Chadwell Christmas Blog Update...

(These are notes I made after my initial post on Christmas morning... I haven't been able to get back online again for awhile because our Internet service has been out...)

From Christmas Morning continued...

I made deviled eggs for an appetizer earlier this morning... I didn't realize it but that is one of Connor's favorite snacks...!

My mother in law drove into West Columbia to see if we could get some donuts or kolaches for breakfast. Nothing was open. The entire town is closed down...! That's OK, though... We had sausage and English muffins for breakfast.

It's 11 AM now... The turkey is entering the home stretch... There's about an hour left of cooking time. We just popped the dressing into the oven... And we have a couple of side dishes to go...

Connor is assembling a toy for Elijah... Our high speed Internet is out right now... That is annoying. Since our old company (Sprint) was bought out by a new company (Embarq), we've had horrible service...

My brother John was supposed to join us for Christmas dinner today. He called at 10:30 AM to cancel. Sadly, that is one of our family traditions. (Although he did break the cycle by showing up for Thanksgiving...) Oh well, I do hope he has a Merry Christmas. He's going to miss an awesome meal and great company...!

Everything else is going smoothly... 11:15 AM...


That's it for my actual Christmas Day post, the day got away from me after that... Here's a post script update...

Dinner was excellent...! The best yet... -Although I did receive some criticism on my decision to delay opening up presents until after dinner... We ended up waiting some time after dinner because Elijah made such a mess of himself while eating it necessitated a bath for Elijah and then Monica had to get cleaned up, too.

Needless to say, everyone was very anxious to open presents by the time we finally got around to it. But It was all worth the wait...!

We took many photos... I'll be posting photos for some time the next few days...

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

Coach Sam

Chadwell Family Christmas update -8 AM post

This post is an installment of several posts I'll be making today... If you want to read it chronologically scroll down to the post I made at 5 AM this morning... Merry Christmas...!

Well, It's a little after 8 AM... I've been at it for about four hours... I've got the turkey in the smoker... I just made a pan of cornbread oyster dressing and I also made one without oysters... They both look and smell delicious... I'll post my recipes later...!

Connor came into the kitchen about an hour ago... He was still groggy with sleep but did manage to say, '...It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...!' Then he asked his standard question, 'Where's mom...?' -To which I replied... ' Every body's still asleep...'

Connor must have decided that 7 AM was too early to be up and without further discussion he disappeared back into his room....!

I'm going to make some deviled eggs for an appetiser later... I'm also going to make some bruschetta for an appetiser, too.

Monica and Judy should be up soon... They are taking care of the other side dishes and dessert... I want to have as much of my stuff done as possible before they get up so I'd better close here.

Connor's right.. It IS starting to feel a lot like Christmas...!

Coach Sam
-8:12 AM

Coach Sam's 2006 Christmas Blog -5 AM post

Well, I'm back... I haven't posted in over 10 days... Much of that time was spent with my leg propped up on the bed or couch recovering from my knee surgery.

I'll come back in the next week or so and comment more on my surgery and the days that have followed my recovery. The fact is, I'm still in a bit of pain, but at least I'm on my feet now. I still have a limp, but I'm getting better. -That's the good news.

For now, let me just say that I wouldn't wish knee surgery on anyone...!

So, on to the Christmas story...

This year Monica's folks are visiting and Connor's home. He normally alternate holidays with his grand parents on his daddy's side of the family. I'm glad Connor's here. This is Elijah's first real memorable Christmas and having big brother here will make it all the more special.

I'm going all out... I got up at 4 AM to get started. I put the turkey in the smoker at 4:45 AM this morning. It should be ready sometime between 12 noon and 1 PM. I'm also trying to make home made oyster dressing like my mom used to make when I was a kid... Monica's not too thrilled about that so I'm making a pan of regular dressing, too. I've never made dressing from scratch before but if it's a disaster we still have stove top stuffing as a back up.

I'll be blogging off and on all morning and afternoon.... -It's a Coach Sam family tradition, now.

So that's about it for my first blog installment. I gotta go start some more projects.

Bye for now and Merry Christmas....!

Coach Sam -5:51 AM

The Knee Update...

I was expecting more progress than I'm seeing right now. I've still got a good deal of swelling. I want to get well and get on with a normal life.

I'm still hobbling around and I'm still in a good deal of pain at times. Sigh...

I've been particularly motivated by this season's reality show The Biggest Loser. Once I can start moving a little better I know those pounds are going to fall right off.

I've been up most of the night blogging and will have to get at least a few hours sleep in a little while...

