Quick Trip to Smyrna

Well, my vacation is quickly coming to an end. I have a meeting tomorrow at the high school, and I think our first day back is August 13th. So, I have roughly a month left. Yes, I know, to everyone else who gets like 2 weeks vacation a year, I don't get much sympathy. But just remember, my job is like double the time. Alright, enough whining.

I'm actually looking more forward to going back this year than most. I am supposed to have two classes that I really enjoy teaching. I think I am going to have another student teacher, and if all goes well I should get a good student assistant. So what else has been going on?

On Friday I made a quick trip to Smyrna, Tennessee. I took the picture above while coming back into Nashville. I had some better ones, but for some reason the camera won't load those. The interstate doesn't look that busy but it was! Thanks for reading!

Our New Swing

We sold our swing in the yard sale a few weeks ago. We have been looking for lawn furniture since then. We have looked at table and chair sets, lawn chairs and even a few swings. We could not find anything we liked at a price we liked.

Finally we found one at Lowe's that we liked and the price wasn't bad. We bought it. We were putting it together (well mostly Ryan was) and Ryan's dad stopped by our house. He offered to help put together the swing. It was so nice of him to do that. I know it would have taken us a lot longer if he would not have helped. Thank you Randy!

It is a very comfortable swing and our whole family can sit on it without anyone having to sit on the bar. I really like it.

The City of New Orleans

As some of you know, I grew up listening to country music.  Dad had it playing in the garage while he would work on the car, work outside, and of course riding in the pick-up truck.  Some of my fondest memories are linked to country songs.  Recently Amy came across a free sample CD, and on it was a song performed by country great Willy Nelson entitled "The City of New Orleans".  Written by Steve Goodman in 1970, the song recreates the experience of riding this train from Northern Illinois all the way to New Orleans, Louisiana.  

I've listed some of the verses to the song below, as well as a couple of pictures of the train as it appeared throughout history.  For the complete lyrics click HERE .  If you have never heard the song, you can watch it performed on Youtube HERE.

And the sons of pullman porters

       And the sons of engineers

       Ride their father's magic carpets made of steel.

       Mothers with their babes asleep,

       Are rockin' to the gentle beat

       And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.

By the way, the train is still in service.  Amtrak bought the route back in the 70's, and they still make the trip.  If I can find someone to go, I would love to at least take a short ride.  Checking their site, it looks like I could ride The City of New Orleans from Effingham to Carbondale for about $30.00 which would include lunch.  Now that would be a small price to experience such a great part of American folk song history!

Tunguska Event

This week marks the 100 year anniversary of the Tunguska event. The mystery involves an explosion of sorts that happened in the early morning hours of a remote region in Siberia. The explosion was so intense, that it leveled trees for over 800 square miles, and was likely several times more powerful than a nuclear bomb. What makes it such a mystery is that no impact crater was formed.

So what could have caused such an event? Scientists have debated this for the last 100 years. Eye witness accounts from hundreds of miles away stated that a fireball was seen over the sky just before the blast. But a meteor impact would have left a huge crater. So what could it have been? The proposals have been everything from anti-matter, to a miniature black hole, to space aliens. But anti-matter would have left residual radiation evidence. A miniature black hole (if they exist) would have come through the other side of the earth causing a similar effect. And aliens, well, I suppose that will always remain a possibility.

But the best idea I have heard is that it was a piece of a comment. Comments are often made of ice and dust. If it were traveling fast enough, it would have vaporized before it hit the surface. The super-heated gas would have burst into the earth with amazing force, creating the explosion and fire, and never leaving a crater.

We may never know for sure the cause, but the Tunguska event will certainly remain one of the most strange and spectacular events in recent history.

Pure Cane Soda

Recently I became aware that Coca-Cola uses different recipes around the world. An example of this is the substitution of pure sugar for high-fructose corn starch in Mexico. HFCS was not originally used in Coca-Cola, so the Mexican blend would be much close to the original recipe (which, believe it or not, actually used Cocain). So, recently I began somewhat of a quest to locate the nearest facility in which I could purchase the "Real Thing" (That was Coke's slogan while I was in high school).

I called a few Mexican grocery stores in St. Louis. One said they had it, but I don't think the lady understood what I was asking for. I put up a post on the Register-News Forum for it. There, I also found out that you can order Pure Cane Dr. Pepper from a bottling company in Texas called the Dublin Texas Dr. Peppar . Someone also mentioned that Jones Soda is sold at Kroger, and it also is made with real sugar cane. I did make the trip to Kroger, but the flavors they had at the time did seem to appealing.

