Digitally creative

For some reason, my bosses at work signed me up for a digital photo training class at LSU-Alexandria. It's basically a beginning photo class, one of many continuing education classes workers at The Town Talk "get" to take due to some grant money the paper has.

Unlike the other training classes I've taken, this one is actually pretty fun because 1) I actually have an interest in photography, even if I don't have a great eye for it; and 2) because I'm not stuck at a computer in the class. We actually get out and shoot some photos.

The only problem with the class is it starts at 8 a.m. (I have my last of three classes Thursday morning), and since it's 3:15 a.m. as I type right now, you guys can tell that I'm a night owl (hey, I work at night!).

But after the last class, we were given a "homework" assignment to get 12 photographs that we've taken in order to make homemade cards. So I dug through some of my old digital photos that I've shot and picked out 12 that I thought were good photos or had good stories or good memories associated with them. I'd like to run through them with you guys and share the stories, because it was fun for me to go back into the past.

1) The scene is a picture of a sailboat and a skyline in June in Boston. It's a picture from a boat tour that Elizabeth and I took on our honeymoon in Boston in June 2005. I just think it was a neat picture, and it was an absolutely beautiful day.

2) This picture I didn't actually take, but I had it on my computer and absolutely had to use it. It's a picture of my wife taken by her mother for our "engagement" pictures out by the gazebo at her parents' house. The thing that is so striking about the photo is that Elizabeth is laughing. First of all, it's like pulling teeth to get Elizabeth to take a picture. She normally runs away or simply hides her face. Point blank, she doesn't like to be photographed, but she submitted for the engagement photos. I don't recall exactly what was going on off-camera when this photo was shot, but Elizabeth was laughing at something -- probably some silly thing that I did!

3) This third photo is very striking to me. It was taken last October when I went to New York City with my brother-in-law, Jason. We went down to Ground Zero and stood out in the rain. While I was there, I snapped a photo of the big void that is left where the twin towers used to stand. One day, and it's not supposed to take very long, there will be a memorial standing the same height as the tallest tower.

4) The fourth photo is of a lighthouse in Maine on our honeymoon. When Elizabeth and I went up to the Northeast, we visited several lighthouses. And this is my favorite photo of all the lighthouses I shot. It's also the photo Elizabeth has on her MySpace page.

5) My boy, Ryan Moats. I had the pleasure of spending Draft Day 2005 in Dallas at Moats' house. While there, I took several pictures of the party. In one of them, I captured Ryan in a fairly artsy photo (especially for me, who's not very artsy at all). It's a shot of him standing by the fireplace in his mom's living room, and he's framed by the bricks and rocks of the fireplace. This photo is now the one on my MySpace page.

6) Peyton Manning. J-E-T-S! Jets, Jets, Jets! Another shot from my October trip to New York, when Jason and I went to Yankee Stadium and then to watch the Colts and the Jets play. I took a photo of Peyton under center from the stands, and I'm actually surprised how well it turned out. Jason and I were by no means in the nosebleeds, and we actually had some pretty good seats, but I didn't think I'd be able to get nearly as good of a photo as I was able to get.

7) The Green Monster. Yes, I like sports. A lot of these photos have to do with sports in some way, shape or form. So sue me. This one is a photo of Fenway Park's famed Green Monster, the left field fence at the park. This photo was taken from the press box on our tour of the park. Sadly, the Red Sox were out of town during our honeymoon, and we didn't get to see a game. But we did take a tour. And not only did I get this shot of the Green Monster, Elizabeth also took a photo of me atop the Monster. That had been on my MySpace page.

8) Another photo at Fenway. This one is of Elizabeth and me down on the field level. The Green Monster can be seen in the background. I didn't actually take this photo, since I'm in the picture. We asked a kind stranger to shoot us. Not great quality, but a good memory.

9) One of the funniest photos I have, it's of Misti Walker, a friend from college and the wife of one of my best friends, Alan Walker. This photo was taken at "Alan's Pad" -- his so-called bachelor pad out in the woods behind his dad's house when we were in college. It captures Misti's personality to a "T" (her nickname), as she has a football in one arm and strikes the Heisman pose. Absolutely hilarious when it happened, and still funny to think about!

10) Another photo of Ryan Moats at his Draft Day party. This one is of Ryan on his cell phone as he receives a call from the Philadelphia Eagles, telling him they are about to take him in the third round of the draft. It had been a long, frustrating day for Ryan, as he wasn't selected until after 9 p.m. But once he got the call from the Eagles, all of his frustrations slipped away, and he was elated to know he would get the chance to play in the NFL.

11) Certainly not the best photo I've taken in terms of quality, but it's a shot of the New York skyline on my way back into the city after the Jets game back in October. It was a beautiful day, even if the picture doesn't best represent the striking beauty of the sky.

12) Last but not least, a random picture of a sunset. I honestly do not remember where or when this photo was taken. I just had my camera with me -- it may have been when I was looking at houses after moving to Alexandria -- and saw an opportunity to catch a pretty orange sky. So I shot it, and I really like the photo.

Anyway, I was happy to get a chance to go through some old photos thanks to this homework assignment. I like the idea of recording memories, and digital photos have made that so much easier these days. You can shoot as many as you want, delete the ones you don't like and save them. Then if you want to make a print, it's fairly easy to save it to a desk and run up to Wal-Mart, which is what I did for this assignment. I hope you've enjoyed my trip down memory lane, as well.

Memoirs from a Deathbed

Believe it or not, despite the fact that I've been working constantly and sleeping half the day away, I've had a chance lately to do a lot of thinking. And one of the things that got me thinking was a new CD that I bought from perhaps my favorite band, Relient K.

I want to share with you guys the final song on the album, an epic, 11-minute confession of a man dying from cancer and looking back on his life from his deathbed. I'll provide the lyrics in black font, with my own thoughts in blue.

DEATHBED

I can smell the death on the sheets
Covering me
I can't believe
This is the end

But this is my deathbed
I lie here alone
If I close my eyes tonight
I know I'll be home

Sometimes in our lives we can feel so alone, so attached from the world that goes on all around us. But this was a man who was utterly alone, on his deathbed with nobody to care for him. What a depressing thought -- to be all alone and dying. But even when we're alone, we're not alone. God is there with us, and even when things are at their worst, we have the promise of eternity waiting for us when He calls us home.

The year was 1941
I was 8 years old and far too young
To know that the stories
Of battle and glory
Was a tale a kind moher made up for her son

You see, Dad was a traveling preacher
Teaching the words of The Teacher
But Mother had sworn
He went off to the war
And died there with honor somewhere on a beach there

But he left once to never return
Which taught me that I should unlearn
Whatever I thought a father should be
I abandoned that thought like he abandoned me

The man was 8 years old in 1941 -- meaning he was born in 1933. In 2007, as he's on his deathbed, he's 66 years old looking back at his life. While I haven't lived nearly 66 years, there are times I think back to things in my past that have shaped me into what I am today. In this case, his father -- a Christian man, a traveling preacher -- abandoned him and his mother all alone. At such an early age, he had to grow up and become a man. I can relate here. While I never once felt abandoned, for the most part of my childhood it was just me and Mom. We bounced around, went through a couple of husbands, but it was us. I had to grow up. Mom hd to sacrifice. It shaped me into the man I would become.

By '47 I was fourteen
I'd acquired a taste for liquor and nicotine
I smoked until I threw up
Yet I still lit 'em up for 30 more years
Like a machine
So right there you have it
That one filthy habit
Is what got me where I am today

At 14 years old, abandoned by his father, this man had begun going down a path that would lead to his destruction. Liquor and nicotine -- the latter of which would lead to a cancer that would riddle his bones and put him on his deathbed, looking back on his life. We make choices. Every day we make choices. Some good. Some bad. None of us are perfect. But we live with our choices. They shape us. They define us. At 14, this man made a choice that would effect the rest of his life. I hope I haven't made decisions that will lead to my destruction someday.

I can smell the death on the sheets
Covering me
I can't believe
This is the end

I can hear those sad memories
Still haunting me
So many things
I'd do again

But this is my deathbed
I lie here alone
If I close my eyes tonight
I know I'll be home

A little twist on the chorus. As he lays in his bed, all alone, on his deathbed, he's haunted about sad memories from the past -- about the abandonment he faced when his father left, about the filthy smoking habit that would lead to the cancer that's killing me. Man, all these decisions haunt him in his last days. There are so many things he'd do all over. I look back at all the stupid mistakes that I've made in my life, and how I wish I could have a chance to do things all over again. But we don't get that opportunity. We live. We learn. We move on. We make mistakes, ask for forgiveness and try to live to the best of our abilities. Unfortunately, in life, there are no mulligans.

Got married on my 21st
Eight months before my wife would give birth
It's easier to be sure you love someone
When her father inquires with the barrel of a gun

The union was far from harmonious
No two people could have been more alone than us
The years would go by and she'd love someone else
And I'd realize I hadn't been loved yet myself

While at 14, he began smoking. At 21, he impregnated his wife and had a shotgun wedding. Again choices that define us. I guess it would be pretty easy to know you love someone when her father is threatening your life. You man up and take the consequences of your action. But can you imagine how tough it would be knowing that you're 21 years old, about to be a father and getting into a marriage that neither one of you wants to be in. Your families obviously aren't happy with your decisions, and you are forced to try to make things right. But they aren't right. The marriage is doomed from the start. She'd move on and give her heart to someone else -- without ever giving it to you at the start.

