clanMcGraw.com

I love Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean. Almost enough to drop money at a theater to go see the newest (and, sadly, the last) Mr. Bean movie.

Chuck Norris fears Fred Thompson.

Proud enough to post a picture that shows you my baldness in all its glory. This was taken last Tuesday night at the Scout Cross-up ceremony. I’m putting Brandon’s brand new bear cub neckerchief on him.

Goodbye Wolf Cub… Hello, Bear Cub.

On another Scout-related note… Tonight is our Spring recruiting night. Brandon is taking Caleb as his recruit, as Caleb will be old enough for Tiger Cubs next year. Caleb’s always tagged along to Brandon’s scout meetings, but this morning when I told Caleb that tonight would really be His first Scout meeting, the look was priceless. Pure Pride.

Please remember Diane in your prayers. She’s going to be admitted to the hospital this morning, to see if they can stop her weight loss and find out why her recovery seems to have hit a wall. Thanks.

…and here’s why:

On Friday night, Amanda left to go to spend the weekend with her Mom. Diane’s still struggling from her heart surgery, and we’d really appreciate your prayers for her.

Got up Saturday morning at 5:30. We had baseball games and pictures, starting at 7:15. We left the ball field at around 11:30, after the As and White Sox had played. Both kids did great in their games, although Brandon did manage to take a baseball to the mouth. He was fielding a ground ball that popped up and caught him. He came out for 1 batter, and then went back in.

We went and ate lunch, and then went home where I got ready to cut the grass. After getting about 1/2 of my back yard cut, my lawn mower died. DEAD. It had previously had problems, and I’d nursed it back to health. Not this time. It was a goner. So I gave up trying to fix it, and we went to have Supper with some Huntsville friends who were on their way home from the A-Day game. We got home at around 8:00, and everyone went to be shortly thereafter.

Got up Sunday morning at 6. It was my Sunday to drive shuttle-carts, so I had to have us all ready to be at the Church at 7:30. Worked in the parking lot until 12:15. We then went up to our student building where we had a cookout. After eating, the Lawrences let Brandon and Caleb go over to their house to play, while I went with my friend Steve to find a replacement for my dead lawnmower. Thank you again, Ed and Sallie!

Went to Home Depot and Sears. Found what I wanted, and loaded it into the back of Steve’s truck. Except that Steve’s Tonneau cover on the truck wouldn’t close quit enough to clear the parking deck. Odd, that Sears loads their mowers & tractors on the third floor of a parking deck, but I digress. The solution was to have me following Steve’s truck, holding the tonneau cover down with a rope, making sure it didn’t scrape the parking deck. Rednecks on Parade!

So we got home, and we unloaded the new mower. Cranked it up, and gave it a little test run. Then Steve wanted to try it out. Who knew that you could make a tractor pop a wheelie??

Thanks, Steve, for all your help. You won’t believe how many strange looks the neighbors gave your yard cutting expertise…

I read a blog entry about The Strange World of Comic Book Ads. Talk about bringing back some memories.

I actually owned the Muhammad Ali vs. Superman comic book. It may still be at my house. In hindsight, it may have been an outcry to the world that boxing is, indeed, fixed.

I remember the first (and quite possibly, only) thing that I ever ordered from a comic book. I wanted a backpack with a Star Wars logo on it. I remember my Mom filling out the paperwork and ordering it for me. When it arrived, it was (of course) not quite like the picture. I was an Iron-On slapped onto a cheap cotton backpack, but I loved it anyways. In fact, it may still be in the old toy box at Mom & Dad’s house. I may have to dig it out next time I’m down there.

Sent to me by a co-worker today:

1. Go to Google.

2. Click on “Maps”

3. Click on “Get directions”

4. Type “New York, NY” in the first box (the “from” box)

5. Type “London UK” in the second box (the “to” box)

6. Click “Get Directions” to pull up the map.

7. Now, scroll down to step #24 on the map. Hope you’re not in a hurry.

We had the privilege of hosting The Ruoss Crew at our house last night. Kermit and Candy are dear friends who we knew from Atlanta. We last saw them in 1999 (I think), right after Brandon was born. Jacob was about 4, and Hannah was 2 at the most. Caleb and Lily weren’t even thought about yet.

Kermit & Candy, you guys have raised one of the most beautiful families I know. Your hearts are incredible, and your kids reflect that. I hope that we can do half a good of a job raising our kids that you’ve done. They are all incredible. They absolutely stole my heart (again).

I hope it’s not another 8 years before we see you again. But I think this time it’ll be out turn to travel north.

Unless, of course, you’re interested in buying the House across the street…

Here are 2 programs that I’m currently playing with:

1. Mapquest Navigator - Mapquest Navigator is full GPS software that can be loaded onto certain Sprint/Nextel phones and Blackberries. I got a new Blackberry a few weeks ago, and popped this on last week. It basically turns your phone into a TomTom like GPS device, complete with voice directions. It’s free (for now, at least) to use.

2. Celestia - In it’s own words, “Celestia is real-time 3D space simulation which lets you travel through our solar system and to over 100,000 stars in our neighborhood.” I showed this to the boys last night, and we were all having fun zipping through and looking at the various planets. Pretty neat stuff, and it’s open source.

Cartoonist Hart, creator of ‘B.C.,’ dies

I’ve always been fond of the B.C. comic strip, because Johnny Hart always wove his faith throughout his occupation. His cartoons were especially poignant on Easter and Christmas.

As a tribute, I present today’s B.C.: