Showing PDA in front of 55,000!

Let me preface this by saying the kids may not need to read or watch this video. Ole Miss football has been poor at best last year and the first game this year. Royann and I attended the opening game last weekend and really the only highlight of the game was the couple sitting in the same section as us. They kept the fans sitting around them excited with their PDA, because the game sure wasn't that exciting. They took PDA to a whole new level. We all saw them doing things you wouldn't see on late night on Cinemax to sum it up. At one point during their PDA, Kelsey, who was sitting with us proceeded to throw ice on them. It was probably the loudest cheer at the game when Kelsey pelted them with ice. Kelsey said they needed to cool off, but it only slowed them down for a few seconds.

What's my Name?

I know this might make me sound a little crazy, but a few years back I wrote a creed for my life, like a business creed, but for my own daily life goals. One of those goals each day is to spend time listening to others, because everybody is an expert in something and all people have a hobby they enjoy and enjoy talking about. When I say listening, I am not just saying hearing another person. Listening and hearing are quiet different. Listening means making eye contact, giving body language to what they say, and responding after a few seconds of really crunching what they say. So with all that said, learning from others can be one of the most rewarding experiences in life. I try to ask lots of questions to people I meet and to people that are close to me. I feel like sometimes I am annoying  people because I question why they do the things they do. I am not questioning them or their standards, but the way they do things or something they like to do and I want to learn about. If their way is better and can make my life better, then I am all for it. Like lately, everybody I meet that has children or has had children I may talk and question them about how they are raising or raised their children. Or I may meet somebody that is successful in business, I would question them on their successes in the business world. The list could go on and on.

So remember one thing from all this mumbo jumbo Rocky' Rule #6, "Everybody is given a gift by God and are a expert in some field or hobby. So spend time listening to others, true listening like I explained above. It is a art and could change your life and or some body's life forever. Lots of lessons can be learned by listening to others. When you turn the spotlight on somebody else talking about about their likes and expertise, the light always shines brighter on you when you walk away. Because everybody loves a good listener. The opposite is true when the conversation is only about you and your likes. You may be known as conceited or selfish."

So all that leads me to my point. I was talking to my brother a while back about parenting and kids. I think my brother is one of the best parents I have ever been around. I asked him how he got his kids to be so social with family members they only see a few times a year. He told me his secret to it all. My brother told me that it wasn't true about his kids seeing family members only a few times a year. I took it in and asked what he meant because I went to the same family functions he went to. He told me his kids see all of our family everyday. Again I took it in and questioned him how because they live in Eupora. There is no way they get around and see all the family every day. He told me his secret, and he said, "one of the favorite books the kids look at every night with me is the family photo album  Mom made for us for Christmas a few years back." He told me, he teaches the kids all the family members faces and names. So they may only physically see the family a few times a year they are not strangers because they actually see them every day and hence they are not afraid of them.

So I started a few months ago with Ann Fleming teaching her, her family. All of that to get to this video. One of the things Ann Fleming and I look at every night is my family photo album, The Leflore Family Blog pictures, and The Buse Family Blog. She gets to see her best friend Trip on The Buse Blog. Watch how excited she gets to see TWIPPP!!:

Hello 40's: It's been a while!

This celebration is brought to you by music from the 40's:

As you probably already know from reading the title, I finally made it to the 240's and I am inching my way ever so closer to my goal. Tropical Storm Lee put a few kinks in my walking pattern this past weekend, but I got caught up. I am still walking 6-8 miles per day and in the past couple of weeks I have also added sit-ups and push ups to my exercise pattern each day, just for some tone. The afternoons have been so nice the past few days to walk in. I think at 6:00 when I do most of my walking, it has been around 70. It almost has been to cool for the kids in the wagon by sunset.

Starting Weight:

299

Total weight at the end of Week 8

252

Total Weight at the end of Week 9

248

Total Weight Loss

51 LBS.



Sleep It's What's For Dinner!

One thing our kids, Royann, and I share is if we get still we will go to sleep. I stay up late every night with the computer programming company I own in India with getting them on track with their task each day so I have gotten use to not much sleep. They are 11.5 hours ahead of our time. If I get five to six hours I am happy, but if I get still in the day I will fall out. Royann works very hard in the day and then comes home and spends time with the kids so her nights are cut short on sleeping time because she understands spending time with the kids is very important. We usually get up around 5:30 to get to the office. Royann needs a lot more sleep than I do so on her days off she enjoys her late mornings and I let her enjoy them. Royann usually reads to the kids each night and they all usually fall asleep after reading so I am left with the task of putting the kids in their own bed. Here are some shots after their reading session the other night:

If things are slow around the office in the day, I will catch a little nap with the kids and Royann loves taking pictures and videos of me snoring because I always brag about how I don't need much sleep.

We are all out!

Who's Yo Daddy?

Afternoon walks usually consists of myself, the kids in the wagon, and the labs to get them some exercise. Since most days they just sit in kennels all day. Lately I have had complaints from my neighbors about Spoonbill chasing their pets. I haven't paid much attention to the complaints until Spoonbill walked up to me the other day with a dead cat in her mouth. I knew I had to give her some life lessons real quick or my neighbor would with a shotgun. I brought out the shock collar the other day and thought I would establish some boundaries for Spoonbill as far as their yard goes. Now Spoonbill knows exactly what the shock collar is. She fears and starts vibrating when she sees it. She is the best heeling lab you would ever want when she has the collar on. I put it on her the other day for our walk. I had no problems when we passed my neighbors house and their yard had numerous pets in it. So I just put the remote to the collar in the carrier with Taylor because after passing their house I knew there would be no more problems with Spoonbill. Taylor was already asleep and I knew she wouldn't hit any buttons. I usually wear head phones with music playing while I walk and I turn the music up just enough that I can hear the kids and hear the music also. We made it down to the Downing's turn rows about a mile away with Spoonbill either walking on my heel or right beside the wagon with the kids. We made it just a little ways down the turn row and I hear this high pitch squeal and Spoonbill burst out like she has a rocket attached to her butt. I though maybe she was chasing a skunk or any other small animal we have seen on our walking trips. I called her back and she got back on heel. About ten minutes later she did the same thing but screaming louder this time. I turned around to see if there was a problem with the remote malfunctioning, but it was missing. I heard Spoonbill around the corner scream again. I had to find the remote and turn it off or find Spoonbill and get the collar off of her, but we had gone about a mile and a half and it is no telling where the remote fell out. I look through the wagon to see if it was in there and I didn't find it. I finally get Spoonbill almost close enough to get collar off of her and she takes off again squealing. I looked around and figured out why she is squealing. Ann Fleming had grabbed the remote while I wasn't looking and had it hid and was pushing the button to shock her on the highest amount of electricity it would give. It was funny at the time, but not for poor Spoonbill. The remote will stay in my hands from now on.

Week 8: Keep on Moving

KEEP ON MOVING

Week 8 was just another week of moving on toward my goal. One thing I have learned with trying so many exercise programs over the years is it is easy to quit when you get in the lull. I would call the lull when you reach the point it becomes boring and repetitive. I had a coach tell me one time that "All it takes is for you to quit once to quit all the time". I thought numerous times this week, it will be ok to miss today. Then I thought back to what my old coach said about quitting and this Bob Marley song. One milestone I did reach this week is I actually put on and buttoned some pants that I wore in college. Now it was total embarassment what was petruding over the top of those jeans, but I would say within 3-4 weeks I will be wearing them for good.

Starting Weight:

299

Total Weight End of Week 7:

254

Total Weight End of Week 8

252

Total Weight Loss

47