Well, today I found out there is a place in Centralia that is supposed to have it. We will see. Oh, and by the way, Coke mostly stopped using cocaine a long time ago, and completely removed it by 1929. Presumably part of the coca leaf is still used, however hence the name.

We Won, We Won, YIPEEEEEEEE

Today was a day of mixed emotions. We woke up this morning to the sound of water dripping from the roof. Actually, it was more of a gushing sound than dripping sound. I was in the middle of a roofing project (see below) and had put a tarp over the roof. Unfortunately, we had a downpour, and the tarp did not do much good.

But, the day got much better. It stopped raining, the roofing guy came by, and the project got finished! Then, to our great delight, we were informed that we had won the People's National Bank prize! We won a FABULOUS gas grill complete with all the accessories! WOW! We were both so excited, and can't wait to use it!

Below are a couple of pictures from the roofing project. It was more than I really wanted to get into. The chimney leaked, and so I took it out! I've spent almost everyday this week up there. Although this week was cooler than most, it was still blazing hot on the roof, especially with a hole from the attic next to you.

So, thus ends Spring. Happy Summer Solstice!

Busy Summer

The rummage sale is finally over! Yeah, we made it through it. Now comes the tasks of fixing up the house, taking care of the yard, and doing all of the other normal summer activities. I think I have a couple of yards to mow in the neighborhood, so that should also help to keep me busy.

Tonight I installed two fans just under the eve on our back patio. I'm hoping that Amy and I can enjoy some quality time out there after the kids go to bed. The patio is nice at night, but the mosquitoes are terrible. I've heard they are not very good fliers, so hopefully I can blow them away.


That's most of what's going on right now. A special "THANK YOU" to Briannah (one of my former students) for watching the kids for us during the rummage sale! They had a blast!

Pictures of the Girls

Ryan got our swimming pool put up and the girls have already enjoyed playing in it. Here is a picture of them in the pool as it was filling up. They had a great time.



We took a few pictures of the girls tonight. Callie wanted to hold Chloe and wanted to have her picture taken. It is more difficult than you might think to get both of them looking and smiling at the same time.



Cassidy also wanted to hold Chloe and have her picture taken. She is a great big sister. She helps me a lot. Sometimes she will read books and sing with both Callie and Chloe. She is growing up so fast.

Amy Is Interviewed by Channel 3

We had quite a treat today. Haley Stewart from WSIL TV 3 came to interview Amy. As many of you know, Amy has been clipping coupons and searching the blogs for good deals. Sometimes it is absolutely amazing how much money she saves! Apart from our air conditioner going down just before they arrived, the interview went great. Haley asked Amy several questions about where she gets her coupons, and how she finds the deals. Then, we all loaded up and went to Kroger. It was really a lot of fun to walk through the isles with a reporter and a camera man. Some people asked what we were doing, and some people just ducked to get out of the way. All in all it was a blast! The interview ran tonight at 6:00pm. We are hoping that they will rerun it at 10:00pm or tomorrow morning. If you didn't get a chance to watch it, click HERE.

Summer Vacation Has Begun

Summer vacation is finally here. One of the great benefits to being a teacher is a nice long break in the summer. You would really be surprised, however, at how difficult it is to make the adjustment from going to work everyday to being off. I think that is because the job of teaching is a bit stressful from time to time.

This past year was difficult to say the least. In fact, it was probably the most difficult year I have ever had. But, it's over now, and I'm committed to making this the best vacation I have ever had!

So, I thought I would take a moment and write down some of my personal goals for this summer.

#1. Put up the pool for the kids.
#2. Continue Tae Kwon Do through the summer.
#3. Install a sink and faucet in the utility room.
#4. Fix several boards on the house, and paint them.
#5. Get the roof fixed.
#6. Paint the foundation to match the house.
#7. Finish the drywall in the utility room.
#8. Paint the kitchen cabinets.
#9. Take off the wallpaper in the kitchen and paint.
#10. Find a different stove and refrigerator for the kithen.

Okay, so those things don't sound that fun do they. Alright, here is another list.

#1. Take the kids to Holiday World.
#2. Take the kids to the Zoo.
#3. Take the kids to the Science Center and possibly the Magic House.
#4. Take the kids bowling.
#5. Buy a remote control airplane and learn to fly it.
#6. Go to a big mall.
#7. Start a garden of some kind.
#8. Finish the budget book Amy and I are writing.
#9. Finish the children's book I wrote a long time ago (needs illustration).
#10. Spend quality time with Amy.

Okay, so that's much better! Oh yes, I forgot to mention that I plan to post on here a bit more over the summer. Of course, I don't think I can compete with Amy now. She is getting a ton of views on her website, and is supposed to be featured on a television news program in the near future. So, check out Amy's Life. I'm so jealous.