If you are buying or selling a house in San Diego Country please consider my new friend Stan. Here is his website. Today was the annual Switchfoot Bro-Am and the boys and myself were able to make it out there for a little while. They were able to get some autographs from Tim Foreman from Switchfoot, Sean O'Donnell from Reeve Oliver and one of the greatest surfers of all time, Tom Curren. I had the honor of meeting a loyal reader of this blog from Mississippi. I know I don't post as much but life has had some rough edges lately. I usually write from the heart but some things aren't meant for this blog. One of the great things that has occurred is that I have had the honor of being the manager for the 4S Ranch Little League Farm Yankees. We even won our division. I've also been able to be an assistant coach for the Majors Padres, who also won their division. I serve on the board and am very involved but do lament some things that have occurred this season. Again, I can't write about those things but it's so sad to see adults behaving badly. On the positive side there are some amazing people I work with in Little League and am truly blessed by them. One scare was my dad having to have a heart bypass. He's recovered really well and I'm proud of the way he's handled his recovery. I'm also proud of the way my mom has been a great encouragement to him. I hope to be writing more as there are so many things going on that are worth commenting on. Neophyte Pundit has tagged me to reveal 6 quirks about me. So here it goes: Now for the 6 bloggers to tag: 1) Evangelical Outpost For all of you who come over via the Blog Father, welcome. The reason you are over here is because my friend "Duke" is back in Iraq. I (Tim) just post what he writes as firewall conditions keep him from posting directly to the blog. Please keep Duke and his family in your prayers. Today was my 20 year college reunion. These events are always a little strange before you go; who's going to be there, will I not remember someone I should remember, will people remember me? It turns out it started well and kept going. It was good to see some familiar faces and catch up with some of them. There is never enough time but it was so good. One of the really cool things was that some of the couples that were together in college are still married and thriving. Good times! Having been ignoring the blogosphere for a while I was shocked to see Glen jogging through the park parking lot. Whenever our people who serve in the Middle East come home it's a big relief. At the same time another guy, who was one of my coaches last year in Little League, just went back to the Middle East after having a bit of leave time. God bless these people. ANGELINA JOLIE - JOLIE HAS NO POLITICAL ALLEGIANCES AS UN AMBASSADOR "Just because you're a Republican doesn't mean you don't care about children." Wow! Miss Jolie must not be totally reading from the script. Doesn't she know Republicans want to starve children and freeze old people? I'll take this opportunity to give credit where credit is due. At least Miss Jolie seems to understand that Republicans are people too. I was just informed a couple of hours ago that my oldest son was a late edition to the 10-11 year old All-Star team for 4S Ranch Little League. He wasn't on the original team but the manager decided to add him later. It's a great honor for him and should be a great experience. I've been busy so I haven't posted in quite a while. Here's some of the latest: Today is a special day; it's mother's day and the birthday of our own JonnyUps. The restaurant business does amazingly well as moms don't have to cook and most moms would want their husbands to cook. What I was thinking about are the task that most moms do; cooking, cleaning, laundary, diapers. The stay-at-home moms especially do more of this than their husbands and it amazes me how they keep doing these tasks and keep their sanity. What about the moms who work full-time but their husbands don't do anything to help or aren't there at all? Cheers to all the moms! Usually when you see something for the first time, and you've seen pictures, they are mostly underwhelming. Things in DC are much different. The sites in DC are bigger than life and are worth the trip. We got a tour through the Capital building via Senator John Werner's office (we have friends in Virginia) and we peered inside the Supreme Court building even though they weren't in session. I was surprised at how small the inside of the SCOTUS chamber was. We get to go to the White House on Saturday. Iwo Jima, even though under some construction work, was much bigger than I thought. We still have many more things to see including a SCOTUS session, the Vietnam, Lincoln and WWII memorials. We also need to figure out which Museums to see. We'll probably also check out Mt. Vernon and Monticello. Oh yeah, we also have tickets to see the inside of the Washington memorial. We are visiting Washington, DC for a family site seeing trip. The first place we went into was the Postal Service Museum. It was actually more interesting than you would think. One of the things that was strange was calling postal workers heroes for the work they do. I think that's a bit absurd. A postal worker isn't a soldier but is just doing a job. They