Catching up

I've been slack updating this, so here are some quick-hits to catch people up on the Parkers.....

-Jett turned one last week. We had 21 people, other than us, at the house last Sunday. That's the most ever. Jett did really well with the crowd, but wasn't interested in his cake. Barely touched it. I'll post some pics soon I promise. Here are two semi-recent ones to do until then.....






-Discovered last week that if I'm going to hunt behind my house, Slider's got to be in her crate. She barked so much last Monday when I went that I got mad, came out of the woods and yanked her inside and into the crate. She knows if I go in the woods (just beyond her fence) that it's for fun. Her favorite thing to do is run through the woods and sniff everything so she feels left out I guess.

-Speaking of hunting, not getting to do it much at all. When I worked in Huntersville, I went probably 20 to 25 times a year. Last year, I went just five times. This year, it may be slightly more than that, but not much.

-I love this time of year, but it also kills me because there's so much I'd rather be doing than working.

-Looking forward to Thanksgiving. I think I'm going to be off about half the week.

-We have one football team left in the playoffs that we're covering. Hibriten's having its best year in a while and could go far. Other than that, I'm spending this week previewing high school hoops.

-Jett did something pretty cool today. He came to me on the couch, grabbed my index finger and led me down the hall. Did it twice.

-Jett ripped our heart out today. We were trying to leave him in the nursery at church, but he was tired and wasn't familiar with the people in there. So he just snatched on to Shanda's leg and wouldn't let go. When we had to leave, he cried his eyes out. Mama came close.

-State's on a roll in football. Well, the Pack beat Duke and Wake. That means they are 3-0 against in-state teams with one to go. It's the big one, too, against Carolina, on Saturday. Win or lose, this year has been one of progress. We're finally getting out of the Amato damage and we have a quarterback in Russell Wilson!

Finally, in the woods

Monday was the first day I’ve had a chance to go deer hunting this year.
With Jett and the job and all, it’s just been tough to find time. Anyway, it’s been really hot until this week so it didn't matter.
I tried out a new spot for the first time. I have access to the 50 or so acres behind my house now, so that cuts out a 15-minute drive and the extra planning of going to Terrell.
I was so anxious to get out there this week. It’s been a long time since I’ve hunted somewhere new and given I hadn’t been this year at all, I was itching to get a chance.
But I didn’t see a thing.
It was a great day to be in the woods though, about 45 degrees, rather cold for October here.
The leaves just started changing.
I had a lot stacked against me. I didn’t have any food out (corn is $9.99 a freaking bag!) and I’ve opted (or been forced, depending on how you look at it) to try the ultimate challenge – taking a deer, with my bow, from the ground.
I don’t have a treestand up and Monday, I was pretty much sitting at the base of a tree. I had cut a few shooting lanes the other day (actually spooked one deer while doing it) and cleared away leaves at the tree, which is next to a fallen log. But after about an hour, really before that, I realized I need to get a little better set up. I found my old hunting bucket and I think I’ll also use my old camo umbrella/blind to shield my right side.
I’ll get it figured out.

Closing in on a year

Pretty hard to believe, but Jett's going to be a year old in less than a month. Here are some updated photos of him......Here's Shanda with him.


Now, here's the two JPs together.....



Here's two of Jett trying to rule the TV.....

A real adult week

One thing I've learned by watching Jett the last 10-plus months is how much I envy his joy and innocence.
I mean, his biggest problem of the day is when we set him down to go get his bottle, he whines...and we're back with it in 10 seconds. Then he guzzles it. Man, tough life.
There's no gas problem, no election crap to watch, no monetary crisis, none of that adult stuff to worry about. For me, the worrying is almost worse than anything. I'm already worried about my upcoming prostate exams and that's like 12 years away!
I had two things, other than that stuff, just nail me this week. First, a good friend of mine called and we talked about some serious problems he's facing. I don't want to elaborate, but it's serious stuff (yeah, I know, good teaser...sorry).
Then, I heard about the death of an old girlfriend from high school, Angela Isenhour. She died in a car wreck this week.
Shanda and I saw her a few months back at Chili's in Mooresville and at Denver Days a few years before that. Other than that, it had been basically since high school since I'd seen her. But that makes two former classmates of mine to die in recent months, the other being Chris Huffman.
I wasn't close to either one in recent years, but both of those kind of hit me hard.
All that stuff sure makes my Cubs losing in the playoffs (after leading the NL almost all year!) pretty easy to take.
Anyway, sorry to be down in the dumps. Had to vent a little.
As for what else is up, since I haven't updated this blog in a while, I just turned 28. The big 2-8. Whatever. They're all the same now anyway.
As usual, I tried to drag my birthday out for a whole week. I did, too! I took my birthday off last Tuesday, then went out to eat with Shanda and Jett that night at Beef O'Brady's in Denver. Shanda's family took us to eat Saturday (Kobe in Cornelius) and my family came over Sunday with Untouchables wings/pizza.
We also have another cool new neighbor. He just moved into a new house across the street and we've chatted a few times. He's a hunter, outdoorsy type and I think we'll hang out some. Shanda thinks I'm stalking him. He does have a four-wheeler, flatscreen TV, a jeep, an awesome house and deck, and a canoe.
So can you blame me?

