While Tom Brady was being interviewed today it made me think...And here is what I thought.

If you want to be succesful, if you want to be taken seriously, if you want respect you need to see yourself those ways. What is the first thing you thought when you saw the picture of Brady? The thing I thought was 'man it would be cool to look like that and be able to dress like that'. He gets to look like that and dress like that because that is the way he sees himself. He looks like someone that is taken seriously because he sees himself that way. He sees himself as successful so he dresses successfully. I think this applies to all area's of life. 

I want to be taken seriously and be professional, so I need to present myself that way. If I do see myself as being professional without first being professional it won't work, I have to act that way also. However, if I see myself as being professional and act professional then others will see me that way also. When that happens, when I change the way I am perceived, then I will walk out my self image. I don't think people esteem themselves highly enough and therefore neither do others. As a result we walk out our lives as underachievers, I don't want to be an underachiever. I plan on being successful so to some extent I need to change how I am perceived by first seeing myself differently and then changing my actions. Anyway, these were my thoughts.

Good Night.

So...here is how it all shakes out. My manager is leaving, my Assistant Manager is staying. Me and the other two sales staff people are switching stores, yes I am going back to my old store. The other Store Manager is coming to our store, the other Assistant is being promoted, and that sales staff is coming to our store. I will have two months or so to prove myself and apply for the Assistant Manager position at the new store. There isn't any guarantee or anything that I would get it but my Regional Manager said that we are opening a new store before my current store moves and it is possible that I could end up on that management team. Lot's of changes, little time. Apparently I will be going back to my old store starting either Monday or Tuesday...

So there you have it...The work puzzle has been figured out.

This week I had two interviews (one interview per company, so two companies) we will call the job's Job A and Job B. Job A interview was on Monday and Job B interview was today, both were sales positions, Job A was inside, Job B was outside. Both interviews went ok, however, neither one are locks even though they could/should be (Job A more so than Job B).

At the end of the first interview (Job A) the guy was telling me that I hurt myself with not being more flexible. My goal, however, wasn't to get a job with that particular company, my goal was to get a certain job at a certain location with that company (well kind of, I am still not sure if I would actually take the job or not, even if offered). Interesting side note before I go on, I have determined that if this company doesn't offer me a job (that I may not take anyway) that they would be complete morons (which I know isn't very nice, sorry) for this reason: I was actually asking the interviewer what type of numbers I would have to put up in order to go to President's Club. This is a huge sign of confidence as well as a sign of very top interviewing skills that a candidate would even want to know how hard it would be, rather than just being something to aspire to. Without coming out and saying it, I was essentially saying I know I am going to be there, I just want to know how difficult it will be, talk about confidence!!! (This was not done on purpose or because I have mad interviewing skills, but more because I just wanted to know, which after thinking about it, is the most impressive part about my interview). 

At the end of the second interview (B) the lady and I never talked about salary, benefits, or really anything else specific. It seemed like she was intrigued with me due to the fact I had been referred to her and that I was interviewing for a position that I had no experience in, as well as no college education in that field (marketing/advertising). Even with that being the case she still wanted to interview me and take me on a tour of the entire building. I really don't know what her fascination was with me unless she was just blown away at my answers to questions and really wants to see if I can hack it. Both people told me that they would get into contact with me within two weeks, both were interviewing candidates all week, at least 7-8 more people, and they would let me know. 

To most people those interviews don't sound to inspiring...it's a good thing you don't know the rest of the situation then huh? Job A (the Monday interview) was the result of an ex co-worker calling me and asking me if I would like to work with him at his new company (were he is a manager, but would not be my manager). Job B (today's interview) was the result of me helping a customer out and then finding out where this person worked, that person referring me to her boss (talking to her boss while I helped her in my store as a matter of fact) and sending her boss my resume. The hiring manager for Job B, I found out, is the aunt of another former co-worker, who when I saw him he asked 'Are you applying for a job with Job B?' To which I was completely dumbfounded (since I hadn't seen that person in months and had not told him I had applied). Two very crazy circumstances huh?

Before we go too much farther I need to back up and give more background information and then we will zoom past the interviews for a moment. While I am constantly looking for better opportunities, these are my first interviews in a while and both of them provide very good unique benefits as well as very unique obstacles in actually accepting the positions. I had been very excited for both opportunities for a while, when Tuesday after my phone interview for Job B, I just really felt that it wasn't the right time for a change. Besides the fact that I am looking to move (I am always looking to move) something says to just wait. Instead of canceling my interview for Wednesday I went ahead with it because hey, you always need practice right? And no need to burn bridges and no one ever said I was going to get the position anyways. If I did get it I could tell the interviewer that I appreciate the opportunity but that I had several offers (hopefully) and I am going to go in a different direction. After coming home from the interview (B) and getting on the computer for a bit I found out some very interesting news...My manager put in his two weeks notice yesterday, how crazy is that?

What does this mean? I don't know (besides the fact that in two weeks my current manager will no longer be employed by my company), I really don't know if I want to do management, it would be a title (who cares?) and a higher base pay rate, however, it would probably be a lower commission check due to...lots of factors at our store. I know for a fact my Assistant Manager didn't get a commissions check last month and mine was quite nice (actually kind of low for me) but it is usually double or more of my monthly take home (which is how I actually make money working for Sprint). Let's look at possible scenarios, they promote my Assistant Manager to Manager, thus keeping continuity in the store (and thus assuring that our store never hits our quotas, ever). Then they look for an Assistant, they look to me because of my seniority and abilities. Or they could bring in a new head guy and then leave everyone where they are, and lastly they could promote from another store. I don't think our Assistant is ready for management yet, this is his first Assistant job and he hasn't been on it very long...and he hasn't really proved anything either...either way. This strategy doesn't make a lot of sense to then promote me also, who has no management experience; however, stranger decisions have been made. 

What is most likely? They hire an outside manager who then comes in and has to learn everything again, and we are put in a position that could get better or worse. I tell you what, I am not up for another go around of a lazy manager who comes in and does nothing. On the other hand, if they hire a psycho then I am gone as well. If they promote the guy from the other store locally...it is time to move on. I really don't think I am up for management; a lot of things would have to fall into place for that to work, I just can't see it happening. Realistically they would have to bring in a completely new manager, with the current Assistant stepping aside and then for me and the new manager to be absolutely on the same page. Chances of that happening are probably about 1000:1. Things could change, but for the next few weeks/months it will be interesting to see what transpires. I just had a completely random thought, this better not effect vacation time for me in October!!!

Today I was listening to a song by Toby Mac and some of the background singers said something about being people of peace. This in and of itself isn't such a big deal, and I don't necessarily think that they meant anything in particular about it other than just having something to sing in the background, but I decided to write a blog about the purposes' and roles of peace in a Christians life. This blog isn't going to be very long though, here goes.

When the Bible or Christ talk about peace they are not talking about peace with nations or the absence of war. They are talking about being at peace with God as a person, and peace between you and me or peace between you and your neighbor. Neither the Bible nor Christ were talking about peace externally (though maintaining peace even amongst chaotic external conditions is important) being at peace emotionally and through Christ is what is necessary.

