SchoolHouse Rock

Last Christmas I bought Shelley the SchoolHouse Rock DVD that contains all of the episodes. If you aren't aware, SchoolHouse Rock was on Saturday mornings between 1973 and 1985 and it was a series of short cartoons with a catchy song that taught us multiplication, history, grammar, and science. It had episodes like Conjunction Junction, I'm Just a Bill and Three is a Magic Number.

Well, we were happy to see that Seth fell in love with it and he has watched the DVD for endless hours. So, when we saw that SchoolHouse Rock, Live was coming to Casa Manana, we knew we had to go.

Yes, I'll admit it, Shelley and I were more excited that either of the boys. I also don't think it was any surprise that I enjoyed this more than the Elmo or Dragon Tales concerts we went to but I also think it wasn't just a generational issue. I think Seth enjoyed it more than any other event we have attended. He sat on my lap, never took his eyes off of the stage and clapped with vigor after each song. Chase also had a good time but his 1 year old attention span ran out after the intermission.

If you get an opportunity to see Schoolhouse Rock, Live, I highly recommend it.

Marathon Training Update

Another 2 weeks of training are behind me and the marathon is just 62 days away. I ran in a 15 K race this weekend and had a pretty good time. My time was 1 hour 12 minutes which is about a 7 minute 48 sec pace which is almost my goal marathon pace. But, I am nowhere near running that pace for 26 miles but I still have 2 months of training.

Horrible Sports Weekend

A few weeks ago I wrote about My Good Sports Weekend. Well, this weekend is a Horrible Sports Weekend. First, TCU lost a disappointing game to Utah, my fantasy football team is on the verge of losing our first game of the season, but the topper is the Cowboys' loss to Philadelphia.

I can't even bear to think about the Cowboys' game so I'm not going to blog anymore about it.

Four out of Five Isn't Bad

My 3rd post on Dadbloggers is now available.

Read it here.

Skeeter Bag

We are having a problem with mosquitoes and this might be a cheap solution.

See more here. Link

Secret Rooms

I have always wanted to have a secret room in my house. We had a hidden playroom in one house we lived in when I was a kid and it was cool.

Here is a company that makes them.

Here is an article about this new trend.

Poor Customer Communication

I am anal about our credit history. In fact, I pulled Shelley's credit report before I asked her to marry me just to make sure she had everything squared away. So, when Shelley got this notice regarding a credit card she had applied for, I was a little shocked and disturbed.

Thank you for applying for a Citi/AAdvantage American Express account. We regret that we are unable to approve your application at this time. This is because your Citibank account reflects the follow:

You have not complied with the provisions of the Card Agreement on your present account.

A few weeks ago Shelley had called Citibank to find out how to dispute a charge on her Mastercard and when the representative was done she told Shelley she qualified for the AAdvantage American Express and since she had been so helpful, Shelley agreed to take the card.

Fast forward a few days and Shelley loses her AAdvantage Mastercard and calls back to close the account. Then yesterday we receive the above notice.

After about 20 minutes of being on hold, getting transfered, etc. Shelley finally finds out that she didn't get the American Express card because the offer was tied to her original Mastercard. Why couldn't they have just said that? It would have saved everyone a lot of time and effort.

Who To Vote For?

If you are interested in protecting your 2nd Amendment freedoms with this next election then go to the NRA Political Victory Fund. Here you can go put in your zip code and find candidates ranked based on their voting record, public statements and responses to a NRA questionnaire.

In 2004 the NRA-PVF was involved in 265 campaigns for the Senate and House of Representatives and won 254.

Rangers Fire Buck Showalter

The Rangers have fired Buck Showalter, read the story here. I'm not sure how I feel about it because I don't think it is all Buck's fault but that is pro sports. But, Buck hasn't done anything while he is here so it is probably time for a change.

Put Me In Coach

At any given time during one of Seth's soccer game there is a player who doesn't want to go in and play or a player that just stops playing to either get a drink, chase a butterfly or any other possible distraction. But, there is also a player who is always ready to go in and play and that is Chase. Yes, the one year old who thinks he is a three year old. We have to physically hold him back during the games or he will run out onto the field to join the action. He has started practicing around the house by kicking the soccer ball so when the coach does call his number he'll be ready.

Dallas 45, Tennessee 14

Dallas overcame a first drive interception to rout Tennessee 45 - 13.

Overall the team looked good. Terry Glenn had 2 touchdown receptions, T.O. with broken hand and all caught 5 passes for 88 yards and the defense had 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery.

But, the one concerning thing is the super cocky kicker, Mike Vanderjagt, missed a 26 yard field goal and his kickoffs were less than stellar. I'm sure Bill is going to be scratching his head on what to do with this kicking situation. He doesn't like taking 2 kickers so next week we may see Suisham. Heck his kickoffs are deeper and I'm sure he could have hit 50% of his field goals this week.

Seth is going to college

Today we went to the University of North Texas' Family Weekend to see where our niece, April, is going to school and to see her dorm room. When we got there Seth was full of all sorts of questions. First he wanted to know why "April isn't living with Uncle Chris anymore." We explained that she was going to college. When we got on campus we told Seth this was college and it was a big school.

Later in the day after getting home Seth declared, "When I get older, I'm going to college."

That is good news to hear...

Who Doesn't Want Freedom?