What a sports day!

Things really couldn't have been much better in the Parker sports world Saturday.
The Pack beat those pesky Pirates, the Cubs clinched the NL Central and the Tar Heels choked against the Hokies.
So things are looking good. State, which is clearly rebuilding its program after hurricane Amato, doesn't stink that much (Big fan of O'Brien and new qb Russell Wilson), the Cubs are in the playoffs, meaning they have a shot to end the century-long skid and the Heels aren't the world beaters people were making them out to be after the Rutgers win (Rutgers lost to Navy Saturday, too).
Who's to say things will stay this good for long, but Saturday sure was fun!

Jett's flying around

Last Tuesday, Jett turned 10 months old. Kinda hard to believe, huh?
The child prodigy is up to all kinds of new tricks. Mainly, he's walking....on his own.
It all happened pretty quickly. He's always been a fast crawler and for that matter, a quick learner, but a while back, he began pulling up to the coffee table or our hands and walking. He couldn't take steps without holding something, but in the last few weeks, he's conquered that. Now, he can walk across the room or down the hall, even turn or squat down to pick something up and continue on his way.



He can also carry something with him, a bottle or toy, whatever. Sometimes, he will even turn into a dog and carry a ball in his mouth.

He's now also noticing when we take something away from him. It used to be that he would get distracted if we took something from him. Now, he starts whining. It's so funny because he doesn't cry much at all so when he does, it's actually kinda neat.
Then I do the mature thing. I just make fun of him.

New neighbors

We have some new neighbors.
Well, sort of.
They're new to our street, not to us.
Nathan, Emily and Madison Stutts are moving in two doors down! They just closed on the house last week and they've been down there working.
I'm excited. I mean, I grew up with Nathan just a few hundred yards away and we hung out a lot in those days. We've both been doing our own thing recently and hadn't spoken in months when he pulled in our driveway the other day and told us they were looking for a house. There were like 8 for sale in our little village.
I'm glad to have someone else we know living close by. Perhaps even more, I'm glad because of who they are replacing. Remember the neighbors that called the cops on us, I mean Slider? Well, their house right beside us is also vacant now (thank God), but the next one (Nate's) was their relatives' house. One of them bothered Shan one day, but my girl went off on her!
Anyway, they all left in one group a few months back and put their houses up. I think they all went to the nuthouse. Needless to say, Nate and them being there is a 180 degree difference for the positive.
Fortunately for them, they only had to deal with the crazies a few times.
I could never figure those people out other than to say they are just different.
In my job dealing with coaches, I deal with all kinds of personalities. There are the ego-maniacs, the morons, the ones who don't understand what you're trying to do, the shovelers (so full of crap), and the arrogant. Many drive me crazy, but I can pretty much get along with anybody, coaches or whoever, from any background if they're just adult about it.
I mean, there are going to be disagreements between people. That's fine. I really don't care. My personality is one that I can totally disagree with what you're doing, but I'll just respect your opinion. Then I'm sure we can find some common ground. Hey, leave me alone. You do what you want.
Those people, though, were a challenge. I would've taken some overweight nudists over them if they would've just waved at us when they drove by. Maybe even some Carolina fans.
We actually got to a point where the people beside us would wave. Whether they meant it or not, who knows.
Anyway, we're happy to have Nate dog and his fam on K-street.
It's the second time something like this has happened to us. When Shan and I were living in the apartment in Matthews right after we got married, my old college roommate Tyson, who is from Rock Hill, needed a place to live in that area. There were four complexes there at that time, but only ours had one-bedroom set-ups. So there we are, the newlyweds, and my old roomie a golf shot away.
Sounds like we're an upgrade for the Stutts family, too. Where they've lived, on the road out behind Rehobeth, their neighbor is a 50-year-old speedo-wearing, sun worshipper, as Harold described him.
I probably would've taken that guy, too.