Still Publishing Christmas Photos!

Here's Monica assembling Elijah's new Baby Einstein activity center.

It was a little more complicated to assemble than one would think...!

Thursday, December 29th: Well... I've had a busy last few days. The weather's been so nice that I've been quiye busy on the tennis court. This is actually the best and busiest December I've ever had in my career!

Today I have lessons from 10 AM to Noon at Columbia Lakes then I go to League City for an afternoon camp! Tomorrow is a very lite day lessons wise... So I'll try to get alot done here at the house! Sigh... There's always something to do!

I've already had a very productive day and it's only 7:38 AM... How many people can say that...? I got up with my alarm at 4:30 AM and had my morning devotional, emptied the dishwasher, took out the trash, straightened the garage, and have been blogging for the past hour.

I have many emails to reply to and several phone calls to return before I go on the court at 10 AM and whenever Monica gets up I promised her about an hour of baby sitting time so she could get some things done on her todo list.

Yesterday was Elijah's 5 month old birthday! and yesterday also marked two and a half years of happy marriage for Monica and I...!

It was a very good day.

We only have today and about half a day tomorrow before Connor returns home from his Christmas vacation to Missouri. I'm looking forward to having him back and hitting some tennis balls tomorrow evening!

I'll try to blog a little more Saturday afternoon after my morning lessons.

Bye for now.... Coach Sam

Elijah's Christmas

This morning Elijah played in the activity center that his Aunt Becky sent him for Christmas. This has become his favorite past time. In this photo I don't think Elijah knew he was about to be photographed.


Elijah knew he was about to be photographed here and was smiling brightly for the camera. While he played we all watched the Polar Express together this morning... 12:07 PM

12 Noon Update: We're watching the Polar Express right now... The Turkey is cooking slowly. I'm having trouble keeping the smoker temperature above 200 degrees... That's ok. We're just having a lazy, relaxing day...

The Kittys have been missing Connor and have slept in his bed the past two nights.

Coach Sam's Christmas Day Blog: Mid Morning Report

Well, we are emplementing 'plan b' of our Christmas dinner because the heating element in our oven caught on fire while Monica was pre-heating it to make some bisquits... That's going to change our Christmas menu a bit....

And... I tried to post some photos but the photo blogger tools aren't working properly now.

Sigh... I'm going to log off and completely shut down my computer and try another report a little later this morning....

Bye for now.... Coach Sam at 10:32 AM

Coach Sam's Christmas Day Blog

I found Hobbes on the couch in fromt of the fireplace this morning playing in some Christmas wrap tissue paper.


I brined the turkey last night and put it in the smoker this morning at 7:30 AM . By 7:40 AM the smoker was 250 degrees. I'm using a combination mesquite and hickory wood. I'll be checking the temperature about every 45 minutes and try to maintain an average of 220 degrees for about six and a half hours. (it's an 8 lb turkey). Once the internal temperature is 185 degrees then our feast is on...!

8:05 AM Christmas Day:
Well, it's Christmas morning.... Monica and the baby are still asleep. Connor is in Missouri visiting family. It's 54 degrees here in West Columbia this morning but it's supposed to warm up to 75 today... There ought to be some great tennis weather this afternoon!

The weather was gorgeous yesterday, too. Although it was a bit windy, I had a tennis clinic in the morning and then Monica and I walked with the baby through the Columbia Lakes property. I strung a few racuets in the afternoon and then we went to our neighbors house next door(The Klements) for a Christmas party. It was very nice... Elijah got lots of attention as he was wearing his Santa Suit. After that we went to church in Lake Jackson, had a bite to eat and came home and went to bed.

This morning I'm going to catch up on all my blogs, cook the turkey and dressing, help Monica around the house look after the baby... Oh yeah, and I need to string a racquet some time this morning.... But I'll be taking photos and posting updates every couple hours throughout the day so please check back again...!

Oh and the time stamp at the bottom of this post is a little off... The 'real' time of this post is in RED next to my sign off signature. The time I started the post is in Bold at the beginning of my posts...

Merry Christmas...! -Coach Sam at 8:18 AM

No Photo Today!

Sorry, no photo today. The blogging upload tools are not working properly. I was going to post a nice photo of myself posing with our new 17 foot utility ladder we bought from Costco with a Christmas present gift card...! I'll try to post that pic again later.

Today I have just 3 hours of tennis in the Clear Lake area. But I need to go in and string a racuet in a few minutes and then put up a few wind screens before I get on the road. I'll be back home early this afternoon. Yea... Saturday I have just a few lessons here at Columbia Lakes... Then it's a few days off...

I'll catch up on more posting this weekend.

Bye for now...

Monica's Tennis

Monica's been practicing every day, no matter what...! Even a few days ago when it rained there was a break in the rain just long enough for me to dri off a portion of the court for a 30 minute workout...! Monica is taking the photo, but it's still all about Monica's Tennis. By the way, Elijah has already been to many hours of lessons. Years from now when he's a world class player we will honestly be able to say that he grew up around the courts!

December 22, 2005
I've got another busy day on my hands... Lots of tennis. I have a camp here at Columbia Lakes this morning, then I go to Clear Lake this afternoon for another camp from 2-5 PM... Atleast it will be an early finish for me this evening.

I'll try to post more photos this weekend... Bye for now...

Sam

Trying on the Santa Cap

Elijah got a Santa Suit from his Grandparents in California... In this photo we had just unwrapped it and I was trying to put the hat on Elijah's head, but he just wanted to play with the wrapping paper!

12/20/2005
Yesterday I had 8 hours of lessons. Today I have 7 hours including 2 camps and 2 groups. The weather will be a little cool today, but we'll be ok...!

I really don't have time to write this morning... I'll try to catch up tonight or tomorrow!

Christmas Presents...!

We opened Christmas Presents early yesterday since Connor will be leaving on Dec 22 for Missouri. Here is a present from Monica's parents: a new cordless phone set for our house! Now we won't be scrambling around looking for a phone the next time it rings...!

12/19/05
I have lots of lessons today. In fact, I'm busy with tennis pretty much all day today, and the rest of this week!

I've been up since 4 AM... I started reading the Chronicles of Narnia last night. I've never read it before. I want to read it before I go see the movie. I listened to Dr Stanley this morning and have been blogging for the past hour. I desperately need to complete my Grand Prix schedule and send it out... That project must get finished today!

That's about it... I'm fighting a bit of a cold but I'm taking medication so hopefully being out in the cold air all day today won't do me in...

More later...

Bye for now. Coach Sam

Tennis Shop Refurbishing

I demolished the old counter and built in desk that had been in the shop for years and repainted the walls which resulted in a nice, bright, open space. Of course you can't fully appreciate the bright open-ness of these photos, but this was a photo of the work in progress at the time. Trust me... The final result is very nice. I'm working at the shop most of the day today and will take some more current photos.

We added several pieces of furniture and artwork from our move that really turned the tennis shop into a home away from home. Here is another photo of the old cluttered look. The tennis shop had previously been used just as a storage room and drop off spot for miscellaneous stuff.

The end result will be a nice work space from which to do business from, and a cozy hang out setting for tennis patrons...! Check back in a day or two for more tennis shop refurbishing photos...!

December 16 Early Morning Report: U.L.L.M.

UP Early.

Lots to do...

Little time to do it in...

More later... (with photos)

Cozy...

OK, I'm in a better mood now. (If you check out my post earlier this morning I was a little cranky.) But after my first post I started a fire in the fire place and relaxed on the couch while I listened to Dr Charles Stanley and Dr Adrian Rogers. A roaring fire is a great attitude adjuster!

Yesterday I made some great progress on the tennis shop. I need to post some photos of the new look. The weather is nice today and I need to get on the road by 12:30 PM for my lessons this afternoon. And up until then I need to work on HPTA stuff and market my Christmas programs. That's it... I gotta go. Bye for now. Coach Sam

Not Much to Comment On... Hello...? Does Anyone Care...?

I'm dragging a bit this morning. I need a little extra sleep. I couldn't sleep last night and I had some very unproductive time just reading different, random blogs. All I can say is that there are some sick, messed up people out there in the blogsphere.... Anyway... I'm going to take a 20 minute snooze, then Listen to Dr Stanley and try to get on Track for the morning.

More later....

Rain... Rain... Rain....

It's one of those days... Rain is forcasted all day. But Monica and I took the baby for a walk early and I roll dried the court off and worked out for about 30 minutes before the conditions got too adverse.

I'm about to get to work on marketing my Christmas programs...

I may post again later... I'm feeling very 'wordy' today. SC

The Hobbes Report

Here's a cute photo of Hobbes and Gabriel laying on my Wilson Briefcase. Gabriel tries to copy everything Hobbes does. He's like a little shadow. He worships Hobbes as if Hobbes is a rock star or something....

Poor Hobbes must have recently been in a fight. We noticed a large wound on his side and rushed him to a local vet a couple of days ago. The vet gave him a shot of antibiotic and said he'd be fine. But we could tell Hobbes was definitely feeling under the weather yesterday.

I'm not sure if it was a fight with another cat or what. It could have been an opossum or racoon... Our poor cats are city cats. I don't think they've ever even seen a racoon before. Oh well, they will get used to living in the country soon enough. But for the time being we've decided to keep the kitty door closed during the night after we've gone to bed.

Today the forcast is for rain all day. That stinks, but I will use my time wisely. I'll get caught up on my blogging this morning, then work on finishing my HPTA schedule and marketing my Christmas programs.

It will be a pretty full day. I didn't have time to write yesterday but I'm going to make it up today, for sure.

That's about it for now. Thanks for reading my journal. -Coach Sam

Good Buddies

Gabriel and Hobbes are Best Friends. Hobbes, with his back to the camera is a little older and acts as a 'big brother' and mentor to the younger Gabriel. In this photo, Hobbes is taking a break from trying to teach Gabriel how to use the new cat door I installed last week...!

Today I start a busy week of marketing my Christmas programs. I have a group lesson at the club in a few minutes then my wife is going to come up for a private after that. It's just a regular day in the life of Coach Sam...

More later... This post is to be continued after lunch... Bye for now (8:37 AM)

Hobbes Has Cold Feet...!

It's been pretty cold lately and this is how Hobbes copes with adverse weather conditions.

I'm in my usual cozy position sitting on the couch with my laptop in front of a nice fire in the fireplace. It's definitely too cold to do anything outside today. I've been up since 5 AM and I started a new blog this morning...

Check it out at http://connorcopeland.blogspot.com

I'll probably spend most of the morning on the couch working on my websites and blogs. Later today I'm going to help Monica with some upacking and of course baby-sitting Elijah.

More later... Bye for now...

Coach Sam

Self Portrait: Bad Idea

My stepson Connor thought he'd take a photo of himself but he misjudged how bright the flash was. I'm sure he won't make that mistake again...!

Wow... The air is a little chilly out there today! I don't think anyone will be mad at me for canceling tennis lessons today! I've been up since 4 AM this morning. I'm getting back into my old routine of early to bed and early to rise...!

I heard some fantastic bible teaching this morning on KKHT Radio. That was a great way to start my day.

I'll be spending most of the morning online journaling and working on marketing my Christmas and new year programs. Then Monica and I are going to make a trip into Houston to check on the house and shop a little.

That's about it for now... More later...

Coach Sam

December 7th: A date that will live in infamy....

Here's one of Gabriel's baby photos. We rescued Gabriel when he was just a few weeks old. He was a stray and barely survived his childhood. Now months later, he's a happy, healthy little Hobbes look a like!

Pearl Harbor Day.... I wonder how old a person needs to be to automatically think of the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor which pulled the United States into WW II...? For today's youth September 11 was their Pearl Harbor Day.

I'm talking about deliberate acts of violence. Well thought out acts of evil. Atrocoties. It's really amazing how utterly despicable one human being can treat another. As you can tell, I'm sitting on my couch pondering deep thoughts this morning....

I've held back reporting these next two bits of news but they are events that have recently shocked and shaken my belief in the human condition.

A couple of months ago I was packing and moving boxes from my house in Houston. I had my arms full of boxes from my waistline up to my chin. I was walking out to the driveway and a car full of teens whom I've never seen before drove by and shot me in the leg with a BB gun. I was stunned, and as the shock and pain registered on my face, their car erupted in laughter as they drove on.

All I have been thinking about since then is what if that had been a .38 caliber or .357 magnum and those kids randomly just blew me away...?

Then, a truly shocking atrocity occurred right before my eyes just this past Sunday as my family and I were driving to Houston along a country road. There was a vehicle in front of us travelling 70 miles a hour throwing baby kittens out the window...! Unfortunately we were not able to save the kittens but we did report the license plate to the police. And the perpetrators of this crime were adults. Any one who would throw a kitten out the window of a fast moving car is certainly capable of more evil acts.

What's up with society today? What can we do to combat the moral decay that is increasingly getting more and more out of hand...?

We can pray. And we can raise up Godly families to make a difference. That's what I plan to do. Even though last Sunday I almost turned into a Charles Bronson -Vigil Ante character regarding the kitty people....

December 7 changed the way Americans lived. September 11 changed the way the world lives today . But civil, law abiding, God-fearing citizens must not despair inspite of the deplorable behavior of a few certain individuals.

