When The Tears Fall: A Farewell To Ed.

How do I start this post? How do I give a proper blog-farewell to one of my best friends? And how do I say goodbye? I hate goodbye's. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. So where do I begin?

As some of you may or may not know, Ed is saying "see ya later" to the great state of Oklahoma. He's going back to ..... ugh.... Texas. Going back to his hometown. It is for a reason that is not his fault, nor do I blame him for making such a decision for leaving. Ed, I would probably do the same if I were in your shoes. I'm sure you'll tell everybody why you're leaving so I'll leave that up to you in your blog. I don't want to take the glory away from ya! If anybody does....

Ed, you've been one of my best friends and you still are one of my best friends. I can actually say you are my favorite Catholic. And my favorite non-fluent spanish speaking hispanic descended person. Whew... that was hard to say... or type for that matter. You've made me laugh so many times I think it is absolutely impossible to repay you for that. You've been one of the very few people I could actually say ANYTHING to. I would never be afraid of saying something to you and you would think differently of me. You know my faults and you are still my friend. That says something. I really appreciate the times that you've listened to me, ate ice cream with me, watched cheaters with me, and even tag-teamed blogged. You gave me a special friendship that I've always wanted(I hope that didn't sound gay, which, it did.... not that there is anything wrong with that) in a friend. Someone I can trust and count on for anything. When I asked you for advice, you gave it to me (in your own unique way... j/k). When I needed someone to vent to, I could always go to you. Heck, you rememer when we both applied to The Home Depot online? And the computer knocked me off the internet? Yeah, I'm sure you remember.

I know I've already told you this, but, IF and WHEN (that's a big IF and WHEN) I get married, I'm pencilling you in as one of my best men (I can't have just one). Ed, I don't know what I would have done this summer if you weren't around. I would have been bored to tears. Honestly. We probably wouldn't have become as good as friends as we have. I don't know of any day during this summer that we haven't spoken or communicated with each other. And that's not really counting the few days when you went home on July 4 (your phone wouldn't work or something down there). I can honestly say I've never had a friend who could read each other so quickly. I know a lot of people can attest to this (and became sick of us doing that in the process). We would say so many Seinfeld lines I'm sure people hated us for it. You know, stuff like:

-"Not that there is anything wrong with that. "
-"No, of course not. A person's sexual preference is nobody's business but their own."
-"But I don't want to be a pirate!"
-"Jerry! You are not a man!'
-"I don't even know what's going on with the papayas?"
-"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to fill the freezer with my own blood."
-"Now if you'll excuse us, we have to get to bed."

See? I'm making everyone reading this sick! Sorry. Ed, hopefull you enjoyed that and the MILLIONS of times we've quoted those lines and many etc's. But Ed, I've enjoyed all the times we've spent in just a short time.

How about the "best back men of all time" series of jokes? Ed, I can imagine you'll be 85 years old and somebody innocently says something that says "back" and "men" in the same sentence. You will probably pee all over yourself from laughing so much. It's not far fetched. You pretty much do that already when you say that joke. How about the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog jokes. Every other day we would pick a different joke from that DVD and say that is our favorite thing. Everything from "poor hawaii" to "oh, what is this? A Jesus thing?". We've had some good times. Maybe you moving back home will put an end to us dating the same girl. Who knows.....?

We love ya man. We are going to miss having you around. I know you weren't going to be here forever man, but it sucks that you have to leave. But this is probably all part of God's plan for you and for us. You will probably go back home, meet a girl, fall in love, get married, find a terrific job, have kids and lead a wonderful life. I just hope you don't forget your many friends (meaning more than one friend) up here in Oklahoma. You will always be a part of me and the U.C.M. Words can't express how good a friend you've been to me. I appreciate everything you did for me. I love ya man.

I know this isn't "goodbye".... but "see you later." Cause .... You know...... if we don't see each other again here on this earth then..........

Until next time, brother, vaya con Dios.

"Friends will be friends, when you're in need of love they give you care and attention.
Friends will be friends, when you're through with life and all hope is lost,
hold out your hand, cause friends will be friends...
Right 'til the end."

