as many sit up and push ups you could do in one minute. Not good there either, only 20 push ups and 18 sit ups in one minute. When I left yesterday, I was a bit light headed and not feeling too good. I was also covered in sweat. I had not worked that hard in years.

Today was worse. We did wind sprints all morning. Running from one cone to another as fast as possible, doing push ups, sit ups and jumping jacks along the way. I didn't feel as bad today, but still pretty winded. But, I kept moving and that is going to be the key for me, keep moving and having a positive attitude in all this. I have to change the way I think and say things. Like "yes I can" instead of "I don't think I can do that" or "I will go just a bit farther" instead of "I can't go any farther". I know it is going to take time and I am going to push myself as hard as I can.

I am sore tonight as I write this. I went to get some dog food for the guys and had a hard time picking up the bags. Not that they were heavy, it is just my arms are so sore, it was hard to lift anything up.

Hope all are having a good day and remember, you can do anything you put your mind to, sometimes you just have to go a little bit farther to get there.

Katie is a hit at the Game

We have been living in Knoxville now for just over 13 years. When we first moved here Leeann kept telling me that I would be a fan of the UT football team. I knew of UT football from my dad. He was a huge fan of UT football and talked about how great the tradition was and he would go on and on about it for hours. My dad was from the Kingsport area so he knew a lot about UT football. Well, Leeann had told me it would take just one game to make me a fan, we went to a game the first year we lived here and I do like the team and have become a fan. So we thought it would be fun to take Katie to a game, but could never find the right time to go. Well, we found the right time yesterday and it was a blast.

We got down to the campus area early so that Katie cold see the Vol walk and the band march to the stadium. We parked at Ft Sanders school where Katie used to go to school so we knew the money paid to park went to the school so that was great. Well, Leeann has been doing so great with her weight loss and work outs that she has become a very fast walker, we had to ask her 3 times to slow down and wait for us.

The first place we stopped was the parking garage at Ft. Sanders Hospital so we could so Katie an overview of the strip area and see all the fans there. Katie took it all in and was just amazed with it all. It was so hot yesterday that I was not sure how Katie would handle it. She kept drinking water and did not complain once the whole time we were walking around the campus. We made it down to the Vol walk area and got a good spot to stand and watch the team come by. We had to wait about 30 minutes, but I did a water run and we all did great. Katie kept asking how many minutes until it started, she was so excited to see all this start. When the team did come by, Katie took the pom-pom we got her and started shaking it. Well, she shook it a bit too hard and hit Coach Phil Fulmer in the head with her pom-pom. She yelled she was sorry, but he just kept going. I got a chance to do something I have always wanted to do. If you every watch a game there is a coach, Trooper Taylor the wide receivers coach, that gets so excited that he like to do a chest thump with his players. Well, I got that chance and did a chest thump with him. That was really cool for me.

We walked down to watch the band march to the stadium. She loved it. She said she could feel the band in her chest and was just amazed with the uniforms and the sounds and all that was going on. When the band went by, Katie and Leeann jumped right behind them and marched to the stadium. When the band played to the hill, I put Katie on my shoulders and what see saw was a sea of orange. 100 thousand plus people waiting for the band, waiting to go into the stadium. Leeann told me that she had a look of amazement on her face. She was just overwhelmed with all that was going on. She asked me where the stadium was; I turned her to the right a bit and said, "Right there, that big building right there". She said "wow, that is a big building".

We made our way into the stadium and to our seats. Leeann and Katie were in row 2 and Leeann's dad and I were in row 32 so I had to leave them down there alone. I went up to my seat and a I got a text message a few minutes later from Leeann asking me if I wanted to trade seats because Katie was asking for me to help explain things to her. So, I went down and sat with Katie. That was so much fun for me. Katie and I had a great time. She was asking me one question after another. "Who is that?" "What do they do?" "Why are out there?" "When is going to start?" it went on and on. I had fun telling her about who the refs were, about the national anthem, all the fun things that go on to start a football game.

When the other people sat down around us, Katie went into her "HI" mode. She was making friends with everyone around her. She was talking to the lady next to her and down to the right of her. She was giving them high fives, waving her hands in the air just having so much fun. Then these two BIG guys sat down in front of us, Katie just leaned down to them and said "Hi", they were putty in their hands. She just made these two big guys melt. She was something else. I didn't get to see much of the game because I was having so much fun with Katie and all the people around us. We left at half time and everyone around us was sad to see Katie leave. Katie could not stop talking about the game all the way back to the car to head home. She was so excited that she can't wait to go back to another game.

It is football Sunday and I am going to go downstairs and watch some games on High Def. Have a great day GO 'SKINS

Two Boot Camps, One Month, I must be NUTS

I have to tell you, I am begging to wonder if my brain is writing checks my butt can't cash. I got my self into two boot camps this month. The first one starts on Monday. I have signed up for a work out boot camp. This is a 30-day camp that will get me back into working out and loosing weight. I have hit a point where I am not dropping any more weight the past few months, and I just can't seem to get my self in gear to work out like I know I should, so I was looking for something to get me going. I said something about a work out boot camp that I had seen and heard about a long time ago to Leeann on night, did some research online and found one here in Knoxville. I told Leeann about it and said that they meet everyday at 6am. She said that I could not do it. That was a challenge that I could not pass up. So, I put my money down and sign up. Woke up the next morning saying "WHAT THE HELL DID I DO LAST NIGHT!!!!" Too late now, I have paid and have to show up. Everyday at 5:45am. This should be fun.

The other Boot Camp is in Palm Springs, CA. Leeann is going to be a teachers assistant for the lady she took an eBay boot camp from in LA last October. She has done so well, the lady asked her back to be an assistant and in doing so, she asked and hired me to video the boot camp so that she can sell it to others who could not make it to this boot camp. She is also going to sell this on an infomercial she is working on to air in the spring. So there is going to be some very tough work coming my way.

I will keep you all updated as to how the boot camp goes. PRAY FOR ME!!!!!

Busy Week

This has been a busy week so far. I have really gone into full swing with the wedding video business since the bridal fair is over. I put so much work into that event that I am still tired. But, I have to say it again and again, without Leeann and all the work she did, none of it would have come together or looked as good as it did. I am truly blessed to have such a loving and wonderful wife as Leeann. She is my rock and I could not do half the things I do were it not for her faith and belief in me. I am truly the luckiest man in the world to have such a wonderful wife.

The week started off really good with a couple of emails from brides wanting more information and prices. I was so happy and so proud of the work Leeann did on my price sheet. It looked so great and I was able to get it out to some folks and was able to book a wedding from that price sheet. I will get the contract signed this Saturday. That is in addition to a wedding I booked last night for a friend of a friend of ours (thanks Lisa). She signed the contract last night. I gave her a big discount, but it still ended up being the highest paid wedding to date I have done. I have really enjoyed doing this work, I feel the most comfortable and the happiest I have ever been working with weddings.

