I gave it a shot. Living in Columbus makes being an Ohio State Buckeye fan pretty intriguing. I admitted to being a Buckeye fan this past week on the podcast, but after a week of giving it a shot I had to be honest. With OSU being at the top and probably on their way to another championship I still wasn’t too thrilled about selling my soul to Columbus. I’ve been a VT fan for far too long to just up and leave and join the Buckeye clan here in Columbus. I might not get to watch the Hokies every week, but when I do it is far more exciting for me than a few weeks of Buckeyes games. One trip to Blacksburg far outweighs a 20 minute drive to the Horseshoe. I’ll still cheer for the Bucks over any team but VT, especially Michigan. I’m actually heading down to OSU this evening to listen to Coach Tressel and some of the Buckeyes share their testimonies and faith in Christ………but to show my dedication, I will be covered in a Hokies jersey and cap, lol.

Our oldest daughter Livi (on the right)  had her last soccer game of  the season this week. After playing soccer pretty much my whole life, I understand how you can have a sense of worthlessness unless you either score a goal or help someone score a goal. At the 5 year-old level it’s definitely harder to even get close to the goal most of the time. Some people call it “magnet ball” becuase the kids are all attracted to the ball and don’t stay a certain distance apart (not much passing going on). The coaches here do a great job of teaching spacing much better than most younger leagues I have seen.

I decided to give Livi “challenges” each game. We started out with kicking the ball 4 times, and each game it increased. She shocked me one game by kicking it 12 times when her challenge was still at 8 kicks. Their team tied most of the games (0-0 for the most part), but Livi had something in mind. She told us the evening before her last game that she really wanted to score a goal, which I tried to downplay a bit so she wasn’t crushed if it didn’t happen. It did happen, and in a dramatic way, lol. The coaches are on the field for this age level and help them learn the game by giving them some instruction while playing. The other coach was in the middle of the group of kids in front of the other team’s goal and Livi kicked a good one and hit him right in the shoulder while he was inside of the goal. She was distressed, and told me that didn’t count because the coach kicked it back out. I had to explain to her that he kicked it out to the middle of the field to start the game over, not to keep it from going in the goal. They did start the game with a new kickoff, so that helped her understand that it counted a little, but thanks to her coach – he gave her great encouragement in saying that they were now winning the game. Her and her friend Megan (who ended up scoring 2 goals later in the game) decided the boys could just stick to defense this game………girls rule – boys drool. Well, they better not be drooling too soon……..I wouldn’t take that too well quite yet. I guess it’s safe they were drooling at Dairy Queen after the game…….maybe they liked the ice cream?

I literally am one today…….been to a Nascar race this weekend and I have a white strap across the back of my neck from my ticket holder…….the rest of me be many much more redder. Thanks to my parents for giving Nina her first night away from us on Saturday night and making this possible. I won’t go into the details of the great hotel we stayed at (http://www.webersinn.com) or the steak we had for lunch that our friends, the Fanslers, cooked up for us……..or even that night’s supper over at http://www.bdsmongolianbarbeque.com. That’s a recipe for a great time for sure, but we haven’t even started our engines yet…..

We won’t mention the 7 hours it took for us to get home (2 1/2 hours away) thanks to the traffic, but what else can you expect when you and 130,000 other rednecks intrude on some farmland in the middle of nowhere? I’ve posted pics below of our trip to the pits before the race. We both got to hang out in our favorite driver’s box for a while and also grab some 250 pictures of some nice looking loud machines. Marla’s driver ended up blowing an engine on lap 18 of 200, but he’s still a contender for the championship. My driver finished 11th out of the 43 drivers and is also a contender with two weeks to go before “playoffs” begin. You just can’t beat the true patriotic feeling of the national anthem, cheers from drunk rednecks, 4 F-16s and fireworks…….then 43 cars lined up side by side roaring by at 190+ miles per hour. Many people are very correct when they say that Nascar isn’t a sport………..it’s a lifestyle. Don’t say a FREAKING word until you’ve been there……..or I’ll remove your comment – so there! Thanks for the beautiful weather God!

After learning the old song on the way to their first game, the girls had a “ball” tonight. A group of maybe 10 inflateable mascots were there for between inning entertainment, including Harry Canary in the pic with Livi below. Ava couldn’t believe the 3rd base coach threw us an official ball right before the last inning…….her eyes just lit up when she saw it coming through mid-air into my glove, lol. Livi was kind enough to let Ava blast through the door at home and share stories and the ball first with Marla. Oh yeah…….the Clippers won, lol.

I had one of the best times with one of my daughters I have ever had last night. Ava was turning four today, and knowing I wouldn’t see her until around 5:30 or so this evening – I wanted to give her a special time sometime…..so last night it was. I asked her if she wanted to go on a special date with just me and her……..and to see her eyes light up and get excited really makes life worth living. I asked her where she wanted to go and she said “on a walk”.

So off we went down the road to the park. She had a blast – on my shoulders as we walked through tree branches and on top of the rocks through the creek. She was laughing hysterically until we got into the creek…….but I was able to talk her into getting down and touching the water. Off to the park to swing and onto Dairy Queen for a cherry covered vanilla cone! She wanted to be on my shoulders again on the way home – so we made that happen through some soreness, lol. I think one of the greatest things God has given us is time – and why not use it to give those you care about most undivided attention? God has done quite a good job as a model for us fathers…….some days I really do understand that He loves our attention!

Oh yeah – I thought I’d share a recent photo of Tony Stewart (http://www.tonystewart.com) fishing over at Eldora Speedway a few weeks back. The race was rained out and postponed, but it was fun to chat with Tony and see how laid back he is.