I got sucked in!!!!!!!!!!

P.H.E.L.P.S
U.S.A.
My oh my( ok I stole that from Dave Neihaus)!
Can you believe this guy? He is absolutely a stud. I have never watche swimming but this guy definately makes it worthwhile. What an unbelievable athlete this guy is. I have cheated the last two nights and looked up the results before I was able to watch on TV but then i watched anyways. How can I not? Even knowing the results didn't take away from the excitement. I can't wait for tomorrow to see what happens next! Go Phelps!!!!!

look what you've done!

When I came on the scene there were games every wednesday night without much hope for victory in sight but you you all played it for the fun! The passion and excitement that you all played the game with was evident, although I thought you guys were crazy it was always something to behold. Here is a dedication to you all.

Wednesday games were played for fun
coming out each game under the sun
Now, look what you've done!

some women left some stayed
And the games still got played
playing for fun not getting paid!

this year something diferent was in the air
Beany and Ellen even cut their hair,
kids crying, heads spinning
from all the games you were winning
a sight to see Bonnie cracking the whip
ACC is headed to the championship!

Jen came and Rose to the top
And nita pitched while Lisa brought some POP!
Margaret went on a hitting spree
Tracy still ran fast on a bad knee
Young Kelsey ran down every ball
Kimi got more hits to fall
Andrea smacked some hits to the crowds chants
And Cori hit better than Mr. "hot Pants"

After running through the players roll call
here you are standing tall
just one more thing one more tip
Have fun your in the championship!

Just look what you've done!
If I missed someone who should be included let me know and I will add the name or names. Great job women It was a blast getting to be a part of all the fun! Thanks for showing us how to enjoy ourselves! Now let's play this game already and hoist that trophy!

So it's getting close to bowling time again!!! September 6, and this year it's looking like we will be combining teams with Dean and the Kirkhams. The top two teams coming together may just spell trouble for the rest of the league. In this pic John is probably coaching me on how fix something and he always regrets it when we are competing against each other because we seem to whip em especially when it counts the most.

Anyways it is always fun and I can't wait until it's time to start rolling the balls again. Kim wants a new ball and shoes for her birthday and she will be ready to rock. More pics to look at from the championship game.

Dave showing Dean how incredible he is. Dean rocking out with the thumps.

The WINNERS!!!!! SECOND PLACE(the losers!)

Kim and I and Dean and the Kirhams are ready team up and rule the alley! Looking forward to the good times. That night was fun as it always is with this crew! Now what should our name be. Can anyone come up with a great name? Peace out folks!

So father's day was a little bit ago, but hey I haven't been one to update this thing much so you get what you get. I know this blog started out to be a dedication to Arod, but hhe got hurt and well he has had to many problems with the divorce, mistress,and Madonna(ech!) Still an awesome player(and playa, i guess). Anyways, back to the father's day thing. As most know I am a huge McGwire fan and my Father in law Dean knows this as evident by this cool bobble head to the left. He got for a chrsitmas gift but couldn't wait to givre it to me so I got it for Father's day. COOOOOOL! Now If I could get back to bombing away in softball and I can have those little kid dreams of being like my hero!(without the roids though people) I know some of you will say he took roids so i'll just say, I don't care! I don't condone it and I am disappointed but hey I know he feels regret, why else have we not seen him the past few years. I forgive him so should you. Mcgwire for the hall fame!!!!!!!!!! Can you guess how I would vote?

So it's tuesday night, two days after arriving back from family camp and I am still not fully recovered from it. Allergies are real fun let me say that! I'm sitting here late into the morning (since it's now a pattern set from camp) listening to jakob dylan and gavin rossdale's new music via the zune, and reading my wife's blog and some friends and family blogs too. You know last week has shown me that I have a great church, great family, and great friends! Just wanted totake time to say thanks to one and all who are a part of my life. Leaving Sunday to go to work was very hard to do. It meant leaving my wife and daughter behind, and Mikayla going back home to mommy. Man was that hard! I suffered seperation anxiety and pretty much cried on my way to work and a little at work too. Well Just wanted to say my life is not what i expected but I have so many great people around me that I wouldn't change a thing!
Peace out y'all!

Where have you gone Mark Mcwgire

The season's don't have fire

Like they did before you retired

and now you're gone

What will I do

It's not as fun without you

woo woo woo

Did you do steroids? I don't care

I Miss the red hair

And bombs that make me leap from my chair

The season is about to start

The game misses your heart

Other wish they could have a part

Like you did

Make me feel as though I am a kid

Where have you gone, where have you gone?

(this has been an tribute to the greatest home run hitter in the world. He didn't just hit em he put em in the next hemisphere! Amazing to watch and I was lucky to see him live on many occasions. The tribute was done to the tune of Mrs Robinson. And many of you now know that I am a nut, so your suspicions were true after all pat yourselves on the back! To my wife's family you are stuck with me! At least I am fun!)

Midnight Wiffle Ball!!

(image borrowed from wiffleball.com official site for your wiffleball needs)

So I was reading my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's awesome website and I just had to laugh about their experience playing skillet ball. They had found an old cast iron skillet and Greg being silly decided that hitting a tennis ball with it would be fun(and I wish I would've been there). Soon it blossomed into an impromptu game with rules and terminology. The funny thing is I think I have done that before. No wait I know I have done something like that before. My neighbor and best friend growing up(David) and I turned an alleyway into a wiffle balle field. We grabbed a hoe and made a pitching mound, baselines, and marked off barriers for homeruns, doubles and triples. We even had days when we would actually run bases, and we turned the field into first base, second base, and home. We played incognito(in the wide open really, but only when my Dad wouldn't know), because I wasn't allowed to play, because it would ruin my swing and I wouldn't make allstars and would embarrass myself. By my count I think I did OK, but don't tell my Dad. David and I also turned our two yards into our own mini golf course, using stairs, driveways, and rocks as our obstacles. We played soccer in the street. Sounds normal but wait! We both used the width of the street and telephone poles as our goals. we didn't move from our goals which were about 100 to 150 feet apart. We kicked the ball as high as we wanted or as hard as we wanted in trying to fool or trick our opponent. We used a hanging wire over the street as a crossbar to kick fieldgoals. And last but certainly not least we played basketball in my driveway using a part of the roof top that jutted out as our basket. There was no basket but we played. I miss those days. We were creative, and just had fun! I think he was doing his best to entertain a kid who was three years his junior and I thank him for that!