referenced some of the work that postal workers did after 9/11 in NYC where they had to sort mail for a zip code that really didn't exist anymore. Now, that was probably a bit emotional but heroic? Come on! It sounds like people have been listening to Cliff Clavin from Cheers. I've been quite busy and have been suffering from a bit of writers block. Here's some thoughts: CNN.com - Coretta Scott King dies - Jan 31, 2006 Born in Marion, Alabama, on April 27, 1927, Coretta Scott graduated as valedictorian of her high school class and attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. She received a B.A. in music and education and then studied concert singing at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. She got a degree in voice and violin, according to her official biography. While there, she met a theology student at Boston University, Martin Luther King Jr. They married on June 18, 1953, in her hometown of Marion. As the young pastor began his civil rights work in Montgomery, Alabama, Coretta Scott King worked closely with him, organizing marches and sit-ins at segregated restaurants while raising their four children: Yolanda Denise, Martin Luther III, Dexter Scott and Bernice Albertine. The family endured the beating, stabbing and jailing of the civil rights leader, and their house was bombed. After an assassin's bullet killed her husband in Memphis in 1968, Coretta Scott King turned her grief into the nurturing of her husband's legacy. She spoke out "on behalf of racial and economic justice, women's and children's rights, gay and lesbian dignity, religious freedom, the needs of the poor and homeless, full employment, health care, educational opportunities, nuclear disarmament and ecological sanity," her biography on The King Center's Web site said. "She wore her grief with dignity," said the Rev. Joseph Lowery, a civil rights leader. "She moved quietly but forcefully into the fray. She stood for peace in the midst of turmoil." Quite a life. I may disagree with her politics I honor her courage, intent and dignity. The worst part of overcommitting to things is that you end up letting others down. I just had to back out of some commitments today because I've overcommitted myself, which, in extension, overcommits my family. It's much easier to say "no" upfront than to have to back out later. When I am guilty of overcommitment it's usually without working it through with God and my family. So, lesson learned for me. From 4S Ranch Little League: Attention all golfers (and spouses or significant others of golfers)! We are excited to announce the 1st Annual 4S Ranch Little League Golf Classic. This inaugural event will take place March 6, 2006 at the esteemed Maderas Golf Club. For those of you who have not played Maderas, you are in for a real treat. Maderas has been consistently rated as one of the top courses in California, and was touted by Golf Digest as one of the top 100 courses in the country. Maderas has been rated as the best golf course in San Diego by the 2003, 2004 & 2005 Zagat Survey. We are announcing the event early because there are several logistical hurdles that need to be addressed (sooner than later) to insure that we have a successful event. The 4SRLL Golf Classic will be one of the main fund raising events each year that will allow our kids to continue to have one of the finest Little League facilities in the country. We are in the process of generating an interest list for prospective players and volunteers. The field will be limited to the first 144 golfers who sign up. Official sign up sheets will be available this coming fall at the Harvest Festival, and on line at the 4SRLL website. Following the golf tournament, we will have dinner, drinks, raffle and silent auction at the Pavilion at Maderas. Dinner will be included in the price of the golf tournament. For those who don't want to play golf, but want to attend the dinner, raffle and auction, separate dinner tickets will be sold. Pricing will not be made final until all contracts are in place, but it looks like golf will be in the neighborhood of $170 per player (includes green fees, cart, unlimited range balls, dinner, and some other goodies). Dinner tickets for non-golfers will be $40 per person. Chris Jensen is the tournament chairman. Chris is looking for volunteers to help line up sponsors, solicit and obtain silent auction items and raffle prizes, work at the event, etc. Please contact Chris or Lisa Jensen to get on the priority list as a player or dinner guest. More importantly, please contact Chris or Lisa if you can volunteer with any of the items discussed above. The Jensens can be reached at chris.jensen1@cox.net With everyone's help and/or participation, this promises to be an awesome event to kick off our second season of Little League in 4S Ranch! Thanks for your support! For more information go here. After 11 working days off and 3 weekends (17 days total) it's time to go back to work. I go back renewed and ready. God has been speaking to me on many issues over this vacation and now it is time to apply them. I just joined the local LA Fitness Center and need to find a way to get that event into my daily schedule without taking time away from my family. My 3 words for 2006 are courage, contentment and faithfulness. The boys are playing with their new toys and we are getting ready to go see Narnia today. Merry Christmas everyone. I was in Rome, NY for the last few days on business. It was all work and no play so I didn't have a chance to do anything, including blogging. I actually saw it snow for the first time in my life. It was very interesting driving to and from work but fortunately I didn't have the rental car but just went with other co-workers from the team. It's great to have people you actually enjoy being around when work gets tough. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I've been away doing cool family stuff, including spending a couple of nights at Disneyland. Of course I have a view thoughts that have come to mind since I've not written in a few days. There are a lot of things on my mind and I'll go into some of them later when I have more energy: It saddens me to share this information, but in order for me to ask you to pray you need to know a bit of our struggle. Our denomination (The American Baptist Churches, USA) is finally starting to splinter and collapse. I didn't want to see it happen, but I must stand with Biblical Authority and side with the Pacific Southwest Region, which is pulling away from the ABC. Here's a bit of the press release at Christianity Today.com: The ABCUSA officially states that "the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching." However, gay-affirming congregations remain affiliated with the denomination. When conservative regions have disfellowshiped such congregations, those congregations have simply affiliated with a more liberal ABCUSA region. This is a sad time for me because I helped form a renewal movement in the ABC 13 years ago called American Baptist Evangelicals. We've met, we've implored, we've tried to implement change. But we've not fulfilled our mission. We suspected that one day we would see the demise of our denomination. And now, that day is upon us. Continue to pray for the many, many evangelical churches in the ABC that remain faithful to the Gospel but are confused about the underlying issues. Some denominational leaders paint this as an issue of power and devisiveness (including, surprisingly, Tony Campolo), whereas it truly is a matter of scriptural authority. The question our denomination must face: Will we remain faithful to the whole counsel of God or not? For more information, here's PSW's press release and links. So, going a bit personal, my oldest son ran for ASB president at his elementary school. Today he spoke in front of around 1000 kids, teachers, staff and parents. He was one of 8 candidates and they had the election right after the speeches. He was told later that afternoon that he'd lost. It truly doesn't matter as I am so proud that he had the courage to even run; something I was always scared to do as a yute. We went out and celebrated tonight anyway. FOXNews.com - Foxlife - Jennifer Aniston Says She's Ready to Date - There is only one man who Jen should consider, our own JonnyUps. I've decided to add a glossary of terms that I use. I will be adding more as I remember what I use when I write. It seems to be very autobiographical so far. If anyone is looking for a software engineering job (mostly C++) in San Diego please let me know via the comment section. I can then send you the details as we have many openings. Today we went up to Corona to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. Lots of good food and a great time with family but my mom shocked us all when she blew out ALL 60 candles on her birthday cake in one shot. Who knew she was this talented? All fun aside, it's great to have a loving and praying mom who cares so much about her children, family, in-laws and grand children. A child could not ask for more from a mom. Rudolph later read a two-page statement in which he apologized for killing Hawthorne and hurting civilians who were among those injured in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. Then.... Rudolph, in his statement Monday, lashed out at the government, saying who he really wanted to hurt in the Olympics blast was police and first-responders. Some federal agents and other officers were among the injured. What a flippin' wanker! He is sorry he killed one person but really wanted to kill others. I'm quite a bit pissed off about this and I really hope someone takes care of this prick in prison. HE WANTED TO KILL COPS! Sorry I don't sound very PC or very loving but justice has not been served. As I think about Memorial Day I just cannot get past Patriot Detail. Now is the time to be thankful and remember all the sacrifices that have been made and are being made. Let's also remember the remarkable work that all combat veterans have done and are also doing. Michelle Malkin: DAVID HACKWORTH, R.I.P. - all this talk of a silly runaway bride but none of the news sites have the death of a great American and soldier, Col. David Hackworth. Go to his website for all the details. What a downer. We just discovered that the new park just down the block has just opened brand new tennis courts. I was able to get the family down to the park and my oldest son and I were able to hit the ball around. It was his first time playing tennis. At the new park there is a path all around the newly