I thought that I would not be real busy during the day without the typical office job to keep me going. But, running my own business keeps me on my toes. I have to now monitor the web site daily, keep track of incoming emails, out going mail, bank statements and it just goes on and on. I am up every day between 6:30 and 7am. After Katie is off to school, Leeann and I have a set schedule we follow. Monday and Wednesdays are horse days, Tuesday and Thursday are edit days, and Friday, Saturday & Sunday are family and work time. I still edit some at night and help Leeann with eBay stuff as well, but we stay very busy now.

The best thing this past week was finding a great new babysitter to watch Katie. We have not had a babysitter for quite some time and as a result, have not had the time to go out with friends. Well, we are off on a fun evening out with our BEST Friends (I LOVE YOU, MAN) Rick and Lisa. We have so much fun with them. Leeann and Lisa are going to a scrapbook thing next weekend and I get to play daddy day care with Katie, we will have fun I know. I am thinking of taking her to Chuck E. Cheese maybe on Friday night (WHAT AM I THINKING!!!!) and we may go see a movie on Saturday afternoon. Just some good "daddy - daughter" time.

Here is a photo of my booth from the bridal fair, I am so proud of the work that went into it. THANKS TO EVERYONE that helped last weekend.

What a wild couple of weeks

Well, I have gotten past that crazy rooster and have had a crazy couple of weeks. I have been in the planning stages of getting ready for a bridal fair that went off so well yesterday. I have been working so hard, going over every detail, every paper, every flyer, every DVD, you name it, I went over it with a fine tooth comb. I think I was making everyone around me crazy. Leeann was such a great help, she was right there with me the whole way telling me that everything would be just fine. She was right of course (when is she not right about things like this????). But, I was running things through my head so much wanting everything to be just right, just perfect. There is my problem, PERFECT. Nothing is ever perfect, there will always be something to go wrong, some litle bump in the road, but I did not want that to happen Sunday. You know what, it didn't. It was a great day.

I meet so many people Sunday, brides, wedding planners, other videographers, and there were a few grooms that looked liked they could be anywhere esle that day other than at a bridal fair. But, it was fun. I know that Katie is happy it is over with. I was such a meanie to her the past couple of days. She was only being an 8 year old, but then too, I was grumpy with everyone the last couple of days. But, she loves me and things are back to normal. Well, as normal as things can get around here.

Katie is doing great for the first couple of days in second grade. She loves her teacher, she is a lot like her first grade teacher which is great. She was able to do all of her spelling words tongiht so she got a crazy dance from dad which made her laugh. I love hearing her and Leeann laugh. I think that is the prettiest sound in the world, the two of them laughing together.

Well, I have a lot of video to download and get edited in the next couple of days, want to get this video done as soon as possible. I have a feeling I will be doing a lot more very soon.

CRAZY Rooster

One thing I enjoy doing is going out to the farm and riding Sunny. I know I don't talk about it much on here, in fact, I don't think I have ever talked about it on here. I didn't think I would like riding a horse, but when Leeann started riding, I couldn't resist and just had to jump on and I have been hooked ever since. So hooked in fact, that we got another horse just for Leeann to ride and I just took over with Sunny. She responds to me so well (for the most part) but she is a typical female, has her moments and can be moody at times, but I love being on her.

Tonight and this past Tuesday night, I really enjoyed the ride. I got to ride out in the pasture and out of the arena where I have felt safe. We took a long ride tonight out into the biggest pasture they have out there. I even saw two deer standing at the edge of the woods. I stopped and just watched them, big eyes and all. I thought in that moment, how could anyone want to hurt or harm such a gentle animal? I used to work with someone who would have seen the same two deer and would have said "Give me a gun!" and he would have gone running into the woods to get them. I just thought what a beautiful sight - how can people shoot these creatures?

Anyway, the funniest thing happened to me the past two nights I was out there. There is this crazy rooster out at the farm. His name is Gremlin and he is just that, a little gremlin. Anyway, there must be something about my legs that rooster does not like because he is always attacking my legs when I am there. Well, I have had enough of this and Tuesday night was the last straw.

I was going out to the pasture to get Sunny for my lesson when this crazy rooster snuck up behind me and attacked my legs. I almost kicked him but he ran too fast. I thought that was the end of it. But NNNOOOOOOO!! This rooster just didn't get enough. He charged at me and I spun around and caught him with the halter and lead (rope) I had in my hand. I got him so that I flipped him up in the air, spun him around twice and he landed on his back. Shook him up a bit, but then he tried to charge me again. I will give him credit for persistence, but I was not going to let this little bird win. I stood my ground and did not back down, almost like the shoot out at the OK corral. Well, except it was ME against the crazy rooster!

Well, I won after about 10 minutes of staring him down, he finally backed down. I thought he would get the message, but tonight he proved me wrong. I went to get my saddle to ride and I will be dammed if that little bird was not laying in wait for me. As I went by one of the horse trailers, he came charging out and went after my legs again. I stood my ground and started to go after him. I think that did it. He started to back down and slowly move away. But he kept one eye on me and kept looking over his shoulder like he was going to jump at me at any second. The funniest part of all of this was one of the other roosters there - he started attacking Gremlin while Gremlin was trying to attack me. Seems the other rooster is more "human friendly" and does not like Gremlin attacking humans. Although, according to Mary - Gremlin only does this with me. "GREAT!!!"

Anyway, that has been my week so far. I have got a rough couple of weeks coming up - but potentially full of potential. I have a wedding this Saturday outside of Gatlinburg and then next weekend I have the wedding show - where the anticipated attendance is 1000. I'm one of three Videographers. So my mind is going about 300 mile an hour with all that is going on. I just hope I don't forget something this weekend.

Have a good week. I'm gonna try to.

I was really SCARED......

Today Leeann and I took Katie and Leeann's best friend Lisa to Dollywood. We had a blast but man was it HOT up there today. I should really say, down there as Sevierville is south of us. We have been to Dollywood before, but then, anyone who lives in this area has been to Dollywood at least once. We have season passes and the way we figured it, if we go twice in the year we have paid for the passes. This is the third time we have gone to either Dollywood or to Splash Country, so we have more than got our monies worth.

But, we did have a lot of fun. We went to a part of the park I have not been to before, the part with all the good roller coasters. Now let me set the record straight before I tell you what happened. I love roller coasters. I love going to parks and riding roller coasters. Wooden, steel, loops, no loops, doesn't matter, I love roller coasters!!!! Today, not so much. We got there and went to Thunderhead Railroad. This is a wooden roller coaster. I love wooden roller coasters and I have loved them as far back as I can remember. My first wooden coaster was The Beast at Kings Island Ohio. I used to love to go to that park and spend all day riding that coaster. Today, we jumped on Thunderhead Railroad and for the first time in my roller coaster riding life, I was SCARED. This ride crosses over it self 32 times. Up, down, all around. I was actually pushed out of my seat for most of the ride. I was SCARED. Katie on the other hand, loved it. I don't get her sometimes, she loves to go fast, but I was SCARED.

Oh, it gets better. My lovely wife, her best friend and my sweet innocent daughter talked me into going on Mystery Mine. A steel coaster that will give me nightmares for weeks to come. I have never been on a coaster that went STRAIGHT up. I did not misspell, STRAIGHT up. Not once, but TWICE. The second time was STRAIGHT up in a DARK room. Fire, rocks, and a corkscrew and an inverted straight track that leaves you upside down for about 20 feet. My knees were so weak I had a hard time walking down the stairs.

