Space Station Watch

Last night my family and I saw the International Space Station fly over. It was only visible for a few minutes. It looked like a large star moving quickly across the clear night sky. My family stared in awe at the site.

It's hard to imagine that there are people onboard the Station, floating, working, sleeping and living in space. The Space Shuttle Endeavor just recently docked with the ISS. One of its crew was the civilian teacher from the U.S. Can you imagine the story she has to tell her Science class when she gets home?

My Children

I thought I would spend this afternoon dedicating a blog to my two wonderful children.

1st, my son -- He is a handsome young man of 12 years (almost a teenager, he likes to remind me). He is very bright and is very curious. He wants to be a scientist of some sort, when he gets older, and invent cool things. He is a GT (Gifted & Talented) student who loves to be challenged. He plays trombone in the band. He loves God & Jesus and recently accepted Jesus as his savior and was baptized. He is just starting to try get up in the mornings and do his Bible study with my wife and me. He also can't wait to go on mission trips with the church youth group. He likes to read, especially Spider Man comics, and he loves to write (See his blog -- CmE Domain). He also loves to play his video games. He may not admit it, but he does love his sister. Whenever she is sick or upset about something, he tries to make her laugh or feel better. In fact, it was he who first made my daughter laugh when she was a baby. He works really hard to get my approval (remember I have OCD!), which is tough on him. He does get very frustrated at himself when he doesn't live up to his (and sometimes my) expectations. I pray everyday that he knows I love him no matter what, and he doesn't have to meet my every expectation. He has a very special relationship with my wife. They can talk for hours and that makes me very happy. I love his unique way of looking at life. It makes him special, just the way God wants him to be. He knows how to make me laugh! I love my son so much and I can't be proud enough of him!

2nd, my daughter -- She is a lively young woman of 10 (going on 16!). The teenager in her is already here. Happy and talking your ear off one moment and "hating you" the next. Despite the natural stages of development for a girl her age, she is a "Daddy's Girl"! She even tries to like baseball so she can spend time with me. Yes, she loves her mother too! She loves swimming, takes karate, and occasionally jogs and throws the baseball with me. She loves our dog, Schnitzel, and all animals in general (except for most bugs). She wants to be a veterinarian when she gets older, if she can get over the site of blood. She is good at school and her outgoing personality helps her to make friends easily. She likes to be read to every night and has to "beep" my nose before going to sleep. She may also not admit it, but she does love her brother. Even though she is constantly telling him to stop bugging her, she has been known to take the blame for him, to keep him out of trouble. She is a peacemaker (despite getting her brother in trouble), and doesn't like it when Mom & Dad or her friends are not getting along. She loves music and wants to play either flute or clarinet in band, when she gets a little older. I pity the boys who try to date her...Daddy will be watching to see if they treat her with respect. More than anything she loves, her Jesus! She can't understand why nobody would choose not to love Him as much as she does. I am extremely proud of her and I love my daughter very much.

In case you wondering why I don't say their names; I may just be over cautious, but with all the crazy people in the world, I just don't feel safe putting their names out there on the net. Although if you think about it, if anyone wanted to know about them, they have ways of getting the information anyway. I'm just not going to make it any easier for them.

Good Music with a Splash

A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to one of my favorite radio stations, Encouragement FM -- KVNE, and I called in to play one of their daily trivia games, called "Name that Artist/Band". I won!!! I won a family pack of 4 tickets to Splash Kingdom Waterpark, for a KVNE Listener Fun Night. The park will be open for two special hours tonight (Aug. 23) just for KVNE listeners. My family listens to KVNE daily, especially in the mornings with Mike & Trisha. The kids love "Loving Kids Thursday" where they get to call in requests for music.

We got the tickets in the mail about a week ago and they said VIP Passes. My daughter thinks it is really cool to be considered a Very Important Person. So tonight the most important people in my life and I get to go to one last waterpark adventure before school starts again. I am so blessed that my community has a Christian music station that covers our area, and a waterpark with Christian owners, that supports them.

30 - 3

Oh yea!!! My Texas Rangers defeated the Baltimore Orioles 30-3 to win the first game of a double-header today. That's Right 30-3! If you don't believe me, here is the link (click here)! It was worth the time to post one last little blog before calling it a day.

I don't care if they are in last place right now! I'm just proud of my boys!

Funny Bear Video!!

I saw this video on YouTube.com and just thought it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. I feel bad for the bear but...it is just so funny.

Just click and watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa1pIO4_lUY

Good Teacher Movies

Since I am a teacher, I thought I would list a few of my favorite "Teacher" movies. Some of them actually have to do with teachers and a few are movies that teach lessons I can use in class. Here is my list:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird -- not only my favorite movie, but it shows how you can be a hero without having superpowers. It also tells how you truly can't know a person, "until you've crawled inside their skin and walked around a bit."


2. It's a Wonderful Life -- again not a "teacher movie", but it does teach that you really don't realize how important the impact you have on others lives. It also teaches you don't have be the richest or most powerful person in town to earn and have the respect of the people in it.