opened park that I'm going to get out my 21 year old skateboard and follow my sons along the path. It's all good. My youngest just lost his first tooth. I'm in St. Louis for the next couple of days on business. It's my first time here. The arch is really cool in person. I also saw the outside of the domed stadium where the Rams play. I thought it would be bigger. Signing off from St. Louis (where it's real cold for this SoCal boy). I was able to take the last 2 weeks off of work, but that ends today. I feel refreshed and renewed. My goal is to bring the internal changes I've been focusing on the last few days into the work force. One of the big issues to deal with on a macro-level is "stinking thinking". It's a big problem in many workplaces and I want to bring a different attitude and try and effect some change. My internal changes themselves are a big task and I'm a work-in-progress but I'm anxious to get started. I know I will have failures but I cannot let one failure stop progress. When we mess up we need to get off the canvas and get back to the fight. Happy 2005 to all. One of the best New Year's Day traditions that I miss is watching ALL the major college bowl games on January 1. It used to be that there were just 4 bowl games on January 1 and the season was done. Ever since they messed with the system I've basically started lost interest in college football. I will be rooting for USC but not sure when the darn game is being played. I'll just look it up. I had to go out to Virginia on business earlier this week but now it is time to give the blog some love again. I had an interesting return home as just as we were descending back into San Diego the pilot hit the power to get back in the air. Then he said we had to divert to Ontario (about 100 miles away) because of dense fog. We land in Ontario at around 8:45 PM and and are told that they'll wait 2 hours to see if the fog clears. If not then they'd fly to LAX and bus us back to San Diego. Instead, 2 strangers (Stan and Nicolas) rented a car and headed back to San Diego. On the way down we passed my sister's house and my parent's house. We dropped off Stan on the way back to the airport (my car was there and Nicolas's family was waiting for him at the United terminal). Arriving almost at midnight, we dropped off my rental at Hertz and tool the Hertz shuttle to the airport. I then waited for the parking shuttle. When I got back to my car in the parking structure I reached into my pocket for the keys and pulled out the RENTAL CAR KEYS! Nothing like heading back to Hertz to drop off the keys. I finally got home at 1:00 PM instead of 9:00 PM. I guess the joke was on me last night. Get a Free iPod (and help me get one also) Sorry for the shameless plug, but I just saw on the news that this offer was legit. I forgot to open the comments on some of the new entries. Key ones are open now. To all of you looking for Ashlee Simpson lip syncing info here's what you are looking for. Welcome and please check out the rest of Broken Masterpieces. It's one man's point of view. If the CBS memos about Bush's military service prove to be forgeries then it's my theory that it was done by Republicans to make the MSM look foolish. If experts are touting that they are fake so quickly then CBS should have at least raised some real concern and should have been rock-hard positive that they were real. I think my theory would be so righteous if it were true. There's nothing like exposing the MSM for what they really are, mostly left-leaning, biased "reporters". My little one just graduated from Kindergarten and wanted catcher's gear for his present. The baseball junkie in me could not resist. Work has been extremely busy the last few days and will stay that way for the next couple of days (lots of half days, thats 12+ hours per day) so I've been a bit out of touch and the blog has been neglected. Here's just some random things on my minds since I can't sleep: I'm on a one night trip to northern Virginia so I'm just bored and not terrible inspired. I'm not a huge fan of company travel as it takes me away from my comfort zone. Some things on my mind include a great sermon last Sunday on marriage, getting ready for a garage sale, work, etc. For now I feel a bit burned out on presidential politics. I just want more progress on Iraq and the news seems pretty good. I am skeptical that a new government can take root immediately as the Iraqi people continue to get over the habits of living under Saddam. In the airport I picked up the latest US News and World Report. Two articles caught my eye; one on youth sports and one on Libya. The story on youth sports is totally shocking. Children are devoting their whole childhoods to one sport. They play all year long; traveling all over on the weekends. What about family? What about church? What about letting a kid relax and do something different? Parents, if you want a good chance of your child resenting you and hating the sport you (yes I said you) love then keep them playing 100-130 games a year. The other story about Libya is pretty interesting. The WMDs have been taken care of but there are still a tremendous amount of human rights violations. Please foregive any errors as I'm using a WebTV keyboard and it's very unfamiliar. Next week my wife