oh the summer

i like to pride myself in being one who can handle change, but the truth is--- some change bothers me.
this will be hard for me to admit, but i miss my summers at camp.
camp was always a time for me to get away from the rest of the world and look out for the youth that surround us. to just have fun and not worry about paper work and such.
yet that is no longer a part of my life. i no longer get to spend my afternoons sitting by the pool life guarding (i miss having a tan. i am so white), or listening to kids talk about their lives with a camp fire roaring in front of them.
don't get me wrong. i love my job, but camp was part of my childhood. i just can't wait til riley starts going to camp so i can live through him.

the bright side is... i don't miss camp food.

i love this art

joshboston.com

angie's great grandfather and danny's talent for writing

my brother-in-law wrote this note on facebook after finding out his great grandfather had passed away.

"My great-grandpa died in his chair today.

My grandma asked him if he wanted a cup of coffee this morning and he said yes, but he didn’t live long enough to drink it. I think he was ninety-six.

He was a quiet man most of the time I knew him, but certain subjects would get him pretty animated. When he got started on a tangent he was hilarious. I only wish I could have been on the phone the time he got the call from the city saying he had to paint his shutters or something like that. He called my uncle in a rage cussing and complaining about the Ferguson Gestapo.

He liked to tell us about how poor he was as a child. So poor, he said, that he wasn’t allowed to shoot a rabbit for dinner unless there were two lined up and he could kill them both with a single shot. So poor, he said, that his excuse for being late to school was that he was last in line to use the toothbrush.

I was probably 10 or 11 when a few of us sat on his back porch eating popsicles. He told us to just make sure we didn’t eat the sticks. “One time,” he announced, “I ate a bunch of popsicle sticks and pooped a two-by-four!”

Great-grandma: “Pa!”

Great-grandpa: “Well it’s true!”

His house was heat, an uncomfortable couch, a magnifying glass on the newspaper, underwear in the recliner, and Wheel of Fortune turned up to 11. He was married to my great-grandma forever as far as I’m concerned.

When we’d visit for Christmas he’d play Silent Night on the harmonica. Other times he’d disappear into his room and come out and entertain us with an accordion he found in a barn as a teenager.

His and my great-grandma’s house was notorious among the cousins for having a candy bowl on every table. When we finished a Starburst and took him the wrapper he’d fold it into a little boat. As we got older (or smarter, or both) he taught all of us how to make one for ourselves. When I think of my great-grandpa I always think of Starbursts, and when I see Starbursts I always think of my great-grandpa. I still make a boat every time I eat a Starburst.

He had a mean streak that I never saw. He has pictures that show him as strong. He was a good man, and now he’s gone."


you will be missed. if only we all could live a life like yours.

facebook polls, bat's in the courtroom, and why i need to keep my mouth shut

facebook:
i am really getting sick of people posting their opinions on facebook polls.
wait.
let me rephrase that.
i do no like when christians have to force their views on facebook with a poll.
the most recent poll to annoy me is the "same sex marriage" poll.
why post that? we already know you are against it.
do we have a poll for people against adultery, gluttony, laziness, pride, should i keep on going? because if you want i will make a poll to cover every sin that all of God's children (including myself) commits.
it seems to me that it is easier for us to point the finger when we are not willing to admit that our own gut is a sin.

bat in the courtroom:
during court a bat started flying around. it was funny watching all of these tough guys run out of the courtroom because they are afraid.

why i need to keep my mouth shut:
this does not need to be explained.

4 years of putting up with me

tomorrow will be angie's and my anniversary. it doesn't feel like it has been 4 years since we got married, but i hear that is a good thing.
i have been blessed to have a perfect wife. she puts up with my comic books, annoying music, leaving my underwear on the floor, my depressing moments, me talking about movies she could care less about, and my spending habits.
what can i say... she got a winner.
i figured i would post a few pictures. the first one is when we were engaged. the next one as you can tell is our wedding day. the last was taken on easter.

once again with the comic pics

i really can't help myself. some of these pictures are just too funny.
one warns us about the dangers of going to the creation museum.

aunt & riley

this was taken by my twin sister while she was watching riley for us. this short video shows what riley loves the most. be warned...seductive dancing movements are in this video.

my wife is the coolest nerd ever!

this is one of my wife's math videos. this is one of the many ways she forces math onto today's youth.

