Scream, Jump, and Cheer

I told you that my daughter is a cheerleader for the rec center football but never provided proof. So here is your proof:

The football team has gone undefeated this season and I was surprised to learn that there is a playoff system in place. Tuesday night will be their first post season game. Our schedule will now be determined week by week. Oh, the joy that brings to Cari's heart as she plans activities!

I'm not sure how high up this playoff system goes or how big of an area this will cover. I think we are about to find out how high is high because nobody can seem to stop the locomotive that is our #24.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines, there is our daughter cheering. She is having a blast with this. On Saturday we had our homecoming game and she was escorted by two football players. She still hasn't put down the flower one of the boys gave her.

She will scream, jump, and cheer the whole game and come home with 100% energy. Is there any slowing her down?

Baby Bottle. . .

. . . you're doing it wrong.

F U

For Monday's hike, Cari and I headed over to the campus of Furman University. I've seen some photos of campus in the past and was interested to see some of these sites in person. Before we get to the photos, here's a few things about Furman:

Founded in 1826, its current location is its third.

The nickname or mascot of the Furman sports program is the Paladin. A paladin can be described as a heroic champion or the defender of a good cause. What a great mascot!

The Latin motto of the university: Christo et Doctrinae (For Christ and Learning)

We got to campus and found a parking spot very quickly. It was fairly quiet when we arrived in the morning. On our drive across campus to the parking areas we drove through a round-a-bout and I thought it was just the greatest thing. Why don't we have more of these things in America?

It didn't take long for us to find one of the most photographed landmarks on campus. The bell tower that sits on lake Furman.

Our next destination was a place called Place of Peace. It's a pagoda from Japan. In 2004 they disassembled it into 2,400 pieces and transported it to Furman. I assume they had permission to do this because I can't imagine a bunch of rowdy, American students running up and taking apart a building without someone noticing. It was reconstructed in a very quiet and beautiful area of campus near the lake.

We were invited to go inside but were told to remove our shoes first. I took a look through the open door and saw. . . .a pillow in an empty room. I decided I had seen it all, so we chose to leave our shoes on and continue our tour.

At the base of the hill is a wonderful Japanese garden with a collection of trees and flowers.

At around eleven, the bell tower sounded and played a short song. The chimes were even more beautiful to listen to while looking over the water. As they started playing I grabbed my camera and pointed it at the tower. Then I realized that just because the bells were ringing, my photograph wouldn't look any different than earlier.

Cari and I headed onto the trail that circles the lake. We made a stop at the bell tower and took some photos.

I had to dangle my NEW flash from the spiral stairs to achieve this photo and I'm a bit embarrassed to tell you that it fell once. As it was crashing toward the concrete floor, I made a quick grab a caught it. Even scarier than the possibility of losing another flash was the look on Cari's face when she saw what happened. Wow!

We finished our walk around the lake and meandered among the buildings on our way back to the car. We found this path that has old mill griding stones set in the walkway. It is the best use I've seen of these old stones yet. Cari noticed a railing near one end of the path and we went to check it out. Looking over the railing, we found this amazing rose garden:

As we talked about how beautiful the campus is, the bell tower struck twelve and gave a short concert. Suddenly, campus came to life as students started appearing from every doorway. Bikes started to fill the walk ways. I tried to count how many students weren't wearing an iPod but couldn't find one.

Furman is an amazing place to visit and take a relaxing walk.

Next time I go, I'm picking up a hat that says F U.  They use one of my favorite colors, purple.

Paper Dolls

She made this by herself.  A much better job than I could have done.  From left to right you can see "Winter", "Summer" - those aren't tears, it's sweat, "Spring", and "Autumn".

Out of Focus

I went into a Subway for lunch a while back and saw that they were offering pizza.   Who's idea was that?   I was confused.  Maybe one of the managers of Subway went to Domino's one day for lunch and had a pizza.  During that lunch he thought, "Wow.  This pizza thing tastes great.  We should do that."  Nobody had the brains to remind him that they are a sandwich shop, NOT a pizza place.  

In all fairness, I have never had pizza from Subway.  It may be great, but I'm not willing to take that chance.  