has her birthday, I get to see Switchfoot (not the same day) and Little League finally ends. My kids really enjoy baseball but my oldest one will have had 21 games, plus practices. Heck, tryouts were in January and now the season is finally ending. My little one on the other hand wants more games. Instead we'll get out the bucket of wiffle balls and let them hack away at the old man's "heater". I miss my family. A day late and more than a dollar short but it's time to reflect on the mothers in my life; my wife, my mom and my mother-in-law. It's amazing how they still love us all after all we put them through. The sacrifices they make are extremely high. I think that each child's birthday should also be another Mother's Day. When I think of all my mother has done for me (and continues to do so as a mom and grandma) I (we) can't really repay what she's done. Probably the best we can do is extend her legacy by being good parents ourselves and being their when she needs us. Same goes for my mother-in-law. My wife's work isn't always seen right away but by the way my sons are doing in school I know she's doing an amazing job. She's the one who's organized and makes the household run smoothly. Thank God for amazing mothers. After a Tee Ball game this morning we saw a blue jay (not the baseball team, the bird). I'm not a big nature lover but it was an amazing thing to see. It's colors were just beautiful. It truly re-enforces my view that there must be a creator. Today I had the pleasure of taking my oldest son, Andrew, to work with me today. What a great day it was as we had a blast. He really liked where I work and wants to work there when he grows up. Someday, he'll be way higher than me on the food chain. A real good kid, a smart kid and a great attitude. Parents, take advantage of the opportunities when you have them. As this blog has pushed before, I highly recommend the following book: My Thoughts... Exactly. - Perspective I just confirmed through this link that a guy I knew bit from a Bible study was killed a few weeks ago in a crash at near Miramar in San Diego. Just sad. I will open the comments on newer entries then close them after a few days. Most of the spam was going into real old entries. Today was a day we attended a memorial service for a friend of mine, Helyn. She was the wonderful wife of my pastor back in my high school days. She passed away a few days ago after a long bout with cancer. We stayed in touch on and off through the years and we weren't particularly close but her life had a lasting impact on me. She was one of those people who was the "Real Deal". Many people live with a facade of acting like the perfect little Christian; saying the right things, being offended by the right things, doing this and being that. Back in my teenage days most adults didn't have much time to be friendly with the youth. They were good at telling us the do's and don'ts of life but never got to the level of dealing with you as a person. Fortunately there were people like Helyn, her husband Ron, my youth pastor and his wife and our Campus Life directory and his wife along with a few other family friends. My parents were great as they let me leave the church they attended because the youth group was neglected. I began attending the church were Helyn's husband was the pastor. There was an honest attempt to reach out to the youth of our area. Helyn was one of those types and was always someone a kid could talk to. For me, her impact on my life was watching her as a wife, mother and person in the spotlight (the pastor's wife at a small church is in the spotlight) handle things will amazing class, dignity and a great sense of humor. She was one of the first cool adults in my life. Her sense of humor was classic. One of the neat things about a memorial service is catching up with people you should have been caught up with anyway. My friend back from 5th grade who became my college roommate and lifelong friend was able to attend and we hadn't seen each other in six years. Email contact is just not the same as being in the presence of true friends and Adam is one of the few of those that I will ever have. My old youth pastor and his wife flew down from Oregon. I hadn't seen them in well over 15 years or more. Amazing people that had an incredible impact on my life. A couple more of those cool adults that are the real deal and I am eternally grateful that God put them in my life when I was 16. I will never forget Helyn and hope that when my kids are teenagers people like her will come across their path. No matter how great of a parent we try to be (and my parents are great) those other people in kids' lives will make a huge impact on them. He is risen.... I welcome comments from all points of view but I'd just like to request that even if you disagree with me you have no right to litter my comment pages with bad language. The spirit in which you approach disagreement is exactly the type of spirit that makes your cause one of hate. Talk about being tolerant.... It is now my oldest son's 9th birthday. He's a great kid with a big heart. He never has a bad word for anyone (except his little brother) and is perfectly content to just sit and talk to his daddy. Sometimes I don't realize how blessed I am. God is good! There are