From there it's your typical spiel
If life was a highway I was drunk at the wheel
I was helping the loose ends all fall apart
Yeah I swear I was destined to fail and fail from the start

I bowled about six times a week
The bottle of Beam kept the memories from me
Our marriage had taken a 7-10 split
And along with my pride, the ex-wife took the kids

And things kept getting worse. Without love, a fatherless young boy became a father who in his own way abandoned his children. Is going life through the motions a life worth living? This man just went through the motions -- he was drunk at the wheel of the highway of life. In a way, he feels sorry for himself. He feels as if his life was set up from the get-go destined for failure. He's beaten down. He's broken. Can things get any worse? Probably, but in his head there's no way it's going to get any better.

I was so scared of Jesus
But he sought me out
Like the cancer in my lungs
That's killing me now

And I've given up hope
On the days I have left
But I cling to the hope
On my life in the next

But just when we get up hope, our hero swoops in. The hope for the hopeless. When we're running scared, when we're hiding from life, Jesus is there, seeking us out, trying to save us. Just like the cancer in this man's lungs, seeking to spread its way throughout his body, Christ sought to take over his life. As he lays in his bed, alone, dying, there's no hope left in this life. But there's hope in eternity. There's hope that the pain, the loneliness, the helplessness, everything will be gone -- and all that's left is a perfect life in heaven.

Then Jesus showed up
Said "Before we go up
I thought we might reminisce
See one night in your life
When you turned out the lights
You asked for and prayed for my forgiveness"

Now it's time. Jesus shows up. As the man takes his final breath, he closes his eyes to see The Father and The Son. It's time for eternity. But before, Jesus says let's take a trip down memory lane. Surely, this isn't what the old man wants to do. After all, he's just been taking trips down memory lane. The thoughts were depressing. His life wasn't exactly fulfilling. But Jesus brings good memories -- a memory about a broken man, alone in the dark, crying out for forgiveness. And that's all it takes -- a heart that comes, pure and broken, with the understanding that we cannot save ourselves. It just takes a heart in search of a hero and a savior.

You cried wolf
The tears, they soaked your fur
The blood dripped from your fangs
You said, "What have I done?"
You loved that lamb
With every sinful bone
And there you wept alone
Your heart was so contrite
You said "Jesus, please forgive me of my crimes
Sanctify this withered heart of mine
Stay with me until my life is through
And on that day, please take me home with you"

This is perhaps my favorite part of the whole song. I've grown up in church and heard many metaphors about the life of Christ. I've heard all about the pure lamb of Christ -- the sacrifice that was made for us to have eternal life. But I've never before heard us compared to a wolf. But that's what we are. We are the wolf who sought out and sacrificed the pure lamb. We're the ones with the blood on our fangs. And we're the ones who should be crying over the punishment that we caused the only perfect person to ever walk this earth. But that's the good news. That was the plan. Jesus did it willingly. He went to the Cross for us and allowed us to dig our fangs into his brittle bones. The crown of thorns, all the whips, the broken bones, the beatings that Jesus took -- all of that was our fangs digging into him and devouring the perfect lamb. And that sacrifice was wondeful, but it was useless unless we come with a contrite heart, pouring out our withered hearts, begging for forgiveness and asking our savior to take us home with him.

I can smell the death on the sheets
Covering me
I can't believe
This is the end

I can hear you whisper to me
It's time to leave
You'll never be
Lonely again

But this was my deathbed
I died there alone
When I closed my eyes tonight
You carried me home

Again, another twist on the chorus. Jesus came to take the old man home and simply whispered in his ear that he had nothing more to worry about. Never again would he be lonely. Never again would he feel the pain of the human emotions that we deal with every day. No, he was on his way to heaven. Carried home by our hero.

(Voice of Jesus)
I am the way
Follow me and take my hand
And I am the truth
Embrace me and you'll understand
I am the life
Through me you'll live again
For I am love
I am love
I am love

And then to close the song we get the voice of Jesus, pleading out to his children. Just like the gospels say, he is the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but through him. He's the way, all we have to do is take his hand and follow. He's the truth. If we embrace it, we'll understand. And he is the life. Through him, we can live again. We can have the gift of eternal life. But most importantly, he is love. That love is what saves us. That love is what led to the ultimate sacrifice.

I hope one day I am not in the position that this old man was put in. I hope I'm not alone on my deathbed, with no family, no loved ones, basically living a useless life. I don't want to look back on my life with any regrets. I want to live life to its fullest. But no matter what, no matter how my life turns out, the twists, turns and tribulations that are sure to come in the future, I know I have the love of my savior. I know my future is written in the Book of Life. That gives me the ultimate comfort to know that I can live my life and at the end of the day know that I'm going home!

Can I relax now

Oh how I wish it were just "Strictly Sports" ... (for those of you reading on MySpace, I also post a blog on Blogger that I entitle "Strictly Sports")

This week has been far from strictly anything.

I'm sitting at my desk at 10 a.m. Saturday morning, an hour until I meet Patrick Johnson, our prep writer, to head down to Lafayette to cover the semifinals of the boys basketball playoffs. And for the first time all week, I feel I finally have time to relax.

I just received my final mug shot for our All-Cenla boys and girls soccer teams, which will run in Sunday's paper. 22 photos. I was responsible for tracking them down. And boy did I have some problems. I thought, by going to the schools and trying to get yearbook pictures, that I was doing it the right way. Wrong!

Don't get me wrong -- some schools were very helpful. They gave me hard copies of yearbook prints or e-mailed it over to me. One school had already shipped off its yearbook pictures, but the ROTC department e-mailed me photos from school IDs. But others weren't nearly as helpful.

Going into yesterday -- mind you, with a graphic designer wanting to finish this big, full-page project up as soon as possible -- I still needed 10 or 11 mug shots. So I started tracking down parents and athletes. Some parents were able to e-mail me photos, and I am terribly gracious for that. Other athletes took time out of their busy schedules for me to shoot photos of them -- three Pineville athletes met me at the school at 7 p.m. last night, after I twice asked, and received confirmation, that I would receive yearbook photos via e-mail.

Coming into today -- after being in the office for a full eight hours yesterday on my "day off" -- I lacked just two photos, or so I thought. I got in touch with one parent, who said she had e-mailed me on Thursday -- an e-mail I had accidentally deleted. No problem. I hit restore and it was safe. That left one more, so I contacted him and asked him I could meet him to shoot a photo. He lives in Colfax, so he said he'd e-mail me. Three photos later and I'm done. Relax.

If that were only the story of my week. Here's where we get to the non-sports part of my job this week. Every year, The Town Talk puts out "parish profiles" every year on the 13 (now 11) parishes that we cover. For some reason -- and despite many protests -- I drew Catahoula Parish. For the record, so you guys won't think I'm just complaining, I'm the only one of our "content editors" (read people in charge of assigning and editing stories) that received one of these assignments. Yes, I write. I enjoy it. But I have many other responsibilities around here that a normal reporter doesn't have, which made this assignment very difficult for me.

First, I had to create time to drive to Catahoula Parish and gather the extensive information necessary to get the project done -- history of the parish, lots of interesting tidbits about its beginning, biggest scoundrels, well-known residents, etc. It was a lot of fun, but very time-consuming. Since I moved over to sports, I haven't had the time -- with prep playoffs going on right in the middle of when this needed to be done, and the fact that I'm the editor on duty every night that I'm not out covering a game.

So we created a day -- Tuesday -- for me to essentially take off to Catahoula Parish and not work in the office. So I left at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning to go to Catahoula Parish -- Harrisonburg, Jonesville and Sicily Island. I spent most of my day there and got back to Alexandria at 6 p.m. and started writing, finishing up at about midnight. Then I e-mailed my stuff to the office and came up here to put all of my stories into the system. That was a long day -- and I haven't been the same since.

I'm trying not to complain too loudly, because I did enjoy the assignment and learn a lot, but it was very inconvenient for me to have to shun the rest of my duties in order to do this parish profile.

Anyway, I could ramble on and on and on about my week, but I'll close on this note. Thursday was my birthday. I'm 25. A quarter of a century. I've thought about doing some type of retrospective, but as you can tell, I haven't really had time. Hopefully, I'll get some soon. But it won't be today or tomorrow. I'm leaving in 15 minutes to go to Lafayette, where I'll be until about midnight, before driving back to Alexandria, getting up to teach Sunday school and immediately leaving to go back to Lafayette to cover another semifinal game tomorrow.

This is my life. Pray for my wife.

He's alive!!!

HAMMOND -- So I'm sitting courtside at the University Center on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University just before 1 p.m., at work but not yet at work, and I'm the first media member to arrive today.

I will cover two games today, out of a total of five in our coverage area, as part of the Ladies Top 28 semifinals. Depending on the outcome of tonight's late game, I could also be back here on Saturday to cover one or two finals contests.

This is the type of work I enjoy. I like being on the road. There's something of a thrill that comes with it. But I'm also tired. And I've got a long day ahead of me. But it's already been a long week.
After traveling to and from Monroe on my day off Monday for a doctor's appointment, I arrived home just in time to be called into the office for a crisis. The LHSAA and the state's newspapers got into a verbal war over the use of photographs and who owned the rights, which caused the newspapers to boycott the first two nights of the tournament. Late Tuesday night, the LHSAA caved on the issue and allowed the newspapers to retain the rights to all of the photos they shot.

Well, after working for three hours or so on my day -- which really made my wife happy, let me tell you -- I came home exhausted. Then yesterday was exhilirating, traveling 45 minutes to Montgomery watch Montgomery beat up on Vermilion Catholic in the second round of the boys 1A playoffs.

Was in the office until after 2 a.m. thanks to some computer problems which caused me to lose the feature story I had done on Montgomery's boys for later in the week. After taking care of some bills and chores around the house, I crashed for about 2-3 hours before getting up early this morning to drive down to Hammond.