But wait; there is more fear in store for me. We stopped for a drink, and then they (the women in this trip) talked me into riding Timber Tower. Let me see if I draw you a picture, you sit on a seat with others around this big pole painted to look like a log. Your seat, along with everyone else, goes up the pole and starts to spin around. Not that bad, but then the pole starts to swing back and forth while you spin on top of a pole. Now when I say swing, I mean it leans WAY far over. It was so far over that you could look straight down. This is the same ride that several month ago, the ride broke down with 50 people stuck on TOP of the ride for over 6 hours. So you could just picture my joy in getting on this thing in the first place knowing that I could get stuck on top of this thing, but then to see it lean and pitch back and forth so. I just couldn't wait.

We get off this oversized toothpick and I am thinking, maybe we can take it easy for the rest of the day. NOOOOO, it's back to Thunderhead Railroad for one last game of scare the pants off DON.

We did finally leave the park just as it started to rain and we drove to a mountain top area where I am video taping a wedding this weekend, But it was a fun day, a day that we all really needed. I will post some photos later when I get them scanned in. You won't have a hard time finding me in the photo; I am the one screaming my head off.


I WAS SCARED........

Not what I wanted, but.......

I have been waiting for a while to find out about a job I really wanted. It was a job that was overnight, not the best hours, but it would have opened some doors for me to get into some editing among other things. I found out today that I did not get it. I am a bit sad, but you know, after talking to Leeann over the past the couple of days, I am not that sad. We talked about the fact that if I did not get the job that there had to be a reason why I wouldn't get it. She is right. There are other things out there for me. I have been looking at a program to certify me as a Court Videographer, I have been working to get ready for a bridal show in a couple of weeks, I have a wedding to do in two weeks, and we are looking at adding a online store for me on eBay to do some freelance editing. So, there are things for me out there.

BUT, I did have a door open up today. At the same time I was finding out about not getting the job I wanted, the person was also offering me a different job. It is part time for right now, it could allow me to do other things and could lead to a full time position. The part time position would allow me to finish up the court videographer course, keep up with the wedding videos and get the eBay business going. But, on the flip side, it is part time, the pay is not great, and there would be no benefits. So, what would you do?

On to more pressing things. We had a long trip home yesterday from Leeann's mom's house. Katie woke up Sunday a bit cranky, but that is not unusual. As the morning wore on, she kept saying that her stomach hurt. We should have known that she was not feeling good when she did not eat any of her favorite breakfast, PANCAKES. We pushed on anyway and boy was that the wrong thing. We pulled into mom's drive way and was getting ready to get out of the truck when Katie just.... let's say "Let it fly". We got her and the truck cleaned up and headed home. The day before the truck started making a strange noise from the front left wheel. So, we hit the road, with a truck making funny noises and an 8-year-old getting sick every couple of hours or so. We were able to get her home and to Children’s Hospital. Found out she was the 38th child there with a stomach bug. They gave her some meds to make her feel better. We were there for a couple of hours, which was not bad.

We then took the truck to CarMax so they could have it first thing this morning. They got it in and found out the front wheel bearings were going bad. What is so funny is that about half way home yesterday Leeann looked at me and said she thought it could be the wheel bearings. I had a car a long time ago that had bad wheel bearing and I remember the noise they made, so I didn't think it could be the wheel bearings. BOY WAS I WROING. I have to give it to her, she can hear a sound in a car and can pretty much hit the nail on the hear as to what is wrong with the car. She is good.

More the come later.

LET IT FLY!!!!!!

It has been over a month since my last post, but even that post was not really me. I wrote it, but there was so much I wanted to say, but was not able to. Now, I am able to open up and as they say, LET IT FLY!!!!!

If you did not know, I work for Scripps Networks (HGTV, DIY, Food Network, GAC) and was so unhappy that it was not even funny. I worked (HINT) in Network Operations. That ment I was responsible for putting the shows you watch on the air. There were some really good and fun days. I meet some very nice people, but the bad days far out weighed the good. The standards for the department were set so high that things were either 100% right or 100% wrong. Black or White, no gray area to work in. I always felt like I was walking on eggshells. I always did my best and gave my all. I have always done that, pay me some good money and I will work for you as hard as I can. But, I never felt that I was very welcomed in to the place. Most of the people I worked with were either young (mid 20's) or had been working in television for 10 or more years. I have only been working in TV for the past 4 years. Maybe people didn't like me, or maybe they didn't like the fact that I had the same job they had and they had worked longer to get to the same point. I don't know, but I will say this. They need some help there.

They have 4 supervisors that monitor each shift. 3 of them are great guys, really know what they are doing and are not afraid to jump in and help when help is needed. But, the one female supervisor they have has to be one of the worst people I have ever worked with. There is only one reason that this person is a supervisor, EEOC. She is a black female, looks good for your EEOC if you have a minorty in a position of supervison. One of the 3 guys who are supervisors is black and he does a great job and I really liked working for him. It was just her as a person that I did not like. She could have been white and been the same person and I still would not have liked her because I am not prejudice. No one there likes her, no one trust her, no one belives she knows what she is doing. She doesn't know what she is doing. I could go on for the better part of an hour just on her, but that will come later.


About 5 months ago, I started getting chest pains, stomach problems, an overall sense of panic. Leeann talked me into going to see our doctor and she put me on medical leave and suggested that i see a mental health specialist. I have been seeing a great clinical social worker, Susan. She has shown me that I have the power to make things better, that I could make it better if I wanted. Then this past Wed, I got a call from our so called Human Resources wanting me to come in for a meeting. To make a long story short, they fired me because i had run out of FMLA coverage and I had did not have a hard date for a return to work. I am not sad or upset. Not in the least. I am so Happy. I just wanted to end it on my terms and my way. I wanted to leave a letter with them telling them why I didn't want to come back to work. But I feel like a 3,000 pound weight is off my back. I am so happy. I have a couple of things lined up and I am waiting on a offer for a job that I think would be fun and could open some doors for me that I want to follow. I will just have to wait.

This weekend we are in NC to see Leeann's mother and grandmother. But, most of all we are here to see her cousin who is home from Kuwait for a couple of months. It is nice to see them again, but I will go into more later, It just feels good to be able open up again. So LET IT FLY!!!!!

Boy did I goof up today!!!!

Had a good Saturday for the most part today. Leeann is a bit under the weather. I hope she gets to feeling better soon. I hate it when she is not feeling good. The only thing that helps her is lots and lots of sleep. That is just what she has done today, SLEPT. But, it has been good for her. The only thing is that leaves me in charge of taking care of things around the house, not that it is a big deal, but today, it was a big deal.

