Visit...

My wife's sister and her husband came down the other day, we had a great visit with them...

Here is a pic of our children, we don't often take a pic of them all together...

A pic of us all together...

Before & After...

Joshua has provided a MUCH better aerial picture...

Just for you Jackie, an aerial view... :) Of course that is like 2002, but you can see how the driveway goes...

This was taken in May of 2003...

Today... Yeah, still have some dirt to move around... :)

Back, obviously... We burned a TON of trees there in the middle over a span of several years...

Back again... Last two also taken in May of 2003...

Here We Go Again...

With the rain that is... I was fully expecting to finish staining the deck today, I got half of the top done, and most of the first coat on the rails last night, then it got too dark for me to see... Of course now, it is about to start pouring down rain and they say we will get a few inches... Oh well, we DO need the rain... Anyway, a few pics of the progress (or lack of it rather... :)

Side view... (obviously!)

Just have to finish the rails down the stairs and finish staining the railings and that side will be done, of course I DO have the WHOLE other side yet to go... :(

From the top... Yes, I do have a trailer FULL of trash/debris in the background that I need to haul to the dump...

Wow!!

I was looking for our wedding pictures and couldn't find them... I asked Carolyn where they were, she was like they are under the bed... They weren't... So I practically tore the house apart trying to find them... I finally found them, and Chance ended up with a new stereo system we found along the way, so he was stoked about that... (It was in one of the closets I searched through... :)

August 10th, 1996...

The 'official' photo I suppose, we did not have a professional photographer... :)

Carolyn and I back at our house for the 'party'... :)

Walking down the aisle...

Me and my siblings on my wedding day twelve years ago...

That was a walk down memory lane... :)

Happy 12th Anniversary Baby!!!

Wow!

What else can you say? Not sure if anyone else is watching the Olympic opening ceremony... It really though just confirms the fact that we as a nation are about done! At least as a superpower... Could you find that many Americans that are that disciplined?? I doubt it... Most Americans are sitting on their fat asses letting the cable or satelite wash over them and demanding that the government send them money that they have not earned... It sickens me! Not only that, but there are SO many people who live in this country that do absolutely NOTHING useful, yet they demand and get money for nothing... It will be the downfall of this country... The current people running for the White House just want to give more and more... It's called pandering for votes! Spending taxpayer money, or in Obama's case, he wants to take money from the oil companies and give it to the lazy, good for nothing, idiots that make up the populace of this country right now! Wow! Yeah... Our days as a superpower are nearly over... Sad really, but when the idiots in Washington keep giving money that they do not have away to people who are too stupid or lazy to earn it themselves, what do you expect?? Just like Ben Franklin said, when the people realize they can vote their way to free money, the country is doomed, and we are...

Rain, Rain, Rain...

It WON'T stop raining... I'm not complaining, because we need the rain and my lawn, flowers, and other plants are LOVING it... I am however TRYING to stain my deck, I've got patches of it done, but wow... I want to get the whole thing done!! Oh well... Soon... I was staining the other day, it was 95 degrees out, clear sky and all of a sudden, out of nowhere came the clouds... I put my stuff up and 30 minutes later the rain started POURING down... Patience Matt... :)

I did come across a few interesting sites today though...

Criminal Searches...

A site where you can type in anyone's name and find out if they have ever been in trouble with the law... It's free! It's still in beta, but it's kind of fun to type in people's names and see what comes up...

Another one...

ZabaSearch...

Lists phone numbers, addresses, etc that may or may not be published elsewhere... Also kind of interesting to type in names of people you know... :)

Of course the election is ALWAYS on my mind as well... The more I read about this Obama, the more I am NOT going to vote for him. The dilemma though is I don't like McCain either... It's a fascinating election though. I'm sure it will become yet more fascinating as the November election draws near... It's right around the corner...

I'm also getting the stuff together for homeschooling while in the midst of trying to finish all the crap I have going on in the back... Fun stuff!! :)

Happy Birthday Carolyn!!!

Sidetracked...

Does that ever happen to you?? It happens to me ALL the time!! I had every intention of finishing staining the deck today, yeah...

