The Day After Christmas... Now What...?

Ahhh... It was a very nice Christmas. It was kinda sad to not have any visitors this year but overall it was a fun relaxing day with Monica, Connor and Elijah...

I don't know how Monica does it... She was up nearly all night Christmas Eve working on a present for Elijah, and then she and Connor were up pretty late last night, too. Elijah and I were asleep a little after 10 PM. Consequently, we're the only one's awake this morning...

It's 9:30 AM... I'm going to blog a bit and send email out about upcoming programs. The forecast for today is rainy... I don't know if I'll do anything outside today. Although I'd love to get some exercise... A long walk would be awesome...!

If it dries up a little bit I'd also like to take Elijah fishing, or perhaps play tennis with him in our driveway...

Today has the makings of another 'Lazy' day...

What We Did On Christmas 2008

Monica was up almost all night working on her special Christmas present for Elijah. We all awakened around 9 AM and opened presents under the tree... I cooked breakfast for everyone and then we watched the movie Horton Hears a Who, a present from Granma and Granpa Ohlemacher. We are currently watching one of my favorite Christmas movies... White Christmas, with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye...

I've got a ham smoking on the pit and we are just 'chillin'...! It has been a peaceful, sweet Christmas so far...! YEA...! I wish it were cooler, though. A White Christmas would have been neat, but I am very thankful and very content with today...!

Trying a New Recipe... Corn Casserole

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 (8.5 ounce) package dry corn bread mix
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14.75 ounce) can creamed corn
1 cup sour cream


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and lightly grease a 9x9 inch baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine butter, eggs, corn bread mix, whole and creamed corn and sour cream. Spoon mixture into prepared dish.

Bake for 45-55 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown.

This sounds good... I'll let you know how it turns out...!

Oyster Dressing and Other Christmas Memories

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped onion
3 cups chopped celery
1 cup butter or margarine
1 pint oysters in liquid, drained & chopped (reserve liquid)
4 cups herb-seasoned stuffing cubes
4 cups cornbread crumbs
1 cup pecans, chopped
3 teaspoons sage
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
3 cans chicken broth or homemade

Preparation: Saute onion and celery in butter or margarine. Mix all ingredients together well and pour in a buttered baking dish. Cover with foil; bake at 325° for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove foil and brown.

Oyster dressing is a Chadwell Christmas Family Tradition. The recipe posted above is the one I'm using this year....

I remember back when I was a little boy that we would pack up the family and drive to Refugio, Texas to my grandmother's house each Christmas. Grandma was an excellent cook. One of my favorite dishes she would make was Oyster dressing... My mom also made some good batches of Oyster dressing in her day. And my sis, also.

Currently, I am the only one in my house who appreciates the culinary delight of oyster dressing. So tonight I have made two pans of dressing, one with oysters and one without...

Some other fond Christmas memories include enjoying Grandma's fireplace on cold days and nights. (we never had a fireplace growing up) I also remember my brother an I trying to play grandma's piano.

Back home in Bay City I remember we used to always try to go to midnight mass on Christmas eve. I also remember for the longest time we had a silver artificial Christmas tree with a color wheel. I cried when mom threw it away one year, saying it was too old and worn out...

After Grandma passed away Christmas didn't seem to be as special as it used to be.

Now that I'm married and with children, Christmas is a magical time again. I love how Elijah and Connor get so excited. I love preparing the food. Monica and I love making great memories for our children. (She grew up as a Jehovah's Witness and did not get to enjoy a traditional Christmas as a child, herself.)

So as I close this post it's 10 PM here in Texas... Only a couple of hours until Christmas... Monica's working on a Christmas project in the garage and Connor and I are watching Star Trek on Sci-Fi.

Chadwell Christmas Update...

OK... So this photo has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas... But it does have to do with CHRIST... These are a few Easter photos I've been meaning to publish for a while...

After church Easter Sunday we did some fishing... Monica was the only one to catch a fish...! It was a very fun day for the family!

I feel very blessed to have such a cool wife like my precious Monica...! I have been dying to go fishing lately but we either haven't had the time or the weather has not been cooperating....

We are currently busy getting ready for Christmas.... Elijah and Connor are getting excited that Christmas is only a few days away... -(Coach Sam is, too...!

Walking the Doggy...

One of the things Elijah and I enjoy doing together is going for a good walk... Here we are about to take Riley for a walk.

Today we're letting mommy sleep in and Elijah and I have been up early watching Caillou on television. We're going to take Connor to school in a minute and then go to the donut shop for breakfast. I only have one tennis lesson scheduled so far today so I will probably focus mostly on administrative duties. Who knows...? Perhaps Elijah and I will take Riley and Roxie both for a walk later this morning.

We have some Thanksgiving photos to publish but they are not downloaded from the camera yet. maybe I'll do that later... That's it for now... Thanks for checking in Coach Sam's Life...!

Thanksgiving 2008

Hello... We are enjoying a nice quiet Thanksgiving today. I've got a turkey in the smoker and we've been grazing on snacks... Elijah has been helping me cook... Right now we're enjoying the 'Cars' movie.

I'm going to spend the next 48 hours just enjoying some relaxing family time....

