It snowed today!

I just wanted a record for my grandchildren (yes, they will read this one day) that on April 22, the year of our Lord 2008 it snowed in Newark, Ohio.

I came down this AM and looked out and could not believe that the ground was covered. Angela said when she came downstairs at 5:30 AM the snow flakes were huge.

The cars had about 0.5" (that's 1/2 inch to my southern friends) of wet heavy snow on them.

Tinker started out, tried to turn around and come back in but I made him go on out. He could not believe it either.

I cannot remember ever having a snow this late before. The temp was around 35 degrees, so I am sure it will not last.

Amazing, where is Spring??????????

Bibles in schools

There is a big problem going on not far from here.

About 30 miles north of Newark there is a town called Mount Vernon. There is a middle school teacher named Freshwater who is in the news for not removing his Bible from his desk after his principal told him to.

This has been going on for about a week and the devil is pulling out all the stops. Since this 1st broke the liberal media in Columbus has said things like (I am paraphrasing):

• He has "branded" kids with a cross on their arms as part of a "healing" service.
• He was really a bad teacher anyway and needed to go
• He is linked with other radical conservatives who pray and protest things that are against the mainstream worldview

While others on christian radio say:

• Freshwater was teacher of the year last year, so how bad could he be?
• He is only being singled out due to his standing up for what is right.
• He has already complied with the schools request to remove scripture verses from his room
• The school board cannot back down due to pressure from outsiders, like the ACLU

What do I think?

I think this is another example of how the devil is using liberal organizations to chip away at the Christian worldview. I don't know all of the details, I am sure there are half truths and exaggerations to make this poor guy look bad. I thank God he is taking a stand for what is right. The news is reporting that several hundred students in that school are bringing their Bibles to school as a show of support. The TV video showed many kids with homemade tee shirts with crosses and slogans of support.

I think we need to pray for strength and support for Freshwater. God knows his heart and his motives. Once again, due to the controversy people have had to take a stand, and it looks like people in small rural town in Ohio have taken a stand for what is right.

We all need to take a stand and pray that God will give us the courage to do what is right if we are ever faced with a situation like this.

1974

I was over at my parents house today, helping them clean out closets and I found my senior year book from 1974 when I graduated from Newark Senior High school (I know I do not look that old).

It must be something I must have bought or got because the book has no pictures of anything from the school, just generic places to record things. Some of the interesting things I wrote down:

• A coke costs $0.20
• A hamburger = $0.28
• Large pizza = $2.90
• movie = $2.25
• Gasoline = $0.45 per gallon!!!!!!!!!!!
• Rock concert = $5
• Record = $4 (who remembers those?)
• Tapes = $5 (Who else remembers these?)
• 4 year goal = have a Bachelor of Science degree = complete, even though it took 5 years
• Long Term goal -= married and get a good job = Success on both counts
• After school hangouts - Gym, Frischs and Lums
• Best half hour program = "Happy Days"
• Best 1 hour program = "Banacek, Kojak, Kung Fu"
• Best new show = "All in the family"
• Best new commentator = Jon Chancellor - NBC news
• Best sports coverage = 1972 Olympics
• Worst commercial= Mrs. Olsen Folgers coffee
• Favorite album = Seals and Crofts - Diamond Girl
• Favorite songs = American band, Diamond Girl, Jesus is just alright with me.
• Pet = Susie, my poodle, who bit Angela the 1st time she came to our house!

Brinner

Angela and I were watching TV last Thursday. The Office was great and we were waiting for ER to come on and didn't want to change the channel. so we started watching the show "Scrubs".

One of the characters used a new word, Brinner, which stands for Breakfast for Dinner. Now most of you may know that word or have already used it, but for me it was new.

Well last night we actually had Brinner and it was great!! Eggs, bacon, biscuits, and Uncle Bob's (Evans) gravy. You cannot go wrong with that.

I have always loved breakfast, Bob Evans is my favorite place to eat out. Since it is not Angela's we don't eat there often, but when we do I love it.

So I was wondering if you have dinner for breakfast would it be - deckfast? dinfast?

We already know what what you call breakfast for lunch - Brunch. Many places have that, especially on Sundays.

What about lunch for dinner, would that be - linner? lunner?

I have waited my whole life for something to make my millions, maybe I should copyright those words and wait for the checks to roll in.

What do you think?

Religion, Culture and Society

It has been an interesting week all around the world.

• People are protesting the Olympic flame in the name of religious persecution
• 400+ children were taken from a compound where they were subjected to multiple marriages and forced sex on young girls in the name of a perverted religion
• The Bible was named the #1 book in the world.
• Non-evangelical seminary's are being forced to close due to financial pressures due to low enrollment. (click on Albert Mohler link on right)

Too many times people continue to look for answers in themselves or find a religion that matches what they believe so they will not have change anything.

I was reading Romans 12 today preparing for the lesson on Sunday and I cannot get past the first 2 verses (The Message translation).

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.

Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.

Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. "

How many times are we dragged down by our family, friends and co-workers into a culture we want nothing to do with? Way too many, if you ask me. We need to rise above it, with God's help and be the beacon of hope, to those who would drag us down with them. We need to resist things that society says are OK and stand up for what is right. We need to guard our minds and not let things enter that tempt us to do the wrong thing.

Now the hard part, self examination. Some people have a very hard time really looking at themselves in a critical way. They think they are fine and never want to challenge themselves and even consider the possibility that something in their life may NOT be good for them, their spouse or their kids. They are so focused on their own world, even thinking that the whole world revolves around them. An easy test is to think how many time today did you say the word "I" today?

In my job I teach people on how to change the culture in their organizations. Culture is made up of 3 things:

1. Behaviors
2. Beliefs
3. Rules

Take out a piece of paper and draw 2 lines on it to make 3 columns. Label each column with one of the labels above. Start with the "Beliefs" column, write down everything you believe to be true about your Christan walk, next write down all of the "Rules" you believe in things God had convicted you that you should not do, and finally. fill in the "Behaviors" column, what do I do with my free time, watch on TV, spend my money, etc. and then compare it with the other 2 columns. There may be some "Behaviors = things we do" that do match what we "Believe" or "Rules" we want to follow.

Then pick something on your list, pray for wisdom and guidance on how to change yourself to be more pleasing to God. Then we can be "Salt and Light" in the world, that is the culture we all need to help create.

We may never change the whole world, but we can change our corner of it!

Big Day on Friday 4/4!

This Friday 4/4, will be the happiest day of my life. I will be celebrating 27 wonderful years of being married to Angela. Guess what else happened in 1981?

• First flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
• The first year that the word Internet was mentioned and MS-DOS was released by Microsoft along with the first IBM PC.
• Gas costs $1.25 per gallon
• Iran released the 52 American hostages
• Ronald Reagan became the President
• Lady Diana Spencer married Charles, Prince of Wales
• Post-it notes were launched by 3M
• Raiders of the Lost Ark and Nine to Five, movies were released
• Diana Ross and Lionel Richie released "Endless Love"

WOW! A lot has also happened with us since 1981:

• 3 wonderful sons
• Angela's dad, Billy Reid, went home to be with the Lord
• We moved to Tennessee for 10 years
• Moved back to Ohio
• Jeff has worked for 5 different companies
• Angela stayed home and raised the boys, then went back to work
• Tyler graduated college and has been teaching school for 2 years
• Brandon graduates college this year
• Corey was 1 more year of college
• We have had 3 or 4 different dogs
• 20 some cats all at 1 time, and yes I was accidentally responsible for the demise of 1 of them
• Sat through too many soccer, baseball, football, and basketball practices and games to count all over Tennessee and Ohio
• AND ENJOYED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

People ask, what does it take to stay happily married for such a long time, and all I can say what worked for us.

• Putting God #1, with words and actions
• Unconditional LOVE
• Honest and open communication
• Admitting mistakes
• Having patience
• Learn to say, "yes, Dear, you look great in that dress" helps also.

Thank you, Angela for making the past 27 years wonderful, looking forward to the next 27 and beyond!

Easter photos 2008

Easter Bunny + Brock

Easter cheese ball Angela made.

Easter treats from Angela, Tammy and Pam ->

Getting ready for football season.