Saturdays are STAR days for Katie. That is the day we take her out to STAR and she does her riding therapy and she has been doing so well with it. So, I had to get Katie and my self ready for STAR, well, I was in a hurry because we were running late (as we always do on Saturday) and I had to give Katie her morning meds. Well, she got her nighttime meds instead. One of those meds is Melatonin (a sleep aid) and did it ever work! She was able to do her riding, but in the car on the way home, she was fighting hard to stay awake. I got her home; she went straight to the bedroom with Leeann (one of Katie's favorite places) and went straight to sleep for about 2 hours. I thought she was sick since the only time Katie will take a nap during the day is when she is sick (just like her mom). Well, I ran a few errands, and came home to a sleeping house. About 2pm Katie woke up and wanted to go swimming, I took her and we were in the pool for about 30 minutes when she said she was tired, so back to bed she went and back to sleep. I thought at this point, "Man, she is not going to be doing good tonight". I went on about my day and made dinner and got things ready for the night when I saw why Katie was so tired and sleeping so much, I had given her nighttime meds by mistake. One of those meds is Melatonin (a sleep aid) and did it ever work! OOOOPPPPPPSSSSS!!!!!!!

I may have to fire Coco for that one, he should know better.

I went to see Leeann's grandmother yesterday. Not a good thing. She has to be the maddest old lady I think I have ever seen. But the thing is she has no one to be angry with other than her self. She is into the "poor me" stage. We (Leeann, her dad, the doctors, the insurance co., the nurses, you name it) are all out to get her and make her think she is crazy. I tried to tell her that we only want to help her as much as possible. I mean, Leeann has spent so much time on the phone trying to get things set up for her for when she does come home. We had to sell her car since the doctor as said she should not be driving at all anymore and we don't want there to be an accident. Leeann's dad and step-mom spent 6 days in her condo cleaning up the place. The ended up filling two (2) LARGE dumpsters with garbage from her place. Doing nothing more than trying to help her, and she still is mad at everyone.

Yesterday was the 17th anniversary of my dad's death. It is always the week before Fathers Day. So you can image that I am not a big fan of Fathers Day. I have so many memories going through my head this time of year. You see, I spoke to my dad for the last time the night before he died. I called him to ask a favor of him. His last words to me were "I love you son". My last words to him were, "yea, ok. Let me know when you can do that, bye". I know he knows how much I loved him; I just wish he could be here now. He never got to meet my Leeann, he never got to meet his first grandchild, Katie, and I hope that he is proud of me. That is all I ever wanted from him, is to be proud of me.

30 pounds and still creeping along

I jumped on the scale today, it is weigh in Wenesday after all, and I was down 30 pounds. Leeann is down over 100 pounds and I can't be more proud of her. Some things are really good right now, other things are not so good, so lets see, the good or the bad.....which should I share first???? Ok, the bad first.

I am out of work right now on short term disability due to HIGH STRESS. This is related to work mostly. My job is very stressfull to say the least. Making sure that the shows are right, that they air right, no black holes, no audio errors, no mistakes 100% correct all the time. So, you can see how stressful that can be. Leeann has been pushing me to see a doctor and get checked out. I kept telling her that I would be ok, just give me some time for things to cool off. Things kept building and building and building. I finally had to go when Leeann made me the time for me to go. After talking to my doctor and telling her what was going on with me, she told me to go home and relax for a bit, stay away from work and you need to see someone to talk to. She sent me to a physcologest (I know I misspelled that one). I have now been reffered to a physicarist (that one too, sorry Lisa) who thinks I may be bi-polor amongest other things. I have not been doing well the last several months that is for sure, trouble breathing, upset stomach, chest pains, and the list goes on. I have not been back to work since May 17th and as of today, will not be back until June 19th. I am not sure if I will be able to go back even then. Just talking about it makes my stomach go into knots.

The good news is that my last blood test came back really good and for me, that is good. My A3C (average blood sugar) was 6.9, my LDL was 109 and my blood sugar was 169. Those number are without fasting. Pretty good if you ask me. I have also had a stress test that came back really good and I had an Echo of my heart that looked good as well, so that is the good.

I just hope that things get better soon.

Should have stayed in Orlando

Talk about getting a blow to the head. We come back from Orland and I head back to work this past Monday and get hit with a huge bomb. If you have been reading my Blog, than you know about Leeann's surgery this past winter. I took FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) to take care of her. That was at the end of December and I was going to go back to work in January. Well, Leeann had a complacation and I needed to take more time off. I spoke wth my HR person and she told me that since the leave was part of the same occorance I would not have to use any of my paid time off (PTO). If I came back to work for one day in January, I would have had to use 5 PTO days. I didn't go to work until Leeann was home and doing well. I asked my HR person if everything was OK and to confirm with me (on at least 3 phone calls) that I would not loose any PTO time. You see, I have to be careful of my PTO time as they take sick time and vacation time out of the same 13 days I get per year. So, you can understand, 5 days is a big hit. Anyway, I was told that I would not have to use any of those 5 days.

Well, I got an email on Monday saying that I was, in fact, being charged with those 5 days. Talk about being upset!!!! I have emailed my HR person 3 times and have asked her why the change, and not once has she given me an answer. Instead she is trying to push me off to someone else. I don't even know if they are going to pay me for those 5 days. I don't know what I am going to do about this. As it stands right now, I have only 1 day left for the rest of the year.

On top of all that, we are having to deal with Leeann's grandmother. She is 85 years old, is not in the best of health, has a very poor memory and is being a pain. She has been in the hospital for almost a month with a bad infection in her leg. She is not able to walk without the help of a walker, she cannot pick the walker up, she has to slide it accross the floor. She can't remember her own phone number, or our for that matter. She is not able to get herself off the floor with the help of a chair. So, living at home alone is not an option for her at this time. (If ever) She she is having to go to a nursing home and she is being a big pill about that. She enough pride to fill the state of Texas alone. She thinks she can do anything and that she is still in her 40's or 50's.

To make matters worse, Leeann's dad is not being much of a help, leaving most of the decision to Leeann. I am hoping that Leeann just throws her hands up with all of this and just tells her dad that he needs to deal with it. If someone callse about her grandmother, give them her dad's phone number and tell them to ask him. But, I know Leeann too well. She can't do that, it is not in her. She is geting better standing up for her self and being more self confident in what she is able to do.

I need to vent more on this blog, it is my only outlet.

Home Again :(

Yep, we made it, back home after a great 6 day vacation to Disney World. The trip home was pretty un-eventful for the most part. We had a pretty good time getting home, just a few bumps, but fun for the most part. We got up at 6am so that we could finish packing and get the luggage down to the check-in area. I found out I could not check in unless I had the luggage with me, so I made the trip all the down there for nothing, such is life. Katie was a bit grumpy getting up this morning. I don't think she wanted to leave (guess what, neither did I). Well, we were able to get off and going without any problems.

Then we had to wait for the bus to take us to the airport. About a 10 minute wait, not too bad. The bus was mostly empty except for about 6 people that were already on the bus. Well, we filled the bus up at our stop. God Bless Leeann for not wanting to wait, she inched her way up to the front of the line and we were the fist ones on the bus. (we were not the first ones there, she we had waited the least amount of time, but if the they just wanted to stand there, we were going) We got on the bus and waited for the others to get on and such. While we were waiting, this guy who was on the bus when we arrived, became fustrated about having to wait for the rest of us to load. He got mad, jumped up and grabbed his wife and kid and got off the bus. Seems that he felt it was taking too long to get loaded up.

