Author: Robert

Posted on

a terrell family CHRISTmas

so the boys are a sleep, the gifts have been placed out, and pam and i are settling down for a “long winter’s nap.” i thought before i go to bed i would write about our CHRISTmas traditions. we hae some set patterns for CHRISTmas eve and CHRISTmas that have been a part of our family since the boys were very young.

CHRISTmas eve

 

  • supper – everyone gets to pick their favorite appetizer and we eat all of it together. it’s a simple meal that is fun for everyone. it works real well in rushing to eat after the CHRISTmas eve church service.
  • movie – we all watch “CHRISTmas vacation” together. what a fun movie.
  • read the CHRISTmas story from the gospel of luke.
  • the boys get to open 3 presents. every year we give them a new CHRISTmas tree ornament and pajamas. we also allowed them to open the gift that they give to each other. here are the ornaments and pajamas from this year: adam – nightmare before CHRISTmas ornament & sponebob pajamas; noah – espn sports center ornament & superman pajamas. adam gave noah a “signed” photo of uga (the georgia mascot – noah is a huge goergia fan) and noah gave adam an itunes gift card – adam likes the music.
  • when the boys go to sleep the gifts are placed out from santa and pam and i go to bed.

CHRISTmas day

  • the boys are not allowed to wake us up until 7 a.m. we had to start this rule because noah would wake up at 3 a.m. and be ready to open gifts.
  • CHRISTmas lunch is pastalaya. it’s good stuff and it will be even better because we’ll share it with a couple of friends this year.
  • movie – the family (and hopefully our two friends) go to a movie at the theater.

day after CHRISTmas

  • travel to alabama

the above are the typical things that happen. i hope your CHRISTmas is full of friends, family, and fun. i also hope that you encounter CHRIST in someone who joins you for your celebrations.

Posted on

heavenly moonshine?

IMG_1764

i have no idea what this quote is supposed to mean. it is on the sign of a pub on post road. i would love to know what they are trying to communicate with it. i guess i’ll just have to stop in and ask them.

any ideas?

Posted on

the week in tweets – 2009-12-19

  • as of today noah is now a 13 year old. what did i ever do that is bad enough to deserve two teenagers? HAPPY BIRATHDAY NOAH! #
  • @KenNichols – we had a 4 point and an 8 point buck in our backyard today so they have grown and apparently multiplied. in reply to KenNichols #
  • just had a very enjoyable run because the weather has warmed up to 19°. warm weather is nice every now and then 🙂 #
  • according to the commercial i just watched "all i need is love" and apparently love=a blackberry phone. who knew? #

Powered by Twitter Tools

Posted on

winter running

when it gets as cold as it is right now (3°F at noon) i always struggle with what to wear for running. fleet feet sent out an email today with good suggestions for cold weather running attire. i thought i would share it. you can find more info on fleet feet’s winter gear suggestion page.

General Rules of ‘Numb’

  • Dress as if it is 20 degrees warmer
  • Think layers of technical fabrics to wick sweat
  • Zippers at the neck or gloves you can adjust will help you regulate as you heat up

 

COLD

  • 30 degree weather: 2 tops, 1 bottom. Long sleeve base layer and a vest to keep your core warm. Tights (or shorts) for you polar bears.
  • 10-20 degrees: 2 tops, 2 bottoms. A jacket over your base layer and wind pants over your tights.

 

COLDER

  • 0-10 degrees: 3 tops, 2 bottoms. Two tops (fleece for the cold prone) and a jacket. Windbrief for the men.
  • -10 to 0 degrees: 3 tops, 2 bottoms, an extra pair of mittens, 1 scarf or neckwarmer wrapped around mouth or a balaclava.

 

COLDEST

  • -20 degrees weather: 3 tops, 3 bottoms, 1 balaclava, sunglasses.

turns out that the above list actually came from runner’s world. fleet feet just republished it. you can find that article here.