Irish Words

In case you are planning a trip to Ireland, here are some common words you should know:

• boot = trunk of the car
• trolley = shopping cart
• lorie = 18 wheel truck
• people mover= van
• skip = ditch by the side of the road
• bank holiday = national holiday
• lift = elevator
• chips = french fries
• mobile = cell phone
• garda = police
• toilet = restroom
• post = mail

Ireland - Friday

Had dinner last night in the hotel again with the HR Manager and Business Excellence Manager. Toonari Chicken, very good, came with a fried banana, both tasted very good.

For lunch today had meatballs with mushy peas, which are what you think they are. My mom would be so proud of me. As a baby I always spit out the peas. but being in a foreign country, I chose to go ahead and eat them, not bad but will not get again.

Just finished last class on Change Management.

Waiting for limo to take me to Dublin to stay tonight. Interesting thing in Ireland, there are weddings scheduled every day of the week, the limo is at a wedding this PM. Apparently there are very few places to have a wedding so they are scheduled almost every day of the week. Ate lunch with a guy today who was married on 9/11/2001! He said his ceremony was happening at the same time the planes were hitting the twin towers in NY. They found out about it on their way to the reception. His wife is an american and as you can imagine a lot american people were very upset at the reception. But not his mother-in-law, when asked why she was not very upset, she explained she got married on the day President Kennedy was shot!! She was just used to a lot of drama on a wedding day.

Goes to show you that things in real life are stranger than things people make up.

Very tired and cannot wait to get home to see my baby doll!

Did get good news today that my trip to Chicago next week was CANCELLED!!! YEAH! No more trips until the last week of April.

Pray for Amy and extended family, next week could be a long week.

Love, Big Daddy!

Ireland _

Ireland - Wed/Thurs

Ate in the hotel again last night, very good food. For starters I had mushrooms cooked in a garlic sauce stuffed into a mini bread bowl, for main course I had a prawn and salmon open face sandwich and of course, it comes with chips (we call them steak fries). And everything comes with lots of bread.

One of the things I love about Ireland is the meals.

1. Regular breakfast is about 7 AM
2. 2nd Breakfast (that's what they call it) is at 11 AM
3. Lunch is 1: 30 PM
4. Dinner is 7:00 PM

The food here is very tasty, but pretty heavy, not sure how people stay thin.

Sorry if spelling is wrong, for some reason the spell check brings up German looking words, so it thinks everything I am typing is wrong.

Today conducted the training class for plant senior leadership team. Went very well, they taking me out to dinner tonight, but unfortunately it is back at the same hotel I am staying. I guess this shows how small the town of Cootehill really is.

Finish up tomorrow afternoon, travel back to Dublin in the limo and stay at the airport hotel on Friday night before leaving at 6:30 AM (2:30 AM Nerk time) Saturday. Get back in Columbus at 7:00 PM Saturday if all goes as planned. Pray for safety and timeliness of flights.

Hello from Ireland - Round 2

Made it on Tuesday, with no delays or problems. Left Chicago on Monday night and arrived London o700 local time, 3:00 AM Newark time. Flew on to Dublin at 9:00 AM, arrived at 10:00 AM, no problems. I call this Round 2 because I was just here a few weeks ago.

London Heathrow airport is a real pain to get around. It is old and hard to navigate. I heard they are opening a big new terminal for international flights soon. That will be nice. Imagine walking through a large corrugated drain tube and that is what it is like. Very small waiting areas, etc.

Made it to the hotel, very small rooms in this hotel, maybe smallest ever. Definitely has the smallest elevator (they call it a lift) I have been in. Think about the size of our 1/2 bathroom downstairs and its about that size. Straight in and out with the luggage.

One thing I forgot to mention last time is they do not use wash rags in Ireland, none in this hotel or the last one I was in. Just hand size towels and regular bath towels. Plenty of soap, so it not a cleanliness issue at all. just a little weird.

Everyone asks me about the food. In Ireland it is not too much different than the USA. Steaks, chicken, fish all cooked the same way we would. They do have something called "brown sauce" in addition to ketchup. Not sure what is made out of, tastes like very weak soy sauce, but much thicker.

I was only able to take about a 1 hour nap before coming to the plant to teach a class. Was very tired, did not sleep much on the plane due to the guy next to me kept his light on all night. Watched a movie I think was called "August Rush", Robin Williams had a small role, pretty good for whole family. I did tear up, because a 10 year boy who was seperated at birth found his real mother and father. Great ending!

On plane watched my podcasts of Robin Meade from CNN. WOW! If are not watching her in the AM you need to start. She is very smart, does a fast paced show,and she is easy on the eyes. Also listened to Dr. Albert Mohler podcast of his radio show and Mike and Mike in the Morning.

If you don't know what a podcast is, ask your kids. Basically it is a downloadable verison of a show that you can watch on an mp3 player or on my Zune.

Nothing else really funny or interesting happening so far. Will update when possible, see y'all soon.

Pray for Amy

4,057 hits

4,057 views on my blog. That number greeted me today as I signed in. It is hard to imagine that I say enough interesting things that people want to read it.

123 posts - That is also hard to believe that this is the 124th time I have found things from my life interesting enough to share with people. That is the easy part, with 3 active sons, a wonderful wife, and the opportunity to travel for my work, I have found that things that really happen in life are much more funny than things anyone can make up.

4,000 deaths - As I am writing this, the news mentioned that over the weekend, the US passed 4,000 brave soldiers had passed away in Iraq. To me, it reminds me that we need to pray and thank God that people are willing to defend the freedoms we have.

A freedom that is often overlooked is the freedom of religion. Yesterday we celebrated Resurrection day all over the country, in many churches, of many different faiths. I even had 2 Mormon's knock on my door on Easter Sunday. The only thing we agreed on is that Jesus is risen, but there they were sharing their faith, misguided as it is, with others.

Some would say the battle we are fighting is not worth it, we should just leave, but I think not. Who knows what the future would have been if our leaders had not decided to pay the price to protect all of the freedoms we have, that some on the other side are dieing trying to take away.

1. Say an extra prayer today for the families of those who have paid the ultimate price.
2. Pray for the ministers and chaplains serving in Iraq that their message of salvation is heard, understood, and accepted by those in the service.
3. Pray for our leaders of our country for wisdom and discernment on what to do next.
4. During the family gathering over the weekend, Pam mentioned she had talked to someone currently in the Army, and asked her what the soldiers actually thought about the war, and whether we should leave or not. The answer was very telling, the soldier told Pam that there are very few Democrats in the Army! She explained that almost all of the soldiers she is around support the war effort and want to finish the job.
5. Thank God for all of the freedoms we have have here that we take for granted.

Easter Sunday 2008

He is Risen! He has Risen indeed!

Today is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ! It is the most important day of our lives. You see we can accept Jesus or reject him. Both choices have powerful consequences. I hope you choose Jesus and Life!

Other thoughts to catch up:

• Tyler was here for the weekend, great to see him, flying back to Memphis as I write this.
• Corey at the Knox's' celebrating Easter
• Brandon out cleaning his truck and working on his deer stand for hunting season already. He is going back to school and Morgan tonight.
• I leave for Ireland on Monday for work. Be back this week in time for our church musical.
• Church musical this year is pretty cool, it is about the time after Jesus arose and peoples reaction to him. It only makes sense that we are doing it next Sunday after Easter.
• We had the whole family here for the annual Easter get together. The Easter Bunny showed up and had presents for all the kids. Memi and JR were in Florida and not in attendance. Sandy had her new friend with her, Bill, we all liked him. Plenty of food, fellowship and fun, a good time was had by all.
• Polly and Carl even made an appearance, she is on the road to recovery, thanks for the prayers.
• Sillin's 3 boys today all had suits on, it was very cute and reminded me when our 3 boys were younger.
• Martin and Linda's oldest daughter had their new baby at church today. They were all smiling broadly form the front row.
• CONNECT group was full today, good time of sharing about how we are not alone in our christian walk. We need to rely on each other and never think we face this world alone, we always have the Holy Spirit and each other.
• Look for updates from Ireland next week!

cute girls

Finally home!

(This is the train station)


Made it home last night after a Loooooong day of traveling.

Flight to Washington took 10 hours due to head winds, then we finally get close to Washington and they are having a thunderstorm (at was 50 degrees there) so we had to circle around for the last hour. The co-pilot came on and said we have about 20 min of reserve fuel left, so after 30 min she come back on and says we have cleared to land and we will land in 20 more min? 30+20 = 50 min, wonder what reserve tank they were using but thank God we landed.