We went to Lowe's yesterday and got TONS of plants for practically nothing, so I thought a bed around the deck stairs would be nice... :)

So yeah, I spent half the day making the bed for the plants, I did end up getting some of the staining done as well, hopefully I get more done tomorrow... Right now, I'm too tired... Something about being in that 95+ degree weather with the sun beating down on me makes me tired... The kids just came in with their towels around them and want to know if they can swim, so I guess I'll go up there and watch them, who knows, I might get my suit on as well... :)

For anyone who works outside and wears their iPod, I have found out that if I bring the wire up my back, I don't rip the 'speakers' out of my ear every few seconds... :)

Happy Birthday Timothy!

Yeah, I don't normally do this on my blog, but I don't normally have the event at my house either... :)

We had a cookout today, and also celebrated Timothy's 20th birthday... Yeah, I know his birthday is the 8th, but he is leaving to go back to Auburn tomorrow, so we did it today...

A GREAT time was had by all!

Another Day Goes By...

They broke out the electric guitar, Nick was playing a game I think...

Timberly took all the kids to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park today, Carolyn packed them a lunch. I had to work and Carolyn had to take a Psych test, so it was Timberly and the kids... Timberly is like me though, 1 or 20 kids, who cares... :)

At the top...

It was a mile and a half up, I think most of them regretted doing it, but do it they did! So they had a good time!

Me? I was working most of the day, and then I JUST about stained the deck, I sanded it and was ready to do it, but didn't. Thank God I didn't, because it is pouring down rain right now!! Ugh... I wish it would stop raining!!!

Yeah, Yeah, Whatever, I'm Trying...

I can't get a break though! EVERYTHING left to do with this damn deck ALL involves staining! It has rained off and on for the past two weeks here! I'm just lucky the few things I have stained aren't ruined because it always rains the next day... What can you do?? Nothing... :)

It's getting there though, I have all the posts cut, the rails almost stained, so it's just a matter of waiting for a clear day because the parts that aren't stained white will be a chocolate color to match the brick... So who knows, maybe I'll get that done in the next day or so...

Timberly and the kids came down yesterday, so we are visiting with them. Binky LOVES the pool, of course it rained AGAIN today, but he got to spend a bit of time in the pool. Timberly took all the kids to a movie today while I was at work, and Carolyn has been studying for a psychology test she has to take...

Want to see one of the best scenes in a movie ever? Yeah, I thought so... Here it is:

Hackman and Hoffman in Runaway Jury...

That is one of the BEST scenes in any movie I have ever seen, and of course my favorite lines are delivered by Gene Hackman:

"But the thing of it is, I don't give a shit" "What's more, I never have"

How about this story:

Feds to Katrinians: Go Spork Yourselves...

Too Fing funny... My favorite line of the article is: "Hey there, friend. We're sorry your house blew away and/or flooded, not necessarily in that order; here, have some sporks. No, really, take as many as you want."

So yeah, I've been doing stuff, but not blogging... :) Hope everyone else is doing well, we are having a cookout here Friday, so hopefully it doesn't RAIN that day!!!

Matthew's Academy...

Yeah, it's happening, I am going to homeschool Chance next year, or rather, Carolyn and I are going to homeschool Chance next year... I was still kind of maybe/maybe not on the whole thing until I kept hearing today things like:

"Statewide the reports have been coming in that 40% of 8th grade students "did not meet criteria" on the CRCT. Fulton County reported an 80% failure rate. State superindendent Kathy Cox expressed concern, but said this "dip in scores" was expected because of the new curriculum and a new test."

Yeah, that's for Georgia... Reminds me of a cartoon I saw back when American Idol came out, I tried to find it (for about 5 seconds)... It was a cartoon that showed about three dumb looking kids on a stage, the backdrop said American Idiot, and the judges were saying, "Well MS, it was close, GA almost beat you, but you are the American Idiot!"

