FL Primary Results

McCain won the Florida Primary with 36 % of the vote. Romney came in a close second with 31%. The real news is that former front runner Rudy Giuliani is planning on bowing out of the race and throwing his support behind McCain. Governor Mike Huckabee states that he plans on staying in the race, turning his attention now to next weeks Super Tuesday.

The Clintons won the fake Democrat FL Primary.

Looking Ahead: The Dark Knight

Had a few spare moments today and was reading the review for Cloverfield on the Rotten Tomatoes site when my eye caught a wonderful site. A few movie posters for the upcoming The Dark Knight film.

I am looking forward to this film. Batman Begins did a great job bringing back the darker side of Batman. This film should add to that with the introduction of The Joker who in the comics is a vicious, insane, murderer (I know...with a name like "The Joker" you'd think he'd be more fun). There are a handful of posters that you can check out at Rotten Tomatoes Dark Knight page.

After that, be sure to check out the great new trailer for this film. Be sure to pause the music player above. The film won't seem as cool with Michael Jackson singing.


The Dark Knight opens this summer.

Huckabee Momentum

I was notified by a few people about a new Huckabee site. It is a great resource on Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and is designed to gain support around this surprise politician. Have questions on Mike? Heard some questionable comments on his record as governor? This site can provide information and answers. Please take a few minutes to check it out.

http://huckabeemomentum.com/

Huckabee Wins!

Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee won the Iowa Caucus tonight. He took 38, 605 of the votes compared to Romney's 28, 267 share. On the other side Obama topped Hilary with 37.6 of the vote. In fact, Hilary came in a close third to John Edwards.

Next up, New Hampshire (this coming Tuesday).

Congrats to Huckabee!

The Father's Gift

Every human faces trails and adversities in their life. A week ago, my wife and I welcomed into this world our first child. He weighed in at only 5 lbs 8 oz but seemed healthy. About 14 hours after he was born though, he began to experience problems with his breathing. His respiratory rate would sky rocket and plummet in the course of one minute. He was eventually taken up to the neo-natal unit (the intensive care unit for babies) and hooked up to oxygen, an IV and monitors. Obviously a stressful site for any parent.

The next day as I was getting ready, I began/continued to pray that he would improve and be able to come home soon. I thought of him connected to all those different things and how much trouble he was having breathing. Then I began to think God for all the prayers He had already answered. For the baby, for a healthy pregnancy, for a fast delivery, for good doctors and nurses who were taking care of him.

It was then that I began to ponder how God let His son endure such pain. He sent Jesus into this world knowing the horrendous pain He would endure. I could no longer fathom how a Father would allow their son to face such suffering. Not just the agony of the cross, but to take on all the sin of the world and its punishment. The perfect Son of God....born so small and innocent would one day be ridiculed, beaten, whipped up to the point of death, had nails driven through his wrists and feet, spit upon, and hated. I prayed asking how God was able to do that. All I could think was if it were in my power I would never let any harm came to my child. I love him too and to see him in such pain would kill me. I would do anything to take his place.

Then my eyes were opened to a truth Ialready knew, but now could fully understand. God does love His son, yes. But God loves us too. We are God's sons and daughters as well, and He could no longer watch us live in such pain and darkness. God did what most parents can only think about doing in that situation...He took our place. He took our sin, our punishment and our death and gave us the opportunity to wipe the slate clean. That is how much God loves His children. He loved us enough to take our place.

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

1 Corinthians 13:11-13

See, while Christ's death and resurrection does cover everyone’s sin, not all will be forgiven. We all must choose to accept this gift. We choose through believing that Christ is God's son, that He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on a cross and rose from the grave three days later. Knowing that Christ paid the price for our sins, we must ask Him for forgiveness. He will freely give this gift; you must simply believe and trust in Him. I can offer anyone a free gift, but it doesn't mean you have to accept it.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and that your greatest gift will be from your Father.

Holy Floating Crosses Mike!

Huckabee has a way of using what little campaign money he has to turn short commericals into a media frenzy. A while back I posted his ad with Chuck Norris which everyone buzzed about. Now Huckabee has a commercial that is less of a campaignish commercial and more of a Christmas, excuse me, holiday card.

The commercial caused a stir up here because of a "fglowing, floating cross in the background" which is actually nothing more than his bookcase. Was it positioned that way on purpose? Who knows. If it was, brilliant! If not, even cooler!