i do not practice what i preach

i am a huge fan of preaching God's love and how we should show it to everyone (not just the ones we would like to offer it to), but i failed this week after arguing my case this past sunday.

some of you may not remember that my blog address/ name used to be enoch the hitch hiker. i picked this name because i have always picked up hitch hikers. i found their company some what enjoyable. some would tell stories of how they are down on their luck, how God is still a big part of their life (right up there with pot), or how they are walking across this beautiful state. some times they even brought along a turtle or snake they had found on the side of the road.

but here recently i have been avoiding picking up hitch hikers. since i have started working here, i have picked up at least 3 people who i have seen sent to jail and knowing what they have done makes it really hard for me to help them out. mix that with me being a father and the fact the higher ups at work tell us that we are not to socialize with the criminals.

when i drive past them i hurt. i hurt because i want to help them. i don't want to let fear stop me from helping them.

so i become like the type of christian i cannot stand... i pray for them and go on.

God is love... did you hear that church?

my fellow brother, who survived ministry, chad estes posted a YouTube video called white man. fun song that made my soul feel a lot better after dealing with backwater theology and the troubled teens in youth group. it is good reminder who God really is.

boys (lesson one)

this past weekend i bought jars of clay's newest album "the long fall back to earth". it is a different sound for jars, but i really love it. there is on song that i really love. boys (lesson one). it is a song to a son.
since i have become a father a lot of things have changed in me. i am really happy with life and i really want my son to be happy and to always know his father is there for him.
i didn't always feel that way. before riley was born i was not too thrilled about becoming a father. it meant i was going to lose what little freedom i had, but the moment i saw him take his first breath things changed.
this song is exactly what i want to say to him when he is old enough to understand. i am not going to be the distant father, but the father that is a best friend.

lesson one do not hide
lesson two- there are right ways to fight
and if you have questions we can talk through the night
so you know who you are
and you know what you want
i've been where you're going
and it's not that far
it's too far to walk
but you don't have to run
you'll get there in time
lesson three- you're not alone
not since i saw you start breathing on your own
you can leave, you can run, this will still be your home
so you know who you are
and you know what you want
i've been where you're going
and it's not that far
it's to far to walk
but you don't have to run
you'll get there in time
get there in time
in time, to wonder where the days have gone
in time to be old enough to wish you that you were young
when the good things are unraveling, bad things come undone
you weather love and lose your innocence
there will be liars and thieves who take from you
not to undermine the consequence
but you are not what you do
and when you need it most
i have a hundred reasons why i love you
so you know who you are
and you know what you want
i've been where you're going
and it's not that far
it's to far to walk
but you don't have to run
you'll get there in time
get there in time
if you weather love and lose your innocence
just remember, lesson one.

best song ever!

thank you tyler.

so very sorry for another pic

this made me laugh out loud at work.

google at work

i hate chocolate too!
i do have a lot in common with him.
even if ang does stop me from wearing my underwear on the outside of my clothes.

rainbow batman?

the 50's were an odd time for batman... so glad he is a much darker character again.

the boy wonder

then and now (not for too much longer, but that is another story).
the first pic makes me feel like a kid again. watching him fight bad guys and say corny lines "holy short shorts batman!".

the second one reminds me of when i found out there was a new robin. my grandpa had just past away and my dad bought me a comic book to entertain me on the drive to harlan...

i am a geek...

mid-nite madness

the other day while ironing my clothes (yes i do that. i also iron my t-shirts and jeans. go ahead and laugh) i was hit with an old memory from high school.

for some unknown reason i decided to go to UK's mid-nite madness with two of my friends. i have never been a fan of sports, but the thrill of skipping school and doing nothing sounded like a lot of fun to me. little did i know that i was going to have to wait in line for over 8 hours and be surrounded by people painted in blue and talking about things like the teams history and the new players. like i said before i was not a fan.

while waiting i discovered that it was going to be "catfan forever" a play on the new batman movie "batman forever". that made the wait worth it. it was something i could relate to. comics.

around the 4th hour of waiting a little kid turned around to look at my short friend (not going to say his name due to the fact it could hurt his feelings). he looked him up and down and said "you must be the ugliest person at your school."

without hesitation my other friend spoke up "yes, yes he is."

i laughed.

shorty got upset.

the sad thing is.... the kid was right.

that memory caused me to laugh out loud.

oh how the years go by.

what does this have to do with gum?

my son loves violence

batbed

hmmmm.... what does the term "ward" mean?