Braylen camping with his friend Lewis.
Braylen after having a water fight with Dad. Nice hair buddy.
Braylen hanging out with Jodi’s family.
Mom stopping to take a photo with the boys at the zoo.
Braylen the little happy swimmer. He has become a big fan of the water and jumping in!!!
Add comment September 10th, 2007
On Friday I left work with a co-worker a little early to go play a cheap round of golf at a local executive course. When we got there we had a guy approach us and asked if we wanted to join him and another guy to go out with. Well my partner who isn’t really a good golfer seemed a little uncomfortable and we said we would pass because we didn’t want to slow them down.
I usually play with strangers since moving here but again my partner didn’t seem comfortable due to usually having to send out search parties to find way ward shots. Well I’m glad we did decline. After just three holes I saw this guys partner heading back towards the clubhouse which I found odd. Of course the sky was starting to get a little dark as a storm was rolling in which I will talk about in a little bit. So this guy who approached us at the start is now right behind us and we stop at the next hole and told him that he could play through. At this point the guy didn’t look exactly right to me but who am I to judge.
So he hits his tee shot on the par 3 hole and lands his ball within about 10 feet. He then decides to hit another ball which is kind of rude when someone is letting you play through but again we were not in a hurry so it didn’t bother me. So he gets into his cart and drives it right up to the green!!!! Which for you golfers you know is a big no no. So he putts out, gets in his cart and heads to the next hole. We go ahead hit our tee shots and start our drive down the cart path to the green. When we get there we find this guy still on the next tee box and his golf cart behind him stuck in the woods. For some reason this idiot drove his cart around the tee box which again is a big no no and drove it straight into a big ditch. We offer to help him but he says that he will just call the clubhouse and get there help.
He then decides to grab a club and come hit with us on the next hole. At this point I’m ready to punch this weirdo. So he again hits his shot within a couple of feet from the pin. My partner and I hit our shots and he then asks us to drive him to the club house as he is already sitting in the golf cart. So I walk up to the green as my partner drives up to hit his next shot. At this point I decide (being an ex bar employee) that I should take him up to the club house just in case he tries something stupid.
So I finally get this knuckle head up there and didn’t see him after that. My best guess is he was doing some kind of drugs and drove his cart behind the tee box so no one would see him, but he was to smashed to see the huge drop off.
The day only got worse as that storm I mentioned started to roll in as we kept on playing. As it turned out we ended getting caught in the middle of what felt like a tornado and struggled just to get to the club house. It took my stuff almost two days to dry out.
I went on to play yet another round on Sunday afternoon with my golf buddy Frank. Frank is about 5-6 strokes better then me which isn’t saying a whole lot but he is a pretty good golfer. Frank starts out shooting par on the first 5 holes, which is not easy to do by any stretch. I also go out and have one of my best front nine shooting 45 (usually I’m around 48-51). As we came up hole 9 the skies opened up and started to pour. So Frank and I were not about ready to call it a day and sat around for some time waiting for the rain to stop.
After about 45 minutes the rain stopped and we headed out to the 10th tee. Right after we made it to our shots to hit again a couple huge bolts of lighting came crashing down. So we turned around and headed back. After 20 more minutes and nothing else happening we tried again. Once again after getting to our next shot the skies opened up again and started to pour. So it was just not going to be our day. I went back yesterday after work to finish my round and shot a 94 total which beat my best by one stroke.
So all in all a very interesting weekend of golf and rain. But of course being a guy it was all worth it with shooting my best score.
Add comment August 28th, 2007
With Barry Bonds only one homerun away from one of the greatest baseball records, there has been a lot of debate of the use of steroids. First let me say that I think Bonds breaking the record is terrible and I just wish they could find him guilty of using steriods in some way shape or form. But as I thought of how wrong this is and steriod use in general, in made me start to think. Don’t atheletes cheat on a regular basis in some way or another???
How often do you see a basketball player take a small bump and flop to the floor like he just took a punch from Mike Tyson? How often do you see a wide receiver catch a ball on a bounce and try to play it off like it didn’t happen, or watch a running back crawl for an extra yard after being tackled? Watch a major league baseball catcher on every pitch that is not in the strike zone as they try to move their glove after the catch. I won’t even start on the world of cycling….
I think you get the point and can name many other minor acts of cheating that go on in sports all the time. So my question is when do we as fans denounce an athlete or call him a cheat? When do we as “fans” say hey that athlete is cheating and we want it stopped? Does the cheat or way of cheating have to effect the outcome of a game, break a record, or cause something else major to happen for us to cry foul? Does is depend on who the player is?
Take for example the pitcher who gave up homerun #755 to Bonds he DID test positive for steriods and was suspended for a time. Did we spend month after month crying foul about this guy? Heck I didn’t even know or remember who this guy was and if he did or didn’t test positive.
There is a quote I have heard made by a couple of people in the NASCAR world, including former drivers “Everyone cheats its just a matter of who gets caught”
Your thoughts???????????
6 comments August 7th, 2007
As many of you know the one thing that I have been doing a lot of down here besides missing my family is golfing. I signed up to a website called lastminutegolfer.com. On this site along with getting some good rates on golfing you can set up a profile and meet other golfers in your area. So I decided when I signed up a few months ago to build a profile to help meet some new people. I had a couple of goals in mind with this, not only was I hoping to meet some people to play golf with but to find some families that Jodi and I would have something in common with. I typically look at people’s profile that are around my same age or older / married and have kids if they state that.
I have had some success with meeting a couple of really nice people on this site but I have to say that I have really made a good friend with “Frank”. Frank is a 52 year old married man with a couple of kids I think who works for one of the local school districts as some kind of PR role. Frank has a group that he golfs with weekly (Dave, Jim). I golfed with the three of them about 2 months ago and found myself right at home with this group. They made me feel as part of the group and like me love to golf but don’t take it so seriously. They are more out to have a great time then to shoot par and trying to become a professional. I got the chance to play with Frank, and Jim on Saturday at a golf course that they are members at. Just like the time before I had a great time with them and hopefully my time between rounds with them is much shorter then the last time. I started out playing like junk and shot a 55 on the front but got it together on the back for a 46 to finish with a 101.
Add comment August 6th, 2007
As I have talked to some of you in the past the type of rain storms that happen down here are nothing like back home. When it rains…..IT RAINS. It is the kind of rain that we might see once or twice up north each season. There is no such thing as an all day soaking kind of rain.
Well along with the rain the lightning seems to also be a little more intense. Last night a storm rolled through around 10PM and came with some loud BOOMS!!! I was watching the news this morning and 4 homes in my county were struck by lightning from this storm. WOW that is a lot for a 30 minute storm. A week ago another nasty storm rolled through and that was one of the first times I was nervous about a storm when I was indoors.
I am surronded by a lot of trees and I have this fear of living in an apartment of something happening to another unit that spreads to mine. There had to be as many as 12-14 crashes that I swear hit with 100 yards of my place. Each time dozens of car alarms sounded. But just as fast as they come into town, they leave.
This might help decided on buying a ranch instead of a colonial!!!!!! Stay closer to the ground.
1 comment July 26th, 2007
Well I came to realize something while I was on my last visit home to Michigan this past week. I thought I was well on my way to getting over the heartache of moving out of our Michigan home and relocating in Georgia. But as we had what will most likely be our last big party at our Michigan house (Braylen’s B-Day) I had this sick type feeling in my stomach about our house. What I came to understand is that I wasn’t really getting over the move but that I had this false security with Jodi and Braylen still calling Michigan home. Of course I still have a empty feeling about not being close to the family but I thought I was getting over the house move.
Something else that has started to become a big problem for me in Georgia. I CAN’T GET A GOOD NIGHT SLEEP!!!!! I have always had a rough time with sleep on Sunday nights due to thinking about the upcoming work week. But over the past month or so I find myself more and more struggling to get a good night sleep. It will take me some nights about 2-3 hours to fall asleep. Usually I can fall asleep in about 15 minutes but not now. I find myself just having my mind wander about work, the whole Georgia situation, and of course my family back home. Yesterday I got up early went to church, headed into work for a few hours. I then went home for a little bit and thought that I needed to keep busy so I wouldn’t get down about not being home. So I went to the local Par 3 golf course and played a round after sitting out a 30 minute Georgia downpour. When I got back to the apartment I had some dinner, cleaned up the apartment, and talked to Jodi until about 9:15PM. I went to bed around 10PM and tossed and turned for 2 hours. I finally got out of bed and tried reading a book for about 30 minutes. I still had no luck falling asleep and got up again and watched some TV. Well as it turned out I tried one more time to fall asleep and was no successful. So as of 7:00AM this morning, I have not had any sleep since Sunday morning at 6:00AM.
Its going to be a long day today.