Hang in there. Take Heart. Practice a random act of kindness today to off set the bad things happening in the world. Try to make a diffence in someone else's life today. Be a mentor. Be an encourager. And keep those prayers coming...!

Tuesday Afternoon Update

Here I am hanging Christmas lights in our front yard. This project is unfinished because Monica thought I was going to fall out of the tree and break my neck. (She made me stop.) We're going to get a taller ladder soon so I can complete the project before it's not Christmas any more.


I'm a little off my routine today. I had to be in Houston for a meeting at 9:30 AM and so I didn't get to blog earlier as I prefer.

I'm at Coffee Oasis enjoying a delicious hot tea and utilizing their free high speed internet. It's been a good productive morning and early afternoon so far. I have lessons starting at 2:30 and then straight through until 8 PM if the weather holds out.

The weather is supposed to get bad later this week I think so I may have some extended office hours soon. But that's the way it goes in December. You just never know about this Texas weather!

I'm trying to get the HPTA Gran Prix schedule ironed out for the new year. Right now I'm just waiting to hear back from people who are hosting the events.

I'm also pretty busy planning my Christmas programs and getting them marketed.

I made a fire in our fireplace last night. It was nice. Elijah fell asleep in my lap watching it.

Life is still a little hectic but good. We enjoyed our visit to Brazos Point Fellowship church last Saturday. We're going back again this Saturday.

That's about it for now. More tomorrow... Coach Sam

Starting Off the Week Right!

Mike Bryan (1/2 of the number one doubles team in the world) walks toward our front row box during an exhibition match Sunday afternoon at River Oaks Country Club.

I started off the week right by getting up early, spending time in prayer and study, and working out. I did 100 crunches while I listened to Dr Stanley's morning lesson. I weighed in yesterday morning at 236.3 pounds. But that number is only going down from there...! Watching the pro tennis exhibition at River Oaks yesterday afternoon has really given me the itch to get in shape and start playing competiviely again.

I'm REALLY starting to get into a good routine now and I am very motivated to get in shape. Monica is too. We're going to be each other's encouragement buddy...!

Today I need to get on the ball and finalize the HPTA Junior Gran Prix Schedule. That will be my main project after lessons this morning. (I have a ladies' drill from 8 to 9:30 AM)

I took a lot of pictures from the Pro Exhibition at River Oaks yesterday and will be publishing them on my various blogs and websites in the next few days... Stay tuned...

That's it for the moment. I really need to get moving this morning. I want to walk to work so I can burn extra calories!

Bye for now... Coach Sam

Looking Back on December 2004

Here's a funny photo of Hobbes. He climbed up into our chimney on the day we moved in. The photo angle is a little awkward because I'm laying on my back inside the mouth of the chimney looking up at Hobbes. The wood you see is a little end table we put in so he could step down easier. (We thought he was scared to come down...) Anyway, the chimney entrance is blocked by boxes right now so he can't get back up there.

By the way, yesterday I installed a kitty door in the kitchen for he and Gabriel. I'll post photos of that later.

One of the neat things about blogging is that you can go back and see where you were in history. Last night Monica and I were trying to recall the events of Christmas 2004. We did not have a vivid recollection. I think that says alot for our memory! So this morning I went back to my journal archives. It was neat to visit the prayer journal and see what I was praying about and where I was spiritually a year ago.

Then I visited Coach Sam's Life from December 2004. And I remember now the weather was very cold and rainy the week surrounding Christmas. In fact, many areas got snow. I spent a big part of my time blogging, working on my personal websites, and cooking on the grill.

We were anticipating the birth of Baby Elijah and Monica went to get her first ultrasound in December when Elijah was the size of a Gummy Bear! Those are fond memories.

Today I have lessons until Noon then a few hours off before we go to Lake Jackson to check out a new church we're considering to join. Sunday is a field trip to River Oaks Country Club for a Pro Tennis Exhibition...!

That's about it for now... I've got to get to work!

Coach Sam

Connor and Peepers

I haven't posted a photo of Connor and Peepers in a while so here's an update. Peepers moved to the Columbia Lakes Tennis Shop. She's no longer a house kitty. Hobbes and Gabriel are grateful for that... Connor is doing well in school and loves his new home. He's now really close to the tennis courts and has lots of friends to hang out with. We all love living out in the country.

I'm traveling to Clear Lake today for lessons this morning, then I'm taking the afternoon off to work on things at the house. I have to install kitty doors and do some plumbing. I also need to put Elijah's baby bed together.

And I still have lots of marketing to do for my Christmas programs. My hands are full. That's the Friday morning report. More later...

Coach Sam