Jessie Running Cross Country

This morning we went to the Regional Cross Country Meet to watch Jessie run, and boy did she run.

Remember that this run is just 16 days after she got hit by a car at cross-country practice. Her previous best time was 23:21. Today's time smashed that time. She ran 22:35 (corrected), finished fourth in the race and first for South AIken.

This was such a great experience for her because the coaching was OUTSTANDING. This stands in contrast to her softball team last year. She is looking forward to track and more cross country next year.

Below is a picture of Jessie, very focused and in a great rhythm, as she gets ready to run the last stretch.




Last Lap

Great job Jessie! We are so proud of you.

WH
[posted with ecto]

Stuck In A Moment

Just a short note.

I've been discouraged by the lack of responses to my attempts to find employment.

I've been encouraged by those who are encouraging me to do something bigger than I have ever imagined that I could do.

I'm stuck in the middle of those places and finding it hard to move in ANY direction.

My own words come ringing back in my ears - "discipline leads to freedom"

Make a move - one foot in front of the other, one idea, one concept, one letter typed on the page of a business plan. One phone call.

Pray as if it all depends on God. Work as if it all depends on you.

WH
[posted with ecto]

A Poem By My Daughter

My Daughter wrote this poem yesterday. After I heard it I told her that I would love to put it on my blog - here it is

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youth sprawls around a café table,
blessing me with his self-entitled, so-called Wisdom—
glowing, god-like, in the sun.

(in his own mind, he thinks that truth comes from books
[and my is he well-read for his age])

but i shake my head and laugh
as he babbles on about totalitarianism and technicalities.

(the flipside of his raison d’etre is the ever-present fear of being found
out—it’s only a matter of time, anyway)

youth gives off an air not unlike a doomed superhero—
fully aware of his tragic flaw,
sick and tired of being his own god
but too afraid to leave the telephone booth without a mask.

youth makes grand gestures with beautifully smooth hands,

(are they manicured?)

but pauses abruptly, his words faltering—

(hands still in the air, mind you)

as Death saunters by in a red dress—
carrying roses

(i didn’t know flowers could be black)

and a crooked crimson smile.

youth is silent, and looks away quickly—
then, with a sudden urgency, he pulls out a pack of Kools,

(maybe he has come to a resolution)

and i quietly wonder if he’ll speak again soon,
while he sucks on a cigarette

(as if he is giving his hatred head).

Jessie Eisenmann

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WH

[posted with ecto]

My Birthday Card From My In-Law's

Just for a laugh I thought that you would like to see just HOW funny my In-Law's are. The following is the text from my birthday card - we did birthday's (My Father-In-Law's birthday is 10/16) in Amelia Island tonight.

A Birthday Poem Just For You

Your brain cells still are working,
your teeth remain intact,
And you can still go dancing 'cause
your hip bones haven't cracked...

You pee without assistance,
Your walk is ever brisk,
And you haven't gotten wrinkled,
grown a hump, or slipped a disk...

Your follicles aren't white yet,
your glands are kicking ass,
And if you choose, you can still can keep
yourself from passing gas...

You don't crank up the thermostat
because you're always cold,
And though you've aged another year...

You're far from being old

Love Jody and Bob

Now that's fun:)

WH
[posted with ecto]

'laxing At The In-Laws

One of Jen and my favorite getaway places is in Amelia Island, FL. Her parents have a rockin' house just over the dune from the ocean. We can relax and do whatever. In fact, right now Jen is taking a nap and I am catching up with writing and reading.

We usually do some things around the house here - I help Jen's Dad with stuff. This visit we put in motion sensitive outside lights in the back yard and front drive.

The weather is beautiful and my run this morning was pleasant. I love Amelia:)

WH
[posted with ecto]

Off To The Schoolhouse

This morning I have a SCORE workshop to attend at our local Chamber of Commerce.

The topic is on "Developing a Business Plan" and will last from 8:30 - 12 Noon. My reasons for going are to get some insight from retired executives on developing a business plan as well as network with business owners from the community. The two plans that I have for small businesses are viable and I want to bounce them off of some experienced people, especially local people, who can give feedback and insight.

Tomorrow we will be leaving to spend a few days with Jen's parents in Amelia Island, FL. That should be relaxing and fun. I love the beach in the Fall.

WH
[posted with ecto]

Planning The Next House

When we moved from a SMALL apartment to a larger house after Jen and I were married I was most excited about the bathroom. It was large, has a garden tub, a shower, and a separate room for the toilet! But the real bonus was the sink, or SINKS!

It had TWO sinks - separate as in HIS and HERS - separate as in MY SPACE AND YOUR SPACE - separate as in I will have room to brush my teeth and put my contacts in. Yeah!!!