Such is the life of a sports writer during playoff time. After this weekend, we've got the next two weekends of the boys Top 28, and then basketball season -- at least on the prep level -- is done and in the books.

By then, I'm sure, I'll be basketballed out. I've got a quarterfinal boys game to cover Friday night -- where, I'm not sure yet -- then most likely will be back on the road early Saturday heading back down here to Hammond. The next two weekends I'll be back and forth from Lafayette most likely, as I'm sure Peabody and Zwolle will advance to the finals in their respective classes.

Anyway, it's good to finally write again. I'm about to get settled in a long, fun day of girls basketball. These are the best teams in the state, and it should make for competitive basketball.

Going back home

Although today was technically the second Monday in a row that Elizabeth and I have had off together, it was the first two-day weekend we've had together since beginning our new jobs. In honor of that milestone, we did what we do best -- hit the road for a little getaway.

The destination? Our old home, Ruston. I called up my best man Kyle over the weekend to see if he and his wife, Judith, could me us for lunch. We chose an old staple of Ruston cuisine, The Dawghouse, which makes quite possibly the best burger in town.

The Dawghouse, I must say, didn't disappoint with my burger. Very good. And the cheese fries were magnificent, as always. Elizabeth had been craving some cheese fries. It was neat, pulling up to The Dawghouse, where we hadn't been since we left Ruston eight months ago. The exterior had received a face lift (Tech blue, my favorite color, of course), while the interior had been remodeled as well.

After spending about an hour or so at the restaurant, Elizabeth and I followed Kyle back to his house and hung out for awhile. We did what guys do -- talk some sports, play a few video games, hang out with the chihauhau -- you know, that kinda stuff.

Eventually, Kyle kicked us out of his place because he had to get on the road -- headed to Bossier City for Monday's night live television showing of WWE's Monday Night Raw. Yes, I admit, I used to watch wrestling. In high school, I watched religiously -- both WCW and the then-WWF. Kyle and I were die-hards. As we got into college and matured a little bit (although, asking our wives, that maturity level is still debatable), we both got away from watching wrestling. But Kyle had a chance to go with some buddies and he jumped at it. After all, we're both still kids at heart -- and wrestling was a big part of our childhood. As much as I hate to admit it, I've actually watched a little bit recently myself. Not much, but certainly more than I did my entire college life.

Anyway, after Kyle took off, Elizabeth and I went to visit a family that's near and dear to my heart -- the Ferrels. Let's just say, we go way back. My mother and Sherri Ferrel have been friends for years, and I've known Sherri's kids forever. Casey, the oldest, is three years younger than me, while the twin girls (Ashley and Michelle, "my little girls") are juniors in high school.

When we were younger (like when I was in junior high and high school), we lived near one another, and it became a tradition for me to go over to the Ferrels to play in the snow whenever we got a day off from school because of bad weather. I have some great memories with playing with those girls, who literally were like sisters to me.

It's funny because I recently, as in last week, caught up with Casey and Michelle through MySpace, and Sunday night, Michelle left me a message asking when I was coming up to visit. I was tempted to give her a call and let her know we planned to come into town on Monday, but decided against it and showed up unannouced.

Talk about a wonderful time. The four Ferrel women, along with myself and Elizabeth, sat around in their living room and reminisced about old times, as well as catching up on new ones. It's amazing that my little girls, who I've literally known since they were born, are now 17-year-old juniors in high school. To put that in perspective, some of my friends from church are 17-year-old juniors. Strange.

After spending, I guess, an hour or two with the Ferrels, Elizabeth and I caught up with my boy Binni Keleta for a few minutes before hitting the road back home. I'd hoped to go to Monroe to catch a Ruston High soccer game (Binni's the coach), but the game was canceled due to bad weather. But the 'Cats have a home game in two weeks, so we'll try to make it back up there then, when they face off against district rival West Monroe.

All in all, it was a great trip home. Even though it was short, and honestly that's the way I prefer my trips to Ruston, it's always good to see old friends and visit. There's a ton of other people I wish I could have seen while I was in town, but time simply doesn't allow for that. The good news is there will be time for plenty more trips home in the future.

I'm back in the saddle

Went out and covered my first game in months last night. Here are the results:

http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070110/SPORTS/701100329/1006

http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070110/PREPSSPORTS/701100305

New year brings new hope

Yes, I know I'm a little late. It's Jan. 2 (happy birthday, Mom), but I'm writing a New Year's blog.

2006 was, in many ways, a monumental year for me. Yet, the arrival of 2007 brings renewed hope. I really and truly believe this year could be my best one yet. Before we get into that, let's take a look back on the year that was.

Last year brought some major milestones in my life. Elizabeth and I ventured out into the great unknown, moving away from Ruston and buying our first house. Maybe it wasn't the great unknown for Elizabeth (she grew up in Pineville, which is a stone's throw over the Red River from our house in Alexandria), but it was for me. For the majority of my life, I lived in the small city known as Ruston, La. In fact, I'd spent the past dozen years there -- finishing up junior high, graduating high school and becoming my own man in college at Louisiana Tech University. Ruston, for all its faults, was home.

But there comes a time when a man needs to spread his wings and move away from home. 2006 became that time for me. So I took a job at The Town Talk, a paper owned by Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in America, as an assistant metro editor -- putting my career dreams in the sports world on hold in order to better my family's future. And I haven't regretted that decision for a second.

Elizabeth and I purchased a cute cottage home in the Garden District near downtown Alexandria. And while it's a "cottage home," it's by no means tiny. We are very proud of our rather large home that features 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a large living room, separate dining room and a den/computer room that is quickly becoming my own shrine to my college alma mater -- painted my favorite color, "Tech Blue" -- while also housing our computer desk, my workout machine and all my video games.

While the house was "move-in ready," my interior-designer-at-heart wife set about making the house we purchased our home. We set about painting -- the aforementioned "Tech Blue" room, the kitchen, dining room and living room. We've purchased a few amenities -- new living room furniture (a couch, loveseat and lounge chair), matching dining room set (formal dining table, which two extra sections, to seat anywhere from 4-8 people comfortably, and Elizabeth's favorite asset of the house, a new china cabinet), and we (my father-in-law and me) just put in a new chandelier in the dining room that I purchased for Elizabeth for Christmas.

We've still got a lot of work to do in transforming our home. The guest bedroom isn't fully set up yet, although we have had a few guests stay. And the third bedroom, which for now is serving as our storage room, still needs to be painted and turned into the shrine to Curious George that it will become. But we're making progress. And that's what life's about.

Outside of the home, Elizabeth and I have found another home -- a church home at Donahue Family Church in Pineville. While, admittedly, we had inside connections with Elizabeth's best friend, Michelle Neal, being one of the youth ministers (along with her husband, Jeremy), we've really taken to this new church. Elizabeth and I jumped right in helping with the youth group -- serving as adult leaders at the Wednesday night service and also teaching a group of 7th and 8th graders on Sunday morning. Recently, I've added the duty of church basketball coach. In college, I had hopes to be a youth leader, but things didn't work out for me. Now, I'm getting to live some of those past dreams.

While 2006 was a transition year for our family, I firmly believe 2007 is going to be even better. Two weeks ago, Elizabeth started a new job at The Town Talk. Today, I received word that next week I will begin my own new job at The Town Talk -- as assistant sports editor/preps. I can't put into words how excited I am to get back on the sports side of the news business. I'll be back in my element -- helping to dictate the coverage of our local high schools, along with prep writer Patrick Johnson, and helping the sports editor, Randy Benson, direct our overall coverage at The Town Talk. This is just validation in my eyes that I made the right decision coming to The Town Talk. My previous boss said he was shocked when he heard I was living to become an assistant metro editor. But it was all part of my plan to get a shot in a sports department. Now, just eight months later, I'm getting that chance and am well along on the path that I wanted to take in my journalism career.

What this next step means is that I'll be moving to a night schedule. On paper, that's not ideal. Except Elizabeth's job is moving to nights, as well. We won't be on the exact same schedule -- my shift will begin and end about 3 hours earlier than hers -- but we'll be working the same days (Tuesday through Saturday) and we'll have our mornings (until about 2) off together.

Personally and professionally, I have high hopes for the coming year. Hopefully, it'll be the best one yet.

New co-worker

So I've got a new co-worker at the office who started working there last Monday.

Normally, that wouldn't be a big deal, and certainly not blog-worthy. The Town Talk is a big place. People come and go. It's only natural. When I worked at The Ruston Daily Leader, a paper much smaller and with a more intimate work force, it was a big deal when someone left or started. Here in Alexandria, not so much.

But last Monday was rather historic, as my wife began a new job at The Town Talk. No, Elizabeth is not a journalist. She has no journalism background. But she's working at the newspaper. While exact roles are up in the air (as they are for all us as we are redesigning a new setup at the paper), Elizabeth's main tasks are to archive our paper and assist with the Web site.

So far, she tells me, she's enjoying things. Sometimes, her cubicle is pretty hectic. Other times, she can work in relative anonymity -- the way she likes it.

Elizabeth's favorite thing about her new job is we've gotten a chance to carpool. Seriously, she loves it. Brings a big smile to her face. Working with a spouse is not a foreign concept to me. My mother and stepfather, until recently, have worked at the same job for 4-5 years. So it's nothing big to me. But it's amusing to see how much Elizabeth enjoys it.

Last week and this week, Elizabeth has been working 9-6 from Monday through Friday. Beginning next week, I believe, she'll switch to a 1-10 p.m. shift, before eventually moving to her "normal" shift of 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. from Tuesday through Saturday.