Honestly, I can't remember the last time I purposefully took off two days from work without being injured or inclement weather... You know what...? -It feels pretty good...!

My Dream Car: 1989 Jeep Grand Wagoneer 4x4

Is this an awesome piece of machinery, or what...? It's in great condition. I bought it for just $500 and had the engine rebuilt. Wow, what a great second car for our family. It's more roomy than our Toyota Rav 4 and the family loves it as much as I do...

It has a little over 100 thousand miles on it and I'm sure it's got another 100 thousand or more.

My 1997 jeep Cherokee is being retired now with 207,000 K.... Oh how I love Jeeps. And this 1989 Jeep is a true classic. I plan to fully restore it. More later...!

Starting a New Job Today!

Today I am teaching my first tennis lessons at the Bayou Club in Angleton... I am very excited. It's a beautiful day out there today. Kinda cold and windy, but not too bad, and I'm sure it will warm up later this afternoon.

YEA...! I'll be writing and posting more about this exciting new change in my career path the next few weeks. For now let me just assure everyone that this is a good thing for my family and I.

I sincerely appreciate the many phone calls and email messages I have received expressing concern and or well-wishes...!

I have some fond memories of working at my old place of employment but those are definitely in the rear view and I am looking forward to making new memories at my new venue in Angleton.

More later... -Coach Sam

Up Late Tonight...

Today has been a good day... I got up early this morning and took Elijah to Bay City with me. That's a regular routine now. He loves playing tennis with his home school friends in BC. We visited my grandmother Mimi... (Elijah's great grand-mother)

Tonight Connor and I are watching sci fi, eating junk food and drinking IBC Root Beer while I cook some ribs and chicken on the smoker...

I'm over my depression about the presidential election results

Now I'm a 'political-activist-watch-dog'....! I'll probably write the white house and my congressmen one or two letters a week for the next four years...

I'm also one of the newest members of the Presidential Prayer Team. Did you even know there was such a thing...? Check out the PPT website. It's pretty cool.

Go to: http://presidentialprayerteam.org/

I invite you to join me in prayer for our country's leadership every day from now on for the rest of our lives...!

Defend Life...!

For more than two centuries our flag has been a symbol of hope in the face of danger and strength in times of peace. One day after terrorists used commercial airplanes to destroy the World Trade Center Towers and attack the Pentagon, firefighters take a moment to unfurl the flag over the scarred stone as inspiration for fellow rescue workers searching through the debris Sept. 12
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In my opinion, America made a mistake electing Barrack Obama as the president of the United States. The fact that he supports abortion alone is enough for me to oppose His entire platform.

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Sanctity of life is a 'deal breaker' for me.

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One thing I know of for sure: This election and it's issues have made activists out of Monica and I. The headline and article below reflect my family's sentiments exactly this morning.

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Please read this important article.

Advice to Christians: Defend Life, Prepare for Persecution

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Hey, Check out my Newest Blog: Quotes From Our Founding Fathers

I Think I'm Becoming an Activist...!

What is an activist...?

According to Merriam Webster, an activist is a person who takes direct, vigorous action especially in support of or in opposition to one side of a controversial matter or issue.

Previously I was just someone who 'had an opinion' about stuff. Now, I seem to be writing letters or blogging about issues that are near and dear to my heart pretty much every single day. -I'm always fired up about something...!

-And I just can't keep quiet about it...!

So, what am I taking direct, vigorous action in support of or against today...?

Oh there are so many things I don't even know where to start...

I suppose one of the biggest issues I'm getting steamed up about is the culture clash between Christians who are willing to stand up for what they believe in and those non Christians who are trying to take every reference to and about Jesus Christ out of our society.

God is out of the public school, and has been since the 1960's All the 'mess' happened back in the early 1960's before I was even born...!

Now, 50 years later our country is so far removed from what our founding Father's intended it puts me on the verge of tears every time I think about this culture that my children will have to grow up in....

Where were all the Christians back in 1962 when the Supreme Court was legislating God, prayer, and the bible out of the schools...? They were sleeping...!

Well it's time for Christians to wake up and defend what they believe in before it's too late.

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do
nothing...! -Edmond Burke, One of America's Founding Fathers

Evil is triumphing in America right now... But take courage. God is still on His Throne. He is Sovereign. He is control.

I'm not going to sit around and do nothing like my parents and grand parents did. They slept.

But I am awake...! And I'm getting Grouchy...!

To be continued....

Button it Up, Ann....!

Interesting discussion... But do you think it would be too much trouble for NBC's Ann Curry to button her blouse...? She's dressed like she is an extra on 'Desperate Housewives' instead of a professional major network journalist.

Compare Veteran Anchor Brian Williams to Curry in the side by side screen shot at the beginning of the segment... Williams dressed up for the occasion and Curry dressed down. What's up with that...? Am I the only one who has a problem with that...?

I know it's a small thing to take issue at but I think she was dressed inappropriately.

Birthday Photo

Yesterday was my birthday... Unfortunately I was pretty sick and we were not able to celebrate it like we had planned. Also, we just got another digital camera and haven't figured out how to use it yet so I'm posting a photo from Elijah's Bday this past summer....

Hopefully we'll have some new photos this weekend...!