In the mail today I got an advertisement from Domino's Pizza.  It didn't mention pizza a single time.  The entire ad was focused on telling me about their new SUB lineup!   Did the manager of Subway get fired and find a new job over at Domino's?  Has everyone lost their dang mind?

I'll tell you what.  When I want a pizza, I go to a pizza place.  When I want a sub sandwich, you guessed it, I go to a sandwich place.  I wish some of these places would stop trying to be everything to everyone.  They are watering down what they do right and start doing a lot of things wrong.  If the crazy guy that made these decisions happens to be reading this I want to say, "Get back to the basics.  Do the things you do well, and what made your company a success.  If you want pizza, walk across the street and get one at the pizza place, don't make your own." 

It won't be long before I go into a Chick-fil-A where they are serving tacos.  

Before the Flash went Dark

From the other night before I killed my flash by balancing it atop the door like an idiot.

Blame Game

I was taking some portraits of the kids last night in the office and started trying to move the light around for a different look.  After the kids got bored and ran off, I decided to take a few self portraits before putting everything away.  I mounted the flash on top of the door with my flexible tripod to get the light up high.  

I took a few shots and then went back to the camera to see the results.  As I was knelt down reviewing the shots, the flash came falling from the sky and landed beside me with its guts spilled on the floor.  The sound it made on that hard floor was sickening.  

Immediately, I looked for someone to blame.  The kids were no where near me.  I checked to see if a cat had bumped the door, but didn't see a kitty.   Unfortunately, there was nobody to blame but myself.  

The top heavy flash had succumbed to the power of gravity and fell to its death.  I popped the batteries back in but the flash would not power up.  I put in some new batteries hoping that would fix the nasty rattling I heard inside the flash.  Still no power.  I did a quick search online to find that I was not the first one to have killed a $180 camera flash.   Cari was out with some friends while I did this.  When she got home I had to tell her what I had done.  

As I told my story, she realized that I wasn't going to blame her cat or our kids.  She comforted me and assured me we would work the budget to purchase a replacement.  Cari also let me know how grateful she was that it was my own fault.

Murphy's Village

You're driving down the highway. As you pass the ramp to the interstate, you see a few gas stations scattered along the intersection. You continue down the highway through an undeveloped stretch of road. There are a few auto mechanic shops and a few industrial looking buildings. There are no retail chains or restaurants. It's a rough looking area that is in need of maintence.


As you pass a mechanic shop with cars spread across a grassy field, you look next door. An enormous house that must be worth half a million dollars appears. It looks brand new and has paper taped over the windows. Nobody appears to live here. Why? Why build this beautiful home on a highway and in this area of town? Across the street is a bigger house. Next door to it is a brick mansion. In all, there are roughly ten mansions along the street. Side streets would probably reveal more. They all look new and they all have paper on the windows. No cars are in the driveways. You spot a mobile home parked behind one of the houses.


Welcome to "Murphy Village" near North Augusta, South Carolina. Home of the Irish Travelers. Also known as, "Gypsy".


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The Irish Travellers have their own language. For the most part, they only marry within the group. They arrange marriages for their children. They don't use public schools. They are known to be scam artists in the area. They use a lot of the same names supposedly to confuse authorities. They will dress their little girls up in extravagant dresses and big hair. The largest community of them is located in Murphy's Village.

I have heard that the local buisnesses prefer not to do business with them. The phone company makes it difficult for them to get service, if at all. Also, I was told that the they live in the trailers for an additional year after the house is built to allow the bad spirits to leave.


You may have heard of them because they have been featured on programs such as 20/20 in the past. They really have a bad rap around town. If you ask anyone about the mansions that look out of place you immediatly get stories of shoplifting and scamming. They spend their summers traveling around the country looking for work. Some may offer to paint your house, only to use watered down paint. Others may offer to fix your roof, only to find that it still leaks when they are done. I'm sure there are some that are doing honest work and are good people but their reputation as a group is to not trust them.

In the winter they come back to South Carolina and live in their mansions in the middle of an industrial park. The next time I take a trip down to North Augusta, I'll take a few shots for you. You have to see it to understand the scale I'm talking about. Don't expect to see any people in the photos, they are well hidden. Just another part of being in Murphy's Village.