Now, there are pros and cons to this. For the first time since we moved to Alexandria, we'll have a two-day "weekend" where we are off together. It's tough when your days off are different. While working at the bank, Elizabeth was off Saturday and Sunday. I'm off Sunday and Monday. With Sunday being church day where we teach a group of middle schoolers, that leaves absolutely no time to do things together or do any traveling. So it'll be nice to be off together.

As for the con, at least until something changes, Elizabeth and I will be working criss-cross shifts. I work from 9-6 Tuesday through Thursday and from 3-whenever on Friday and Saturday. So that'll give us two days a week where we're not seeing each other as I'm leaving the building and she's entering. Now, I'm under the impression that my situation at work will eventually change. And I'll give everyone more details as they become more clear. But for right now, I don't know when my job's going to change. But it most likely will mean me moving to nights, so Elizabeth and I are at least on similar shifts.

We're excited in the McCormick household for Elizabeth's new job. She didn't particularly enjoy banking, and this new position is more down her alley. She can use some of her technology skills. Plus it's a foot in the door for a huge company that gives us plenty of options in the future.

Reading material

http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061222/NEWS01/612220338/1002/NEWS17

http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061224/NEWS01/612240301/1002/NEWS17

Submitted for your reading pleasure are two stories worthy of winning awards -- not because of anything I wrote, but simply because of the stories that needed to be told.

The first story is one of perseverance, work ethic and never giving up. The second one is a story of an amazing young woman whose selflessness apparently knows no bounds.

Due to vacations, writers on leave and other craziness, I pulled double duty this past week -- playing both editor and writer. So I had both of these stories essentially fall in my lap. And I was glad to tell them.

Playing reporter for a week made me realize how much I missed writing. It was a lot of fun, even with all of my other responsibilities and generally feeling overwhelmed. But we got the job done and got the paper out.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading the two stories as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Who Dat!

Now the nation knows. The New Orleans Saints are no longer simply the feel-good story of the year. No. Now the Saints are a force to be reckoned with and a legitimate contender for the Super Bowl.

That's the feeling today, after the Saints absolutely obliterated the Dallas Cowboys last night on national TV. The final score of 42-17 was bad enough, but it doesn't even begin to describe how much of a blowout this game was. After giving up a 77-yard touchdown run on Dallas's second play from scrimmage, the Saints' defense rebounded and put on a masterful performance.

All year long, the story has been about this team's offense. Drew Brees is in a dogfight with his former teammate (San Diego running back LaDainian Tomlinson) for league MVP honors. Reggie Bush's explosiveness has changed the way teams must gameplan against the Saints. Marques Colston, a seventh-round draft choice, has played like the Rookie of the Year for the better part of the season. And it goes beyond those three players. Deuce McAllister finding his role. Joe Horn's leadership, even through injuries. The depth at both wide receiver and tight end, with no-names making plays and names for themselves. And a patchwork offensive line playing like one of the league's best.

But last night was just as much about defense. A defense that wasn't supposed to be good at all. No depth and not much talent at linebacker. During the offseason, the Saints traded for a backup linebacker from Philadelphia, and Mark Simoneau has become one of the team's stars on defense. It's seemed as if every move has simply worked.

I'm not afraid to say that this team appears to be a "team of destiny". From Hurricane Katrina last year destoying the Saints' season, causing coach Jim Haslett to be let go and quarterback Aaron Brooks to (finally, thankfully) be terminated, to the hiring of Sean Payton, an unheralded QB coach who nobody else seemed to want, to Houston's idiocy of passing over Bush and allowing him to fall to the Saints at No. 2 in the draft, everything has fallen into place. This team had some talent and some character. It also had some losers. A lot of losers. But Payton has changed all that. He revamped the roster and brought in players who have bought into his system. Everything he has touched basically has turned to gold.

He hinged his future on Drew Brees, a quarterback cast away from San Diego in favor of third-year player Philip Rivers, after Brees hurt his shoulder and required offseason surgery. Brees worked out for Miami, who felt it had a better shot with Dante Culpepper's rebuilt knee. Didn't turn out too well for the Dolphins, but that left Brees as the new QB of the future in New Orleans. All Brees has done so far is throw for more than 4,000 yards for the first time in his career and separate himself as one of two legitimate MVP candidates (Tomlinson has 29 TDs, an NFL record, for the 11-2 Chargers). After last night's 383-yard game, Brees has thrown for 4,033 yards -- 1,051 yards shy of Dan Marino's all-time single-season record with three games to play. Brees would need to average about 350 yards per game, which isn't out of the question. He's currently averaging a little more than 310 and has thrown for more than 300 yards in six of the team's past seven games.

Then there's Bush, the Heisman Trophy winner last year who inexplicably fell to New Orleans at No. 2 in the draft. That's the day when New Orleans fans began to believe again -- began to truly believe the team's luck was turning around. We had a franchise QB and a legitimate budding superstar in Reggie Bush. Bush hasn't quite lived up to his hype (which was impossible), but he's played a major role in getting this team to 9-4. Bush is second in the league with 79 receptions and although his averages for both rushing and receiving aren't phenomenal, he's a threat to go the distance every time he touches the ball. There was his first touchdown -- a 65-yard punt return in the fourth quarter against Tampa Bay that gave the Saints the lead and the win. Then, last week, he scored four touchdowns against the 49ers. And against the Cowboys, he took a dump pass 61 yards for a touchdown -- showing his maturation by patiently waiting for his blockers and then exploding for the end zone. Bush has surpassed 125 yards receiving each of the past two weeks and scored a receiving touchdown in each. The scary part is he's just getting started.

And Bush and McAllister, who entered this season as a major question mark coming off knee surgery, have formed a tremendous team. Bush's explosiveness has helped create space for McAllister's power. McAllister, who is nearing in on 1,000 yards for the season, has helped salt away games last and contributed heavily to the Saints' ability to keep the clock running and controll the football. His stats have taken a hit due to sharing carries with Bush, but he's broken the 100-yard mark each of the past two weeks, and seems to be getting stronger. There's no doubt this team is at its best when there's a great balance between the number of touches for both Bush and McAllister. McAllister needs 20-25 carries a game, while Bush needs 20 touches -- which can come in a variety of ways. But perhaps the most vital asset McAllister has brought is his leadership. He's bought into Payton's system and hasn't pouted a bit about a rookie taking some of his spotlight. He just continues to work and produce. In many ways, he embodies exactly what this team is about this year.

I could go on and on and on. Each and every player has a story that could be told, and I could literally type for hours talking about every one of them. But I won't bore you with all that. All I won't to do is say that I believe. I, along with many others, believe this team has what it takes to go to the Super Bowl -- and win! Right now, the Saints are 1.5 games behind the Bears in the race for the top seed in the NFC playoffs. Should Chicago lose tonight to the St. Louis Rams, New Orleas will be one game back with three to play. New Orleans has a very favorable schedule starting next week with Washington (4-9) in the Superdome, following by a trip to New York to face the Giants (7-6) and a home date against division rival Carolina (6-7) to end the year. The final two games will be tough, as both the Giants and Panthers are fighting for their playoff lives. But it isn't out of the question for the Saints to win out and finish 12-4. With Chicago closing with the Rams (5-7) on the road, Tampa Bay (3-10) at home, Detroit (2-11) on the road and Green Bay (5-8) at home, it's clear to see the Bears have the favorable schedule to lock up the No. 1 seed. But with Rex Grossman at QB, stranger things have happened.

Should the Saints somehow get homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, there's no way they lose at home. Not with what New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region has gone through since Hurricane Katrina. This team -- this coach, these players -- will not allow that to happen. Last night, the Saints went into the house of "America's Team" and showed them just who the new "America's Team" really is. And I have a feeling this new America's Team will be playing in America's Game for the first time ever. Miami -- here we come!!!

A new hope

Believe it or not, my wife was upset at me yesterday because I didn't write a blog. Guess I'm lazy.

Today I'm hopeful. It's wasn't much fun being a Tech football fan this year. In fact, it was downright miserable. We struggled to a 3-10 season -- the worst in our school's history. Heck, downright miserable is an understatement. I can't think of a word to describe it, actually.

Well, that dreadful season ended on Saturday, with a 50-23 debacle at New Mexico State. But that score isn't as bad as the game really was. The Bulldogs scored two late touchdowns to make up for the 50-9 deficit they faced.

And on Monday, Tech football coach Jack Bicknell lost his job. Personally, it's sad. Jack was well-liked around campus and around Ruston. He genuinely was a good guy. We had a few spats while I was working in Ruston, but I always felt we had a good working relationship. So I always rooted for him. I wanted him to be the best coach he could be. I wanted him to succeed. I would have loved for him to take my football program to new heights of success and use that to springboard to a bigger job, perhaps at his alma mater, Boston College.

But it wasn't meant to be. Perhaps Jack was in over his head from the start. He'd never served as a coordinator, making the leap straight to head coach when Gary Crowton left for the NFL in 1999. Jack had success early, going 8-3 that first year and getting Tech its first ever top 25 ranking. The next year was a miserable 3-9, but the team rebounded in 2001 to win the WAC title in its first year in the new conference.

Unfortunately, that was about as good as it got. Tech's only other winning season during Bicknell's 8-year tenure came last year, when the team finished 7-4 but missed out on a chance to go to a bowl game by finishing 3rd in conference play. Then came this year's disaster.