many things we all want to see happen. Here are a few of mine: As I reflect on the year 2003 I must look back in awe. Here's some highlights from my perspective, from the personal to the impact on the world: Sorry about the lack of entries lately. Our family got nailed by the flu and now we are just trying to get the household back in order. I should be back on-line later tonight. Have a Merry Christmas. This organization delivers presents to children of prisoners in the name of Christ. MARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION Heard R. Lee Ermey on the radio this morning pushing Toys For Tots. Please consider them this Christmas season. I just saw a CNN headline (no link) that Colin Powell is going to into surgery today for prostate cancer. My prayers are with him. UPDATE: Just saw that InstaPundit saw it on ABC. Guess I should check blog sites before news. I've not been able to blog as much as I like too. I had to work until 7:30 (missed my men's Bible study) and it's been like that for the last few days. Real life can sure get in the way. I'm just thankful for the rest of the blogoshere; it's easy to get up to date news real quick. As I was driving the family to church, listening to some great Switchfoot music, we came upon a very slow Ford Expedition. We live quite a ways from church and take a road that's a little twist but not too dangerous until yesterday. The speed limit is 45 MPH and this driver is going about 35 and swerving like they'd had a few too many Mai Tai's, but it was about 10:45 AM. We keep going and then I saw it, the driver clearly takes the phone from their ear and starts fumbling for numbers. This gets me a bit upset so I honk. Look, now was the time for this driver to pull over and make these all important phone calls. Nobody likes getting stuck behind the slow-pokes but when it's because they are swerving and driving slow because of doing phone business, that just stinks. Once we got to the passing zone and we drove away, you could see in the rear view mirror the continued swerving. It's probably not a 911 call but there needs to be a easy hotline to report drivers like this. Today is December 7. Nothing else needs to be said. Real busy today so I won't have much until later tonight. Many good topics to discuss but I'll be dealing with the body armor shortage in Iraq for sure. Check out Earthly Passions for a new blog worth reading. Happy Switchfoot Friday. Disney still does some things well. Here's a picture from our trip last week. Well, I'm taking the Broken Family to Disneyland for a few days. I doubt I'll have much or any access to do any updates. I'll be back on Wednesday night. I hope everybody has a great Thanksgiving. Many thanks to Hugh Hewitt for the plug on his website. In all honesty, there would not be a Broken Masterpieces Blog without the inspiration from Hugh's book, "In, But Not Of". To you folks who are checking out this blog for the first time, welcome. To the people who've been this way before, thanks for coming by. Just a couple hours until Veteran's day. I'm reading: There are so many incredible stories about people who served under Ike. I just am blown away at the incredible bravery of the people in the military. In the next few months and years we'll be reading about the incredible exploits of our military in both Afghanistan and Iraq. UPDATE: Hat tip to Hugh Hewitt for this great article about the story of a Marine Lieutenant Colonel named Bryan P. McCoy. Life has been busy so the blogging has been slow. I'm also just gathering my thoughts on all the controversies related to CIA leaks, WMD reports, Arnold and Rush. It just sucks that the media only shows one side and/or relies on weak sources to "report" on people. Here's my rundown: For the time being my blogging passions are "The Passion" movie, fighting terrorism re-electing George W. Bush, losing weight, great music and the California recall. That's basically what I'll be blogging about unless something pulls me away. I've really been at this for about 3 months of consistent blogging. It's good to put things into writing because it makes you think. If I screw up, the "commenters" will smack me down. I'd appreciate any constructive feedback. Thomas from the EtCetera blog has notified me of a very sad situation about how two little girls survived a plane crash that killed her mother and uncle. Please pass this information on. I took David the Younger to 7-11 to get a Slurpee (I can't have them because of all the sugar). So we go and, what do I see, Diet Pepsi Slurpee with 0 calories. Life is good. Just some new things I've been enjoying or learning: Vanilla Diet Pepsi - it's my new love. Toyota Matrix - I first thought it was ugly now we own one. A very well priced car, great gas mileage, different (and almost cool) looking and plenty of room. Gas prices helped bring this along. Rain Gutters - just got them installed yesterday morning and a storm hit in the afternoon. Window Coverings - they get installed tomorrow. Yahoo Launch - Switchfoot is emerging artist of the month. New Video - Switchfoot releases a new video sometime this week. Larry Bowa - the infamous toilet beater is going to blow a gasket. New Life - met the babies of 2 of my cousins for the first time on Sunday. Swimming - I've started swimming to get my arms in shape for surfing next spring/summer. 