So anyway, yeah, homeschooling it is, for at least a year anyway, and if we don't like it, then I suppose I'll bite the bullet and figure out how I'm going to pay a freaking grand a month per child to send them to private school... Wow. Or, I suppose I could just REALLY start my own school at those prices and quit my job and do that full time, yeah, not really interested in teaching anyone else's rug rats though... :)

So today I went to the 2008 Southeast Homeschool Expo at the Cobb Galleria to gather info... WOW!! I did learn a lot, but I'm not surprised at the reaction most people have to homeschoolers now... What a bunch of Fing nutjobs!! So yeah, I WON'T be joining ANY of those groups, are you freaking nuts??? NOR will I be going to Home Schoolers Day at Stone Mountain, the Biltmore, or any other place these Fing idiots hang out... Wow! But I will be homeschooling... :)

2008 Southeast Homeschool Expo


I also got a new camera today that I will be installing outside, I'll get three more once I figure out how the damn thing works... The kids think it is SUPER cool!!

I'm trying to configure the thing, the kids think it is SO cool!!

It's built for outside, yet I'll be able to view the cameras sitting at my desk... I'll have four of them around the house and pool house. They can record, do audio, etc... You can view all four 'shots' in a single application, so it's pretty cool actually... The kids were enthralled with it all I might add... They kept asking me, "So you'll be able to see us outside anywhere?" "What about here...?" Etc... The answer to all the questions was yes... :) I ALMOST have it all figured out, it took me two hours just to get the damn thing working though, but now that I HAVE figured it out, should be fun... There will be NO MORE "Where are the kids?" either, I'll just look and see them all... :) Because I'll have them trained on my entire property... So I can sit here at my desk and see everything that is going on around it...

Tomorrow? Back to the deck!! But it is fun to take time out for an evening and fool with a new toy!!! :) Particularly for someone like me who does tech for a living... I don't do it as much as I should... Although, people I know think because I'm an "IT guy" that I can fix anything... It's NOT the case!! (I can't fix your iPhone, your iPod, your entertainment system or your XBox or Wii!) I'm a backend, enterprise, infrastructure person who deals with Microsoft Server operating systems and Citrix, yet people still think I am able to magically solve ALL IT problems... :) I can for the most part, but yeah, whatever...

I think that's enough for now, because I have to get back to my new toys... :)
Tomorrow will come early and it is already nearly midnight... :)

The Annointed One...

And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.

The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.

When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”

In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.

And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth - for the first time - to bring the light unto all the world.

He travelled fleet of foot and light of camel, with a small retinue that consisted only of his loyal disciples from the tribe of the Media. He ventured first to the land of the Hindu Kush, where the Taleban had harboured the viper of al-Qaeda in their bosom, raining terror on all the world.

And the Child spake and the tribes of Nato immediately loosed the Caveats that had previously bound them. And in the great battle that ensued the forces of the light were triumphant. For as long as the Child stood with his arms raised aloft, the enemy suffered great blows and the threat of terror was no more.

From there he went forth to Mesopotamia where he was received by the great ruler al-Maliki, and al-Maliki spake unto him and blessed his Sixteen Month Troop Withdrawal Plan even as the imperial warrior Petraeus tried to destroy it.

And lo, in Mesopotamia, a miracle occurred. Even though the Great Surge of Armour that the evil Bush had ordered had been a terrible mistake, a waste of vital military resources and doomed to end in disaster, the Child's very presence suddenly brought forth a great victory for the forces of the light.

And the Persians, who saw all this and were greatly fearful, longed to speak with the Child and saw that the Child was the bringer of peace. At the mention of his name they quickly laid aside their intrigues and beat their uranium swords into civil nuclear energy ploughshares.

From there the Child went up to the city of Jerusalem, and entered through the gate seated on an ass. The crowds of network anchors who had followed him from afar cheered “Hosanna” and waved great palm fronds and strewed them at his feet.

In Jerusalem and in surrounding Palestine, the Child spake to the Hebrews and the Arabs, as the Scripture had foretold. And in an instant, the lion lay down with the lamb, and the Israelites and Ishmaelites ended their long enmity and lived for ever after in peace.

As word spread throughout the land about the Child's wondrous works, peoples from all over flocked to hear him; Hittites and Abbasids; Obamacons and McCainiacs; Cameroonians and Blairites.

