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M.R.I. Day

Micah had an MRI done today. Our alarms went off at 4:30 this morning. We were supposed to be in Atl. by 8, and we weren't sure when the morning rush would hit, so we left at about 5. We got there way early; but I guess better early than late.

The worst part was definetly the IV. They had to stick him twice. He didn't like that at all. He was so worn out from crying about the IV, that he went to sleep and at first didn't need sedation on the machine. But then of course, the loud thing woke him up about half way through. So they gave him some propane....actually I think it was something like "propenal", or something, and he was asleep in about 15 seconds. A few minutes later he was resting in a little room. About 20 minutes after that he was awake and ready to go.

We have a follow up appt. with the doctor on Jan. 4th when we'll find out the results of the test. Thanks for all who prayed for us.

This picture is of him after he woke up from sedation and before they took the IV out of his hand.

holla holla

Favorite presents?

So what are some of your favorite things you got for Christmas?

Micah-Fu

Micah has learned a new martial arts move. He used to try to grab my glasses, but sometimes I could pull my head back in time. Now, he has learned that with one hand he can grab my gotee, and then with the other grab my glasses.

Has David been here?

---------------
For those who don't know, the title is just a little joke about some of David's previous fits of rage.
--------------------------

I was in a hurry to go to a doctors appt. I open the door of my car and go to get in...and I see this. My first thought was that somebody had broken it. If I had left my 360 in there I would have for sure thought that. But then I realized I was a delayed victim of the ice storm. The ice had weakened a branch of the evil pine tree and it fell....and destroyed my back window.

I call a dealer...he says a new one cost over $500.
I call a different dealer...he says it costs $340.
I call the junk yard...I bought one for $100.

A place called Economy Glass and Upolstery says they can put it in for around $100. My father-in-law says we can do it for free when he come up for Christmas. Maybe I can get out of this without being out too much money.

At first I thought my insurance would cover it. I call my guy...my deductible is $500. Good thing I spend an extra $50 a month on that full coverage. :-/

The Culprit

another view

I own an X-Box 360

More on this later...

If you have ever ridden on an airliner...

you will get a kick out of this...(and maybe even if you haven't)





http://www.rasiel.com/seat29e.pdf

Libby's nursery - David, what's up with the light? Is it pink in there?

Libby Grace Cox

(insert joke here) or should I say (put yo funny mess up in hea)

I believe in old-school discipline.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

I saw The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe tonight.

I have to admit I wasn't prepared for what I saw. I mean, I read the book in college in an adolescent literature class...but Santa? Yes, it had Santa Claus in it. And in the book you don't see anything about "Bananna warriors from Charleston". What is that about. They even have a part where a ghost pirate ship joins the ice queen and the wierdest part was they were trying to sell TELEVISIONS to her soldiers! And all through the movie there was this running comic theme about corn-on-the-cob.

Ok. Half of thats not true. I just thought it would sound more interesting. It was a great movie. (But Santa was thrown in. I don't remember him from the book.) Great movie,...Tori wants to go see it again with her parents. Gotta love C.S. Lewis.

church oops

Wednesday night Tori and I went to eat Wed. night supper at our new church for the first time. I was standing up in the middle of the Fellowship hall. A guy was leaving the room to go somewhere and he waved. I waved back. Too bad he was waving to his wife behind me.

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The modification Microsoft is making to the 360.

1 little, 2 little, 3rd not so little indians

There is now a little female engine in the Cox household. Libby Grace was born yesterday. 18 1/2" long, 6 lbs. 5 oz. And she came with a bow, arrow and Harrah's VIP parking permit.

I'll put a picture on here whenever David decides to send me some. He could put a picture of his brand new daughter on his blog....if he had one.

Glide Effortless makes digital life on the Web a breeze

"Take, for instance, Writely, a word processor that mimics many of the features of Microsoft Word inside a Web browser. There's also Zimbra, a virtual clone of Microsoft Outlook, which runs comfortably inside an Internet Explorer or Firefox window."

--thats an excerpt from this article. It is a an informative article for any other nerds out there that keep up with this kind of stuff.

Jared. You need this.

Jared, you should put some of these on your mustang. Check out this article.

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who
cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother
who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to
cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and
spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed ,
disinterested young man who can't make change
correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student ,
balancing his apprehension over final exams with his
fear of not getting his student loans for next
semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging
for money in the same spot every day (who really ought
to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can
only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking
annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking
our shopping progress are savoring this moment ,
knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back
last week, this will be the last year that they go
shopping together .

