Sunday, August 31, 2008

Terrific Sunday

Today was terrific. :-) I got to play for morning and evening services at Evergreen and we had the best time! The song service for the AM service and the 5th Sunday Night sing went extremely well and we had a blast. I just had fun being used to play. I even got to sight read several things tonight when people asked me to play for them.

It's good to visit and be at home with family and friends. :-)

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Singing and driving

I had a very uneventful Sat morning. Got my car serviced (and bought a new right front tire) after sleeping about six hours last night. lol I got up, got busy and got on the road to Mom & Dad's. Since it is Labor Day weekend and we usually go to the Labor Day sing in Thomasville, I headed to Worth County.

Let me just say that everyone seemed to not be in a hurry...at least, they weren't driving as fast as me. For example, as I approached Rochelle on U.S. 280 westbound, there were two vehicles in front of me. As we approached the speed zone sign warning of 45 mph ahead, we were already going 40. As we neared the first 45 mph sign, we were going 30. I went around them. lol No sooner had I gotten back into my lane than a truck pulled out in front of me...yes, going 10-15 below the posted limit. This happened numerous times on the trip back today. I just had to laugh. Wouldn't do any good to get mad. :-)

I got here about 3:45-4 p.m. Sat afternoon and we got ready and left soon after. Good trip to Thomasville and enjoyed the sing. 'New Tradition' from Nashville, Ga., 'Dove Brothers Quartet' and 'McKameys' were there singing tonight and it was GREAT. :-) They didn't finish singing until nearly 11 p.m. and we definitely got our money's worth. We came back up U.S. 319 to Moultrie and then GA 133 to Mom & Dad's and got here about midnight.

Sunday is church, hopefully nap time that afternoon, and then the 5th Sunday Night sing at Evergreen tomorrow night. Mom suggested we might go get Granny Holt so she can come to the sing, too. We'll see.

Hope your Saturday was great--and that your favorite college team won! Georgia did beat Georgia Southern, but it was a 'respectable' loss, with Georgia winning 45-21.

I'm lovin' me some football season already! :-D

Friday, August 29, 2008

Great first game, but Rebels lose 16-14

Well, the first broadcast went off pretty much without a hitch and the first game was pretty darn exciting, so I can say definitively that football season is here! :-D

It was unbearably hot in Waynesboro in the press box at Burke County High, so we sweated through everything and were dripping sweat everywhere. But, we opened the windows, got some flow-through going and it was better.

The Rebels and Bears played fairly hard the first half, but it was pretty sloppy. The second half was dominated by the Rebels. We pulled to within 2 points (16-14) and the clock ran down to 3.2 seconds. We brought on Jackie Chen to kick a field goal, but it was blocked. Game over. Crowd goes nuts.

Join us on the road again next week (Sept 5) at Baxley (Appling County Pirates). If you can't be with us, listen online at www.THErebelradio.com.

:-)

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Ahh...it's football season!

Ahh...it's football season again! :-) Seems like it'd never get here.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the NC State-South Carolina game tonight on ESPN, as well as all the highlights and such. Mmm. Just gets me in game-mode for tomorrow night as the Rebels travel to Burke County.

There's just something about high school and college athletes that makes football enjoyable. The all-out, hard-playing, excitement-filled guy giving the fans something to cheer about as he and his team try to put more points on the board than the other team does. It's just good stuff. Def fun to watch.

The Rebel Radio Crew hits the road tomorrow afternoon for our first internet broadcast. It will be different this year since we'll run our entire operation from wherever we are. Tailgate show, commercials, announcements, etc. Should be interesting to say the least. :-)

Your source for Effingham County Rebel football this year? www.THErebelradio.com :-) We'll see you online or on the road!

GO REBELS!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Eat your heart out NASCAR

Obviously, this afternoon was about tires. I was going to get my car serviced and I figured it was probably time for new tires--the guys said it probably would be. So I left ECHS a little after 4 and headed towards Statesboro to Nevil Tire. No sooner had I gotten off the phone with Mom when I rounded the curve at Hwy 119 and Mud Road and saw Teri McElveen.

Teri is Chris' wife (he's the baritone in the quartet). She had just pulled her van to the side of the road just past the curve and she flagged me down. I pulled quickly off the road, backed up to where she was and got out to assess the damage. She had blown a tire. Thankfully, she didn't lose control of the van going around that sharp curve.