That was the idea. The reality however, is that Jen just got more room where she could spread her shit! Below are two pictures from the other day. These are not unusual pictures, or some type of set-up. This is a regular occurrence. I didn't wait until one particularly disastrous evening of "primping" before snapping the shot.


Who's Sink Is It?

The sink on the left is "mine". The truth is that Jen allows me to place some of my toiletries to the back and far left edge of the sink. I have toyed with the idea of a thick magic marker line right down the middle - like you might do in the back seat of the car when traveling with a sibling, except then it was imaginary. The other thought was a "wall" built up between the two sinks. Both, however, would be exercises in futility.


Room To Do What?

Notice the open drawer. It is there so that I can rip my kneecap off and thereby require the use of another bathroom which would be wheelchair accessible, taking me entirely out of the picture.

The only real answer will be when we move to another house, there has to be SPACE between the sinks. The greater the space the better, as any surface will be occupied with various items.

WH

[posted with ecto]

Happy Birthday To Me!!

Some birthday's are better than others. This one was my 47th, and as I like to point out to Jen (much to her shock, horror, and denial), I am eligible for AARP benefits in two years. It ranks as one of the GREAT birthdays!

Yesterday afternoon the dogs were going wild, barking and running back and forth trying to get us to come see the threat to our home and well being. I opened the door and there was Jason. He decided to come home for a weekend and see how Jessie was doing after her car-crashing-into-her incident. He looks great as you can see from the pictures.

Jen made calzones, gave me a Moose Tracks ice cream cake, and we sat around and watched football and shot the shit. I also received a call from my sister in Phoenix, AZ on Friday (my actual birthday) which was awesome. We (Jen, Jessie, and I) are going out there to visit on Thanksgiving - next month! That will be fun.


Jen, Jessie, and Jason

My family is not ONLY beautiful, they are awesome in character and personality. I am a most fortunate man!


Me, Jen, and Jessie

The other thing we did yesterday was attend Molly Fest. Cinnamon, our mixed Chow/whatever, WON the All-American category (translated Mutt) for Most Beautiful! Both dogs were exhausted when we got back home and slept the afternoon away.

Today is a BEAUTIFUL day outside and we are off to church, back for some relaxation and then probably back to Steve and Lori's for our prayer meeting.

WH
[posted with ecto]

The Scariest Thing In A While

I received the phone call at about 5:30 PM. "Jessie has been in an accident near Gold's Gym."

Jessie is my daughter, 16 years old, and a Junior in High School. As I drove to the scene of the accident I wondered how badly the car was damaged and if she was hurt. I looked for the wreck as I went down the street. Funny, I didn't see anything. I didn't see cars backed up signifying an accident.

Just then my cell phone rang - the location of the accident wasn't where I had been told initially, and I was on the way to the new scene. As I arrived I couldn't find Jessie's car. Then I saw her. OH MY GOD! Jessie was sitting on the ground near the street and another kid was there too, surrounded by the cross country team.

It hit like a punch in the stomach - she had been hit by a car while she was RUNNING.

I will cut to the chase and say that she is OK. She will be REALLY sore for the next few days. The other kid will be OK too. Thankfully that is the case.

They had been out with the team running and were just about to finish the last leg of the practice and had stopped at the light. As their coach had instructed them, they stopped at the light. It turned green and they started across the road, a four lane one, and a driver ran the red light and hit the two kids. They hit the windshield and went over the car. Here is a picture of the car.


The Car

Jessie had glass fragments all over her neck and back. They asked if I wanted her to go to the hospital. "Ummmmm, let me think for a second. My daughter has just been hit by a CAR, not while she was in another car but as a PEDESTRIAN and you want to know if she needs to go to the hospital?" Here is a picture of her getting ready for transport.


Jessie Strapped Down

As I mentioned, she is fine. Her leg and ankle were x-rayed and were negative. She has abrasions on her butt, her shoulder, and forearm. We'll see how she feels tomorrow and get her to an orthopedic doctor next week as a follow up.

Scary. Relieved.

WH
[posted with ecto]

My New Hated Term - "Skill-Set"

Well in the past weeks I have placed applications with a variety of companies. At this point the count is close to twenty specific, as well as three job placement services - not including online services (which have initiated a WHOLE new level of spam and 'offers' from parasitic bastards).

I have a "six degrees of separation" story - I stopped into a placement service in Augusta, GA to follow up on a meeting with one of the company reps at a local job fair. I stated who I wanted to see and had a seat in the waiting room. The door opened and there was the woman, as well as another woman who was tending to another individual who was waiting - we looked at each other and our mouths dropped in unison - she was the lady who was the FOSTER MOM to our latest adoption - Lily. Her job? She is Director of Operations at the placement service.