The piano man.

This is what Ed and I do for extra cash..... and free time.

(Scroll down until you see the video, thanks)

Caption contest #1

Whoever wants to join the fun, I would like for as many people to come up with as many funny captions as they can think of. Put them on the comments page. C'mon! It'll be fun!

No more! Please!

Final post about Kentucky.... Dear God let's hope so.

HIGH FIVES and HITCH
Ed got Matt from Pennsylvania to believe that Oklahoman have never heard of Will Smith or the concept of high fives. Matt totally believed that Oklahoman were that ignorant to something such as a high five. Hilarious. But what exactly is a high five? What significance could two people hitting each others hands mean? How did it start? What if somebody had a bug on somebody's hand and his friend came along and whacked it with his own hand? Is that a plausible story? High fives......... What will they think of next?

The magnificent Ron
This guy named Ron (AKA Waterpark) totally ruined a good couple of hours worth of work one afternoon. We were working at the church we were doing bible school building a concrete sidewalk. It really needed one. Anyway, for anybody that ever done this kind of work knows that it takes a good while for prep work to be done. Framing with wood, stakes nailed down, leveling, digging dirt, reapplying some dirt, etc. Well, we were pretty close to being ready to start getting the concrete ready, when Ron came up and looked at our progress. He said, "You are gonna need some more stakes in the ground. That's not going to hold." He then proceeds to grab on to the framing and tears it from the ground. Several of us just stood there in complete disarray. We couldn't believe anybody would have done such a deed. After he left we voiced our disapproval only to ourselves until pastor Barry expressed his discontent for the aforementioned action. He said, "I could have punched the guy." Everybody thought that was hysterical. After those words were said, it was like God gave us the go-ahead to gripe. Good times..... Good times.

Intro to Secondhand Lions
On our trip back to the homeland, Ed and I thought it would be cool to watch a movie to pass the time. We decided on Secondhand Lions. I've already seen the movie and recommended it for our viewing pleasure. We could have watched Radio, for I've never seen it. For Ed's pleasure, I decided we would watch something that he'd never seen.

So, we get several minutes into the movie before I find myself falling asleep. Eventually Ed and I are awake at the same time and find the the movie was turned off during our period of unconscious. We decided that we would try to finish the movie and rewind to the part that Ed remembered last. We kept rewinding and rewinding and rewinding. We found out the Ed had only watched about 5 minutes into it. Way to stay awake for a movie that I PICKED! We never finished the movie. We had to keep Bryan awake for the remainder of the drive home. We figured it would be nice to have all of our limbs and organs functional when we get back home.
iPod... get your own.
Speaking of Bryan, his fiancee', Whitney, needs to get herself an iPod. She kept asking me every other second if she could see my iPod for a second. Of course, it was all a joke. She does a good joey impression of asking about my iPod. Bryan, birthday present idea!

B.S!
Some of my favorite times during the whole trip was talking to Bryan and Ed late at night. We would discuss everything from current events to Bryan's signature of Barry Sanders. Is it really somebody's signature when all they do is initial and receipt?

The letter "Z" and Mr. Death
Has anybody ever thought of dressing up as the grim reaper and visiting a nursing home? I made such a comment while visiting such a place. Of course I didn't say it TO them.... Just behind their back. You know nothing special.

Has anybody ever heard pip snore? Here's a tip: make sure you go to sleep before he does. If you don't you might as well stay up all night. No sleeping for you. Or just invest in some NyQuil. Pip, you might want to invest in the strips you put on your nose, bud. For you and all of us.

And last but not least... taking a shower
In Kentucky, all you need to take a shower is running, water, pliers, and flip flops. Without water its pretty much pointless. Without pliers there is no way to turn the cold knob of the shower on. Without flip flops then you are sure to get some kind of disease on your feet. Gross.

Did you know I know all the words to It's The End of The World As We Know It by R.E.M? Pretty impressive, huh?

That's all.

