New Orleans

I traveled to New Orleans today to meet with a couple of guys who do a great job of training future student ministers and to teach in a seminary class. It is my first post-Katrina visit and to say it has been overwhelming is somewhat of a great understatement. I have been shocked and saddened by the number of homes that are sitting in ruin some 15-16 months after the flood from the levee breaks. I have been here many times in the past and many of my favorites areas to run in are just desolate. The homes sit in ruin and the FEMA trailers sit in front of many of the deserted homes. It is incredibly sad to me.

I guess I did not expect it to be still so bad. It has effected me more than I could have imagined and I need to apologize to those who have lost so much for not keeping them more in the forefront of my prayers and thoughts.

Since my last blog, the week has been pretty good. Our girls played ball up in KY last night and both teams lost. The bright spot of the jv (which we played pretty badly in) was our youngest daughter getting hot and hitting a couple of 3s late in the game. She finished with 10 of the team total 19 points. The varsity game was pretty good. Many of our girls are so young and were faced with some situations they had never been in before, but all in all came out pretty good while still losing by 12 points I think.

It looks like Winter is on the way. It has been warm all week but they are calling for highs in the 40s on Friday with snow showers possible. Better enjoy the 70s today and tomorrow for awhile.

Beautiful Weekend

It has been a beautiful weekend here in Middle Tennessee. Seventy degree weather in late November is very rare and is to continue until Wednesday or so. Possibly some slight snow on Friday though which is more like it around here this time of year.

Our daughters had basketball games on Friday and Saturday and won one by 40 and lost one by 12. It is always fun to watch them play. Our youngest only sat on the bench since she is still recovering from the stomach bug she picked up last Wednesday.

We got the Christmas tree up (actually my wife did all of the work) and got the house decorated with lights on the bushes outside. I washed two nasty cars and cleaned the front of the house that was full of cob webs and junk. It required getting the ladder out again and climbing up and down a few times, but all in all, pretty fun.

We have a busy week planned with basketball on Tues., volleyball banquet on Thurs. and more basketball on Fri. I travel a couple of times this week - first trip to New Orleans post-Katrina, and then on Sat. head to San Antonio and then to South Carolina/Georgia and then back home only to leave again to head to east Tennessee for more basketball with the girls.

We also took our annual Christmas picture. I have posted one of my wife. I need to write that annual Christmas update to send out with the pictures soon.

Thanksgiving

What a great day! It is about 65 degrees outside, sunny and my belly is sort of full but not overloaded. I went for a 10-miler this morning and saw a few people out on the greenway, but not many. Came home, showered, ate some pancakes (yummy!) with pecans, and watched some of The Closer marathon going on. What a great show. I got hooked on Labor Day when season 2 was marathoned and today they are rerunning season 1. Good stuff.

Talked with the in-laws, my brother and just missed my parents so I will catch up with them at home a little later. Our youngest seems to be over the comode hugging experience and we are praying no one else gets it.

We leave soon to visit some friends and then maybe catch a movie. Casino Royale or Happy Feet sounds good to me but I will let my wife choose.

She fixed a wonderful meal today. We got a smoked turkey from Whitt's and then had a plethora of dishes including mashed potatoes, green beans, broccoli, and various other veggies. All in all a great day!

Planning to clean some gutters and do a little leaf raking tomorrow morning after a 5-miler and then heading south to watch our girls' varsity team play.

Sleeping Late

Last night the girls won both the jv and the varsity games and our guys' team won too. The guys are playing much better than anticipated and are playing as a team. Good for them.

We got home late last night after going to hang out with some friends so it was a late to bed night. My wife had to work a half-day and the girls did not have school or practice and I had the day off as well. I slept until 930a or so which is pretty much unheard of for me. Got up a ran 5 and then just hung around the house. Our youngest has the stomach bug that is going around and has spent considerable time with the commode.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we have much to be thankful for around here. We enjoy pretty good health and have our needs met so who could ask for more. We are blessed to say the least.

Hoping to get a 10-miler in in the morning, watch some of the parade, have some friends over to enjoy a meal and watch some football. Sounds like a good Thanksgiving.

Focus

I think one of the hardest things to do for many of the people that I know is to focus and make sure what they are doing is intentional and purposeful. A few years ago, Rick Warren wrote a book called The Purpose Driven Life. It has become a best seller and many people have discovered what it means to live a life of purpose.

