So I'm slow with this update. More with the details later. For now, notice that I added some pictures.

S & myself went to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge last weekend. Honeymoon capital of the world (we went there then too). We had a cheezy heart shaped (useless) jacuzzi tub and all. Watched the game at a little sports bar and microbrewery in Ggh (would that be short for G'burg?). It sucked. I'd like to bing coach Tommy in the head...not for going for it on 4th down, but for writing a game plan in ink. It's a *plan* goofballs, not a script. I think the Assistant coaches are so afraid of TT that they are unwilling to suggest a change, but that's just an outsider's perspective. So there. Now I'm just like every other armchair quarterback in the state who thinks he knows everything about a sport he's never played above an elementary school level! Oh well. I reckon we can buy out his few million and run another coach thru. Hehehehe. At least we're not Bama.

War Damn Eagle Anyway!!!

The weather couldn't have been better Saturday. Jacob played soccer at 10:30 (pretty evenly matched teams this week) and we went directly to the 1:30 Auburn game. I carried Jacob much of the way from the car so we could make better time. It was a great pleasure to see Auburn play a good game. Carnell Williams is an impressive running back. I'm one of those crazy fans that likes to see Brandon Jacobs get the ball though. After the announcer said "Jacobs carries for a nice gain," Jacob said..."Did he say Jacob?" From then on he wanted to see "27" get the ball too.

We painted wood shelving today. Maybe we'll get some of that installed before our anniversary trip to the mountains. Given after school schedules, I'm not counting on it...

I met Mother & Daddy at the Ag Expo on Wednesday. We checked out trailers, tractors, gadgets, and gizmos. It was funny that the drill bit salesman was doing a demo for the *other* drill bit salesman when we walked up. Since the Ronco-matic drill anything salesman was so impressed with the bits from Kimball Midwest, we decided those were the ones Daddy had been looking for.

Sondra & Erin went to the new Target tonight. They left a few things in the store for other customers. Erin went to her Dad's for the weekend.

Sunday night was a "lock-in" party at the Fun Zone skate center. Erin got home after the all night skate party and slept all day Monday at Grandma's house. It was a holiday for schools. Jacob played with Grandma & Emma while Erin recuperated. It was tough to get up today, but everyone made it to school/work on time and we're back to the normal grind. A couple of weeks watching a sick child with food poisoning makes you realize how pleasant that really is...

Tomorrow I've got a ride to the Ag Expo in Moultrie, GA. That's too good to pass up, so don't expect to hear from me for a couple of days. Bye guys!

Avery, Jody, and Brian flew in from TX, partly for the big party and partly for Avery's Christening. The Christening was done as part of the Children's Service. That Children's Service had too many announcements and formality to be really fun for the kids, but it was neat seeing the kids do the service. Following the Christening/Service every camera in the family had to be used to make pictures. Must've been at least 8 cameras. I'll add a link, when I get the pictures developed from the digital camera. :)

Post ceremony brunch was at Rod & Linda's. Linda tried a recipe for Garlic Grits w/ Shrimp that was quite good. Yeah, I know...I wasn't expecting much either...good stuff though!

We finished the afternoon off painting and cutting boards and buying supplies for the playroom project, choosing to work instead of going to see Schoolhouse Rock. Shaney said it was cute. We'll add that to the rental list I reckon. Speaking of which...Head of State was cute. Nothing unexpected (OK, Chris Rock watched his mouth better than I expected), but entertaining nonetheless.

'Bout time, eh? Jacob was back at 100% by Friday night. Saturday at 8:30am he was all ready for pictures and soccer. They play as 2 teams of 3 in his age group. 9 kids from his team showed up, and 3 from the opponent. Exactly enough to play 3 "us" vs 3 "them" and 3 "us-shirts-in" vs 3 "us-shirts-out". Jacob scored the first goal for "us-shirts-in". At halftime he switched to the other field, to play a real opponent. They passed the ball and worked together (Jacob's first time for that). We picked up Aunt Dianne (who was in town for the big 6-0 party for Sondra's Dad) on the trip back home.

Dianne and the kids rested while Sondra and I watched Auburn manage to pull out a 10-3 victory over Arkansas. Whew.

The big 6-0 bash was lots of fun. Matthew and family were there when we arrived (Alan works for Randy). The kids played in one of those rental "moonwalk" blowup things until they were too tired to walk. Alan and Josh (both Baton Rouge natives and grad students for Randy) made authentic jambalaya for 75 folks. Their weren't 75 attendees, and those of us who were there tanked up on chicken fingers, cakes, and other goodies while the jambalaya cooked. Luckily that's a dish that's even better after it sits overnight. As good as it was, there was lots left over. Randy and the Band With No Name played until it got too cold to stay outside. Our crew rolled back in at home around 11pm.