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the
gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love . It is
not enough to share that love with those we hold dear.
Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us,
but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick
to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

--unknown

High-tech "Repo-man" keeps car payments rolling

For some reason,

I think this is awesome. I'm sure deadbeats will hate it.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2005-11-29-tech-repo-man_x.htm

San Francisco Pictures

These are the Rockies. The location of our first planned trip. Turns out we get to see those and San Fran too.

He's got his daddy's good looks. Cause his daddy's are all gone.

"Get out my seat, punk! I'm a frequent flyer."

It was cold. It was windy. But we walked part of the GGB.

Micah loves the beach.

His footprints are in the middle. I just barely got this shot off before the water came in.

I am so brave.

some chick who kept following me around. I think she wants me.

This is the beach. In case you didn't notice.

Me trying to capture the moment in Alcatraz. That is Tori's mom behind me also going along on the audio tour.

The Micah and Pappy show

Chillin' on "the Rock"

Micah - Alcatraz Prisoner #4815162342

Help. We're being eaten.

me, da boy, and an old tree

Micah representin' the best baseball team (if we're talking division titles)

The 3 of us in Muir Woods, home of the Giant Redwoods.

Not exactly a postcard from this view.

Does he know he's in California? No. What does he know? That his crib is cool.

The Wax Museum was a big disappointment. The one in N.Y. was awesome, but here is an example of this museum's work. Know who that is supposed to be? Of course not. It's supposed to be Rhett Butler from "Gone With the Wind."

This is at "Fisherman's Wharf". That is Alcatraz you see off in the background.

Lift-off for the Kelly family.

Tori's parents preparing for take-off. This is the first time Tori's mom ever flew (second time for her dad).

Ya gotta do somethin' in the airport to pass the time.

What I Would Like To Do

I wasn’t sure what else to title this. “What I Would Like To Do” sums it up quite well. This is something I’ve actually given a lot of thought to. I catch myself daydreaming about it sometimes. Maybe God will allow me a way to do it someday.

What is it exactly? I’m glad you asked.

If I could afford to, I would like to work full-time for a Non-profit organization I would like to create.

The purpose of the organization would be to take on special needs projects chosen from a variety of Christian organizations and outlets, and then package their information and an action plan and then distribute those “action packs” to contacts within local churches.

You’re probably saying, “what?”

For example…

About a year or so ago, I heard on the Toccoa Falls College radio station about “Bibles for Iraq”. The radio spot told people about how for just a few months (right after the takeover of Iraq) there would be a short, precious window to deliver Bibles to Iraq. After this window closed, it would be unlikely that the Iraqi government would allow it to continue and the country would be closed off again. Now this was a fine radio spot, and I’m sure many a good person heard it. But I felt like just that radio spot was not enough, and if churches were really informed and presented with an action plan, that a ton of money for Bibles (I think they were only like $2 apiece) could have been raised. During my planning time at work, I created some flyers and posted them at my school, slid one under the door of the pastor of the church where my school was located and emailed the flyer and information to some others I knew who worked in churches. That was all I could do to disseminate the information. That was a very strong urge I felt when I heard about “Bibles for Iraq” on the radio. What I did after I heard it is a miniature version of what I would really like to do.

If I could create that kind of para-church organization, I could prayerfully pick out those types of projects that blip across the radar screen of Christendom from time to time, and take what is normally a quick sound-bite of “help needed”, and create a “do-able” plan for local churches. Things that could be a part of this action pack might be things like a PowerPoint presentation about the project, (either for myself to show, or better yet, for someone within their own church to show). It could include an informative, suggested action plan for each church on how to best present the need to their church. It could contain already printed packs of brochure-like handouts about the need. Basically I could do all the footwork for presentations and information distribution. I would get to know whom the contact Christians are in the local churches; so I would know who to go to with this information.

There are a lot of programs just kind of floating around hoping that some people will get on board, but no one to go around making sure it's getting done on a regional level, and taking care of obstacles that come up (obstacles that can cause some churches to abandon the project altogether). And I'm not talking about a Baptist organization either. I'm talking Christian...Baptist, Methodist, C&MA, Presbyterian, etc. No denominational lines, just Christians working together as one.

Basically, people are lazy. There are many people who are sitting in the pews, who mean well, and want to help…if you will just make what they have to do very obvious, very simple and plain, and as hassle-free as possible. I would like to create an organization that would take a handful of special projects and do just that. I believe it could often increase participation and effectiveness tremendously.