And they told of strange and wondrous things that greeted the news of the Child's journey. Around the world, global temperatures began to decline, and the ocean levels fell and the great warming was over.

The Great Prophet Algore of Nobel and Oscar, who many had believed was the anointed one, smiled and told his followers that the Child was the one generations had been waiting for.

And there were other wonderful signs. In the city of the Street at the Wall, spreads on interbank interest rates dropped like manna from Heaven and rates on credit default swaps fell to the ground as dead birds from the almond tree, and the people who had lived in foreclosure were able to borrow again.

Black gold gushed from the ground at prices well below $140 per barrel. In hospitals across the land the sick were cured even though they were uninsured. And all because the Child had pronounced it.

And this is the testimony of one who speaks the truth and bears witness to the truth so that you might believe. And he knows it is the truth for he saw it all on CNN and the BBC and in the pages of The New York Times.

Then the Child ventured forth from Israel and Palestine and stepped onto the shores of the Old Continent. In the land of Queen Angela of Merkel, vast multitudes gathered to hear his voice, and he preached to them at length.

But when he had finished speaking his disciples told him the crowd was hungry, for they had had nothing to eat all the hours they had waited for him.

And so the Child told his disciples to fetch some food but all they had was five loaves and a couple of frankfurters. So he took the bread and the frankfurters and blessed them and told his disciples to feed the multitudes. And when all had eaten their fill, the scraps filled twelve baskets.

Thence he travelled west to Mount Sarkozy. Even the beauteous Princess Carla of the tribe of the Bruni was struck by awe and she was great in love with the Child, but he was tempted not.

On the Seventh Day he walked across the Channel of the Angles to the ancient land of the hooligans. There he was welcomed with open arms by the once great prophet Blair and his successor, Gordon the Leper, and his successor, David the Golden One.

And suddenly, with the men appeared the archangel Gabriel and the whole host of the heavenly choir, ranks of cherubim and seraphim, all praising God and singing: “Yes, We Can.”

Here...

My Little Surfer...

I LOVE this picture... :)

Tanner's Trip...

One of the BEST things about traveling is the food!!

One of the MANY people selling crap on the streets in places like Savannah... They were buyers though... :)

A little boarding...

Before, obviously... :)

Feeding the gators...

He says he had a GREAT time, but I SURE am glad he's back home... :)

Rain, Rain Go Away...

It seems like everytime I need to do any painting or staining it starts raining... :( I started staining the deck yesterday, and was rather excited seeing it all come together, then the clouds came in... LUCKILY it did not rain yesterday, but it is today. So what I did stain will be fine. I just want to finish that damn deck so I can get back to that pool house and finish it! Whatever, soon enough and it will all be done...

All is well here, just working and trying to finish these outdoor projects that I now SEE the light at the end of the tunnel on. I'm not going to be starting any more projects anytime soon I might add!! I know most people who read this will be like, "Yeah, right Matt." I'm not though, I swear!! :)

Tanner is down in Savannah/Tybee Island having fun right now, I wish I was! He went on some Ghost tour today, haven't heard how that went yet though. Chance and Taylor went skating last night, it was Lorenzo's birthday and his mom took them all skating, better her than me, I hate doing that, although I do do it periodically...

I'd post pics, but I have been VERY busy this week with issues at the office and haven't taken any. I'll take some though later... :)

Timberly and family (minus LeRoy because of work) will be here Monday, so that will be fun, they are spending the week with us next week, so looking forward to that. Canyon also will be here next week, we always like having him over as well. I guess Friday, the 1st, we are going to have a cookout and celebrate Timothy's 20th birthday, so that will be fun as well!

So lots going on, I'd post more often, but I'm on everyone else's schedule, a post every week or so... :)

I'd also post about the Second Coming of Christ, or rather Obama... I'm sure no one cares though because the voting public has already chosen him... Should be interesting... The Messiah (Obama) will save us all!! That's what the media would have you believe anyway, and they are ALL in the tank for him!! I could care less which one wins though, I don't like either one of them, but those are the choices. Each of them will be a disaster, but how much damage can they do in four years?? We'll soon see I suppose...

That Didn't Take Long...

