Two from Galilee

Tonight we took the girls to their first 'Community Theatre' type play. (They'd been to a couple of church plays before, but this is the first amatuer/semi-pro type production.) It was called Two from Galilee - basically it's the story of Mary and Joseph, expanded. In fact here's...

The Synopsis:

Mary and Joseph, two young people in love from the village of Nazareth, fight against the Jewish tradition of prearranged marriage for the chance to be together. But just as they are betrothed, God reveals His plan for the birth of the Messiah. Mary will be the chosen one to fulfill the ancient prophecy: "A virgin will conceive and bear a Son."

Joseph struggles to accept this turn of events as truly being from God, while Mary continues to believe in God and her love for Joseph, even in the face of her family's unbelief.

At his father's deathbed, Joseph begins to understand and accept his part in God's plan. He and Mary journey to Bethlehem and, against difficult odds, struggle to see God's plan accomplished: the birth of God's Son, Jesus, in a tiny stable in Bethlehem. At His birth, Joseph and Mary finally realize fulfillment much greater than they had ever dreamed.

It was a very good musical play (With a full orchestra that was exceptional) and some great moments of humor, and the girls really enjoyed it. Joelle more so than Natalie, but that's basically due to the age thing. Joelle was 'enthralled' during the entire thing and kept whispering things to me she noticed. Very precious! We had two good friends Pilgrim & Trailady who were actors in the play and enjoyed seeing them and their kids take part!

They're excited to go to their next play - and frankly we can't wait to take them.

Anyway, Hope things are good with you. Just found out tonight that I'm scheduled for 2 runs that will have me back home at a pretty decent hour Monday night. I'll run about 1000+ miles and unload two trucks of product in KY and SC/GA. Should be interesting.

Monday our carpenter starts putting holes in our new house walls and building a deck. Hope he gets it done soon! Can't wait to move in! Gotta go - probably on Sunday eve or Tuesday am to pick up our new refrig and range for the house. Yeee haw!

Have a great weekend y'all! I'm'a going to bed.

Spelling OR Violations OR Score

Hey, hey, hey - whadda ya say??!!! :)

So, the other day visiting Grandma March in the hospital, Joelle had a little rubber bat (as in the flying animal) with her she'd gotten in Sabbath School. She kept talking about it, and then said, "Hey - I know how to spell bat." Then she proceeded to sound out and spell the word - all on her own with no prompting. Dude that is awesome!! I have such a smart daughter!!!

I'm no longer a 'Probie' at work. It's good to be past that 4 month period. Anyway, part of my final evaluation was a look at my logbook violations during my time here. I only had three violations - one, my partner and I showed driving at the same time. (His gaffe!) The other showed me driving as a partner was off duty. (Didn't count because I'd run back to back trips with different partners and so when I was returning from a trip he was off duty. The final one, and the one that was an actual violation by company policy, I logged 72 mph one day. (Our trucks are governed at 70. - Oops) They seemed pretty happy with my work though. I'll take that! :)

Doreen and I just got letters with our credit score in them. I guess they're required to disclose them to us because we applied for a home loan for our house. The scores range between 300 to 850. With 850 being the best. We're both closer to the top score, but not quite, with Doreen's being 8 points higher than mine! Dooh! :)

Have a happy day!

Color? Who the freak cares!!!

Why does someone always have to bring color into play in life? Why can't we enjoy things colorblind and just enjoy things for what they are? Why did Gumble have to take it to this level? Eh??? It's just disgusting when people have to bring down a good thing. Instead of criticizing - he ought to be encouraging other kids like S Davis (Speed Skater) to get into winter games insead of being down on it just because of color. That just perpetuates the problem instead of helping to fix it! On Olympics and color, Gumbel should know better

...We'll leave the light on!

Man, it is SOOOOO nice. I've been with my new company for 4 months now. (Yeah, no longer a probie!) During the majority of my return home from trips, it's well past everyones bedtime. But everytime I get home (Like this morning at 2:45a) the porchlight is on. My precious wife is very faithful at leaving the light on so I can see my way in without stumbling over things and banging my gear bags on everything. What a blessing, to have a light and to have it turned on for me every time I come home!

Home sweet home!

I'm 'a going to bed now! :)

Later!

Full Freaky Fridays

So - how are y'all?