It’s kind of like when Tori and I were on staff at our last church and needed candy for the Fall Festival. If the only thing we did about that was mention it to our Sunday School class, we would never get much candy at all. So that’s not what we did. We had a festive-looking, elaborate box made, placed prominently in the main hall; we made an announcement during the church service several times, among other things. This way we received tons of candy. It’s not that the people didn’t want to give candy. They just needed presentation, prodding…and reminding. Then, the next time they were in Wal-Mart, they remembered to pick up a bag of candy corn and leave it in the car until they went to church next time. Churches have to make a concerted effort to really get something done; and I think that kind of an organization could help make that happen.

I would like it to be a non-profit organization. That way people and businesses would be more inclined to make a larger donation in order to write it off on their taxes. People would also give more freely to that kind of organization knowing it’s not the goal of the program to make any money. I would love to volunteer myself full time to it.

(Now for the imaginary future of my imaginary organization.) I could run it in my area. And then, eventually I would start another district in a nearby area with someone else being that area’s director. Eventually there would be several organizational districts covering the entire state. (Similar to what Child Evangelism Fellowship does.) Next step: every state has districts. Next step: International.

Big enough dreaming?

But really, I would like to do this someday…at least in my area. I feel like it is a very do-able thing…even for me; if I could only free myself up to devote my time to it. Working for yourself (not really for me, though), for free isn’t exactly easy to do. Maybe God will put a million dollars in my mailbox and I can quit work and get started.

Whew! We're back

We just arrived at my parents house. I've got some pictures from the trip to post later, when I'm at my house.

-cK

Toccoa Falls College

I had to get up even earlier today (Saturday) than I do on weekdays. I had to BE at TFC at 7:30 am to register for a Language Arts Teacher Certification Test. I took the test in one of the upstairs rooms in the Woerner Lecture Hall building (for those who know where that is). It went for 2 straight hours. I had studied some a couple of weeks ago and then crammed last night. I think I did ok. Hopefully I'll find out I passed in 4 - 6 weeks. I saw some of my old profs...that was cool.

On a random note, I would just like to say that "Sonnys" is one of my favorite resturaunts in the world. Thank you.

I left my heart, in.......

.

...more like my wallet, in San Fran. Monday night we leave for Frisco. This is the trip that was originally to Colorado, when Micah got sick and we had to cancel our plans. And since Delta wouldn't give us our money back, we had to get vouchers which we had to use within a year, and so now we are going to S.F.

We will be gone from Monday night to Saturday sometime. We are going with Tori's parents. I think it ought to be a fun excursion. It makes me a tad nervous taking Micah, but we should be fine and have a good time.

I'm looking forward to touring Alcatraz, crossing the Golden Gate bridge, riding the trolley cars, driving to Yosemite, etc. I've been all over the U.S., but the giant state of Cali has never been one I've visited. Hopefully we can all stay healthy.

I posted some of these other pictures below, just for the heck of it...I figured I hadn't posted much recently, so I'd throw some stuff out. Because my Mac runs OS X, I can't put the Hello program on my laptop to post pictures, so I had to sit down at the big daddy tonight.

...peece..

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Pope-izzle

All I want for Christmas...

Today

is Micah's first day

with a tooth

Cruisin' in his ride

.

My son cruisin' the outlet mall strip.

Love and Respect Conference

Tori and I just got back from the "Love and Respect" Marriage Seminar in Gwinnett. It was at Perimeter Church (HUGE CHURCH!) It was actually really good. I was just going for the fellowship with the young people and to stay in Chan Gailey's house, but the seminar was actually very good and I learned some things I did not know before. The main gist of his seminar was that men need respect, and women need love. When men feel disrespected, they shut themselves off from their wife, which she sees as him not loving her, which leads to more bad stuff. But if men go against their nature and love even when they feel like retreating, then the woman will respond by loving and respecting in return. Or if a woman goes against her nature and shows respect and does not keep needling her husband but allows him his space when he needs it, he will respond to her respect in ways that make her feel loved. So its like a circle. Of course he said a lot more than that, but the love --> respect --> love--> respect circle thing was a main point.

We had a good time with about 7 or 8 other young couples. A real good time. The guy who wrote the 5 Love Languages book, Dr. Gary Chapman, is doing a couples thing sometime soon. I think the Sunday School class is thinking about going to that one too. (The Church paid for this trip, maybe they will help with that one too.) That one is more expensive. I've already read the 5 Love Languages book, but it would still be a fun trip. (If we could get babysitting again.....Tori's parents watched Micah last night.)

10-4. Over and Out.