Not as long as I thought it would anyway... :)

So I went and got the lumber for the deck posts today, and yeah! I ALREADY bought it about a year ago, but it sat so long it is unusable... So that was a waste of money, who knows what I'll do with the lumber I bought a year ago... I'm sure I'll end up throwing it out. Bo helped me as you can see, I had to notch every post, and it took a few hours...

Finally got it all notched though, now I just have to get the router out and notch out where the rails will fit into the posts, I plan on doing that tomorrow...

Tanner and Nate being silly, they decided they wanted mohawks...

So yeah, that's what is going on around here... Carolyn and Nate's mom are having a garage sale tomorrow, I told them I will NOT participate, I HATE garage sales!! So they are nearly ready for that.

Tanner is going to Savannah Monday with our other neighbor for a few days, he should have fun, I'd actually like to go myself, it's been a while since I have been to Savannah... Taylor is hounding me to go camping, so I promised her that we would go after Timberly and LeRoy leave. They are coming to spend a week with us week after next, which we are looking forward to I might add!! Canyon also is coming to spend a week with us, I guess he will be here in a week or so...

So a lot going on, but nothing out of the ordinary... Life as usual at the Acworth Goodling household... :)

Time for Some Campaignin'

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It Was A Nice Day...

FINALLY got stairs so you can go from the house to the pool without walking around!!

I didn't get them done on the other side, because I have to have a little landing there, so I'll pour one tomorrow...

Perspective... Might look a little better if I moved the truck and trailer... Bo is so funny, he will entertain himself for hours watching the pool cleaner. When the cleaner comes up the sides of the pool, Bo goes crazy barking at it...

Chance and Bo, obviously!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah...

I've been TRYING to work outside, but it has been raining every few minutes, so I can't really drag all my tools out... :(

So I've been working on finishing all the drainage issues around here and it's been brutal! Not really "brutal" I don't suppose, but it's VERY muddy and I've had to move a LOT of dirt by hand... I also do NOT like to be dirty, although I frequently am, but not covered with mud!! I finished one side of that circle between the pool and the deck today, and LUCKILY Zach (the neighbor kid that helps me at times) is coming over tomorrow and Sunday, so I'll have him finish it! I HATE digging!! Alas, I have taken no pictures in the past few days, although I'm sure everyone was tired of the deck pictures, but whatever, that's what I'm doing right now... :) It's supposed to be nice this weekend, so hopefully I get a lot of it finished, I'm ready!

I'd go on and on about politics, the economy, the dumb masses, etc right here, but I'm too tired! Perhaps I'll have some pics and a nice rant tomorrow, who knows?? :)

Ugh!! Again!!

Can you believe it takes all day to do something like that???

It shouldn't have, but the way the stairs came down, there was a HUGE distance to the concrete, so I had to build that little landing there, and it is sitting on concrete piers, so they had to be sunk about a foot or more, not to mention the trenches for the supporting lumber underneath... I suppose it would not have taken as long, but that clay there is SO effing hard, but whatever, finally done... :)

Yay!!

I got the stairs done, well, halfway done anyway, which is good enough for me...

Yeah, on both sides... :)

Now I just have to come down on the other side... :( Not really looking forward to that... We'll see how it works out... :)

Ugh!!

Yeah, that fascia board took longer than I thought...

I ran out as well on that one side, but that's an EASY piece compared to how it was going around where it juts out there... So anyway, that's what I've been doing, and hopefully, I'll get at least ONE of the stairs done tomorrow, we'll see... :)

Happy 80th Betty!!

Carolyn's friend Betty came down yesterday to stay with us for a few days, it's her 80th birthday in a few weeks, so we decided to have a party for her this morning before they headed out shopping... :)

Nothing like cake and Coke for breakfast... :) Of course I rarely touch the cake myself... Happy birthday Betty!! My kids just love her to death, of course we all do! :)

Yes! I'm still working on the deck, actually taking a break from it now for a minute because it's so freaking hot outside!! Yesterday I got the posts for the landing on one side in and finished the rest of the posts this morning, I'm putting on the fascia boards now and will then finish the landings and the steps... I wonder how long that will take?? :)

Happy Independence Day!!!