Until next time, vaya con Dios.

Baby Ruths and frozen water containers

Wanna hear more about Kentucky? Well, sorry, you are going to hear it anyway.

Nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts I got screwed.

I consider Ed to be one of my best friends. We like some of the same music, same t.v. shows (Seinfeld, Cheaters), and obviously have dated the same women. He is a great person to go to if you need a laugh or wanna know more about the devils.... ah.... I mean the Catholic faith. But, somtimes, he can not be so nice. I found this out first hand during the Kentucky trip. They involve an ice chest and a baby.

Ice Chest
One of the "leaders" from Pennsylvania that was there for the bible school is a lady we dubbed "Ben Hur". Just imagine Ben Hur in the movie with all the slaves on the ship rowing the boat. If she had a rope or a belt she would whip us if we didn't do something she told us to do. She wouldn't be so bad if she would ASK us to do something instead of assuming we never did anything and TOLD us to do something.
Ed and I were walking through the church building approaching the kitchen, where ben hur was located. We just got through doing something and was on our way to do something else (whatever it was). Ben hur saw us coming and told us to put an ice chest in the back of the van. While she was saying that she practically threw the ice chest in front of Ed. But, Ed, using his Emmitt Smith type moves, avoided the ice chest and kept of walkin past it. So, where did that leave me? I was next in line. If I walked right past it she would get out her whip and start beating me with it. So, being the nice guy I am, picked it up and carried it to the van. The whole time cursing Ed under my breath. I think the main reason I didn't want to pick it up in the first place was for spite of ben hur. So, Ed owes me big time now. Maybe he can help me move out whenever that time comes.

Baby Ruth
I mentioned in another post how we played basketball quite often up there. There was about a group of 6-8 playing and Ed was one of those. Ed was walking towards the outside of the playing area where he "accidently" knocked over a baby. The kid hit the floor pretty good. Ed says it was an accident, but I don't know......... Ed was saying that he was afraid that the kid would go to sleep and never wake up. Hey Ed. WATCH WHERE YOU ARE GOING!

side note: Did you know that if you combed the creeks of Kentucky you would eventually find every part to make a semi-working automobile? There were so many cars and car parts in those creeks, it was amazing! It was like a waterpark ride at Six Flags went horribly wrong.

You ever wanted to know what Ed and I look like when we are both jamming to Queen? Click on this site listed below. It's pretty accurate. For more info click here for Ed's blog. He talked about this too.
http://www.lookatentertainment.com/v/v-180.htm


Until next time, vaya con Dios.

Jesus and the Home Depot Kid

And yet another installment of the Big 5 (Pope John Paul II, Seinfeld, Jesus, Ed, and me)
Now, without further ado, here is the Big 5 at The Home Depot. Enjoy.

(The Big 5 enters the automatic pearly gates of the Home Depot)
Jesus: Now this is my kinda place!
Pope: Why?
Jesus: Carpenter....... hellooooo?
Seinfeld: What's the deal with lumber?
Ed: Lumber? Well....... it's a lot of wood. What were you worried about?
Kent: I gotta get out...
Jesus: Panel saw..... gotta get a panel saw.........
Ed: We have to quit bringing Jesus here..... it's like taking Joey to Walmart.
Kent: Or like taking you to a whorehouse.
Pope: Ouch. You guys gotta be nice to each other. Want some alcohol?
Kent: I'm Baptist...... I don't drink.
Seinfeld: Nobody's perfect.
(Jesus sees something and starts running)
Jesus: Ahhhh! Floor tiles!!!!!!!! Yippee!!!!!
Pope: Ed... get the rope.
(a few minutes later, Jesus is talking to a Home Depot associate)
Jesus: So, you are saying that by using pine I could make a cross 5 times sturdier? Awesome! Cause the one I saw last was very poorly made. Stupid Romans.
Employee: Coo.
(the rest of the big 5 join up with the Savior)
Ed: What do you have there, Jesus?
Jesus: Well, I'm re-doing the apartment. Everything in wood. And with levels.
Pope: Where do you live again?
Jesus: On a hill far away Apartments.
Kent: Right on.
Seinfeld: Can we leave now? I have a gig later. I've never heard of the place I'm performing at...... it's called Baptist Student Union........ oh no.
(Everybody snickers under their breathe)
Seinfeld: Shut up. Let's go. How do we get out of here anyway?
Jesus: I know the way. Follow me.
Pope: What did He say?
Kent: Go with God.
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Well, I hope I didn't offend anybody. If I did, then you need to loosen up.
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Until next time, vaya con Dios.