While I was at work the other day I found out that the bank that we deposit our money at everyday, had been robbed, oh, I would say, about three days prior. Not only that, but my manager had been at the bank a mere 10 minutes prior to the robbery, how crazy is that?!?!?! So, naturally I had to take the deposit to the bank a day later and guess who I saw at the bank? No other than a Mr. South Bend Police Officer (I thought you have to be kidding, what is he doing here? j/k) Anyway, I know some will worry (though there is no need to), I thought that this was an interesting story and I wanted to share it none the less. If I wanted to scare people I would tell them about the death threats I receive over the phone at Sprint!!! But that story is for another time. Be good to your cell phone sales reps folks, see what we have to put up with?

A while ago I wrote about all of the water problems that happened to our house...now we are getting them fixed. Today we had our contractor over and he will be starting tomorrow. Tonight we went to Lowe's to pick paint colors and carpet color and style as well as flooring for the kitchen. It feels pretty good to have everything finished and to know once we are done then our house will be so much more...well it will be a lot nicer. My sister Dana was with us and my cuz Jeff was with us tonight as well as last night, so...props to them. By then end of the week we could be living in a completely new house. Should be lots of fun. Once it's done we will puts up lots of before and after pictures for ya.

Today I finally sold two rental houses that I have been dealing with for...quite a while!!! There is a really, really, really, really, really (well you get the idea) long blog in there someday about my many experiences with my rentals, but I will save that for a day when I want to humiliate myself and make everyone laugh. Actually I will save it for my book :)

So anyway here is the long and short of it (actually only the short). I listed three of my 6 rental properties for sale (there is a trivia for ya, how many people new I owned rental properties, how many of you knew at one time I owned 7 of them?) and through many obstacles along the way (including our closing date changing at least 3-4 times) and one of my houses apparently selling without me selling it (once, no really) and then getting that worked out, I finally sold them today. I had to work all day, but closing doesn't take long so I had someone cover me for an hour while I would be gone...except it was an hour and a half before we even started. Once we started it took about 20 minutes and then ONLY another 30 minutes for them to make copies of everything. In end the guy who bought them thought he was getting a good deal and I definitely thought I got a good deal. How many time do you hear of someone selling a property for less than they owe on it, not paying closing costs, not paying commission for the realtor, and not bringing money to closing? Plus I got rid of a problem house? I am guessing you don't hear of it to often.

Here is the interesting thing though you know how I said I listed 3 houses? Well I only sold two, bummer huh? But I still have 3 houses for sale, bummer number two huh? Hopefully I will sell the other 3 very soon and then list and sell my personal residence so I can then move to Florida, wouldn't that be great...living in Florida? I know, I can't wait.

So tonight Autumn and I watched Catch & Release...Which mid-way through people may think that it's depressing (which it definitely could be) and disappointing (the story) and felt as though they had already seen the movie since most of the trailer happens in the first 10 min or so of the movie...But then, it goes down hill from there. Typical guy girl stories, but these ones are more real life than typical movie stories. This story is all about people hurting others by what they say and what they do...Autumn says it was kinda sexual, which I didn't notice because I was busy feeling sorry for the guy that was too good for the girl that was too good for another guy who ultimately was much better than anyone thought (and I must say I kinda predicted it about half way through). By the way (spoiler warning) the girl we all thought was great (but not good enough for the one guy) ends up being with a guy that was not good enough for anyone (not even the girl that was portrayed as scummy, though he was somewhat close to being good enough for her). But here we are thinking we are watching a good movie, the directors thinking they are directing a good movie, and the actors thinking they were acting a good movie, but all were wrong. It was a bad movie, and why? Because it was real life stories all over again, people making Romeo and Juliet mistakes (not the same ones, but the same type of mistakes, namely stupid ones), and because the movie tells us that scummy guy and supposedly good girl that's not good enough for a guy (maybe not dead guy either) get together and we (the audience) are suppose to be happy about it. But we are not happy about it...we are definitely not happy about it. And to show we are not happy about it, we will blog about it. And the movie stinks!

This week has been good and bad...David is out and we are spending allot of time together, which is good; I am on a 3 out of 4 days off from work deal, which is good; I am getting a new phone for Autumn and am very excited about that, which is good; I am having my worst sales month in my Sprint history, which is very bad; They are implementing new (read: stupid) rules at work, which is bad; and so the story goes.

This weekend we are going to be spending allot of time in Goshen going to the Elkhart county fair. We are going to the rodeo and the demolition derby...Which definitely makes me sound like a hick! However, I am not into hick things, this is just a family tradition that we grew up doing as a family...Which makes me sound even MORE HICK! Ok, ok, so I grew up in Indiana...I refuse to be a hick by association, which brings me to my next though. It's time to move.

It has been a nice weekend, first I got off around 5 on Friday and went to a softball game double header (In which I got a hit or walk in every at-bat). Then we headed for the Frey household Friday night late. We spent the night and went to a family get together where we had grilled chicken that was absolutely amazing, then we went back to the Frey house again to spend the night. Today I went to work, got off at 5 and then went home to have taco's...can't get much better than that. The only down side to the weekend (and hence the title of my blog only the weekend instead of good weekend or something similar) is that my phone went out completly, that's right folks, my phone no longer does anything that you would expect a phone to do. This includes things like make calls, text, internet, or voicemail. What can I do? Everything else (my phone is a PDA), which doesn't do me a whole lotta good. I am working on getting it swapped, but it's still a disappointment. Anyway, for a while I will be disconnected from the world...oh well. Moving on I guess. Have a good day.

There was a comic on TV last night who said he got dumped on April Fool's Day, he said it was really confusing. He said it's kinda like walking in on your dad wearing a dress, you think it's a joke...but it's not. It's real. And then you cry.

I thought it was really funny, and wanted to share.

I can't believe I am doing this, my site is no where near where it needs to be in order to be functional, but I would like people's thoughts on it, I encourage all of you to go check it out.  You can find my site at myChristianConnection.org hopefully you like it.  Just so everyone knows and understands...there will definitely be errors on the site, probably most of them I know about, some that won't be fixed immediately only because I don't have much time to work on it, and some because I am still new.  As it gets better I will let everyone know and then you can all begin sharing it with friends, co-workers, and Church members and then hopefully the site will grow.

I encourage you to go ahead and sign up and register on the site so that you will be able to visit the forums on the site.  There is a forum titled site feedback, if there are errors and stuff I encourage you to leave the info in the forum and not on this site or my email box, only in the forum on the site please.  Please feel free to disregard the forum thread titles and such and just go ahead and try them out as I am looking forward to seeing how they respond.  That's all for now...Later.

P.S. I haven't remembered my funny post yet...I don't know if I will at this point, let's hope so, it would have been super funny.

