Found under the couch

STOLEN!

MARIO HAS BEEN STOLEN!

I didn't have to work yesterday, so I thought it would be a great time to open the new Mario game and try it out while the kids were at school. Cari shut down my idea and said I should wait until my birthday or Christmas. She suggested I go play one of the games I haven't finished yet.

I went and played another game for about an hour. Cari had a doctor appointment and was gone during that time. When she got home, she went upstairs to feed the baby. I followed her up there and suggested we get the new Mario game going. She again told me we were going to wait. She asked what happened to the game I was just playing.

"Yeah, it is fun, but it's not Mario Galaxy", I told her.

I walked over to my dresser and opened the top drawer. An EMPTY Toys-R-Us bag was inside. I pulled the bag out and looked in the drawer. I quickly turned back toward the bed, holding the bag. I didn't even have to ask, Cari's expression told me she had stolen the game. Then she busted out in laughter.

"Where's my game?", I demanded. She was laughing.

"What game?", she asked.

I walked into the closet to begin my search. I closed the closet door behind me and Cari shouted for me to stop looking. Turns out she did know what game I was looking for.

Honestly, I don't know how long ago she took it. I was holding it until I had these days off. I told her that she stole my game. She denied the charge and said that it was a Christmas present.

AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Right now I believe the game to be in the attic. The attic is a maze of boxes and bags. It probably is not hidden up there, just placed. If she DID hide it, I would be up there until Christmas.

Cari is very entertained at her prank and believes I am enjoying this nonsense as well. In reality, I just want to play Mario Galaxy.

work

Sometimes I feel like a well paid baby sitter. Why is it that when I ask an employee to do something, then check back in an hour, they have made little or no progress? These are adults! Some of them are complete idiots. My eight year old can follow directions better. We don't do anything complicated at the store. The basics is this: stock shelves with stuff, help customers, sell stuff, repeat.

Sometimes the customers can be a pain. Lately, the customers haven't been bad, it's the employees. When my boss asks me to do something, I do it. So, when I ask someone to do something, I expect it done. Most of them do a great job. For the others, I have threatened once or twice to bring my son in and show them how to do their job.

There are lots of blog worthy stories from work. Sometimes I wish they could bring in a camera crew and shoot a reality show there. I could just about guarantee a hit. For now, I'm nervous to say too much about work. There are always stories about a blogger getting fired for writing about work. I do not need to become a statistic. So I just stick to writing about myself and my family. Hopefully they won't fire me.

I did have a work related scare on the blog one time.

I came home from work and checked my email. I had a comment on my blog from a familiar name. When I read the comment, I froze. Sitting in silence, staring at the screen. I read it four times at least. The person is a corporate executive for the company I work for. To me, his words were cryptic. They had double meaning.

I loaded up my blog and did some searches for things related to the company. Nothing was showing up. I DON'T WRITE ABOUT WORK. How did he find me?

I emailed a good friend of mine. He's really the only one I work with that knows about the blog. He logged on and read the comment. Then he called me. I think he was a little nervous for me at first. As we talked it over, I started to see how I probably read too much into the executives comment. I think he was just out reading random blogs and was inspired to leave a comment. I doubt he still reads this. If he does still read it, that's ok too.

My heart was beating fast that day. It didn't matter that I hadn't written anything about work. It made me realize that literally anyone can read this. I'm not an idiot, I always knew that to be the case. I just didn't think it would be someone from work. Who will it be next?

Picture of the day!

First, let's talk about work. Working the day after Thanksgiving at a retail store is actually kind of fun. I can be part of the excitement of it all without spending all my money. Don't get the impression that I didn't spend ANY money. I just didn't spend ALL my money. Saturday starts to get back to normal a bit as the specials wind down. I expect tomorrow to be pretty boring. I don't write about work very often, but I am working on something I started writing the other night about work. I hope to have it done in the next few days.

Here's a shot from the leaves. As far as I know, there were no slugs in the leaves. Then again, I wasn't the one begging to be buried in them. You'd have to ask them about the bugs.

One of Cari's favorite things about this time of year is the smell.

The smell of dirty, rotting, molding, leaves.I'd have to agree with her.

Thanksgiving day

My parents drove up for Thanksgiving and we all had a good day. Cari made a great meal and we put up some Christmas decorations. We also made a leaf pile to play in. Here's a few shots from the day. I'd write more but its been a long day at work and I have to be back in the morning.

It's late....or it's early

Ok. It's getting near two in the morning. I'm going to bed. I'm up late tonight because I had to work late. Didn't get home until midnight. When you go shopping on Friday after Thanksgiving and you see all the displays and piles of merchandise at the store. Remember that people had to work late setting that up so you could tear it down in an hour of shopping.