In a sense, this team was set up for disaster. 13-game schedule for the first time ever. Three of first four games on the road against BCS schools, followed by a road game at Boise State, who's undefeated, ranked in the top 25 and going to play in the Fiesta Bowl. A new QB. 9 new starters on defense. The defensive coordinator left two days before fall practice began for a new job at Northwestern in Illinois. The new coordinator had never held that position in 40+ years of coaching.

But it wasn't the embarrassing showings against the BCS teams or even Boise that caused fans to lose faith in Bicknell and call for his job. No, it was the 24-14 loss to Idaho at homecoming, following a 55-14 blowout against Boise. It was the 44-10 loss to San Jose State. The 61-17 loss to Hawaii, 42-0 loss to Nevada and 50-23 loss to New Mexico State. It was the fact Jack's teams continually were unprepared to play. It was the fact we were embarrassed by conference teams -- some of the same teams we embarrassed just last year.

I wish Jack Bicknell the best of luck. He wasn't all bad in Ruston. He and his staff did a good job of recruiting and he leaves behind some very talented young players. Hopefully, that foundation will begin to develop under a new coaching staff, one that's better-suited to take Tech to the level it needs to be at.

Tech fans have a new hope today. There have been some big names thrown about as Bicknell's potential replacement. A couple that I'm most keen about seeing are Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who coached under Nick Saban at LSU and has many Louisiana recruiting ties, and Arkansas offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who did wonder for the Razorbacks' offense in his first year after being a high school coach. There's no doubt in my mind that Malzahn has a big future, and I'd love to swipe him up early.

But as hopeful as Tech fans are today, we know the battle has just begun. Jack Bicknell was not the root of the problem facing Louisiana Tech athletics. There is a growing movement trying to oust Jim Oakes as Tech's athletic director. Jim has been on the job 12 years, and we've been regressing for the past half of that tenure. Jim never fully supported Bicknell and his scheduling tactics, lack of vision and unwillingness to work with others have resulted in our athletic department facing an important crossroads.

I'm very glad Tech president Dan Reneau appears ready to make a commitment to bringing in the right football coach. But Reneau also needs to make a commitment to the entire athletic department. Right now, Jim Oakes is running our department likes it's a Division 2 program, instead of a premier Division 1-A outfit. Both of our basketball programs, including our storied Lady Techsters, are off to horrible starts. There is a complete malaise over the department at this moment.

While I'm excited about the potential coaching change, I'm also tempering that excitement and trying to steady the course. Even a new football coach can't solve all of the problems facing our athletic department. Only when Dr. Reneau makes the necessary decision to cut Jim Oakes loose and brings in a business-oriented athletic director with vision will Tech being to fulfill it's potential.

A new arrival

Everyone, say hello to Raymond Seth Granger, whom we will call Seth.

Seth arrived on Nov. 17 at 7 lbs, 7 oz. and 20.5 inches long and is the son of Jason (Elizabeth's brother) and Brandy Granger of Ruston.

All of us are very relieved with the arrival of a healthy baby boy, although Seth remains in the hospital with a slight case of jaundice. For those of you who don't know, shortly after Elizabeth and I began dating nearly four years ago, Brandy and Jason lost their first baby boy, Nathan, at full term. Caleb, Seth's older brother, also had complications during his birth and was born six weeks premature. Needless to say, all of us were a little concerned there might be problems with Seth. But, despite being taken about a month early, everything seems OK with him.

It's always a joyous occassion when there's a new arrival in the family -- especially when said new arrival is another baby boy who I'll be able to play sports with as he grows up! This makes nephew No. 4 for me!!! It also means, with four nephews, including one on my side of the family tree, that my parents and in-laws aren't looking towards Elizabeth and me to add branches to the family tree anytime soon. We can enjoy being aunt and uncle and not feel rushed to have little ones of our own!

Meanwhile, while Seth occupied Jason and Brandy, Caleb made a visit to Cenla to stay with Granny and Pawpaw Granger. So, of course, Uncle Bret and Aunt Bee (as she's known to Caleb) have gone over every night to visit. Caleb's at an interesting time right now at 2 1/2 where he's learning so much and really picking up on things. He's repeating things, except Elizabeth's name, which for some reason he just won't say. She's Bee. I'm Uncle Bret. She's Bee. And the kid can count. I'm not lying. He can count to 10 by himself, and then he repeated 11 through 20 back after Elizabeth said them.

But the funnest part was yesterday's trip to the zoo. Elizabeth wasn't feeling well after church, so she stayed at home while I met the Grangers and Caleb at the Alexandria Zoo. If you've never been to the zoo with a 2-year-old, I'd suggest you add that to your priority list of things to do. It's tons of fun.

Let me see if I can run down a highlight list from the zoo. Perhaps the funniest thing happened when two white tigers were napping on a rock. It didn't compute with Caleb. How were they taking a nap when they didn't have a blanket? No joke. He said they couldn't be taking a nap; they didn't have a blanket. In the mind of a 2-year-old, that makes complete and total sense. Later, after visiting a few monkeys, we came back to the tigers -- who he yelled at to "Wake up!" Great stuff.

When one of the monkeys wanted to play and Granny told it to sit still so she could take a picture, Caleb scolds the monkey to "Sit still!" Whenever he saw a tiger or lion, "Rarrr!" He saw a cougar and said "Meow." When PawPaw said he thought the cougar did a little more than meow, Caleb said "Rarrr!"

There were many more highlights, including Caleb's complete fascination with the train. From the moment we walked into the zoo, he talked about going on the train. After we got off the train, he wanted to ride it again. He just loves the choo choo!

Overall, it was a great day. It's so much fun to be around the simple joy of a child at the zoo. Hopefully, I'll have the chance to visit a zoo with my other three nephews sometime soon!

Too little, too late

Sorry to steal a line from a 15-year-old (but hey, JoJo's song is #2 on the latest Rick Dees Weekly Top 40, for whatever that's worth), but that's how I feel about tonight's uninspiring 34-31 Louisiana Tech win over former Sun Belt superpower North Texas (who's now 2-7 on the year and ahead of only those mighty Warhawks from ULM and Fla. International in the conference standings) in the aptly-dubbed "Pillowfight of the Week" (ESPN.com).

I personally like Jack Bicknell, who's a really nice guy. But sometimes being a nice guy just doesn't cut it as a Division 1-A football coach. And it's become pretty apparent that Bicknell no longer can cut it at Tech (although that's been apparent for awhile to just about everyone but Tech AD Jim Oakes -- more on that later). While Tech remains alive for bowl eligibility, struggling to beat this North Texas team hardly gives Bulldog fans a good feeling for the rest of the year. Had Tech lost, there's no way they would have won another game. Even with the win, I don't really see another win on the schedule that includes at Hawaii (at 7-2, coming off a 63-10 won tonight, this is the hottest team in the conference, even hotter than undefeated Boise State), Nevada (6-3, coming off a big 45-7 road win over Idaho tonight, and probably the third best team in the WAC) and Fresno State (who, like Tech, has struggled this year, but maybe owes Tech after two straight losses) at home, and then a season-ending trip to New Mexico State (who hasn't won yet in the WAC), which is winnable, unless the Bulldogs limp home and are riding a three-game losing streak. Then Tech fans could see another 2003 debacle, when Tech was demolished at home against a horrible Rice team that ran for a school-record 672 yards.

The saddest part is tonight's game shouldn't have been close. Tech jumped out to a 21-0 lead at the end of the 1st quarter and could have ran away with it. Zac Champion, a buddy of mine from Ruston and one of the best guys I've met, threw 3 TDs in the first quarter. But Tech's defense, as it has all year long, fell apart. North Texas, who came into the game ranked last in the country offensively (of course, Tech was last defensively) scored 24 straight to take a 3-point lead into the half. Then, the Mean Green added another touchdown to go up 10 on the first drive of the second half. But Champion answered the call, and his many critics as well, leading Tech to a field goal, then throwing his 4th touchdown, a 46-yarder to senior tight end Anthony James, before leading the Bulldogs to a 4th quarter field goal, which turned out to be the game winner. In the game, Champion was 23-of-32 for a career-high 306 yards, 4 TDs and most importantly no INTs.

But, Tech's defense struggled, giving up more than 400 yards. And so did the running game. Playing without sophomore starter Patrick Jackson and with two true freshmen, the Bulldogs rushed for just 142 yards (70 by Daniel Porter, 49 by Will Griffin, and 23 by Champion). There are still many question marks on this team. Nine games in, there still is no identity. Nobody has stepped up and been a consistent leader. That should be Champion, but he has yet to show any type of consistency. He's been up (like tonight), but then he's been down. If Tech is to finish strong, he has to be consistently good the rest of the year. That means not only making plays, but also limiting mistakes.

Like I said, I like Jack Bicknell. I have fond memories of my time in Ruston and working with him, although we didn't always see eye to eye. But getting rid of the head football coach won't solve the problem. Check out this site. I think this site is right on, and it's not just because unlike Jack, I've never gotten along with Jim Oakes. I just simply think he's dropped the ball time and time again, and it's way past time to get a qualified athletic director at Tech who's willing to do the work to take the athletic department to the next level.

Tech fans have see way too little from Jim Oakes for the past 12 years, and it's way too late for him to do anything to save his job. Like the growing slogan says, the JOakes on us (Tech fans). Time to move on and forge ahead!

life is currently boring

You ever get in a rut? I'm in a rut. Don't want to be in it, but I'm stuck.

There are a ton of things going on around me right not -- well maybe not right at this very moment -- but yet I'm not exactly "enjoying" them.

I mean the former president, George H.W. "Not Gonna Do It" Bush, was in town today. Did it affect me? Nope. I didn't see him -- well, I read about him and saw his picture in my paper, but it didn't exactly affect me on a personal level.