Add comment July 16th, 2007
As I think most of you are aware, I’m heading to Myrtle Beach next week on Wed. to take part in a company / vendor golf trip. This group of people have been going over the past 9 years. Our main supplier Rockwell Automation will have about 12 people there and the other 12 will be Mac & Mac people. I was asked by my Big Boss a few months ago which I was very shocked. This will be a good oppurtunity for me to meet some higher up people and rub elbows with a group that I typically don’t get access to. The other good thing is when your outside of work you seem to learn more and find out more then when your actually there. So hopefully that will remain true next week.
We are going to be playing golf on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Here are a few pictures for the golf courses that we are going to be playing. Each day will equal a new course.
I have been doing a fair share of practicing for this trip with going golfing and to the ranges. I just want to make sure that I play to my normal level of about a 32 handicap and not to make a fool of myself. I played last Sunday at a very nice course just south of Atlanta (Thats right I finally traveled past the airport) and shot my normal 104. But with that said this course was very challenging and I missed some very easy putts. So for me to shot a 104 on this type of course is a good sign.
1 comment May 11th, 2007
I just wanted to thank my brother Todd for answering my call for help this past Sunday. When Jodi left to come down to Georgia she had set up an open house for the the weekend when she would be back. Well when she left the grass was still not really even green. But when she did make her way back home she was surprised to see the grass and dandelions had taken off. She didn’t know what to do and we didn’t seem to have any options.
So I thought I would give Todd a call to see if he was around. Todd without hesitation jump into his car and headed over to cut the grass and get us out of a big jam. Thanks a lot Todd your were a life saver.
Also I wanted to thank Aunt Angie for taking Braylen to the zoo on Monday. Braylen always has a hard time getting back into the swing of things when he comes back from Georgia. A trip to the zoo seemed to do him very good. When I talked to Braylen yesterday he sounded like he had a really good time. Hopefully he wasn’t to much of a handful for you. I give you a lot of credit for taking him and Jordan together by yourself to such a big place like the zoo.
Thanks again to the both of you!!!!!!
1 comment May 8th, 2007
Well Jodi and Braylen arrived very early Saturday morning. They tried taking the first flight out of Michigan at 6:45AM. Jodi told me as they were getting on the plane the pilot asked Braylen if he wanted to come fly the plane? So he walked into the cockpit sat down in the chair, put on the captain’s hat and started to “pretend” fly the plane with the captain. Jodi did get a couple of pictures but we don’t have them downloaded yet. Jodi and I both agree that Delta is such a great airline and this gesture to Braylen really put the icing on the cake.
So when they finally reached Atlanta it seemed to be our fastest grab and go as our luggage was already on the carousel when we got there. I was so surprised at how fast we were getting our stuff that Braylen and I started heading for the door as Jodi was yelling HEY we have to get the car seat!!!! When we got settled into the apartment Braylen and I played for a little bit before Jodi and him took a 4 hour nap. Once they both woke up and we had some lunch, Braylen and I headed to a park as Jodi was going to do some shopping at the Forum. The park that we went to is a very nice park that has the Chattahocee River running down the back of it. Well after running around for awhile, Braylen wanted to head down by the river.
This river has a lot of big rocks that you can stand on and jump from rock to rock. Braylen didn’t hesitate, sat down told me he wanted to go in and started taking off his shoes. So of course I followed his lead and prepared to get wet. Braylen did a great job getting around the rocks and I was very proud of his confidence in trying this. We had the most fun as I picked up rocks that he would toss “Splash” in the water. We did this for a good 35 minutes. It was a great father son bonding activity. So after we got done playing in the water we headed back to the park, but that wouldn’t last long because little guy wanted to go back down by the water. This time we went down another way where a couple was standing by a log in the water. The man asked if Braylen wanted to stand on the log, and he said yes. So there Braylen is standing on this log watching a couple of men fly fish. Braylen finds this long stick that is floating in the water and starts to pretend to fish as well. Everyone just starting laughing, it was very cute. Well the great moment came to a sudden end when Braylen slipped off the log and fell into the water.
I scooped him up as quickly as I could but he was already soaked from head to toe. So we called Momma to come pick us up. Braylen was crying and telling me that Momma was going to be angry at him for getting wet, which I told him it was only an accident and she wouldn’t be mad. As we headed to the front of the park I slowly started pulling off his wet clothes. By the time Jodi got there he was just in his diaper and shirt. Of course Momma wasn’t mad at him which really calmed him down as he started to show her his new fishing rod.
