Connect our World

Check out my new page at World Vision! My family and I have been sponsoring a boy from Honduras for about six years. This is a chance to share that passion with our friends and family members.

It really is a good way to make a difference for at least one family in this world. Not an easy thing to do these days, though there's surely plenty to do.

And hey, we're now members of New Spring Community Church! I have to say this is really the coolest church that ever existed. I know that the words "cool" and "church" don't usually go together, but this church is truely an exception to the rule. Nothing at all like a typical church, more like a rock concert. But don't let that fool you, because we're making a positive impact on Anderson County, SC. I LOVE THIS CHURCH!

It may sound a little harse, but I believe that

If you're not doing your best to make the world better or making a positive impact on someone's life, you need to leave this earth and stop using up our precious resources!

But I say that with the greatest respect and concern. ;-) Love ya, see ya, Later.

Playing Favorites: Part 2

To continue the thought from last post, I am going through a few of my favorites for you. I'm trying to spin a little of my life history along the way.

Sports (continued):
In my last post, I mostly discussed soccer which is surely my top favorite. And, it's sort of natural that it would be since it's the only sport I ever played with any success. But I also mentioned that Baseball was also a favorite of mine. That's a different story.

I like baseball because its a thinking man's sport. It has elements of team competition as well as personal competition. The player has to be anticipating what will happen next and how his teammates will react. When in the field, the player is a part of the whole. But at the plate, a player is not only supporting his team, he is also competing against his own best record as well as all the players that came before. He stands on his own and faces the opposition of the pitcher and the uncertainty of the pitch. Added to these aspects is the fact that the coach must use a great deal of strategy when deciding which player to field. Left-handed batters, the pitcher's personal style, and the special abilities of each player must be weighed as the game progresses.

To those who think baseball is to slow, I would suggest that they either don't know how the game is played, or they just don't like to think. Basketball has blazing speed and thuggish brutality; football has macho impact and tons of strategy. But for me, I prefer baseball.

But not because I ever played it with any success. My earliest recollection of baseball is a game played in second or third grade at Mauldin Elementary. I wasn't a member of a team, so it was either a pick-up game or a game played at recess. Whatever the reason, the thing that stands out is that I got beaned in the forehead while batting. Of course, every rushed over to see if I was hurt, and I cried. I remember the embarrassment of both the fact that I got hit and that I cried. I couldn't help it, I guess. I certainly knew that I would be picked on because of it, and I was. I'm sure I played a few more games while in school. I don't remember anything about playing. I do remember that I was usually picked last for whatever game we were playing, be it dodge ball, red rover, or kickball. Sports was never my strong point.

If you consider Tae Kwon Do a sport, I did enjoy learning it and took lessons for about a year while I was going to Greenville Technical College. I earned a yellow belt and was working on my brown belt when I quit taking. I imagine that was about the time I started dating a hot blond at the Ingles Deli counter. ;-)
Love ya. Good night.

Playing Favorites: Part 1

Tonight's post is dedicated to favorites, and you can probably guess most of mine.

Sports: Soccer and Baseball.
Since we never had a TV when I was a kid, neither Daddy nor I watched sports on TV when I was growing up. As far as I know, Daddy never played a sport although I believe he did lift weights when he was younger. I do know that he was concerned about his fitness, but I never saw him do more than calisthenics at home. Since I went to small private schools most of my life, the schools I attended never had much of a sports program. The school I graduated from did have soccer and basketball. I played soccer for several years as a fullback (defensive player in front of goalie). I felt like I could really contribute to the soccer team although I was never a star. Although I was on the basketball team one year, I never really played. I remember being put in the game one time when we were already loosing badly. I was only in for about two minutes during which time I made our score even worse. Anna, on the other hand, was an awesome basketball player - the star of our schools team her last two years.

Books: Too many to list them all! I had a lot of time to read when I was growing up because most of the time we lived so far away from any kids my age that I only had friends at school. Since we didn't regularly attend church I didn't really have any close friends at church. With no TV or radio to distract me, I had to find something to do with my time. I found that books can transport you to wonderful places and can be lots of fun.
Probably my all time favorite book is Treasure Island. I had (still have) a great copy with notes about all the nautical language in the margins. It was great and I still love it to this day. I read all the Hardy Boys books I could get ( I think I read all that were in print at the time) and then re-read them. I read all the Sugar Creek Gang books I could get. They were among my favorite birthday and Christmas gifts! I even read all the Nancy Drew books I could get. Boy, I had a major crush on Nancy Drew! I used to wish I could have been one of her neighbors so I could share in her adventures. Later, I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories ever written and then re-read them. Later I read the Chronicles of Narnia series which lead me to the Tolkien Lord of the Rings series. When I went off to Basic Training, I started reading the Thomas Covenant series. Recently, I've read through the Aubrey/Maturen (Master & Commander) series and I getting ready to start reading them through again. It also looks like I'll be reading the Thomas Covenant series again too, If I can get them on CD.
Books have been my best friends throughout life. They continue to be my favorite way to spend time alone. Can you tell I really love them! Going to the library used to be a real treat for me.

Well, that's enough for tonight. There will definitely be more to come.

schools

Thursday's Child

Hi Kids,
Well, the book starts out with some stats about me, so here's a few.
I was born a poor, black child .. no wait, that's somebody else. I was born on Thursday night, May 9, 1963. Guess that makes me Thursday's child.

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go . . .
Friday's Child is loving and giving
Saturday's Child must work hard for a living
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

So I guess I have far to go, and it does seem like I'm traveling quite a bit recently.

But tonight, I'm not to far from the place I was born, Huntsville Memorial Hospital in Huntsville, AL. Of course, you know my mother was Teresa Yvonne Sightler and my dad is David Arnon West. They were only married for about a year when I was born, so I guess they never had much time to themselves before I came along. Jumped right into that family thing with both feet!

