Haven't had one of these in a while....

first off, whoa! it's been "4-eva" (forever) since i posted last. sorry about that.

so, i had a "first day at the new job" on Monday. it made me think back to when i got my first job back in Macon, and when i had my first day at Sam's as a REAL doctor. but things went well. i'll only be working at this new job part-time until my contract with Sam's runs out (my last day there will be October 4th).

so, i had a day full of learning. their way of doing things is similar to when i worked up in Cullman, but maybe on a grander scale. in the morning, i worked at the Hoover office, which happens to be the biggest/busiest office. i got to shadow the doctor there some, as well as see a few patients myself. the biggest difference for me will probably be record-keeping. Dr. Schaeffer's offices are completely electronic, so there are no paper files....just computer data on a program called "Exam Writer". it's really nice, but i'm still lost in it. it's tough enough learning a new exam form when you work with another office, but it's much more difficult learning a computerized exam form. i kept going to the wrong screen, or not knowing how to find the right screen, or not knowing where something should go. i think that will be the biggest acclimation for me.

in the afternoon, i worked at the Colonnade office off of Hwy 280. the doctor here helped me learn the computer programs better. i will be splitting most of my time between this Colonnade office and an office in Roebuck. i'm very excited about working there.

so, i'll stumble along for the next few weeks, trying to get my bearings in this new job. i'll work there 2-3 days a week for the next 3 weeks until i completely with sam's.

we're doing well here. still waiting on one of our house-lookers to turn into a house-buyer. keep praying!

Tallahassee, Rivalries, and Mushrooms

we had a great Labor Day weekend. we took advantage of the long weekend to visit Mark and Jennifer Butts in Tallahassee, FL. this was the first time either of us had been to Tallahassee. Mark and Jennifer have been there for about 2 1/2 months now. he's working with the Timberlane church of Christ as their youth minister. here's one of their better pictures of the weekend.



on Saturday, we took a tour of the town. we went to Wakulla Springs (where the water was ICE COLD!). we drove by Doak Campbell stadium on the way back into town. Mark and I decided to do "the chop" in honor of FSU.



most evenings involved coffee and Rook. we played probably 5000 points of Rook throughout the weekend. it was great. i can't begin to tell you how much we laughed. i'm beginning to suspect there was something in the coffee. anyhoo, we got to taking funny pictures with the built-in camera on my computer. here's the best shot we got:



brooke couldn't even open her eyes for the picture b/c she was laughing so hard! it was too much fun. we had such a good time with them. that's the most we've gotten to see them in years. their son Brock is about 14 months old, so we had a good time playing with him. he's a really good little boy.

on the way back home, we stopped and visited with my sister Kristi and her family in Coosada. true to form for the weekend, we played some Rook. it was great to see them. Kristi even agreed to wear my Bama hat for the picture, as long as i wore her ugly Auburn visor. it was so worth it!



so that was our crazy weekend. on to the mushrooms. brooke pointed these out to me last night when we got home from church:



these things popped up just overnight in our yard! and they seem to follow a path leading from our house, through the natural area, and into the front lawn. weirdest thing i've ever seen! does anyone know what might have caused these to pop up in a row like that? how should i get rid of them, other than just knocking them down? any suggestions would help.

It's that time of year

watch at the 2:20 mark for your Julio Jones moment of the day.

I gotta go back, back, back to school again!!!

yeah, that's a catchy Grease tune, but it's definitely not brooke's favorite song.

she had her first day back on Monday. she's got a great group this year (alot of their classwork is done via small groups of 5-7 people). her schedule is alot better than she thought as well. so, although she's not excited about being back in the school mindset, it's been better than she was thinking it would be.

things continue to move slowly for our house situation. still no strong prospects for buying our house. we're anxious to get things moving fast, but we're praying that God will do what's best. that formula can't fail.

thanks for all the good comments on Alligator Mouth Hummingbird Tail. i didn't mention this before, but i actually typed up all the book for Mr. Nicky. he wrote it all out by hand, and i typed it up. and his son Brandon designed the artwork for the cover. pretty neat, huh?

again, if you want to buy a copy for yourself or get a set for a young families class, click here.

Alligator Mouth Hummingbird Tail

i realized yesterday that many of you might not know that my father-in-law Nicky Pressnell is not just a preacher, not just the best FunSing leader at Maywood, not just the best father-in-law i have, but is also a published author.

"Pepaw" (as the grandkids call him) has written a small paperback book that is being published by Donnie Hilliard at the Cloverdale Center for Family Strengths. it's called "Alligator Mouth Hummingbird Tail." it's written as a parenting guide. it offers anecdotal stories coupled with strong Biblical teaching.

let me encourage you to purchase a book. it's only $5.00!!! i know this would make a great book for young adults/young families classes at your local church! here's a small excerpt to whet your appetite:

Even though our kids are all different and need different methods at times, there is a common denominator. That common denominator is consistency. When you tell a child you are going to do something, do it. You must be consistent. If you tell a child to stop or he will be punished, then if he doesn’t stop, punish him. Don’t have an alligator mouth and a hummingbird tail. Mean what you say. One of the biggest problems with parents is that they take no action and want to know why their child doesn’t mind. About all some do is say, “Don’t do that” and never follow up. If you start out at birth being consistent, then by the time they are around two, they’ll know the rules and what to expect. Every child will tempt you. Don’t give up or give in.