Good I hope. I'm tired. Had a very, VERY busy week at work so I'm kinda wore out. (I took 4 trips this past week (The typical trip load is 2) and in the voice mail this afternoon, orders are even higher this week - so I may be busier!!! Great for finances, hard on the body!)

So, yesterday, we just took it easy. Since I'd been gone most of the week, after breakfast and Doreen left for school, I just laid on the floor of the girls room for almost 2 hours playing with them. It was nice. Then cleaned things up and headed to the mall to the indoor playplace, where Doreen met us after classes and we had Taco Bell.

Then we went to Lowes and looked at refrigerators and flat top stoves.

---Aye carumba, Doreen's talking with her sister who lives up in Minnesota and the high temp today was -13. That's dang cold!---

We did our grocery shopping, went home, put everything away, then headed over to the new house. (The carpenter didn't get to start doing his job this week - maybe Mon or Tue.) We took some measurements, and headed back to Lowes and ended up buying a new refrig and flat top stove for our new house. Yippeee!

So today, we headed to Doreen's Grandma March's house to help her with her cell phone operations and then to get some boxes from her store to assist in our move.
Then as I was packing some boxes in the vehicle, I heard a scream out of the store (which was closed at the time) and I sprinted for the door and heard a whistle, and passed Doreen who said, Grandma fell and needs help. Grandma fell down the stairwell and banged her head, back, hip and ankle. She knocked herself out - so I went down and tended to her and Doreen ran to get help.

She was out for 5 min, then came to, and help arrived and we got her to the hospital. She amazingly had NO broken bones. She's got a TON of bumps and bruses and stuff.

Luckily, during this whole ordeal, the girls were blissfully watching a movie in the van and didn't need any attention.

So we checked on her tonight - and she's doing fine. We took her glasses to Wal-mart and they fixed 'em right up.

They'll keep her in the hospital for 24 to 48 hours for observation, and then she'll be relased. It'll take a while, but before long she'll be around as good as ever.

What is it with accidents happening on Fridays lately?

Larry & Sandra's (Doreen's folks) garage burned on a Fri.
Sandra's fall and broken arms on a Fri.
Grandma's fall on a Friday.

Freaky Fridays indeed!!!

Ice Skating... In an 18-Wheeler

So that 'storm' that hit NY, Boston and pretty much the whole north east, well it hit Kentucky too! Got up there last night to the tune of about 4 inches. (The worst weather I've been in yet in my new job.)

We got the job done, got empty and I'm driving us home.

Just as you cross from Kentucky into Tennessee, you gotta go over Jellico Mountain. Well, we almost get to the top and have to stop because of traffic. Why is there traffic, because these 'snow-chasers' from the south can't handle more than a 1/8 inch of snow a season without freaking out.

Granted, the top was pretty much a sheet of ice - and I felt like I was ice-skating in our 18-wheeler, but come-on people. Others all over the world drive on snow and ice regularly without spinning around 5 times and get High-C'd on a ditch, etc.

On the southbound side, their were 4 accidents. 3 of 'em were single car. One invloved 3 cars.

On the northbound side, 3 accidents, one from a southbounder losing control and sliding across the median taking a pickup truck out before ending up in the ditch.

Aye, yai, yai!

It's good to be home, it's even better I'm leaving out for South Georgia tomorrow morning. No more snow! :)

Later! :)

Only in the South - Snow Chasers

We had quite an experience today. The last couple of days we've had very cold, dreary, rainy weather. No snow here in the Chattanooga area though.

So in Sabbath School today the teacher asked Natalie if she'd seen any snow lately. Obviously the answer was no. (She asked the other kids as well.)

Turns out, after Sabbath School, Doreen and the 'teacher' were talking and their Sabbath afternoon plans were to head up into the Smoky Mountains and go "Snow-Chasing."

Has anyone ever heard that term/phrase before??? I've heard of tornado chasers, weather chasers etc, but never snow chasers. Interesting concept.

If I didn't have to leave for a a trip tonight, we'd probably go chasing some snow! :)

Have a great weekend! :)

(PS That pic is actually of some snow in the Smoky Mountains! *grin*)

New Home!

Well, we signed the paperwork today. Once again, we are home owners. We're not gonna move in until a 2 bits of a small amount of remodeling is done. (That way we won't have to deal with all the dust and stuff. (Hole punched in the wall between the dining and living room, French door added to the back for and exit out the back and a 16x16 deck to be built.)

