Well, it's Wednesday and we're closer to Friday than we were two days ago. It's a rainy dreary day which makes you not want to go outside. I dread the drive home from work today since most people decide they can drive faster on wet roads and wind up shutting down the interstate. Guess I'll take the back roads home today. This only adds 10-15 minutes to my drive but at least I'm constantly moving and won't have the frustration of sitting because some moron decided he couldn't slow down and took out two or three other cars.

Well, I finally got some pictures from Easter printed out and hanging on my corkboard here at the office. Below are two of them I have printed.

Kristi - 20, Heather - 21 and Josh - 12

Noah - 20 months

Don't forget, the Steeldogs next homegame is on Friday, May 5th, at 7:00pm Everyone come support Birminghams Team

I almost forgot to add. The wife and I bought us some new mountain type bikes and have been riding everyday after getting home from work and it's been a real joy. Of course my legs are having to get used to it again which will take some time. I put a bike seat for Noah on the back of one of the bikes so he could ride too. He really loves it and I hope to get a photo of him so you guys can see. The bikes will help with the exercise portion of us losing the weight we need to lose. I've lost about 8lbs so far this week with the riding and eating differently.

Oh, yeah! We just had a Publix open near us (within 7 miles) and it's pretty exciting time since we can eat more healthy since Publix really offers alot of stuff our recipes require that all others don't..Fodd World, Walmart, Winn Dixie, Piggly Wiggly. GREAT TIMES FOR GOOD FOOD!

Yeah I know I'm rambling.

Time to get back to work.

Later

Well, it's Easter tomorrow and please keep in mind why we celebrate this holiday. No matter how hard the secular part of our society tries to remove the true meaning of Easter with bunnies and eggs we all have to remember that Christ arose from the grave and is the true Son Of God.

What I find amusing is Jesus stated many years ago that the world would try at every opportunity to remove His name. Christmas & Easter, the two most significant holidays to Christians. On Christmas the world pushes Christmas trees, lights, presents, reindeer, snowmen, etc. and this is the birth of Christ. Easter, the world pushes bunnies, eggs, present, baskets and this is the death and resurrection of Christ.

I see there are many other holidays that remain sacred to the followers of said holidays. Here's a short list and I hope I get them all correct. I'm sorry if it's not exactly right.

1. Eid al-Adha (January 11) - Muslim holiday called Feast of Sacrifice. It concludes the Pilgrimmage to Mecca. Eid al-Adha lasts for three days and commemorates Ibraham's willingness to obey God by sacrificing his son. Muslims believe the son to be Ishmael rather than Isaac as told in the Old Testament. Ishmael is considered the forefather of the Arabs. According to the Koran, Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son when a voice from heaven stopped him and allowed him to sacrifice a ram instead. Now why is there not a secular version of this?

2. Ascension of Baha'u'llah (May 29) - It commemorates the anniversary of the death of the founder of the Bahá'í faith, Baha‘u‘llah, and his teachings. The year was 1852, and the man was a Persian nobleman, known today as Bahá'u'lláh. During His imprisonment, as He sat with his feet in stocks and a 100-pound iron chain around his neck, Bahá'u'lláh received a vision of God's will for humanity.

The event is comparable to those great moments of the ancient past when God revealed Himself to His earlier Messengers: when Moses stood before the Burning Bush; when the Buddha received enlightenment under the Bodhi tree; when the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descended upon Jesus; or when the archangel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad.

Bahá'u'lláh's experience in the Black Pit set in motion a process of religious revelation which, over the next 40 years, led to the production of thousands of books, tablets and letters--which today form the core of the sacred scripture of Bahá'í Faith. In those writings, He outlined a framework for the reconstruction of human society at all spiritual, moral, economic, political, and philosophical. Now why is there not a secular version of this?

3.Bodhi Day (December 8 ) - The prince, Siddhartha Gautama, left his home and family and all his possessions behind at the age of 29 to discover the meaning of life, particularly its hardships. After six years of rigorous discipline and asceticism under the guidance of a number of spiritual teachers, he still hadn't found what he was looking for. While traveling with a small group of fellow seekers, he went off by himself, broke his fast, and sat down under a pipal tree and vowed not to arise until he understood. He sat through the week, day and night, and on the eighth morning came to the realization which became the founding principles of what the modern world calls Buddhism. Bodhi Day--Usually observed December 8 or the Sunday immediately preceding, is the date, according to Mahayana tradition, of Siddhartha Gautama’s realization and presentation to his fellow seekers of the Four Noble Truths:

1. All beings are subject to suffering. No one escapes... suffering is universal.

2. The cause of suffering is Ignorance. And Ignorance of oneself is the greatest Ignorance.

3. Ignorance, the cause of suffering, can be overcome, and

4. The way to overcome Ignorance is the Eightfold Path.

From that point forward, he was referred to as the Buddha, the Enlightened One. He is also referred to as Shakyamuni (the sage of the Shakya clan) Buddha, Gautama Buddha, Shakanyorai (in Japanese), and many other names to distinguish him from Amida Buddha, who in our Temple’s interpretation, is not seen as a historical figure but the idealized Buddha of unlimited wisdom and compassion and is equated with all of life itself, and thus signifies all of us. Now why is there not a secular version of this?

The list goes on. Even if you do celebrate for the children with bunnies, eggs and baskets, please remind them why we celebrate Easter

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

Well, I see it's been since 2005 since I posted to this BLOG. My time is so limited these days there are just not enough hours in the day.

Well to start this new entry off I have now started really getting into my photography and now share my photos online at www.craigboggan.com. Not only is this for me but my family (grand-parents, siblings, etc.) Many of these photos are for sale for web designers needing images for web sites and graphics. I don't have alot of photos uploaded yet, maybe 30-40 but it's slowly growing.

On to the kids.

Noah is now almost 2 years old and good gosh he's into everything. Climbs on anything that will hold him and got himself stuck in between the stairwell spindles the other day. He realized he could get his body between the spindles but low and behold his head would not go through. He was quite upset but I still found humor in the situation. My older son Josh, now 12, put his head through the spindles up on the landing when he was 3-4 years old with the encouragment from his older sisters. We had to partially break the spindle to get his head out. Thank goodness we didn't have to do this with Noah.
Noahs photo is on my web site in black & white.

Josh is now 12 and has finally gotten A/B Honor Roll in school this past report card. I was as excited as he was. Changing him to the private school has really done wonders for him and his academics.

Kristi, my 20 years old daughter is a Sophmore at U.A.B. and has just applied for transfer to Univ. of Alabama. Not sure yet if she'll get accepted but she hopes it works out since she's wanting to get into Nutrition. Overall she'd doing okay in school.

Heather, my 21 year old moved out on her own more than 4 months ago and I think she's having a hard time at it but her pride refuses to let her tell us. It was tough letting go but all I could do was wish her well and ask her to call or come by the house every so often.

We are planning on selling our home and moving to Springville as soon as we can. We are wating on the developer to complete the area so we can look at some acreage. I'm pretty excited about the move since Springville's a relly nice area and it's not SOUTH of B'ham

Well, gotta get back to work but thought I'd take a few minutes and get everyone up to speed.

Everyone have a great Easter

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I have been so busy at my new job it's just been crazy. When I get home if I'm not working I'm doing the baby stuff. Anywho, July has been extremely busy for our family as it has for many other families.

My youngest Noah finally has teeth. He's got two on top showing, one on the bottom showing and one starting to peek through. All his teeth came in within days of each other. Talk about a horrible 4-5 weeks before they appeared. He looks rather humorous with teeth since he was almost 11 months before they appeared. We thought we might have to buy him some Bubba Baby Teeth. Noah has been walking pretty regularly but is still very wobbly. He can walk across the room alone but it might take him a bit to do it. He's so much fun now and is a daddy's boy. He chooses me over everyone and his first words were da-da. I'm a proud dad but I really need to get some time in with my 11 year-old son Josh.