So comes my junior year in highschool, and of course I am to old to play silly games like that anymore right? Well no, of course not! Three of my very good friends from church and school(Garet, Jake, and Lee) had another way of having fun. Again it is wiffle ball. Not to out of the norm, but we had a new twist. We were all hanging out at Garet's house one night and we got this idea to play wiffle ball, but of course it was dark being midnight and all, so where can we play that won't bother anyone and have light so we can see? Almost in unison we all said, the church parking lot! Garet's dad was our pastor and their home was litterally next door to the church. There wasn't a lot of light but we played anyways. We set rules, had set teams(me and Lee, against Garet and Jake), and we played that first night until about 4am! Notice I said that first night. We sort of made it a ritual to play some midnight wiffle ball on random Saturday nights. One night we played until the sun started to come up and we barely made it back to the house before anyone found out. Yes we still got up (or stayed up) for sunday school and church service. I miss those days! Does anyone else have any fun games or things they did as kids, when there wasn't all this computerized stuff?

This is the Oakley mothership the inspiration to the OCrew name! I have been here and it is a cool office. I hope to go back again someday but it might be awhile. I would love to take the whole crew and go into the employee store and get all decked out in nothing but Oakley stuff! And Yes this the headquarters, and yes Oakley does do things a little diferently than just about any one else. To the Crew, to the place that has inspired us to wear the best, so we can play our best. Let's get it going this Sunday and just bring the pain for the coed league. And as always remember to have fun and smile all the time. This is a friendly reminder for all(esp the coach). God bless you all!

Softball is here! It starts this Sunday! I will have our schedule tonight! I am the Coach and i like to pretend that people actually listen to me! Why am I using exclamation points!!!! Maybe because I am a little excited that it's just about to get rolling!

The O crew

I'm on the hunt. Job hunt that is. I don't have many in sight right now, but I am waiting much like this guy is for the right game to come along! Please remember me in your prayers as the merger of my company seems to be heading in a bad, bad direction. It looks like a lot of people are gonna lose their jobs, and so many changes are happening that people are ready to walk. Salary structures are set to change meaning i would lose about 10, 000 to 16, 000 dollars a year. Ouch! Well here I go. I wanna give my wife and child the best I can. Not so much money, as I would like to have weekends to spend with them!

So, one of our gifts from the wedding was this fantastically fun and simple game called Boggle! We played this as a family back in the days of my youth. Mom was good and taught her son to be even better. When the student overcame the teacher, her work was considered done. She patted me on the back gave me a cookie and sent her chubby son out into the world to wreak havoc in the Boggle world. Well Kim wanted so badly to play and kick my rear! I kept telling her I don't ever remember losing so it would definitely be a challenge for her. Well about seven or eight games into the night Kim told me it was time for me to get outta her face. Final score: ZERO wins for Kim and two ties. I'm sorry if it comes off as bragging! I wasn't gonna say anything but when I beat her with words like Kitten, and meow(I hate cats), that is just too funny! That would be like Kim beating me in a Home run Derby and I was allowed to use a tee from the outfield.

go to lyrics.com and look up Mercy Me

I Can Only Imagine(as sung by Mercy Me)
I can only imagine What it will be like When I walk By your side I can only imagine What my eyes will see When your face Is before me I can only imagine [Chorus:]Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all I can only imagine I can only imagine When that day comes And I find myself Standing in the Son I can only imagine When all I will do Is forever Forever worship You I can only imagine[Chorus]I can only imagine [x2]I can only imagineWhen all I will do Is forever, forever worship you
(copied from lyrics.com)
Wow!!!! such a powerful song that I think I cry every time I listen to it! Being a parent I know how it must be for Him to love us even when we do stupid things. I look at Mikayla and just wonder why in the world did she just do that? I just told her not to do it and of course she says I don't know, or I'm sorry. Forgiveness and showing love while you punish is such a hard thing but man do i love that little girl. I can't pretend to understand it from His perspective when He sees us do stupid things even though He tells us what to do and not to do many times over in His wonderful book given to us to live by. I can tell you this He will probably enjoy quite the chuckle if I do a dance and that makes me just well up inside and I can't fight the tears of joy knowing that I will be in his presence and I really don't know what I will be able to do, but I can't wait to worship forever and that's all I will have to do.
Any of my friends or family who do read this and don't know if you will be able to share this joy please tell me. I don't have all the answers but I sure can get them, because He does have all the answers. You are all in my prayers. I love and miss all my friends past and present. Please pray for me, I need to be in a new work environment and I'm not sure how to get myself there. I'm trying to put prayer before planning, because I at least know I need to be where God needs me to be. Thanks to all of you for playing a part in my life.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!

It's me and Kim with Red Bull. Not like it gives you wings but at least you get a little pick me up when you have a drink!

It's my LOML! How about that! If you don't know, I love her more than a sharp stick in the eye! Because that like would hurt and she sometimes gives me massages and those don't hurt. It's been a tid bit over two weeks and things are just swell so far. We are going away for a family weekend this coming week and I can't wait. I got a weekend off, woo hoo! I can't believe I just said woo hoo!