So today I had these customers, right?  The kind that have been hounding me for a long time.  They call me on my personal cell phone (like I don't have a life...and the store doesn't have a number) all the time.  I even saw them outside of work once and it was the same thing...Why isn't my phone working?  So today, after getting to the point that I can take it no longer, I give in.  So  I make the necessary arrangements and got some phones together to swap their (broken???) phone.  So I am suppose to get off at 5pm (the earliest time in weeks, maybe months) and they call me and are like, 'Matt are you still at the store?' So I said yea but I am suppose to be leaving now, how can I help you?  And they are like hey, we are just down the street (yea, uh huh...) can you wait on us?  So I stand around...forever!...and then when they finally arrive they have no CLUE about what phone they want...At this point I am FREAKING OUT!!!  Just decide all really, gosh!  So they finally decide and I give them the phone and they are like, 'Aren't you going to transfer our numbers?'  And I was like, sure I could but...YOU NEVER ASKED ME TO!!!  Again, FREAKING OUT!!!  Oh yea, I almost forgot, their kid wouldn't stop running around, pulling all of our stuff off the pegs, and yelling as loud as she could.  I was like, 'Can you make her stop there are other customers in the store?', and they are like 'isn't she cute?' to each other, GAG!!!  So yea, they finally left around 6PM, SHEESH!!!  That's my funny work stories Part 2.         

To my sister, brother in law, and niece.  
P.S.  This post was a joke.

My brother is currently doing an internship (in Hawaii) and while he is gone he has been blogging...he is a pretty good writer and seems to lay out his thoughts very well.  Recently he blogged about the idea of coincidences...and it seems that in Christian circles many people don't believe that they exist.  Anyway I posted a comment on his blog (found here, the Coincidences blog is here), and then he did a follow up blog titled coincidences part 2 (found here)and I really wanted to post a follow up in response to his thoughts, so that's what I am doing.  I want to preface this with a statement, I am by no means bashing (or attempting to bash these beliefs or statements, only to respond to them).  I may end up posting a couple different posts to thoroughly explain myself, however I haven't decided on that for sure.  Here goes...

When I started to really build a relationship with Jesus (not merely religion anymore) things started happening in my life that never before happened.  Allot of things sort of fell into place so to speak.  But this wasn't just bingo follow Jesus and have a great life, this was a relationship.  As a result of my relationship with Him I would daily surrender to Him, I would pray that He would guide my path, and I would trust him.  It was during this time that I decided that I no longer believed in coincidences.  It was not because it was the 'in' thing to do, it wasn't because I heard of others that I heard had stopped believing in coincidences, and it wasn't because I found it in the Bible.  Rather it was because I had found that since I had surrendered my life to Christ it was like someone else was pulling the strings or planning things out (pretty novel since I had surrendered and asked for God's guidance, huh?).

A couple instances that my brother used were from a book by Rob Bell were he was questioning certain things, here is an excerpt from his blog...
    "In the Nooma "Rhythm" Rob Bell is talking about how one of his friendswas pulling into a store parking lot, and someone pulled out of a front row spot just as the friend was pulling in. "This just proves," thefriend said, "that God loves me."  Another person was talkingabout two sick people and how one of them was healed and was rid of their sickness and how it just proves the God cares for us. "But," RobBell says, "I'm standing there thinking about, What about the second person. Why didn't God heal them!" A third person needed an item in a store and it just happened to be onsale and the third person says, "This just proves that God really is there for me."  "If God is so powerful and loving that he canopen up a parking spot or put an item on sale for us," Rob says, "thenwhy isn't He solving more important things, like earthquakes andhurricanes."

Here are my responses, not to go back and forth but to explain why I believe these could be real examples (since similar things happened to me that I also attributed to God).  As far as finding parking spots, this sort of thing would happen to me also, sometimes I would be coming home late from church after praying with some people and I would have had prior appointments that I promised to be at, at a certain time.  Pulling in to a parking spot only to find someone backing out to leave, to me was God's grace.  The sick person who was healed was part of God's ordained plan, maybe someone was saved as a result or that person became a missionary, and as a college student I didn't have money to throw around.  When I went to the store and found the book on sale I had hoped to buy for my friend, only to find out it was now the exact amount I had in my pocket was God's way of saying to me that He was in control of my life.  

Rob brings up some points, why wasn't the other person saved, and why can't God find better things to do that save parking spots...unfortunately they are misguided at best.  I don't know why God didn't save the other person, and don't find it productive to question God (not to say I don't).  However, to suggest that I am not the apple of God's eye or that I am not the most important thing to Him is very offensive.  Remember, He would leave the 99 to find the one...besides, hear me clearly, HE IS WORKING ON THE IMPORTANT THINGS AS WELL to suggest God is neglecting the important things in order to save my parking spot is to suggest He lacks the competence to be God!

Moving on from here, because while I have my disagreements with Rob this is not about him, it's about the idea of coincidences, and following up on my brothers posts...I want to respond to the part 2 post...Since Ant (as I affectionately call him) said this 'I believe that thinking that all coincidence is God-ordained is ridiculous.' Maybe we need to look at what a coincidence is, here is what Websters says...
    Websters as Main Entry: co·in·ci·dence 
    Pronunciation: kO-'in(t)-s&-d&n(t)s, -s&-"den(t)s
    Function: noun
    1 : the act or condition of coinciding : CORRESPONDENCE
    2 : the occurrence of events that happen at the same time by accident but seem to have some connection; also :     any of these occurrences

Based on this definition I believe it is totally conceivable and probably that all (appearances of ) coincidences are God-ordained!  Why?  Glad you asked...if a coincidence is an occurrences of events happening at the same time by accident but seem to have a connection doesn't it beg the question of how?  Maybe, just maybe God is up there putting things in place and guiding the life of one who is totally surrendered to Him?  Could it be that God is so sovereign that He puts things into motion to accomplish His will in our lives?  I mean really, isn't that what we have asked Him to do?  Is it so surreal to believe that He would answer our prayers, especially when they align with His will?  Now let's respond to points 1-4.

1.  I agree as a Christian we need to show people the light...The light of Christ Jesus...as un-biased as we can.
2.  Not only is it not illogical to hold to a belief that coincidences do not exist (to the Christian who has surrendered his life to follow Christ) but it is to some, illogical to not to believe it.  To believe in the Bible as the sovereign Word of God and to hold that God Himself is all knowing, all powerful and omnipotent, how can we then not believe that He would place in motion, things large and small to accomplish His divine will?  To believe anything else would be borderline blasphemous.
3.  Agreed.
4.  This point I disagree with completely, see my blog so far.  But also because the will of the one who is completely surrendered to Christ is one that is laid down at His feet.  At this point while we still have free will, we have given that to Christ to do with what He pleases.  At this point, He is in control, and at this point He is going to ordain the footsteps of that Christian in order to accomplish His will.  This is how it has been done throughout the Bible, all the main characters are examples of people who have given themselves to God (/Christ) and have only accomplished great things through surrendering, not by any talent/gifts of their own.  These people tell us that in their stories.
In addition to this, I think part of God's love language to us is/can be the little things done in our life.  This could be something small as getting us through a parking lot faster, or it can be something much larger, but to discount the simple coincidence is to discount one way God can show His love to us.  To say that coincidences are/can be just that, is to limit God yet again.  I find it incredible the way's we limit a limitless God because of the lack of our own understandings.  While I was in college I tried to take all my preconceptions about God and throw them out the window.  I tried to look at everything and ask myself  "Why couldn't that be God?  Is there something that conflicts with what I know of the Bible that would lead me to believe otherwise?"  I tell you what, it wouldn't be a bad idea for us to forget who others say God is and to actually find out for ourselves who God is.  Not only who He is in the Bible/world today, but to who God is to you!  I pray that every person find out who God is to them and don't let anyone take away the things God has told you or shown you about Himself.