Speaking of Josh he's really hurting for some father-son time. I'll try to dedicate some with him tomorrow. Today we swam for about 2 hours in the pool together and had a great time then went and watched the Steeldogs lose their 13th game (2-13)...BUMMER. We had a great time together though, thats whats important. I love these boys to death, I just wish he could see that. I know he's 11 and doesn't understand but I try to explain numerous times the baby requires alot of attention and being he's a daddies boy, I don't get alot of alone time to spend with him. Anyway, Josh is doing really good, still growing and just got back from a week at Boy Scout camp at Camp Sequoya near Anniston. He had a great time and is looking forward to going back next year. Josh and I will get some time together in September since we are going to spend the night on the U.S.S. Alabama with the Scouts (for the 4th or 5th time ) I'm sure we'll have a good time even though we've seen it all. Josh, Noah and his mom are going with the In-laws to Orlando this Tuesday so he's going to have fun and I get a vacation out of it too.

The next in line is 19 year old Kristi. SHe's just working, going to school and going out on the weekends with her boyfriend. She did get to follow a nurse around for an hour for one of her pre-nurse classes and spent it in Labor & Delivery. She didn't say much of it. Other than these few tings theres really not much to tell about her.

Last in line is the 20 year old Heather. She's about 2 semesters from graduating college and I know she's really excited about it. She works at Greystone Country Club for her internship and I think she wants to continue there after it's up but she's unsure if they have any open positions. We'll have to wait and see. She's gone most of the time with work and school but has become a real asset to me. Instead of me getting into work late some mornings, she drops Noah off at daycare for me. Talk about a big weight lifted off me. She's a great girl and I love both of them to death as well but since they see themselves as adults, things have truely changed. It's not all bad, just different.

Other than the kids, I finished my classes in Boston and came home on the 4th of July. The wife and I had a fabulous time in Boston and will return as soon as we can to see all the other things we didn't get to see. Boston is a very clean town, with no humidity. They talk of humidity alot there but the people we talked to, told them to come to Alabama and I'd watch them melt when they stepped outside. I think the worst humidity was about 5% and boy they were crying about how horrible it was. Kind of like us crying about the cold weather. It was very humorous listening to it. The trip was a great success concerning the classes. The things we did while we were there and the grade of how we felt about it:

Duck Tours - Takes you on a city wide tour - A+

Prudential Center observation deck - You can see the entire city from this 52nd story perch - A

Museum of Science - Makes McWane center look like a daycare. Absolutely huge place - A+

Harvard Square - Very busy place - C

Faneuil Hall Marketplace - What a great place with markets, stores, street entertainers, music, restaurants - A+

Capd Cod - Beautiful country and neat little towns but I don't think I travel it again. Not worth the driving distance - B-

Nantucket/Marthas Vineyard - Ferry cost $50 per person just to get over to either island and then you gotta find a way to get around. Enter...public transportation. In other words $$$$$$$. We didn't go since I wouldn't cough up $100 for a boat ride - D- for the high cost

Plymouth, MA - Beautiful area and saw Plymouth Rock, Mayflower, etc. - A+

Salem, MA - A great trip but not worth a second trip. Been there done that - B

The only negative I have about Boston is driving there is n.u.t.s. Once I got a handle on how to drive and be aggressive, we fit in just fine.

Suggestion as Boston as a vacation destination - A (Most definitely)

Well, the clock's about to strike 11:00pm and I need to go. I'll try to check in more often and get back to my BLOG.

Later

In addition to the previous post, the Steeldogs finally won their first game by handing the Green Bay Blizzard a whooping like they have yet to see all season. 55-26 and the 26 points Green Bay did score was only in the first half. The Dogs held Green Bay scoreless for 30 minutes of playing time. I guess Coach Humphries read my BLOG

Good job Dogs, thats what you're suppose to look like

Carry on

Well while I had a brief moment I thought I'd stop by and see how everything's going. Boy am I sad to see the threads concerning lack of participation. What I yet to understand is why even join if you never have any intention to post anything. While I was here for about 15 minutes I kept a tab to see how many logins I saw. 5 people logged in, not counting myself, and were not people I recognize, but I see they left no posts.
I don't know what the answer is since this site was designed to offer a solution to people tired of the horror at AL.com.