The Drawer

I didn't mean to go this long without posting. Also known as posting 4,187 times more per year than Jared. I have my laptop and wireless and I have been having endless hours of entertainment. Ok, well maybe not hours....but a long while. I think I'll take a picture of them later and put them on here.

But if you'll notice one of the comments on the last post, a guy gives a link to a website for "Charlie Kelly". But its not me. But while perusing his site, I found a link to a bunch of other sites. I found one I thought was interesting. It is a site dedicated to listing links to unusual websites on the internet. I haven't explored alot of it, so surfer beware. But alot of them looked interesting. Its like a wierd internet portal. I found my way to the offical site of the Klingon Language. You can go to the phrases part and click on the words or phrases and actually here Klingon pronunciations. I'm sure there were some people I remember from college who are regular visitors to that site. At any rate, you might get a kick out of it. Here's the site:

http://www.randysweb.com/weird/drawer.htm

Don't bogart the boob-tube

Today I was at Wal-mart, strolling around; trying to find things to look at to entertain myself while Tori shopped.

I checked out automotive and electronic dept. as usual. I noticed they had a Xbox 360 going. There was a boy, probably about 5th grade or so, who was playing it.

I stood behind him, waiting for him to finish.

I waited... and waited... and waited.

One thing I've liked (and yet hated) about the video stuff at Wal-mart is how they put the screen up high above your head so you have to crook your neck to play. This is, of course, to cause people so much pain, that they can't play for TOO long.

Well, this kid must have taken some pain killers before he left the house. He would occasionally look downward and rub his neck; but then would go right back at it. I knew I only had so long in the store, so I was getting irritated with hogging. Even though I knew the neck pain was doing its thing, I decided to pull out a trick from the old "Charlie's Strange Tricks" bag. I call it, the "really uncomfortable closeness" strategy.

As you might imagine, this involves inching closer and closer behind the 4 ft. tall boy, until I'm right on top of him. Usually they become very uncomfortable about me being all up in their space, and it doesn't have to get to the point of actual collision. But this boy wasn't getting the signal. I actually stood behind this boy in Walmart, so close that I was literally touching his head and back. I was seeing how much he could take.

He didn't budge. Eventually I just asked him if he was done. ...He didn't even acknowledge my presence. Tori came around and asked me what I was doing. I began making Al Gore breathing noises; and telling her that I was STILL waiting to play.

Eventually (more from the neck trauma than from my antics) he moved out of the way and said something like "there you go".

Man....he was so juvenile.

FolderShare

The following was an email from my mother. I am about to get a laptop, so I may can use this.....


Don't know if you can use this, but I can. I downloaded it. It will probably cost something later, but right now it is free. It allows you to sync all your computers (files) which is something I need with as many computers as we have around here including the laptop.


* Microsoft Acquires FolderShare

This week, MS bought a cute little product called FolderShare.

With this tool, users can synch data on several computers, and check files via a browser. FolderShare is based on a website and a local component, the FolderShare Satellite. PC's that are hooked up will be automatically synchronized. Redmond will make this tool part of the new 'Live' offering. What they say on their site:

"Keep important files at your fingertips - anywhere. All file changes are automatically synchronized between linked computers, so you are always accessing the latest documents, photos, and files."

Check it out at their website:

http://www.w2knews.com/MA1GB/051107RN-FolderShare

------------------

Today I played an Xbox 360

They had a demo one at Electronics Boutique. I played Call of Duty 2, and King Kong. It was very fun. Just thought I'd tell everybody that.

Miami-based cruise liner attacked by pirates off Somalian coast

Pirates! Yes! We have pirates again. How cool.



See article here.

Operation 360

I will get a 360 on November 22nd. (hopefully) Actually, I don't think I will be getting it, but Jared will. I will be in San Fran, and so Jared is going to try to pick one up for me at Walmart while he picks up his (sure to be there because it is reserved) 360 in Elijay. I now have the funds for that. I am working on creating new fundage (I just made a word) by selling some more things. You can see one of those things at www.shotgun12.blogspot.com It is not my new hunting rifle, I will never sell that. It is a 12 gauge which would never threaten a turkey while in my possession anyway. (However, I have torn some pumpkins to shreds with it.)

The three games I want for the 360 are: (for now):
Perfect Dark Zero
NBA 2K6
Need For Speed: Most Wanted

However, it is unlikely that I will have the coinage for all three. I suppose if I have to get one to start with I would go with Perfect Dark Zero. But thats not a definete.