Watched 4 movies;
Elizabeth = B+
Alvin & Chipmunks = A for Alvin!
Lions for Lambs = D When Tom Cruise a conservative Senator, you know what to expect, nothing good for conservatives.
No country for old men = D for Dumb
Also watched parts of some Tyler Perry movie that looked like Desperate Housewives for blacks

Well Dulles Airport was a mess, flights canceled all over, I was supposed to be on the 5:05 PM , but it was cancelled, got on the next flight at 7:25 PM but luggage did not make it, so I had pretty bad night due to my sleep apnea. But it is worth being home with the love of my life.

Leave today for Chicago at 5:00 PM for 2 days, home for 2 weeks and then back to Ireland. No church today but no sleeping in due to jet lag. My body is 6 hours ahead of the clock.

Don't forget to turn clocks ahead.

Later, Big Daddy.

Starting home!

Last night's dinner was very good, but a man can only eat so many 5 course meals, so tonight I continued my tradition of when I am out of the country eating a meal before heading home at .......

Burger King

That's right I ate tonight at the BK in the airport in Amsterdam. I am staying at the Sheraton at the airport. It's connected to the terminal, so I walked over, did a little shopping and had dinner.

Last night we walked around downtown Zwolle, Netherlands with 2 guys from the Abbott plant there, got to see some of the sights, but got dark quickly. They explained the the old city was surrounded by a canal and had a fort built around it. Of course most of it was gone, but there were still parts of it to see.

Part of the problem eating a 3, 4, or 5 course meal in the Netherlands, is they do not get in a hurry!! It took 2.5 hours for dinner and the place was not even crowded. Food portions over here are very small for each course but very tasty. Cannot wait to taste the cooking of my queen (Angela)

Today I taught for 4 hours and Zwolle people taught the other 4 hours, took the train to Amsterdamm about an 1.5 hour ride. This time it was sunny enough to see the countryside. Nothing spectacular, but many small villages with high pitched roofs.

Plane leaves 12:20 PM tomorrow local time 6:20 AM Ohio time so pray for safe travels and no delays. Angelica (AKA baby doll) told me about the big storm, since I have to fly to Chicago on Sunday, I sure want to get home for a little while anyway.

Nothing else much going on, watching the Cleveland Indians playing spring training baseball game, it is good to watch ESPN again!

Continue praying for all those suffering right now, those kinds of wounds do not heal quickly. Pray for protection of all class members and their families. Continue to pray for my mom.

God Bless the USA!

More interesting Food.

Last night I ate in the hotel because I was exhausted from all the training and traveling I have been doing. Last night dinner was very good, had a steak with potatoes and asparagus, for starters I had quail eggs and salmon. The eggs were cooked what we would call sunny side up, but were the size of a quarter. Kind of odd but they tasted OK. The salmon was good, which I expected since we are so close to the coast. Today for lunch we had sandwiches, again. It is odd here that one of the most popular types of sandwich is called a "fillet to Americana" something like that and is raw beef, not rare but raw. I told them most Americans like their meat cooked a little and got many strange looks back. They also serve nothing else with it, no chips, no cookies, no salad, nothing. Maybe that's why people here are so skinny. I also had apple strawberry milk today, very good.

One thing I heard is very true, almost everyone in the country is over 6' tall, what is not true is the women are beautiful. The only beautiful woman I know of lives on Park Trails Drive in Newark, Ohio!

Chinese Chips?

On Monday night I went out to dinner with several people from the training session I conducted. It was quite the UN of Abbott. There was someone from:

1. US


2. China


3. Italy


4. Spain


5. England


6. Ireland

We went to an Irish place to eat but it was closed on Mondays. Ended up at a Chinese place in downtown Cootehill, Cavan county, Ireland. The owner was from China so the Chinese guy in our group was able to speak Mandarin to each other and found out they were from neighboring provinces, which are like states to us. Small world. We ordered dinner and with dinner you get rice or chips. For appetizers we had prawn chips, very good, very light, so I thought that was the option, but the Chinese guy ordered chips and it ended up being french fries! In Ireland, chips = fries, but I never thought you could get them in that kind of place. It was odd to see him eating them with chopsticks, but it worked for him.

I taught 1/2 day Tuesday and then started the long trip to Zwolle. 2 hour car ride to Dublin, plane delayed an hour due to snow and high winds in Amsterdam, got on wrong train, found right train quickly, ended up at hotel about 11:00 PM local time, 5:00 PM your time, drank a diet coke and went to bed.

Very nice room, brand new 5 star hotel, slept pretty good. Breakfast was OK, eggs and some type of sausage, but the bread was GREAT! Very fresh, there was 4 different loaves sitting out that you cut a piece off of, I put butter and jam on mine, do not know if that was right or not, but it tasted good.

Went out to meet my cab and became quickly amazed at the number of people riding bicycles, not exaggerating, but number was in the 100's. Pretty amazing, but oddly many people were smoking while they were riding. Had a cheese sandwich for lunch, was told "this is dairy country we like our cheese" by someone who lives here. Nothing to drink at lunch but milk, some had flavors in it. I had orange milk, tasted OK.

Class today went fine, but feet are sore. Writing this while giving them a break, going for walk later before dinner. By myself tonight, tomorrow group taking me on a tour and to dinner.

Caught on on Angela's emails and I think Satan is attacking our church, need to redouble our prayers, specifically to pray for protection for all members. God is powerful and on our side.

Finished the book, really good, not sure if that is what heaven is like, but I really enjoyed reading it. Cannot what to pass on to Angela to read.

Baked Beans for Breakfast?

Well I made to Ireland OK. Long trip = Newark - Columbus - Washington - London - Dublin and then a 90 minute ride to Cavan, Ireland.

The driver said he knew a short cut to avoid all the Church traffic, so I saw parts of Ireland most people would not get a chance to see. Did not look much different than last time (I was in Sligo which is about 2 hours the other way last year). Narrow roads, villages with narrow sidewalks, narrow cars, Narrow bath tubs in my room to take a shower. Is everything getting narrower or is it me? Nay, things are just getting smaller.

Nothing exciting happened during the trip. The dumbest thing was right in Columbus, going through security and I got behind a guy who had never flown before, took forever (worse than
Angela on the cruise). He was nervous like he was taking something bad on the plane (again like Angela on the cruise). He took 3 bins for all of his stuff, when he really needed 1. He was so nervous that when he finally made it through he left his laptop at security! I had to tell him it was back there.

On the flight from London to Dublin we got an official Irish breakfast: scrambled eggs, banger sausage, rasher bacon, 5 little potatoes, and baked beans, YUCK! I do not mind baked beans at all but for BREAKFAST, NO WAY! Couldn't believe I ate them anyway, too hungry.

A few details, it is 5 hours ahead over here, so Shawn is probably leading the singing at church. Flight from Washington to London took 6 hours. We were delayed an hour at Washington due to the strong tail wind across the Atlantic. London has a law that planes cannot land before 6:00 AM local time. The wind was so strong we made up the hour and more, had to circle a little so we could land on time.

That's about all for now, keep Andrews family in your prayers this week, Angela said Rochelle's mom passed away, they were on the road last night, going to be a long week for them and then Billy starts his new job next Monday.

I'll update as I get a chance and if anything interesting happens. Promise it will be more than the Kenya Team! Just kidding. By the way Pastor Dear gave me the best book to read, called Safely Home (I forget the author cause I have to sit in the lobby to get an Internet connection) about the persecution of Christians in China. WOW! It is a real page turner I read about 50% of it already. Ask him for a copy. he had a bunch in Carla's office.

Well I miss my baby doll already, boys take care of your mother, TTYL.

Big Daddy

Finally some good news!

Angela and I took my mom to the doctor today and we got some good news. We met with the nurse practitioner, who was wonderful, she answered all of our questions and really showed some compassion for mom. It made us feel very good.

The good news was:

• The biopsy came back negative for cancer
• Mom is feeling better already since she finished her 2 antibiotics Monday.
• She can get back on a regular diet.
• She only has to take 1 pill a day for her acid reflux, and 1 for regularity
• We ate at the Nutcracker in Pataskala for dinner and she ate very good. (By the way, the food there was very good, it is decorated like a 50's diner, very cool)
• Lower the bed back down to level (see below why this is a good thing)

She asked me to thank everyone who had been praying for her, she feel like she has turned the corner.