It was a nice Bday in that I had my whole family around me to celebrate with and I heard from all my extended family, too... Even those who haven't kept in touch for years, so that was really a blessing...!

My Life is Good....

Up Early Today...

I awakened at 3:35 AM this morning and have to get started preparing for a tournament at the tennis center. I would have loved to have everything prepared last night before I went to bed but that was impossible. I was so sleepy I could hardly keep my eyes open. I was reading to Elijah trying to help him fall asleep and ended up falling asleep with him. Just before I dosed off I prayed to God that He would help me get up in time to fully prepare for today's event, and HE did just that...!

Praise the Lord, I know today will be a good day!

I'm much more of a morning person than a night owl. I'm pretty certain I'll get to bed early tonight, though....!

Well, I'll probably blog a bit more this evening. I gotta get going...! Bye for now...!

Fun Day on Court...!

About My Wife....

I love my Wife. I've never met a sweeter, nicer person my entire life. I knew the first time I ever met her that she was very, very special. I've never once in my entire life not observe her give 100% of herself to the task at hand. She's an awesome mommy to Elijah and Connor. She's a totally devoted wife to me. She always thinks of and places everyone else's needs before her own. She's a beautiful human being both inside and out.

We've both grown very much in our personal relationships with Jesus Christ since we first met. It's really been an incredible journey. I love how we encourage and inspire each other. I love when she prays for me and when we pray together. I am a very blessed man because of my precious wife.

Monica, I know I'm embarrassing You and you'll deny that you are deserving of such high praise, but it's that very humility, kindness, and gentleness about you that sets you apart from the rest of the world and makes you so special. I want everyone to know how special you are, what you mean to this family, and how much I love You. I praise and thank our heavenly Father every day for You and our family. You are a blessing to us!

Tree Limb Down...

This is the worst of our storm damage in the back yard. As you can see, we got off pretty easy at my house. We had lots of branches and spanish moss to pick up...

One of our neighbors had significant damage from a large tree falling on his porch.

The golf course suffered pretty severe damage. They have been cleaning up for nearly a week now and are still not ready to open.

A very large tree behind the tennis center came down. This was one of my favorite trees on the property.

One of our two bulletin boards was demolished by the high winds of Hurricane Ike.

Another Bulletin Board went down at the tennis center.

Connor climbed up in one of the trees to give you an idea of the size scale. We had many, many trees lke this one go down all over our neighborhood.

Back Home...!

Hello Friends and Family, (maybe a few strangers...)

We arrived back home on Monday and the discovered our neighborhood looked like a disaster area. There were huge trees down everywhere. Some were on houses. Praise God our house had really no damage. The only inconvenience we have suffered is no internet at our house. I do have internet working at the tennis shop, though and that is where I am posting from this morning.

It's been six days since the storm and our little comunity is still far from back to normal. Farther south and east of us the situation is even more dire. I'm going to spend today calling and checking up on many of my tennis students.

That's about it. I have many photos to post and I'll try to get around to that as soon as possible.

More later...

Coach Sam

Hurricane Aftermath

It breaks my heart to see some of the damage from Hurricane Ike. Wow… Galveston really suffered a lot of destruction. According to reports from friends who stayed behind, Columbia Lakes suffered quite a bit of damage. There are many fallen trees, power lines, and the electricity is out.

We are still in Dallas. We were planning to return on Sunday afternoon but may delay that return if our power is still out.

More Later…

Coach Sam

Evacuation Blog

In anticipation of Hurricane Ike, we left the gulf coast area Wednesday night to avoid any traffic issues... We arrived at our destination about midnight.We're in Dallas right now resting comfortably. We've been watching Galveston begin to get pounded this morning.

We're glad we're not there.

Earlier this afternoon we went to Dinosaur World in Glen Rose, Texas. We just barely missed touring the Creation Evidence Museum.

And we were not able to visit Dinosaur Valley State Park. I think we'll definitely come back for another visit sometime, hopefully under more favorable circumstances.

Tonight we've been watching the live coverage of the hurricane's landfall non stop, but I'm pretty worn out and think I'll go to bed pretty soon...

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

Coach Sam

God Created the Heavens and The Earth...

As seen from outer space, Earth looks like a bright blue ball. The blue is water, which covers most of the surface of Earth. Clouds and bodies of ice, such as Antarctica, appear white, while land forms look brownish. None of the other planets in our solar system are capable of supporting life. But in contrast, millions of different species are able to thrive on planet earth.

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I simply refuse to believe that all this happened by chance. It is preposterous to consider that all life, all this diversity of living is evolved over millions and millions of years.

The bible clearly states: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. God created all life. Humans are the highest form of life on this planet. What is our purpose here? Why did God make us? Why did God make You and Me...?

The answer to that is for us to know Him, to tell others about Him, and honor Him with the way we live our lives. We are no accident.

Today I simply marvel at the Greatness of God, and humble myself before Him. God is Great. God is Good. God is in control. He truly does have the whole world in His hands.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Lord I love You. How Great thou Truly are. My King I submit to You. I seek only to do Your will. Father God You are the Maker of the universe. You are the Author of Life, the Giver of all good things. You are my Comfort in times of trouble. You are the Everlasting, All-Powerful God.