Posted on

the week in tweets – 2009-12-12

  • after being stranded at the dog park and ruining our family plans to go buy a CHRISTmas tree my car now has a new battery. #
  • @meganckelly – she did in reply to meganckelly #
  • http://twitpic.com/smn8l – my old water bottle has been mia for some time. i just replaced it with this cheap, bad boy. i'm drinking from a #
  • @johnthemember – they are no where near as annoying since the packers are winning 🙂 in reply to johnthemember #
  • Let's stick together on this. If you get wind of anything, call me on my radio. Channel three, code word is "Santa's got a brand new bag" #
  • "my angry god is punishing them. it's a christmas miracle." #
  • oh yeah it's been a pretty manly day. i bought a "new to me" shotgun, diagnosed and fixed a problem with pam's minivan, and cut down a tree! #
  • @bCodySmith – nothing special. a remington 870 a good, reliable shotgun. i've been shooting a 20ga for dove for yrs but duck are bigger. in reply to bCodySmith #
  • @dhaltom7 – i bought it though in reply to dhaltom7 #
  • @dhaltom7 – it is true that i am always envious of @joshcausey in reply to dhaltom7 #
  • going to buy the ingredients necessary for jambalaya for "hot drink night." i love "hot drink night." it's 0° and i will be cooking outside. #
  • @johnthemember – i wish. that would have been great. i wish my mind worked like yours. in reply to johnthemember #
  • http://twitpic.com/t8gzd – st had the 6 point buck in our backyard. he was about 25' away from our backdoor. #
  • http://twitpic.com/t8h3j – just had the 6 point buck in our backyard. he was about 25' away from our backdoor. #
  • @KenNichols – yep but this guy is just for watching. at least as long as he stays within the village limits. in reply to KenNichols #
  • finishing the jambalaya and just discovered that we have FLYING SQUIRRELS in our backyard. they were after our corn not the jambalaya. #

Powered by Twitter Tools

Posted on

the boys gingermen

DSC_0005_edited-1

pam found out that the above photo is what happens when you ask an almost 13 year old and a 15 year old boy to help you decorate gingerbread men. starting from the bottom and going clockwise they are":

  • the gingernator
  • drowning gingerbread man
  • dissected gingerbread man
  • karate gingerbread man
  • picasso gingerbread man

there were others but they are nsfw.

Posted on

fall from grace?

fall from grace

today i heard someone use the phrase “fall from grace” in regards to all the stuff going on in the life of the tiger woods family. i don’t really care to write anything about what has happened with tiger & elin woods. i do, however, want to talk about that phrase. “fall from grace” seems to imply that we are “in grace” when everything is going great and we are doing everything right. in the case of tiger woods he was apparently living “in grace” when he was a billion dollar athlete with all those corporations wanting to use his skills as a golfer to sell their products. then he apparently “fell from grace” when he lost all that? at least that they way i understood the use of the phrase.

seems like that is the way the phrase is usually used. its said when someone’s perfect life is destroyed by their own screw ups and the public is no longer in love with them. someone has an affair, gets caught doing something crooked, or giving into what they shouldn’t and they have suddenly “fallen from grace.”

except that’s not what grace is about. grace means receiving the very thing we do not deserve. we are in grace when we have been and are being forgiven of the very things we don’t deserve to be forgiven of. we have the opportunity of “falling into grace” right at the moment that we realize that we have really screwed up. i guess the way we really “fall out of grace” is by rejecting the forgiveness that is being offered to us. grace is not something that we “fall out of” when life is falling apart. instead, it is at those very screwed up moments that we actually have the opportunity to fall into the arms of grace.

i hope tiger (and all of us) “fall into grace” because grace always seems to have a way of lifting people back up.

Posted on

they laughed at me

yaktrax

i love running in the snow!

as most of you know , i m not a fast runner. i don’t usually beat very many people in the races i enter. i’m thrilled if i’m in the top 50%. therefore, i rarely ever really feel like a runner when i talk about the speed at which i run. i know people who can speed walk faster than i can run. while i don’t run very fast i am very committed to running. this is why i love to run when it is raining or snowing. the uncomfortable times are when other people usually will not run and therefore i usually feel like a real runner for being committed enough to run even though the environment isn’t very conducive for a positive running experience. it’s times like this when i feel like a real runner.

since we had a storm moving in last night (in fact A BIG STORM) i couldn’t miss the chance to run right when the snow began. i went to the plover river trail to run on it before the snow got high enough for cross country skiing (the point area has the best trail system and it is very rude to mess up the groomed cross country ski trails once there is enough snow to ski). it was an amazing run along the plover river with its edges icing up.

yet the truly fun part began when i started to drive home. you see i had been running in winter tights and a jacket. it works perfect for running because its just barely warm enough. while it is great while i am running it is not really something i want to wear into stores and around public. it is also very cold if you are not running. on division street (the main drag from point to plover) my radio died. i thought that was a little weird but it came back on so i dismissed it as static electricity resetting the radio. then it happened again and all the lights on my dashboard came on and immediately blanked out. at that point i was fairly sure that the alternator in my car was dying. i figured it out for sure just about the second that my car stopped running. i was stuck on the busiest street in stevens point during lunch hour and the beginning of a snow storm. i was going to have to get out of the car and push it on division while wearing just running tights and a jacket.

i desperately thought that i might be able to get someone to stop but apparently people don’t respond well to tall guys in tights. three guys finally had pity on me and came over to help push the car to a safe place. i’m not real sure why they laughed constantly while they were pushing the car.