Tell me that's not freaking amazing! Anyway, we talked about dogs and jobs and we'll see her again this weekend at the Molly Fest, where Molly's Militia raises funds for rescuing dogs. My hope is that she will be looking for a job for me also.

Oh, another story. Last year at Molly Fest, we won the raffle (the first time I have EVER won ANYTHING in a raffle). It was a computer monitor. We didn't need it and donated it BACK to Molly's Militia. Well, you would have thought that we had given them a million dollars. The director wrote us a nice letter AND when we sent in the paperwork for adopting Lily, she sent it back with our check saying that our donating the monitor was payment enough.

Anyhoo, we will have fun this weekend, and BONUS, the sun is supposed to come out. We have had rain, mist, and overcast skies for the past 10 days and I am ready for SUN! I should have some pictures to post.

Oh yeah, the title of the blog. The conversations I have had over the past weeks about my resume have added a new term to my jargon - "skill-set".

Here's how the conversation goes:
"Well Mr. Eisenmann, I see that you have done this and that and this and that, and you have a number of abilities. Well we would love to have a guy like you in our company but your (HERE IT COMES) skill-set doesn't fit our needs right now."

Me (In my head for the time being): "Uh. OK. What fucking skill-set are you looking for?", or
"Really, I'm curious, what do you see as my skill-set, and how exactly doesn't it fit?",
Or even, "I know that I can be more honest and LESS full of bullshit than YOU are doing right now. Can I have YOUR job?"

Ah, schmoozing in the workforce world. I am kind and polite (don't freak Jody) BUT I don't like being patronized very much.

More later:)

WH

Day of Football and Hanging Around The House

Jen and i went to Augusta today and helped with the Hispanic medical clinic that our pastor's wife was working with. Since we can't speak Spanish we were limited in what we could do but we stuffed grab bags and then walked downtown for a while before deciding to come back home and stick around here and watch football and golf.

I made some Costa Rican black beans and we'll just eat in.

Nothing to report on the job search so far but I am always filling out applications and sending resumes. Getting a job is hard work!

Tomorrow we get to hang out with our church community and cook out. That's always fun.

WH

[posted with ecto]

Finally Raining

The skies have opened up here in Aiken.

After almost a month of NO RAIN we are finally getting some liquid sunshine. Actually it has rained almost 4 inches since yesterday.

The dogs don't know what to do. Our newest dog Lily, won't go outside and poop since it started raining so we took her for a walk when the rain stopped and she pooped right away - and not in the street. For the story behind this you have to read the post.

Jen and I have been in Augusta every night since Tuesday, and Monday we drove to Lexington, SC for the Evening Of Miracles meeting. We are taking advantage of the rainy night and staying in to watch the baseball or whatever we want to do.

It is so good to have my best friend as my wife! I can't imagine having to hate to come home or not having a partner in life to share with. My wife is such an awesome woman. I'm looking forward to the evening and relaxing.

WH
[posted with ecto]

This Is Jen's Butt at Worship Practice

This is typical for our worship team, more typical for my wife. They were practicing yesterday morning and I said that I was taking some pictures, and Jen decided to show her butt, literally. So I took the picture and told her that I would be putting it on the blog.

She said, "go ahead." Well there you go, and here you are...


Jen's Butt In Worship

She's real glad that I didn't put some of the other ones up here:)

Her Mom reads this blog. Hi Jody.

WH

[posted with ecto]

Jason is Home!

Last night I was talking with Jessie, my daughter, about the weekend retreat that she went on with her boyfriends church youth group (check out the restaurant she was serving in - Cafe 458, Here too), and my cell phone rang.

It was almost 12:30 am. I was enjoying the fact that I didn't have to get up at 4 fucking 30 the next day, and enjoying the time with my daughter.

I walked over to my cell phone and looked at the display - "Jason's Cell".

He was home, and calling from his cell phone!

Jason is back stateside and should be here until March 2006 when his platoon is scheduled to return back to Iraq. I can't wait to see him. It should be in the next few weeks. My son is safe, at least from bombs and bullets. I slept well last night.

WH

Jason Should Be Stateside Soon

Got a great phone call yesterday from Jason. He was in Kuwait and called to let me know that they were flying out either today or tomorrow and should be stateside Sunday or Monday. Great timing.

Operation Iron Fist began yesterday and he probably would have been involved if his division was still in Iraq. Keep praying for those involved and still in harm's way.

Spent the morning doing yard stuff - cutting grass, Autumn fertilizing of the lawn, bush pruning, and the never ending "picking up of dog shit" times two. Now Jen and I are relaxing and watching college football. Jessie is out on a church weekend trip with her boyfriend's youth group.

Tomorrow is our church community day and it's always great to hang out and see friends.

I hope that your weekend is one of relaxation and refreshing. I am enjoying mine.

WH