Father God I give this day to You. Thank You for another day of precious life. Thank You for another opportunity to make a difference in this world. I recognize that everything I have and everything I have accomplished is from and because of You. Lord I live for You.

And I pray these things in the sweet name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Amen.

Nice Weekend...

Wow... I awakened around 7 AM this morning and stepped outside for a moment and the temperature was a crisp 68 degrees...! I'm not sure what the humidity level is but it must be a little lower than normal. Although I'm certain that we'll still have lots more dog-hot days, a cool morning like this morning signals that fall is just around the corner...!

The weekend is starting off nicely. Yesterday was a good day. Today should be pretty good, too. I'm about to head out for lessons. Ive got a busy schedule today so I probably won't complete this post until this evening sometime.

Any way, I just had to take a moment to remark about the weather...!

OK, that's it for now. I've got to get to work. More later....

To be continued....

Art Teacher

Here's a photo from earlier this summer when Monica conducted an art class during tennis camp. Teaching art is now a budding career for Monica as this fall she is working with many of the local home schoolers in our area. Today is her first big day of classes so I wanted to honor her in my blog this morning.

I think she is an awesome teacher. Really, she's one of the best I've ever seen. But that doesn't surprise me because her mom is a retired teacher from California who won the California State Teacher of the Year award on more than one occasion.

Today is also a big day for Elijah... He's participating in his first day of school today, too...!

So this morning the house is quiet. Really Quiet. I'm enjoying some extended blogging time.

But I have quite a bit of work to do today, too. I'm teaching in Bay City all afternoon and evening and I have plenty of things to keep me busy in the mean time...

So I'll close here for now... -Coach Sam

My Next Vacation Will Be to the Cross

Wow... I just discovered there is a 19 story cross and a stations of the cross 'park' located in the Texas Pan Handle in Groom, Texas off of Interstate 40 just outside of Amarillo, Texas.

This Cross was erected in 1995. I can't believe that I haven't heard about it until now...

Here's a website link with more information.

What an awesome witness...!

In addition to the CROSS, there are numerous bronze statues depicting scenes from the life of Jesus all around the property.

Amarillo is a pretty long drive from here, but I think it would be well worth it to visit this incredible testimony.

Oh, the Open...!

The US Open Starts today. I won't be there. I haven't gone to the Open since 2003. I miss it. It always used to be something I greatly looked forward to every year.

But I greatly enjoy being married and having children, too. And now that I am married and with kids my priorities and responsibilities have changed. Elijah's still too young to go to the Open right now but when he's old enough to appreciate it we'll start going again.

That's something to look forward too...!

Today I'm starting many new home schoolers in tennis. I'm excited about that...! And it's also Connor's first day as a sophomore in high school. I'm excited about that, too...!

It's a BIG Day...!

My Buddies...

Here's a photo of myself (center) and two very good friends of mine. In fact, these guys are two of the nicest men you'll ever meet. I really can't say enough positive things about them. They always go out of their way to help me and they always consider the needs of others around them. They are true gentlemen in every sense of the word!




Brad, to the left of the photo is a local avid player whom I have just begun to know better in the past few years. He is a super nice guy who loves tennis and often volunteers to help with programs here in the local community. Jim, to the far right has stood by me through thick and thin. He has been a great ambassador of tennis and has volunteered literally hundreds of hours over the past decade and a half helping to promote the great sport of tennis that we both love so much...

I am humbled and greatly blessed to have two good friends like Brad and Jim.

Coach Sam's New Weight Loss Journal

Here's a photo of Elijah and I back in January 2008. Look how large I am... I've lost a little weight since that photo was taken, but nothing of great significance. This morning the scales said 228 pounds. I'm sure I'm in the 230's in that photo. Wow...!

Of course, it has been difficult exercising with my knee injured, but praise the Lord my knee has been feeling better this month and I'm finally playing tennis more frequently.

I'm really working hard on my diet these days and plan to enroll in a Weight Watcher's program this week...! Elijah is really starting to enjoy tennis more now that he is older. Connor is showing a renewed interest, too. I want to be in good shape so I can enjoy tennis with them for years to come.

I desperately want to get back to a normal shape. That's going to involve me losing at least fifty pounds...! I know that goal is possible and attainable. I just have to take my time and stay the course... Right now I would just love to get below 200 before the new year...

Oh how I would love to get below 200 and stay there.

Starting today I plan to use this blog as a record of my efforts to lose weight.

Let's call it:

Coach Sam's Weight Loss Journal

Yes, that sounds good...

OK, Day One... August 13, 2008

I weighed in this morning at 228 lbs. Now, I'm not going to be a slave to the scales, weighing in every day. I'm just going to do my best to lose weight every day, be patient, and give it to God.

I acknowledge going in to this thing that my chief concern is honoring God. I know God wants to use me for greater things and if I don't get in better shape, my health will hinder me. I used to be as conditioned as any world class athlete, now to say that I am a shadow of my former self is the understatement of the year.

I've got a long way to go, but I have my family and many others encouraging me. And of course, most importantly, my Lord and Savior is right by my side every step of the way...

Losing weight for me is a spiritual battle first and foremost. And it's one that I am going win because I can do all things through HIM who strengthens me...!