I thought about it today. This is essentially the 3rd home we've owned.

Our first home purchace was under $50k. Our second was under $80k and this is just over $100k. Man, inflation, bigger homes, different types of home, bigger family has required this growth of expense of homes!

Interesting.

Well - we'll be glad to be moved in. Not looking forward to the process though!!!

Y'all are invited to come visit - anytime! :)

3 Blessings - 1 Event

It was cool. Coming back from Florida, we had to stop in Valdosta to swap out trailers.

So just before Valdosta, we stopped at the Flying J in Lake City, GA to fuel. There on the islands were two other LD trucks.

So my partner decided to pull in behind one of them. I looked at the trailer number and realized that was the trailer we were supposed to swap. So we hopped out and went up and talked to the other driver.

So while he fueled my parner and I swapped all the gear, then we fueled quickly and then swapped trailers and headed on home.

It was cool for 3 reasons...

#1 - What's the chances of us pulling up the the same fuel stop with in mere moments of the other driver. We were headed to our outstation to pick up the other trailer, we probably had enough fuel to go the distance, but decided to fill up just to be safe.

#2 - What's the Chances of him having the exact trailer we were meant to swap.

#3 - What's the Chances that the timing was just perfect so we could get the work done quickly without killing any of his time or ours.

Man - that was a HUGE blessing! Very, VERY cool.

On a quick note, on our trip down to FL we made a delivery that would have cakes delivered to the Bahamas. Awesome!

Also, I just found out that I'll have two trips for this week under my belt by midnight Monday. (I've requested extra trips for this week to get some extra $$$'s to help catch our budget up.)

What a cool week of work! I Love my job! :)

70 Things

70 Things About Me

1. Initials: SSP

2. Name someone with the same birthday as you: Eric Anderson (Friend), Robbie Kenievel (Son of Evil Kenievel), Tracy Lords (Actress), Rondell Jones (Former Broncos Safety), Johnny Unitas (NFL QB), Peter Il'yich Tchaikovsky (Composer), Louis I (King of France)

3. Last thing you ate: Bagle w/ cream cheese & tomato, Yogurt.

4. For or against same sex marriage: against them but thats for God to judge

5. Are you homophobic: no

6. Do you still watch cartoons: When I can :)

7. Do you believe in God: absolutely

8. How many U.S states have you been to: 49 (Only missing Hawaii)

9. How many of the U.S states have you lived in: 7

10. Ever lived outside of the US: no

11. Name something you like physically about yourself: My perfection once we get in heaven! :)

12. Something non-physical you like about yourself: Organizational Ability

13. What is your dads name: Lawrence

14. What is your dream car: Anything Brand New! :)

15. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Hawaii, Cancun, Bahamas (Got the theme?) :)

16. Favorite type of food: Lasagna

17. Favorite holiday: All of them

18. Do you download music: I have

19. What illegal things have you done: Shoplifted a GI Joe Braclet at age 11

20. Where would you want to go on a first date: Picnic on the beach would be cool

22. Has anyone ever sang or played for you personally: not that I remember

23. Have you ever cried for no reason: Nope - gotta have a reason

24. Do you like President Bush: Yes

25. Have you ever bungee jumped: No

26. Have you ever white-water rafted: No

27. Has anyone ten years older than you ever hit on you? No

28. Last person you hugged: My Wife

29. Have you met a real redneck: Oh yeah - I live in redneck land! :)

30. How is the weather right now: Cold

31. What song are you listening to right now: Olympic Theme! :)

32. What are your current fav songs?: Starship "Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now."

33. What was the last movie you watched: Saint (Val Kilmer & Elizabeth Shue)

34. Do you wear contacts: Not anymore thanks to Lasik

35. Where was the last place you went besides your house? Restroom in warehouse in Kendall, FL

36. What are you afraid of: hmmmm... Familiy hurting

37. Have you ever been hit-on by someone of the same sex: We moved two 'gay' couples with United and I'm sure at least one did. Aye, yai, yai!!!

