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Our car is only 7 weeks old but today, the odometer rolled over to 4900 miles. It seems we have been on the go all summer long with trips to Kodak/Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for vacation; Washington DC for a conference and mini vacation; 6 trips to Lucasville, Ohio for all-star baseball games; 2 trips north of Point Pleasant for church camp; and finally our last trip to Nashville, Tennessee for North American Youth Congress.

I was very fortunate to attend my 3rd North American Youth Congress this past week. My first youth congress experience was also in Nashville, back in 2003. It was nice to get to back to a familiar city. Even though my first experience with Nashville, the city itself, was unpleasant as my car was broken in to, I truly look forward to going to youth congress and can’t wait for 2011! We ended up being part of a 27 person group from our church and it was my kids’ first youth congress, Missy’s second as she was able to go with me to Nashville the first time. Every time I go, it leaves me inspired!

Even though the 3 day event was busy and we were constantly on the go, with the heat and humidity tiring everyone in the group, it was well worth it for the preached word of God that we heard during each of the services. Every young person should listen to the messages preached during this youth congress, especially if you are wondering what you should be concentrating on or if you are having any doubts whatsoever in serving God. Wednesday night, Bro. Shay Mann delivered a message on following your destiny. Bro. Wayne Huntley’s message on Thursday brought the house down as he dared people to be different, a peculiar, chosen people. And the message I was looking forward to the most, Bro. Wayne Francis’ message on Friday night, did not disappoint. He reminds me so much of a younger Bro. George Scott. His message on being creative and “blasting off” was truly inspiring. He talked about not being satisfied with our last great triumph in church and to keep pushing forward and being innovative in soul winning. I also truly enjoyed Bro. Tim Rutledge’s Friday morning message on youth ministers and workers lifting up our young people, the church of today, and supporting them and catching them if they fall.

Missy and I were also able to attend the two young ministers' seminars during the day sessions on Thursday and Friday and both were inspiring. Interestingly, both mentioned Twitter and being careful about what you "Tweet" and who you follow on Twitter. Bro. Art Hunt from San Diego delivered the message on Thursday, asking us who we are following and challenging each of us to ensure we are following Christ and those who can inspire us. He told a great story of how he had his youth minister follow his young people around to find who was influencing them outside of church. Once the minister had a list of the top 10 influences on their lives, Bro. Hunt then told him to go win those 10 to God. He won 8 of them. What wisdom! Then Bro. Kenneth Haney spoke to us on Friday morning about the importance of working together and being inspiring to others, not only answering the call of God, but doing everything we can to ensure we are chosen after we are called.

We left immediately following service Friday night to get back home for Katie as she had her first ballgame early Saturday morning. So we ended up literally driving all night, arriving at home at 4:45 Saturday morning. Even though that was foolish in and of itself, God kept his hand of protection on us. What a summer we have had.

Missy and the kids and I just returned from DC this weekend. I have wanted to go do DC to see the sites for quite some time and this year, the annual Blackboard World conference was there, so we were able to kill two birds with one stone - a trip to the conference and a chance to show the kids some history. Many people that I know who have visited DC have had a blast visiting. All I can say is that I doubt I will be going back. Don't get me wrong, the sites and the history are phenomenal and there are many good things that I will take away from our visit, but it's just not home.

After this trip, I have realized that I truly like the slower pace of the tri-state. We recently vacationed in Tennessee and I would much rather visit the mountains or even the beach than the big cities, unless of course, it's Boston. There is something about Boston that I enjoyed more so than any other large city that I have been to over the years. I could handle downtown Boston, just not the driving. No wonder so many people in larger cities take the metro, El, subway, etc. Even our Garmin had no idea where to go in DC. At one point, it told me to take the second left, where there was only one left. In another, it said to veer right where there was only a road to the left. See, even the Garmin programmers prefer smaller places where the unit rarely fails.