Super Boy

I'm sitting in a big chair with a lap top on my lap this morning watching the news coverage of the big storm just northeast of us. We had braced ourselves over night for a hurricane but awakened to relatively mild weather.

As it turns out, we may not get very much rain at all today. I'm not complaining, but I wouldn't mind if my yard, the golf course and tennis center got a good soaking today..

So far Galveston, League City, Kemah have all had pretty stormy weather. But West Columbia is on the dryer side of the storm.

Now when I blog on Tuesdays my on going topic is child hood memories.

This photo of Elijah in his superman suit with his wagon of books and toys reminded me that I didn't have very many toys growing up. I had an imagination, though. My superman costume was just a bath towel clipped or tied around my neck. I liked to pretend to be superman. I also liked to pretend to be batman. My brother John and I loved to make fortresses and space ships out of big cardboard boxes... Oh those were the days...!

Already at age three Elijah has many more toys and books than I had my entire childhood...!

Elijah's Big Boy Bed

A few days ago we moved Elijah's Baby bed out and gave him a 'big boy' bed... Oh how he loves it! it's obviously decorated with a 'Car's' motif... It's definitely a boy's room...! Check out more photos of Elijah at his own website: http://elijahchadwell.blogspot.com/

We had a nice day today. We traveled to Clear Lake and visited a church where I used to be a member when I first moved to Nassau Bay. Afterwards we had an excellent lunch at Pappasitos. When we got home Elijah and I went to the tennis center for awhile. We relaxed at home after that....

Tomorrow will be a busy week. I may not post every day... But thanks for reading my journal... Until next time.... Bye for now... -Coach Sam

Friday... Family Day...! More Photos From Elijah's Birthday

Wow... That tower goes up pretty high... I stayed on the ground where it was safe...

Here's the observation deck about to land.... Monica, Connor, and Elijah are waiting for it to land.

Here's the family about to board the observation tower at the Kemah Boardwalk. Elijah got distracted at the last second....

On Fridays I like to write about family. This has been a busy summer. And wow... July has been a blur... The first part of the month I'd just like to forget about.

But we recently celebrated both Connor and Elijah's birthdays and they were both very memorable. Connor and Elijah are both growing like crazy...

My favorite Friday activity is to prepare some kind of Mexican food (usually fajitas, tacos, or nachos) Then enjoy watching Sci-Fi Friday with Monica and Connor. Sometimes it's too scary for Elijah so we usually wait for him to go to bed, first...

Our favorite show to watch is Stargate Atlantis...! There's a new episode on tonight... Yea

Something Political: Let's Pray for this Country!

On Thursdays I'm supposed to write about something political... OK, today's blog will be short but these are my thoughts on the upcoming election:

Sigh... Sadly the only thing I can report is that I'm not thrilled with either presidential candidates this election season.

Obama's views and values just simply don't line up with my own. McCain is in full 'politician mode' and I don't think he can be trusted, either.

Seriously, is this the BEST that America has to offer? I think we are in big trouble no matter who the next president is...

It's really time for men and women of Faith to get on our knees and Pray for this Country....!

Favorite Thing.... Storytelling

Hmmm.... One of my favorite things to do is tell stories. I love when something comes up or is said in a tennis class that reminds me of a story or something that happened to me in my childhood. Telling stories is a great way to drive a point home. It's one of my favorite teaching methods. I really love it when a young person comes up to me days, weeks, months, even years later and asks me to tell a certain story again. When that happens I know I've made a connection and have impacted their lives...

Elijah's Birthday Video

This Blog only allows videos up to 100 MB in size... The one you are viewing is 75 MB We have another video of Elijah unveiling his present that is 172 MB. I'll have to try to figure out how to post in a different forum...

Oh this was a very happy day...! Elijah loves his Fire Truck...!

Today is Wednesday and my Blog Topic is something that is a favorite of mine...

Fireman Elijah to the Rescue...!

Yesterday was Elijah's Birthday...! One of his favorite gifts was a fire truch pedal car... Oh how he loved it. I don't know if I've ever seen him so excited before...! More photos and stories to come... Please check back...!

Happy Birthday Elijah...!

Guess who is three years old today...? Not the guy with the beard... No, we are celebrating Elijah's birthday today...! YEA...! It's my precious little boy's birthday...!

We have a very special day planned for the Boo Boo...! Look for a full report in the next blog post tomorrow on Elijah's Blog.

One of My Favorites...Riker of Star Trek The Next Generation

I'm relaxing this evening watching some Star Trek TNG episodes on our DVR. I'm a huge science fiction buff. One of my favorite characters on the 'Next Generation' was first officer William T Riker. One thing I liked about him was that he played the trombone.

If I were a TNG character I would most likely be Commander Riker. After all, he had a beard, too...!

I hope to start posting a little more regularly on my blog now. Tomorrow I will be talking politics.... You don't want to miss that...!

4th of July...! Twilight Zone Marathon

It's been a tradition for the past five years for the Sci Fi Channel to air twenty four hours of Twilight Zone episodes. I'm looking forward to taking in a few episodes this afternoon...

Although, I must confess that my wife and I are pretty burned out on television. We hardly watch anything on TV any more. Not only is it difficult to find any show that is 'decent' to watch anymore, but many times not even the commercials are 'safe' to watch. We are very concerned about what images our sweet little Elijah is exposed too. Praise the Lord for DVR's and TiVo where we can pause live television.

