Training Camp

Those magical words that bring joy to a young man's heart. (And us middle aged guys too.) The end of the dryest desert part of the year: off-season. The beginning of a new NFL season. The time of renewed optimisim. The failures of the prior season are all forgotten. The hope of what the new season will bring is hanging in the air.

My beloved Cowboys start training camp tomorrow. They begin their quest to reach Super Bowl XL. (For those of you that are Roman numerical challenged that's 40, NOT extra large!) The offseason has been good to the 'Boys. Many new players have come their way. Good players. Talented players. Others have departed. (Vinny's gone, but not soon enough.) But yet, questions remain. How will the 3-4 defense work out? Will Bledsoe be a winner? Can Julius do it for a full season? Has Jerry Jones lost any more weight?

I've only got one thing left to say: Are you ready for some football?

When the daughter's away, the parents will play

The lack of updates since last week has been due to the living of a very awesome life this past week.

MearBear's birthday kept us busy last Friday and then I took her shopping on Saturday so she could cash in her Limited Too & Claire's gift cards. Sunday was church and then we dropped her off at camp for the week. On the way back from camp I got lost and the Otey's & McDaniel's got lost too as they were following us. Not sure why an engineer and a graphic designer would let a CPA lead the way. :)

Sunday night was dinner & a movie with friends who had likewise dropped their children off at camp. The funniest part was the Meachem's lining up a baby sitter at the last minute and joining us at the movie. Did you know that Jennifer Meachem's laugh is very recognizeable in a darkened theater?

Monday night Michele and I went to see Revenge of the Sith. 2nd time for me, 1st for her. Tue night we watched Sideways. Don't ask. (It was a dumb movie.) Wed I took the day off and pulled the following surprises on Michele: Amon Carter museum, lunch at the Kimball, dinner at Del Frisco's, the musical Godspell at Bass Hall. Thur was vegging out day and then going to ISCC to watch Meredith sing in the talent show. And now it's today.

Bye.

Happy Birthday, Meredith

Today our daughter, Meredith, turns 10 years old. She now moves from the single digit ages to double digits.

We're so proud of the young lady she has become. It's been a joy to watch her grow the last 10 years. Grow in size, grow in spirit, and grow in maturity. It's also gone way too fast! We love you so much, MearBear.

Happy Birthday!

Meredith-July 2005

Meredith-July 1995

Supreme Court

I'm not a big "politics" guy, but a news story caught my eye today and got me thinking.

This story on Fox News made me curious about the future of the Supreme Court. I know that the original woman is cruising, and it looks like Rehnquist has serious health issues. Will he leave or die before the end of Bush's term as President? If so, then George W. could end up appointing 2 Supreme Court justices. To me that is big! That's like almost 1/4 of the folks on the court. And since the President is a conservative Christian I would assume he would appoint the same type of person to the Court. And this could then affect the decisions of the Court for at least a couple of generations.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

So ends this month's political thought by KH.

For all those who are having a bad day . . .

It can always be worse

Meredith's 10th Birthday Party

Movie Weekend

Meredith went to Kid's Road Map this weekend which left Michele and I all alone. This allowed me to catch up on some of the summer movies that I had missed the last couple of weeks. First up was Bewitched on Friday night. OK. I know. It's got witchcraft in it, but it's based on the '70s sitcom. I'm a '70s/'80s guy. I had to see it. Michele and I both liked it. It was not laugh out loud funny very much, but it was good.

Saturday morning was Fantastic Four. Michele passed on that one, which was her loss as she missed an excellent movie. I liked the plot, the action scenes, and of course the special effects were great. A definite DVD purchase this holiday season.

As will be the last movie we saw, which was War of the Worlds on Sat afternoon. Michele said it was "very good" which for her is high praise for a summer blockbuster. And I thought it was awesome! You were pretty much on the edge of your seat from the get go. More great special effects and Cruise does a good job in the acting dept. I would even be up for seeing it again this summer. How 'bout it Jim? I'm free next Tue night . . .

When MearBear goes to camp next weekend I will be taking Michele to see Revenge of the Sith. I saw it on opening day and will be anxious to see what she thinks of it. I'll post her impressions afterwards.

July 7 Sno Cone Club Meeting

Goooo Cone Heads!

Yummy!

Self portrait-Sno Cone style

The kids of Sno Cone Club

The Official Sno Cone Club Mascot-Mister Baggins

4th of July Holiday

We enjoyed a great 4 day weekend since I took off from work on the 5th. On Sat & Sun we were at Michele's father's house in Eustace, Texas. He lives in a lakeside community outside of any city limits-so that means one thing to this boy on 4th of July weekend. Fireworks! On Saturday night we went down by the lake and shot off our fireworks as well as watching as others shot off theirs all across the lake. As a bonus God provided his own fireworks courtesy of a lightning storm in the gathering clouds overhead.

On Sunday we went out on the lake in a barge with various aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. and then came back home Sunday night.

On Monday the 4th I made last minute plans for us to attend the Fort Worth Cats baseball game and then watch the fireworks afterwards. See the pictures above. It was our first experience at a Cats game. It was a very nice facility and the fireworks were great. We were so close to them they literally filled up the sky.

We all slept very late the next morning on the 5th, which is why I wanted to take the day off. Then we just vegged out, enjoying the freedoms that this great nation of ours has to offer.

Independence Day

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."

"We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states . . ."

Selected text from the Declaration of Independence courtesy of this website.

I pledge allegience to Willie and the flag . . .

Limp Willie's New Canopy