Rained out again...

Well, the weekend went well enough until it was time for me to leave...neither of us likes that time. We seeded some bare spots in the lawn and pushed some pills down Charger the Kitty's throat.We went shopping and ate well...i made chicken parmagian and some good brats and burgers to die for and now i'm getting hungry just thankin about it...
Games got cancelled to-day cuz there was tons of water on the fields after a long weekend of rain. But the sun is shining now and it's warm and i cant wait to crack open a diet mountain dew and correct some papers on the deck...i'm out.

Portagers Take 2 From Mason County Eastern

OK, so the coolest thing about our games yestreday wasn't the rain or even me getting to coach first base: our boys didn't commit an error and we didn't give up a run. I did not keep the book for this twin bill so I don't know how many hits we had (see first sentence) but 'it was like batting practice'. Our senior center fielder had two dingers, our starter in the first game had the flu and we were hoping for three innings out of him...he went the full six for the shutout win. Our leadoff hitter got on base like twenty times (I was coaching first, I should know), and he pitched the second game shutout. Our catcher made a perfect throw on their only steal attempt to kill a rally and I don't think we got thrown out once.

We are at an impasse

My "study" with the JW's tonight was bittersweet; I will miss the Bible discussions but I'll not miss their absolute disdain for any and all members of Christendom. We pagans are not pleasing JehovahGod by partaking in religious rituals, celebrations, and worship not found in the Bible. And the only reason preachers go to places to preach is for the money. (That made me sad and I told them so.)
I teach kids and kids are impressionable. They don't have to believe everything I say or even like it but, often, they are open-minded. The people I enjoy conversing with are ones who will explore new opportunities or ideas, entertain new thoughts. Nothing like these folks. There's a street named after them: ONE WAY. They actually believe that every person who is not in 'their' organization is not pleasing JehovahGod and, thus, a pagan.
So, I can add this experience to my life's database of lifetime happenings, learn from it, and move ahead...in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Give thanks with a greatful heart...

Tuesday early am and we're just awaitin for the caffien to kick in [interjection: nice thing about typing in the compose box is that if i spell cafiene wrong, the wavy red line doesn't immediately attach itself under my collection of phonetically-arranged letters. my ignorance is ignored...ahhhh] and then off to another great day at school. Our Juniors are going to Detroit for a tour of some auto plants and then a visit to the Henry Ford which will fill them with knowlege, history, and maybe even some real expensive chocolate covered cherries. All in one big day.

35 degrees (Fahrenheit) and snowing right now as I type. I love Michigan for many reasons but her predictable unpredictability tops the list. 3 days ago we had temps in the 70's so the ground won't hold that snow for long but golly gee it's beginning to look a bit like Christmas...

All hail the power of Jesus' name

Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.


Doubleheader cancelled to-day due to weather and coach says no practice...what to do with all my time. We will write, preciousssss, yesssss we will...

Movie I tried to watch last night but way too violent and graphic: 28 Weeks Later.

Movie I watched last weekend and made me cry: The Sound of Music.

Movie I can watch over and over and our kids are doing as a play this weekend: The Wizard of Oz.

Movie I did watch last night and makes me laugh: Terminator 3.

Movies to see before you die (according to Yahoo!): http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/100-movies-to-see-before-you-die.html



Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race,
ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.

So we sing at the table...

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him, all creatures here below
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Thank you, LORD, for this day. Thank You for loving us so much, for Jesus our Redeemer.

Another week in the books, another fine sunny Saturday winding down, another double-header loss - this time at home. Great day for baseball you know...we made errors and gave them many bases. In game 1 we had 3 hits and struck out 11 times (6 innings...18 outs...11 k's) and got 5 good innings out of our starter. One of the cool things about coaching (I'm the 'bench' coach...i keep the book!) is that I get to talk to the local reporter after the games and give him the stats for tomorrow's paper. He's a nice guy and he knows all our kids (small town, remember?) and he takes great notes and great pictures. His camera has this ginormous lens for zooming and things like that...
The boys were funny to-day: after wearing parkas and gloves for the first six games because of the cold temps, we got a taste of real baseball weather finally...and they complained about the 'heat'.
Whatrya gonna do.

:-)


It's late, and time for bed.

...in sickness and in health, ...

At the hospital and found a little room for consultations with a computer so i'm able to type this...waiting for my girlfriend to get ready to go into surgery.
I, of course, handle these types of things better than she does. I'm not running around the house before we leave wondering whether the dog already ate and where the heck did i leave 128 hair ties. I'm not complaining about taking a less direct route to the freeway even though there are fewer stops and fewer bumps. BUT, then again, I'm not the one getting anesthetized and cut open, either...
Heavenly Father, God Almighty, Eternal Word, Prince of Peace, instill your peace and hope into my sweetie, and bring her through this with a greater love for You. Heal her body, mind and spirit LORD, and be glorified through this. Amen.

Good Friday

What's so good about this day? For one thing, it's Friday. And then there's a 'good' in front of it...it's like 'good' squared right there! (That was a student reacting to my opening question)

Jesus suffered and died, for this we are thankful.

It's a good day.

Every day is a good day... because of Him.

Onekama Takes Two from Panthers

Baseball is just good. Even if the temps are in the low 40s, if the sun is shining and the ball is white, the grass doesn't even have to be green. Thick pasty white lines and a thick huge round moon as we turned the scoreboard off and finished dragging the infield...just good.

Thank you for the day, Father. I love You, too.

