I love the Holidays....

Today we went shopping. I love to shop. I love to get people gifts. I don't like to spend money, but I love to give gifts. We went to Memphis all day for the third day out of the last four. It was cool. They have this new shopping center out of town. We love going there. We could have stayed later, but we did not. We could have shopped more, but we did not. I don't ever understand how people can shop and be unhappy. I am always happy when I shop for christmas. Why can't people be more happy.

Landon is smarter and smarter everyday. He tells me now that he does not want to, or I can't come over right now. He is killing me.

I went for a run today when Kristy was in the Doctor's office today. It was really cool. I enjoyed the change of scenary. I did not like the fact that My ipod was dead and did not record my run. I had a great run regardless. I got to get back to my old running ways.

Where you going Landon? Part two

I have not asked today, but I am pretty sure he would say the Mountains. We had a great time in the Mountains. It was great to be with family. I know that Landon had fun playing with cousins. Sat. night we were riding back late from being out all night playing and eating pizza, and Landon is talking with Anna Reese. They were talking non-stop and Landon tells Anna Reese to hush he is talking to his Daddy. It was so random, but cute. Thank goodness they had a Nemo at the Aquarium. Are Clown fish hard to come by? I was starting to get worried.

Back to work today and I think Kristy and I were both hit with a ton of bricks. Nothing like the daily grid.

Where you going Landon?

Landon has started packing a suitcase and his rescue pack. He then will proceed to the front door. We ask where he is going and he responds with "the Beach". I think I have brain washed my 2 and half year old already. He loves the beach. Tonight he said Beach first, and then work. He knows so much about what is going on. It is really scary. He knows where our house is located and tells me where to turn. I thought he only knew that because of us driving the same route. Today he told me to turn coming back from Pickwick. He is too funny.

Soccer has started and we are 4-1 already this year. We won all three games in the tournament against bigger schools. We are doing well so far this year. This week we play 3 more bigger schools. I would like to win them all, but I doubt it will happen.

Landon is amazing...

I am now able to have conversations with him that I never would have thought possible. HE Corrects me when I say something wrong. He also has to do everything. We changed the sheets tonight and he had to do it. He has to dress himself everyday. I never thought that he would be doing this much stuff at such a young age. He is so smart and eager to learn. We have to give him new challenges to keep him entertained.

Drama...

The day that I figure out how to handle girl drama, I will have a lot of money. It seems that we will have a hard time learning the team concept.

Still enjoying the Garden...

The other day as soon as it got cold I wanted Chili. It was raining pretty hard and getting cold, so I did not want to drive all the way to Kroger. It is sad that I now think driving 5 miles is a long way. It might not be that far. It is probably 3 miles. I will run it one day. This store does not have everything, but they do have good meat. I got the meat, beans for chili, tomatoes for chili, and looked for my chili magic. No Chili magic at this store. I have a lot of spices here, so I know I can make the magic. I start the chili. I brown the meat and cut fresh bell peppers, banana peppers, and Chayenne peppers from the garden to simmer. It is really smelling good. I throw in the beans and tomatoes from the can. I also add fresh tomatoes from the garden. It is really starting to come together. I am going to have a huge pot of chili. I start to add chayenne pepper and chili powder. I do it once and let it simmer and it just seems to be lacking something. I add more. I accidentally add too much trying to find the chili magic. I let it simmer for 25 minutes. It cools a little and I decide to try it. It was so hot. I mean the hottest chili I have ever made. I was worried Kristy would not eat it. I told her it was hot. I had a bowl and put the rest in the fridge. Kristy decided to have fajitas. I had also made those with my fresh peppers. The following night she had the chili. She finished the whole bowl and told me it was the best chili I have ever made. When you refigerate anything that is spicy It seems to blend better. This chili is so good and I am still getting use out of my garden. I can't wait for my garden next year.

Confluence Gone?

I can't believe that this economy has claimed another victim. Whenever economists or financial advisers talk about saving money, they talk about cutting out the coffee first. I hope that if it is God's will that Confluence will be back.

Soccer starts Next Monday. I can't wait. I am ready to start training for the season. Cross Country ends in three weeks. I am pretty busy until February and then the baby comes. So I might be busy until my beach trip. I can't wait to go to the Beach again. We are going to Gatlinburg sometime over the Thanksgiving Holidays. I look forward to that.

Take care,
Brian