I'm Just Sayin

Opened up our AT and T bill today. They screwed us over AGAIN. For the second month in a row we have had several charges for downloads that we have not done. I lost my phone back in June and I diactivated the phone. Before I could deactivate it there was about 100 dollars of fees for downloads. At first they were giving us the heisman but they relented and took those fees off.

At and T part II- For the second month in a row they tell us they did not get our payment. We have the account electronically taken from our account. We have been doing this for as long as I can remember. Well two months ago we got rid of the bundle because their TV coverage was CRAP...we had nothing but problems. When you know the service guy by name and he knows the names of your dogs....he has been to your house too much. Well all of the sudden when we dropped them for TV they can't seem to keep track of our account. We even showed them where the money was deducted....didn't matter....they still did not show that we paid so we had to go toe to toe with them about the late fees. So they got rid of the late fees. Well this month the bill came and we got a penalty fee for not paying the late fee last month that we were told they took off the account. DID YOU FOLLOW THAT ONE?

So I don't give a crap anymore....I am paying the fee to disconnect from them and I went out and got T-mobil. I can't wait till they ask me why I am disconnecting them.

Answer- Your customer service- SUCKS and your billing department SUCKS

Why are my kids total angels around my parents? Makes me feel like a failure as a parent sometimes....example:

My son gets up from the table and does not take his plate to the sink at meal time at my parents- My Dad- Big Jack did you forget something? Jack turns around APOLOGIZES and gets the plate to the sink.

I ask Jack to clean his room before dinner and with all of the complaining I hear you would have thought I told him to build a V-8 hemi and install it into my car.

This happened to me TWICE this week- Traveling down the highway at 70+ on the tollway and a driver in the far left lane realizes he and or she was about to miss their exit. So they cross all three lanes of traffic and cause the rest of us to hit the brakes and almost run into one another and we fight to not hit them.

NOW I ASK YOU? WHY DOES THIS PERSON NOT JUST GOT THE MILE DOWN THE ROAD IF THAT AND EXIT AND TURN AROUND?

Funny line from Jack today when I asked him to clean his room?
WHAT? YOU CAN'T EXPECT ME TO CLEAN ALL OF THIS?
Me-Um...yeah I can. Your room...your mess.
Jack- YOUR THE MEANEST DAD ALIVE
Me- Probably so Jack....I tell you what...I will look it up and see if I am. While I am doing that....clean your room.

Editors Note- I did see on CNN where some parents were being put in jail for denying their child food. I think this qualifies as meaner than me.

The picture up top is of Caroline on her first day of Kindergarten. I LOVE this picture. Caroline got an awesome teacher. She is ON IT.

Jack has a first year teacher this year. Tracey is ready to take her to task. I am going to suggest and let her hang herself. Give them enough rope and they will hang themselves. On the other side....maybe she will figure it out? I have seen first year teachers are GREAT! This one....time will tell but the boat is leaking. They deserve an opportunity to figure out. Thinking back to my first year....WOW...not sure but I might owe all those kids an apology.

We did ask about a behavior communication folder or system because we did not see anything come home.

ANSWER? We expect the kids to tell their parents if they got in trouble at school.

Um- excuse me? Can I see a show of hands of how many kids are going to do that?

Thank You Dad For Being You

Dad,

I wanted to take this time to thank you for being you. I am who I am because of you. Your life lessons did not fall on deaf ears dad. I really did listen. Even during those hard learned lessons. I listened to everything you said. I wanted to show you how much I cared for you. That is why my son is named after you.

My whole mission in life is to pass on those lessons you taught me on how to be a good son, brother, young man and one day....a man of his own.

Today I saw how much you mean to my son. As I watched him sink into your grasp and grab your arm to put around himself I could tell that he knew that as long as he was there he felt safe. You could see his whole body just relax as he buried himself into you.

Jack loves his Pa.

I love you dad....and thanks for just being you.