Tuesday she has an appointment with an orthopedic doctor to look at her shoulder. We are taking her to the same doctor who treated my ankle and Brandon's shoulder.

Going through this reminds me of the whole parent child relationship. When kids are little the parents take care of them, help them understand things and make sure things work out. As you get older, the roles reverse. I can see that through this time. It makes my glad we moved back from TN for things like this.

There were a couple of funny moments in this whole ordeal. The Doctor told my parents to raise the head of mom's bed by 6 inches to help with the acid reflux. Well the first night she slept in the raised bed, she slid off the foot of the bed!! Too high, so they lowered it a little.

Other funny thing was that when she would take a shower, my dad had to sit on the toilet with 3 towels for her. She has lost a lot of weight and wanted the towels right away because she was so cold!!

Union University Video

We used to live about a mile from here. God was with them all that night!

Valentines Day

Well today is the Great Day! My mom calls it Valentimes Day, but it is a day where we show our love for our spouses.

Angela got me a card that says,

"When you've been married as long as we have, you learn to accept the other person's faults."

Open it up and you see, "You'll understand this if I develop some." Ha! Ha!

I also got my favorite candy from the Goumas family candy store, Rocky Road! It is 3 large marshmellows, placed next to each other, round part facing up, with pecans on top, covered with chocolate! That is 1 piece of candy, so I got 4 of those! And she even had to wait outside in line to get in!

I am very "Lucky" and blessed to married to this wonderful woman.

Which is a running joke between us. Several years ago, someone in the choir told me I had a new nickname which was "Lucky", because I was "Lucky" to be married to the piano player, Angela.

So, I found the perfect card for Angela. She loves the late great Barry White, so I found a card that when you open it, it has recording of Barry singing, "I Can't get enough of your love baby!"

BIG HIT, went over very well, I was the hero.

We are celebrating tonight with a pizza from Bruno's where we ate on our wedding night! It was one of our favorite places when we were dating.

But I am very lucky to have a wife that loves me, is a great mother to her sons, a great aunt to her nieces and nephews, and a great person.

Her love for her family amazes me, she is always willing to watch this one or feed that one, and misses them when they are not around. So on this special day I just wanted to give this special person a special message:

I LOVE YOU!

crazy weather

In case you have been under a rock the weather outside of Ohio has been really crazy the last 2 days.

It started with tornadoes in Memphis, TN where Tyler lives. He is fine but there is much damage to parts of Memphis we used to visit when we lived in TN.

When the boys were smaller, we used to visit the Hickory Ridge Mall. It had a large carousel in the middle that they liked to ride. It was damaged severly by a tornado, with lots of damage in the area around it. Tyler is Ok and his school actually was in session today.

Just east of there is Jackson, TN where we lived for 10 years. Our house was very close to Union University where a tornado hit and damaged the dorms. They said about 1,800 students were homeless as a result, but the local churches were stepping in with food and shelter. Union is a SBC College and Southern Baptists take care of their own.

Also talked to some freinds who live in Jackson and they have been without power since the storm hit, with no idea when it will be restored. I called Tennalum where I used to work, and they had no damage, but a few of the peope I used to work with had minor injuries. They were coming out of a resturant next to Union right when the storm hit. Their cars had major damage but they had minor injuries.

As I write this, I am in Chicago and they have had over a foot of snow today and it is still snowing. Expected to get up to 6 more inches tonight. I made it back to the hotel, but it took about 2 hours to go 10 miles. Not sure if the meetings tomorrow will happen because others were flying in from Columbus and Canada, so it will be interesting to see if they make it to Chicago. Angela said it still warm and rainy in Newark.

So, please PRAY for all those affected by the tornadoes, some lost their lives, others were injuried, so pray that God will comfort the families of those suffering.

PRAY for safety for those trying to get home tonight in Chicago.

PRAY for the Kenya team if they left today, sounds like things are not getting better in Kenya, but God will protect His Children!!!

PRAY for my mom, she continues to get weaker and has lost 30 pounds in about a month, still waiting for test results.

Saying goodbye to those old, worn out words!

http://web.mac.com/southwindes/Salyer_LA/Funeral.html

Our son Tyler came up with a creative way to get the kids in his class to stop using certain words.

(Pause the music player)

Where have all the bloggers gone?

When I 1st started "blogging" there were 5 or 6 regular people who updated there blogs at least once per week. As of today most have not update since December of 2007 or later (Pastor Wally is the worse at 11/7/07). Is blogging just a fad, something like mood rings, bell bottom pants, and power ties? Or is it a real way to let the world know what is going on in our everyday lives? I say no! It is not a fad it is the communication vehicle of today. It is like publishing your own personal newspaper about things that are important to you.

I really enjoy letting people know what is going on in our family, because in most cases it proves something I have learned over the years, that things that happen in real life are much funnier than anything some comedian makes up!!

so here is the family update for the Salyer's:

Angela - Caught my cold, sore throat, and cough. Course I was done with it, so she can have it.

Tyler & Rachel - Scored the highest score possible on their pre-marriage class test they took at their church. Wedding plans are picking up speed, we cannot wait for Rachel to take full ownership of Tyler!

Tyler had a bad week last week, someone in front of him had a terrible car crash, and he held the drivers hand waiting for the EMT's arrive. Unfortunately it was too late.

Brandon - Started his 1st real job. He graduates from OSU in June and he is already working for Nationwide. He celebrated by buying an iPhone, pretty cool looking, but complicated, to me, to operate.

Corey - We went to See Audrey perform at a dinner theater for her school last Saturday night with her family. She was the best, most talented person on the stage. Afterwards his S-10 Jimmy started smoking so it is in the shop with blown radiator, $400 to fix, he played indoor soccer last night with Knox's and his team got killed, 6 - 2.

Miscellaneous
* Hosted 4 people from Watoto Ugandan children's choir at our host on Wednesday night, they loved Angela's apple pie. Very sweet people
* No trips planned until February, then to Chicago for the week.
* Church yesterday was good, but it is very cold coming and going. glad we do not have little kids to bundle up

Oh Canada! Eh?

Just got back from Brockville, Ontario, Canada population 30,000. I went there Sunday for work, Abbott has a manufacturing plant located there. Spent all day Monday teaching a class on how to manage changes in an organization and why it is bad to just let change happen. The bad part was I lost my voice! (No solos this Sunday Pastor Shawn, in case you were going to ask). My throat does not hurt, just not much comes out. I think Angela is happy about this, but not sure. So I will do more listening then speaking for a few days at home, Church and work.

I heard Angela made a slight mistake on the whiteboard this Sunday. We are having a BYOP (Bring your own pizza) party for the class on 2/15. She wrote BYOB, which of course stands for Bring Your Own Bible. Thanks Baby! More people probably looked at it becuse of the mistake than would have normally.

Brockville got about 4" of snow, but did not cause a problem. On Monday the training room was at the Country club and I was facing a wall of windows, trying to teach while watching the beautiful snow falling over the golf course.

On Monday night I went to dinner with some people from the plant and had POUTINE. The locals raved about this French dish, so I thought I would try it. All it was a was steak fries, with grated cheddar cheese on them smothered in gravy! It was OK, only had a few, but the gravy was from a jar, left a lot to be desired. Felt my arteries hardening while I was eating it.

I finally got around to reading the book FREAKONOMICS, it is a secular book written by a couple of economists. It was very interesting and quick read, I started the book on the plane Sunday and finished on the plane coming home yesterday. Lots of interesting views of society and how many of the beliefs we have about society are not really based in fact at all, but based on what someone wants us to buy. I would recommend it to anyone who likes to think about why things are in society today.

Finally, last Friday before I left I helped out at Upwards. I announced all of the players and the cheerleaders, not much but the kids really enjoyed it. The 2nd set of games were for the "Special Team". There kids are special needs children, but I think they had a better time than the other kids.

I think this is me, do you?

What Jeff Means

You are fair, honest, and logical. You are a natural leader, and people respect you. You never give up, and you will succeed... even if it takes you a hundred tries. You are rational enough to see every part of a problem. You are great at giving other people advice. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are loving, compassionate, and ruled by your feelings. You are able to be a foundation for other people... but you still know how to have fun. Sometimes your emotions weigh you down, but you generally feel free from them.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

What a day!