Oh, how our society has really decayed morally over my life time...

What ever happened to shows like the Twilight Zone...? For it's time, the Twilight Zone really pushed the moral compass and often times made bold political statements in it's little vignettes.

Granted, there were many episodes that just 'bombed', but there is a certain charm to those old black and white re-runs that just keeps me coming back. I suppose it's the hope that I'll come across an episode that I've never seen before...

One day, when we have some extra discretionary resources, we'll just purchase a dvd collection of the entire Twilight Zone series. Then we'll be able to view them at our leisure without the annoyance of Viagra or Maxoderm commercials. Until then it's remote control time...

Side Note to Last Night's Blog:

The brisket turned out fantastic...! I ended up going to bed about midnight and finished it off in the oven instead of waking up throughout the night tending the fire... I know that true BBQ 'purists' turn their nose up to that, but they probably don't have a soon to be three year old at home...!

I'm still working on publishing a video on the web... I'll get that figured out later today... It's 5:30 AM and I can't sleep. Am I on some kind of weird schedule or what...?

I think I'm going to close here for now, but I'm sure I'll be back to post some photos and more commentary later...

Thanks for reading my blog... (You've got to have better things to do than this...!) :)

The Brisket Vigil...

8:23 PM.... OK... Still having trouble uploading a movie...

The learning curve is getting 'curvey-er'....


7:47 PM... The Brisket Vigil and Home Movie Update

OK, Let's see if I can upload the first goofy video Elijah and I made together... Remember, we are not professional actors...!


Oh Too Bad...... It wouldn't publish because the file was too large... No Problem... This is the learning curve... I'll try it again after a quick trip to the grocery store...

Coach Sam... 7:50 PM Texas Time...


6:52 PM Update on the Brisket Vigil...

The Brisket is looking good. I've had steady smoke and temperature for close to seven hours. I'm smoking with mesquite and pecan wood. I like to mix the two for longer smokes because 19 hours of mesquite smoke can be overpowering to the meat in my humble opinion. The milder pecan smoke helps balance out the taste....

I got my web cam installed. The installation took a long time. But I've already made some goofy home videos. It's pretty fun. Now I'm going to see what I have to do to publish them to the web or send a video post card... - Coach Sam 6:58 PM Texas Time!


5:30 PM -The Brisket Vigil...

It's the 3rd of July and I'm making my traditional brisket. This one was 15 lbs so and I put it on at about 12 Noon. It needs to smoke for about 22 hours. I've got 14 hours to go...

I've stayed busy so far this afternoon working in the back yard trimming and weeding.

Right now I'm installing a new web cam on my lap top so I can create videos and post them on my website....

More later.... -Coach Sam 5:58 PM Texas Time....

Another Soap Box... HEINZ Deli Mayo AD

I don't want this to seem like it's turning into an 'Angry' Blog... But I just learned about an advertising campaign from Heinz that features two gay men kissing. It's airing in the UK now but how long will it be before commercials like this are airing in America...?

Some people have the perspective that it is a 'funny spoof' on Gay marriage. I say there is nothing funny about Gay marriage and I don't want this type of advertising on American television.

I contacted Heinz that my family is now boycotting Heinz because of their advertising content.

I'm afraid we'll probably just have to turn our television off completely in the near future because it's difficult enough to find a decent television show to watch anyway, and now we have to worry about the content of almost every commercial...

Here's a link to the ad... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl0bkv0jCCM

You decide if you want your children poisoned by this kind of media.

This Makes Me Sick...!

Planned Parenthood of Houston & Southeast Texas purchased a 7 story, 78,000 square foot building at 4600 Gulf Freeway (I-45 and Elgin ) in Houston. This building, after being remodelled, will be the largest free-standing abortion facility in the Western Hemisphere where unborn babies through all 9 months of pregnancy can be aborted according to the State of Texas.

This headline was brought to my attention by the mom of one of my home school tennis students. Abortion is one of the most disgusting acts I can think of.

It's murder, plain and simple. -And it's Wrong. Abortion is most certanly an abomination in the eyes of God.

Sadly, after visiting the Houston Coalition for Life website, I did some research and discovered that this project has been in the works for some time.

And now there's not much time left to effect change. -I plan to use my time and resources in the upcoming weeks to speak out and educate everyone within my sphere of influence about this issue. I plan to stand in the gap for unborn children in Houston and around the world..!

You know, I don't think that the average person really takes much time to consider what a sinister, evil act abortion is. I think it's something that is sort of 'out of sight, out of mind'...

Well, it's not out of my mind... And after going through Focus on the Family's The Truth Project, I've been more attuned to the many things that are wrong with our country and how it seems to be in a continuous, downward spiral. Legalized Abortion is definitely one of the things that is wrong with our country, and the world.

I urge everyone reading this blog post to prayerfully consider what You can do regarding the issue of abortion.

You're either for Abortion or against Abortion.

If you are against it then I urge you to take a public stand!

If You oppose the idea of abortion and don't do anything in opposition to it then you are just standing around while innocent babies are being murdered right here in Houston and across the US and around the world...!