Waddapauk . . . part 2

Continuation of the Kentucky trip......

One thing really did suck on the trip. Adam (son of a .... preacher) found out on the way back that his car got broken in to. And of all days, it happened on his birthday (Wednesday of the trip). But he didn't find out what happened until the following Saturday. His parents decided that it was best that he didn't find out until after the trip was pretty much over with. I agree. If something like that happened to me, I wouldn't want to find out until the week was over. It would ruin the whole mission trip otherwise. I felt really sorry for him though. I went through what he did back on December 22, 1998. I remember it vividly. I was at church of all places and afterwards I arrived at my truck to find that it had lost weight. No cd player, no cd's, no cell phone, no camera.... I felt like crap for a good while. But I did get my cd's back. But that's another story. The thing I hated the most about something like that was not the fact that something got stolen, it is the fact that somebody stole something. You feel so violated and insecure after something like that. So, you better believe that I lock my doors every freakin' place I go now. Especially to church. Anyways, if anybody out there believes in prayer, pray that everything goes well for Adam. I'm sure he's going through a tough time right now.

By the way, if anybody goes with Barry (the FCC pastor) anywhere in the church van, be warned. Let's just say he may or may not have instigated a minor road mishap with another vehicle. Barry was driving the van down this road that has several turns and twists. He looked up into the rearview mirror for just a second and saw the car flying right towards him. He tried as much as he could to move to the right side of the road but the car's eventual path was inevitable by this point. Everybody was just fine. A police officer came out and investigated the incident and talked to Barry. The cop said to him that he could give him a ticket for driving down the middle of the road. Barry replied to the officer, "Sir, it is impossible to NOT drive down the middle of the road here." Meaning that the roads were so narrow that it was impossible to stay on pavement and not drive in the middle of the road. After Barry's remark the cop just laughed. I guess people are used to that kinda thing out there in the hollers.

This isn't the real wreck by the way... just for comedic purposes.

At the youth center that we stayed at, there were four basketball goals and we very much took advantage of those being there. The first day we were there, Pip, Ed, Bryan, and Jacob (another son of a...... preacher ... 12 years old), and I picked up a ball and started playing. It was really fun..... until Pip and I drilled our heads into each other. Got me right above the eye. Injury number 1. The next day a bigger group of us started playing a game. I had the ball and was going up for a lay-up but at a weird angle. I had to cut to my left to get the best shot at it. In doing so, my right foot rolled under itself causing a pretty good sprain. It started swelling soon thereafter. I was done for the day. In fact, I could barely walk for the next few days. I still can't move it all the great right now. I'm going to have to retire from basketball for health reasons. My insurance won't allow me to play anymore. But I was alright to shoot. Heck, I was proud of myself. I hit 9 three-pointers in a row. Move over....... uh...... whoever hits a butt load of three's all the time. I was en fuego.

One more thing....

I mentioned the roads were pretty curvy and sharp turned earlier. That made me think about the runs that we made for the bible school kids. What I mean by that is we took the church vans (more than one van) and went to go pick up the kids in the morning before bible school started. Each one of the workers would take turns to go in the van to go pick up the kids. I chose to go on two different ones. Each one pretty much making me sick. Now, I get pretty light headed for some reason whenever I'm riding in a car. I can handle roller coasters and even driving myself places. That doesn't make me sick. But for some reason I get nautious. Especially during this one trip when we went way the crap at the top of what seemed like mount everest. It took us from when we left the church to pick up the first kid about 30 minutes. And the houses were none too pretty to say the least. I might have mentioned this before but Clay County is the poorest county in all of Kentucky and the 10th poorest in the United States. Some of the worst houses in Ada have nothing on some of the houses these kids were staying in. But, some of the scenery was very breathtaking. Some beautiful rock cliffs and green rolling hills. And the peat... ah the peat. Well, we were right on the border. Anywho......