Well on to another topic. The Birmingham Steeldogs play the Green Bay Blizzard tomorrow night at 7:00pm at the BJCC. I have been a fan of the dogs for 6 seasons and have purchased season tickets for my 5th season. I just have to vent as to why I keep hearing Coach Humphries talk about getting this QB or that QB. If I hear that one more time I think I'm gonna pull my hair out. Bobby, if you ever read this, DO SOMETHING WITH THE HORRIBLE DEFENSE!
This is the worst team we've had in 6 years and the defense is absolutely horrible. Steeldogs are now 0-7 which puts us as THE WORST TEAM in AF2 football. If our defense can't stop the opponent, we have to outscore them. The problem is, we can't

Next topic. I opened our pool about 3 weeks ago and have only been in it one time because the water is too freakin' cold. Will the nights ever quit dropping down to the 50's? If not I guess I should have never set the pool up to swim in.

Next topic. Work has got me really busy and I've just finished another web site...well almost finished...about 90% done...www.hooverfamilydentistry.com. I sure wish I could participate here more but work, work and family just doesn't allow the extra time to participate. I am here by email if problems arise but for now, thats the best I can do. With work, I posted previously I was going to Chicago. Well that has changed and I will be flying to Boston at the end of June - first of July. I think this might be some fun just to see another part of our country, especially where so many founding fathers come from.

Well thats all my thoughts for now because if I type anymore I'm sure it will just be rambling...hey, thats what it all was anyway.

Everyone have a great Memorial Day weekend

Let me tell you since it's been reaching the low 90's the past couple of days, it really makes me glad I work inside. I do get my sunshine at lunch by getting my food and heading outside to eat and read the newspaper. Speaking of reading the newspaper. At my previous employer I could read my paper almost all day long but where I'm at now, lunch is the only time available to get caught up. It's really nice being busy.

Well for the new job as I spoke of, I am just swamped at work and see no end in site (which is a good thing)
I will be going to Chicago in July for a week of specialized training for some software this company has purchased. It was either Chicago or Cleveland for this trip...it wasn't a difficult choice. I decided to invite my wife and all we have to pay for is her an airline ticket and food. Thats a pretty cheap vacation for her. Company pays for my airfare, the hotel room, the car and an allowance per day for food. This might be kind of neat since neither of us has been to Chicago. Anyone thats been there that knows great places to go, let me know.

On to the kids.

9 month old Noah still isn't walking but boy he sure has mastered the falling down part of it. He's got a knot on his forehead right now where he fell in his crib and hit the side. Noah loves taking a bath. Just the other day I was home alone with him and decided I was going to take a shower. Instead of fencing him in his bed or walker in the bathroom, I put him in his tub seat and placed him at the back of the tub while I showered. He did not like that one bit, because he had no water to splash in. Once I turned on the spigot and water started filling the tub, he was happy. Very funny stuff.

Noah and daycare - I left him at daycare this morning and this is the first time he has cried when I walked out. Sheesh, it broke my heart.

11 year old Josh has one more week of school before he's out for the summer. I know he's really excited about that. Josh goes to summer Boy Scout camp in July.

Both older girls are taking short term classes for this summer. Not really anything to say about them.

One last thing. We are in the process of getting our home ready to sell so we are going to buy new flooring to be put in next week. We also have to buy another dryer since ours has died. I think thats our 3rd or 4th one in 14 years. Everyone tells us it's bacause of the quantity of clothes we wash. With 6 people these machines are running everyday so laundry doesn't stack up.

Well, gotta get busy on finishing a web site.

Later

Well, it's Tuesday and I've survived my first two days on the new job. Everything's going just fine and my new computer should be in the office sometime tomorrow. This is exciting so I can get to my CAD programming since the computer I'm on now has no programming capabilities.

On to the kids....

Not much really to talk about except the little one, Noah. He's growing leaps and bounds and is really trying to walk. The little man is a bundle of energy and can wear you out after a full day. He's just getting over another sickness which I think could all be corrected if the doctor would put tubes in his ears. I think if he doesn't get better this time they will go ahead and do it. Once this little one gets more mobile I feel sorry for the cat!
I wish this cold weather would pass and not come back. I think that plays a big part in Noah staying sick.

One pet peeve has returned in my life since I'm now driving in downtown traffic. People who drive in the left lane but go slower than all the other traffic. I'm not sure these people remember during driving classes that the left lane is for PASSING ONLY, not riding in!

Well Noah is trying to walk and does nothing but fall. Need to go handle the situation.