It was a long day today, Angela and I put away all the Christmas decorations and cleaned the house from top to bottom. Sitting here unwinding watching the Steelers get beat before going to bed.

Since the cruise we had a GREAT Christmas. Tyler came up before Christmas and then our future daughter-in-law, Rachel came up after Christmas. They stayed until 1/2/08 and then headed back to Memphis. It was great to see them both. Rachel is a great girl, just what Tyler needs. So the next big thing will be their wedding in June.

Christmas day was lots of fun. Got together with both sides of the family. I found the best gift for the "passing party". I found an illuminated motion penguin that you sit in your yard! It was something a few people actually swapped for, but Corey ended up with it.

The cruise was the big gift, so I just got an OSU shirt from Corey, a bluetooth cordless earpiece for my cell phone from Brandon, and a chronological Bible for Tyler.

Travel for work starts up again next week, got to go to Brockville, Ottawa, Canada. Brrr! I know ot will be very cold. I always seem to go to Canada in January and Arizona in July! Not fair! Oh well, it could be worse.

That's all for now, going to bed, been a long day. Got to rest up for the BIG GAME on Monday. Unlike all of our friends whose team are done playing for the year, OSU has one more game, where they will win the National Championship!

Cruise - Final

We finally made it back! Arrived home at 3:00 AM Thursday AM. Flight was delayed an hour. Of course Angela had to get stopped by security again in Ft. Lauderdale!

She tried to carry-on some seasonings she bought. 3 bottles each about the size of a hot pepper sauce size bottle. She forgot she had them. I had to take it back to the Skybus counter and put it my carry-on bag, pay another $5 and check my bag to Columbus. Angela was so shook up she forgot to take off her jewelry and got stopped at the metal detector. Finally made it.

The last day on ship was total wash out, rained almost all day. So overall the trip was just good, not great. Due to the weather we ended up taking a 5 day boat ride with only 5 hours off the boat in Jamaica. It was good to get away from cell phones and driving and cooking and cleaning, very relaxing.

Also, I can to appreciate 1 thing much more. My wife is a great cook! The desserts on the ship do not hold a candle to anything Angela makes. The ship may have food 24/7 (which is a good thing also!), but I will take Angela's key lime cheese cake over anything I had on the boat.

Already decided we will not take another cruise till more family or friends can go. That would make it more fun. Overall, if you have never taken a cruise, it is a good thing, maybe not in December.

cruise update #1

we have been sailing since Saturday, supposed to get off today at Grand Caymans but water was too rough, sailing on to Jamaica right now.

weather has been windy and overcast most of trip, but warm and no snow! Food is very good and the shows are great, but ready to get off boat tomorrow for the day.

met a whole host of characters, ask us about "grandma", "NY Couple" , some of the singers when we get back. Things going well, be back Thursday night to chilly OHIO.

only problem, to many Florida Gator fans!! stinking up the boat with the gator chomp, ugh!

that's all for now! gott a go put on some 50 spf sunscreen!!

Pre-Cruise Update

We had to stay up late last night to see our nephew Blake on 10TV news. He was interviewed as a high school athlete reacting to the baseball steroids report. So we went to bed about 11:30PM

Up at 4:00 AM to head to the airport in Brandon's truck. Checked 6 bags of luggage, guess who had 3 of the bags? Got to the airport fine, went over the security procedures with the family, Angela reminded the boys about not putting liquids in their carry on bags, and guess who got stopped at security for having 2 BIG bottles of sun screen? That's right, Angela. When stopped laughing, we went to Starbucks for coffee and a scone.

The plane ride was uneventful where Angela and I were, but ask Brandon & Corey about the guys in front of them. I kept falling asleep while reading my magazine, but otherwise no problem.

Landed, rented a car for the day, and went to the hotel. Got checked in early, it helps when you are a Marriott Silver Elite traveler because I travel so much, the room was even free. There was a huge Bass Pro Shop next door, so we walked over, ate lunch at a nearby seafood place, Corey did not get chicken tenders!.

It was time for a nap, so I went to room to lay down, while the rest of the family went to the pool, after awhile we drove down to the ocean. I am writing this at a computer in the lobby while everyone else is getting their shower.

It will an early night tonight, with the shuttle taking us to the ship at 11:00 AM in the morning. Not sure if I will get a chance to update while we are gone, but expect a full report when we return. I am off the rest of the year from work!!!

Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

When I talked to Angela yesterday during the day, I sensed in her voice things were not going well.

She had been doing lots of work around the house for the Christmas season, wrapping presents, decorating, etc. As a result, she overdid it and her back had been bothering her a lot. So much that I had to stop on my way home and buy her some medicine, because I am the best husband around. So as I was getting out of my car, standing in a snow covered parking lot, in the freezing cold, my cell phone rings, and she said, "never mind I found something in the medicine chest." UGH, I wen in anyway and bought myself a "Chunky" brand candy bar for my wasted effort.

Then I got home and Angela mentioned that there was water running down into the basement from under the sink area again, see previous posts for details. Went down in the basement and only saw water when dishwasher was on. So we called "Todd", yes that Todd, the fix it guy she goes bonkers over because he is sooooooooooo handy fixing things, makes me sick the way she talks about him. Todd and Corey pulled it out today and it sounds like the whole bottom fell out, so now we need a new dishwasher, UGH #2

While Todd was there he also looked at the toilets and they all need new "innards". He will have to come back later and fix that problem. UGH 3#, I am wondering if Angela is feeding him, he seems to take a longer than normal time to fix stuff when food is around.

Finally, my sweet baby doll mentioned that the "service engine soon" was on in her car. So we got in both cars, I drove hers, and that warning light and every other warning light came on, so I knew it would be $$$$$. Well Deke has not found the problem, which means it is more $$$$ UGH #4.

Now they are calling for 1" to 3" more snow tonight, all this week I have been getting up early for work, why do these classes happen on the coldest, snowiest days of the year, UGH #5.

What my Christmas is like! (thanks DD)

Your Christmas is Most Like: A Very Brady Christmas

For you, it's all about sharing times with family. Even if you all get a bit cheesy at times.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

Much to be thankful for

* Great wife, Angela
* 3 wonderful sons, Tyler, Brandon, & Corey
* Loving extended family, Bonners & Thomas's
* Our Pastor Noel Dear
* Our CONNECT Group, we have had a great 1st year
* Old friends from Tennessee
* Good job
* My health

A little early, but very good

It was a GREAT DAY!

The faces on the Michigan fans tell it all! Beanie Wells record setting day (most rushing yards by an OSU player in a game) and the Michigan offense had a record setting bad day (91 total yards, worst ever by a Michigan team in 40 years) lead to an OSU Victory.

And

We still can be in the National Championship game if more teams in front of us lose. Thanks to Oregon, 1 down and 5 more teams to jump in front of!!!!!

Black Sheep of the Family

Every family has one.

A family member who has done something so bad that no one in the family ever talks about it.

Until now.

Yes, my sister-in-law Pam is that person.

It started very simply about 15 years ago.

She rented the movie, "Arthur" from the Lancaster Library, when she took it back, the bin was pretty full, but she managed to put the movie into the bin (or so the story goes).

A few weeks latter Pam went into the Library to check out a book, when she was stopped cold by the Librarian who told her she owed $80 for the movie that was not returned.

Here is where the story gets weird, Pam told the story about the full bin, even offered to replace the movie with a brand new copy, answer = No, she must pay the fine!

That was 15 years ago.

This past week she went back again pleading for a 2nd chance, she said the "The Mayor of Lancaster stole money from the city, has been to jail and now is out, if he gets a 2nd chance, why can't I?"

Pam even tried to use her poor daughters card, but the plot was quickly stopped until the daughter showed up in person. So now Pam has to write a letter to the Columbus Public Library and plea for a 2nd chance.

I am thinking of selling T-shirts that say "Free Pam" to raise money to pay the fine, but that would end the story, it is much more fun to hear the latest updates.

(FULL DISCLOSURE STATEMENT)

To be honest I also have a Black Sheep in my family, Corey. It seems that when he was 3 years old, we had a dog that had a disease so we got rid of it. When Corey went to get a puppy from the pound, he told them about it. They said he was Blacklisted from ever getting a dog from their pound because he got rid of a dog "in its greatest time of need". Remember, he was 3 and had nothing to actually do with the decision, but that did not matter to the pound.