You're going to think this is crazy, but I've been really sad today missing my mom. I was telling my wife just today how my mom used to annoy me by listening to hard rock and heavy metal music very loud all the time. Then I got to thinking I wouldn't mind having my mom annoy me right now... I wish she were here for Christmas this year. I can't believe she's been gone for nearly seven years now...

I wish mom could have attended the Christmas musical I performed in last week. I wish mom could meet Monica and her parents.

Oh how I wish mom were here to know Elijah.... Sigh... I'm really bumming myself out now...

I'm tired... I better try to get a little rest. I need to get up in two hours...

Until next time... Bye for now... -Coach Sam

I'm Still Here...!

It's hard to believe that I'm just now making a post on my journal. Today is the eighth day since my surgery. I'm still hobbling around. I've still got a bit of pain and I'm actually surprised at the amount of swelling that is still there.

I'm trying to stay off the leg as much as I can until the swelling goes down more. Right now I'm sitting propped up on the couch in my family room with my leg elevated.

I've been spending a good deal of time recently working on a new website I'm building and a tournament I'm organizing.

That's it in a nutshell... The tournament is this weekend and next week I'm hosting a Tennis Camp at Columbia Lakes. I still may not be too mobile by then but I've got good people helping me.

Well, I need to close here. More later... -Coach Sam

Today's the Day

Today I'm having knee surgery. I'm in full fasting mode right now. I'm not supposed to have anything to eat or drink until after the surgery.

I enjoyed a diet cherry coke as my last beverage at about 10:45 PM last night. Monica made me some kind of chicken pesto puff pasty for dinner... Mmmm... it was good.

My surgery is at 1 PM. I have to be at the hospital at 11:30 AM. We're planning to leave here about 10:15 AM. The operation is supposed to be a simple procedure lasting about forty-five minutes to an hour. I'm supposed to be released around 5 PM...

That's my day... Obviously it's not my normal schedule. I went to bed last night at about 11 PM and slept until 5 AM. I awakened without the alarm. I'll spend time on the computer this morning until Monica and the baby get up then I'll help Monica with Elijah.

It's a very routine operation. Still I am a little nervous. It's my first surgery ever. -And hopefully my last...!

Well I've got a lot of things to do this morning before we leave so I'd better close here.

For those of you reading my blog today, if you believe in the power of prayer I could use some today at around 1 PM.... Thanks for checking in to 'Coach Sam's Life'. I'll give you a full report tomorrow morning. -Bye for now.

Surgery Tomorrow...!

Tomorrow's the big day...! I'm excited...! My knee has been giving me trouble for four months now!

Today I'm fairly busy all day.. I've been up since 3 AM working on stuff...

But tomorrow I report to the hospital at 11:30 AM and my surgery is at 1 PM. I should be released around 4:30 or 5 PM, they tell me.

And then I'll be on crutches for a few days but by next week I should be out and about, and in a month or two I'll be as good as new...!

We'll see... I'll make another report in the morning... My pre surgical comments!

Bye for now... Coach Sam

Chadwell Family Thanksgiving Photos

The Turkey was perfect...! I kept it on the smoker for about 4 and a half hours... I think it was the best one I've ever prepared...!

What was on the menu...? A 10 lb smoked turkey that I prepared myself... cranberry sauce... dressing... giblet gravy... green bean casserole.... sweet potatoe casserole... hot buttered rolls... and of course some delicious champagne to help it all go down smoothly.

Elijah has his own little outdoor rocking chair. He enjoyed sitting on the back patio with John and I while I was cooking the turkey.

Mom is helping Elijah with his shoe...

Here's Our 2006 Chadwell Family Thanksgiving Photo....

Wow... I can't believe my face looked so full in that photo... I'm going to have to take a 'photo-shop' class and work on that... No wait, I can just go on a diet...! Elijah was watching an episode of the Wiggles when we snapped that photo.

Elijah had his first taste of turkey on Thanksgiving Day. He liked it a whole lot...!

Yes, I'm Still ALIVE...!

My Brother John joined us for lunch this Thanksgiving ...

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1: I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted... Life is good... Over the past 10 days everyone in the family took turns being sick... Elijah is cutting something like six teeth at the same time and has not been sleeping well so that means that Mom and Dad are not sleeping much, either...

The weather is Cold here now... We've been keeping a fire going in the fireplace pretty much all the time...

Thanksgiving was really nice... Except that Connor was in Missouri... We missed him but I know that he needs to spend time with his dad's family, too...

I have knee surgery next week... I am SO ready for that. My knee is hurting all the time, now...

That's about it... I hope you enjoy the Thanksgiving photos...

Coach Sam