I started a different blog post a few minutes ago. I must be too tired. I couldn't focus long enough to finish it. I'll get it to you by Friday night.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Can't Wait

I can't remember the last time I purchased something and didn't immediately open it. The other day I stopped at Toys-R-Us to buy Mario Galaxy for the Wii. I was wanting the try the game, but thought I would wait until Christmas to get it. Saturday was the last day of the sale, so I went ahead and picked it up. When I brought it home, I held it up and asked Cari, "Wait for Christmas?" She said yes, and I took it upstairs.



After twelve hours I still had not opened it. I don't want to wait! I jokingly told Cari four times Sunday morning that I was going to go play Mario. She asked me where I hid it so she could re-hide it . . . from me.



I'm not so sure this game will stay wrapped until December 25th. I'll let you know.

No Secrets

This morning the pastor called the children up front for their regular children's time. They talked about Thanksgiving and being thankful. The pastor shared a funny story about a Thanksgiving dinner at his house. That's when Meredith had something to say. I always get a bit nervous when Meredith starts talking up there. She's unpredictable. Today she said, "My dad called the butter people".

What she was trying to announce to the entire church was about a time that I made a phone call during dinner.

The tub of Land-O-Lakes was on the table. I noticed on the lid the words, "contains: milk". It struck me kind of funny so I pulled out my cell phone and put it on speaker as I dialed the 1-800 number from the container. The kids thought this was great. When the automated menu came on, I started talking like it was a real person. "Why is there milk in my butter?", "Did the Indian woman wash her hands before making this butter?", "Can you come over and clean my room?", "Did you make the Indian woman milk a cow to get the milk?" Some of the questions were coming from the kids. We were all laughing pretty good about it.

A few nights later, the kids were prompting me to call again. This time I called the Heinz ketchup people. "Are you friends with the butter people?", "You don't put any milk in your ketchup, do you?", "Do you wash your feet before stomping on the tomatoes?" I had a whole conversation with the Heinz automated system because it tries to recognize voice commands of their menu. When it would say it didn't recognize my choice, I would say it louder and act like they were dumb. Then they transferred me to a representative. I got scared and hung up.

A few nights went by and I was asked to call more food vendors during dinner. This time Cari grabbed a Sharpie and blacked out all the phone numbers that were on the table that night.

That all happened a few months back, but it is still one of Meredith's favorite things to tell people. One night, we had guests over for dinner and when I asked someone to pass the butter, Meredith started laughing and said, "Don't give it to him, he'll call the butter people!"

After service this morning, I found myself telling this story as friends came up and asked what Meredith was talking about.

That's why I always put my head down when the children go to the front.

New Rule

Cari set a new rule last night.

No photographs during feeding time.

Wisdom

When I made my sunrise trip to the mountains last week, I couldn't help but to pay a visit to Pretty Place. I've written about it before and showed you pictures. I have one more to share with you. Every pillar of this outdoor chapel has plaques on each side. Each one with a prayer, bible verse, or quote.

I took some time to read a few more of these while there. Here was one of my favorites.

It says:

"We can only see a little of the ocean.
Just a few miles distant from the rocky shore;
But out there - Far beyond our eyes' horizon,
There's more - Immeasurably more.
We can only see a little of God's Loving - A few rich treasures from his mighty store;
But out there - Far beyond our eyes' horizon, there's more - Immeasurably more."
- Author Unknown

Father / Son hike

On Saturday I took Randy out hiking. We traveled up to Rainbow falls near the N. Carolina border inside YMCA camp property. I couldn’t remember for certain, but I thought the hike would take about an hour to reach the falls.

We stopped in at the office to sign in and the guy looked at me like Randy wasn’t going to make it. I told him I had hiked it twice before and we’d see how far we could get.

We started out at 11am. At 12:30pm we came to a crossing of a creek. There was no obvious way to cross. This was not the hike I remembered. It also was taking way too long. Randy was complaining that it was too dangerous and his legs were too tired. It was dangerous because of the steep edges the trail followed in some areas. He even told me it was the worst day of his life ever. I took a line from the Simpson’s movie, which he liked, “worst day of your life SO FAR”. He did get a bit of a laugh out of that. I told him we would turn around and head back up the hill. We took a few breaks going back up. Once we were half way or more back we found a small trail that split off and went through some mud. We took that small trail and within five minutes, we were at the falls.

I had taken a wrong turn on this unmarked trail and took us forty five minutes out of the way. That was an hour and a half of hiking I could have saved us. Randy reminded me that it was my fault we went the wrong way. I reminded him it was his fault we ran out of food. Before we left, he was smearing peanut butter on some celery sticks. He made six. I asked if he only wanted three each. He shrugged his shoulders. He just didn’t want to smear any more peanut butter. I emphasized that it didn’t sound like much food.