Vacation time!!

We had a great time with Tyler, did I mention he is a super hero?

Angela won the Championship Belt.

I was the big winner at dominoes, even though it took 3 days to finish the game. Dirk, shown here, was the big loser.

All of the girls from Tennessee

Guys taking pics of the girls!!

Ireland - Final

Start with the good news, I made it home last night around 9:00 PM. The day started badly in Ireland, when my 1st flight was canceled due to fog. I had to take a 3 hour bus ride to Dublin and made my flight with about 30 min to spare. As a result I only had a 7 hour flight to Boston instead of a 9 hour flight to Atlanta. Made it to Boston just in time to walk up to the plane to Columbus with about 15 minutes to spare.

Nothing really exciting on any flights, except a little girl about 20 rows in front of me threw up on her mom, but otherwise nothing interesting at all.

Reminder: Deadline for Guess the miles contest is Midnight Saturday (see previous blog entries for details, other entries are close but not right)

VACATION NEXT WEEK!!!!

Ireland

Sorry it took so long to report, but Internet access has been an issue. So has happened since update:

• Drove to Malaga and then flew to Dublin no problems, slept almost the whole way.
• Got through customs fine, got my ticket for the flight to Sligo
• The security line was moving along OK, but the lady in front of me was Eastern European, did not speak much English and had a baby in a stroller (Irish call it a pusher).
• As we approached the metal detector. the lady in front of me got very confused, the security people were telling her to put the stroller on the x-ray machine belt, so she did baby and all!!!
• They stopped the line, 2 more security people came up, this time the mother was scared thought she had did something wrong and started crying in an unknown tongue!!!
• I thought it was very funny, I have traveled a lot and I never saw someone try to put a baby through the X-ray machine!
• Flight to Sligo otherwise was good, small prop plane, sat next to a lady with talked my ear off the whole way. It was good to hear English again, so I did not mind.
• After landing, my luggage did not make it, so I has to wash the important pieces of clothes that I needed to wash the next day in the sink, and use the blow dryer to dry them off. My bag arrived about the 10 AM the next day, so at the break I changed my clothes in the bathroom at the plant, not ideal, but it worked fine.
• The hotel Clarion looks like a castle with 300 rooms, it used to be a psychiatric hospital, so the claim there are certain rooms that no ones stays in, because of the terrible things that happened in them, but I fine.
• Class went very well, finished the 1st class at Noon local time, waiting for the next one to start in 30 min.
• Last night several of us went to an Italian place in downtown Sligo. It was kind of weird eating Italian food, in Ireland, while they played Spanish music!!! Oh well , it could worse.
• Sleeping much better, 2 more nights until coming home!
• Weather is very rainy and cold, but people are great, very friendly and obviously much easier to communicate. They have already asked me to come back at the end of the 1st Quarter 2008.

Spain - Final

Today was the last day to be in Spain, went to Alhambra and it was amazing!! It was a palace and fort in the 12th century, the hand carvings that were done are hard to believe. The ceiling in king's throne room was made from cedar with ivory inlaid. I took about 100 pictures, hope they turn out.

I, of course, was the only American. There was a couple from France that spoke a little English, a couple from Italy and 1 from Mexico, all helped me out. I felt like I was getting a private tour, because our tour guide would explain everything in Spanish, and then come to me and explain it again in English. The amazing thing to me is that Heaven will make that palace look like a dump, when you think about it. The palace was beautiful, but the colors had faded and much of had been restored. I do not think there is ever any remodeling going on in heaven! Just lots of new construction, praise the Lord!

The only funny thing from the tour was another older German couple from Brazil. He spoke fair English, but did not have anything good to say about the Arabs, wonder what he was doing during WW 2?

Afterwards, I came back and cleared my email and took a nap.

Got up and made my last shopping trip in Spain. Got Angela a real nice ... (sorry have to wait until I can give it to her).

Actually ordered my dinner tonight in Spanish all by myself, "quatro with grande coke." That's right I ate where good Americans eat when in Spain, Burger King! Hey I just wanted something that reminded of USA. (#4 combo meal with a large coke). IT WAS VERY GOOD!

That's about all for today, on to Ireland tomorrow.

Spain day 4

• Started the day riding to the plant with Manolo, he is in charge of all projects at the plant. To my surprise as we were riding to work in his BMW, Elvis came on the radio! He explained that he has an MP3 player in his car and he loves American oldies! How funny, I rode to work listening to the temptations, etc.
• The class finished up today at 1:00 PM local time, remember they take a lunch break from 1:30 until 3:00 PM everyday. Lunch was uneventful, some kind of bean soup, with a combo platter of small piece of cucumber stuffed with meat, a small hamburger (didn't taste like hamburger), and a small piece of fish.
• I was supposed to meet with a few individuals in the PM, but they never showed up. I was working catching up on work e-mails, when an ambulance pulled in. After working in factories for almost 30 years, it is never good when an ambulance showed up. About 5:00 PM, I finished all I had to do when they told me there had been an accident in the plant. An 18 year old contract construction worker died in an accident. His father also works on the same construction job, so it was very bad for everyone.
• When I got back to the hotel I grabbed my camera and headed downtown, probably snapped 20+ pictures of Churches, fountains, streets, etc. Did a little shopping, and ate dinner at a sidewalk cafe. All in all pretty good day.
• They say that everyone says a twin somewhere in the world, well I saw my sister-in-law Tammy's twin tonight while I was walking, I did a double take, it was weird.
• Tomorrow is big day, the plant manager set me up on a tour of Alhambra. If you Google it you will find it is an ancient Arab palace that is still standing, a full report tomorrow night.
• Sunday is a travel day to Ireland, which means I that much closer to coming home!!
• BONUS Question: Guess how many miles I am travelling on this trip: Columbus to New York to Madrid, Spain to Granada, Spain to Malaga, Spain to Dublin, Ireland to Sligo, Ireland back to Dublin then on the Atlanta and finally back to Columbus.
• Winner gets a free Angela Salyer dessert! (Love you honey!) Only answers submitted as replies to this posting count. So have the kids get the globes and maps out and get started, winner announced next weekend when I return home. Correct answer based on the miles printed out on my flight itinerary.

Spain day 3

Well, I finally got to do some of the training I came here to do. It went very well, according to the plant manager, and I finish up tomorrow.

A couple of observations:

1. My hotel room has 2 twin beds
2. The worlds narrowest shower, I know I am not tiny, but I should I really have to stand sideways to take a shower?
3. No shower curtain on the shower, only about 6 inches of tile enclosure is all that keeps the water off the floor
4. My room has only 3 electric outlets total, 1 for the TV, 1 for the Mini frig, and 1 for the lamp in the corner, all on the same wall about 12 inches total apart. Most of you know that I have sleep apnea and sleep with a CPAP machine. So I had to put the pillow where my feet usually go, unplugged the lamp, but I did not realize that the light switch also controls the light over my head, so I quickly went to Plan B, which was unplug the TV. I could only take so much about the Dali Lama visiting the White House anyway.
5. You also have to leave your door key in this special slot inside your room or you have no power for anything! Spain must be a country that saves lots of power, the AC in the training room today felt like it was set on 80 and some still had sweaters on.
6. On the way home, as the cab was leaving the plant, we went about a mile and had to stop and wait of the goats and sheep to cross the road.
7. Think I mentioned earlier that they eat late, well it is true, lunch was from 1:30 to 2:30 and 1 of the guys is picking me up for dinner at 8:30! Food today was OK, pork chops, potato soup, french fries that were fried in something different, the fries were a little too greasy for me. Hopefully tonight will be something good with a local flavor.
8. Talked to my baby doll (Angela) and she told me about Rochelle Andrews, thanks to those who helped with food. I think Billy would appreciate chitterlings, to remind him of Mississippi!!
9. That all for now.

Spain day 2

• Picking up where I left off, flight over the ocean was great. A - 340 Airplane, large 4 engine type. Got to sit in 1st class with no one next to me. Seats reclined and even went totally flat, if you wanted to sleep. But I could not, since it my body was telling me it was only 11:00 PM.
• Each seat had it's own TV screen, so I picked 3 movies to watch, Evan Almighty (A), Chaos (A, but not for kids), Georgia Rules (C). Just fell asleep for a few minutes and they turned the lights on and served breakfast.
• Landed at Madrid and had 1 hour to make my flight to Granada, so in 1 hour I:
• Went down 3 flights of escalators
• Took a 15 minute train ride
• Went back up 3 different escalators
• Stood in line at customs
• Went down 3 more escalators
• took another train ride
• Went back up 3 more
• Stood in line at security got pulled out of line due to some batteries in my carry on
• Walked fast to my gate and made it with only 5 min to spare, I was last on on the plane
• They had car waiting for me, so made it to the hotel by 10:30 local time, 4:30 AM Ohio time.
• Took a nap, called my baby doll, who had just started work
• Took a walk, got lost, found out where I was, made it back to the hotel
• Cleared email, finished 1 book, talked to the people at the Abbott plant
• Watching TV right now, only 2 English speaking channels, CNBC and CNN - Europe, ugh!
• That's about it for today, not hungry, so probably will skip dinner.
• Granada is a typical, what I thought a European town would look like.
• All small cars, scooters, or motorcycles
• narrow streets, many of them 1 way
• most intersections are "roundabouts", like downtown Newark, but smaller in the middle.
• Hotel room is small, but OK.

Later, Jeff

Spain day 1

• Day 1 will be long and hopefully uneventful.
• Made it to New York, JFK Airport with no problems
• Next flight leaves for Madrid at 6:00 PM and arrives at 7:10 AM their time, not sure how many hours difference it is, but Angela said to find that out before I call her, and accidentally wake her up in the middle of the night.
• From Madrid I fly to Granada and conduct training classes until Friday.
• I am sitting in the business class lounge and it is much better than sitting at the gate for 3 hours. They have snacks, TV, things to read and Internet hookups to make the time pass. Looking for someone famous but nobody yet.
• Almost finished with a John Grisham book, called the "Broker" brought several more books to read during the trip.
• Big shock on exchange rate for money, only got about 0.65 euros for every $$$, so hope I didn't get ripped off, but live and learn. Just makes the presents smaller, sorry family.
• That's all for now, hopefully will be able to keep updating while I am gone.
• Y'all check in on Angela every once in a while.
• I asked Josh across the street to let me know if any cars come and go while I am gone. He laughed and said there are so many cars coming and going from our house every day, he could tell who was supposed to be there and who was not!!!
• Keep praying for the Knox's. Thanks to all who called, sent a note or brought food.

Later,

Jeff

Things you learn when you have sons

Thanks to Ron for sending around, (didn't know he knew my boys when they were little!)

1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.
2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
3. A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.
5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
6. The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late.
8. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
9. A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.
10. Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4- year old Boy.
11. Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
12. Super glue is forever.
13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.
14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
15. VCR's do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
17. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
18. You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.
19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.
20. The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time.
21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.
22. It will, however, make cats dizzy.
23. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy. .
24. 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.
25. 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

Boys will be boys #6

(as told by the boys Aunt Tammy)

Nephews have been working all summer on preparing for deer season. Involves night filming, planting corn, feeding deer, purchasing the latest in hunter wear, etc., The evening before the big hunt, a traditional family dinner is prepared (pizza) and films are reviewed. Clothes are all sprayed with doe scent or "no" scent, I can't remember which, I just know the family dog goes bonkers sneezing in the meantime! Corey, nephew #3, is not really excited or into the scene as much as the others, doesn't really want to get up at 5:30am in a tree stand and has been known to sneak out of the stand, go home, sleeps until breakfast time and then pretends to arrive at home just in time for the hunters morning break. The event takes place at Gary's dad's farm. Great place, within sight (as long as you are in the tree stand) of their home. The "suburbs" sure are changing in Licking County! We were all given orders NOT to drive by and honk car horns and Gary is not to be mowing.

This past Saturday morning, first day of bow season, no deer in sight from 5:30am-10:30am....hunters go home for ham, gravy and biscuits and some sleep.....back in tree stands at 3:30pm until supposedly, dusk. Around 6pm, one of Gary's friend's truck konks out on River Rd and he pulls into the barn to phone for help. Another friend comes to pick him up and has to use the bathroom in the open air, behind the barn. (another "guy thing" all of which is being viewed from 4 treestands) Bathroom boy picks up a piece of iron and for some reason beats it a few times on the barn siding and drops it...just checking to see if it is iron, I guess, and proceeds to get in car with his friend and leaves. About that same time, the noise must have stirred hidden deer, as they were all around two of the stands. (3 Bucks and Does) Nephew #2 makes the first kill (14 pointer) and Corey, who isn't too much into hunting, has a 10 pointer under his treestand. Now, there is something about a guy and the excitement that takes over when a deer approaches and the raising of a bow.....I compare it to my excitement at a DSW shoe sale....it's a sweaty palm, heart racing, BIG thing.....Corey takes the shot and then..... passes out! Yes, you heard me correctly...passes out. His brother is running down the hill tracking his own kill and sees younger brother slumped over the rail of the treestand....luckily, he listened to Uncle Gary when he purchased the treestand with a bar that protects you from falling. Old brother climbs up in the treestand while yelling for everyone to help. Cell phones are dialed to mom & dad, aunt & uncle, who are just across the street and waiting for Ohio State game to start....great.

We arrive within minutes at the scene and big brother is coddling little brother, which we will NEVER let him forget, and little brother is white with teeth chattering. We can now spot a severe panic attack when we see one! The 14 pointer is laying a few feet away, mom takes over to calm little brother down, others are laughing hysterically at him. The story then began to unfold, Corey was not EXACTLY sure if his arrow hit the deer because he said it was either the deer he saw wobbling or HE was the one wobbling after he blacked out. Once the 14 pointer was gutted on the spot, the search began, which it was dark by now. I will never forget the vision of my brother in law with a OSU shirt that I think read , "Fear the Vest" and one of those miner flashlights on his head as he is searching for a deer that may or may not exist. I have never, ever, seen him in any type of brush/woods and here he was acting like he knew what and where to look...too funny. More friends arrived to help and luckily three were Park Rangers and very "into" the sport. Once Corey got his bearings, they had him reenact what he THOUGHT happened and how he was positioned, before passing out. To find a black arrow in pitch dark is one feat I would have beat against but low and behold, the Rangers found it and it appeared it entered clean through the deer. (not exactly "clean", blood on the entire arrow and small blood drops in the area) The group decided it best to wait until the following morning to track the deer so it will bleed out and hopefully not wander too far into a thicket. (hunter talk for saying, "I can't see a thing")

The next morning, 6:30am, Uncle Gary and the boys were on the search. Not sure who was more excited. Deer was found and definitely a big one, even if 4 points shy of big brothers...a much bigger deer. They were told it will be some kind of record more than likely. Nephew is thrilled and said he will not hunt again until one of his other relatives bags something bigger.......he has nothing more to prove! ha!

The hunt is still on for those that did not get a deer...."moose" as they call it, is still out there and makes these two deer look like Bambi. We'll see.


Looking forward to catch up on your "deer stories" !!



Tammy

Haven't we all felt this way?

One day while walking down the street a highly successful Human Resources Manager was tragically hit by a bus and she died. Her soul arrived up in heaven where she was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter himself.

"Welcome to Heaven," said St. Peter. "Before you get settled in though, it seems we have a problem. You see, strangely enough, we've never once had a Human Resources Manager make it this far and we're not really sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," said the woman.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have higher orders. What we're going to do is let you have a day in Hell and a day in Heaven and then you can choose whichever one you want to spend an eternity in."

"Actually, I think I've made up my mind, I prefer to stay in Heaven", said the woman

"Sorry, we have rules..."

And with that St. Peter put the executive in an elevator and it went down-down-down to hell.

The doors opened and she found herself stepping out onto the putting green of a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club and standing in front of her were all her friends - fellow executives that she had worked with and they were well dressed in evening gowns and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times.
They played an excellent round of golf and that night went to the country club where she enjoyed an excellent steak and lobster dinner.

She met the Devil who was actually a really nice guy (kind of cute)and she had a great time telling jokes and dancing.

She was having such a good time that before she knew it, it was time to leave. Everybody shook her hand and waved goodbye as she got on the elevator.