The airport was fine except: Orlando International Airport is not a very good airport. It is nice looking and all, but not marked very well as to where you are or how to get to where you want to be. It took us 10 minutes just to figure out which way we needed to go to get to our gate.

Well we made it and now we are back home and back to reality. And right now our biggest reality is Leeann's grandmother. She is still in the hospital, still waiting to see where and when they are going to move her. We were hoping it was going to happen while we were gone, but no such luck. The hardest part of all this is Gran is not going to handel the move that well. She still thinks in her mind that she is going to go home and jump in her car and just go on with her life the way is was before. I don't think that is going to happen for her. She is not able to get up off the floor if she fell down. she has a hard time walking without a walker among other things.

I just really think this unfair to Leeann. We are here and Leeann's dad is just shows up from time to time. Leeann is the one dealing with the daliy task of Gran. The complaining, the moaning about this and that. We are going to have to get her set up in a care facility, deal with the condo, the car, the insurance and so on. Her dad is going to be sitting in NC not having a clue what is going on. But what can you do.

Back to work tomorrow. yeeeppppiiiii (NOT)

Wet and Wild Day

Today was a much better day than yesterday. We started the day off a bit better, took our time and got ready for a fun day of water fun. Since we were off to a water-park today, we didn’t get really dressed up or anything, we just put on bathing suits and sandals and off we went.

It was a beautiful day and much to our surprise not that many people were going to the Typhoon Lagoon. I am not complaining or anything, it was just a nice surprise. Since we are staying at a resort, we got into the park an hour earlier than non-guest. That made a huge difference in finding a nice spot to camp out at. I found a nice one; Leeann got us water shoes and locker key. We put our stuff up and hit the rides.

The only ride we went one was a water roller coaster. Not bad, but not the most fun things I have ever been on. The put Katie up front, which I was not, thrilled about, and then sent us shooting down the ride. Katie had her earplugs in and we told her to cover her ears at the end so she would not loose them. Well, she lost one on the way down. We got to the bottom and she told us she lost it I thought our day was done. I was looking all over the pool area trying to find it. I even asked a lifeguard, but didn’t see a thing. THEN Leeann saw it off to the side and we were able to have fun the rest of the day. If it had been mid day and a lot of people in the park, there is no way we would have found it, but lucky for us we were one of the first ones to ride.

We then jumped in the lazy river ride. This is like a slow moving waterway that you ride on in an inner tube. That was lots of fun and we spent most of the day doing that.

We went to an area called Shark Reef where you get to swim with fish and a few sharks. Not the dangerous ones, this is Disney after all, but small sharks that are harmless. Leeann and Katie jumped in and floated along, but I couldn’t do it. I have a hard time breathing with a snorkel and mask. I just panicked and jumped out and went around to where Leeann and Katie got out and meet them there. I felt so bad.

We then went to the wave pool. This thing shoots a 6-foot wave at the crowd about every 90 seconds. And I do mean a 6-FOOT WAVE. This thing was huge. But, it was lots of fun. We all went out a little too far at one point and got hit by a wave and it knocked Katie and me off our feet and under the water. Leeann was right behind us and when the wave hit, she ended up on top of us. I had a hold of Katie and was not going to let go no matter what. That was very scary to Katie, but she did really well with it. She did not want to go back into the waves for a while, but we didn’t want that to be her memory of waves since we like going to the beach some. So we took it easy, and worked our way back into the waves and she did great by the time we left.

Now for the worst part of our trip, PACKING UP. We are flying out tomorrow morning and I don’t want to go just yet. I have had a lot of fun this past week. We have gotten to see things through Katie’s eyes on so many things. She has been wide eyed and amazed with so many things. She has been on rides that I never thought she would have even tried before. She has meet princesses, characters and some of the nicest people around. But most of all, we have gotten to have time as a family. Time to play with one another, time to laugh at and with each other. Time to just be us and so many times it seems we are missing that the most, time to just be us. I know I said this yesterday, but I still see it, parents here with cell phones doing business back home. I saw a few people at the front desk yesterday getting or sending faxes. This was our vacation, a vacation away from stress, from problems, from the world. I do know this, when we land in Knoxville tomorrow, the world and the problems will still be there, but for now, they are a million miles away. I only hope they stay there when we get home. Here’s hoping.

Not so great day, but......

This has not been the best day we have had so far. I don’t know if we are just tired, if we have done too much, if it is the heat (90+ today) or if it was just too many people but Epcot was not all that much fun. There is no shade in the park, lots of wide-open spaces, just no shade. And lots of rude people, I mean LOTS of rude people. If this is supposed to be the “Happiest Place on Earth”, why are there so many kids crying here???

I want to make a few observations about this “Happy Place”: Some of the parents here should not be parents or be here. They are here with the mentality of “we are here and your going have fun weather you like it or not!!!” I thought this was for the kids to begin with??? I have seen parents dragging their kids onto rides with the kids crying, “NOOOO, I don’t want to go”. Why do that to your kids?? There were several things I wanted to do here but didn’t because Katie either didn’t want to do it or would be a bit too scary for her. I am not going to drag her into something she doesn’t like.

I have seen parents here at the hotel not paying attention to their kids. I watched a mother this morning read a book while her kid (not more than 3 years old) CLIMBING on a deck chair. I heard a mother tell her child to “go play with some kids, I need 10 minutes to my self”. I was walking back to the room tonight and I saw a man sitting on the steps with a cell phone up to his ear telling someone “I fell so out of touch, I don’t know what is going on back at the office, what is going on in the world?” YOU’ER ON VACATIOIN!!!!!! You are supposed to be OUT of touch with the office and IN touch with your family, your kids, your wife. Why spend thousands of dollars to go somewhere and complain about being out of touch????

The worse of all with the “Alpha Mom” standing in line with us at “Soarin” today. We used our pass for Katie and it still took about an hour to get to the ride. Standing in line in front of us was using her BlackBerry to send e-mails to people at work. She was riding the ride alone, I don’t get it. You are at Epcot and you are riding something alone while you send emails to work.

The only ride that I really liked today was Mission: Space. They have two versions, one that spins and produces G-Forces and one that doesn’t spin. We did the one that doesn’t spin first to see if Katie liked it. She loved it so we had to do the spinning one. It was great. Katie wanted to do it again and I wish we would have. We then did the GM Test Track. Not my favorite. The fast part of the track was great, but the rest of it was not that great.

Well, tomorrow we made a change of plans. We are going to Typhoon Lagoon Water Park. We are great about that; being flexible enough to change plans when we feel it is necessary. Katie is doing great, it is mom and dad that are wearing out. Anyway, we are excited about going to a water park for the day. This should be great.

No picture today, nothing really to remember from this day. Just glad it’s over.

See Ya…

Animal Kingdom Day

Let me start off with an apology for all those who read my last blog. I was very tired last night and I wanted to get my thoughts down before I fell asleep and I did not do a spell check so…. SORRY!!!

Today was Animal Kingdom and it was a blast. Today is Katie’s real birthday so we woke her up singing happy birthday and she started smiling really big, what a way to start.