Rec Football

Meredith has become a cheerleader for the rec center this football season.  Thursday night she went to a game for the younger group of players.  We were the second game of the evening and as we got there the first game was ending.  The announcer was saying all the boys did good and then he said to give a special thanks to the coaches because, ". . .it's like managing an ant farm out there."

Sure enough the same held true for our game.

I spotted one player from the other team (thank goodness), trying to make an escape up the hill.  It wasn't long before a coach spotted him and chased him back onto the field.  

The Park

Come to the park and whip your dog!

Dirt

"That stuff tastes like dirt."  Cari said as she scrunched her face at my breakfast this morning.  

"Grape-nuts is the best cereal of all time," I replied as I extended a spoonful her direction.  

She asked me what's so good about it and I told her, "There is no sugar".

"Like dirt," she replied.

"It's full of minerals such as iron and zinc," I continued.

"Like dirt," she replied.

"It's crunchy," I said with a smile as I took a bite. 

"Like dirt," she replied.  

I finally had to admit it may have the texture of a gravel road, but it's still my favorite breakfast cereal.

Price to Pay

Being parents requires Cari and I to be a team.  We each have to give in sometimes times to make it work.  Sometimes you just have to take one for the team.  

This morning Cari woke me up while she was getting ready for church.  Normally, she will get up and take the kids to Sunday school and I meet them for service an hour later.  She sat on the bed and told me that Randy wasn't feeling good and asked if I would miss church to stay home with him today.  

I did my very best to mask my sarcasm when I answered her, "I'd really hate to have to lay in bed for an extra hour this morning, but if that's what you need me to do, I'm here for you". 

Almost a Year

Here's some recent photos of baby.

Next month she will turn one. She still doesn't talk very much but seems to be trying more recently. She doesn't walk but likes to stand up. If she sees something she wants, she can crawl faster than Michael Phelps can swim. Once she gets what she wants it almost always goes straight to the mouth, especially if you tell her "NO".

She likes to dance to music. The secret to making her stop crying is to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider (and you have to do the hand motions).

Hike with a Crazy Man

I went on a hike with a co-worker recently. He doesn't hike around here very often so I gave him a choice. Take a shorter hike that will be more of an adventure or an easier hike that is longer. He chose adventure. Cari shook her head as we got into the car. I guess that's cause she knew where I was taking this guy.

The trail is visible but is not located in a park. It's not maintained by a ranger and there is no parking lot. You just park on the unmarked forest service road and head into the trees. About half way through our hike I saw a tree with a ribbon tied around it. I pointed to it and kept leading the way through the forest. That ribbon just re-assured me we were still on some kind of trail.

We went about an hour into the forest and finally came to a point so choked off we had to stop. He asked me where the waterfall was. There was no waterfall where I thought one would be. After eating our lunch (I saved my apple in case we got lost, but he ate his) we started back out.

Not far from the lunch spot we found this red lizard. The thing is pretty freaky looking. My buddy looks at it and reaches out to grab it. I hollered at him, "Don't touch it! It's poisonous." I didn't really know if it was, but I've never seen a good critter that color of red. He held it in his hand and examined it. After he put it down, I was thankful he didn't eat it.

We got back to the tree with the ribbon that I pointed out earlier and I stopped to look at the creek. That's when I saw the CORRECT trail that crossed the water. D'oh! My friend looked back at the tree and saw that someone had carved three arrows into the bark pointing toward the creek trail. How did we miss that? These arrows were large and carved deep into the trunk.

He said, "I tried to tell you earlier. I thought it was funny someone would carve an arrow into a tree".

I didn't reply, but I knew what my answer would be. "Next time, when you see an arrow carved into a tree and we are in the middle of nowhere, please make sure I hear you".

Poor Instructions

This is the door to my office.

My family has been adding stickers to it lately. Based on the height of the stickers, I should say Cari has been adding stickers to it.

I was in there trying to ignore the world one morning and Randy popped the door open.

I turned and looked at him, "What do you need"?

He said he was just curious because the sticker says "Look Inside".

I'm currently in the market for a sticker that says "Don't".