When I was in Oklahoma, my college roommate and I had a discussion about doing things with purpose. While we did not bring up Rick's book, we talked about being in our 40s and wondering if we have been about the right things in life. Both of us have been involved in services/ministries that are about helping people. I am thankful for that. I would not like to do something that seemingly has nothing to do with helping people become intentional in what they are doing.

While I greatly enjoy sports, running, and hanging out with friends, it is important to me to know that the things I do have a positive impact on others. It is true that I miss it sometimes, but overall, I think what I do has purpose and meaning not only to myself but to others as well.

On another note . . . our girls' basketball team got a win yesterday. After an 0-2 start against two very tough teams, we played a young team (younger than us which is hard to believe) and we cruised to an easy victory.

Good Weekend

I made it home from Oklahoma Sat. morning after an early flight. I wanted to get home and hang out with my family. It is always good to get home to family.

In my last blog I mentioned that I was planning on eating at Saltgrass on Friday night, but once we got there, the wait was about an hour and a half. Not excited about waiting that long we headed to Red Robin which wasn't bad, but it sure isn't Saltgrass.

Sat. afternoon was spent watching some of the Tennessee/Vandy game and then the OSU/Michigan game. Even caught some of the Iron Bowl with Auburn winning again. Needless to say, Alabama has had a very tough year.

Yesterday was good with a good nap and then watching some football and just hanging out with family. We have many basketball games this week, but we enjoy ball and being in the gym. We have much to be thankful for this year as always. We are preparing for celebrating Thanksgiving and will be enjoying that with some good friends.

OU and More

The game was pretty fun last night. Longar Longar is a 6'11" post player who was really a lot of fun to watch. My buddy got me a media pass so we sat on the floor about 10' feet away from the OU bench. Close enough to hear, far enough away to not smell the bodies. Toby Keith came in and took his seat a few feet away. He is a big Sooner fan.

The conference I am here for has gone well. We finish tonight and then I head home early in the am. I am ready to get back and see all my girls. I am sure our dog has missed me too. Actually, no. She can't really stand me unless everyone else is gone and then she only tolerates me. I guess Westie's are that way.

I happen to be hanging out at Panera utilizing their free wireless and talking with a couple of old buddies. We head back to the conference from 530-700p and then head to Salt Grass steak house for dinner tonight. One of my favorite places to eat period. Bad thing is we do not have any in Tennessee. I have only seen them in Oklahoma and Texas.

Taking the weekend off from blogging and then on Monday I head for my annual physical and lunch with a dear friend who is like a dad away from home in many ways.

Baby, It Was Cold Outside

My plan was to get up early, run about 5 miles outside and then head over to my commitment for the day. Not so, once I woke up and the wind chill was 21. I had hat, gloves, long sleeves, but no tights, so I opted for the bike and treadmill in the hotel. Not what I wanted, but I achieved the same end. Exercise, heart rate up and a little sweat.

Met up with some old friends at the conference which is always good. We are all pretty much in the same line of work with different companies but a lot of compatability. Always good to see them.

The plan is to head back to conference for awhile this evening and then head over to the Lloyd Noble Center to watch OU take on Liberty tonight. I look forward to meeting up with my old college roommate again. He and I used to have a lot of fun together. He was a bit of a snorer and I had a small pillow that I would throw that would get him to roll over and let me get back to sleep. Small dorm room and the beds could only be so far apart.

I am going to miss a JV and Varsity game tonight that our girls will be playing. That is a bummer. I hate missing their games.

Old Blog is Gone

I used to post to Long Obedience but decided to move to the beta blogger and the old one is gone. Hmm. Doesn't seem very customer friendly. Anyway, I guess the two folks that used to read my old one will get my update via email and start reading The Way.

I am in OK for a few days working some youth leaders here. Also planning on attending an OU basketball game tomorrow night against Liberty. An old, college roommate of mine works for OU and is providing a ticket.

Our girls started their basketball season last night with a couple of losses but their teams played well. JV lost by one and V lost by 16. Our oldest played in a game for the first time since her ACL tear last Christmas. Man it was good to see her on the floor again. Our youngest has turned into a shooter and has greatly improved from last season. Finding confidence makes a big difference.

It is cold and windy here and I did not bring a coat. Guess I will stay in the hotel and work.