The last thing I want to say is this (and this may be why I post more on these thoughts) I think the major problem with discounting the belief that there are no coincidences is this: there is to much emphasis put on free will and not nearly enough emphasis put on God's sovereignty!  The reason I have not decided whether to write more on this topic or not is because I for one will admit that I am no expert on His sovereignty, so that topic is quite a bunch to bite off.  However I do understand why it trumps/negates the free will argument (and in some instances trumps/negates free will itself...or appears to, see pharoh arguments).

I will end this blog with this, I appreciate the dialogs and love my brother, but on this topic he is wrong  (I say that in good humor Ant)

P.S. Mom, you cannot possibly agree with me whole-heartedley and with him at the same time (since you wrote, and I quote 'Well said, and with passion! I agree whole-heartedly!') so if you agree with me you must go back and modify your comments to him.  Otherwise you need to state your disagreements, which will also be wrong 

First of all if you don't know what the big news is then I should probably tell you...We got central air!!!  

The story went like this...A weeks back Autumn starting getting on a kick for central air and telling me all the reasons we needed it.  Considering the expense I tried to shrug off the suggestion, to no avail.  Since I could tell this was not going to go away and it would increase the resale value of our house I thought maybe I should make my wife happy and go with it this time.  The next day I emailed my friend (yes that friend, my man Greg) to get a quote on getting it installed.  He gave me the quote and asked me if I wanted it, I asked him how soon he could do it and he said he could do it before the end of the month.  After him hawing around I finally said do it.  Autumn wants to so lets do it.  I set it up but decided not to tell her about it.  I then talked to my mom and my sister about helping me get Autumn out of the house so it could be a surprise.  They agreed and we set up tentative plans...it was all falling into place. 

A couple times we had issues come up were I thought Autumn might figure it out but she didn't and the surprise prevailed...until tonight!  She got up this morning and I tried franticly to get her out of the house so Greg could show up at 10 and I had to leave the back door unlocked so that he could get in, but she was running behind (as usual!).  As soon as I left to go to work (I couldn't stay home forever)  I called Greg and told him he would need to arrive 15 min. late and that I hadn't been able to  leave a door unlocked and that he would need to close some windows for me, he agreed.  He also found his way into our home with a trusty credit card (I guess they are good for something even if you don't use them for debt!).  Then he worked tirelessly until he had installed our central air and new water softener (due to the house mess, see below). 

It was about the time that Greg called to tell me he was done that Autumn called to ask if I wanted to meet her and the Metzgers for dinner...I agreed as this would help me keep her out of the house until I could go home with her.  After dinner I convinced her to go back to the store with me and hang out (to stall once again) and see my beautiful daughter Becka Joy!  When Autumn finally couldn't take it anymore I let her take off for home and I was able to leave mere minutes after her in my pursuit to beat her home.  TO my good fourtune my little girl Becka was missing me beyond belief and was asking Autumn to wait for daddy.  This worked to my advantage since Auutmn called me and asked if I wanted her to slow down so I could catch her and Becka could see me drive next to them...no problem with that I thought, no problem at all!  

While I was on the phone with Autumn I told her I would need to pull in the driveway first so I could get things out of the garage (this didn't make any sense to her, however this was only so she wouldn't see the unit in the back).  When we arrived I was able to get Becka out, unlock the door and then follow Autumn inside, but she wasn't able to feel the cooler air since it had already cooled down outside.  She did however, notice the weird odor coming from the new unit.  In order to find the smell we went to the laundry room to see what was going on.  I showed her the new water softener that Greg had installed and she noticed the central air pipe coming in from outside but she didn't know what it was.  She then asked were our old softener was, so I said probably outside and I opened the door and I pointed to it and she stepped outside...and that's when she saw it!  At first she was speechless...then it hit and I thought she would cry, she was going crazy and starting giving what Becka and I like to call 'lots of kisses'.  I am pretty sure she liked it, and we didn't stop talking about it for like half an hour.  She was ecstatic...

All in all this was great, normally I do a great job of keeping secrets but she is able to figure it out (through no fault of my own) but this time she was clueless to the (expensive) surprise!  Anyway, that's how the BIG NEWS went...at least that's how the SHORT version of the BIG NEWS went 

I don't remember if I mentioned this yet or not, I don't believe I did, but our hot water heater hasn't been working for the last week or so...which means 3 very, VERY COLD SHOWERS!!!  Let me tell you, those are something you would rather live without.  However, today my main man Greg Colvin once again came over to save the day and fix it!  He is also heading to our house sometime soon to install a new water softner...let me tell you, I am not digging the hard water.  There is now bounce or fullness to my hair, it looks flat and stuff.  Anyway I will be looking forward to a return to a (semi) normal house!

Well after finding the water in our house here is low down on what happened...

The day after we found the water mess I had to go to Grand Rapids for training for a position I am excepting (yes that's right, not many of you new I was taking on a new position did you?)  This new position is honestly not worth the title on a business card as all it does is increase my responsibilities and not any new pay.  Why take the position? (well now I am off topic because this is suppose to be about our house mess) because I can put it on my resume (and business card) and I can possibly receive more exposure.  That's about it.

Anyway, while I was in training my mom (mad props to her) called our insurance to find out what to do about our mess (I probably wouldn't have called, what a mistake that would have been!) and they sent someone to our house in under a hour.  The people analyzed our (now big) mess.  Anyway, I don't know a ton about the whole situation because it involved me very little.  My wife kept up with most of the contacts.  So anyway, we found out about 4 days to late that we could have been staying in a hotel (we had been at my sisters...mad props to her and Mateo), so after booking it we had to cancel it, boooo.

Here is the result:  Our kitchen, living room, and hall floor has to be replaced.  Our carpet has to be replaced due to reoccurring salt stains that would never go away, and part of our walls have to be chopped out and re-done so that they will not harbor moisture, and more importantly fix the damage that has already been done to them.  In addition to this we must replace the water softener and we will probably go ahead and repaint our entire house since we will be re doing all the floors and stuff.  This is a good thing (a blessing in disguise) and if you don't believe me just ask my sister.  I think she will tell you that we live in a pretty hideous house (Don't get me wrong, I like it, it's just...shall we say lacking).  Then she will go ahead and tell you that it's a darn shame, darn shame that none of our furniture was damaged (as it's pretty hideous also, according to her).  Sometimes one must suffer in one area in order to excel in others, Dana will tell you we suffer in the furniture category.  

Anyway, we are a mere months away from normality due to the extended nature of replacing our entire flooring and parts of walls, as well as the rolls of tape that will be wasted that our rep's will have to cut through in order to get all of our expenses approved.  Then there is the contractors and purchasing to due, as well as the insulation and prepping that will have to be done.  Once everything is accomplished we should be sitting in a pretty good place...And in my opinion it will be time to sell :)  We will see.  For more info you can visit www.inyourdreamsifyouthinkireallycreatedawebsiteforthis.com however I may post pictures at some point soon.  Later.