We had breakfast in Animal Kingdom at a character breakfast with Mickey, Donald, Pluto and my favorite, Goofy. It was so much fun, but the best part was when the staff sang happy birthday to Katie and she was laughing and smiling so much, she even clapped along with them when they say to her.

So after a great breakfast, it was off to Dinoland and rides some of the rides. The first ride up was Dinosaur, the ride. I was afraid it would be a bit too scary for her. WRONG!!! She was yelling “Yaaaahhhhh WWWWHHHHOOOO!!!” all the way through the ride. She loves dinosaurs and she got to see so many up close and a in some cases a bit personal. We got off the ride and got a few gifts, including a couple of photos of us on the ride. That will be a great memory for her. She surprised me by asking if she could ride it again. Well, we thought we would make it back, but were not able to. Anyway, we went off to ride a spinning roller coaster that Katie and Leeann just laughed so hard on, that we went back and rode it a second time and we laughed just that much harder.

Then it was on to much bigger things. Expedition Everest. This is a huge roller coaster that forward and backwards, in the dark, around quick turns, hits about 50 miles an hour and so on. I was not sure about this one after the whole Space Mountain thing from yesterday. Well again, SURPRISE!!! We rode that thing 3, yes 3 times in a row. She laughed and screamed harder each time. The last time, she rode it with her arms up in the air. Katie never ceases to amaze me with the things she does. She wanted to go again, but we wanted to do a few more things. We walked around the park the rest of the day and saw so many animals and birds, this place is just amazing.

We have this special pass we are able to use because of Katie’s handicaps. We have a letter from her doctor and Disney gave us a pass that helps us get to either the front of a show because of her vision problem or we can go thought the fast pass area because Katie is not good waiting for long period, so with that pass, we were able to get on Everest 3 times in a row without much of a wait.

Katie was taking it all in. The animals, the birds, the plants, she was looking around every corner wondering what was next, what was in the trees, what was behind the next bush. Leeann and I both know that Katie is going to do something with either animals or plant life.

I don’t know if any of you have ever seen this commercial, but there is one for the Orlando area that show a mother and daughter running around the park, at some point the mother turns into a little girl like her daughter and they play around the park like they are best of friends. Then at the end of the commercial, the mother turns back into an adult and meets up with her husband. That is what the past couple of days have been like with Katie and Leeann. They have just been having so much fun with each other.

Well, tomorrow we have made a change in plans, we are going to MGM Studios and ride the Rockin’ Roller Coaster with Aerosmith, then head off the Epcot in the late afternoon so we can stay and see the fireworks so there may be a blog tomorrow night, there may not be one, you will just have to check back and see.

This has been the best time of our lives.

MAGICAL DAY!!!!!!

I don’t even know where to start. This has to have been one of the most Magical days I have ever had. But, really it was all for Katie, but there is just something about Disney that makes you a kid all over again. To see the things through her eyes, it just makes you feel so great. So let’s start the days recap:

We all got up early (one of us ---- Leeann ---- up at 4am, GO FIGURE) and headed off to breakfast which wasn’t too bad. We then caught the bus for the Magic Kingdom and got there right when they opened the park. They have this little song and dance show with a countdown at the end to open the park, that was kind of neat to see.

Then walking into the park was amazing. Seeing Cinderlla’s castle was just …… I can’t put it into words, it was fantastic for lack of a better word. We planed a treasure hunt for Katie so she could find a special birthday and since that did not start until 10:30, we hit a few rides. The first was Buzz Lightyear spin coaster something. Katie and I rode together and was just shooting the lights out of everything. I have never seen her smile so much. She was loving every minute of it. Then we headed off to see the Carsoul of Progress. This was neat, but Katie wanted EXCITEMENT and lots of it. So, we hit the Indy speed track where she got to drive a race car around a track with poor Leeann in the passanger seat. They were laughing so hard I could hear them 2 cars back.

Now it was time to head over to the castle and start the treasure hunt. This is where it gets really MAGICAL. We were supposed to go to the Wishing Well, but ended up at Cinderella’s Fountian. We meet a cast member there that saw Katie’s Birthday Button and let her make a wish using “Fairy Dust”, gave her a citerficate of signatures from all the Disney Princess. That was cool, but wait, it gets better. We found the Wishing Well and started the treasure hunt. The first clue took us to Pooh’s playland. While we were there, the cast member (Phillip) who gave signatures to Katie tracked us down and asked if we could be back at the fountain in about 10 minutes. We looked at each other and said “Sure???” We didn’t know what to expect. When we got there, we had to wait a few minutes and then he took us into the back part of the castle. At this point Leeann and I both thought Katie would get to meet one of the Princesses from Disney, but as you can see by the photo, she got to meet ALL of the princesses and Peter Pan and Wendy, and a few Princes as well. Leeann and I just looked at each other and both shead a tear or two.

Katie was in shock. She was surrounded by reality at it’s best. We were with them for about 30 minutes. Phillip said this was his way of making a wish come true. He did just that. I can not even begain to tell you how special this was to us and to Katie. She got autographs from all of them, hugs and all the attention a special little girl could every want. We were able to take a group photo at the end, but nothing will ever come close to the feeling we had when we walked through that door and there stood 3 princess that every little girl dreams of.

We were able to finish our treasure hunt and Katie got two stuff lions from Lion King (her favorite movie ever). She was so thrilled to get those since they came from Simba (wink, wink). She is asleep as I write this with both her arms wrapped around them dreaming about Simba and the whole gang.


Then it was ride time. Our little girl rode Big Thunder Mountian and loved it. She wanted to ride it again (go figure). Then we took a spin on the tea cups that I thought was going to make Leeann sick. This was followed by one of the scarest moments we have ever had. We rode Space Mountian. This is a roller coster that is all indoors, in the dark, in single cars. That means we could not sit beside Katie and we should have known at that point, time to leave. But NNNNNNOOOOOOOOO! Off we went and I think Katie almost cried. I was sitting in front of her and I heard say “Dad, I don’t think I want to be on this ride!!!!” When we got off, Leeann was almost in tears, and I felt so bad for putting her on that ride, but Katie just shook it off and wanted to go on some other things.

We did Mickey’s Philharmagic. That was so much fun. It is in 3-D and Katie sat on my lap so she could see. And did she ever see, she reached out several times to try and grab a hold of something, a gem stone, Donald’s feet, a part of a magic carpet, she just had a blast.

We ended the day there and came back to the resort and swam a bit, wound down a lot. Katie and I went to the video arcade to end the day and we had a blast.

It is now 9PM and we have a full day on tap tomorrow, but let me say this, I could have to pack my bags tomorrow and fly home after just one day here and I would be just as happy and thrilled. Seeing the look on her face today, the smiles that just would not stop made this trip all worth wile for me.

More tomorrow, but how will it ever compare to today????????

e are here in Disney. We had a great trip down here once we were able to leave. Our flight from Knoxville was delayed an hour. No big deal, we just ate a lazy lunch that allowed Leeann and I just spend some time talking to each other. That is one of the things I love about taking trips with her, we are always able to just spend quality time talking to each other. Katie always joins in on the conversation too.