What can one person do...? -Me, I'm not wealthy or powerful but I do have a voice. -And I do have a degree of influence in some small circles... So this is not the last you've heard from me on this topic...!

To be continued....

My Sweet Bride's Birthday...!

Today is Monica's Birthday...! Yea...! We don't have any specific plans just yet but I'm looking forward to honoring my sweet bride today...!

There's no one on this planet who is more deserving of a special day than my precious Monica!

I love you very much, Sweetie...! -HAPPY BIRTHDAY...!

Getting Ready For Father's Day...!

Well, it's Father's Day weekend... I'm not sure what we're going to do yet. It won't be anything expensive, that's for sure. We're a little 'strapped' financially these days just like just about everyone else, it seems.

But for me that's ok... Father's Day is about 'Being a Daddy. I don't need any 'Thing'. I am just happy to be able to spend a relaxing day with my family.

We'll figure out something to do...

Our Country is in Crises...!

The morality of our country has sunk to an all time low... I'm referring to CBS' airing of the pilot episode: Swingtown. It's nothing but pornography and it's being aired on a major network during prime time. Is this what the majority of television viewers in our country want to see...?

Aaugh... I'm not a big fan of television anyway, but this is ridiculous.

Of course, same sex marriage is also legal in some states. Abortion is legal. And it is against the law to pray in school or display the ten commandments in public.

What is going on here...? What kind of world am I raising my children up in...?

What can I do...? As a Christian I am called to do something. First and foremost I am called to pray. Secondly, I have to let others know how I feel. I can't be shy, quiet, or politically correct any more. Who am I trying to please, God or man...?

'Swingtown' is an abomination. It weakens our country. CBS is no friend of mine. I'm going to take time to write the major advertisers of CBS and tell them exactly how I feel and that my family and I am prepared to take action with our wallet in the form of boycotting the products of CBS sponsors until this filth is removed from the air.

Speed...

Hello Everyone...! I'm back...! Here I am checking the speed of some one's serve with a radar gun at my recent USPTA Tennis Across America Event...

Wow, I haven't posted since April. I completely missed the entire month of May. Life has been crazy, that's for sure. I'm into my busy summer season. But I'm going to try real hard to update this blog at least once a week...

The fastest serve at the TAA event was 100 mph... My life feels like it's moving way faster than that...!

The big news is that Monica and I are expecting another child...! We're going for an ultra sound tomorrow to find out more details. Stay tuned for more news soon!

Where have I been...?

Wow, it's been over a month since I posted on this blog...!

Let me catch you up on my life the past forty days or so...

One Word.... CRAZY...!

Other than that it's been good.

I do want to start spending a little more time here in this blog venue in the near future. My problem of course has been time management. I can't seem to get a handle on managing my time better. Lately I have been feeling the burden of spending any precious spare moments either engaged in God's Word, or with my precious family.

Speaking of God, He's really up to something right now in my life. Read today's Prayer Journal for more details.

Today is a full day for me as I have lots of lessons and I am also preparing for a big tournament this weekend. I'll post a full report sometime Sunday...

Bye for now...! -Sam

Home School Fun Day

Yesterday a local home school sports group came to Columbia Lakes for an activity day. The weather was beautiful and everything went very well. There were over forty kids present to sample tennis and golf.

Good Chance of Rain Today...

Well, here we go again. Another good chance of rain today! There's an 80% chance or more of rain this afternoon. Sigh... My poor Bay City program is going to be washed out again. Oh well. The weather is something I simply can not control.

All this rain now probably means a hot, dusty summer! Speaking of summer, I need to get started planning my summer programs. Ahh, today will be a busy day for me!

A Beautiful Day...

Yay...! We finally have a beautiful day on our hands today! The weather has not been very good this whole year. It's about time we had a pretty day.

I've got a busy full day as usual...! But I'm hoping that today I make some progress on my back log of work... I'm optimistic... At least the day is starting off promising...!

More later...

Sam

How To Get Caught UP...?

That is a good question. I've been thinking about it for some time... I am desperately behind schedule on some projects. I am in dire need of a personal assistant. It can't be my wife....

I'm going to be in prayer about this. Serious prayer. The next business decision I make has absolutely got to be God inspired and God endorsed...! I just need to go slow and wait on His Perfect Timing....

Relaxing....

I'm taking the advice of my two kitties Gabriel and Hobbes. I'm relaxing a bit this evening. Monica, Connor, and Elijah are at church this evening. I'm teaching lessons on Wednesday evening for the next eleven weeks. Tonight I had a lite schedule.

It seems really strange to be sitting here in a quiet house. I've got my lap top on my lap and I've got an episode of Star Trek Enterprise running in the background. I don't know if I'll be able to acheive the relaxed state that Gabriel and Hobbes but I'm working on it.

I've got a busy next few days ahead of me. Tomorrow I go to Dallas for a Tennis conference. Then I fly back Friday evening. Saturday I have a full day of lessons, and I've also got a tennis social scheduled for this Sunday afternoon. I'm pretty busy all next week, too.

Actually, now that I think about it, tonight might be my only chance to relax for the next ten days or more...

Oh well, that's the crazy life of Coach Sam...!

New Week....

OK... The super bowl has come and gone... I really wasn't in to it this year. Actually, I haven't been into it since I was in 6th grade...