Well we got home tonight from being out of town for the weekend only to return and see 3 inches of water in our laundry room and more in the kitchen, living room, and bathroom.  Needless to say we were not exactly thrilled.  So not only were we not able to start unpacking for quite some time but we also were not able to do the immediate cleaning that needed to be done.  We do have this one friend Greg Colvin (mad props goes to him) that came out and helped us turn off the water softener and show us how to resolve the issue.  He is absolutely an amazing guy to know.

On another note I received an email today from Phizer saying that while they were impressed with my past accomplishments and my interview, that I was no longer being considered as a candidate due to their decision to pursue other candidates at this time.  They encouraged me to wait a year and then to re-apply with them in the future...maybe I will, I doubt it though.  By that time I will be a nationally known entrepreneur!  Anyway, I am cool with the decision and look forward to other opportunities....more later.

Up until now we had been doing the South Beach Diet, in which I had lost 10 pounds...however Friday's on Saturday, Pizza Hut on Sunday, and Hacienda on Monday means that while I ate fairly heathy (for restraunt food), if I intend to keep those pounds off then it's time to get serious again...So I will, starting tommorow.  

Anyway, I guess you could say that we just had one real big welcome back to reality, after we arrived home from our weekend away

So the Thursday I am at work and a guy comes in who is upset because he claims to have come into my store and made a payment that didn't get applied to his account...I would be upset to, so I sympathize with him and try to help him out, here is how the story goes:

I asked him for his receipt of payment (a natural first question), to which he pulls it out of his wallet (and the paper looks damp from sweat...gross huh?) and there is something odd about the receipt he gives me...There is nothing on it!  Nothing, nada, zip zilch...To which I reply, 'Huh, there is nothing on here...You would think there would at least be something, a smear, a partial letter, a black hue on the paper, something'.  He says, 'I know, the ink disappeared from the dampness'.  Before you go crazy, let me just say that this does happen...to some extent, and what I mean by that is our receipt can fade a little, sometimes I have a hard time reading it...But his receipt he claims in only from the end of May.  While it could fade fast, and it could be enhanced by the dampness (reasonable) it would be hard to go to a completely empty paper.

He then tells me he made the payment sometime after May 12th and before June 1st, probably around the 24th.  Ok, sounds good...so I ask him 'How much did you pay?'  He says '$181 and change plus the five dollar fee, so $186 or $187 because I remember telling the guy to go ahead and put the change on the account'.  So I search our computer system for the amounts that he says and I find nothing.  There is only one instance of a payment between $186.00 and 187.99 in the date range given and it was on another account.  So we pull up that account and the transaction was for purchases NOT paying a bill.  So in our entire company no one processed a payment for that amount in his time frame.  I asked the guy if he used a check or credit or something were he could prove his payment some other way and he said it was a cash payment.  I asked him if he was sure about the amount because I wasn't finding any transactions like that and he said yes.  I asked him if he was sure it was our store because there are other Sprint stores in the area whose transactions we can't see, he said yes it was our store.

I really wanted to see anything on the receipt at all because if we posted the transaction to a different account (which happens every great while) then we could pull up the transaction that way.  There was nothing it was blank.  So I pull up the notes on his account...The only humans to touch his account during the time frame he gave me were customer service reps, no one in our store did (which would be likely if the payment posted to the wrong account).  Unfortunately without an account number or the right time frame or the right amount it is impossible to find the transaction.  

So I tell the guy, 'Listen, something your telling me is not adding up, you either didn't pay here (hence the amount not showing up in our system), or you have the wrong amount (hence it not showing up in our system) or didn't pay during the time frame you gave me (hence the amount not showing up in our computer) or it wasn't paid, because at this point there is no evidence that it was paid.  He then precedes to ask me, 'Are you telling me I made a payment for $186-7 and you aren't going to help me find it?'.  To which I respond, 'No sir, that's not what I am saying, I just spent the last 20 minutes trying to find your payment.  What I am saying is that if you could show me proof, like a receipt...with writing...or a check or credit statement, or we could find the right amount in the time frame you gave us, then we could correct the mistake, but at this point I have shown you everything, every step of the way and it's not here'.  Then I asked him if he was sure on ALL details and he said yes (that WAS his opportunity...oops).  Then he begins to change and get very upset, he calls my manger the goofy guy over there in the corner, he precedes to talk about how he had to travel over 30 miles to get here and he works from 6:30 to midnight everyday (Huh, he doesn't eat?) and that we are going to fix it and someone is going to find his money.  He also tells me that tomorrow he is coming in and my manager, me and him are all going to sit down in a room and figure out what to do about this (I am?  Because he said so?).  He also tells me to tell my boss that it needs to be fixed in the morning or we are going to have to call the cops because he is going to go off on someone (can you say PHYSCO?)  

So anyway, he didn't come in today...and I think he truly does think he made the payment...But he didn't.  Allot of times I think that if someone is trying to pull a fast one they start to get defensive the more you push, but he got more aggressive, since he truly thinks he did.  Sometimes though people put money aside for things and think they are going to use it for something and they may even go out to get it but then something will happen and the money is gone but what happened doesn't keep in their memory and they still think they used the money for it's intended use.  At some point they are usually bolted back to reality when something happens (much to late to go back to a store and apologize) but it becomes a learning lesson and they move on...and seriously, this guy needs to move on.  I think this explains what happened to the guy, I think that he thinks he made the payment, but he didn't.  Anyway that was an interesting story.  Especially since I would tell him 'If you had a receipt...' and he would say 'I do have a receipt, it's just blank'....It was hard to keep a straight face :)

Moral of the story, when you are out in public be conscious of what you say and do, because you may sound as ridiculous as that guy.  More stories to come later. 


Good Night.

P.S. A big shout out goes to my bro in law Mateo for helping set up the software that I will build my website with.

Today I had my Phizer phone interview...and if this was not a pharmaceutical company I am sure I would have nailed it.  Since Phizer is a pharmaceutical company I have no idea, but I don't think it looks good.  One of the questions Beverly asked me was what research did I do for the phone interview?  Needless to say this caught me completely off guard.  I think I recovered well by telling her that I spent time at the Phizer website, viewed many other pharmaceutical companies websites and job positions to better understand the industry, and that I spent time talking to as many people as I new or people I knew of who were in the pharmaceutical industry...all of these things I have done, not completely in preparation for the phone interview but still...It's just things like that, you know?  Totally unprepared but still a good talker, just not sure if I told her what she wanted to hear.  

Like I said, and retail sales, entry level sales, and some mid level sales (assistant manager, manager, etc) these things would have worked on them, but alas, pharmaceutical sales is not entry level sales or middle management, they are usually the best and most professional sales people out there.  Anyway, I will hear something in two weeks or less regarding my status with them.

Anyway, part of the reason I am not feeling so confident is that some questions caught me off guard and I would ask her to repeat them so I could come up with an answer (this happened twice), there were also many vague gernaralities designed to enhance my current skill sets but by placing them into a field/industry that I have never worked in, so in effect I was trying to tell her what she wanted to hear without having any idea what that was...Needless to say it leaves you in the dark as to how the interview went, since I was trying to tell her what she wanted to hear and I didn't know if I was spot on or not it would be difficult to determine if I hit the nail on the head...wouldn't you agree?