200 - losing weight and seeing the better side of 200 for the first time since 1994. Finding Old Friends - the internet has been a great way of connecting to the past. Dale Earnhardt - read an article where it was said he would have retired from NASCAR after 2002 and went sports car racing and would have raced in The 24 Hours of Le Mans. NASCAR just isn't the same without him. Mossy Toyota - they do business a different way. The give you one price and that's it. I never talked to the "manager" or the "finance" guy. Poway Toyota, I'll never go back, even for service. School - the boys are enjoying school a lot and David's kindergarten teacher has seen Switchfoot. God in the Dock - been reading it in the morning while on the exercise bike. C.S. Lewis had a big brain and died the same day as JFK. Searching for His Fingerprints - Pastor Mark just rocks. Tom Clancy's New Book - Jack Ryan Jr.? This one is way better that "Red Rabbit". Neighbors - we have great neighbors in our new neighborhood. Last Saturday night one neighbor made homemade pizza. Diet? What diet? This little guy turns 5 today. Time flies. David the Younger is quite the joy for us and today I'm taking the day off and going to Legoland. God has blessed us with 2 wonderful sons and today we get to celebrate one of them. I just learned that Hugh Hewitt's father passed away. Please read about in at Hugh's site. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Hewitt family. Since I'm receiving massive hits due to the great link from Hugh Hewitt I just wanted to welcome you all to my site. There is some info on the left side a bit about the site. I won't be blogging tonight as I have the privilege of taking my oldest son (8 y/o) to see a taping of the much talked about Switchfoot as they are going to be appearing on Music Choice. Have a great day and thanks for coming. I just saw a headline on espn.com that 1980 Olympic Hockey Coach, Herb Brooks, was killed in a car accident today. I just brought back some great memories of 1980. Truly one of the great US sports moments. USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! Sorry I haven't posted in so long but moving has taken a lot out of me. From the loan application, locking a loan rate, signing escrow papers, writing big cashier's checks, getting moving estimates, packing, walkthroughs, doing the move and unpacking. It was by far our worst move ever. Some of the details included picking up a crappy U-Haul truck from a liquor store, the Bekins packers packing up wet wash cloths, wet towels, dirty dishes and just throwing things into boxes, the Bekins movers doing a 5-6 hour job in almost 10 hours and just noticing that it seems few people want to do a good job whether movers, packers, contractors or sub-contractors. One highlight was meeting former Padre pitcher and Cy Young Award winner, Randy Jones. As I was picking up the U-Haul truck from the liquor store (don't ask) in the morning RJ walked in to get some last minute items for his daughter's wedding that day. The owner made a big deal out of it and RJ was really great. At least we are in our new house (which we are extremely grateful for) and we've learned a new lesson, we are never moving again. Sorry I've not been blogging much lately. Between my Mormon discussions and moving I've been distracted. Next week we should be moved in and I'll be back with more. I'll still post periodically. I was reminded tonight how important integrity is to us. If our integrity is high and we hold ourselves to higher standards than are required, no matter what happens, we can still look at ourselves in the mirror. If we are honest and trustworthy, even when we make mistakes, we can still look at ourselves in the mirror. I pity the person that lies to themselves and to others and must deal with themselves. How do they do it? When people question us we can answer them honestly and without fear. That's a real good thing. ...you said you just started this blog after finishing Hugh's book only a couple of weeks ago, why are there entries back to April? Answer: I started blogging a bit on blogspot in April. It was more about having fun and venting. Then I heard Hugh talking a bit about blogging on the radio then read his book. Then it got serious and so I decided to go all out. I played with Movable Type for the non-profit I manage and decided to create a blog for them (blog.forheartsandsouls.org). Then I created one for myself (I own the web site so no conflict or misappropriation of funds), bought a new domain, transfered the blogspot stuff and forwarded the domain name to the blog. Father's Day has almost passed. It's a great day for reflection of the man that has been the most infuential man in my life, my dad. As I grow older while raising 2 sons I learn how much he knows and value his advice more than ever. It's a blessing to have a dad who has great common sense but most importantly, loves his children. I am blessed. I hope to use the wisdom of my father to make myself a better father. Neither of us are perfect but I think one characteristic I've gotten from my father is learning from my own mistakes. That's a real good thing. Happy Father's Day Dad!October 24, 2007
Looking for a Realtor?