Of course, I also want a wireless bridge for it, and that is like $80. But that can sit on the backburner and marinate for awhile, 'cause games are coming first.

I am getting a Linksys-G with Speedbooster Router this weekend, because my long awaited iBook laptop (brand new, and free to me) from my work will be given to me Tuesday. So finally I will be able to surf wirelessly on my new iBook at my house.

The world may rest easy, now that it knows my plan.

"I see famous people."

I've already mentioned some of the famous people connections I've run into at our new church. Now check this one out:

Tori and I signed up for an overnight marriage retreat (which isn't really necessary since I'm the perfect husband) with our young couples Sunday School class. We knew we would be spending the night at the house of one of the couple's father in Buckhead. We found out later...the owner of the house? ...Chan Gailey. Coach of the Georgia Tech football team, and recent head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. His son is in my Sunday School class. In 2 weeks I will spend the night in Chan Gailey's house. How cool is that?

"You guys hear what I did? We have to get dressed up like this every year"

When you start attending a new church, you gotta check out your age group. See who your peeps might be. ...so says Micah. (seen here chillin' with his homies)

Micah Mojo

Ladies Man Micah - ...already gettin' the hookup.

Apparently he is having the same problem I had.

IR

Today I pulled a lower back muscle...

...while sitting in a church pew.

Xbox 360 F.A.Q.s

To whom it may concern:
http://features.teamxbox.com/xbox/1245/Xbox-360-FAQs/p5/#xboxlive

Funny Bumperstickers

I love defenseless animals
- especially in a good gravy

I brake for no apparent reason

Honk if you’ve never seen an Uzi fired from a car window

Politicians and diapers need to be changed
- often for the same reason

Whose cruel idea was it for the word LISP to have an S in it?

My wife keeps complaining that I never listen to her…
Or something like that

I’ll bet you a new car that I can stop faster than you can!

Boycott shampoo!
Demand real poo!

Preserve nature:
Pickle a squirrel

Four out of five voices in my head say “Kill!”

If I throw a stick, will you leave?

Woot!

Ever heard of woot.com?

I hadn't. A buddy of mine showed it to me. Its kinda interesting. They sell one thing a day, and they have an unspecified quantity of them. But the prices are rock bottom. The stuff they sell can be kind of random (today is a Sushi preparation set for $9.99.) but often it is electronic related. Shipping is always $5, no matter what it is, how many you buy (3 is the max) or where it is going.

You need to check it out. www.woot.com

Instaverse

My mom sent me an email about this free software "Instaverse". I haven't downloaded it yet, but I took a peek at the website and it looks neat. You might want to look at it. It is at http://www.instaverse.com/

Happy belated birthday to Cranium Threads

I forgot to mention that the 16th of this month was the 1 yr. anniversary of Cranium Threads. All the kudos go out to Michael for that. You are my blogging progenerate.

I just had a very interesting visit

The pastor of the church we visited Sunday just left my house. He and another guy came by to visit since we had turned in our visitor information. It was a good visit. We learned lots more about the church. But here is the most interesting part:

(This would be most interesting if you have some knowledge of Major League Baseball)

He was a church planter in Venezuela. Sports was a tool they used.

He led Omar Visquel (All-Star shortstop) to the Lord.
He led Edgardo Alfonso to the Lord (used to play 2nd base for the Mets) {now both play for the San Fransico Giants}
I mentioned that I knew that the coach of the White Sox (who are currently playing in the World Series) was from Venezuela. (Ozzie Guillen - who also used to be the Braves shortstop), and he's like, "yeah, he came to a couple of my Bible studies. A real tough character, never made a confession of faith." And as if that wasn't enough, he tells me he has an adopted Venezuelan daughter....and who is her godfather? Former brave and all-star first-baseman Andres Galaraga. And these are just the ones he mentioned to me. (Oh and I also found out Sonny Perdue's daughter goes to the church. {Ga. Governor for those non-residents}.

That stuff had my jaw on the floor. (Much like Tori, that probably doesn't all mean as much for those of you who don't know baseball...but its pretty darn amazing to me.)

"Please don't eat me."

"Shhh...be still Micah. Maybe he doesn't see you."

I guess this means Pumpkin Camo doesn't work. (Even in October)

This is Micah cavorting with our neighbor's (half wolf) dog. No worries though, Kila (kee-la) is a gentle giant. If anybody was going to get hurt here, it was going to be when Iron Micah Kelly delivered a devistating left uppercut.

(I just think this is a cool picture.)

Funny "Inspirational" posters

I thought these were pretty funny.

.