At the end of the call...this is the thing that makes me most nervous, she asked if I had any questions and I asked if I could follow up with her later and she said no we will contact you, which was just a stupid get comfortable transition phrase, get on your good graces thing that turned out annoying her because she had just said we will contact you.  Then I asked her if the position they were still looking to fullfil was in the greater South Bend area since she asked me if I would be willing to relocate...it was after this question that there seemed to be lots of clunks and noises on the other end as if she dropped the phone or something before the phone went silent and the call ended (she was on speaker phone), but I dare not call her back because she had already told me twice they would call me back...

I have never not got invited to a second interview after a phone interview, but I think this will be my first, which is ok because realistically this job is out of my league, sure I can learn on the fly and probably/would become very successfully, but really, I don't have any training for it or anything.

The other thing about this position is that I was thinking about Dan Millers book 48 Days to the Work You Love, and I am not 100% sure it would be the work I love, there are things I would and after today at work I am more ready than ever to leave, but I guess I just want to make sure...

I am at the point about it were I think I won't and if I do...I will be very happy.  Lately I have really been trying to ask God everyday what is it that you have for me today?  If I do that faithfully then He will guide me and take care of my job and career, it's when I do things on my own that I get in trouble...and this Phizer job I did on my own.  So, if I get it, it's by God's grace and He allowed it, but if I don't then great and I will countinue now more than ever to seek God and allow for Him to decide where I turn up next...

It's late and I am sure that this is a more than adequate description of the whole 20 miniute phone interview so... Good Night.

Well we are home, finally.  Once home life kinda hits you, here is what I did:
-Met with a realtor who is selling our rental properties
-Went to the post office to send out a eBay sale
-Filled my car with gas for the coming week and got a car wash
-Stopped at the store to buy eggs for rivels...yum!
-Stopped at the bank to deposit money in the night deposit box
-Mowed the lawn
-Had supper
-Cleaned the windows and the upholstery in our cars
-Balanced our checkbook
-Checked emails and wrote on my Xanga!

Now, aren't you all glad I told you that?  Tomorrow I work...like I said, welcome home, huh?

A couple of nights ago Autumn found out her grandma died while we were gone so that cut our trip in half...we are now back in hoosier land but we won't be home until wednesday night or so. We are still going to spend the rest of the week resting...it will just be in Indiana instead of somewhere else. Later.

Some news, we found out today that my manager at work has now interviewed a second candidate for assistant manager (after the first one turned down the job...on his first day!).  Now after interviewing a second one that guy is now hired, it seems my manager is extremely hard to please when choosing people.  Anyway, what can you do?

Also, we are on vacation...what a great and over due thing!  We are currently at the Brock's house but tommorrow afternoon we are traveling to see the Klien's and we will be staying at their house until Thursday around lunch time.  I have really appreciated seeing the Brock's and spending time with them again, they have been good host's.  It's hard not to spend some time checking e-mails, thinking and talking about work, but I find that getting my mind off of work is a very good thing to do.  Where we are there is no cell phone service (for Sprint...well most companies actually) so I have had my phone off the entire time...I think that has been good for me.  For someone who spends so much time on and around phones not having one has been...pleasant.  Don't get me wrong I am not ready to give it up or move out here or anything, I just have enjoyed the break.  

I have been interviewing around town, not coming up with much, one that I probably could have had (but wasn't interested in) and one that I was interested in but turned out...it was a horrible match, they wanted me to interview but I decided against it.  And a final (for now it looks like) candidate has emerged, not 100% on the fit, although I would like to find out more because, you know, I am adaptable...especially for this company.  I have a phone interview coming up next week we will see how it goes.  We will keep the company nameless for now, but depending on how things turn out I will tell you later...if I don't forget.

Lastly, we are not going to be getting the house we wanted.  A while back I said there was a secret and that secret was putting an offer on a house, which someone trumped big time and took the house out of the range we felt comfortable with.  Their offer has not been accepted but it most certainly will be at some point (I imagine).  I am ok with it, the house was amazing but I don't think that's where God is leading us to right now so we will be patient.

I have another post on the back burner...I will post it sometime this week it we get a lul and don't have anything to do.  Have a good night.

Today was to be the day when two new hires were suppose to report to work...one did.  One reported long enough to tell our manager that he had accepted another position with a different company for twice his base salary at our store.  He accepted that position...This morning!  I say it's funny depending on your position because the regional manager asked me and a co-worker to submit a job interest form for the Assistant Manager position.  Then they never even interviewed either one of.  Instead they hired an outside candidate for the position...someone who reported the first day, only to resign immediately.  Do you think an internal candidate would have done that, no they wouldn't, but...you know, depends on your point of view.

It has been a while since I posted last...I try to keep up to date but it's hard since I have so many sites to check.  I have been keeping a facebook now so you can all check me out over there as well.  No assistant manager position but oh well, moving on...I have been busy trying to learn Joomla! so that I can create a website, or start over rather.  My site is going to be called myChristianConnection.org but it is currently out of production.  Once up and running I want all of you to tell as many people about it as possible and use it as much as you can, I think you will like it.  Next on my agenda is ...well that is a secret you may or may not find out soon enough.  Until the next time it's been a while, God Bless.

What a wonderful day for a football game, not a cloud in the sky and it's a perfect 72 degrees in South Bend, IN for this Blue Gold game 2007 edition. Lou Holtz has been named honorary coach for the Gold team and Ara Parsegian has been named the coach of the Blue team. Charlie Weis has had a QB dilemma on his hands since the departure of Brady Quinn after last years Fiesta Game loss to LSU. As a result Coach Weis has been giving equal time to all 4 QB's on the roster in an attempt to find the heir apparent to Quinn. Today's starting quarterbacks have been determined by a coin flip and Jimmy Clawson is going to be the starter for the Blue team and Zack Frasier for the Blue team.
...
After what has been a some what uneventful day what have we learned? Well to start off the Gold team won the game by a score of 10-6 in what was mostly a run oriented game. Neither QB really jumped out at you and just wowed you, but seems to be largely by design. Sr running back Junier Jabbey was the offensive player of the game and David Bruton was named the defensive player of the game. Bruton had an interception and run back for a touchdown and Jabbey ran for almost 90 yards on only 13 carries. Today a new record was set for the Notre Dame spring Blue Gold game with 51,852 in attendance and who still felt strongly for Lou Holtz as several times the entire stadium yelled Lou in unison. This spring game, in all reality, probably means very little in the grand scheme of things as far as who ends up lining up where, but you can sense that there is excitement in the air again for Fighting Irish football.

The webcam....yep the thing that absolutely exploded about 2 years ago, we are finally catching on. We are using it (when it works) and learning, we are constantly learning. Let me tell you the single most important thing about using the webcam to chat with people, it's to make sure that person is normal. Yep, that's it. It may seem simple but it is often overlooked. If you have ever looked at someone and thought that person is a little abnormal then you don't want to do a webcam with that person. Every person who uses a webcam experiences this uncontrollable urge to do every little immature thing they can think of just because they are on camera, believe me-if we knew you would do what you are doing now we would not have let you have a camera. To those of you who may or may not be reading this, and who find these urges irresistible (you know who you are)...seriously, you need help.

