2009 is underway...
and despite the warmth this January is already a great beginning. Over the past month and a half since my last post I have still been doing shift work at the mill as a supervisor. Everyday gives more challenges and so far I haven't been tripped up. At this point I have been doing shift work for about 7 months and it is tough but definitely doable. Thankfully my company has seen fit as well to keep me on in this tough financial time, CHEERS to the guys at the top for thinking me a contributor worth keeping.
The last month as well has seen a plethora of youth events which I love. The kids at our church are amazing and being a chaperone for them is a blessing. I know everything that we do I get something out of and I hope that they do to. We had a progressive Christmas Party and the main event was a video scavenger hunt at Eastchase. You had to go to certain stores and perform different movie scenes or Christmasy things and video them. Examples would include trying to get two people to put their tongues on a pole ala Christmas Story or go into Kinnucan's and "cut down the Christmas tree" like Christmas Vacation. It was fun in itself but the real excitement came when we were asked to leave the "Scavenger hunts were against the rules." I just told the security guards, that's right plural, we were shopping just like everyone else I don't know how much they believed us though when we immediately ran out to the big reindeer and played duck, duck, goose. Needless to say we had a blast. Also we recently returned from out annual ski trip in Beech Mountain, NC. This trip had a little more excitement at the beginning and end since Craig and I had to drive the church bus, we were in a charter bus with another church last time. There was no snow this time either but they made snow both days. It was still really fun and the slope that my wife and I walked down last time, I skied down without falling three straight times to finish the trip. I was proud of my improvement over last year, I now consider myself a skier!
College football is almost over, only one more bowl game and it's nothing but speculation until August 2009. It has been a fun year despite Auburn's problems. I am excited about the coaching staff that Chizik is putting together at Auburn. I can't help but think though how great would it be if everyone could make amends and Tubberville could just come back and lead these guys. I know, I know crazy but hey I can dream can't I.
Christmas with the family was outstanding as well. This is the first Christmas since my wife and I started dating that we have gotten to see everyone and be together with the least amount of driving we have ever done. I love you family and I hope to see more you all in the new year.
I read a few books in the time since my last post mostly because as some of my friends pointed out it's been a long freaking time but also the travel time helped, here goes:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon (6 out 5) This book is a fictional story about a pair of cousins who live in NYC in the 1940s and help a novelties maker and a racy magazine producer make what at the time was something relatively new, comic books. The story follows them from 10 years old to 50 as they produce their flagship comic, The Escapist. It is an outstanding look at life in this period of the growth of a still misunderstood medium.
A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway (2 out of 5) Great writing style and content but that is why he is famous. The irony that he uses in this novel is hard to explain without giving away the ending but I haven't read many war novels that were so engrossing. Hemingway is amazing just not my favorite type of story.
The Discipline of Grace - Jerry Bridges (4 out of 5) We did this book as a study in our Bible study and it was very good. The idea of this study was in the pursuit of holiness we must be rooted in the grace of God. This is the only way that we can even take a swing at success and the balance of discipline and grace in our lives.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard - J.K. Rowling (1.5 out of 5) Short! I know that there is no way to satiate the hunger of Harry Potter fans now that the story is told. Her use of Dumbledore's notes after each story was neat and kind of fleshed out the stories some but I think I read the whole thing in like 45 minutes.
Let's Play Doctor - Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg (2 out of 5) Another follow up to the amazing neat doctor questions books, "Why do Men have Nipples" and "Why do men fall asleep after sex". But this one left something to be desired. It was set up as a kind of how-to book of how to pretend to be a doctor. They gave lots of the facts and diagnoses like the other two but it was muddled in a lot of dumb crap. Hopefully if they make another it will be back to the old recipe.
and despite the warmth this January is already a great beginning. Over the past month and a half since my last post I have still been doing shift work at the mill as a supervisor. Everyday gives more challenges and so far I haven't been tripped up. At this point I have been doing shift work for about 7 months and it is tough but definitely doable. Thankfully my company has seen fit as well to keep me on in this tough financial time, CHEERS to the guys at the top for thinking me a contributor worth keeping.
The last month as well has seen a plethora of youth events which I love. The kids at our church are amazing and being a chaperone for them is a blessing. I know everything that we do I get something out of and I hope that they do to. We had a progressive Christmas Party and the main event was a video scavenger hunt at Eastchase. You had to go to certain stores and perform different movie scenes or Christmasy things and video them. Examples would include trying to get two people to put their tongues on a pole ala Christmas Story or go into Kinnucan's and "cut down the Christmas tree" like Christmas Vacation. It was fun in itself but the real excitement came when we were asked to leave the "Scavenger hunts were against the rules." I just told the security guards, that's right plural, we were shopping just like everyone else I don't know how much they believed us though when we immediately ran out to the big reindeer and played duck, duck, goose. Needless to say we had a blast. Also we recently returned from out annual ski trip in Beech Mountain, NC. This trip had a little more excitement at the beginning and end since Craig and I had to drive the church bus, we were in a charter bus with another church last time. There was no snow this time either but they made snow both days. It was still really fun and the slope that my wife and I walked down last time, I skied down without falling three straight times to finish the trip. I was proud of my improvement over last year, I now consider myself a skier!
College football is almost over, only one more bowl game and it's nothing but speculation until August 2009. It has been a fun year despite Auburn's problems. I am excited about the coaching staff that Chizik is putting together at Auburn. I can't help but think though how great would it be if everyone could make amends and Tubberville could just come back and lead these guys. I know, I know crazy but hey I can dream can't I.
Christmas with the family was outstanding as well. This is the first Christmas since my wife and I started dating that we have gotten to see everyone and be together with the least amount of driving we have ever done. I love you family and I hope to see more you all in the new year.
I read a few books in the time since my last post mostly because as some of my friends pointed out it's been a long freaking time but also the travel time helped, here goes:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon (6 out 5) This book is a fictional story about a pair of cousins who live in NYC in the 1940s and help a novelties maker and a racy magazine producer make what at the time was something relatively new, comic books. The story follows them from 10 years old to 50 as they produce their flagship comic, The Escapist. It is an outstanding look at life in this period of the growth of a still misunderstood medium.
A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway (2 out of 5) Great writing style and content but that is why he is famous. The irony that he uses in this novel is hard to explain without giving away the ending but I haven't read many war novels that were so engrossing. Hemingway is amazing just not my favorite type of story.
The Discipline of Grace - Jerry Bridges (4 out of 5) We did this book as a study in our Bible study and it was very good. The idea of this study was in the pursuit of holiness we must be rooted in the grace of God. This is the only way that we can even take a swing at success and the balance of discipline and grace in our lives.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard - J.K. Rowling (1.5 out of 5) Short! I know that there is no way to satiate the hunger of Harry Potter fans now that the story is told. Her use of Dumbledore's notes after each story was neat and kind of fleshed out the stories some but I think I read the whole thing in like 45 minutes.
Let's Play Doctor - Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg (2 out of 5) Another follow up to the amazing neat doctor questions books, "Why do Men have Nipples" and "Why do men fall asleep after sex". But this one left something to be desired. It was set up as a kind of how-to book of how to pretend to be a doctor. They gave lots of the facts and diagnoses like the other two but it was muddled in a lot of dumb crap. Hopefully if they make another it will be back to the old recipe.
posted by John III @ 12:30 AM
0 Comments