Apparently though any one in public office (even though at this time he isn't) isn't allowed to say Merry Christmas. Even the Catholic League says he was wrong which I find disturbing. View the video for yourself below and then hope over the the Associated Press by clicking here to read the article. I can't repost it here due to copyright. No need to get sued this time of year. The article was written by Liz Austin Peterson.

Huckabee Left His Heart in San Francisco

Article from Reuters.com

By Adam Tanner
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has made dramatic gains in California but still trails front-runner Rudy Giuliani, according to a poll released on Thursday.

The Field Poll conducted December 10-17 found 25 percent backing former New York Mayor Giuliani, unchanged from October, while former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee's support rose to 17 percent from 4 percent over the same two months in California, the biggest prize of all the primaries.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had 15 percent support, followed by Arizona Sen. John McCain at 12 percent, according to the poll of 322 likely Republican voters that had a margin of error of 5.7 percentage points.

Although Iowa and New Hampshire, which hold the first two presidential nominating contests early next month, have dominated the candidates' attention, California will select about one-fifth of the delegates needed to choose the Republican and Democratic candidates who will face off in the November 2008 election.

Californians go to the polls on February 5, so-called "Super Tuesday," when more than 20 states hold primaries.

Giuliani is considered more liberal on issues such as gay rights and abortion than many of his Republican primary rivals. He rose to wide prominence for his role leading New York City after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher who has been praised for his likable manner on the campaign trail, has risen dramatically in polls nationwide in recent weeks.

The Field Poll found a sharp drop in support for actor and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson to 6 percent from 12 percent over the past two months. Another 18 percent were undecided.

A Field Poll released on Wednesday found 36 percent of likely California Democratic voters back New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for the nomination, down from 49 percent in August.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama ran second with 22 percent, up from 19 percent in August. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards was third with 13 percent in the survey, which had a margin of error of 4.7 percentage points.

Most of those who defected from Clinton appear to have landed for now in the "undecided" column, which has grown to 20 percent from 12 percent in August.

In a state where Democrats are by far the strongest party, both Clinton and Obama were far ahead of the top Republican candidates in a theoretical match-up posed by the poll.

(Editing by Eric Beech)

Mike Huckabee Shines at Iowa Debate!

Republican candidates had another debate today in Iowa and Mike Huckabee is receiving great reviews! This is awesome news since, in recent weeks, he has been hammered by opponents.

Read the article from ABC News by clicking here.

It's better to give...

Well I am finished with my final semester at Curry College! As of 4:15 am on Saturday morning I put a period on my final research project. I decided Friday to just stay up and do it instead of spending an entire weekend working on it and everything else. Though tired the next day I was glad to be finished. I am still in the adjust mode...I feel like I should be doing something instead of knowing its okay to sit down and relax. Probably by the time I get used to it, Little Man will arrive (which is fine by me). The semester officially wraps up next week when finals end on the 21st. My last class will be Wednesday though...if I go. It is Senior Seminar which we don't get a grade in. I will probably chicken out and go anyway though. Either way, I have nothing else to turn in so as far as I am concerned, its all over. Sometime before Summer begins I hope to begin work on a Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Seminary. They have a wonderful online/from home program that will make it possible for me to work on since I will soon be a stay-at-home daddy.

So that is the current update from here. Weather has "warmed" back up to normal (highs are usually in the 40's this time of the year). We are supposed to get some snow/ice tonight which is always a fun Monday commute. I love the view out of our back window though. The small lake is frozen and all the bare trees have that cool blanket of snow on them. Very Winter Wonderlandish.

One more note before I head to dream land. The San Francisco 49ers are having a dismal season. They were the trendy pick to win the NFC West at the beginning of the season, and came out of the gate winning their first two. Since then they have gone 3-10. Talk of the coach being fired has begun as has rumors of their franchise QB (number 1 draft choice just a few years ago, Alex Smith) being let go. Now normally at this point fans get excited about a losing season because of a high draft choice. However this year we won't get that. You see, in the last draft we made a trade with a certain team. That trade included our first round draft pick. So we won't get our top pick. What is worse is who does receive that pick. A certain team caught cheating at the beginning of the season, who was slapped on the wrist and lost their pick, who plays smugly by pouring on the points will be receiving our draft choice. Yup, the Patriots will receive a (presumably) top 5 draft pick next April. Grant it they will probably trade it, but it still stinks.