If you want to help people out maybe you can wear a sign that says "Hi, I am too immature to use a webcam, I constantly find myself doing stupid immature stuff. If I ask you to do a webcam with me or you find yourself wanting to do a video-chat with me, don't. You will regret it. I am not capable of being normal in a video-chat setting."

Recently we attended a small time conference held locally on spiritual warfare, it came at the right time and was the right message for our family. It's been cool to see the things that God has been doing lately. For a long time it seemed like me personally i was at a stand still or regression but come to find out I was but it was because there was something stopping me up. Kinda like recently when our sink was clogged and we had to eliminate the clog before we could use our sink. Now it seems that things are flowing again and its nice. I tell you what, sometimes we forget but we have a pretty good God.

I have a friend that I met in November when he got a job at my company. He had recently moved up here from Florida (he is a little confused) Two days or so into the new job he already didn't like it and was contemplating quiting. One day he told me when I ended up switching stores he didn't know how he would make it. Well the day came and I switched store and a few days later he didn't come-back from lunch, he was done. As he was looking for a new job he said he would probably have to move back to Florida to get his old job back because of the job market in this area.

Then I talked to him later in the day and he said he was going to end up staying...Tonight I talked to him again and it looks official this time, he is moving back to Florida, to witch I say...Can I come to? J/K but I do say this, Goodbye my good friend, goodbye smiller, we could have had a lot of fun making fun of you and your wife for having the same name or for going to wal-mart on your lunch every day to buy juice, or for always going in the back by yourself (i don't think we ever found out what you were really doing back there did we?). It was real, it was fun, but it wasn't long enough. Good bye smiller, good bye.

This scene is from the amazingly famous and heralded movie Zero Effect...which most of you have never heard of.

This scene takes place in an airport in Portland, and in my opinion is one of the funnier scenes you will ever see. Agent Zero is played by Bill Pullman and Steve Arlo is played by Ben Stiller.

Agent Zero (disguised) passes his sidekick Steve Arlo on an escalator and wispers...
Agent Zero: "Wait at the end" (As Steve is waiting at the end of the escalator a phone in a row of phonebooth's nearby begins ringing in the background, he picks it up)
Steve Arlo: "Hello, Steve Arlo.....I really hope your being followed"
Agent Zero: (In a phone booth somewhere) "You can't be to careful.....Because we need to talk now.....First of all......How was your trip"
Steve Arlo: "Fine"
Agent Zero: "Good...Alright, I just left Stark at the gym, some major revelations, the guy is a mess, somebody is holding something really serious over his head, and I don't think it has anything to do with money. First of all he doesn't move like a white collared criminal, you should see the way he walks, his shoulders ride at ear level, also he cut himself shaving three times in the last ten days or so, these are symptoms of a deeply ingrained paranoid fear (takes his glasses off)...a fear of being found out. (Camera goes back to when they were at the gym together) I get on a treadmill next to his and I get it mine going his exact same pace, I eventually ask him what level is he running at, I guess 8 and he said level 7, I am running at the same speed he is...Level 5. He'd sooner lie to a complete stranger than admit running 3 levels below my guess, as soon as I talk to him he runs the other way it's conditioning though, a reflex, he obviously didn't think to connect me to the blackmail business at all, if he would have expected me, he would have remembered my name, which...he didn't. Also, like most Ivy League graduates he drops his alma mater...with almost no prompting whatsoever, I say Celtics he says Cambridge. Oh, yea, the gentleman prefers redheads, he lusts after his red-haired masseuse, you can tell by the way he takes his massage, its more of a fantasized...everyday at the same time with the same woman. Oh, I found an old email message from Clearburg, Kinda cryptic, the note said 'Thorough check finds no boxer with the name K.V.' K.V. are obviously initials so we have to figure out what they stand for...lets see, what else? Ehhh, thats the important stuff."
Steve Arlo: "Daryl"
Agent Zero: "Shh, Sergio, Sergio Night"
Steve Arlo: "Right, whatever, can I ask you a question?"
(Camera pans back to see both men sitting in the same row of phone booths)
Agent Zero: "What's that"
Steve Arlo: "Why are we talking on the phone?"
Agent Zero: "I told you...you can't be to careful" (he puts his glasses back on) "Two guys...in an airport...talking...its a little fishy."
Steve Arlo: "Why are we even in an airport, why don't we just leave?"
Agent Zero: "Ok, I see the confusion, see...I need more research, I need you to go back to L.A. to get in the computer and get some things, and while you are there I need you to break into Clearburg's computer and pull anything pertinent, I have written out elaborate directions , they are in an envelope in the phonebook...in front of you...turn to rentals and I will meet you at the hotel tonight when you get back."
Steve Arlo: "Wait a minute, are you telling me that instead of calling me you had me fly up here (to Portland from L.A.) so you could tell me to go straight back to the computer (in L.A.) and fly back again (to Portland) tonight?"
Agent Zero: "It wasn't an emergency, there was no reason to risk the long distance lines...they listen you know?"
(Steve Arlo very frustrated)
Agent Zero: (in a very weird voice says) "Steve, are you still there?", "Hey, Steve?"
Steve Arlo: "No." (Hangs up the phone and walks away)

Anyway this scene is great and I am about ready to watch this movie for the third time and I have only known about it's existence since Andrew was born, so...that proves that I really like it. And I would encourage everyone else to watch it. You can only find it at a couple of movie places so you may want to call ahead and see if it's available. I know the Hollywood video has it on Michigan and Ireland, but it's out until Tue Midnight :) so you may want to check for it elsewhere.

I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have (I had to watch the scene almost 3 times to write this...:) )

Would it matter to your faith (or Biblically) if Jesus had a son? A news article about Kirk Cameron (the left behind movie star) says they have found the cave were they think Jesus was buried...Included in the cave were the remains of several others including Judas the son of Jesus...Link Here

What does that mean to you and me, that someone isn't very good at archeology or should we examine what that would mean to each of us? I don't know, haven't spent much time on it, but someone says that this son could be the 'Lad' that was laying on Jesus at the last supper. Many people seem to think that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, they think the 'Lad' is there kid...How would that effect our faith if Jesus was married, does the Bible say he wasn't? It may also explain why Mary Magdalene was at the cross in John 19:25...

I am not jumping to conclusions but rather asking questions...What types of questions does this create for you?

So here I am sitting in my chair watching the apprentice (which is a fan favorite at our house) and I started thinking..."Do you think God may ever ask you to do something that would have a negative result, just so He could teach you if you do such and such then blank will happen?" On the surface you may think that God would never do that...so lets dig deeper.

Why may God do that?
He may be trying to teach you something, maybe you will need that experience later on in your life, or maybe we don't need to know why and His ways are higher than ours...

Why wouldn't God do that?
Because as humans we don't think it makes sense, it's not logical, and because as humans we don't think it makes sense. Which is the only reason that I could come up with, so what are your thoughts.

Let's really spark the controversy, ok? I think He would / may...tell me why I am wrong.