This Song Hits Me

It Ain't Braggin' If You Can Back IT UP

The other day Jack was running around with his Pa doing errands. This is one thing Jack absolutely LOVES to do. Dad aka Pa was going to have coffee with his buddies at a local McDonalds and Jack went with him. I have been to these coffee's before. Basically it's a bunch of guys that are retired now and they sit around and talk about what all their grown kids and grand kids are doing.

Dad mentioned that one individual in particular was always bragging about his grandson. How big he is and what a little stud he is. He is about a year older than Jack. Neither dad nor I know how big this kid actually is because you can't tell by the pictures this guy has.

Well the other day Jack was sitting next to his Pa having a Mocha and he was sitting across from the guy who brags alot. He asked Jack..So son how old are you? Jack replied: I am 8 sir.

The guy did a double take and then looked over at my Dad.
Good Lord Jack what the hell are you feeding him?

My dad got a big giggle out of that.

Humble

Today was our districts’ convocation to officially kick off our school year. I truly believe that I am in a unique situation here in my district. I have been on campuses in other districts where everyone supports one another and everyone does whatever is asked of them. However, it is not that way across the board. This is the only district that I have been in where across the board EVERYONE supports one another and that is awesome.
I will be honest about something. I feel a bit out of place at this time. For the first time in six years I am not in charge of a campus building. I feel like a Captain with no ship. It is part of the “first” that I have been dealing with in my new position. The first spring where I am not a campus administrator, the first summer where I am not a campus administrator, now the first start of school where I am not a campus administrator.
There are many parts of the job I don’t miss. This is not one of them. The start of school is always an exciting time of year. The teachers are ready to go, the school is all clean, and everyone is excited to get the year going.
Today I had a bit of an emotional experience in that the campuses were being recognized and given banners for their testing performance at convocation. These banners will be placed on the buildings and are a huge source of pride. For the first time ever our district will be a recognized district. This is huge! If I could tell you where we were just 6 years ago….wow!
It came time to give my former campus their RECOGNIZED banner for a job well done. I am so proud of the staff. You see I had to step down for health reasons at Thanksgiving of last year. To say the campus had challenges is an understatement. Any time you change leadership of a campus it’s big. When you do it DURING the school year….HOLY COW.
Well Mr. Murray, our superintendant, starts out by saying something about the challenges this campus faced and let nothing get in their way….and he calls down the principal and staff of BRENT INTERMEDIATE. The staff comes to the stage and everyone his hooting it up. I go and stand at the bottom of the stage to congratulate everyone as they are going up the stairs to get on the stage. Then when they are all up on stage I stand off to the side and applaud and give them a thumb’s up signal. Then Mr. Murray get’s back to the microphone and he says this.
I want to recognize someone who is near and dear to all of us and without him this campus could not have done what it has done please help me recognize Mr. JDHTEACH.
I was stunned….it’s the first time I have ever been recognized like that. The staff at Brent went nuts and all of the people in the audience were clapping. All I could do was clap back and just wipe a tear that began running down my cheek.

My Son

I never want this to go unsaid,
So here in this poem, is for it to be said.
There are no words to express how much you mean to me,
A son like you, I thought could never be.
Because the day you were born, I just knew,
God sent me a blessing- and that was you.
For this I thank Him everyday,
You are the true definition of a son, in everyway.
It is because of you that my life has meaning,
Being a DAD has shown me a new sense of being.
I want you to know that you were the purpose of my life,
Out of everything I did- it was you that I did right.
Always remember that I know how much you care,
I can tell by the relationship that we share.
For a son like you there could be no other,
And whether we are together or apart,
Please do not ever forget-
You will always have a piece of my heart.

My Little Girl

Gotta hold on easy as I let you go.
Gonna tell you how much I love you though you think you already know.
I remember I thought you looked like an angel wrapped in pink so soft and warm.
You've had me wrapped around your finger since the day you were born.
You're a beautiful baby from the outside in.
Now go take on the world and remember you will always be.....