Of course, not all of the trip was bad. Truly the only bad part was the drive in all of the traffic and the ridiculous prices for food. Other than that, it truly was interesting. The conference was great, seeing a number of people I have not seen for a couple of years as I did not make it to the conference last year, and also meeting so many new people. Seeing firsthand the documents that shaped our great nation was spine-tingling. Touring the Lincoln Memorial and reading about Lincoln made a lasting impression on Missy. The kids loved the Smithsonian. Alex went to his first big league baseball game (Go Cubs Go!). And of course, my favorite - Arlington National Cemetery. It was very humbling to see so many graves - graves of those who gave their lives to protect the freedoms that we enjoy every single day. Graves of those who helped shape this country. Men who have dedicated years of their lives for a great cause. Men who still continue to dedicate their lives in guarding those who gave their lives. The changing of the guards at Arlington is something that I will never forget. It gave me goosebumps from the very first moment. Every part of the ceremony was crisp and precise. The dedication of the men who perform this ceremony every day amazes me. And they take their job seriously. Just ask the little girl who stuck her leg under the rail and the guard stopped, lowered his weapon and yelled to get back behind the ropes and the chains. No one, not even a little girl's leg, approaches the tomb that they have dedicated their lives to guard.

Through all of this, including the drive home, I am very thankful to our service men and women who have dedicated their lives to grant me freedom. May God bless each and every person who is serving or who has served in any branch of the US Military. This small town guy thanks each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart.

Before yesterday, I have never played on, cheered for, or coached a sports team who has beaten Wheelersburg – in any sport. This summer, I have had the fortune of helping coach the Fairland 11-12 year old all-star baseball team. We lost our first game to a solid South Point team, but then reeled off four straight victories, defeating Green, Minford, Ironton, and South Webster. I was cautiously nervous going in to our game against Wheelersburg. Watching them in warm-ups, they looked like a sound, very fundamental, very good hitting club.

Wheelersburg jumped out on us early with a quick run in the top of the first and my nerves really started to unravel as I thought, no not more of the same. However, we broke through in the bottom of the first and put a 10 spot on the scoreboard. When the team was getting ready to take the field for the top of the second, leading 10-1, I had a bad feeling and knew that it wasn’t enough. Matthew Dayton looked at me and said was that a big enough inning? I point blank told him no. Rick Chapman and I told them to not quit, keep playing, keep having fun, and most importantly, don’t quit because they would come back. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking about last year’s 9 and 10 year old All-Star game where the team I helped coach went up against a merciless Wheelersburg team who walked out with a 23-1 win. They didn’t let up. Wheelersburg never does. They keep coming and coming until you are sick. I also kept remembering the worst game of my high school career – the sectional finals in 1991 where we lost to Wheelersburg on their field. I did not feel good that day, but it was no excuse – I stunk that day.

Heading in to the top of the 4th inning yesterday, we still lead 10-1 and I actually felt a bit better. We were playing a very nice game. However, Wheelersburg decided to hit, and hit they did. Coming back to within 10-7 in the 4th and having runners on first and second with two outs, I was thinking just get this out and let’s score. Their kid hit a ball to right. Tyler George picked it up, fired to Kyle Sowards, who turned to try to get the second runner at the plate. The next part was a blur as all I remember is our catcher, Garrett Scheibelhood going for the ball and then being planted about 6 feet backwards. I yelled to the umpire that it was interference and he agreed, calling the runner out.

What happened next was unbelievable. Their coach went nuts and so did their fans. I have always disliked Wheelersburg and one reason I do is because of the ruthlessness of their fans. They showed themselves for sure yesterday. They came to the fence, yelling, screaming, cussing, making fun of our kids, our coaches. The umpire was confused. Poor Billy had called our last 3 games behind the plate and sure, we questioned him a couple of times, but Billy was consistent and had done a pretty decent job. But he was not ready for this. He folded. Called for the league administrator for help in the call. He threatened to clear the field and send all of the fans to their cars. It was so confusing and heated that a call was placed to Williamsport, PA for a ruling on the play. A call was made to someone hundreds of miles away that did not even see the play. It was a judgment call and Billy made the right call. However, the stigma of the orange and black made everyone buckle. The call was reversed, two runs scored, and all of a sudden, it’s a 10-9 game.
They continued to hit and score and when they took the lead in the very same inning, Scott May, Wheelersburg’s field captain, gave his best Lou Ferrigno impression to Rick and I. How classless. The guy acted ex-military, yes, but he was so far over the top that it was sickening. Trying to psych our kids out by yelling and shouting go go go to his runners when they were going nowhere. No class at all. I believe he forgot that this was not only a game, but it was being played by 11 and 12 year old kids.