June 03, 2007
Catching Up - 6/3/07
February 10, 2007
Tag, I Am It
2) Miller's Time
3) eCouragement
4) The Galvin Opinion
5) Ren's Blog
6) Michael SteckerJanuary 24, 2007
Welcome To The Townhallers
November 19, 2006
20 Year College Reunion
August 27, 2006
A Marine Comes Home
June 21, 2006
Angelina Jolie States the Obvious
June 15, 2006
A True Honor For My Son
May 27, 2006
Update - 5/27/06
May 14, 2006
A Special Day
April 13, 2006
Thoughts on Seeing DC for the First Time
What Is A Hero?
February 21, 2006
Yes, I'm Still Here
January 31, 2006
Coretta Scott King
in "Freedom Concerts," singing and reading poetry to raise money for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization which Dr. King led as its first president.January 29, 2006
Commitment vs. Overcommitment
January 19, 2006
Golf Tournament in San Diego - Fundraiser
January 03, 2006
Back To Work In 2006
December 25, 2005
Merry Christmas 2005
December 10, 2005
Back In The Saddle
November 24, 2005
Thanksgiving 2005 - Thoughts
October 30, 2005
"Life, Love and Why" - 10/30/05
October 16, 2005
Random Thoughts - 10/16/05
October 12, 2005
American Baptist Exodus
The Pacific Southwest region of the American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) has begun defecting in the largest church exodus from any denomination over the presenting issue of homosexuality. Underlying issues, according to leaders, include the authority of Scripture and church discipline....
Here's why I'm sad . . .
September 27, 2005
First Election
September 20, 2005
The Perfect Man For Jen
September 04, 2005
A Glossary
August 31, 2005
Looking for Software Engineers
August 27, 2005
My Mom Shocked The Crowed
August 22, 2005
Apology? - Rudolph Deserves Death
May 30, 2005
Memorial Day 2005
May 05, 2005
Hack Has Died
March 05, 2005
New Park Down The Street
February 03, 2005
Good News - First Lost Tooth
January 19, 2005
Meet Me In St. Louie
January 03, 2005
Back To Work In 2005
January 01, 2005
Happy 2005
December 15, 2004
Back From Travel
November 24, 2004
Win an iPod and Help Me Win One Also
November 04, 2004
Opened Up More Comment Sections
October 25, 2004
A Quick Welcome To "Searchers"
September 09, 2004
My Theory on the CBS Memos
September 08, 2004
June 25, 2004
Kindergarten Graduate
Quick Thoughts
June 02, 2004
On Travel
May 10, 2004
Mother's Day
April 24, 2004
Saw Something Amazing
April 22, 2004
Take Your Child To Work Day
March 27, 2004
Discovering Loss
March 18, 2004
Comments Opening
February 03, 2004
A Memorial Service
February 01, 2004
Foul-Mouthed Liberals
January 13, 2004
A Happy Birthday
December 31, 2003
2004 - What I'd Like To See Happen
2003 in Review
December 23, 2003
Light Blogging Lately
December 17, 2003
Another for the Season
'Tis The Season
December 15, 2003
Colin Powell Undergoing Prostate Cancer Surgery
December 08, 2003
Been Busy
Driving While Talking on the Cell Phone
December 07, 2003
62 Years Ago, Today
December 05, 2003
Quick Note
December 04, 2003
It's A Small World - Christmas Style
November 21, 2003
Time Off
November 19, 2003
Thanks To Hugh Hewitt
November 10, 2003
Veteran's Day
October 03, 2003
Sorry About The Light Blogging
September 21, 2003
What Is Worth Blogging For?
September 17, 2003
Urgent
September 12, 2003
Diet Pepsi Slurpee
September 03, 2003
New Things
August 21, 2003
Happy Birthday To David
August 19, 2003
Condolences
August 18, 2003
Welcome
August 11, 2003
Herb Brooks - Lost in a car accident
August 01, 2003
The Perils of Moving
July 21, 2003
Low Blogging Volume
July 06, 2003
Integrity
June 19, 2003
Question: Geez Tim....
June 15, 2003
Father's Day - 2003