You don't have to read my blog for long to understand what side of the political isle I sit on. I also have several friends who sit on the opposite side and one of them is a friend of my wife, Jana. In this recent post
the comments turned into a debate over the war in Iraq and how the U.S. are the bad guys according to Jana and many of her readers.

Despite a multitude of things I disagree with, Jana made one comment that just floored me. In response to a comment about the U.S. trying to spread freedom through the world, she said some people don't want freedom. What? Jana is very intelligent and I believe her feelings are shared by many on the left. They don't feel freedom is something people really need or deserve. They really would like to move to more of a socialist society where the government controls our lives.

Our nature is to be free. God created us to be free and it is because sin came into the world that freedom is denied to some not because it is a better way to live.

This is good news to me.

Your Chances of Being a Multimillionaire: 64%

You have a good chance of being a multimillionaire. Better than most people. You simply have a natural knack for money and the personality for success.

Will You Be a Multimillionaire?

How Did We Ever Cook Hotdogs without a Microwave?

For some reason the other day I was thinking about Shelley's Grandmother who is in her 90's now and all of the technology changes she has seen. She grew up to see automobile travel, airplane travel, TV, man on the moon, the internet just to name a few. Will I see such significant changes? Well, here is a list of a few things that I didn't have when I was kid in no specific order.

1. The internet
2. Email
3. Cell phones
4. Text messaging
5. VCR/DVD player (we got our first VCR when I was a freshman in colleg)
6. Microwave (we got our first microwave when I was 13 or so) How did we ever make hotdogs or popcorn?
7. Answering machine
8. Call waiting - Does anyone remember what it was like to call and get a busy signal?
9. Cable TV/Satelite TV - I didn't get cable until I was 24 years old.
10. Home computers.
11. Digital cameras
12. ATM Machines
13. MP3 players

What technologies did we not have when you were a kid?

The NIE Report

Since we are approaching November elections I will probably start having more political post.

And since we are talking politics, I have to address the recently "leaked" NIE report and the conclusions that are being reported by the report. I would challenge anyone to try and not say that the reporting of this five month old report is anything but political.

If you listen only to the main stream media you would be led to believe that the only conclusion that this report had was that the war in Iraq is being used by terrorists as a means of recruiting. I'm not so sure why everyone is shocked by this statement but does it mean we don't need to be fighting the war, I don't think so. I actually think it confirms more the reason to continue with the fight.

Also, what isn't being reported is other statements in the NIE report like "United States led counterterrorism efforts have seriously damaged the leadership of al-Qaida and disrupted its operations.

The NIE report outlines a series of successes and failures in the war on terrorism but all you hear about are the failures.

Also, the main stream media can't have it both ways. The 2002 NIE report stated "Baghdad has chemical and biological weapons as well as missiles with ranges in excess of UN restrictions; if left unchecked, it probably will have a nuclear weapon during this decade."

So, we wrong to make decisions based on the NIE report in 2002 but now in 2006 it is clear that this report has a clear understanding of the situation.

You can read report after report, analysis after analysis but in the end the only thing that matters is results. And to me, the most important result is that since 2001 there has not been a successful terrorists attack against the United States. But, prior we saw act of terrorism after another, including the bombing of the World Trade Center, the destruction of US embassies in Africa and the attack on the US Cole.

Chicks Carrying Guns and Kicking Tail

I found this list of stories of woman defending themselves on John Lott's blog.

My favorite quote is from a Texas woman who was being robbed and she pulled her gun and said "Are you really sure you want to do whatever you're going to do?"

Read all of the stories here.

More Dallas Cowboys' Stadium Information

The plans for the new Cowboys' stadium have not been made public yet but The Fort Worth Star Telegram has published some information they have gotten from inside sources.

One thing I am glad to hear is that the "Hole in the Roof" will remain but will have a retractable cover that can be opened or closed. The stadium will have a more modern appearance made of steel and glass and look like a "spaceship". Other features identified are:

About 75,000 seats split among eight levels, called the Event Level, the Hall of Fame Level, Main Concourse, Mid-Concourse, Silver Level, Ring of Honor Level, Star Level and Upper Concourse.

Quarter-mile-long steel arches running end zone to end zone.

Large outdoor digital video screens that are similar to the 96-by-27-foot south end-zone scoreboard in the Arizona Cardinals' new stadium.

No end-zone seating above ground, allowing people to "see through" the stadium from the parking lot.

Read the article here.

The Gun Show

I took both boys to their first gun show this weekend and we had a great time. When I first asked Seth if he wanted to go to the gun show he replied, "yay, we are going to the gun show. (pause) What is a gun show?"

Well, he found out and he says he wants to go back. I think he was more interested in some of the non-gun related booths like the guy that had the stuffed armadillos laying on their backs holding beer bottles, or the guy with the old toys that included trains, or the Texas Rangers' (law enforcement, not baseball team)booth that gave each boys a sticker making them Junior Texas Rangers.

Chase also seemed to have a good time or at least he didn't voice any complaints.

Marathon Training Update

I just completed my fifth week of training and I have eleven more to go. This week was very hard because I have been very tired and I haven't felt well all week. This training I am doing is considerably harder than I have ever done and I just hope I can make it through it. This is all in attempt to try and qualify for the Boston Marathon. As an example, in the first 5 weeks of one of my previous training sessions, I ran 114 miles. I have run 146 miles during these first five weeks or the equivalent of an entire extra week. Next week I am scheduled to run 40 miles so things aren't going to get any easier.