The next thing that happens was a kid coming to home and we try to make a play on him and he goes head first, shoulder low in to our catcher. What’s the call blue? Safe of course. We ask why, that sliding is in the rule book. He says he was trying to avoid contact. Say what? He tried to take our catcher out, and succeeded. Again, Billy succumbed to the pressure of the Black and Orange, choking on yet another call in the same game. I asked for an appeal and here came the fans… get a crying towel, crybaby, shut up, you name it. Disgusting.

After both of these calls, our wheels totally fell off as we made mistake after mistake, falling behind 15-10. We went on to lose 15-12, but in the loss, showed a lot of class in front of a terrible group of fans and coaches from the ‘Burg. Their intimidation tactics seemed to work as they now move on to face my alma mater – the Peake. I am once again a Peake fan for tomorrow’s game and hope they are ready to take down the Burg.

It seems that each year I am reminded why I dislike Wheelersburg so much… I have never beaten them and their fans make sure to remind you of that every time you see them, in a very distasteful fashion. I hope our kids take this game with them the next time they play Wheelersburg and be sure to give them back what they just deserve – just one time, beat the ‘Burg.

I like to think of myself as a pretty accomplished DIYer. I love tackling projects around the house and always feel a bit of self-accomplishment when I step back and take a look at my completed work. I am, as many would expect, particularly hard on myself, looking for my own flaws so that I don't make the same mistake the next time. One such project that I was particularly proud of was the shelving that I planned and built at the top of Michael's bedroom walls. He does not have a rectangular bedroom, but instead has more or less 6 wall facings in his room. I was able to build the shelves to fit the top of his room and go around each wall so that he could set trophies, knickknacks, etc. on them.

Well, you should have seen, or heard, what happened last night. I was laying in bed about to drift off to sleep while watching a somewhat boring movie and heard a huge crash. Immediately I knew that one of the kids had not fallen because it was too loud. I was at the door to the bedroom in about 2 seconds flat. I went so fast across the bedroom that I was sliding across the floor to come to a stop. I ripped opened the bedroom door and started calling names to find where the noise came from. Katie didn’t answer and I took a step toward her room when I heard Michael say it’s down here. I flew down the steps saying where. He said something in his room. I was literally out of bed and down the steps and in his room within about 10 seconds.

When I turned on his light, I saw the mess. One section of the shelving above his closet was 6 foot long. Because of the span over his door it was supported by only 2 brackets and 2 smaller screws - the only size screws that would fit in the dumb brackets. I had even tacked them with an air nailer afterwards, but oh well. That part of the shelf had come down. Big time. During the fall, it shattered 2 glass banks, a glass picture frame, tore up his corner baseball shelf, slammed off his computer desk and ripped 2 huge chunks out of the wall.

The noise had scared me to death. I literally had thought that some piece of furniture had toppled over and perhaps onto one of the kids. I shook for 30+ minutes cleaning up all of the glass. What an experience.

What I found had happened was that during the process of hanging the shelving, one of the anchors I had put in to the drywall had went upward at an angle, meaning the weight pushing down on the shelf was pulling that anchor downward, directly out of the wall. And on that same side, the air nailer's nail had hit the drywall and pointed itself straight up in the air, not going in to the drywall.

If the goal of each of my DIY projects is to learn a lesson, I succeeded on this one. Today, it's drywall patchwork time :)

I once thought that if you worked yourself to death when you were young that as time went on, you could begin to take it a bit easier. I have found recently that this is not true in any way shape or form. I find myself today being busier in my career than I have ever been before. In this, there are some incredible opportunities on the horizon that I am pursuing that will make my life better, and myself, personally, happier.

Every time I feel I am getting ahead though, it seems that circumstance upon circumstance continues to be dropped on me at work and I seem to be one of the main people who tries to take up the slack. My colleagues are great as it has to be the hardest working department at Marshall, but even so, we are being swamped. I have always had a hard time telling people no, and it seems to be finally catching up with me. I have had to tell people no lately on several things and some of them just don't seem to understand. They seem to forget all of the times I bent over backwards to help them and go out of my way to do something for them, but now when I just can't do it, they get angry. Or, as what happened to me over the last few days, I asked someone to help me do something simple and they didn't do it. I helped this person with something out of my way a few weeks ago, and I get nothing in return.

Now don't take me wrong, I don't always do something just to get something in return, but when I need help, it truly is nice to call on someone that I have helped in the past to receive some help myself.