Tar Heel dominates Sparty

I don't know really what happened last night. Suton hit a shot, sloppy turnovers and fouls abounded, Lucas hit a shot, and all of a sudden MSU was down by 21 in the first half. Every loose ball, every needed shot, every call that had gone Green for the past three NCAA Tournament games was missing (or, had gone baby blue). The 'home' crowd, which was reported to be 60, 000 strong for MSU, was being out-shouted, out-chanted, and out-you, you, youed by people from other places of the country. The young men wearing green kept playing hard and fast and determined but nothing seemed to click for them. 21 turnovers, 738 missed shots and 739 makes for the Tar Heels also hurt the Spartans' chances for their second championship this decade.

I was saddest because I told my mom and dad State would win by 6. They're not fans, and they trusted me...

End of 3rd Quarter Shout Outs

Boombaye!!!>>>

>>>to all the kids who got lots of work turned in right before the end of the marking period

>>>to Tom Izzo and the Spartans

>>>to my mom and dad who took me camping when I was very young

>>>to my best friend in the world, my sweet bride, my girlfriend, my soulmate

Life in the Big City

Traveling south for spring break is usually associated with fun, sun, and beer (in my mind). So far this week, I have experienced all three...but I'm not as far south as many. From my job in northern lower Michigan to see my girlfriend just northwest of Detroit is a 250 mile drive but at least I missed the 10 inches of snow that fell up there last Saturday. Instead, I took my shirt off and put the gloves on while pulling up and burning poison ivy. But gloves don't cover the forearms, stomach or face; wiping sweat off the face with the gloves is indicative of idiocy... thank God for prednisone.
So, for fun since then I've done some painting at the house, watched some Piston basketball (and after watching disciplined, coachable college kids play the game for the last couple weeks, NBA is logically equivalent to WWE IMHO), and enjoyed cheezy 50's sci fi on TCM. Life is good.
Go Green!

Timbira does win immunity!!!

Oh i'm just a Survivor junkie i guess...i dig the show, and i watch it at work (during my free time of course); if i had high speed connectivity at home,... well, there you have it...

Thank you, LORD, for a new day and for the end of another week and for my sweet girlfriend.

Fear not, I will never leave you or forsake you...

Someone gets laid off tomorrow where I work...I know it's going on all over the place, we read the news, we hear the statistics...but when it's someone you know (or worse) it's hard...one day more...

A New Hope

LORD God, King of the Universe, Lord of Life, Abba Father, thank You for this new day, and all the opportunities that will come with it. Guide me so that my thoughts, words, and actions are pleasing to You this day. Be glorified through my life to-day, You are my strength.
Praise God Almighty forever!

on finances and such...

I really have never managed money well. But the most recent fiasco has dropped our checking account into the rational numbers below zero with three days to go before payday. Our bank charges almost forty bucks a pop for debits when the balance is negative and they add up quick. I don't know what happened (really) this time. My girlfriend and I share this account and that makes it tough but golly geeeee willakers how could I be so far off in my accounting?!? Another chunk we're giving to the bank instead of it going to pay bills...sometimes I get sad.

Thank you, Father, for entrusting me with little money. Thank you for loving me so much, and for helping me learn. Forgive me when I fall and teach me Your ways.

...new episode of Survivor tomorrow night...life is good!

Ah yes, another weekend in the books...

Here we are on another fine Sunday night ready for bed, contemplating recent events and hoping my long spring's nap won't keep me up all night...Spent thursday and friday at a conference at Cobo Hall in Detroit and learned much about the digital world. Spent saturday and sunday with my girlfriend and learned much about our relationship. Greektown and wikis, burning leaves and muddy boots...Life is good!
Michigan dances no more but MSU lives to dance another day. To all the people in my life: I love you.

Click on Roy to read Larson's wit.

"...the worst part is bunting"

Baseball practice started last week; our varsity basketball players having had the week off means officially yestreday was the first practice of the 2009 campaign. We ran stations with bunting, fielding, and batting drills for about a half hour each...One of our star sophomores was overheard after school lamenting the difficulty of hitting cute golf-ball size rubber baseballs shot from a humming machine 20 feet away...
More on the team as the spring progresses.

my tie is green to-day

Praise and glory to our Father the almighty King of kings and Lord of lords!

Thank you, Father, for your love, which I don't understand. Thank you for your Son, the Christ; blessed be Christ forever.

Be glorified in my life to-day, be pleased with my thoughts, words, and deeds. I go as Your ambassador, your representative to the world. Give me wisdom that I should serve You well to-day. I go in Your hope, in Your joy, in Your peace. Amen let it be so

How can I eat? That silly Elf Song is driving me crazy!

Another winter storm made its way across the state this evening dumping 3-4 inches of new snow on top of frozen rain from earlier in the day. Sustained winds of 18-23 miles per hour are contributing to near-blizzard conditions and are making roadways hazardous. If you must be on the roads, please use care.

But overall the weekend was a great one. Friday night our girls varsity basketball team finished the season with a loss in the district playoffs. It was the last game for three seniors and there were lots of hugs and tears as time expired in the fourth quarter. But we move on...and track/golf/softball/baseball practices will begin tomorrow as the boys basketball finishes with their district contests.

Saturday was not as warm as Friday and the skies were cloudy but still a gorgeous day to watch college basketball and celebrate the Mass. (and drink beer, watch George Carlin, and laugh alot).

Sunday began with the winter weather advisory for most of northern Michigan as provided us by northern michigagn's news leader (http://9and10news.com/weather/). I got some laundry done and some lesson plans done for the week.

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.