38. How many pets do u have: None, yet

39. Have you ever loved someone: Yes

40. What really turns you on: Yes! :)

41. What do you usually order from Starbucks: Can't stand paying $4 on a cup of coffee!

42. Have you ever fired a gun: Oh Yes!!!

43. Are you missing someone: My Papaw (Died in '92)

44. Say something totally random about yourself: I Love Life!

46. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celeb? Yeah, Wesley Crusher on Star Trek Next Gen

47. Whats your mom's name: Jerilyn

48. Who would you like to see right now: Who I am seeing, my family - our friends in CA, Eric & Holly!

49. Are you comfortable with your height: yea, except I have for female cousins my height and taller.

50. Dogs or cats: Dogs

51. Have you ever been caught doing something you weren't supposed to? In academy can you say, "Social."

52. Favorite flower: Roses

53. Butter, plain, or salted popcorn: Yes!

54. What books are you reading: Louis Lamour

55. Have you ever ridden in a limo: Nope

56. Has anyone you were really close to passed away? Yes, Grandfather

57. Do you watch MTV: Nope - no cable

58. What's something that really annoys you: Being Late

59. What are some things you really like doing: Geocaching, watching football or sports in general

60. Do you like Michael Jackson: Like a few of his songs but not him as a person

61. Can you dance: Never really tried, goofed around a bit and freaked my family out! He, he, he!

62. Favorite basketball team: I pic a favorite for the playoffs, don't really have an NBA favorite.

63. Favorite cereal: Fruit Loops

64. Do you drive: Yes, and then some!

65. What's the latest you have ever stayed out: Waaaayyyy tooo late/early!

66. Last time you went bowling: Aug

67. Were you ever rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room: Yes, after being robbed while working at convenience store.

68. Who was your last phone call? Work voice mail.

69. Last time you were at work: This morning at 1 am.

70. Whats your favorite state to be in: Colorful Colorado

Superbowl XL Thoughts

So, this was a decent Superbowl. It wasn't 'great' because, obviously the Broncos weren't in it. I enjoyed it though.

I'm glad I got to see it! I left on a trip Sat night with 6 stops in Kentucky. We ran 'em all, plus got a decent nap and I missed getting home and seeing the kickoff by like 3 minutes. Not bad. We were running hard heading home though. Didn't even take any potty breaks! He, he, he! We had some good friends over, some yummy pizza and snacks and of course a bowl full of a bunch of different flavored snack cakes! :)

The Steelers beat the Seahawks. Cool. That's who I was hoping would win. Doreen and I like Coach Cower and the owner, Mr Rooney. These guys have stood by each other in the good and bad times. Very unusual for today's sports climate. Typically, a bad season comes along and wholesale changes are made by ownership, or the coach or players jump ship for a better situation or more money. It's good to see this kind of committment! That and, as long as it's not the Raiders playing, I'll typcially pull for the AFC team. (Broncos = AFC West *GRIN*)

The game itself definetly had it's moments, but not the best. (Which game can top the Broncos getting their 1st Superbowl win XXXII, '97, by hanging on to beat Green Bay in the last :28 sec of the game. Not many, I'll tell you that! *GRIN*)

I was a little bit perturbed by some of the officiating in the game, but then I read this ESPN article by Gene Wojciechowski - Sorry conspiracy buffs, a loss sometimes is just a loss, and this is a guy I rarely ever agree with. (He kinda reminds me of the Denver Post Columnist, Mark Kiszla, the same attitude - negative about almost EVERYTHING, who I don't enjoy reading either.) He was right on here!

The commercials, as usual, were pretty good. The group we had here at our place, laughed heartily at: Ameriquest's 2 Ads, 'Doctor' & 'Fly the Friendly Skies,' (he, he, he), Bud Light's 2 commercials, 'Secret Fridge' & 'On the Roof.' We awed at Bud Light's 'Clydesdale American Dream' and were wowed by Bud Lights 'The Wave.'

Overall, it was a good Superbowl!

Most Amazing Ad

So, since the Broncos didn't make the Superbowl this year - but ohhhh sooo close - I've been giving some thought to the game. It should be a good one and I'm gonna pull for the Steelers to win. But I've also been giving some thought to the Ads that are going to air this year. I don't know how much they'll cost the company for airtime, but you can bet it'll be a pretty penny! :)

That line of thought also jogged a memory of a GREAT car commercial - never seen over here in the US. It aired only in the UK and on the internet - where I saw it.

So this evening I did a quick Google search on it and wanted to list it here for you to check out if you've got a moment!

Honda Cog Commercial

Some interesting facts...

Remember the popular children’s board game, Mousetrap? The game centered on the ability of an assembly of levers, chutes and ramps to send a plastic trap over a toy mouse.