At the waterfall, Randy’s attitude improved greatly. We even took some pictures together. From then on, we had a great time together. I’m not sure he really appreciates these long hikes. He asked several times if they would ever install an elevator. He said they could make it out of wood to keep it more “in nature”.

Baby's first trip out

Early last week I was really dying to get out and do some hiking. The baby is not old enough for a hike yet. As soon as she can hold her head up well enough, then I will carry her on the hikes. We're not there yet. So, we took a drive over to the Hartwell Dam.

The dam was completed in 1962 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It provides some hydro power and also acts as flood control downstream of the Savannah. We parked under the highway and looked around the river area for a bit. Baby did a great job sleeping during this.

We drove up closer to the dam and I was able to walk along the top of it. In the picture from a few days ago, you can see the trail leading onto the dam. About a third of the way across, they have a fence preventing you from going further. I think this is more about keeping people from Georgia trying to make their way into our state, than keeping me off the dam. Here's a photo looking down the river from standing on the dam.

We sat down at at the side of the river for a few minutes for me to take some pictures. I used the opportunity to get the flash out and play with some of my equipment.

Next we drove over the bridge into Georgia. That's where the visitor center is located. It's true that I warned Cari as she got out of the car, "Watch your back, you're in Georgia now". I don't really know what that meant, but I looked back at the car as I went inside as a precaution. Inside they had maps and photographs. The most interesting thing we saw was a display showing some of the wildlife from the area. They had a bear, fox, beaver, and a few other specimen in the display. Have you ever seen a beaver? THESE THINGS ARE MUCH BIGGER THAN I WOULD HAVE GUESSED. The size of a small dog. I don't know what I was expecting, but somehow, I thought a beaver would be the size of a large cat. Certainly no larger than a groundhog.

Brenna did a good job going out with us. It was windy and cold on top of the dam, but she didn't complain one bit. Neither did Cari.

Dam Again!

Dang! I'm getting out of order. Before I had taken the time to tell you about Cari, baby, and I's trip the other day, I've taken another trip. I'll still get the non-interesting story from Hartwell Dam posted with a few more photos. But for now, read this:
I had to drive into Georgia for work today. Last night, when I was getting my map, I noticed a dam near my route. All thanks to Google maps and satellite view. On may way back home, I stopped at the J Stom Thurmond Lake and Dam for lunch. It's about 55 miles downstream from the Hartwell dam (the one I posted two days ago) on the Savannah river.

Two things about this site. If you look, you will see a small fishing boat near the center of the photo. A few minutes earlier, he was right along side of the dam wall. I was thinking they should open the gates just a bit a give him a scare, but they didn't. There are signs all over that warn about being close, but maybe the fishing is better up there.

The other thing is that the highway is the top of the dam. The top is about the width of a bridge, one lane each way. I walked more than half way out and took some photos of the river. A few times, a truck drove by at 55+mph and made me pretty nervous. I got up close to the railing and held it. It probably wasn't that close, but it was a bit scary.

Here's a few views from the top.

Dam!

Is there a story to go with this shot? You bet there is. I hope to write it up tomorrow evening for you.

I'll tell you that this is the Hartwell Dam on the Savannah river. The Savannah forms the border between South Carolina and Georgia. This shot was from the SC side. Later, we went to the visitor center on the Ga side.

As we got out of the car I said, "Watch your back, you're in Georgia now"!

The Song

A few weeks ago I used "Praise You in the Storm" as a blog title. It is currently the title of my favorite song. It is a great song performed by Casting Crowns.

I've been thinking about writing this for a week now. I still don't know how to express the message I want to get out. I've written this twenty minutes ago. I've read and re-read it. I'm not satisfied with my ability to express the meaning of this song to me. I don't want to wait any longer to get this posted.
Read the song. Listen to the song. I don't need to say much more than that. Here's the lyrics followed with some of my thoughts.
---------------------------------------
I was sure by now
God you would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say “Amen”, and it’s still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth
------------------------------------------------
I think what moves me about this song is that it takes effort to do the things they are singing.
The thunder rolls. Everything is going wrong. Maybe you feel the world is coming down on you. Perhaps you lost a loved one or a friend is sick. Imagine you lost your home to a natural disaster. Haven't you heard people say "I'm mad at God"? I have.

At times like that, it takes an amount of conscious effort to praise God. It's easier to be focused on blaming God for the wrong that has been done to you. Through all your pain, you can barely hear God whispering to you, "I am with you". The song tells us that God has never left us. He is holding EVERY tear you have cried.

How much strength does it take to lift your hands and praise God at times like this? Where does my help (strength) come from? My help (strength) comes from the Lord.

The maker of Heaven and Earth.

There are several good videos people have put together of this song on YouTube. One of my favorites is the band performing the song live.

make a decision

I almost always take my lunch to work. The few days that I don't, I like to go to Chick-fil-A.