She and her two girls were understandably shaken, but they were troopers. Teri had never changed a tire on that van, so we found out the necessary equipment, and I had the van jacked up and blown tire off in no time. We got the spare on and I followed her home. :) Needless to say, I'll have to get my car tires checked some other time...

CHANGES - My first period class is upset that I will be leaving them. A new teacher at our school will be picking them up as well as two other classes from another dept member. I will definitely miss seeing them and working with them on a daily basis.

This afternoon (after the tire incident), I bought gas for $3.48 at the Gate in Statesboro, grabbed din-din at Chick-fil-a, cut the grass, washed some clothes, and blogged. Even talked to the guy who is handling the football internet broadcasts throughout the season. Btw, you can listen to every Rebel Football game online at www.EffinghamCountyRebels.com. Tailgate show starts at 7pm; kickoff at 7:30pm:-)

Everything else is going swimmingly. Definitely enjoying things. ;-)

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Lost my train of thought

I hate that. I was driving home this afternoon and had these grand plans for a blog--with a neat title I might add--but I can't remember what it was. lol. Too much other stuff to think about, coordinate, etc. Eh, whatever.

No changes yet for me. I thought the new social studies person would be here by now, but probably not before Sept. We'll see how that impacts me after all.

Looks like Powell & I will be broadcasting Rebel Football on the internet this fall. We had enough people come by and ask us if we would, especially since they were disappointed that there would be no radio this fall. We're excited about it again...road trips, esp. lol :-)

Tropical Storm Fay (maybe Hurricane before too long) looks to keep our weather interesting the next few days. Now that the path has shifted further south, we may not get as much rain, but Pat Prokop on WTOC was saying as much as 10" or more south of the Altamaha River. Yeah.

Well, anyway, I still haven't remembered my original post, so I'm going now. lol

Sunday, August 17, 2008

62 years & memories

I had an opportunity to visit with Mr. Prentice and family Friday night at Banks Funeral Home in Sylvester at Mrs. Prentice's visitation. Bro. John spoke at the funeral on Sat morning and mentioned that they had been married 62 years. Mrs. Prentice was 82 when she passed away on 8/11. In her 82 years of life and their 62 years of marriage, she lived the life God wanted her to. She was the witness that her children, grandchildren, friends, and neighbors needed to see.

I think the thing I most admire is their faithfulness together all these years. Regardless of where they moved to, she was always supportive and caring with whatever happened.

Bro John had Mrs. Marge's Bible and he held it up for us to see. He reminded us about the legacy we leave just in our Bibles. He had a chance to flip through and look at all her notes and marks in her Bible and he picked out a few things from Psalms 25 to read.

As Bro John said, their moving to Sylvester/Worth County was definitely a God thing. It was definitely my honor and privilege to know Mrs. Marge.

You're preaching your funeral now every day that you live. What will you be remembered for? What legacy/monuments are you leaving for people behind you to follow?

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Boiled peanuts & oreos

The title? That's what I had to eat at the FFA meeting this afternoon. Satterfield invited everyone via intercom and the peanuts were huge! Definitely good. The Oreos and chips and sodas weren't bad either. lol

I have enjoyed the begining of school, but there are some changes afoot. Not sure exactly what will happen, but I could be smack-dab in the middle of those changes come Monday...I think. :-) More later on that.

Being on extended day teaching four Economics classes has been less stressful than I imagined. Still seems odd not having yearbook and newspaper (and broadcast) as part of my day anymore, but it's really ok. I am adjusting. ;-)

Definitely enjoying the changes lately. Seems like the more things change, the better things get. :-) More relaxation. Less stress (for now--lol). God's all over it.

Keep several families in prayer for the loss of loved ones. Several people I know have lost loved ones in the last few days. I'm going to visit with one family near Sylvester and pay my respects before singing Saturday. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers for these folks.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Hold on to your keys

Boy did it rain today and boy was it nice! :-) My right arm and right leg got soaking wet a couple of times holding the door open for my children since I don't have an awning. (Thankfully, things dried out during class, just in time to get wet again when classes changed.) Sure enough, they all came in saying, "you need an awning" to which I always reply, "I've been asking for one for 10 years. We've made it this long. You'll be fine."