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Reminder: A trip to The Home Depot with the Big 5 is upcoming. So, stay tuned. It's coming... I promise.
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Until next time, vaya con Dios.

Sweet Home Oklahoma . . . if any place is... part 1

What a trip it was. It was definetly the best of times and the worst of times.

We left Ada about 3 a.m. last Saturday and arrived in Manchester, Kentucky, about 9 p.m eastern time. I rode shotgun all the way up there and was the unofficial d.j. for the church van. I was gettin' jiggy with it..... (hey, don't tap the glass.... thanks). But the ride on the way there was pretty good (as far as church van trips go). I got to know Barry (pastor at First Christian Church) pretty well just on the way up there because he did most of the driving. I thought I could help him stay awake on the way up there as best as I could. I didn't want him to get us in any kind of wreck. Well, it worked... kinda. But more on that later.

All I knew initially about the trip was what state I was going to and what time I was leaving. I didn't know exactly what the mission actually was. What it was the group was doing was putting on a Bible school for kids all the way from Pre-K to Seniors in high school. In fact, I didn't know what I was going to do until the night before I starting working. They could have had me dress up as a clown and throw pies at kids for all I knew... that wouldn't have been a bad job now that I mention it. But I later found out my job was to teach the 1st and 2nd grade kids. Matt Pippenger and one of the guys from Pennsylvania was there teaching them as well. In fact, I probably did the least amount of teaching. If it were up to me, they would probably be learning the finer arts of Seinfeldology. Kids would be running about saying, "Not that there is anything wrong with that" or calling everybody a type of nazi (as in "soup nazi"). So it's good that I didn't have too much influence on them.

Oh, and I mentioned Pennsylvania earlier. When we arrived at the Youth Center (where we stayed) we met with a group from Pennsylvania who got there about an hour before we arrived. They were there for the same purpose, to work the Bible School. Apparently, these two groups have been going to Kentucky for the past few years or so. One of the older men from Penn. has been making the annual trip since '83. So, some of the people present were familiar with everything and a few weren't. Ed, Pip, Whitney, and I hasn't ever been there before so it was all new to us. There were 11 of us and 12 of them (including one infant). Some of us got along real well. For instance, there was this guy, Matt, who Bryan told us about prior to the trip. Bryan was saying how cool the guy was and how much he liked him. Bryan turned out to be correct. They guy was awesome. Mainly because he laughed at all of Ed and I's jokes. He would always join in and be hilarious doing so. In fact, it seemed like he would almost have a small heart attack whenever he heard a really funny story. He would wave his arms and say "Stop! Stop!". One time at night, he was listening to my iPod with me. We were listening to a CD I had with some funny stuff on it. He would laugh so hard he would rip the earpiece out and laugh so hard. I guess he would take the headphone out like he couldn't take anymore. It was so funny watching him laugh. He made the trip very enjoyable.
to be continued....
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In order to allow more people to read this, I will break up stories from the trip into different parts throughout the week. I know how some people don't even start to read a blog if they know it's long. I guess long=boring. Which may very well be true for mine... (pause for agreements in unison).
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Well, I start my job at The Home Depot on Monday at 8:30. I'm kinda nervous and at the same time excited. I really hope I like what I'll be doing. Not only that, I hope that I know what I'm doing while I'm there. Maybe a cute chick-a-dee will work there and ................ ah who am I kidding? I'm a goblin!

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Stay tuned for a trip to Home Depot with Jesus, the Pope, Seinfeld, Kent, and Ed.

Until next time, vaya con Dios.

Gettin' lucky in Kentucky!

