Really???

This morning, I went with Ashleigh to a doctor's appointment in Birmingham. The ride down was good as we listened to Rick and Bubba the whole way. Jim Caviezel was on promoting his project of the Bible on CD.

As Ashleigh went in to the doctor's office, I waited in the car to hear the rest of the interview. I sat in the parking lot with my window half down minding my own business. That's when a guy comes by the car, seeing my Auburn pullover, mumbles something then follows it up with "Y'all are getting beat this weekend." I thought it odd, that someone I barely noticed went out of their way to prove his disdain for my team.

I brushed it off, and went back to the radio. About a minute passed and he walks back by my car, stops and says, "It's back to the red-headed-step-children for Auburn. They won't be good ever again." I replied, "Well, I guess that's one way of looking at it." He said, "They ain't beat nobody. West Virginia gave the game away. You're going to lose this weekend." I bit my toungue as he stared with disdain into my car. He finally walked off. I went back to my radio.

By this time, I ran through my head the absolute joy that I felt he was not a fellow Auburn fan. The third and final trip by my car went like this. "Y'all are going to lose this weekend (the third proclamation by the Nostradomus of Football). I want you to come back Monday and tell me how bad y'all are."

Some people...

Little Rants

I haven't blogged in a while, so I'm going to throw out somethings that have gotten me in a tizzy (even if just a little one) lately.

1. Shopping in the Men's department: Last night, I found a pair of shorts at a great price at the Sports Authority in Irving, TX. Once I got back to my hotel room, I tried them on. Amazingly, even though they were a little bigger than I would buy, they were too small. That's when I found that they were indeed women's shorts.

2. Junk mail: Like a lot of you, I get a good bit of junk mail. I am a junk mail conneseuir at this point and can spot a credit card app a mile away. Every now and then, Ashleigh and I get the same offer, from the same company, on the same day. Last week, one such occurence occurred (he-he) and I immediately went into my disposal routine. That's when I noticed the following on the back of the envelope: "Please Recycle". Grrrrrrr!!!! I've got an idea, how about you don't send that crap out and I won't have to throw it away because that app would still be growing in a forrest somewhere.

3. Presidential Pardons: Ok, not the normal pardons, just the ones given by the media to my current boss. I usually don't wax political, but I've just about had enough. He's everywhere! Just yesterday, ESPN had him on doing a NCAA Bracket. A couple of weeks ago he was at a NBA game. And this, my friends, is celebrated in the media. I would not be nearly as mad if all was fair. Can you imagine if "W" had been seen doing that stuff with the current economic climate??? He'd be grilled on every media outlet there is.

There, I feel better.

On The Road Again...

That's right. As luck may have it, I am travelling once again -- back in Dallas. I like my job. I don't mind travelling some. I am guessing that I spent 60+ nights away from home. More than half that out of the country. That's a lot of time away from home. Anyway, I am very blessed to have a wife who is supportive and independent. She allows me to travel with less anxiety than it might be otherwise. Thanks Babe, I'll be home soon!

New Year, Wrong Foot

The New Year has arrived and has brought with it a mean cold. After being around Ashleigh for 3 days, I finally caught her sickness. That's right, my legendary immune system, with a following similar to Chuck Norris, gave in. This is the immune system that allowed me to get perfect attendance throughout school (1st-12th grade), turn the 24-hour-bug into 15 minutes, ward off countless Ashleigh-borne influenza, just to name a few. I mean, the CDC draws blood from me every year to use in designing flu shots.

Either way, this illness between Ashleigh and I has prevented a real Holiday. There have been days over the past 2 weeks when our cars never left our driveway; even days when the shower fairy didn't visit until after dinner (yes, that is gross). On the bright side, Ashleigh and I have been hanging out a lot over the past few days. I have enjoyed that part immensely much in part because she hasn't made me watch 50 romantic comedies and has allowed me to watch football until I'm blue in the face.

Anyway, I hope your new year is fabulous and remember, if you see my immune system coming you have only minutes to live, if you don't see it, it's already too late.

2008 - A year in review

Well, 2008 is almost over, and being as cliche as I can be, I will reflect over the year that was.