3. Mr. Holland's Opus -- in this movie Mr. Holland is a reluctant teacher who over the years grows to love his job and his students, but only in the end does he realize that the musical opus he was attempting to write, was being written out in the lives of his students and the impact he had in their lives.

4. Facing the Giants -- Although steeped in Christian themes, the movie should remind teachers that the students reflect the attitude of their teachers. A bad or stagnant attitude will equal bad or stagnant results. If you change your attitude (and let God have control) the attitude of your students will change for the better as well.

5. 12 Angry Men -- this movie shows the power one person can have when he stands for what he believes in. When done with respect and a desire for the truth, one person can change the thinking of others.

6. Freedom Writers -- a great movie about the power writing has to tell one's story. Every story needs to be heard. In this movie the teacher uses journal writing to help connect students to events in history and literature that relate to the lives her students were currently living. A powerful movie.

7. Stand and Deliver -- another movie that shows that if you raise the expectations of your students you students, they will rise to meet those expectations. If you believe they can do more than they think they can and treat them with respect, like they can do it, they will will do much more than they ever have before.

8. Schindler’s List -- a great movie about how one person can save the lives of many by doing what is right, while facing great evil. It teaches the truth about many facts of the Holocaust and how not all German's were doing the bidding of Hitler and the Nazi's.

9. Hotel Rwanda -- again it teaches how one person can make a difference when standing for what is right against great evils. It is a story that teaches that genocide is still taking place in the world today, and the courage it takes to do the right thing.

10. Moby Dick -- a great movie based on the novel, showing the terrible effects of obsession and revenge, and how they will destroy not only your life, but the lives of those around you as well.

One I have yet to see, but will probably make my list...Anne Frank Remembered.

Honorable Mention: Dead Poets Society, Saving Private Ryan (the first few minutes showing the D-Day invasion), Teachers, Dances With Wolves, Gandhi, Dangerous Minds, and Glory.

For Your Listening Pleasure

I finally learned how to create a playlist on MusicJesus.com to add to my blog. Look at the bottom of my page to see what songs I have added...Enjoy Listening...ME

Tale of the Tape Tuesday

Today is Tuesday and I am searching for something to blog about. I might as well update you on how my exercise plan and attempts at some weight loss are coming along. As far as the Monthly Marathon is concerned; I have walked about 1 mile, if you count mowing the yard several times. I need to do some walking on days I am not swimming. I have been swimming 3 times a week since starting my job and that is exercise. Rather than just float around and play with the kids, I have been swimming laps. I can feel a difference in muscle tone and it has leveled out my weight gain. As far as losing weight; I need to loose about 10 pounds to be at my average weight for my size and age. I do really good during the week about eating right and exercise, but I tend to pig-out on Fridays and gain what 2 or 3 pounds I might have lost, back again. I am going to turn my eating over to God, because I can't seem to shake the craving for meat, lots of meat. I also need to eat more fruits and veggies, but then again don't we all. The fitness center I go to has racquetball courts, I should buy me a new racquet and some balls, and teach the family how to play. Even if I don't play "full-speed" the moving around will be good exercise for me.

Signs of the Times

Over the past few years I have finally had to come to grips that my body is finally catching up to my age. At age 40 I am still young at heart. I like to work in the yard (when its not over 100 degrees out). I like to dance around the house to music I like. I like to swim with the kids and play racquetball (when I get the chance). I am, by all means not an old man! Yet there have been some signs of the aging process, and how I am perceived by the "younger" generation.

The first sign that I was not as young as I thought came to me when I was teaching an 8th Grade class of kids. I was listening to my "80's Music" on my stereo in the room. The kids came into class, and they stopped. They looked at me and told me to "turn off the oldies music." Turn off the oldies music! My music is not oldies...or is it. I thought for a minute and finally figured it out. My parent's generation of music from the 60's was "oldies" to me, twenty years later. That must mean that my music from the 80's is "oldies music" to the 2000's generation. Wow! I listen to oldies music. My parent's music is classic. Hmmmm!

The next step came when was sitting on the floor with my kids and I realized my knees hurt pretty bad when I tried to get up. I'm to young to have knee problems. Still today, my knees get a little cranky with me if I fail to get up and walk them around often.

In college I used to run/jog all the time. It was a requirement for the military and I just liked to run. I would run at least two miles every other day. Earlier this year, my daughter was preparing for her belt-test for karate, which requires a one-mile run. I wanted to help her prepare so I mapped out a one mile course through our neighborhood. We took off one afternoon, and I almost died! I made it through the jog, but it was tough. Not the fun run I had when I was younger.

Finally the weight gain! When I was in college I could eat like a hog, and never gain a pound. But over the past 10 years, I have gained almost 20 pounds. It might not seem like a lot to some, but for me that is huge. I am a small framed fellow, and all the extra weight went right to the gut. Which in turn makes it tough to jog.

Ok, so my body is protesting a little as the years go by, but my mind is still young, and I am only half finished with my life. I plan to live to be 100! So crank up the 80's music and have a good dance!