My Little Girl.

I love you Caroline.

Daddy

EEEEAAAAASSSYYYYY GIRL

Okay so Hilary seems a bit edgy here. Her butt is in the CONGO for crying out loud while her husband Bill is throwing himself a birthday party in VEGAS!!!

Bill Clinton Voice: Don't worry about sweety....she is in the CONGO! Man I love Obama.

Anyway, I think there was a mistake in the translation in that they wanted to know what OBAMA thinks.

BUT LETS SAY THERE WAS NO MISTAKE.....

She could have handled that much better and should have considering she IS the Secretary of State.

Not one of her finer moments.

A Sign Summer Is Over

Went up to QT the other day and I had my 53 cents out ready to pay for my 32 oz diet Dr. Pepper. I got to the register and the guy said, $1.03.

WHAT????

Sure enough...no more 49 cent drinks.....good bye summer

Are They Paying For That?

One or two mornings a week (depending on how my week is going) I stop off by my locat QT and get a frozen drink that I really like. The mornings at a QT are very busy. I think almost every lawn crew in North Richardson and South Plano come to this QT to load up for the day.

What I am about to describe I have seen on multiple occasions.

Four or five hispanic guys are crowed around the fountain drink station. They have their little ice chest loaded down with ice and they are filling up their ice chest with a beverage from the fountain drink station.

So is this a big deal?

How does QT charge them?

They get a drink as well?

I would not think anything of it except they cover one another so you can't see what they are doing AND they are always looking around as if to see if anyone is coming?

Observations From The Poker Tables of Shreveport

Here are my observations from this past weekends poker trip.
- I was lucky enough to be on a very kind table.
- It bugs me big time when people stay in and end up getting the cards they needed. Why does it bug me? Because they think they are a skilled poker player when all they really are is lucky.
- If it bugged me that much I guess I could have left the 4-8 Holdem and moved to either the 20-40 or no limit hold'em.
- What is the purpose of 1-2 no limit? Noone ever just post a 2 dollar big blind.
- The table I was on was great. If you showed respect to other players it was returned. Noone was out to hurt anyone. Raises were appropriate (minus lucky lady)and noone raised to just raise the pot.
- Example of respect- I got to talking to the guy next to me and I liked him. I had the hand won on the flop. He bet into me and I just called. On the turn he bet into me again! and I just called. Finally on the river he checked and I checked. After he saw my hand he said, WOw...you let me off easy. I told him I was there to have fun and not take anyones lunch money. That simpled act right there saved me at least a couple of hundred as the night progressed where he checked out to me.
= In Oklahoma Casino's the ASIAN is a big player in the poker rooms. Specifically the older AISAN.
-In Shreveport....not so much.
-The African American Male is a big player in the Shreveport poker rooms.
-The AA male dresses to the nines to go to the poker table. Very dapper.

Line of the night ( One gentleman was taking a long time to decide if he wanted to call an 8 dollar bet...like a real long time) This was the last bet and the guy had about 40 dollars invested in the pot.

After the long pause the guy next to me said, "DANG MAN MAKE A DECISION...YOU GOT 40 IN THERE WHAT'S ANOTHER EIGHT?"

Have Some Sence People!

I called home as I was leaving work today and I asked Tracey what was for dinner. I was pretty hungry. She mentioned that time had got away from her and she would have something getting started by the time I went home. It was a doozy of a day for her so she was pretty whipped.

We decided to go out. We get the eating establishment and they put us in an area where it was us and a large group of about 10 who was obviously there for happy hour. I almost said something right there but I didn't.

Well it did not take long and they started getting LOUD. It was hard for us to hear each other at our table but other than that we were fine.

Then someone let out an F-bomb and a couple B-bombs. There is no way they could not see us and I turned and glanced over at them trying to make eye contact with someone over there so they could tone down the language a bit around my kids.

I told Tracey if it continued I would talk to someone. Jack looked over at me and said, Man dad they are using some bad words over there.