The Saints are 5-1! My Bulldogs actually won a game! Heck, the freakin' World Series is going on right now -- the stupid media darling Detroit Tigers threw away Game 4 tonight and now trail 3 games to 1. We're in the middle of football season -- NFL and college are heating up, prep playoffs are right around the corner. The NBA will tip off soon, as will my personal favorite, college hoops. And, oh yeah, the freakin' World Series is going on. Doesn't really faze me.

So I stare at myself in the bathroom mirror, after brushing my teeth and applying my new facial cream that my wife bought for me, and slap myself silly. Snap out of it!

We've got high attendance Sunday this weekend at church, and my class of 7th and 8th graders is competing for a chance to win $300 to use any way they want. Brilliant move, by the way -- give a bunch of junior highers free reign over 300 bucks! Saturday night, we have a lock-in for high school guys at the church. I'm stoked -- on the inside. Outside, I'm stoic.

I'm making some progress -- though not enough to please my wife -- with finishing up the paint touchups and cleaning up the den (aka Tech Blue Room). Yet, I don't want to do it, and it's not pleasing me. I'm tired of all the boxes and the clutter, but I don't want to fix it. I'm just a bleary-eyed fool most of the time.

Maybe it's the new work schedule -- thanks to a vacation, I'm working nights this week -- that has me all out of whack. I just can't shake it. Help!

I did talk to an old buddy tonight that I hadn't spoken to in so long. Fun times. We vowed to stay in touch. Sometimes, I good at that. Sometimes, as in the case of my boys Ryan Moats and Brent Hammett, who have stopped returning my calls (yes, I'm calling you out!), I'm too good at staying in touch. Other times, I'm horrible. As in the time I talked to my old friend Keren Corley two days before her birthday, and vowed to call her on her birthday. Haven't talked to her since, and that was more than two weeks ago.

Maybe I'm disconnected from my old crew, and that's got me down. I feel out of touch -- from family, from friends, from everyone but my co-workers and the kids at church. I have my blog, but sometimes I crave personal interaction, and since talking in person isn't going to happen that often, it's a simple phone call. But usually I'm too lazy or too busy -- or too both -- to pick up the phone. And when I do, it's usually not returned (Ryan and Brent!).

As the good book says, this too shall pass. I just hope it passes sooner, rather than later.

quick update

Hey, everyone. I know, I know -- it's been too long. I apologize. Everything is going well here in Cenla. Had some car problems -- had to replace the upper manifold in my engine. Wasn't expecting that to happen right after my trip to NYC! Then, for about a week and a half, I had the crud. Actually missed two days of work, which isn't like me. But I'm better now, so it's all good. Working nights this week due to a vacation, so I might actually get some work done around the house. Mowed the yard today, done the dishes, folded some clothes, fiddled with the lock on the backdoor that I still can't figure out. Now I'm going to try and do some touchups on the pain in the den (aka Tech Blue Room). I'll try to post more often to give everyone a better idea of what's going on around here.

The Big Apple

Now that I've had some time to slow down, relax and reflect, here's a synopsis of last weekend's trip to New York City.

I caught up with Jason around 4:30 on Friday to head to Monroe and catch our 6:30 flight to Newark, N.J., with a layover in Atlanta. The flights were pretty much uneventful, and thankfully when we arrived in Newark around midnight (EST), our luggage had made the trip as well. That's always my main concern -- please don't lose my luggage.

After turning on the TV and catching up with a little SportsCenter, we both decided to call it a night. I slept well, which meant that 8 a.m. came pretty quickly. Due to some problems with our room when we checked in (it hadn't received maid service, so we were switched to another room), we had free vouchers to grab some breakfast. Then we hit the trolley system back to the airport to hook up with the Jersey transit system.

Believe it or not, we didn't have much problem with the public transportation system in Jersey or NYC. Sure, it took some getting accustomed to, but it really wasn't that difficult riding the train, bus or subway. To get from the airport across the river and into Penn Station cost $14 one way. Then for $7 a day (cheaper if you purchase by week or month), you could go anywhere on the subway system. Not that bad a deal. It's easy to see how someone could survive without driving in the city. In fact, I would suggest that's the best route to take. The only problem with the transit system is you spend a lot of time waiting. It's not necessarily quick. To get from the hotel (waiting on the shuttle) to the airport (waiting on the train) to the Bronx (waiting through all the many stops on the subway) took us close to 2 hours.

Jason and I thought the Yankees-Blue Jays game was a 1 p.m. start, which would give us plenty of time to head back downtown after the game to catch some of the sights before dark. However, the 1 p.m. start was changed to 4 p.m., so we found ourselves doing a lot of waiting (grabbing a quick lunch, searching for souvenirs and then waiting to enter the park). Getting into the park was a story all to itself; in fact, it might have been the most interesting story of the day.

The gates didn't open until 2 hours before the first pitch. But around 1 p.m., when we made our way to the gates, there were plenty of people already there waiting. And the crowd kept growing. About 15 minutes to 2, the security workers come out and tell everyone to back up beyond the security gates (which for us was about 40-50 yards). You would have thought someone asked them to shoot their own mothers or something. The uproar was amazing. Granted, if they didn't want people going past a certain point, it's not that hard to put up a barrier. But still, the reaction was a little over the top. But, again, it's New York. After being threatened to not be allowed in the ball park, everyone finally complied and backed up to get ready for the security check.

Then it gets even more funny. Jason came prepared -- or so he thought. He brought a backpack to carry things in, just to make it easier. Except no backpacks are allowed in Yankee Stadium (ever since 9/11 security everyone, especially New York, has just gone crazy). So we have to go over to a table, where they provide a clear plastic bag to put all the contents of the backpack in. Jason rolls up the backpack -- which is empty, I might add -- and puts it in the bag. No sir. You can't do that. But it's empty. Check it. Nothing in there. It's rolled up. Sorry, can't help you. You have to go store it in a locker. Well, where are they? Around the corner. That's it. That's all the directions Jason gets. So he goes around the corner and doesn't see any lockers. After asking directions, he finally deposits his backpack and we actually enter Yankee Stadium.

Yankee Stadium was cool. Very old. Lots of history. In fact, the stadium was basically the purpose of our whole trip. Across the street from where we were waiting to enter the stadium, ground has been broken on a new Yankee Stadium, which should be ready for the 2009 season. Jason wanted to see a game in the old one before it's torn down, and being the baseball historian that I am, I was more than willing to oblige him. I'm not a Yankees fan. Nor a Toronto fan. It was the next-to-last game of the regular season. The Yanks had clinched homefield advantage in the playoffs, while the Blue Jays were eliminated from playoff contention. Therefore, the game meant nothing. But it was still a good game.

Jeff Karstens, a 24-year-old rookie for the Yankees, threw 4 innings of no-hit ball before Lyle Overbay hit a home run to break it up. Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield had hit back-to-back homers for New York the inning before to take a 3-0 lead. NY made the game 4-1 when Derek Jeter scored on a Miguel Cairo double in the bottom of the 4th. Then Toronto rallied, scoring 4 runs in the 7th inning. The bullpen couldn't hold the lead for the rookie. The big blow was a 2-run triple by Alex Rios, which gave the Jays a 5-4 lead. Toronto added another run in the top of the 8th before the Yankees chipped the lead to 6-5 when Jeter scored on a single by Bobby Abreu. But Toronto closer B.J. Ryan -- Heath, remember that name? You played against him in legion ball. He played for Airline -- came in and retired the side in the 9th for his 38th save of the season.

After the game, Jason and I decided we'd just head back to the hotel, grab some food at the grill there, watch some college football and hit the sack early. The plan was to get up at 5 a.m. Sunday morning to head downtown, since we missed out on that stuff after the game Saturday. Bright and early, we went to downtown Manhattan to check out Ground Zero. We took some pictures, looked at the monuments. I'm not trying to downplay the gravity of this situation, but after 5 years, I think we all know about 9/11. The loss there, and how our world has changed since, simply is dramatic. However, if you didn't know the story, if the scene of the plans crashing into the towers and the towers crumbling wasn't engrained in your mind, it would simply look as if a massive construction project were going on in downtown Manhattan. New York is rebuilding. It's resilient. The people there are moving on. It has changed, I believe. I never went there before 9/11, but I believe the people are slightly more congenial, a little more friendly, than they were before that tragic day. But they're healing. One day, in the not-so-distant future, there will be a new tower standing in that place.

Unfortunately, it was raining Sunday morning. Not hard. Not a drizzle. Just enough to make you not want to be outside. So we didn't really get to make a whole lot of rounds in town. We did jump on the subway and run up to Times Square. We saw the ESPN Zone in Times Square, where they film the Sports Reporters and Cold Pizza. But it was early on a Sunday morning, so nothing was open. We also checked out the MTV studios. Again, closed. Earlier, we'd seen Madison Square Garden. Times Square was like the New York I've seen on TV and in movies -- big, congested, lots of lights, billboards, etc. Until then, I hadn't gotten a taste of the New York that's portrayed on TV.