So after we went home and got changed we headed to Pizza Hut for some pizza. The first night ended without much more activity except for me spending 40 minutes trying to get him to go potty which didn’t happen. The next morning we all woke up and got ourselves ready for church. Church was going to be a little different this time as the childrens choir was going to perform their spring concert. Jodi and I were very impressed with these kids as they did a wonderful job, and I actually found it very entertaining. Braylen was a bit of a handful this time around and as soon as we took communion we headed out.
The next stop for us was Monkey Joe’s were Braylen could get some of his energy out. So we spent about an hour and a half there until it was time to leave so Braylen could go take a nap and we could head to our next activity. Our next stop was the North Georgia outlet mall. On the way into the outlets we passed a small play area inside one of the courtyards and Braylen just had to go there. But we had to try to get new shoes for him which was a bit of a struggle as Braylen was just focused on the play area.
After we got him some shoes him and I headed to the park as Jodi continued to shop. Jodi told me that she was going into the Gap which I did not hear, or didn’t remember her saying. After about 15 minutes in the crowded play area Braylen and I started down the courtyard to find Jodi. We spent about 15 minutes looking for her and I started to get worried that we lost her. So I thought maybe we should just head back to the park because if we are both moving odds are we won’t find each other. As Braylen went back into play I kept my head on a swivel looking for Jodi, along with a payphone. I started to think that I need to ask someone if I could borrow their cell phone since I forgot mine at home. Well as I continued to worry Jodi came out of the Gap which was actually right next to the park!!!! BOY WAS I RELIEVED to see her. Braylen really enjoyed playing at the park the second time as there were a few less kids and he actually was playing with 2 or 3 other little boys.
It took me a few minutes to get him down off the equipment but I told him that we can’t lose momma again and its time to go. So after chasing him around a few stores (meaning he hit his wall) we started our journey back home. In the car Braylen was very slap happy and was making me laugh the rest of the way home as we just acted very silly making momma just shake her head and giggle at us. Once we got home, we ate some dinner, I gave Braylen a bath and we called it a night.
This morning Braylen was excited about his new shoes that have lights on the side and light up when he walks and jumps. He seemed to have no problem with going into daycare and hopefully today will be a good day for him there.
Add comment April 30th, 2007
On Sunday morning when we woke up Jodi asked me if we wanted to go to church. We discussed the service hours and what would be best for Braylen. So we decided on the 9:30 service and headed out the door around 8:50. We wanted to get there a little early because they have daycare there for little ones. So we wanted Braylen to get comfortable and feel relaxed before Jodi and I went to Church. We started by talking with one of the Church council members who gave us a rundown of what the age groups were the schools and daycare. We then took Braylen into the Church to show him where we were going to be and for him to see how pretty it is. After that we took him down to the daycare to meet Ms. Joni. Of course Braylen was being very shy and pretty much stayed in my lap. Ms. Joni suggested that maybe he should take one of the toys out of daycare and go into Church and if he wanted to come back that he could. So if you hadn’t already guessed Braylen grabbed a race car and we headed into Church.
Once we got inside we dropped mom off in a pew and Braylen and I headed back out to walk around being that Church wasn’t going to start for another 15 minutes. Jodi and I didn’t think that Braylen would last very long in Church but we thought we would try. Church started with the choir and the small 12 piece orchestra. This got Braylen’s attention and he really seemed to like the music, in fact he was trying to sing along. As church went on he was doing really good but got a little fussy during the sermon. He told Jodi that he wanted to go see Ms. Joni so they headed back to the daycare. They returned only 5 minutes later together. By then the sermon was wrapping up and back to singing and music.
It had come time for communion and I told Braylen that I was going to take him up there with me and that the Pastor was going to bless him. He was fine with it and we headed down the aisle. When it was our turn Pastor Dave gave me communion and talked with Braylen for a few seconds and blessed him. Braylen followed that up with one of his famous Braylen moments. He says really loud to Pastor Dave……..”I LOVE CHURCH” Which he found very cute and carried over his microphone for the Church to hear. Jodi and I just died laughing and headed back to our seats. So church wrapped up with one more song which Braylen try again to sing along with. After church let out we headed back to the daycare room so Braylen could say goodbye to Ms. Joni and give him another chance to get comfortable in there.
Jodi and I were very proud of Braylen that he made it through Church like a big boy without any trouble. He really seemed to understand how to act in Church and did a pretty good job at whispering and saying that he is a big boy. So hopefully next time Jodi and Braylen are down here we will give Church another try since Braylen LOVES CHURCH!!!
Add comment March 19th, 2007
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