Somebody please wake up SnowWhite!

Aaaahhhh....Mississippi.....land of sprawling jaggaged peaks....a snow capped wonderland. Home to brandy bearing Saint Benards and lederhosen.

Of course you know better.

Aaaahhh.....Mississippi.....land of spawling farmlands........a pine forest wonderland. Home to mosquitos and Morgan Freeman.

Mark Twain said, "I believe that in Mississippi (I took the liberty of a small edit, Twain was refering to India) "cold weather" is merely a conventional phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy."

I can remember many a Christmas that has been spent in shorts. More so than the number of snow days I experience through college. You can imagine the stir at the mention of a possible (even infinitesimal chance) of snow. Today we were supposed to receive 1-3" of snow. We....got.....NOTHING. Yes, that is all caps, bold and in italics. Your just lucky that I don't have underlining. Yes, I know it's going to be sunny and 50 degrees tomorrow. Yes, I realize that it was going to be gone by breakfast. That doesn't squash the allure of seeing those enchanted flakes of solid water falling from the sky. We will go to great lengths to see snow.

Early in the year, we had a "winter" storm sweep in from the north. Bug and Sunshine have never had the opportunity to play in snow (Bug is almost 6). The closest we have had is a few hours of a dusting, that you couldn't even scrape up a snowball. To make sure that we could participate in said snow storm. I took off early and we drove 3 1/2 hours north. We got a hotel room next to Chuck E Cheese and enjoyed the snow. By lunch the next day, it was gone.

Hotel room $79
Tank of gas $60
2 hours in Chuck E Cheese $30
few hours in the snow......priceless







And here's a snowball for you....

Tis the season

Yep, it's that time of year. You know deck the halls and all that. Except my wife decks the halls, every wall, and doorway. Then she moves outside. It's all good, except the back breaking labor. It's complete upheaval. I feel like I'm in one of those home remodeling shows, where they completed change a house while the owner is playing a round of golf.

We have 5 Christmas trees. Count'em, uno, dos, tres, quatro, and cinco. Sunshine and Bug each have a small 3 footer, his green, her's pink. Two 7 footers, one in the living room (with homemade ornaments), one in the sewing room (clear glass and crocheted ornaments). Then there is the big daddy, 10 footer in the back porch. It's covered with various ornaments. We try to get an ornament from all the places we go.


Here's Bug and Sunshine last year.

I know the solution!!!!!

I just read an artical on the US's most healthy and unhealthy states. Mississippi ranked 49. You can see the details here. Obesity rate 50%...How tragic.... Not the rate, but that I'm one of them.

A few years ago (okay, 4 years ago), I did a triathlon. I did duathlons. I road a metric century (62 miles). I was hard core. Maybe not so hard, more like moon pie hard. But I was in pretty good shape (I was slow as molasses). But by the standards we are judged by, I was still obese.

Now fast forward a few years. I have road (on or off road) my bike in a couple months. I was averaging a ride every 4 or 5 weeks. I have blossomed. That's a term we use in the deep south to describe a lady with child. I am still setting personal records, but now I'm not bragging on them.

I know what the problem is though. Sweet tea. Lewis Grizzard said never drink sweet tea in a state that doesn't have an SEC team in it. Mississippi has two teams. Tea so sweet that if you stir it with a spoon, the spoon will stand up by itself.

Sure Napa Valley is probably ground zero for sommeliers. You can find tea experts (read snobs) here. Nobody makes tea better than ___________(insert, mother, grandmother, etc.) Apon attending a family reunion my wife and her parents won't drink anybody's tea except Granny's.

Have I convinced you yet? Let's look at the other SEC schools and where their state ranks.


Alabama 40
Arkansas 43
Georgia 41
Tennessee 47
Florida 45
Kentucky 37
South Carolina 48
Louisiana 50

Maybe I'm wrong....Maybe the problem is states that have strong college football teams. The stronger the football traditions the worse health they have. That would explain Kentucky ranking the highest of all the SEC states.

A Veritable Cornucopia

Ahh it's that time of year again. The most special season. Of course, I'm talking about that time of year when they run 24 hours of "A Christmas Story". One of my favorite holiday shows. Who can forget "you'll shoot your eye out". The quotes are so awesome. Surely everybody can relate to the life and times of Ralphie. Who didn't want something for Christmas that their mother thought was too dangerous? Who hasn't had to contend with bullys (well, maybe those that were bullies)? Who hasn't been mesmerized by "the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window"? Okay maybe not that last one.

For those who have been living under a rock for the last several decades. "A Christmas Story" is a movie about a young boy (Ralphie), who is trying to convince his parents that he needs a Red-Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle (with compass in the stock). Narated by an adult Ralphie. It is hilariously funny, but I have noticed that men usually find it a lot funnier than women. As Ralphie, narates the thoughts of a 10 year old, you can't help but think, I've been there!

"Some men were Prodestant, some Catholic, my dad was an Osmobile man." Now that's funny.

If your a die hard fan, you can have your very own "Major Award", just be carefull because it's French.....Fragile....(pronounced Fra gee lay)

Coward of the County

I'm a coward. There I said it. Some people are born chance-takers. They are not afraid of change and embrace the "what could be". I, on the other hand, am one who likes a rut. I prepare a path then execute it to the best of my ability. I don't like to change the path out of fear of "what might be".