The food bug is hanging in there, but we didn't let it stop us from playing baseball in the back yard yesterday. Sondra even took him to the football game last night. Erin is on the "Pep Squad" for the Middle School football team. Today and Monday are Parent-Teacher Conference days. Teacher said he was doing great. Report card shows a bunch of "E"xcellent marks. After living in a complete mess since our move last year, we decided to make a builtin bookcase for the kid's playroom. Holy crap wood has gone up. Who's brilliant idea was it to send all of our wood to Iraq to rebuild their sand huts anyway? I now get to pay for their pissant country when I buy wood AND when I pay taxes. Dan Rather should've shot the pig when he interviewed him. Danny boy better not hope I run into him either. He's an accessory to the crime for letting it happen.

I'm staying home with Jacob today. Still doing better, but not without the runs yet. Maybe today will be more fun than the last day I spent at home with him. Food poisoning is the pits.

Need I say anything here?

Jacob's fever is gone and he's feeling better today. He's even eaten a little bit. The squirts (for what they are) are still steady though not accompanied by blood curdling cries from cramps, and not as often. According to Sondra, they're no longer 15-20 minutes apart but now about 4 times/hour. ROTFL! Erin got her Christmas music sheets from her piano teacher. It went from Level 1 to Level 2--"That's 2 steps harder," she exclaimed! Thank goodness Jacob is coming on strong with math to help me with these girls...

More good news...the frequency of bathroom visits seems to be slowing down a bit and the fever is breaking. He's mentioned being hungry and we had a mini pillow fight. Sure is nice to see smiles again. I'm told Erin found a rabbit while at her Dad's house. It's white with pink eyes and they couldn't find a weiner. I can't say as I've ever seen a rabbit weiner, but they're thinking it's a girl.

Wooohooo!! Woooohooo!! 28-21!!

Go Dawgs! Actually, I felt sorry for UAT after 15 mins and started pulling for that other team. :) I've been boiling peanuts since about 11am. First batch is in the freezer (what I didn't eat, that is). Auburn has started off strong against TN, but between the game and the peanuts my tummy is arumbly. Good news is that we got a few Motrin in Jacob and he felt good enough to want some Scooby Doo Mac-n-cheese! Fingers crossed...

Jacob was still having stomach cramps and diarrhea so we went to the Doctor. The lab tells us there is salmonella in his stool. Good news is that it's not e-coli, which could be deadly. Bad news is that you have to let it run its course of 4-7 days. Bathrooms visits come every 20-30 minutes, 4 trips at a time. Food poisoning is the pits. As of this moment...still a consistent routine. Food poisoning is the pits.

Mom said if you don't have anything good to say to not say anything. I'll type quietly...Jacob's fever is back so he feels bad, and kept us up most of the night. Sondra is staying home with him. Erin missed the bus and her room is a wreck. Our servers were having problems this morning, but it turned out to be the entire campus network. Heck with this. I'm going back home so Sondra can go teach her class. It's too pretty to be at work anyway. Sick leave here I come...time to finish up the trailer repair anyhoo.

No need to be concerned Granny; Jacob is back in school without so much as a dose of Dimetapp.

Dippity doo! Micah has a weblog now too! Rather than make this a goofy correspondence to that, I reckon you can look for yourself and I'll make this a goofy entry all on my own. :)

Jacob woke up with a low grade fever yesterday. Same cold and crud that I've got, no doubt. He felt OK, but we stayed home. Apparently the dentist doesn't care about a little fever...the Tooth Doc said Sondra, Erin, & Jacob were each cavity free, btw.



[Say, Alan? Are you impressed with my "blog" prowess! :) ]
I was volunteered for the "Dad Patrol" at Fall Festival. I joked that we were looking for out-of-control Dads, but in reality there were a few lost kids in the park. Otherwise I just played social butterfly and tried not to cough in anybody's face. The festival covered both fields so it was twice as big as prior years. Add beautiful weather, a live band (kids of Tommy and George from Muse among others), the best "Dad Patrol" ever, and some warm pizza and you've got a nice evening. We decided it was too nice and Jacob was feeling too well not to bring him for at least a little while. Erin...she was feeling fine, despite tired raccoon eyes. A little fatigue is nothing when you're 12 and have a dozen best friends darting here and there, eating candy and giggling about boys.

After the kids were put to bed I got the metal lathe set up and finished prepping to put the wheel back on the utility trailer. Eeeha. Small victories!