We were able to board the plane about an hour past our departure time, and we had a huge milestone on Leeann’s weight loss journey. We have made many trips by plane and almost every time she has either hid the seatbelt or had to ask for an extension, as the standard seatbelt did not fit her. Well, not anymore, the belt fit and had a little extra to spare.

When we got to the Orlando airport and started to get off the plane, Katie gave the fight attendant a big hug and said thank you. That is just like Katie. Part of this trip that I have been looking forward to is using the Magical Express, this is where they take care of your luggage for you, take you to your resort hotel and all you have to do is just ride along. Well, it sort of worked. We got the resort pretty well, but our luggage is still not here (9:21pm as I write this, and we checked in at 5:30 pm AAAARRRRRGGGG). When we got off the bus at the resort, Katie even gave the bus driver a hug and said thank you.

As we were checking in to the hotel we were telling the desk person that this was for Katie’s birthday. She looked over the desk and asked Katie how old she was and Katie said “I will be 8, but I am still 7 right now”

We have a room that over looks the pool area, so of course as soon as Katie saw the pool you can guess where she wanted to go. This worked out great as it allowed her to blow off some of that pent up energy she had. She blew off so much energy that as soon as we got back to the room after having dinner, she fell straight to sleep. In fact, so has Leeann. I think they both got wore out playing in the pool.

Well, I am going to go that way my self, more later

I Love Mac's

He we are, 2 days from our trip to Disney. I don't know who is more excited, me or Leeann. We were able to wrap up most of our packing tonight. I know it is 2 days out, but we both have to work on Monday and we are off on Tuesday afternoon, so we wanted to get as much done as we can tonight so we are not rushed Monday night.

You know the worse part of taking off on a vacation....the last few days of work. The days just go by so slow, they just seem to drag along. It doesn't help that weekends are slow at work anyway. I don't mind the weekends, it is just on Sunday, we pretty much have most everything done, we just have to spend 10 hours making sure nothing bad happens.

I do all my computer work on Mac's. I love this machine. It is so easy to use, I can do anything I want on a Mac and it does the things I want. I edit my videos on my Mac, music, photos, you name it, I can do it on my Mac. I say this because Leeannn has had to go back to using a PC. I got her hooked on Mac's a few months ago. I even got one of her clients to switch to Mac's. He did, but he wants his computers to read his mind and work the way he works, but I don't know of any computer that will do that. So now, he wants to go back to PC and Leeann has had to move back to PC as well. She has been having the worse time with the new PC she got, It is not working well and she got so use to how the Mac worked, that it is hard to work witht he PC. I am a Mac Junkie and proud of it.

Next post will come from Disney!!!!!

This is getting old

This has been a very long two weeks for me. I have been some overtime at work this week covering for a couple of folks at work. This is not so bad of itslef, what was bad was the way is feel. I work 4 days a week and get 3 days off. I love that schedule. I feel like I get a longer break and get more things done on those days off. We rotate this schedule every month so that everyone gets weekend off. As a result, every month I have to work 6 days in a row to make the roation either to off weekends or on weekends. Anyway, I had just gotten off working 6 days, was off on Monday, worked Tuesday, off Wed, then worked 4 days, off Monday, worked Tuesday, off Wed, then worked 4 days. Needless to say, I am tired and ready for a break.

That is not the worst part. The worst part of this past weekend has been a problem with a co-worker. This person is not a well liked person and has been known to be a bit demanding. Well, this weekend, this person pused all of us over the edge. They were asking us to change how we do things at work. We, like most people, don't like change. What makes this worse, the changes they want to make is not something that is workable. I want to vent more but, I don't to revel too much and get my self in trouble. So, I will just have to leave you in suspense.

Leeann and I are getting ready to take Katie to Disney for her birthday. I thnik we are just as excited about all the plans as we are about being at Disney. We have made plans for her to get a special birthday surprise We are taking her to a charcter breakfast on her birthday in Animal Kingdom, we are seting up a treasure hunt with a letter from Simba from the Lion King, her favorite movie. I just have to make it through the next week to get there.

Katie has been doing so well with her training at STAR. She is so good working with horses, she is so good with them. More on that later.

Where have I been????/

So, just where have I been and why has it been so long since my last post? LIFE. I have been so very busy with stuff. Work is keeping me busy, both professional and personaly. My video business is doing well, I have decided to kinda keep things on a low key this year because of Leeann's surgery. I will work a little harder next year, I just really feel like I need to spend time with Leeann this year. I have a couple of weddings planed, but nothing big.

Leeann is doing much better, but it has been a bumpy road for her. She is eating much better now and we have just gotten back to walking so I know we both are going to feel better here very soon. I am proud of her for how well she has been doing and the weight she has lost.

Katie is doing so well too. She is doing better in school and she seems much happier about life.

I will try to blog some more when I can tell you more with whats going on with me.

I just wanted to let the world out there know I was still here.

What a week or two it has been

The past two weeks has been a whirwind. It all goes back to my loving bride sitting in a chair on Super Bowl Sunday (Go COLTS !!!) trying to do a little laundry to help get us caught up and to make herself feel like Leeann again. Well, she reached a little too far and pulled a muscle in her stomach. It really hurt and I think more than anything, it scared her. A LOT !!!! What with what she went through in Jan. and all, I would have been a bit scared too. Anyway, I kept telling her it was a pulled muscle, but her mind was going a thousand miles an hour and if you have every pulled a muscle in your abdoman, you know that it is very painful and very hard to heal.

Well, it kept getting worse and worse until we went to our family Dr. and they did an x-ray. Everything looked good, but, they poked her so much it hurt worse. By last Friday, she was in tears when I came home for lunch from work. So, we called the surgen and he got her in for a CT scan later Friday afternoon. The CT scan was clean so, I took the rest of the weekend off and put her in bed with a heating pad and a wet wash cloth to give her some moist heat and told her to stay there. So, I took the weekend to do laundry (two weeks worth), clean house a bit, take care of Katie and the dogs. All the while keeping Leeann in bed the whole time.

Well, it must have worked, because today, she went off to work and has been doing a lot better. I on the other hand of pulled a muscle in my back that really hurts when I raise my right leg. Like when I sit in a char and try to put my foot on a footstool, PAIN. Raise my leg to tie my shoe, PAIN. You get the idea. It is getiting better, but still hurts.

I think I did well this year for Valantines Day. I got her an iPod nano, with a pair of custom made Nike+ shoes with her name on the side. Best of all, I got them all in her favorite color, PINK. But, best of all today Feb. 13, 2007 is the 17th anniversery of when Leeann and I first met. We met at Hamburger Hamlet (a nice little restruant) in Bethesda MD. I had never seen her until that night at 7:30pm. we had talked on the phone a few times, but had never seen each other face to face. When she walked in the door, I knew who she was and also knew at that moment, that she was going to be the one I was going to marry. I know that sounds korny, but it is true. So there a little romance for Valentines Day.


ENJOY.

Dad, Can I help???