I graduated high school in 1991. I had chosen my major years before. I entered college and didn't deviate from it (most people change major's at least once). I did contemplate a change in my junior year, but I figured I had come that far that I would finish. I started to work and been there for 15 years now. I dated my wife exclusively since I was 16 (she was 14). We married when I graduated college. We live in the same town that we were raised in.

People are just wired different. I have friends that have been through several different majors. Hold multiple degrees in various subjects. Have held a half dozen jobs in the last 15 years. Maybe they haven't found that perfect job. Something they love to do. Maybe they're just looking to move up in the world and each job is a step up the change. I have friends that have lived all across this great nation of ours. One in particular spent her summer's on Alabama's emerald coast and winters in Aspen, Colorado.

I'll just tell you that I'm envious. I would love to move here or there. Just to experience a different area, or culture. Have a new base camp to explore the world. Actively seek a new job. One with more prestige, a better position, with new things to learn and do.

I have given my heart the things it desires the most. Stability...predictability....a steady course. I expand my boundaries in things my soul can tolerate. Challenge myself with new hobbies (golf, bike, wood work), with new challenges (triathlon, running, teaching, blogging).

I give mad props to those who never give up on their dreams. Finish that degree in the field you wanted to a long time ago. Get that perfect job you've been dreaming about. Make that move to the place you've always dreamt of living.

Don't feel sorry for me, cause I'm living out my dreams too. A good job that I love. A great wife that I cherish. Awesome kids that I adore. And enough challenges to remind me that I'm alive and kicking.

The Black Death of My Century

The Black Death (Black Plague) was one of the deadliest pandemics of all time. It killed about 75 million people through out central Asia and Europe from 1340 to 1400.

By contrast cancer has killed almost 8 million in 2007. It is the leading cause of death worldwide. I don't know anybody that hasn't had their life touched by cancer. Everybody knows someone or is related to someone that has battled some form of this wretched disease.

My introduction came in the form of one of my buddies (Don) at the age of 14 (around then, it has been awhile). He started with stomach pains. After the diagnosis, he began all manners of treatments available. He went to specialist. He fought valiantly, with the treatment being as bad (or worse) than the disease. He lost his battle right around his 16th birthday.

Memories are a peculiar thing. For me the dates are fuzzy, but some details could have happened today and they wouldn't be any clearer. I can still hear my mother's voice the morning she woke me up to tell me that Don had died. I can remember the songs at the funeral. Our class sent a spray of roses. I can see that rose just as clearly as I can see this keyboard.

A short time later, I lost my grandfather. I remember his battle as well. His cancer spread eventually to the brain. The last time I visited him in the hospital, I made a joke about the cafeteria feeding him okra (he didn't like it, at all). He smiled as I walked out the door.

Now I'm faced with loosing another friend. A lady (former co-worker, her husband is one of my bosses) full of faith and furry. Saying she is spunky is an understatement. Her fight began with colon cancer. She vowed to give it everything she had.......and cancer took it and more. Our whole department called her a few weeks ago and sang "Happy Birthday" over the speaker phone. It instantly changed her, lifted her up. But they have done all they can do and have resorted to making her comfortable.

There are good stories as well. Cancer beaten, people in remission. But it takes something away from you. One of my friends (another co-worker), his wife took on breast cancer and won. But she lives in fear of every checkup. Just last year, something didn't look right. It was down right devastating (It was all good in the end).

So what are we to do. You can see the link to the Fat Cyclist on the left. Elden Nelson originally started his blog to embarrass himself into loosing weight. It morphed into a comedic blog about cycling. Now Elden is living my worst nightmare. His wife originally had breast cancer that metastasized, eventually landing in her bones, lungs, and brain. They've fought and come to the end. Now they manage the symptoms and hope for some good days. Elden is organizing the largest LiveStrong team ever. Check out his blog (it'll rip your heart out) and check out Live Strong as well. It's time for a cure.

Book Worm

I always loved reading when I was growing up. I can actually remember being so miserable in the first grade, then that feeling went away. My mother says that it coincided with us learning to read. Books are and have always been an outlet to another world. One that wasn't confined to the laws of nature of this world. I'm not just talking about books of pure fantasy.

One of my favorite series of books was the Mad Scientist Club. The collection of stories that I read was originally written in the late 60's. I read them in the late 80's and was captivated. The stories center around 7 boys, that I envisioned to be the same age as me. They built cool thing (like a submarine), had a cool hang out, and solved crimes and problems. I probably read each of those stories at least 100 times. I still have those books 20 some odd years later.

Looking back, those stories probably fed my desire to become an engineer. Lead me to tear stuff apart to see how it worked (and rebuild it, if I could, into something different). It prompted me to build tree houses, and forts, and go on fanciful adventures if only in my mind.

You know I've never had a TV show inspire me like that (except maybe "This Old House" or a miscellaneous cooking show). Those books still inspire me today. Returning from our vacation we stopped at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. They had a display of military equipment that included at small submarine. I told my wife that I had to take some pictures.....just for when I build mine.