Daddy's parents were Arnon Edgar West and Jessie Clyde Swearingen. Don't know where they met, but I do know Grandpa spent some time in Kansas before moving to Georgia (Warner Robins).

Mommy's parents were William Hilary Sightler and Lillian ? Thigpen. I'm thinkin they both were born and raised in middle Georgia, but I'm not sure. Aunt Wilma could tell us I suppose, or maybe Daddy too.

Not sure how they got together, but I do know that Ralph Sparks from West Virginia met Mommy's cousin, Patsy and they got married. Now Ralph had a sister named Jean who met and married Johnny West, my Uncle Johnny. Somehow Daddy met Mommy through Ralph and Patsy. They met briefly and then corresponded via letters for a while before they got married. We'll have to ask Papa for more details next time we see him. I do know that they got married within a week of Mommy graduating from high school. Now don't get any ideas! Times were different then and women didn't work except in the home. Not many ever went to college and most of them never had a job afterwards. Besides, it's just a bad idea to get married before you even get a chance to find out who you are and what you want to do in life! Your mother and I didn't get married until we were 21/22 and even that was a bit to young!

I guess you'd have to ask Papa about where they lived in Huntsville after they got married. I've seen a few old movies and it looked kind of like a nice place for starting out.

Well, enough for tonight. Love ya, see ya later.

Moving?

Well, the day has come. I have to make a decision. Do I move to typepad or not?

I think I'll decide ... not to make a decision! whew. that was close.

OK. Seriously. I'm gonna keep my typepad account for a little while longer and let them charge me for a month or two while I continue evaluating it.

Until that time ... I'll be posting there. The link is here.

Bye. See ya at the new place (I changed the wallpaper and painted, hope you like the new look)!

Moleskines!

God's perfect little notebooks! Here are some cool hacks for using them. First heard about them on 43folders blog. After using one for several weeks, I'm hooked! Still perfecting my system, but I:

• Number the pages (lower outside corner - allows for putting date at top of page)
• Label Meta Data on top outside corner as it applies
• Reserve about 20 pages at the back and label them alphabetically for quick access items
• I also use that section for blog or webpage ideas
• Currently trying to apply GTD to this system.

Get one! Try it! You'll be hooked. I can't believe people grumble about paying $10 for a notebook of this quality.

What is 20 years worth?

** Also posted on my new, trial, typepad blog **
What would you trade 20 years of your life for?

* Most of us trade at least 12 years for a basic education.
* Some spend up to 12 more years to learn a profession.
* Others spend at least 6 years in service to our country
* It's pretty common to spend 30 years of more working to pay for a house
* At least for us Americans, we spend our whole lives working to get stuff and then working to maintain that stuff until we get new better stuff .....

Well, I've spent my last 20 years building a marriage and family. That shouldn't be as remarkable as it seems to be these days. I've spent 20 years:

* Trying to get along with someone else who sometimes has very different ideas about the world,
* Learning to put my frustration and sometimes disappointment behind me and restore our relationship,
* Learning that I'm not always right (not always ..lol),
* Learning how to show my feeling,
* Learning how to teach children about life, consequences, respect, and right behavior,
* Experiencing companionship to a level I never dreamed of,
* Finding out that love is a lot of work, a little frustration, a bit of sacrifice, and a lot of forgiveness (on both sides) mixed with moments of bliss.

I think I got a good deal; I hope you feel the same way, Renea! Sorry the guy you married 20 years ago was so clueless. Thanks for being my companion on this learning expedition!

A misty, musty summer morning

Also posted on my new, trial, typepad site.
Another humid SC summer morning, well almost summer. Reminds me of mornings spent in Grandmother's garden. Seems like every summer when I was a kid we three West family children spent a couple of weeks or more at Grandmothers house in Glenwood, Georgia. Lot's of good memories there.

Grandmother wasn't much for sleeping late and if you wanted a good, hot, country breakfast (this was before the days when sausage was verboten; nobody gave a second thought to gravy, biscuits, and butter) you got up early. No vegging out in front of the TV (shouldn't they call it larding out?), we had work to do!

I sure remember weeding the garden when the dew was still on the plants! Walking through the backyard barefoot with grass sticking to my feet. Then kneeling in the sandy dirt while we pulled up chickweed and other garden villains. After that, we picked beans, squash, tomatoes, or whatever else was ready to pick. By the time we finished, the south Georgia sun was beating down and clouds of gnats had gathered to pester us for the rest of the day. Sure don't miss gnats! Thank you God for keeping them down in Georgia!

Produce to wash, beans to snap, walls to wash, mattresses to turn out and air, raking pine straw, always something to do at Grandmothers. That's not to say we were slave labor or anything. Though working wasn't my favorite thing to do, it's just what we did. This was balanced by trips to the whirlpool in Scottsdale (?? Scottsville? something like that), cool watermelon, or playing in the sprinkler outside.

Man do I miss those days. Why? Sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it? I don't know. I sure miss my Grandmother; I loved her with a fierce pride. She was a strong woman who knew what it took to make her way in that world. She lived by herself and supported herself for many years before marrying again. She was a disciplinarian, that's for sure, but without crushing your spirit. I know I got lots of swats with the "fly-flap"; well deserved I'm sure. And yet I always felt a home there. Somehow I always felt loved there too. You knew what was expected and the consequences for not fulfilling them.

Well, I guess I've got my own chores to do now. Like cutting the jungle I call a yard before the neighborhood kicks us out. (While trying not to give in to the urge to kill the stupid beagle behind our house who bays for hours at nothing!) Somehow I think there's a comfort in having someone else watch over you.

Perhaps you missed that as well, Grandmother. I sure do miss you and Mommy. I still love you both.