Web site developement is going very well, I was able to accomplish a lot today. In case some of you might have missed it I am building a web page for Christians to network with each other with in a business context. So, let's say Christian A is looking for a used car. Christian A can access my web site and search for all of the used car sales professionals within a certain zip code or they could search by city, state, church currently attending, or by all other alumni from their school. In this search Christian B pops up and they can email each other, set up a time to do the transaction, and know they are dealing with someone they can trust. At the end of the transaction the buyer has the opertunity (obligation?) to leave feed back on Christian B so others know that they can trust that person. Who knows they may even attend the same church as that person! Hopefully the Body of Christ will find this very useful. The site is called:

myChristianConnection.org


and if you click on the link it should take you there. It is live, meaning if you go there it's up and running and you can take a look around. You won't be able to access a lot of the content because in order to do that you would have to be registered and right now i don't believe you can. If you do...well how bout this, lets all hold off until i give the go ahead because I still need to do some testing and finishing touches on it. I will however like it if everyone signs up once it is available. It is only going to be successful if people use it. Anyway, go ahead and bookmark it now so that once it's up and running you will be also! Good night!

Very exciting news, we just got a new computer!!! We had been looking at getting a new computer since about October of last year. Then it came to fruition on Friday night. Friday i went to look at Best Buy (I had been searching online for weeks) found a computer i liked, it went on sale on Sunday, and we bought it on Monday! It is a very exciting time! I am writing on it now, and it will be my primary computer for finishing my website...

Anyway, its big news in our family so i thought I would share, have a good day!

This post is dedicated to Parrott Family members everywhere, but especially to Anthony and anyone who has married into our family. There truly is no one else like us



Dana Schmana: are you going to buy a laptop

Dana Schmana: or do you mean a spiral notebook

Dana Schmana: lol

Parrott84: a spiral notebook...its very important to but the right one, it effects so many aspects of your life that you can't make it a rush decision

Dana Schmana: I know, its like, "wide-rule" or.... "COLLEGE-rule?!?!!?"

Dana Schmana: and then there's the color. The brand. Recycled or not recycled.

Dana Schmana: it's enough to give me a headache, that's for sure.

Parrott84: blue outside or wacky design, separators or single notebook

Parrott84: it’s a lot of options to consider

Parrott84: I was thinking about getting a college team on the outside but then I was thinking maybe just plan and simple so I can create my own masterpiece

Dana Schmana: maybe you should get some professional input

Parrott84: anyway, autumn and I are praying about it...

Dana Schmana: it's a major financial commitment

Parrott84: there is a good chance this whole discussion is going into my blog...!

Dana Schmana: that way other people can be reminded of the things they need to consider

Parrott84: true

Dana Schmana: I’m all about preventing rash decisions that you might regret later, when you're trying to write in your notebook but somethings not quite right.

Parrott84: and Anthony can point to my blog as an example of what others can/may aspire to

Dana Schmana: exactly. Maybe instead of posting in your blog you should write it down in your shiny new notebook.

Parrott84: then I may be wasting paper and who knows, if I run out I will need to make another notebook decision sooner than I may have anticipated. That would then force Autumn and I to re-evaluate our budget in order to allow for another notebook. I mean maybe I should be looking into notebook insurance in case it gets damaged, wasted paper, or rained on, at what expense can I chance this type of purchase, at some point it's going to be too much.

Dana Schmana: maybe you should stick with loose-leaf.

Dana Schmana: I can see it's really stressing you out.

Parrott84: do I buy a binder for it?

Parrott84: 2 rings or 3 rings?

Dana Schmana: skip the binder

Dana Schmana: are you going to keep your desktop?

Parrott84: If I go with the binder I can get one with plastic on the outside and then put photos on the front or I could print up something with my name and address on it...

I hope everyone enjoyed this, I know Dana and I did...

Things have been status quo lately, obviously lots is always going on, right now it's just not that interesting. We did get a new manager at my new store...and my new store did VERY well last month. It's a good thing (about the new manager) because he is very focused and accomplished, i think he will be very good for our store. Apparently it's gonna be cold this weekend, my sister seams quite fond of reminding me of this (oh the torture of living in the Midwest and the pleasures of lake effect!!!) I think it's worse knowing my mom is on a cruise in the Bahamas during the worst of it..she had VERY GOOD timing!

I am looking for a laptop, that would be exciting news, however as of right now i am only looking and that's not so exciting...I am actually looking for lots of stuff, but until i find it you will be left guessing at what those things are (hint: i am not looking for my socks!). Anyway, it's late and i need some sleep soooo....(sweet bahamas cruise dreams)

What do you think of these Logos? And do you like no.3 better than the previous post's version?

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My mom in-law went home last night...makes it tough for a while. She had been here since the day after we came home with Drew. It is amazing, I now know why people pay her to clean their houses, I know i would! However being the son in-law has it's advantages because I DIDN'T have to pay her! However she spent allot of quality time with her baby grandkids and for her that was more than payment enough (though i still would have paid her!).

Anyways...I wanna give MAD PROPS TO THE MOM IN-LAW!!!

She is out there somewhere. She probably won't read this...but if you do, thanks. (If you want to do it again sometime I promise not to stay up to late typing were you are sleeping...again. )

Things husbands will need if they have a wife who has a c-section:

Ingredients include:
1 quilt (in a plastic protective bag)
1 towel (for the wife's stomach)
3 decorative bed pillows
3 regular pillows
3 blankets

Then, once you have everything begin to construct as follows:
1. Put the quilt upright (as opposed to flat on the bed) against the headboard.
2. Put 2 of the decorative pillows next to the quilt, also upright.
3. Put the remaining decorative pillow flat on the bed to create a transition.
4. Lay two blankets stacked on top of one another folding the blanket into thirds with one third folded onto one other third, this way you are creating double thickness and thus giving the pillows an upward slant.
5. Lay one pillow at an upward angle from the bottom blanket towards the top of our little hill.
6. Place the final blanket on top of the quilt.
7. Place a pillow on top of the quilt.
8. Place the final pillow on top of part of the first pillow and on top of the second pillow (which is also on top of the quilt).
9. Double check you creation with the picture below to ensure proper construction.
10. Get some sleep, if you wife had a c-section that means you probably have a crying baby.


This should help your wife out in the case that:
A. Your wife really misses the hospital bed, or
B. You forget to pick up the medicine on your way home from the hospital and your wife has to go the first night without it.

Your bed may need to stay this way for as little as one night to as long as one week, BE PREPARED!!!

One last note, yes, you will in fact be looking at a stack of pillows and blankets and not at your wife if you (the husband) roll over to look at her while you are both in bed. This will create the feeling of being at the bottom of a mountain and tou are looking up at the top (a really, really close mountain mind you).

Hope this helps for all those people out there who were wondering how to do this.

1/6/07 will be the birthday of our new baby (don't ask me how i feel about that), we will be arriving at the hospital at about 8:30 Sat. morning and staying there for 3-4 days. Looking forward to it...stay tuned for the name announcement.

Andrew Levi Parrott is his name...i thank all of you who have come to see him and will come to see him. There is nothing greater than celebrating life changing events like this than to be with people you care about.

Here are the details:

He was born at 11:41
He wighed 6.7
He was 20 inches long
He has very dark hair
I will try to post some pics tonight for everyone.