Well, it's 12:05am as I start this entry and I'm really not sure why I'm still up since I fell asleep in the chair in front of the boob tube a bit ago. Thats irrelevant I guess. I dunno.

I know I've been slacking on my entry input but I really didn't have the heart to even worry with it in my two months of unemployment. I really never made it public, didn't see the need, but February of 2005 brought some devastating news to me. At 40 years of age, I'm told I was being laid off from work since there was not enough work coming in to justify keeping me on. No hard feelings to the small company since I had been paid for over 6 months with no real production that would generate the company money. During those 6 months I kept asking the other co-workers what they thought about the lack of work but really wanted to know when I was going to get my walking papers. Anywho, I am now starting this coming Monday with a much larger company..over 300 employees..and in the works of creating a new department for them. I'm really looking forward to getting to that point. Thats some good news for a change.

Talking about kids!? I know, who's talking about kids? Me! Now!
My youngest, Noah, is starting to try to let go and stand. He let go of my hands last night and stood by himself for about 4-5 seconds. This afternoon he actually accomplished taking a step without falling. The little fella has even got to the point to where he no longer wants to be rocked to sleep. His idea of hitting the sack is "Whoever you are holding me, just lie me down in that thing with bars and that odd looking blue creature in the corner that I hear you call my bed" so I can close my eyes! He rolls a bit and goes to dreamland on his own.

On to my next one in line. Josh my 11 year old has made it to red belt in his Taekwondo and is only two testing cycles from testing for black belt. I had a talk with his instructor several days ago because he was concerned that Josh was not practicing at home and still dod not know all his form. Needless to say, Josh will miss tournament sparring at the Boutwell Auditorium this coming weekend. It's his own fault for not doing what he's suppose to be doing. Other than that he's now a Boy Scout and in July takes his first Scout camping trip for an entire week to Camp Sequoa.

Now my next is Kristi, aged 19 going on 30. Not much to tell except she's still chugging along at U.A.B. college working her way to get to Nursing School to be an Anesthetic nurse. I know thats not the correct word and you get the idea. I don't know how to spell it, not going to attempt it and don't feel like looking it up. Long story short, a nurse that puts people to sleep during surgery. Okay...whew...thats about it with her.

Now to my eldest daughter, Heather, 20. She's only 3 semesters away from graduating culinary school at Jeff. State and we went to an hor's deouvers tasting for her class. (You know I had to look that one up since I never can spell it but couldn't get close enough to understand)
I pronounced it Hore Dee Overs and I think it might have embarrassed her since some folks overheard me. Thats why I said it, just to watch her face. It was classic. Well, the entire thing was for her Garde Manger class. Figure that one out...betcha can't. I never would have got it right if she had not told me but it's pronounced Gar Ma Shae and means "keeper of cold". Goofy French words translated into easy American words....small cold finger foods

Well thats about it for now since it hit 12:34am on the old wall clock. I should be posting more as time wears on.

Best to everyone

Well, it's official. I am sick of the rain. It's suppose to start raining again this afternoon after one full day of sunshine and tomorrow. The forecast shows mostly sunny this Saturday which is fabulous since my son's crossing over into Boyscouts ceremony is Saturday evening. Just hope it's not too cold.

From the previous message over 2 weeks ago my 11 year old son had tested for his purple senior belt in taekwondo. Well he passed with flying colors and is only 3 testing cycles away from black belt. So by July he can possibly be a Boy Scout and black belt. He's very excited about this.

My youngest has started going to daycare much more and seems to have finally gotten used to it and was playing with another 6 month old in his class. That is a good sign for his social skills.

I know I'm jumping around in the post but I'm typing it out as the thoughts come in.
I hope everyone is healthy being our family was hit pretty hard with a sickness that never seemed to leave. I was the only one that didn't get the full thing where everyone else had high fever along with just feeling like they'd been run over by a car. Even the grandparents battled it as well.

The next thing I've been thinking of incorporating for you guys is a recipe site where you can get recipes as well as post your own. I would appreciate any feedback about it.

Well, gotta go and will post more when the thoughts are more gathered.

on the weight loss. Well, I've dumped almost 10 lbs and continue to eat right and starting to feel even better. I did cheat just a little Sunday during the Superbowl. We ordered pizza and I ate 1 portion of a Pizza Hut 4 for All. It's like eating a large sandwich so I feel the one was okay.

*********
My oldest daughter (20) has been dating a new guy and seems to be enjoying it. We're not so sure she just wants someone to go out with on the weekend. We feel she just "settles" on the first guy that shows any interest. Guess we'll have to wait and see how things go.
*********
My youngest daughter (19) has finally shown some signs of maturity in placing her college courses in front on most everything else like boyfriend, shopping, etc. We try to encourage finishing these steps in this order.

1. Finish College
2. Get a good job
3. Move out on her own a have a life
4. Get engaged several years after getting job.
5. Enjoy her young life and get married.
6. Have kids and start a family
7. Take care of dear old dad.
*********
My oldest son (11) just tested for his Taekwondo Purple Senior belt and did rather well. The only negative thing I could find was he didn't hold his hands up in defense like he's been trained. Other than that I think he should do just fine. He's only 3 testing cycles from getting his Blackbelt. His goal is to pass each exam all the way to Blackbelt.
At the end of February he gets to cross-over from the Cub Scouts into the Boy Scouts, which he's very excited about. My time as a leader will end with his crossing-over since my....

Youngest (6 months) takes up alot of my time now. The little ones growing more each day and went to the doctor today for shots/checkup and weighs close to 18 lbs and is 26 inches long. Good job for a little boy who had a very rough start in life being born early, at just over 5 lbs. We think he's teething so the nights and days can be kind of rough at times. He still puts a smile on his face most of the day. He's already sitting up and in the past couple of days he's started to put weight on his hands and legs to fall into the crawling stage. The cats in trouble once he gets mobile.

I'll talk some more later...he's having trouble going to bed right now and I still need to take a shower

Well, I've started my diet and will be posting results throughout. I've been on it for close to 5 days and snuck on the scales this morning and have already dropped about 4 lbs. I'm on the right road, but it's a slow one. I'll keep the blog updated and hopefully by July I'll be down to 220 lbs..thats my goal

Well, it's almost February and I really can't wait for warmer weather to return since I hate cold weather.

My job now is to lose some weight. My goal is to lose down to about 210-215 so 30 lbs is not out of reach. At 6'4" my suggested weight is 185 lbs which makes me look like a toothpick so I feel 210 is a good enough goal. My goal is to come up with a good group of low-fat recipes. Of course, by the end of March, I'll be sick of salads and chicken

My youngest starts his first full day in day-care today. He did go last Friday and did very well, but was only there for just a few hours. He will be going at 10:00am and I will be picking him up around 5:30-5:45. Hope all goes well with him, but I'm sure it will since he will just be turing 6 months on February 6th....WOW, 6 months old. He's really growing and starting to situp rather well. He is such a happy baby.

Well, thats about all the thoughts I've had over the weekend.

Thoughts today before becoming swamped:

a) Well, it's Friday and the only day of the week I'm busy. I always wonder why we have to wait till this day to be busy. Why not Monday-Thursday? Friday should be dedicated to chillin', maybe some slow work that can be finished on Monday.

b) I've had many thoughts on what to implement into the new alabamahs.com website. I'm hoping to see more choices in the coming days from our members of the web forum.

c) My oldest son, Josh, is through with Cub Scouts and will be moving on to Boy Scouts at the end of February. I think he's pretty excited about it. He's also doing very well in Taekwondo and will be testing for his Purple Senior belt in February.

d) My youngest son, Noah (almost 6 months) is growing like a weed. He is such a happy baby and always smiling, unless he's tired, hungry, wet or got a poop in the britches. Besides those items, he plays alot and is very busy.

e) My two older daughters are busy with work, college and boyfriends. Thats about all their lives consist of

Thats all for this week and will try to get something in here on each Friday if possible.

There are 4 available blogs. This one, a public blog and two blogs for our top admin/moderators, Andy and Shajon. The blogs Andy & Shajon should only be used by the respective owners. If you would like to post then do so in the two public blogs. We appreciate your cooperation. We also offer people their own blogs if they have over 250 posts in our web forum located at http://www.integdev.com/forum.
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Craig