And that is all I have to say about that! Sometime in the next two weeks I hope to write my Christmas Blog and then my annual Year-End-Review so be checking back for those!

Mike and Chris

Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee (former Gov. Arkansas) was on FOX News Sunday with Chris Wallace a few weeks back. I am sure there are other postings of this already out there but found it worth sharing anyway.

Please click here to be taken to the link.

Props to my dad who emailed me the article!

Mike Sherman Hired

Texas A&M hired former offensive line coach (1989-1993 & 1995-1996) Mike Sherman to replace the debacle of a coach that was Dennis Franchione.

I was wondering what others thought about this hire. I know Sherman more from his time with the Green Bay Packers, but know that coaching in the NFL and NCAA are two different worlds. As far as tradition goes, it is a great hire for A&M. Sherman coached under R.C. Slocum who is basically royalty in Aggieland (as it should be).

So will Coach Sherman be able to turn things around for the Aggies? Can he take them to the next level? Post a comment and let me know what you think (both Aggies and NCAA followers welcome)!

Best. Campaign. Video. Ever.

Huckabee's first campaign video. Enjoy!

Huckabee and The Planet

Just finished reading an interview in which Republican Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee discusses his views on global warming and what should be done to curb it.
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Should you heart Huckabee? The jovial former Arkansas governor famously shed 100 pounds in two years and became an outspoken health and fitness advocate, and now he's focusing that can-do attitude on a much weightier problem: America's beleaguered energy system.

"The first thing I will do as president is send Congress my comprehensive plan for energy independence," he proclaims on his Web site. "We will achieve energy independence by the end of my second term." The goal may sound admirable, but even if it's achievable -- and many experts doubt that it is -- Huckabee's plan for getting there is light on specifics. Rather than spell out what steps he would take, he talks of creating a market environment that encourages innovation, and he praises just about every energy source you can think of -- nuclear, "clean coal," wind, solar, hydrogen, biomass, bio diesel, corn-based ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, oil from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other untapped domestic areas, and, yes, conservation too.

A conservative Republican and devout Christian, Huckabee believes he has a biblical responsibility to protect God's planet from climate change, even though he's not convinced that climate change is largely human-caused. But mandatory limits on greenhouse-gas emissions make him squeamish.

To read the rest of the interview from www.salon.com, click here.

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In another article from RTT News, Huckabee discusses his views on abortion:

Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, who is gaining in the polls, said Sunday that he believes that individual states should not be able to decide if abortions should be legal in their jurisdictions, adding that the right to life is a moral issue.

"If morality is the point here, and if it's right or wrong, not just a political question, then you can't have 50 different versions of what's right and what's wrong," Huckabee said in an appearance on the “Fox News Sunday” program with Chris Wallace.

"For those of us for whom this is a moral question, you can't simply have 50 different versions of what's right," the former Arkansas governor added.

As for his rival Fred Thompson's endorsement from the National Right to Life Committee, Huckabee said he was puzzled by their choice.

"But my surprise was nothing compared to the surprise of people across America who had been faithful supporters of right to life," Huckabee said.

"Fred's never had a 100 percent record on right to life in his Senate career. The records reflect that. And he doesn't support the human life amendment which is most amazing because that's been a part of the Republican platform since 1980," Huckabee said.

Thompson on Sunday said that Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision allowing abortion, should be overturned, but states should be able to decide whether to allow the procedure.

"We need to remember what the status was before Roe v. Wade," the former Tennessee senator said in a pre-recorded interview on ABC's "This Week" program.

As for Huckabee, Thompson said: “He's pro-life, but he's liberal on everything else. Like taxes, illegal immigration enforcement.”
===============================================

Finally I find a cool website through msn.com this evening. It is a matrix that breaks down each candidates views on the issues. Check out this matrix by clicking here.

Happy Festivity Month and HA HA HA to You!

Heard both of these unfortunate stories the last two mornings on my local FOX station's morning news show.

An employment company in Australia suggested that their Santa's say "HA HA HA" instead of the traditional "HO HO HO" because it may frighten children and offend women. It seems that the outcry against this possible change prompted the company to back track and state that they could say "HO HO HO".

The second report regards Lowe's. They are racing to fix their "holiday" catalog because they labeled their trees (gasp) "Christmas Trees"! The horror! (Yes, this is true and not some fake report. Click here if you doubt old Rob.)They decided it would be better to call them "Family Trees" as to not offend anyone. On my way to work though I couldn't help but wonder if these family trees might offend someone without a family. What about the single guy or girl who wants to buy one? Wouldn't they be offended by the use of "Family Tree"?