Then this happened.

Lady in Group- So I am standing there in the bathroom and she looks over at me. Grabs me and we start MAKING OUT BIG TIME!!! And then LADY 2 came in and caught us but we just kept GOING AT IT!

Jack: WWWWHHHHHAAAAAAA???? Did she say she was kissing another girl???

ME: EVERYBODY UP...WE ARE MOVING!!!

Caroline: Why?

Tracey- Caroline...just get your stuff and lets go!

I went and talked to the waitress and told her why we were moving....she said, I am going to go get the manager to talk to them that is not acceptable.

I told her not to worry about it that they were having a good time but that I did not want my kids hearing their choice of topics or words. We would move and everything would be fine.

But come on.....how drunk do you have to be to cuss around little kids

His Calling?

When I was growing up I BEGGED my parents to let me play football. They refused. Their reasoning for their hard stance? They did not want me doing a contact sport such as football until my body was ready. I remember my dad telling me that if football was my calling I would catch up quickly to anyone who has been playing. Seventh grade started and sure enough I was on third string. Eighth grade stared and I moved up to second string. Then I GREW between my 8th and 9th grade year. I was 6 foot 2 inches tall and I was 175lbs. That is a human string bean but by those standards I was a beast. During summer workouts I beat the living hell out of everyone. When line ups were announced I was a starter. FINALLY!
In addition to football I was also in the band. So when high school approached I had a decision to make. Get beat up for 3 hours a day for a team that has a history of being bad OR I could concentrate on the band. A band that has a history of being great! I had the opportunity to see my sister in the band and see how much FUN they had. So my decision was very easy. BAND IT IS!!! And my mother was so happy!
My mother is hoping this is going to happen with my son. Well mom you still have time so keep hoping away. You see we took Jack to his skills assessment for his upcoming Flag Football season. It looks like the boy was born to play the game. He did great! And He LOVED IT. He talked about his experience the entire way home. He wants to cut everything out of his schedule so he can concentrate on football. He obviously is built for it but we shall see how the cutting everything else is going to go. Watching him play you can tell he just loves. He loves everything about it. The only thing we need to work on is his attitude. He becomes MACHO MAN when he plays but he does not turn it off. We usually have to knock him down a peg or two.
Practices start in two weeks…wish us luck.

Satellite Radio

So my care has satelite radio. I am loving it! One of the staions I have is ELVIS. I love Elvis. I don't live on the station but I glance by it at least once a day. One of the songs I have been dieing to hear is this one. I danced with Tracey to this at our wedding. I can't help but falling in love with you sweety.

Kindergarten Here We Come!

So with my new job I am working with Elementary Math K-4. I was looking over the Math exams for each grade level at the end of each grading period. I looked at the first Kindergarten test that will be given at the end of the first grading period in my district.

We gave the test to Caroline. It took her all of 3 mintutes and she made 100% We are ready to go!

What is THAT all about?

It seems Caroline has entered a new phase. It's the "I am going to throw a huge fit when I leave Nanna's" phase. The first time it happened was when Tracey picked the kids up earlier this week. I called home that day to check and see how things were going and Tracey was just about in tears when she got through telling me about it. I had never seen Caroline do this before so I could not grasp the true nature of what was going on.

Then I got to see the "watered down" version of it later in the week. Let's just say it was not pretty.

For several minutes I tried the Love and Logic way and it was getting no where. Then I jumped into "Old School" parenting. It sounded something like this.

This crying a squawcking because you are leaving Nanna's is a bunch of crap. You sit down in that seat with your seatbelt on and I better not hear a sound from you until we get home is that understood Caroline McKenna Huffman? (Tracey is just looking straight ahead as she is driving down the street.)

Yes daddy..

You make a peep and I will give you something to cry about!

Does any of this sound familiar to you as you were growing up?

So somem times you gotta kick it OLD SCHOOL....word..or snap...or whatever