In about 30 minutes I'll be off to the wonderful non-hickish at all state, Kentucky. It's gotta be a wierd state, because, hey.... my name if freakin' in it. That can't be good.

So, woke up around 8 to go to the ole job interview (holy crap, I'm starting to sound old and mature........ so grown up). Got there about 8:55......... talked to this nice lady at Home Depot..... asked me a few questions........ embellished a little but who cares............. left about 9:15 with a job in my hands. Not sure about all the details, but heck, I got a PAYING job. Woohoo! Money! Move over Bill Gates! I'm right behind ya (insert an Ed-best-back-men-of-all-time-joke here)!

After the so-called interview, I had to go take a mandatory drug test. It's one of those pee in a cup things. Never done that before. I was kinda afraid I was going to do it wrong somehow. Now, you may ask, "How in the crap can you mess up peeing into a cup?" Well, the answer is that you probably don't know me very well. I can mess up anything. Like, for instance, buying a cell phone at Bates. Anywho, I did NOT mess up. And, if I might say, peed into the cup without fault. So far... 2 for 2 for the day. I might as well call it quits and leave on a high note.

Well, its about time for my departure. I'm going to miss Oklahoma for the time being. The hurricane could possibly make its way into Kentucky so be praying for us. I'm sure we'll have a great time doing work for the Lord. Should be fun, especially with the group I'm going with.... oh well, and Ed.

Man... hope I didn't forget anything. Bryan's cows are to blame. Dang bovines!

Time to get outs! Until next time, vaya con Dios.

The Basics

How to Become a Christian

The central theme of the Bible is God's love for you and for all people. This love was revealed when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world as a human being, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, and rose from the dead. Because Christ died, your sins can be forgiven, and because He conquered death you can have eternal life. You can know for sure what will become of you after you die.

You have probably heard the story of God's love referred to as the "Gospel." The word Gospel simply means "Good News." The Gospel is the Good News that, because of what Christ has done, we can be forgiven and can live forever.

But this gift of forgiveness and eternal life cannot be yours unless you willingly accept it. God requires an individual response from you. The following verses from the Bible show God's part and yours in this process:

God's Love Is Revealed in the Bible
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
—John 3:16 (NIV)

God loves you. He wants to bless your life and make it full and complete. And He wants to give you a life which will last forever, even after you experience physical death.

We Are Sinful
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
—Romans 3:23 (NIV)

You may have heard someone say, "I'm only human—nobody's perfect." This Bible verse says the same thing: We are all sinners. We all do things that we know are wrong. And that's why we feel estranged from God—because God is holy and good, and we are not.

Sin Has a Penalty
"For the wages of sin is death." —Romans 6:23 (NIV)

Just as criminals must pay the penalty for their crimes, sinners must pay the penalty for their sins. If you continue to sin, you will pay the penalty of spiritual death: You will not only die physically; you will also be separated from our holy God for all eternity. The Bible teaches that those who choose to remain separated from God will spend eternity in a place called hell.

Christ Has Paid Our Penalty!
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." —Romans 5:8 (NIV)

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, has paid the penalty for all your sins. You may think you have to lead a good life and do good deeds before God will love you. But the Bible says that Christ loved you enough to die for you, even when you were rebelling against Him.

Salvation Is a Free Gift
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." —Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)

The word grace means "undeserved favor." It means God is offering you something you could never provide for yourself: forgiveness of sins and eternal life, God's gift to you is free. You do not have to work for a gift. All you have to do is joyfully receive it, Believe with all your heart that Jesus Christ died for you!

Christ Is at Your Heart's Door
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." —Revelation 3:20 (NIV)

Jesus Christ wants to have a personal relationship with you. Picture, if you will, Jesus Christ standing at the door of your heart (the door of your emotions, intellect and will). Invite Him in; He is waiting for you to receive Him into your heart and life.

You Must Receive Him
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." —John 1:12 (NIV)

When you receive Christ into your heart you become a child of God, and have the privilege of talking to Him in prayer at any time about anything. The Christian life is a personal relationship to God through Jesus Christ. And best of all, it is a relationship that will last for all eternity.