I was discussing this with my co-worker and she brought up a very obvious point that most people don't seem to get. What about all the other holidays? You never hear anyone saying that Kwanzaa or Hanukkah is offensive. "Maybe the word menorah offends me," as my co-worker said. I tried to explain that it is mostly related Christian things like holidays or people praying (see previous post) that get attacked. Say something about one of the above two holidays and you will be labeled a racists. Say something about Christians and no one bats an eye.

Here is the thing. I am cool with you celebrating your holiday, but don't tell me how to celebrate mine. Honestly it makes me sad. Was Jesus born in December? I have no clue, but this is when Christians (hopefully) celebrate his birth. It is sad that year after year a little bit of this celebration is chipped away. One day we will wake up and December 25 will be labeled "Festive Day", and some where down the road we will probably be arrested for going to church. I feel bad for those who don't understand it. So I decided that I will change my 'holiday terminology' as well. I am subtracting "mas" out of my Christmas related words. Next Friday I will put up our Christ tree so we can remember that Jesus paid for our sins on a tree. I will send out Christ cards to those I love sharing in the celebration of Jesus' birth. And on Christ Eve and Day I will celebrate the child who was born who would save mankind from the darkness.

Let It Rain

Not sure if any of you have heard about GA Gov. Sonny Perdue praying for rain. Georgia has been in a drought for quite a while now, so Gov. Sonny decided to pray outside the state house for rain. Do a search online for Georgia + rain + pray and you'll find numerous articles related to this. Most are of course vicious because some one is praying. My favorite one is as follows from Wonkette.com:

"Did you know it hasn’t rained in Georgia in, like, a million years? It’s undergoing the biggest dry spell since prohibition, doggone it. And while most politicians offer practical solutions to major economy-crippling droughts — usually public statements to the effect of “suck it up and go to law school, farmers!” — Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue is taking the more popular Jesus route to moisture. He has “called for Georgians to join in a prayer vigil on the steps of the state capitol, in the hopes that the heavens will unleash the rain.” Be warned, Sonny! Jesus may only give you locusts or cicadas, which are far worse.

While rabid atheists, who are the second most annoying political bloc behind rabid theists, are planning to protest the intrusion of Church into precious State, they’re completely ignoring the history at play here! As ABC News explains in its best 9th-grade science project tone, rain dances and other pagan rituals were not invented by Gov. Sonny Perdue:

Since the dawn of time, people have prayed for rain in some form — from the tribes of Africa to American Indians. And where prayer fails, science sometimes pulls through.

Prayer never fails, you lunatic ABCNews.com writer! Just look at how well things turned out for the tribes of Africa and American Indians."

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For a slightly less biased report, check out msnbc.com's report.

What you won't find (at least not as easily) is that some time after Gov. Sonny held his prayer crusade, it started raining in GA and as of this post, hasn't stopped. But don't worry, the media isn't biased. Oh and what is that high percentage of Americans that believe in God? Yet when one man has enough faith to believe God can and will bring rain, everyone scoffs. Go figure.

Week 9 NFL Selections

Well this is it. The game that has been talked and speculated about for weeks now will finally occur. You can bet that we will be watching and that we may very well be the only two people in MA to be rooting for the Indianapolis Colts. Though you may not know, there are other games this week:

49ers at Falcons is a tough one. I keep picking my Niners thinking and hoping they will win. They are playing a team with one less victory than them Sunday and should win. Thus I should pick the Falcons to win.

In another "Who Cares Game", the Bills should handle the Bengals fairly easily.

The high powered offense of the Lions should overpower the reeling Broncos.

Still waiting for Vince Young to break out and have a huge game, but I suppose it doesn't matter much at this point for my poor fantasy team (he is my QB). Titans beat Panthers anyway.

Packers could be upset by the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium, but I will give Farve the nod.

Both teams are up and down this season, but the Chargers should win against the Vikings.

Jaguars are a mystery because of their QB situation. They have a tough defense which will keep them in any game. They are also 3-0 on the road. Jags beat Saints.

Redskins should be hungry after last weeks loss to the Patriots. Skins beat Jets.

Here is another interesting game that will be overlooked. The Cardinals are a better team than their 3-4 record indicates. As are the Buccaneers (4-4). The Cards are young though and 1-3 on the road. Bucs win.