Man, has it been cold. i am not a big fan of cold weather which is strange since I grew up in Indiana. It gets cold up there, but I have just never been a fan of cold weather. I don't want to be outside in the cold, I just want to be wrapped up in a blanket, in bed next to my wife. We went out to the farm this past Monday to put a blanket on Belle. We wanted to put one on her since she is so young and needs to gain some weight. Anyway, it was about 11am and about 21 degrees. The wind was blowing which made it feel like about 12 degrees, my hands and toes were so cold. I had on a long sleeve shirt, hoodie sweat shirt and a heavy coat. I also had on a pair of sweat pants under my jeans (that was a first for me, could not have done that 3 months ago) and I was still cold with all that on. Leeann was enjoying being out at the farm, I was just cold.

Katie has been doing much better, but she still has her days. We get notes from her teacher each Friday about what happened that week. This past week was not a good week for her. Seems that Katie broke her ruler, not a big deal mind you, but she lied about it to her teacher. I have this thing with her about telling lies, I have told her I never be mad at her for telling the truth no matter what it is about, but if she lies to me she is be in twice the trouble. But, it got worse. Seems as though they were working on money and working on making change(I have a hard tiime with that). This little girl was having a hard time getting an answer when my blue eyed sweetie said out loud "Oh my God". She went back and told the little girl she was sorry but she was still in trouble when she got home on Friday. Anyway, she has been working really hard trying to make things better. She has been trying to help around the house and with little things, so today I was moppin and waxing the floors in the upstairs when Katie came up behind me and said "Dad, can I help, please????" How do I say no to that? So, I had her hold the bottle of wax I was using. She was so proud and had the biggest smile and I just had to laugh.

Leeann is doing better, I think she pulled a muscel when she leaned over to pick up some laundry, I got made at her for doing it, but she is doing more and more things, so I have to let her have a little more room everyday.

GO COLTS!!!!!! GO PEYTON!!!!!!! That was the best Super Bowl I have seen in a very long time.

Back to work

Today was my frst day back to work after being off for a month taking care of Leeann. I love taking care of Leeann and being here for her. I wish I could just be a house husband for her. Does that make me a bad person??? I enjoy knowing that she is ok and that I can provide for her and get her the things she needs.

Anyway, I went back to work today and it was so weird. So many things have changed and so many new procedures. It was just weird to be back at work. I had to get up early and get ready, all of it just really weird. Think aobut being on vacation for a month and then going back to work.

We got a new addition to the family today. We got a new horse. Her name is Belle. We were able to sell Sam to a really nice farm in KY and got Belle as a replacement. She is a big beautiful horse, but not what we thought or were told she was. We were told she was a 6 year old Spotted Saddle horse, she is a 4 year old Tennessee Walking horse. I got the chance to ride her this past Saturday when we took a road trip to southers KY. I had fun, but was I need to get some more lessons before I get up on a horse and go trail riding. I tried to stear Belle around the pasture and realized that i have very little control over her. She did finally respond to me and we had a good ride for about 30 minutes. She is a great horse and is very broke so I know she will be great around both Leeann and Katie.

I am so proud of Leeann and how she is doing after her surgery. She is now eating soft foods, things like beans, cheese, and things like that. She is still loosing weight, we both just need to start walking and getting some exercise, but that will come in time.

Me and my Meds......

I am a type II diabetic. That means I have a few meds I need to take every day. The problem is that I am not good about taking my meds. It's not that I don't like to take meds, it's only a few pills, they are not that big and I don't have any bad side effects. It's just I get so busy with other things and doing this and doing that, I just forget to take my meds. My wife is always asking me if I took my meds, "yes" I say knowing that I have not done so, but have every intention of do so in the next few minutes. But, just like always, I forget and move on to something else. I tell you this to help you understand a little tift I had with Leeann today. I took Maggie, our 14 year old Maltiees, to the vet today to have her teeth cleaned. As part of that process, she has to be put to sleep and they have to check her blood work before puting her sleep. She has been having problmes with her thyroid levels being very low and she was on meds for the past month. I forgot to give her the meds. As a result, her levels were still very low and we (Lee and I) had a bit of a fight about me not telling her the truth. She is righ about that, I should tell her the truth, but I have been so busy and had my hands so full with stuff, taking care of Katie, the house, the dogs, the in-laws who were helping me with Katie, making sure I was there for every step of Leeann's recovery. I just could not find an extra 15 minutes a day. But, I am making a commement to take better care of my self and our little ones.

Doing Better

Things are getting much better. Leeann is getting better everyday. Getting in her Protien everyday was hard at first. She just did not want take anything that had any powder in it, it would make her sick. I can understand why, protien was the last thing she had just before she got sick and was put back in the hospital. There have been a few tears, but I am so proud of her for the progress she has made so far. She is up to 30 grams of protien a day, she has to have 60 grams a day, so it is a start. I have been adding a little protien to her eggs every night, she is getting better.

Katie and I are have a diffuclut time as of late. It seems that no matter what I say or do with her, it is a battle. Am I being too hard on her? Am I wanting too much from her? Problely yes to both questions, but I just want her to be a 7 year old. Katie is such a sweetie and I love her so very much. I can't see my life without her. All I want from her is to be the best little girl she can be. Don't get me wrong, there are times when she is so great and so sweet. Like this past Sunday. We were all out rning some errands and taking Katie to have a couple of medical test she has to have every few months. I droped Leeann off at a store and I took Katie with me to get a humidifer for the house. At the Walgreens, I had my mind focus on getting the humidifer and getting back to Leeann as soon as possible. Katie made me stop and smell the roses. She yelled, "Dad, dad, you have to come here, I need to show you something". I didn't want to take the time to look at it, But, Katie can be quite convincing. She was showing me a plastic heart filled with Skittles candies for Valentines Day. She looked at me and said, "We can give mom the heart and I can have the Skittles". I had to just laugh. She almost made me cry. She made me stop and just look at her. She is so beautiful and so sweet. That is what makes so made when she does the things she does. But, what makes me so crazy is that I know she can not control it. I just have to work a little harder to make things better.

This is my last week of being home with Leeann. I head back to work on Janurary 30th, I am a bit nervous leaving Leeann but, I now she wll be just fine.

The adventure continues........

Things are getting back

My baby (Leeann) is getting back to her wonderful, normal self. She was able to get out and run some errands with me yesterday and she went with me to Katie's doctors visit today. She did really good both days. She did take a short nap yesterday when we got home, but today has been the best day yet. I am not going to tell you how much weight she has lost so far, but lets just say it is a about a the weight of a older toodler

I am not back at work yet, that is going to be at least another week. I want to make sure that Leeann is doing well and can handel the day to day living of life. The way she is going, it should not be much longer.

I am doing much better with my eating as well. I just find it really hard to eat anything that bad for me. Take tonight for instance. I had to get some prescriptions to the drug store for Katie and i was going to eat while I was out. Now, in that past that would have been me going to Burger King or some other fast food hell and geting a big burger, fries and a jumbo coke. Well, I was out tonight and could not even think of going to a fast food place. So I went to a little sub shop near the house and got a small Meatball sub, some baked chips and a diet coke. Everything was small. That is a huge leap for me. So, don't be looking for me in any BK, McD's or Wendy's any time soon.

Don