After Times Square, we headed to Penn Station to buy a bus ticket to the Jets-Colts football game. Simply put -- the highlight of the trip. And not just because the game was amazing. The Jets, supposedly one of the weakest teams in the NFL heading into the season, outplayed Indy all game. They frustrated Peyton Manning and were leading late into the 4th quarter. But Manning brought his team back on a 12-play drive that culminated with a 2-yard TD pass to give the Colts a 24-21 lead. No matter for the Jets. Justin Miller returned the kickoff 103 yards for a score to put the Jets back up by 4. Manning wasn't deterred. He still had 2 minutes, 20 seconds. He only needed 1:30 to reel off 61 yards on 9 plays, culminating in a 1-yard sneak by Manning. With 50 seconds left and after a misplayed kickoff had the Jets inside their own 5-yard line, things looked bleak. But they got the ball out to the 32-yard line with 8 seconds left before this crazy play ended the game -- 10-C.Pennington pass short middle to 29-L.Washington to NYJ 40 for 8 yards [93-D.Freeney]. Lateral to 16-B.Smith to NYJ 37 for -3 yards. Lateral to 87-L.Coles to IND 44 for 19 yards. Lateral to 10-C.Pennington to IND 37 for 7 yards. Lateral to 81-J.McCareins to IND 35 for 2 yards. FUMBLES, recovered by NYJ-16-B.Smith at IND 33. 16-B.Smith to IND 37 for -4 yards. FUMBLES, recovered by NYJ-87-L.Coles at IND 40. 87-L.Coles to IND 27 for 13 yards. Lateral to 74-N.Mangold to IND 27 for no gain. FUMBLES, RECOVERED by IND-42-J.David at IND 34. 42-J.David to IND 39 for 5 yards (29-L.Washington). Confused yet? You just HAVE to see it!

I vaguely remember going to a Saints-Giants game when I was kid, but this was the first NFL game I've been to as an adult. As a college football fan, I now have a newfound respect for the NFL. The crowd there was amazing. It wasn't long before I was cheering, "J! E! T! S! Jets! Jets! Jets!" Like I said, Jason and I went there for Yankee Stadium. The Jets game was simply lagniappe. But it became the highlight of the trip. I suggest any football field go see a game at the Meadowlands. The passion and energy was unlike anything I've ever seen before.

After the game, we waited and waited and waited some more in line to get back on a bus to take us into Penn Station. Then we went back into the hotel, grabbed some food at the grill again and watched football. After the experience we just had, we just wanted to relax and get ready for the trip home on Monday. It should be smooth sailing the rest of the way in, right?

Well, of course not! We got in and out of the Newark airport no problem. In Atlanta, however, there were problems. Our plane, which was originally scheduled to leave at 2:40, had been bumped back about 40 minutes. That's cool. Not that much of a wait. 40 minutes turned into much, much more as the plane had mechanical problems. We even were seated on the plane, taxied out and had to come back into the terminal, where we were asked to get back off the plane while the crew tried to fix ours. Unfixable! So we had to wait on another plane to arrive. Our 2:40 plane didn't end up leaving until after 6! After getting back into Ruston and then heading home to Alexandria, I pulled into the driveway exhausted after 10 p.m. Whew, what a trip! I'm not looking to go back next weekend, but I sure would like to return to NYC someday!

Ready to do it all over gain

Editor's note: This entry will be rather comprehensive, reviewing our enjoyable, exciting and long trip to Texas over the weekend. Grab a cup of coffee, pop a squat, relax and enjoy.

As I pulled into my driveway at 4 o'clock this morning, I let a sigh of relief to finally be off the road after 4 1/2 hours of driving and a long, long weekend. I'll start at the top and work my way down the list of things we did this weekend.

Elizabeth and I left Alexandria about 5:30 p.m. Friday after she got off work and we grabbed a bite to eat. We decided to take the backroads through Texas, as we'd heard it was quicker. It's actually about the same time -- 4.5 hours. As we got into Houston at around 10 p.m., that's when the adventure started.

I use Yahoo! maps, even though I try to keep an Atlas in my car. Yahoo! warns that they can't account for things such as construction or closed roads, etc. They also can't account for stupidity. So Elizabeth is driving down U.S. 59 towards Houston, and we're looking for I-610 to loop around to where our friends, Alan and Misti, live on the northwest part of town. So we come up on 610 West and take the exit. My map says we'll only be on the interstate for 0.8 miles and we're looking for Exit 7. So the first exit is ... Exit 16? Alright, no biggie. Since the exits are going down, we'll eventually run into 7 -- just a few miles further down the road than I was expecting.

So we go on ahead a couple of miles until we're near Exit 13, and traffic starts coming to a crawl. Apparently, they're closing the two outside lanes for some reason. Is it a wreck? No. Should have figured it was construction. Big cities in Texas have constant construction. The two outside lanes converge into one, and then before we know that one lane has become the shoulder. We're on a five-lane highway -- driving on the shoulder!

That's cool, though. We'll make it through to Exit 7. Except before we know it, we are diverted off I-610 onto I-10. That's about when we hit the panic button. So I call Alan, who gets on the computer and tries to walk me through some directions. After some yelling (from my wife to me because I'm not relaying Alan's directions quickly enough to the person who's actually doing the driving), we find ourselves back onto a feeder road to I-610. Alright, this is no problem! We'll just follow 610 until our exit, and then we'll be good.

Sounds too easy, doesn't it? Well, it was. About a mile from our exit, the feeder road stops, and our choices are to get back on I-610, get back onto U.S. 59 (wait, where did that come from? More on that in a minute), or turn right. So, thinking we'll still be following the feeder road, I tell Elizabeth to turn right (see, there's that stupidity). Oh, look honey, there's the Galleria. Insert a few yells here. Oh, right. We're lost. So we drive on ahead, trying to make heads or tells of our situation. Back on the phone with Alan, who again walks me through how to get to his apartment. We've finally got it! Except somehow those directions get misinterpreted from my ears to my brain to my mouth. We're lost again!

Elizabeth stops at a gas station. At this point -- all joking aside -- she's threatening to put me out on the straight and she'll go check into a hotel. So, again, I call up the ever-patient Alan (who, bless his heart, has had to be very patient lately, as you've read about the drama he and Misti have been going through lately -- more on that later). This time, Alan stays on the phone with me the whole as he holds my head and guides me to his apartment. Finally, we made it! After 45 minutes of being lost in one of the largest cities in the country, we arrived at Alan and Misti's apartment.

So we get into the apartment, settle into the spare bedroom and then stay up for an hour or two talking with Alan, Misti and Sophie (their chihuahua). Well, actually, we talked with Alan for the most part, as Misti and Sophie slept in a chair. Anyway, we caught up for a little bit and then crashed, exhausted after a long day.

The following morning, we got up and it hit me! I knew what happened. You remember back when we had the choice of getting on 610 or 59, and I (stupidly) chose neither. That's the original exit I was supposed to take off of U.S. 59. The two roads intersect twice, and we chose the first exit instead of the second one. All right, I'll remember that!

So we had breakfast with Alan and Misti (blueberry muffins, yum, even if they had flaxseed in them) and then hit the road headed to College Station for the Louisiana Tech football game against Texas A&M.

Onto College Station

We got into town around 2 p.m., just enough time for us to grab a bite to eat for lunch and then make our way around campus a little bit before the 6 p.m. kickoff. This was my second visit to College Station. The last time, four years ago, we went to a burrito place called Freeb!rds World Burrito. So, naturally, that's where I wanted to go again. After eating lunch (which, again, I thought was delicious and Elizabeth felt was so-so), we headed out to find the campus.


Alan had told us we needed to visit the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum (named after the father, not the son), and we had seen a sign on our way into town. So we headed back out to try and find it. Wow, talk about gorgeous! From the sign at the entrance to the drive up to the museum, the manicured lawns to the ornate statues, this place was first-rate. We never saw the library (the grounds is also home to a conference center and the Bush School of Government and Public Service), but we did take a tour of the museum. From his childhood, to his service during the war, days as a student at Yale and young husband and father, to his decision to leave his Connecticut roots and head to Texas, all the way to his climb up the political ladder to the presidency, the Bush Museum offers a very comprehensive look into the life of George Herbert Walker Bush, our 41st president.

After spending an hour or two touring the museum, we finally decided to make our way to the stadium. Instead of fighting -- and paying -- for parking, we just walked the 2 miles or so from the library to Kyle Field, "The Home of the 12th Man." We made our way through hundreds of Aggie tailgaters, hooked up the man who bought my spare tickets (since Alan and Misti stayed back in Houston in case any more complications arose and they were forced back to the ER; fortunately, she was OK when we left last night), and then went into the stadium about 50 minutes prior to kickoff.


Elizabeth and I bought some hot dogs and drinks and made our way to our seats. Initially, I didn't think we would have very good seats. I mean, we were stuck in the corner of the stadium. We weren't even in the end zone, much less on a yard line. But, we did have something. Right there to our left stood the "Gigatron" -- a 74-foot by 54-foot high-def LCD video screen which showed 12th Man TV and replayed every single play of the game. Man, did that thing make watching a football game much more fun!

So, we're settled in next to the Gigatron. Got some grub and some drinks. We're ready to go. And so is mother nature. A huge storm is making its way to College Station, forcing the delay of kickoff. Now, this is a first for me. I've heard of rain delays in baseball, but in college football? Never! But due to the severity of the storm and the lightning coming with it, kickoff was being pushed back. The game was delayed for two hours, as everyone fled to seek shelter from the storm. And what a storm it was! Lots of lightning and buckets of rain. Elizabeth and I sought cover near our seats under one of the awnings of an upper deck. And it kept us dry, right? Of course not! Thanks to engenious Aggie engineering, we might as well have been out in the storm. I mean, I got absolutely soaked. But a little rain never hurt nobody!

During the delay, I was able to catch up with some old buddies. I ran into Ms. Susan Elkins (formerly Hilton), who works in the registrar's office at Tech and is the mother of my former roommate, Brian Hilton, and also a former landlady of mine. Saw Kyle and Ginger Guice, two former Ruston High and Tech classmates who are now living in Austin, as Kyle is going to graduate school at the University of Texas. Saw Binni Keleta and Grant Terry, but I see them all the time. Just didn't want to leave them out of the story. Also ran into some old buddies from college -- Josh Jordan, Dave Asfar and Jason Shinaberry.