Browns have a good offense going this year. Seattle is in that crazy NFC West Division where up is down and black is white. I give the Browns a "W" in an upset.

Texans will have their 2nd string QB in as they face the Raiders. The Raiders will try out journeyman Josh McCown (I believe he is from Jacksonville, TX) at QB. Texans had a good game in their loss last week...Texans win in Oakland.

Will Tony Romo have a down week after signing a 6 year extension with Dallas? I doubt it. Cowboys spank Eagles.

Steelers hand Ravens another loss on Monday night.

Now, what about those two undefeated teams? Of course everyone is talking about the Patriots. I am pretty sick of listening to the radio news shows out here trying to justify the coach running up the score. Apparently it is okay because they used to be horrible so they earned it. Oh and because they were called cheaters, so the players are out to prove themselves so take that. Give me a break guys! Whether they cheated in that game or any game has nothing to do with being conceited and cocky. In the same way, their running up the score and being punks has nothing to do with their game versus the Colts, whom no one seems to be talking about. Most writers would agree that this Colts team is better than last years squad that won the Super Bowl.

The Colts have beat some tough defenses this year too. Have they put up as many points as the Pats? No, but winning is winning. The Colts opponents thus far have been much better than the Pats. The Colts have so far played and beaten: Saints (easy win), Titans, Texans, Broncos, Bucs, Jaguars and Panthers. A majority of those teams have a winning record and all except the Saints and Panthers have a wicked stingy defense. The Pats meanwhile have beat up on the Jets, Chargers (not nearly good as last year), Bills, Bengals, Browns, Cowboys, Dolphins and Redskins. With the exception of the Redskins, all have cruddy defenses. The sad part is that the Pats schedule remains soft after this game, almost like the NFL is begging them to win.

I believe the game will mimic last years AFC Championship match. Could be "last team to score wins" game. And I believe that the Colts will be that team. One point to remember. Regardless of who wins, it doesn't decide anything. Despite what it is being called, the winner of this game will not be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the day. It is just another regular season game. If either of these teams had even one loss, it wouldn't be nearly as big of a deal.

There's Something about Hilary

Most of you have probably heard about Hilary Clinton's debacle at the Democratic debate this week. The other male canidates "ganged up" on the Senator. The bigger issue of the night was her back and forth commitments. What does this woman stand for? Where does she stand on the issues? From her answers, it would appear to be both sides. Clinton of course insists that this is untrue and that the men are simply piling it on her because she is a woman and she is in the male run political race. In fact she said this (in a more drawn out fashion) at her old all girls college just the other day (along with stories about boys in her room, which we are all so interested in).

However, in in the smallest statements, Mrs. Clinton seems to flip flop.
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CONCORD, N.H., Nov. 2 — Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama tangled on Friday over whether women should be treated equally to men in the boxing ring of presidential politics. At the same time, Mrs. Clinton backed away from her “pile-on politics” strategy that portrayed her as the lone woman under assault from the six male candidates at the Democratic debate on Tuesday.

“I don’t think they’re picking on me because I’m a woman; I think they’re picking on me because I’m winning,” Mrs. Clinton said at a news conference at the Capitol after filing papers to run in the New Hampshire primary.

For the full New York Times article by Elisabeth Bumiller, please click here.

World Champions!

Congrats to the Boston Red Sox who completed a 4 game sweep of the Colorado Rockies last night. Bostonians can finally sleep easy again, and on time. Those late games kill, but the fans just couldn't turn it off.

My only regret is this: Jordan's Furniture had a promotional sale before the season started. Buy anything you want from their store (no limit) and if the Sox win it all it would be free. I pleaded that we should go for it, but my wife is the one of reason and is always right so I relented. Alas, it looks like I was right (for those keeping score, that is Jennifer 184 Robert 2). Some people really cleaned up. Someone where I work bought $3000 worth of furniture and at Jen's work they redid their entire home. Darned if you do... Regardless, Go Sox!!

