Final Blog Entry-Week 7/Day 7

Blogging, a word I never thought I would deal with in my life.  I have always have thought that blogging was kind of silly and was not worth my time to deal with.  I was totally wrong about this.  I can say that it has not been a bad journey this summer at all to blog.  I will be honest and say I did not blog every day.  I found it hard sometimes to remember the simple task of logging in and doing it.  When I did blog I found that my words became easier and easier to type in to this box.  Everyday was a different topic to speak on.  I found it challenging to speak on different things.  Sometimes I would start and realize that I was typing on something I had previously spoke about.  This was also frustrating.  As we progressed into the middle of the summer I starting taking the advice of the chapter in the book of freewriting.  Slowly by slowly I found myself being able to write and not stop.  It was a great feeling to grow in the department on getting information from my brain to the screen.  That was one of my goals when we started this class in June.  Blogging I found was really just whatever you wanted to say.  I really enjoyed the freedom of writing whatever I wanted to down on the entries.  I would have to also say that blogging was not a bad thing at all, but really just another wau to put thoughts down.  I actually liked the process of it all and look forward to still using this tool in the future.  I feel this was a great way to get some of us out of our comfort zones.

Spending Time with my Son-Week 7-Day 4

My job as a teacher allows me to have the summers off to do whatever I want to.  I know that I am fortunate to have a job that allows me to take off three months of the year to unwind and relax.  I have used this summer as a time to take some classes I need and spend time with my son.  He is eight months old and full of growing energy.  It has been an awesome three months seeing him develop into crawling and pulling himself up on his feet.  This comes with many challenges.  He has started to have more and more war wounds due to falling and bumping his head on tables and couches.  He usually does a good job of balancing himself, but there is always one per day that is big.  I have enjoyed seeing him grow and develop into a happy little boy.  The time spent with him has been very relaxing and I feel reloaded for the upcoming school year.  The joy of time spent with him this summer will never be forgot by me.  Soon enough he will be off and I will only see him sparingly.  I will cherish this summer very much.

Watching Movies- Week 7/Day Two

Movies are an amazing thing.  I have always enjoyed movies and the places they take me.  I have had many different types of genres of movies I have liked.  A good movie can take you all over the world.  I most times when watching most films find myself in that time period or situtation and wonder what I would do.  My wife and I try each week to sit down together and watch a movie together we agree on.  The task of picking the movie is entire different story.  The movie genre that Imost enjoy like any guy would be actions.  My favorite action movie is Top Gun.  I now it is from the eighties, but it is a classic that never gets old.  Long story short I feel movies are a great way to kick back and relax while enjoying a certain story line that you enjoy.

Football and Coaching Week 6 Day 7

I have always had the passion to coach and teach.  I currently coach football at a local high school near Springfield, MO.  I believe the path that God laid out for me in life is to guide others through coaching.  Football is a wonderful game that mirrors real day to day life in many ways.  The situations that happen on the field relate to peoples problems.  How you deal with the situations defines you as a person I believe.  Coaching is my way of guiding young men to become the best that they can for their futures.  I love the daily challenges that come along with coaching.  It is almost like I am a father to sixty young men all at once.  It can be overwhelming if you let it go that far.  I was built for this job I believe with all my heart.  It is like they say you do not do it for the money, but for the one kid to grow up and say that you made the difference in their life.  That is the greatest feeling of them all.

Golf Outing-Week 6 Day 6

Golf has to be one of the most challenging sports on EARTH!  Do not get me wrong, I love to golf.  I usually go with my friends or my dad.  Today I played in a tournament for the Girls and Boys club with my father.  Golf is definitly one of those sports that you have to practice at to be successful.  I personally am not bad, but need lots of work to scratch out a good round.  I can keep the ball straight down the fairway, but am not always consistent.  My dad is pretty good due to the amount of time he spends on it.  Besides the golfing today I am very fortunate to hang out with my dad.  I have a great relationship with him and still have that little boy view that he is my hero.  Golfing is just one more reason to bond together and get some laughs.  He is very fun on the course when we play.  Golf I can see is his favorite hobby and is just another way to become closer to him.  I had a blast today sweating in the summer sun and chasing balls into the woods time and time again.  Most of all I cherish the times with my old man and laughing.  It is a funny thing that a tough and humbling sport like golf can be used to spend time with the man you have always looked up to.

Summer Ending-Week 6/Day Four

Wow summer is creeping down slowly by slowly for me.  I will soon be back to work at my job teaching high school kids ans coaching.  It is a nice change to have a somewhat summer break.  I have got to spend many more hours with my family that is much deserved after a long school year.  The summer allows me to further my education for example like this class.  The summer also provides more time to get honey-do projects done around the house that are neglected in the regular school year.  It has been a relaxing summer, but a hot one.  Summers for me are usually a reprieve from the cold of winter.  I enjoy a break from the cold, but quickly desire a return to the chilly nights of fall.  Fall is my favorite time of year for many reasons.  Summer is always welcomed in my heart, but I am not sad when it leaves. 

Online Classes-Week 6/Day 3

I cannot get over the many different positive reasons why online classes are so great.  It is a great feeling not to go to class in the middle of summer and still be able to get college credit from my living room.  Having a family and working full time is a big enough task without attending a seated course.  I love how I can unwind after a long day and work on school from my home computer.  I do not have to find a babysitter for my son.  I am right here working on my homework and watching him play in the living room.  Online courses are hard if you do not keep up with them.  If you check your work every day and are organized these classes are easier than sitting in a classroom.  I truely enjoy working in my own environment at home and continueing my college education.

Great Balls of Fire Week Six-Day 1

Where in the heck did all this heat come from.  It is smoking hot outside.  I was reading the Springfield Newsleader today and saw that July 10th, Sunday was the hottest recorded day recorded for the Springfield National Weather service.  It was so hot today that the football team I coach on had to cancel practice.  In today's day and age you can never be to careful with kids.  It is important to watch there fluid intake.  I hope in the next week or so we get a cool down or some rain in order to green up my yard again.  I cannot believe I am already walking across my yard and the grass is crunching under my feet.  A little rain is not too much to ask is it!

Northern Missouri Farm-Week 5-Day 6

Tonite I am traveling out of town to my family's farm in northern Missouri.  We have about 250 acres of hunting and recreational property near the Iowa border.  We are going up there to start the process of planting food plots for wildlife growth and hunting.  Planting food plots has become one of my favorite hobbies.  This year we are planting clover and turnips to create new food sources for wildlife.  It is fun to begin this process and see your plants grow.  The better the rain the better the crop.  It has always been a passion of mine to work outside and make things look nice.  I take pride in how this years crop will turn out.  This weekend will be work filled, but will be the start of a great hunting season.

Fourth of July Weekend-Week 5 Day 5

My fourth of July weekend was a very much needed vacation for my family and I.  My wife is from Ohio, so we packed up the truck and drove eight and a half hours to see her family.  In her family it is a big tradition on the fourth to spend it on their hometown lake called Idian Lake.  This lake is not like any of our lakes in Missouri.  Indian Lake was formed by flooding farm lands to create revenue for the state.  This lake is very muddy brown and at most tweleve feet deep.  If you are skiing or tubing and fall off you will most likely hit some kind of mud or sand at the botton, not really that pleasant.  The best part of the trip was hanging at their lakeside cottege and playing homerun derby with the brothers and watching fireworks on the boat at dusk.  My son is only eight months old and got his first taste of big time fireworks.  It made me feel good that he smiled and bounced up and down on my lap while watching the show.  All in all the fourth was a great success and a much needed get a way for me and my family.