I'm not complaining about the work, or my job, trust me as I thoroughly love my job. I love the teaching and love the flexibility of my schedule. However, it's the fact that I can only do so much and feel like I am not getting everything done that I need to be doing. I think one of the main reasons for this is my time management. I go to the office every day for 7-8 hours per day but usually leave feeling like I merely put out fires for the day. I typically take the bulk of my work home and work through the evenings. I guess it's just always been this way. Same with my dad. He appears to be busier now in his life than he has ever been, and he is truly at the age where he could retire at any day.

Maybe some day, hopefully soon, I will learn how to manage my time better.

I haven't posted anything for a while as one, I've simply been too busy, and two, I'm still getting in to blogging. Our area just went through our first major winter storm in quite some time and thankfully, we have power at the house, food to eat, and I have been safe going back and forth to work. I can't say the same about others. After 4.5" of snow and another inch of rain and ice, about half of the people in the Tri-State are without power and many are not expected to have their power restored for up to five days. The kids have been out of school all week and are starting to suffer from cabin fever. I have watched them bond a bit this week with all three laughing and having fun with each other. I have also witnessed them pick at each other and try to make each other upset. Almost every time this happens, some one ends up crying or hurt. I so wish it could always be happy times, but know that it's not humanly possible to be nice 100% of the time.

I truly enjoy the snow, and have wanted to see a huge snow for quite some time, but I can live without the ice. I have always been interested in the weather and hate to see when the predictions for a decent snow are wrong. This time, the snow was beautiful while it fell and afterward for a couple of hours, but then it turned to sleet and ice. This changed our yard to a literal sheet/block of ice. I have never seen anything like it before. I was able to pick up a piece of ice and slide it all the way across the yard and in to the road, like skipping pebbles on a pond, without even leaving a trace on the ice in the yard. The sound that the ice made when walking on it was like smashing a hollow melon. The kids loved it. They too were as much amazed as I was.

This storm allowed me to go back in time, to when I was a kid. I remember vividly snows of the late 70s and early 80s. Real snows. When we would get a foot of snow in a day and my dad would go out and shovel our driveway so that we could get out. The snows were always so bad that they were inevitably followed by floods, sometimes covering our bridge and either flooding us in to the neighborhood for a few days or chasing to my grandmother's for a few days. I remember like it was yesterday dad's truck and how he was always there to help pull people out of ditches with the large chain he kept in the back. I remember how much it hurt him to get rid of his truck as well. I remember going out to play in the snow and coming in to a cup of hot chocolate - Superman hot chocolate. I can still picture those boxes. Thanks mom and dad for memories.

Do they literally make me sick? I think so. I have been sitting here today as miserable as can be, reflecting back on the worst sicknesses I have ever personally experienced. Ironically, the top 3 all happened over Christmas break within the last 9 years. All on the time where I am supposed to be home enjoying my free time from work for 2 weeks a year and playing with the kids.

So am I truly saying that I hate the holidays and that "they" make me sick? Of course not. It's not the holidays, per se, but the time of the year. It has to be the end of the semester stress coupled with the winter season that gets my immune system down and opens me up for everything. I usually get a sinus infection about this time of the year and I could handle that with ease compared to what has me this year.

In 2000, it was the flu.
In 2005, it was shingles.
In 2008, it's pneumonia.

Here's looking ahead to a healthy 2009!

Wow... I used to think that I was a strong-willed guy and that I would never given in to life's addictions. Now of course, I am still on the straight and narrow and not talking about addictions to drugs or alcohol. Lately I have become addicted to Facebook. Never saw that one coming either. I have never been a fan of social networking web sites, but this September, I actually found a use for having a Facebook account and from there it has grown in to an obsession. True, I'm not as addicted as some but do spend my fair share of time on the site.

And another addiction... I have never played a guitar in my life, nor really had an interest in playing a musical instrument other than in 5th grade. However, we bought my oldest son Guitar Hero for his birthday and in the short amount of time we have had it, I have really enjoyed playing it. As a matter of fact, the entire family has gotten in on the music and had a blast. If he can just stay out of trouble and stay ungrounded, we could play even more, battling it out to music I liked as a teen :)

Several years ago when I was contemplating starting a blog, a student of mine suggested that I call my blog the "Angry Professor." I didn't start one then and just a month or so ago, decided I should, but after thinking long and hard about why he suggested that, I decided I should try to explain myself a bit.

For my first blog post, I thought I would share my thoughts about Smashing Pumpkins. No, I am not talking about the musical group, but of course, the rude and senseless process.