January: I made my first trip to South Korea; spending a week or so with some coworkers and hobnobbing with some green-suiters. This was just a tast of what was to come.

February: Pretty normal February celebrating a 4 yr-wedding anniversary and a 29th birthday (yikes, 45 days until I'm 30!).

March/April/May: Made my second 14 hour flight to South Korea in 3 months. I was in-country for 30 days before I was able to come home. Needless to say, this was a stressful time being away from Ashleigh for so long.

June-September: Pretty laid back Summer, with two trips to Destin and some much desevered R&R.

October-December: Much of this time was spent naseous from all the political ads and vomitous from the resulting election. On top of that, Auburn was horrible this year which put me over the edge. A remarkably busy Christmas time has been tempered with a lot of time off from work. The Walker family Christmas tree of 2008 has set a new standard for the perfect Christmas tree.

Notables:
1) Found an amazing small group who have been so loving and supportive. Ashleigh and I are blessed to be a part of our Lifegroup. The friends we have made at Mayfair are truly special to us and we love you all dearly.
2) The conversion from Myspace to Facebook: I used to update myspace with great regularity, now it's facebook 5 times a day.
3) New blog: Taking my geekdom to a new level with this little blog you're reading.

Thank you to all my friends and family who have made this past year great. I love you all!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Well, it's my favorite time of year. The cool weather, the lights, the trees, friends, family, loved ones, and in-laws. Ashleigh and I have several traditions and tonight, we are fulfilling one of those. You see, although I am a staunch believer in artificial, pre-lit trees, Ashleigh loves the real deal; so one of my gifts to her every year is a real Christmas tree. So that is the first of our traditions, real trees. The second of this tradition is either by happenstance or pure spite. You see, we generally choose the coldest night of the season to go get the tree. Although it wasn't as cold as the night we ventured out last year (16 degrees F), it was still a blustery 39F tonight. The third of our traditions is homemade snickerdoodles. Ashleigh whips up a batch on this very night and we munch as we decorate the tree. If you know Ashleigh's cooking, you know that they were unbelievable. Fourthly, we listen to Christmas music while we trim the tree. What's a festive night without Bing Crosby's White Christmas, Burl Ives' Holly Jolly Christmas, or my favorite Blue Christmas by The King himself.
Last year we waited until around the 16th before we picked out our tree. Not this year, we ventured out in the old front-wheel drive wagon and picked out the perfect Grizwald family tree. Ok, so we don't have a wagon, but we did get one dandy of a tree. As soon as we get it decorated, I'll post pics. Good night!

I'm giving up coffee

That's right, I'm kicking the habit. I'm off the wagon (or on it). I absolutely love coffee. It is one of the few things that get me thru each day. That was until Friday. Friday started perfectly, the first day of my 10 day holiday. I got up early for an off day (6:00 or so) and went upstairs to play Xbox while Ashleigh got her sleep. Around 9:00 I smelled coffee brewing downstairs and figured that enough digital fictional henchmen had died that morning, so I headed down. Ash isn't really a coffee drinker, but she makes it sometimes and I am entirely appreciative. As I was going through the motions of pouring my cup of endulgence, something caught, and I froze. What happenned next is really a blur. I was in so much pain, I didn't know what to think.
I spent the next 2 hours trying to get comfortable and absolutely could not do it. Even after a hot shower and a muscle relaxer, nothing helped. Finally, I broke down and allowed Ashleigh to call a friend who is a "carpracter". He was nice enough to see me at his earliest time. After some Xrays and treatment, it turns out my C2-5 vertabrae are curved enough to callapse the nerves in one area. That caused a massive spasm in my neck, to which I can still feel the pain. Apparently, the angle I was standing and pouring the coffee was just right for a spasm. He assured me that with a few visits, we could fix the curve, but the pain will be here for another 2 weeks. Yay, I guess I don't really have to worry about what I'll do for the next 10 days!
Anyway, today is day 3, and I am much better, but still dealing with moderate soreness/stiffness. And I couldn't stay mad at Coffee, so I'm back off the wagon (or on it, I don't know which is right).