Well, it's now official

after a lot of prayer and contemplation, i've decided to join a large group optometry practice in the Birmingham area.

it's really a long story, so bear with me as i retell it.

the week before we left for Maywood, this doctor contacted me saying he wanted to interview me about joining his practice. at first, i was taken aback. i hadn't been looking to change my job situation. i certainly hadn't been spreading the word that i was looking for something different. he told me he had gotten my name from a optical rep that visits the Cullman office i've been working at 2 days a week for the past 2 years. so, after talking with brooke, we decided it wouldn't hurt to meet him and see what he had to say. plus, it would be good experience for me to go through the interview process.

so, i met Dr. Schaeffer the saturday before we went to camp. i went in to the meeting knowing that whatever he said, i wasn't going to say "yes" that day. the meeting went really well. Dr. Schaeffer is a unique character. he's a very type-A personality. he's very reputable in the academic field and the community. ever heard of the Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil? that's his baby. anyhoo, everything he said made great sense to me. he's offered me a large pay increase over what i'm making now, full benefits, local work (less miles on my car, not to mention the cost of gas), and the ability to practice optometry to an extent that i can't do in my current situation. well, he offered the position to me that saturday, but i told him i needed to pray about it and talk things over with brooke. he understood that i'd be at camp the next week, so i told him i'd get back in touch with him when i got home.

i tried my best NOT to think about it while at camp. and i didn't, for the most part. i'd still pray alot about it, but i wouldn't fret over it. but, as i prayed about it, i came to the conclusion that this had to be a blessing from God. there were a number of reasons:

1. i wasn't looking for anything. this just fell in my lap.
2. though i'm a "doctor", i haven't been able to make even close to "doctor money" in my current situation.
3. i wouldn't have to spend one night a week away from home like i do now (no offense, big red and patti....like i told you before, that's one of the biggest "cons" in my decision: that i won't get to hang out with ya'll every week anymore).

so as the week toiled on, i was leaning more and more towards accepting the job. that first monday back to work, i got a call from the doctor i currently work for in Cullman on thursdays and fridays. she was calling to tell me that she was only going to need me for maybe one day a week starting in September. when i heard her say that, it's like a window from Heaven opened and said, "how much more proof do you need?!? take the job, dummy!" so, i called him up and we met again to discuss particulars. i called up my district manager with Sam's the next day to give him my 60 day notice. then, i called the doctor in Cullman to let her know. i signed the contract today, so i'm official. :)

so where does this take us from here? the next few weeks will still be the same.

if you need to get your eyes checked at Sam's or Cullman, you'd better act fast! my last day in Cullman is September 8th. my last day at Sam's is October 4th. after i'm finished at Cullman, i'll start part-time with Dr. Schaeffer.

thanks for reading my story. keep us in your prayers as i transition. i'll blog soon about more specifics of my new job. here's a teaser that hopefully some of you might get: do you think Julio Jones and Andre Smith might need contacts? i might get to find out one day soon.

Update

sorry it's been a week since i've posted. things have been busy.

so, here's a house update! unfortunately, no good news just yet. we're still waiting for someone to fall in love with our house. we've had some traffic come through, but no bites just yet. we've dropped the price twice since we first listed (our first price was outrageous in hindsight). we're trying to be patient before we drop it again. we've added a "broker incentive", where the broker that brings the eventual buyer of our house in gets an extra $500 at closing. that's helped, but nothing just yet.

brooke starts school back August 25th. she's dreading having to get back to the grind of school, but she's ready to get it over with! keep her in your prayers as she starts back.

one of our older members from church passed away this week (John Landers). he had battled health problems for the last year especially. he was a wonderful man. a very encouraging person. but most of all, he was a faithful Christian. that means more than anything else at a time like this.

Just call me "Redbeard"

so, i'm rockin' the beard. i let it go at camp last week, and i haven't convinced brooke to let me shave it yet. not sure how long this little experiment will last, but thought you'd like to see it while it's still here.

Fun Sing at Maywood

every day at 9:30 am, we would have a period of Fun Sing. we sing stupid songs like "mama, don't you whoop little Buford" and "dum dum da da da da" and "singing in the rain". well, this year, i had 2 new favorite fun sing songs. one was what i call the "chicka-chicka" song, and the other was what i call "peel the orange". i took a short video of part of the "peel the orange" song. have a look:

Good Ol' Maywood Camp!

we had such a good time last week at Maywood!  we are still recovering from the long days and short nights, but we're getting there!  

brooke was a co-counselor in Gilgal, the 13-14 year old girls.  she also taught a girls Bible class for the 11-12 year old girls.  i was a counselor for Dothan, the 9-10 year old boys.  i also taught the 7-8 year old boys in Bible class.  i also got to speak at our nightly worship service on Monday night.  

we loved getting to catch up with so many old friends.  even though we were "working" to keep up with all these kids, it still felt like a vacation because we spent the entire week with Christians.  

we are making plans already to go next year.  Kristi, Kate Reed, Ryan, Kelly, Mendy, Emily.....ya'll be making plans too!

Brooke and Patti James

A beautiful camp sunset over the "Sea of Galilee"

Me and some of my boys for Bible class

The stands were this packed or worse the whole time!