Segue to a $1 million commercial produced by Wieden+Kennedy UK for Honda. The spot, dubbed "Cog”, features 85 car parts linked in a mesmerizing symphony that culminates with the introduction of Honda's new Accord. No product shots; no Celine Dion; no warnings about professional drivers on closed courses. Just a collection of ball bearings, wiper blades, tires and mufflers seamlessly “interacting” with one another to form a true piece of art.

“Cog” took five months of production and design work before it was ready to be shot. And after 605 takes, the dominos fell as they were meant to.

Work, work, work

The last three weeks have been very busy for me. The nice thing about where I work - is they allow, no, they encourage us to get overtime when orders are up and they need to get product out.

So, I've been taking an extra trip every week for the last three weeks and I'm wore out!

It's great to have, but I've got to pace myself as well. So I'll still be taking extra trips, but on a more regular basis with breaks in between to allow for rest and recovery! :)

Although it's wonderful - I took a trip last night. Left out at 7 and back home, in bed, by 3:30am. If I figured things right, for that trip I averaged $43 per hour. I'll take that anyday! :)

Work has been a joy lately, and it's gettin better. A brother of a guy I went to college works at the same place, and we're going to run together as a team for a while to see if it works out. (I told Doreen I feel like I've gone back to 'dating' again.) It's actually a good way to partner people together - it just feels so 'high-school.' He, he, he!

Things are good, Guuuuuuuuuuuud! As Bruce Almighty would say!

Home Sweet Home

We just got a call from our mortgage company, everything looks great. We should be going to closing next Friday. P!T!L!



So I get a call from dad on one of my trips, wanting to know a bit about the house and wondering why I hadn't posted any photos here on the site yet.




Well, I've just been a bit busy! :) So now that things have slowed up, just a hair - here's our soon to be new home. It's a split level home (They LOVE those things here in the south for some reason!) that was built in 1972. 1 1/2 baths, 4 bedrooms, Living room, Eat in kitchen, family room down stairs and a one car garage. Approx 1800 sq feet. It's on a nice sized lot in a nice subdivison, 5 min from my work, 20 min from Doreen's school, 10 min from church, 15 min to the mall and kitty corner from the babysitter.


The people we are buying it from, bought it as a repo and have done a major renovation to it, new flooring, cabinets, bathrooms, windows etc. We're just going to have an 18x12 deck built on the back with a french door access through the kitchen, and have another wall between the dining room and living room removed to 'open' things up a bit - all before we move in hopefully!


Anyway, here's our new home - anyone who wants to come help us move is MORE than welcome come moving day. We'll even provide pizza as sustinance! :)

Mr Mom

Remember that movie with Michael Keaton and Terri Garr, where he loses his job, so she finds one easily to 'bring home the bacon' for the family. Funny movie.

Anyway, I've kinda taken on the part-time role of Mr. Mom. Doreen has classes on Tuesday and Thursday, so when I'm not on a trip, the girls stay home with me and we hang out together. We'll play around the house, have meals, clean up, do shopping, go swimming (right now, indoor of course), go to the mall and play at the playplace, and go geocaching. (I've taken care of them twice, no three times [???] can't remember which now.)

It's been good to have some quality Daddy, Daughters time. I've really enjoyed it and I believe they have as well. I've had to come down on them a couple of times for not eating at lunch or not getting their toys picked up. Overall, this has been, and will continue to be a very good experience for us!!!

Of course, I've got the best of both worlds, a good job with enough time off to be a Mr Mom! :)

Geocaching Milestone

I've been wanting to go Geocaching lately, but just haven't found the time.

Well, as I said in my previous post, I've had more time with the girls lately, so yesterday morning we decided to go treasure hunting. We found 3 caches, two that were extremely easy and one really, REALLY difficult one.

I stepped over the spot where this blue container was hidden under a bunch of leaves twice, then Joelle yelled, "Daddy - I found it." Sure enough, she wiped the pile of leaves on it clean and there it was. What a very, VERY cool experience!



So, with that find, we've hit a milestone. Thepesters4 has found 50 hidden caches. We've got some friends who have a bit more time on their hands and they are well over 160, but with two kids etc, I'm proud to have tracked down 50 of these buggers and can't wait to find even more! (Of course, we need to take the next step and hide a couple of caches, but one step at a time!!!) Hip hip horray!