This will be an interesting week. As usual I've got way too much stuff to do and not enough time to do it in...

I was just thinking this morning that my life has no slow down in sight. No sanity on the near horizon.

I've got to come up with a plan to get caught up and stay there. I don't know exactly what that looks like but I'll figure it out.

At first it's got to just be taking things one minute, one circumstance at a time. Little by little it will all work itself out.

I suppose the 'simple' plan is to just complete some projects I already have on the table before I take on any more new projects... And when I get these current projects completed then I need to be extra careful to not take on more than I can handle.

It's crucial that I get a handle on this immediately because I don't Elijah and Connor to be deprived of a dad because he's always too busy and stressed out.

OK... That's pretty much it. The order of the day is to teach lessons this morning from 8:30 to 10 AM, then come home and help Monica with Elijah until she has to go to her art class. Connor takes over with Elijah around 3:30 PM and I head to Bay City for lessons this evening.

There's not really going to be time for anything else today. But that's ok becaue I'm looking forward to an extended day with the Boo Boo...!

Ephesians 5:1-2.... Be Imitators of Christ, Walk in Love

Dr Charles Stanley's devotional this morning warned us against 'bad' relationships. He said that Christians need to be very careful with whom they intertwine their lives. He supported this statement by saying that because unbelievers lack an understanding of God's ways, their opinions and priorities can often lead us astray. He noted that this line of thinking applies especially to matters of marriage, choices of business partners and choices of organizations we join.

This devotional really hit home today as I inventory my experience with the consequences of bad 'life' choices on more than one occasion. I like what Ephesians 5:2 says regarding the matter...

Oh if only I could walk in love more often. There's no way I can do that on my own. And I really struggle with loving everyone. -There's a lot of people out there who are pretty unlovable, in my opinion... But when I run into those situations where I have trouble loving, that's where I really need to pray for the Holy Spirit to intervene.

I can't do it on my own...

Dear Heavenly Father,

It seems that every day now You are consistently showing me that I can't operate under my own power. Lord I want to be an imitator of You. Please Lord, help me to see things from Your perspective and enable me to walk in love like You. This is about leaning to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Father God, You seem to be showing me the same life lesson over and over again. I apologize that I am so hard headed. But Lord one day I will be just as hard headed for the cause of the Kingdom. It's a 'heart' thing, Lord. Help my heart.

Lord how can I say that I love You when I don't love others? I can't. I'm deceiving myself.

So Dear Jesus I've come to an impasse, and I don't want to continue in this condition. I'm pleading with You this morning to fill my heart with love and compassion. Going forward, I want my life to look different than it looks now. Lord, make it so. And let it be to Your Glory, Honor,and Praise.

I pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.

Catching Up with Coach Sam

Yea... It's not raining today! Unfortunately, January has been a very wet month... I'm surprised that I didn't have more time to blog this past week but I did have to get a Gran Prix administered.

I'm way behind on a bunch of projects right now. At some point I'm going to have to bite the bullet and stay up really late to get caught up. That's do-able but the real key is that once I get caught up then I need to stay caught up!

It's a New Day, It's a New Year!

Hello Friends,

I found this photo on the accuweather website... Isn't it spectacular...? Just gazing upon something like that just puts you in a good mood, doesn't it....?

I've got lots of new projects going on in 2008. They are just getting off the ground, much like the sun rising in the photo above...

I'm very optimistic about the new year. More details coming soon. Please check back in next week!

Coach Sam

Home Schooling Elijah...

Elijah likes to look at books. He is keenly interested in learning to read. In this photo he has scattered the bottom row of books from the book shelf and sitting in the middle of a pile of books. It appears as if he's prepared to spend the rest of the afternoon reading.

Although we haven't started a formal teaching routine with Elijah yet, we are always engaging him in learning activities. He seems very bright for his age, but what parent doesn't think that about their own children...?

I really enjoy my 'daddy time' with Elijah. We read together, watch TV together, play tennis, golf, and go fishing just about every day...! I love spending time with him. I hate it when I come home from work in the evening and Elijah has already fallen asleep...!

I am greatly blessed with a career that enables me to have flexible schedule allowing for quality time with Elijah.

Elijah's First Movie

We took a family trip after church yesterday to the mall for Elijah to attend his first movie...! We went to see Veggie Tales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything... It was a fantastic time for Everyone. I have a few more pictures posted on Elijah's Blog. He was so excited...!

So, this is my first blog entry of 2008. I simply can't keep up my blogging routine like I used to. There's simply not enough time... Here are my priorities for 2008:

1...More quality time in bible study: Completely read the bible in one year...!

2...Spend more time with my family.

3...Play more tennis and get in shape.

4...Retire from my position with HPTA and narrow my focus to my own local community.

Of course, the top three priorities are normally on my list every year. But this year it will really stick. I've never been more focused and determined to accomplish these goals than here in 2008.

The transition out of HPTA is a big decision, but it's the correct one. I'm sure of that.

So there it is... I press on...

By the way, I will try to carve out a little more time to keep this blog updated. It may just be a chronicle of events and photos for the time being... Don't anticipate any deep thoughts for awhile... If you want deeper thoughts then please check out my prayer journal...