The rain delay gave me and Elizabeth a chance to visit with JJ for about 30 minutes. JJ is from Deville, which is right outside of Pineville. We met at Tech and ran with some mutual friends, played a lot of basketball together. Great guy. Nowadays, he is working in the aviation industry based out of Austin. Until March, however, he'll be in New Jersey -- 15 minutes from the Newark airport, where coincidentally, I'm flying into this coming weekend. Small world!

After the storm subsided, Elizabeth and I made our way back to our seats and got ready for the action. Not much to tell here. Tech played well early. Led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter and trailed 14-7 at halftime. But much like when the Bulldogs played some of the big boys, they faded late in the game and lost 45-14. The game was disappointing. The outcome was negative. Due to the rain delay, the Aggie fans just didn't seem to be into it. The atmosphere wasn't nearly as good as when I came four years ago. But it was worth it. It was a good trip.

Thanks to the rain delay, the game didn't end until about midnight. After sticking around to talk to a couple of my boys -- quarterback Zac Champion and linebacker Quin Harris -- Elizabeth and I finally got back on the road to Houston. At about 2:30 a.m., we arrived back at Alan and Misti's apartment -- without incident this time!

Hanging out with friends

While we didn't see Alan and Misti too much on Friday night or Saturday, we spent all day with them on Sunday. We all slept in, which was very nice. I got up around 10, watched a little TV. We all went to Fuddruckers to eat some lunch. They advertise "The World's Greatest Hamburger" -- and it was pretty good. Had never eaten there before, but I probably will go back again some day if I get the chance.

After lunch, we went back to the apartment and watched some football. Man, that was nice. I enjoy football, but I enjoy it even more when I can watch it with a buddy who really enjoys it too. Life has taken us in different directions, but it's always nice to spend time with Alan. He's just an easy person to be around.


We watched football until about 6 p.m., when we made our way to Minute Maid Park for the Astros' home finale. Originally when we made plans, this game was set for 1 p.m. But ESPN picked it up for Sunday Night Baseball, and we found ourselves staring at a decision of whether or not to go to the game. We made the right decision.

In a surprise decision, the Astros decided to bump up Rogers Clemens -- the best pitcher of his generation and a sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer. Clemens started on Wednesday, which was supposed to be his last start of the season in Houston -- and potentially the last start of his career in Houston, should he choose to retire. But The Rocket came out on three days rest to show his appreciation for the people of Houston -- his hometown.

So here Elizabeth and I (and Alan and Misti) sit, watching the greatest pitcher of his generation in perhaps his final home start of his career. Can't say I could have lucked into a better situation. I saw Michael Jordan in his final year with the Washington Wizards, and I might have seen Roger Clemens in his final year of pro baseball. Amazing!

The Rocket didn't have his best stuff -- a 44-year-old pitching on 3 days rest usually doesn't -- but he had enough to stay competitive. He got in trouble in the first inning, but pitched out of it, allowing just one run. Over the next four innings, Clemens didn't give up another run. He came out to warm up in the top of the 6th before manager Phil Garner took him out of the game. I was one of 43,000+ that gave Roger a standing ovation as he tipped his hat to the crowd, thanking the Astros fans for their support of him and the team. After he went in the dugout, all of us continued to stand and cheer for a good 2 minutes until Clemens came back out for a curtain call. It was a fitting way to end his career in Houston.

The bullpen couldn't hold the lead, so Clemens didn't pick up the win. But the Astros did win, closing a 4-game sweep over the first-place St. Louis Cardinals and pulling within 3.5 games of the Cards in the NL Central race with just seven games remaining in the season. The Astros have a makeup game against the Phillies tonight before closing with three games at Pittsburgh and three more at Atlanta. Clemens should make his final start of the season -- and possibly his career -- on ESPN Friday night against the Braves.

After going back to Alan and Misti's apartment, we gathered our stuff, said our goodbyes and hit the road about 11:30 p.m. Five long hours later, we arrived home and crashed into the bed. All I can say is I had a blast, and I can't wait to do it again this weekend!

Abrupt change of plans

So tomorrow is the big day. Elizabeth and I are all set to head down to Houston and College Station on our weekend getaway. Then one call brought those plans to a temporary halt.

Sweet T (that would be Misti H. Walker, who is the wife of one of my best friends, Alan) is sick. Alan called me tonight and dejectedly gave me the news -- he and Misti were not gonna be able to come with us to College Station Saturday to go the Tech-Texas A&M football game. The Walkers spent most of Thursday in the ER, trying to figure out what was causing the pain in Misti's side. Well, it's 9 p.m. Thursday night, and after a myriad of tests, they still don't know what's wrong.

Alan assures me Misti is feeling better. She just doesn't want to chance traveling and the pain returning. So now my trip is in need of an audible.

Elizabeth and I will still leave at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow after she gets off work. I'm picking her up, we're hitting the road and headed to Houston to stay with Alan and Misti. What happens Saturday morning is anybody's guess. One thing is certain -- I'm going to College Station. Who's joining me is another question. I have a verbal commitment to sell 2 of the 4 tickets to the game, so that leaves one open spot in the vehicle with me.

The initial plan was Elizabeth and I would go to College Station, return to Houston after the game and then hang out with Misti and Alan on Sunday, culminating with an Astros game at Minute Maid Park. That's cool. I wish Alan and Misti could join us, but I understand. But then, Elizabeth comes up with another potential solution. Alan and I could go to the football game, while she stays with Misti -- if Misti's up for it. That possibility still lingers. As of now, we're playing it by ear. If Misti is feeling well, the boys will head on a mini-road trip. If she's not, her loyal husband will tend to her every need.

Initially, I was very dejected. I have looked forward to this trip for quite sometime. Elizabeth and I just simply haven't had a chance to spend much time with Alan and Misti in a long time. But the chance is still available. We will spend two nights at their apartment, where we will surely have time to catch up with one another, and then all day Sunday. Alan and I can chill and watch some NFL games. Misti and Elizabeth can catch up on recipes, shopping tips and all those things that wives do and guys just don't understand.

I am torn about who's coming to the game with me. On one hand, Elizabeth is my life partner. There's so much I want to experience with her. I've been to A&M before. Kyle Field is amazing, and it's something I'd like her to see. She's not a huge football fan, but she likes road-trippin'. On the other hand, Alan is my boy, and this is something we haven't done in quite sometime. As sophomores in college, the two of us journeyed -- and boy was it a journey! -- 12 hours one-way to Manhattan, Kansas, where we watched our beloved Bulldogs get absolutely massacred. Then we hopped in the car and headed back another 12 hours home. The only sleep we had was about an hour in K-State's library and then alternating catnaps in the car. Boy those were the days! Oh, to be young and stupid -- err, brave -- again!

Nevertheless, I've committed to have a blast on my vacation. I'll have a four-day weekend and get away for a change. There's nothing like me on the open road. I have this adventuresome travel bug that came from somewhere (thanks Dad!), and I'm going to have a blast this weekend. Just keep Misti in your prayers that hopefully the worst is over.

The results are in ...

So, I have some shocking news for you guys. I'm a private person. Wow. Yeah, I know most you hadn't figured that out just yet, so I decided I'd share. Yes, I enjoy my blog. I enjoy using it to keep people involved in my life. But it's pretty much a surface blog. I don't go into too much depth. I'm just private. I've always had just a few friends that I shared things with. I guess I get it from my dad, who I've always viewed as a pretty private person.

Well, I went to the doc's office on Monday for a check-up on my diabetes. First off, I hate my scale at home. It lies. Dirty, nasty lies. You'll remember the post about me getting fat, but not gaining much weight. Well, thank my scale for the misinformation. Have I gained weight? Oh yeah. Stepped on the scale, and the nurse kept pushing the weight higher and higher. Finally, thankfully, she stopped at 195. 195!! I'm close to 200! I vowed never to top 2 bills. So, yeah, that was a shocker. That makes me more determined to get in better shape -- and lose the excess weight!

Anyway, the reason for my visit was to have a little blood work done. For the most part, my tests checked out fine. My cholesterol level was 133, which is really good. I've always had good cholesterol levels. The nurse said some other test dropped down down to 90-something (I was listening, I really was; but that wasn't the test I called for). Then she said, "Everything checked out really well -- except for your A1C." Well, the A1C was the main test.

Basically, a hemoglobin A1C test checks the amount of sugar that has been in your bloodstream over the past 120 days (essentially, 4 months). Well, my test came out around 10. Which is bad, but not as bad as it had been. When my doctor in Ruston sent me off to see my current doctor in Monroe, my previous test showed a 12.6. How bad is that? The American Diabetes Association says a "normal" or "good" test is about 7 percent, which means the average blood sugar is about 150. Right now, my average blood sugar is about 240.

Honestly, I feel excited because I've been fighting this battle for a while, just trying to get down to 10 and then going from there. Ten is not the goal; it is just a stepping stone. I go back in 2 months and will get tested again. I would like to be down to 8 percent then. Like I said, I am a private person, particularly so when it comes to my diabetes. I've never enjoyed talking about it and always tried to downplay it. However, it is a huge part of who I am and is a battle I fight and struggle with daily. It's not going away. Elizabeth, bless her heart, is constantly reminding me about trying to eat better and watch my portions and my carb counts. She really is a good soldier. Unfortunately, I'm not always the best soldier myself. But like my weight, I have committed to trying to get my A1C down. Hopefully, over the next 2 months, I can work on lowering it to a respectable point.