One of my yearbook kiddies ran out of receipt books while selling on stage today. She asked to borrow my keys to go to the room, grab some receipt books, and run back. Big mistake on my part. When she came back the first time, she had grabbed the wrong stuff. She went back a second time and got the right books. I took my keys, shoved them in my pocket and went to class. By this time, it was POURING down rain. My little umbrella was hardly any shelter. I got to the door, pulled out my keys, and the room key was horribly bent--almost to the point of breaking off. Apparently the yearbook girl shoved the key in halfway and turned quickly (because it was raining obviously) and bent the key beyond recognition. I gingerly put the key in, used the lock to bend it back some, and then unlocked the door. Thankfully, I had an extra one made a couple of years ago so I'm ok on room keys. :-)

Moral of the story: do NOT allow people--especially students--to borrow your keys.
The rest of the day was great. Nothing too eventful. Yearbook/newspaper/broadcast meeting yesterday afternoon went really well. Had 15-20 people show up and several more that couldn't get there b/c of other meetings, etc.

More later!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Closing out the summer

I got to spend a little time tonight with two good friends who are about to part ways again, gearing up for another full year of college. It will be another year of growth and change and of new opportunities. It was neat again to sit and chat and catch up on a few things, while watching Olympic events and discuss those. It was kind of a last gathering of sorts for a while and it went by a little too fast.

One thing I have become all-too keen on lately is how fast moments are flying by. While talking to Nancy tonight, I realized tomorrow is Wednesday and that this week is almost gone.
Before I know it, Aug will be over and we'll be in the midst of fall sports and yearbook/newspaper stuff. :-)

Enjoy those times. Enjoy looking back on friendships and events. They are fleeting.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Three down and a cup of juice

Three school days down, 87 more to go this semester. lol Just kiddin'...I'm not already counting down the days; I'm just enjoying the time with my new kiddies so far.

The first few days of school have gone really well. It has been busy as usual, but it's a different kind of busy this year. Maybe it's having seniors in Economics. Maybe it's not having yearbook/newspaper as a class. Maybe it's just a different group of people. I'm not sure, but it's a good different this year.

The weekend was great. Spent some time with a friend in Atlanta and saw the World of Coke and Georgia Aquarium and had a GREAT meal at Ted's. Definitely a funtime along with meeting some new friends, too.

Today at church we observed the Lord's Supper. I was asked to play piano (short-notice) while the bread and juice were being distributed. Suffice it to say, the deacon distributing the juice didn't hand me mine; he waited for me to take it. I kept playing with my right hand and took the cup with my left. When it was time to drink the juice, I put most of it in my mouth and poured the rest on my shirt. lol Thankfully, the pastor's wife had a Tide pen that Nancy used to get the stain out. I washed the shirt when we got home and it appears to be ok. I guess the old adage is true: don't drink and play (piano). lol

Have a good week!

Monday, August 4, 2008

You always know

You always know when your phone will ring: when you're busy doing something. lol. Watching 'Stepbrothers' this afternoon, my phone rang no less than five times, with several missed calls, two voicemails, and a text or two. Phone had hardly rung all day...then during the movie, all that. It's like people have a sixth sense about it. LOL! :-)

Not to worry; all calls/voicemails/texts were returned in rapid succession. All is well.

The children return Wednesday to kick off 2008-09. Should be a good year. Already feels like it will be. Feels much different than other years. Not sure what is different about this one, but it's a good feeling. :-)

Continue to pray for me, ECHS, faculty & staff, students, etc. I appreciate it!

GO REBELS!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

the night before school

Ok, so no nursery rhyme/rip off of some Christmas story...but nevertheless, it's the night before open house. For some reason or another, we started preplanning on Wed, open house on Sun afternoon, and class starts back on Wed. Definitely a little odd, but it is what it is.

It has been a busy week...lots of work in the building--very little in my room--and little sleep at night. But it was nice to go to bed early Thurs night (9pm) and get eight hours of sleep. :-) Probably the earliest I've been to bed in a long while.

I spent about eight hours working in the Holt bldg today trying to get it looking good for open house (2-5pm). If you're around, stop by and see me.

It's gonna be a good year. :-)

GO REBELS!