I want to say a big THANK YOU to my brother Trent. He was on the banquet team this year and had a table at which he asked me to sit at. Sponsoring a table is not cheap so Thank You again. He even allowed me to have a guest, David Dover. Those of you in Waco know him as the former BSM director for MCC/TSTC and a member at Park Lake. 

     There were about 800 men there and steak and potatoes for everyone. Alton Jones was awarded the lifetime award. It was renamed last night, but I did not write it down. There were also plenty of raffles including a K5 Blazer that had been completely redone as a hunting vehicle. The lower sides, top, bumpers, and bed had all been sprayed with rhino liner; the insides cleaned up and seats redone; new tires; and the rest of the works. It was a site to behold.

For a reason I do not know our local HEB store has decided that $74 worth of gas is as much as you can get in one sitting. That should not be an issue though for your average consumer. Except that gas is now 3.79 (and 9/10 of a cent) a gallon. I will admit I took my gas can for my lawn mower to fill it also, but I had to make two transactions to fill up my truck and the two gallon gas can. Observe the receipts below.

 

I thought this was so cool. Beth Ann and I were in the Wal-Mart in Hewitt. We needed some things from the frozen foods section. When we found the isle I looked down it and it was dark. I though maybe it was not working. As we walked down the isle looking for the items the lights in the cases came on. I have had not seen this kind of thing yet and so I was amused and entertained. Evidently they are set to stay on for longer than anyone would want to stand there and wait for them to go off. I can see where that would be real entertaining to walk up and down the isle seeing the lights go on and off. The Wal-Mart people probably saw that too.

We continued the process of moving into the master bedroom. After three bowls of Cookie Crisp we went upstairs and started moving. When we had one of the small rooms empty I realized just how dirty the carpet was. After it was all said and done we had pulled up all that carpet and the carpet down the hall (carpet, tack strips, padding, staples, etc.). We set up a bed in the room and moved stuff to make a study, puzzle, ironing room. The master is mostly set up. After I put up the new ceiling fan (thank you Trent & Karen) I was done. We need to straighten and clean some tomorrow.

Today I did a little work around the house. Since we moved into the house the master bedroom has been more of storage space than living space. The house had not been remodeled sinve the 50's, I think. The master bedroom still has wallpaper on cloth on wood boards and the carpet is really old and in bad need of replacement or being pulled up. We moved into one of the other bedrooms and intended to work on the master. I did pull some of the carpet up, but the pad was stuck to the hardwood floor and it took a lot of work. So, I didn't get far.

Today I finally started sorting and getting ready to just go a head and move into the room. We also went out to a nice steak place for dinner.

Today was truly a "Clint does nothing" day. Beth Ann fixed a good breakfast and then I went back to bed, I mean I took a start of the day nap. Beth Ann went to the store & took Febe for a walk. I didn't get much more than this blog entry and some XBOX time. We are watching Top Chef tonight.

I had big plans of working on two projects at the house: (1) the leaky facet in the downstairs bathroom tub & (2) investigate the upstairs toilet in the small bathroom. After working most of the day on the downstairs bathroom I decided that was all I would try to tackle. I don't mind being a little vulnerable so I will admit that after several trips to the Home Depot and cutting a hole in the wall in the closet to replace the faucet I came to the realization that 20 cent washers would have done the job nicely.

We watched The Biggest Loser on TV to finish the day. It was raining, real hard, so our internet and digital channels were out. (It's funny, because that is what Time Warner claims happens to satelite, but it happens every time it rains at our house.) I called Time Warner and everything is back up today. 

Okay, Day 2. We went to Fort Worth to see Beth Ann's brother and family. They are all doing well. We went to the Stockyards and walked around for a few hours. For lunch we went to the Love Shack there. Jason suggested the Love Shack. Iron Chef Tim Love opened the Love Shack in April of 2007. It has som ereally good burgers. It is literally built between two other buildings (see my pictures in the album).

We finished our time in Fort Worth finding two geocaches.

Woo hoo, vacation time. 

We started today by taking Febe on a walk looking for some geocaches close by. We couldn't find either, perhaps we are a little rusty. The weather was great.

In the evening we went to the Beltonian in Belton to see Horton. We had a pleasant time at the Beltonian. It has been recently remodeled and features tables down each isle of seats for your food. When you sit down a person comes to take your order and then delivers your sodas, popcorn, pizza, or hot dogs. There is slao a "candy girl" that walks around until after the previews. Now, they were running a spring break special: $3 tickets which got you a seat, but no extras. Normally tickets are $6 and you get a seat and refillable soda. So, we bought our $3 tickets, $4 sodas, $5 popcorn, and $7 "Blazzing Saddle" pizza (bar-b-q personal pizza). You work the math, but it should be noted it was well worth every penny. The theater is clean and we still spent less than we would have at a chain theater.