The elevator went up-up-up and opened back up at the Pearly Gates and found St. Peter waiting for her.

"Now it's time to spend a day in heaven," he said. So she spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing. She had great time and before she knew it her 24 hours were up and St. Peter came and got her.

"So, you've spent a day in hell and you've spent a day in heaven. Now you must choose your eternity,"

The woman paused for a second and then replied, "Well, I never thought I'd say this, I mean, Heaven has been really great and all, but I think I had a better time in Hell."

So St. Peter escorted her to the elevator and again she went down-down-down back to Hell.
When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends were dressed in rags and were picking up the garbage and putting it in sacks.

The Devil came up to her and put his arm around her. "I don't understand," stammered the woman, "yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a country club and we ate lobster and we danced and had a great time. Now all there is a wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable."

The Devil looked at her smiled and said ...

"Yesterday we were recruiting you, today you're an Employee."

California - Day 5

• Well this ended up being the last day in CA. The meeting that was supposed to last all day was over by noon. So I called the travel agent to see if I could come home a day earlier, because I miss my sons (see comment on previous blog) and their mother.
• The journey from Alameda north to Sacramento was going to be tight time wise, so I had to go kind of fast sometimes (forgiveness was asked for any time a speed limit was broken by more than 10 MPH (which was a lot)
• At this tunnel outside of Oakland the traffic went from 4 lanes to 2 lanes so lost a lot of time waiting.
• The plane was supposed to leave at 1:45 PM, and as that time approached, I knew that in spite of my NASCAR type driving, I was not going to make it. So I started praying that if I was supposed to come home tonight the Lord would have to delay the take off of the plane.
• When I turned in my rental car, there was a problem with the receipt, so I had to go inside, where they were training someone new, which took more time.
• Finally got on the shuttle and the driver kept waiting and waiting to let more people get on.
• The United stop was the 3rd of 4 stops putting my farther behind.
• Got into the terminal at 2:10 PM, walked to the counter and asked what my options were because I had missed my flight and it was the last United flight out of there today.
• The guy looked at the computer screen and said, "It's just now starting to board"!! I said "PRAISE THE LORD!!!".
• I hurried down and made the flight with time to spare. I am writing this in Chicago waiting for the flight to Columbus. I told Angela this story and also said that if anything happens to me between now and the time I get home, it was definitely God's plan for me today!!
• It was a good week with making new friends, eating great food, and seeing some amazing sites, but glad to be home

Day 3 & Day 4

• Day 3 went very well, met with the team all day, helping them work on their ability to work together as a team. There seems to be some interpersonal issues, that surfaced, but the team was very honest and dealt with them well.
• We went to dinner at a restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf. Small place but good food, had shrimp & crab stuffed ravioli. Too full for dessert!
• Day 4 was supposed to conclude early, but several issues came up that kept the team there until after 5:00 PM. They all left and headed back to Fairfield, 2 hour drive.
• I finally got some free time. So I took the famous 17 mile drive down the coast. Saw lots of very pretty coast and ocean scenes, but it was kinda cold. Afterwards I drove down to Carmel and walked around downtown. It was a lot like downtown Granville, only more expensive and less people speaking English. Walked by lots of people speaking different language, but I remained calm, got Angela a present and made my way back to the hotel.
• Did not see anyone famous.
• Finally got to check my work email and had 46 emails!! Spent almost rest of evening getting caught up.
• Tomorrow I drive to Alameda, CA for meetings and then back to Sacramento for a 6:00 AM flight home on Friday.
• Cannot wait to see my baby doll!!!!!!!

Califormia Day #2

• The 2nd day started by meeting the Fairfield, CA plant staff and touring the the facility. They make bars (Zone and Glucerna primarily). It is the smallest of all the plants in our division with only 200 people.
• After leaving the plant, I stopped at the Jelly Belly jelly bean factory which is right across the street from the Abbott plant. Did not have the time to take the tour, but went into the visitors center and bought some jelly beans, Angela does like them so I can share her part if it anyone is interested.
• Then drove about 2 hours southwest to Monterrey, CA right on the ocean. My room has a partial view. I guess there was famous old book written about Cannery Row here, but if I read it I forgot it.
• The whole group went to dinner at a seafood place on the ocean and they made me order the lobster, it also came with shrimp and scallops, so I was very happy we had to walk a little to get back to where we parked. IT WAS VERY GOOD!

California - Day #1 - random thoughts

Yesterday was a very long day. Flying from Columbus to Chicago to Sacramento (6 hours in the air) then drive 1 hour to Fairfield, CA, UGH!

• Heard church was great, thanks to Billy for teaching for me, hope someone remembered to turn the coffee pots off.
• Never have flown into this part of California before, the airport is about 10 miles from civilization, completely surrounded by farms and fields, very pretty though.
• Traffic was nuts even at 6:00 PM local time (9:00 PM in O-H-I-O). 3 lanes each way going about 75 MPH both ways on I-80. Rental car is a little Ford Focus and it was doing about all it could to keep up.
• Hate that i missed the Browns game, it figures, the game I miss is when they score 51 points! Brady who?
• Sat next to guy with a Michigan shirt on the flight, made sure they kept sharp objects away from him.
• Very nice room, has a "comfort" bed so you can dial in the firmness you want, almost made up for not having my baby doll (Angela, if you did not know) sleeping next to me. Missing her already, but Brandon came home so I am sure she will be busy today, anyway.
• Getting ready to go to the Plant today, will have a day #2 report later.
  

POWERFUL!!! (must pause music player on right)

Random update 9/4/2007

What a weekend, it was great but very busy.

• On Saturday we had our CONNECT group over for a tailgate party to celebrate the beginning of football season. It was a GREAT day, supposed to last until 4:00 PM but went on until after 8:00 PM. We had a lot of fun with cornhole, eating, talking, and eating again. Angela made a Buckeye cheesecake that was gone by the end of the day to tell you how good it was.
• Good day = All OSU fans, Bad day = Mississippi State fan (DD) and Michigan fan (SH).
• Sunday was also very good. Drason shared from his mission trip with the church to Maine, class was good as well. Had a family thing rest of the day with perfect weather, and more good food.
• Monday, another great day. Went to Swappers Day, think "Deliverance" yard sales, and you will get the picture. Went with Brandon, Blake, and John. Blake bought a semi-auto shotgun after taking up a collection from all present. We found a food booth that sells turkey legs that were HUGE!
• Last night Angela and I tried a new restaurant, The Grill, in the north end of town. Was really good and not too expensive. Came home and watched the Indians beat the Twins again.
• Today I found out Amanda had quit her job and was seeking God's new direction in her life. Prayt that God will their family's needs. (I think she could fill in for Dr. Phil when he is on vacation, but we will see.)
• Leaving for Chicago tonight for a couple of days
• Brandon and Corey may be moving out this week to their house in Columbus for school, so we might be empty nesters, until they come home again. They are growing up tooooooooooo fast. But I am very proud of all 3 boys. (so DO NOT do anything that not make me proud of you)
• No Boys will be Boys updates, yet, that I know of!

wish this was my little girl!

World Clock - Click HERE

Check this out! Ron & Angela both sent me this link

click the title above

Boys will be boys #5

A couple of Sundays ago, after we ate lunch, the boys went to Big Lots and bought some assorted water toys for the yard, a blow up swimming pool, 2 slip and slide things, etc. They played with them in the back yard with some neighbor kids.

Came home that night from church and everything was in the front yard with a hand made sign "Park Trails Public Pool" next to the blow up pool.

A little later, Angela just happened to be talking to a neighbor and the neighbor mentioned how much fun the boys had sliding into the pool. Angela had quizzical looks (as you could imagine) and the neighbor went on to tell her what happened.

Sunday night when we were at church, the boys took the slip and slide, put it on the stairs inside the house, put the blow up pool outside the front door, covered themselves with Palmolive dish washing liquid, and slide from the top of our stairs, out the door and into the pool!!!!!!!

Not only that, they videotaped it! I have not seen it, but they showed it to Angela and she about had a heart attack.

Apparently it was the talk of the neighborhood, with cars honking, neighbors stopping by for the show, etc.

I cannot wait to have grand kids and tell them all the interesting things there fathers did growing up!

And by the way, if anyone knows of anything our boys have done that we should know about, please let us know before we see the video!!!