Today, Sunday, I didn't take my lunch to work. Chick-fil-A is closed on Sunday. I decided to go to Publix (grocery store) and get some bread. That's all, just bread. They have some of the best breads.

Once inside, I was nervous that just bread wouldn't fill me up for long. I walked to the Deli section and got in line for a sub. Then I thought I didn't want to spend that much money. Back to the bakery. I picked up the bread I wanted and started to walk off. I was going to get a drink and some chips. Getting a sub instead of the bread wouldn't cost that much more.

I put the bread back and got back in line for the sub. After I got the sub, I went searching for a drink. I wanted Gatorade. It wasn't near the Pepsi. Once I found Gatorade, I decided I didn't want to spend that much for a large container. There weren't any smaller containers sold individually. I walked back to the Pepsi, but didn't really want that. I decided just to spend the money. Back to the Gatorade where I had to decide on flavor.

A full twenty minutes passed from the time I entered, until I was back in my car.

I drove back to work. I was going to sit in the car and listen to the radio during the rest of my lunch. I parked in my normal spot, but decided there were too many people around. I drove over to the park where I ALWAYS eat lunch. Why didn't I just go there to begin with? I DON'T KNOW.

Once at the park, I unpacked my sub, chips, and Gatorade. I looked at the clock. More than half of my lunch time was already gone. All because I couldn't make a few SIMPLE decisions.

I called Cari to complain about myself. I told her that is why I have to take my lunch everyday. I would go crazy if I had to make decisions like that everyday.

Good Morning. . . law breaker

I got up at six this morning. I showered and dressed quickly. I poured my coffee to go and grabbed a bagel without toasting it. I was about ten minutes late. I wasn't going to work this morning, I was headed up into the mountains to take some photos of the sunrise. I felt like I was cutting it close.

I pulled into Caesars Head State Park at 7:30am. The gate to the overlook was locked. A sign was bolted to the front of the gate. "Unlawful to go beyond this point". The ranger station/gift shop had a sign that said the building opened at 9. NINE!! Sunrise was going to be just a bit before eight. I jumped the fence and went to the overlook. It was still pretty dark. I took a few test shots and then I got nervous.

If I was caught, I didn't know what they would do. I'd imagine I would receive a fine. This hobby is not worth a ticket. I went back to the car to think about the situation. There was about thirty minutes until the sun would be high enough to reach the mountain.

After about five minutes, a white truck pulled in and a man got out. He went to the back of his truck and put a jacket on. I was across the parking lot in my car, watching him. "Please be a photographer", I thought. If it was, we could break the law together. Safety in numbers, right?

He pulled a tripod out of his truck. A photographer! I gave him another minute, then I grabbed my gear and walked toward him.

After our good mornings, I asked him, "Do you know what time they open this gate? Do you know how serious they are about this sign?" I pointed to the gate.

He told me that he didn't know what time it opened and he said they are very serious about the sign. Then he told me he worked for the state as a photographer. He made arrangements with the ranger for this morning. I noticed his government license plate. He said he was in no authority to give me permission. He kinda said I would be jumping the gate at my own risk.

I was still considering if I should leave. I was disappointed.

We talked for another minute, then he invited me to jump the fence with him. He said that if they asked, I was with him. THANK YOU, PERRY!

We spent about an hour at the observation area shooting. As we talked, I realized that Perry is a really cool guy.

At a time that I was debating leaving or breaking the law on this random Friday morning, Perry pulled into the parking lot and changed my morning. How amazing is that?

You have to click and see this one enlarged.

Another photo, lighter than this one, is on my Flickr account.

Squash

Have I ever told you the story of Squash?

This story came about while having dinner with some friends. Debbie had prepared a great meal that included squash. I was not about to eat any of the squash. She and Cari tried to convince me to put some of the mash into my mouth. So, I created the following story to distract them of their goal.

It's called squash for a reason. The Indians named it. They planted it, cared for the plants, and carefully harvested the vegetable.

So much work went into getting this nutrition. The women cooked it and served it to the men proudly.

It tasted so nasty the men threw it to the ground and stomped on it to show their displeasure with this new item. The men went into the field and squashed the rest of the vegetable.

Ever since that day, the women called it "Squash". For some reason, only women can enjoy it.

I don't think anyone was believing my story as I told it. It did save me from tasting squash for another five minutes. After my story I did force down one bite. That was my last bite of squash.

Halloween Rules

I like Halloween because I like to eat candy. I like to send my children out to the streets and have them gather candy for me.

Tonight, they went out three times with Cari and some neighbors. I stayed home with Brenna. She and I handed out candy to the visitors. I also ate a lot of candy between visitors.

The kids came back with piles of candy that I started looking through after they went to bed. Yum.

This year we had a soldierand a ballerina