Who Do You Believe?

Today they are predicting snow for Colorado Springs!  Anywhere from 6 inches to 16 inches, depending on the "they" to whom you are listening!  16 inches, as you can probably imagine, is a lot of snow.  Enough that you plan your schedule around it.  Of course, if you plan your schedule around the 16 inch prediction and you only get 6, then you've got a credibility issue!  So it's important to be careful which "they" you decide to believe.

The same thing is true for every area of our life.  We decide on what to do, where to go and how to live based on the input of many people, but your choices are a reflection of who you believe.

So who do you believe today?

Win - Win

Do you want to grow the love in your marriage? You've all the great advice: communicate, don't be selfish, take care of each other, etc. Let me throw this one into the mix. When you both are working on not being selfish, this works a lot better: win - win. When you are facing a difficult situation, don't blame each other for where you are, but come up with a solution that solves the problem and allows both of you to walk away with your hearts intact! Too often, one or the other is crushed in the process and that is not good for anyone!

Austin, TX

I just spent three days in Austin, TX. There were many things I enjoyed there, but first and foremost were the friendly people I met there. The guy on the airplane. The fine folks at the rental car counter. The young people responsible for getting the car and getting me out of the airport. The lady at the hotel. Every person at every restaurant.

Then there was the beautiful little town of Dripping Springs. Yep. Dripping Springs. A beautiful, small town where Spanish Oaks grow in abundance. Like something straight out of your imagination.

Had a great time in Texas and was especially proud of my oldest, who put in long hours making sure we got the job done in the time allowed! Thank you James!

Friends

It's not the importance of the people that you have over to your house, it's how much you enjoy them being there. Tonight we had a couple from church over to the house. They are a blast and are so very, very funny. We were sharing with each other places we had lived and how we got to where we are now. Come to find out, he's a partner of an growing international business! And what was great was knowing that we were having a good time before we knew what he did! That's cool!

It's Rocktober Again

It's been a year and no one's complaining...hmmm. Regardless, it is Rocktober 1st and what better day than today for the Colorado Rockies to clinch their 3rd trip to the post season? I recall years ago being one of a cadre of Rockies supporters calling for the head of GM Dan O'Dowd. The Rockies stunk and their players seemed to be just awful. Suddenly, the Rockies have the deepest talent pool in MLB! And on the cheap, too! Todd Helton has a deservedly big contract. Troy Tulowitski has a deservedly long contract (although we wondered after last season). But at least 3 of their everyday starters are making less than a million dollars a year! That is amazing. The teams total salary is 75.2 million dollars. The other playoff contenders look like this: Dodgers ($100.4 million), Cardinals ($88.5 million), Phillies ($113 million), Yankees ($201.4 million), Red Sox ($122.6), Tigers ($115) and Angels (113.7). And I definitely don't want to overlook the incredible job that Jim Tracy has done managing the Rockies. The Rox were a horrible team the first 6 weeks of the season and destined for 100 losses. O'Dowd fires his friend and manager, Clint Hurdle, and makes Jim Tracy the interim manager. And I don't think any other team has won as many games as the Rockies since mid-May. So here's to a wonderful October!

The Wife and Kids

To some guys, it's just an excuse. "No, I can't go to Old Chicago's. Gotta get home to the wife and kids." Not me. I like being around my wife and kids. It's not always smooth sailing. The kids do things I really wish they wouldn't. My wife decides to do things I'd rather not do. But you know what? I'd rather be with them then somewhere else wishing they were with me. So, tonight, we're going to a hymn sing together and just enjoy being with each other and the Lord!

Raising Cash for Uganda

I'm going on a missions trip with my church to Uganda. One of my responsibilities is to raise the funds I need for the trip. Asking people to help is not an issue. In fact, I've sent out a letter to many people already. The issue is followup. How do I increase the number of people who give and how do I remind people at a later time without offending anyone?

Election Coverage?

I will add my voice to the many who believe that John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin was genius! She's as good as any at delivering a prepared speech. The difference is, she's made actual governing decisions. What? She only did it for 2 years? Well, yeah. That still dwarfs the 0 years of experience by Obama. And for the past year Obama's been out campaigning while Palin's been governing!

More later.

NBC's Coverage of the Olympics

What's up with NBC? Their studio coverage has been horrible! No mic for Bella Karolyi on the first night of sport coverage? Bob Costas has to hold his mic? Huge echo on the set with Jim Lampley? Cris Collinsworth providing analysis of Women's Swimming? Collinsworth's first question to Dara Torres: Can you honestly tell us that you don't use performance enhancing drugs? Are you kidding? How long has NBC known they were providing coverage of the Beijing Games? NBC locked up the rights to 2008 in 1995 and knew it was in Beijing in 2001! Seriously, you can't get a lav mic purchased in 13 years and prepared in 7 years? NBC, get your act together. With so many events tape delayed, or worse different start times depending on whether or not you live in the East and Central time zones or the Mountain and Pacific time zones, NBC can ill-afford to drive viewers away with sloppy production quality.

Vindication

I watched the All-Star game last night, not so much because I wanted to see the All-Stars (most coming from teams with huge fanbases, but because Clint Hurdle was the manager. Clint earned the honor by managing the Colorado Rockies to their first World Series last year.

So why is it "vindication"? The American League beat the National League in 15 innings by a score of 4 to 3. The American League has won 12 straight. Where's the vindication?

Last fall the Rockies finished the year with the best fielding percentage EVER! Not one of their players earned a Gold Glove. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki led all rookies in 9 offensive categories and finished 2nd or 3rd in 8 others. Yet he loses the Rookie of the Year award to Ryan Braun of Milwaukee, who had a great first half of the season, but faded, along with the Brewers, in the 2nd half. Todd Helton ends the season with a .999 fielding percentage and doesn't win the Gold Glove? Clint Hurdle leads the Rockies to the World Series when his team is picked to finish 4th or 5th in their division? Okay, enough griping.

I watched the All-Star Game to see how Hurdle manages, Matt Holliday plays and Aaron Cook pitches. I was not disappointed. AL manager Terry Francona ran out of position players in the 10th, while Hurdle saved a starting pitcher. That proved crucial when the game went into extra innings. Matt Holliday hit a home run in the fifth inning for the first score of the game and Aaron Cook should have won the MVP for the brilliant pitching in a 10th inning that saw 2 errors in a row by NL 2nd baseman Dan Uggla. Bases loaded, nobody out and Cook gets three ground balls to escape the inning. Same brilliance in the 11th.

The Rockies' players performed well on the national stage, and though they didn't win or get any awards, today I feel vindicated!