I think life just got a little better. I was surfing Engadget.com and behold there it was: BattleBots is back. I was the biggest fan when it was on earlier. I used to dream of building my own and figuring out what the best design would be and how to best chew the other guy up. But, alas, the time not to mention the price of such a hobby was beyond my reach.

Well, This fall I'll at least have the thrill of watching robots chew each other up again. There is supposed to be more "behind the scenes" with the robots in this encarnation of the show.

This morning I ate breakfast with Trent. He got a new job at Providence Hospital a few months ago. He works in the business end of things. They have been remodeling for what seems like forever. They just reopened their kitchen/cafe last week. He invited me to come and eat with him. It was better than most hospital food. While I was paying for my meal the cashier asked if I was an employee. I said I looked like an employee and asked if I could still get the employee discount. I was told no, but if I had been wearing one of those blue scrub shirts I might. ;)

 

My meal wasn't that much anyways. O had two pancakes as big as the plate for $1.65 and two eggs over easy for about $2.00. Thank you, Trent. I enjoyed it.

For a while there I was a member at the Waco Family "Y" and tried to work out on a somewhat consistent schedule. I had the opportunity to have a personal trainer for long enough to get me started in the right director (thank you, Karen) and I guess stayed at it pretty good. But, things happen and finances get tight. I dropped my membership and have been intending to walk the dog more, etc.

 

I learned about Columbus Avenue Baptist Church's Center. They bought the old YMCA building back in 1993 and renovated it. They run good athletic ministries out of it and have retained it's "workout" focus. Members of Columbus Avenue have free access to The Center. As a ministry to full time ministers and seminary students Columbus gives them a free membership to The Center with a $10 registration fee. 

 

I am back to working on a consistent exercise schedule. The Center is not as fancy as the "Y", but it is more convenient and less crowded.

This morning Beth Ann and I were invited to the President's Community Prayer Breakfast at Baylor. Dr. David Hardage, now the Director of Development for Truett Seminary, invited us to sit at the Truett Seminary table (table # 8 - on the front row). We were up early this morning, but it was worth it. The buffet started at 6:30 AM at the Ferrel Center. At 7:00 AM Chris Machen called us to worship with a song he wrote, The Lord is the Strength of My Life. President Lilley then greeted us. Other noteables on the agenda where Dr. Roland Hernandez, Waco Independent School District; Sarah Roberts, Greater Waco chamber of Commerce; Joel Boesche, St. Paul Lutheran Church of Waco; and Burt Burleson, Baylor University Chaplain and Dean for University Ministries.

 

We feel honored to have been invited and enjoyed it. Thank you, David!

After taking a month off for the holidays the Pastors' Conference is back. Write it down: Noon, January 9 in the Piper Great Hall at Truett Seminary. The speaker will be Dr. Ian McCaw, Director of Athletics at Baylor University. Remember it costs $5 to eat now. Make your reservations by Friday, January 4th (that's this Friday) with Rachael (753-2408). I made mine early.

Granna & Granddad gave Caroline and Cameron RC cars for Christmas. Cameron is still kind of in the "I like to push it" stage. Caroline really likes hers. Trent found he can have fun with the car too.

Video: Trent's, I Mean Caroline's Christmas Gift

Saw this last night on the news. After all the science fiction stories and their morals warning us about messing with creation, we now have glow in dark cats. The implications make my mind spin. You get a herd of these things and think how much electricity you could save. Oh my gosh; cat reading lights, cat night lights, the possibilities are endless. "Rudolf, look out!"

It is a little spooky: genetically enginering cloned cats to glow when exposed to ultraviolet light. Just think if they did that to a person. If the story is true we are closer than ever to either the key to curing genetic diseases or the key to really messing with a good thing.

Just got the mailer today! I did not get to go last year to the retreat due to responsibilities that week at our church which was without a pastor. I hope we have a pastor by this coming April, but I am saving up to go whether we have a pastor or not.

Daryl Eldridge (Co-founder & President of Rockbridge Seminary) and David Butler will be there this year as the retreat personalities with Julie O'Teter, Boyd Pelly and Keith Parks slated as Breakout Conference Leaders.

The retreat will focus on Discipleship this year with Daryl Eldridge leading us through "being broken, shaped and serving others."  There is also a spouses' conference, golf, food, and fellowship/networking.

FBC Salado and Tenroc Ranch will be the main locations again this year. I hope to see you there.

INFO

We had the students of Park Lake over for SEED this past Sunday night. We enjoy having them over. It had been a while since we had the living room under renovation. I did get to finish most of it before Christmas decorations went up. We even had the fireplace going.