Week 8 NFL Selections

Lions over the bears...as it would be in the wild.
Steerlers bounce back against Bengals
Titans win over Raiders
Browns beat Rams...and what is a Brown anyway?
Giants one up Dolphins across the pond
Eagles beat Vikings...as it would not be in the wild.
Colts easily handle Panthers making Manning first player to beat all 31 teams
Bills over Jets
Chargers over Texans who seem now to just have been a tease much like the...
49ers fall against Saints
Bucs over Jaguars
Patriots over Redskins making Brady the SECOND player to beat all 31 teams and setting up a great week 9 matchup versus Colts
And in Monday's game, Packers over Broncos

How Time Goes By

The Boston Red Sox are in the World Series. In honor of that, I have put "Red Sox Songs" at the top of my list. Why is "Sweet Caroline" a Red Sox Song? Click here to find out. They play it at the games and even have a version with the fans singing. The Sox are sort of winning 9-1 (and it is only the bottom of the 5th). In their last (I believe) 4 games, the Sox have outscored the Indians and now Rockies 39-6. There is a light rain falling over historic Fenway, and bases are now loaded. Sad since there have been 2 outs for the last 10 minutes and 3 runs scored. Insane. The AL is to baseball what the AFC is to football, a powerhouse. Take the best team in either the NFC or NL and they generally pale in comparison to to the AFC/AL. I originally said the Sox in 6, but they may pull it off in 5. I give at least one to the Rockies when they travel back to Denver. I'm thinking that thin air may cause some issues. Rocky Mountain high indeed.

An interesting World Series note for you: I have been to both Fenway to see the Sox and Coors Field to see the Rockies. Both are impressive stadiums for totally separate reasons. Coors is one of those newer stadiums with an amazing mountain view. Fenway though is one of those historic parks and unlike any other I have seen. Sox just scored again making it 10-1...time for a pitching change. I believe this is the first time I watched with such interest. The only other time I came close was when the Astros played 2 years ago. Didn't get to watch much of that because my wife and I were moving up here to Boston. October 23 was officially our 2 year anniversary (12-1, bases loaded and still 2 outs). I can't believe it really. Jen is still loving her position in Maternal Fetal Medicine at the hospital, I am in my last semester in the quest for the Bachelor's Degree, God blessed us with a beautiful home, and even more so we are just 9 weeks away from the birth of our son. People always ask me "do you miss your family?" I answer "well of course you numb nut"(okay maybe not exactly that way). We miss our family very much and wish we/they could be closer. However, we absolutely love it out here and know this is still where God wants us to be right now. Who knows the future, but at this time He has us here. So yes, we miss our family living here (13-1...a record for the Sox in the World Series, bases still loaded and still 2 outs) but we would miss living here like crazy if we were moved back. Kind of hard to explain.

Truly though, what an opportunity. Not everyone can say that they up and moved across the nation. I/we have been to a game at Fenway (something some people only talk about wanting to see), shopping in Martha's Vineyard, swimming on the Cape, Vermont to see the foliage, canoing and hiking in New Hampshire, rafting and lobster in Maine, apple picking western Mass, I met a 49er player for their glory days, I got a job as a teacher, I was sent to Georgia for a cool conference, and I met Ben Affleck! So one of those I made up, but you'll have to guess which one. Absolutely none of this is meant as bragging. Hardly. I am humbled if anything. I am just thankful that God has given us this experience and that through His peace and grace, He does take some of the sadness of being far away from loved ones away.

Also, I don't want to say our move is directly responsible, but the Sox are in the World Series and look pretty poised to win, the Patriots (whom I don't like but give recognition where it is due) are undefeated and wicked talents (still possibly cheaters) and undefeated, the Celtics look hot this year with some actual big name players, and Boston College has moved up to #2 in the latest NCAA rankings. Just saying is all.

A total side note: I watched High School Musical twice last week. I may need to check my man card, but it wasn't too bad. All my students talk about it so in an effort to know them better the lead teacher and I borrowed and watched it. Now I can't get the songs out of my head (Stick the Status Quo being my fav). Here is the thing, the acting was a nightmare. Worst I have ever seen. But the songs and dancing were well performed and more importantly, it is a good clean show for children. That is a rarity these days. No violence. No sex. No cursing. It even teaches some crazy lesson about being yourself and not going along with the crowd just to be cool. Whacky I know. The only unfortunate scandal are those pics of the lead actress, but at least that is something most of the children have no clue about (unlike say Britney Spears who some how makes the local news sometimes). All that to say if you have a child, this movie is great for them. There are preschool children where I work who know the songs and middle schoolers (and adults). That says a lot.

Just for fun, I wanted to repost this video my friend Bryan found on http://www.godtube.com/

Alright, I need sleep. Happy 2 years Boston.
And Go Sox!!!