Male phenomena and a hardware store.

Well, Ed just got back from north Texas tonight. He was gone for 4 days. But, amazingly, I had plenty to do:

Monday, July 4- Had an annual get-together at my house with some family friends. We had smoked everything. Anyway, the superintendent at a nearby school told me that I had a job waiting for me if I wanted it. It was for an after-school fitness-like program. I will get the job as long as the school gets the grant money for the program. I don't know a whole lot about what the job would require but it sounds exciting ....... to me.

Called B-Funk (Bryan) to inquire of his current status... in other words, what he was up to. We decided that I would meet him at his place and car pool to Wiley's house for Independence day festivities which included but weren't limited to swimming, eating, and general hanging-out. But before we left, Bryan asked me to help him do a small little project. He was trying to replace the air conditioner in his little apartment. Sounds simple enough. Not exactly. It took us forever to take the old piece of crap out of the window. Apparently, the old one was glued shut to the wall. So we did almost everything to get that thing out without tearing much up. To make a long story short, we Southern Engineered as much as we could. Result? It's in there. It works. End of installation.

After that fiasco, we proceeded to the house de la Wiley. We were about an hour late thanks to Bryan's cows. Everybody was done swimming when we got there. But we got in anyway. I'm sure we looked gay just the two of us wading in the pool. But the good thing was that there wasn't anybody there to see me get out of the pool. You know............. when a guy goes swimming...... he gets out............ swimming trunks are pasted skin tight to you. Because of that, people can get a distorted view of what kind of man I am. I guess some of you have no idea what I'm talking about. But I will say this..... shrinkage. Not cool.

So, after that, all of us that were at Wiley's went to go watch the magnificant fireworks display at Wintersmith Park. We had a pretty good view of them. We watched from the top of a hill by the Country Club. I'll tell you this. I can go buy a butt-load of black cats, set 'em off at once, and see a better show than what I saw at Wintersmith. It sucked! To me, at least. Washington D.C.'s firework show? Eat your heart out!

Then, after that, we set off fireworks of our own. Well, somebody else's fireworks.... but still.

And dad, happy birthday. Think about ya everyday!

Tuesday, July 5- Had intentions of going to E.C.U and enrolling for fall grad classes. So, I woke up around my normal time (around noon). Drove to Ada and went to ECU. I didn't enroll but I got the school to create a grad profile. I guess I needed one of those. But Brandon, the current youth minister from First Christian church asked me to help him paint a kitchen for a woman here in town. So I went over there thinking I was going to spend about an hour painting or so. I ended up being there from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. I did paint the kitchen...... AND help tile the floor. But, let me just say this, I smelled horribly of cigarette smoke and cockroaches (is that possible?) But, in the midst of painting and dodging the roaches (not the illegal kind...... that I know of), I looked at my phone and noticed I had 3 missed calls. One was from my good friend, Matt. But the other number was one that I didn't recognize. So, I checked my voice mail. It was someone from the freakin' HOME DEPOT! Holy crap! Is it possible that I'm worthy? Did I finally meet HOME DEPOT minimum qualifications? So, I listened to the message. A lady was wanting me to call back in regards to my prior application to the store. She said a number for me to call back but I accidently erased the message. More on this later.....

Wednesday (today), July 6- Got up today actually planning on enrolling. And I did! 9 hours. $1200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I better make a crap-load of money by getting a masters degree, dang it!

I tried to help Janey make a DVD of a recent mission trip her church's youth went on. Didn't happen. I didn't know what I was doing or something.

Now, back to THE HOME DEPOT. I called them back today and......... drum roll please....... I have an interview on Friday at 9 a.m. Yeah, that's what I thought. A.M! How am I going to break the habit of finally going to sleep at 5 a.m? Oh well........ good for me that I got an interview at least.

So, here's hoping to making money and lot's of it........... and going to school while possibly managing a job or two. It's in your hands, Lord!

Alright........ that's about it. Until next time, vaya con Dios.