The 2007 Top Fives......

Top Five Sports Moments:

5) My first IRL race!
4) Boise State!
3) The Colts....finally.
2) Sidney Lowe's red jacket at the ACC Tournament.
1) Kevin Everett walks in the Bills' locker room.

Top Five Entertainment Loves:

5) Numb3rs
4) NCIS
3) Jessica Biel
2) Womens Murder Club
1) "24" (what else??)

Top Five People I Don't Want To Hear About in 2008:

5) (Tie) Anyone involved with Anna Nicole Smith and Barry Bonds
4) Paris Hilton
3) Lindsay Lohan
2) Britney Spears
1) Repeat numbers 2 thru 4

Top Five News Things:

5) Minneapols Bridge Collapse
4) The War on Terror
3) Bhutto Assassination
2) Housing Market
1) The Relatively Useless Federal Government

Top Five News Things to Watch in 2008 NOT Related to the Presidential Election:

5) The push to alert the public that analog TV is going bye-bye.

4) A major shift of advertising dollars going to the 'Net, at the expense of "old media" (terrestrial radio, local and network TV, newspapers).

3) The bottoming-out of the housing market (probably by September)

2) Ah, can we start smokin' out Al Qaeda and the Taliban again?????

1) Who runs Pakistan? Who will control the nukes? Will the leaders hate us or let us go in and find Osama once and for all?

TOP FIVE PEOPLE TO WATCH:

5) Michelle Obama
4) Jack Bauer (as to whether he will appear on TV in 2008)
3) Ben Bernanke
2) Vladimir Putin
1) Osama Bin Laden (he's too forgotten in the American psyche)

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And, to close......

THE BOTTOM FIVE THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO ME IN 2007:

5) Watching Minneapolis suffer on August 1st and Virginia Tech suffer April 16th and beyond....
4) The death of Grannie Frank
3) OCD and Depression....
2) Losing my income....
1) Losing day-to-day contact with my great friends, including my best one.

THE TOP FIVE THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO ME IN 2007:

5) Watching my son leave for Florida
4) Seeing my wife disappear by 26 percent
3) The look on Rachel's face when she found herself AT THE STAGE for Rascal Flatts

and a TIE for first!
The breakthrough into North Carolina, January 24th.
The Moody Blues, by myself, August 5th.

Now, off to snack, surf, watch wifey watch some weird movie (at least Eva Mendes is in it!), then get ready for midnight, when I will DROPKICK 2007 INTO THE PAST!!!

With a smile on my face.....:)

And for 2008?

What do I pray for?

---A new job, and soon! Early signs of brainrot have set in.

---Continued improve health for the Queen of LapBand, wifey!!

---A quiet, enjoyable 20th wedding anniversary. That means a "kid-sitter". They're not babies anymore....

---The preparation I'll need to watch my baby girl begin MIDDLE SCHOOL.

---A new job! (oh, sorry, repeat. For a moment I thought I was having to type reruns due to the writers' strike.)

---Healing for my friend, Mike.

---To finally connect to a church.

---To sleep NO days away (unless I was up partying all night the night before)

---For wisdom when I encounter new people in my life.

---That I won't lose touch with my friends from the old jobsite.

---That I don't take things for granted like health insurance, our house not burning down, a car that runs daily, and three dollars to buy six bottles of Mountain Dew.

---The ability to blog another year.

---and finally, to keep up this new amount of time spent with the kids. It won't be long until they're gone. :(

2007's Picture of the Year.....

Click here to return to May and remind yourself of those left behind because of the War on Terror.

2007: The ANTI-GREAT....

---Goodbye, Clear Channel. November 5th, rock bottom, not my choice. Losing touch with friends who once saw every day. It sucks.....losing the FRIENDS hurt the most.

---Cleo Strickland (1918-2007): Have a good rest, Grannie; I'll see ya soon.....

---April 16, 2007 in Blacksburg, Virginia. Virginia Tech's darkest day. Needless, senseless....may we never forget, so that it never happens again.

---the battle with depression goes on.....still sleeping some days away (including my 40th birthday and Christmas Eve!!)

---the battle with OCD rages on, approaching the 30-year mark.

---the fact that the Moody Blues concert had to end at some point.

---R.I.P. to Chloe, Rachel's first hamster. :(

---and the hurt of missing people. Never have I had friends just pulled up from under me like a rug, from the standpoint of being able to see and be with them. It's hard, but I heal just a little bit each and every day. :)

2007------THE GREAT!!!!

---FREEDOM! Finally got out of state on January 24th, to North Carolina for my niece's wedding. Drove four hours down, photographed the wedding, enjoyed the reception, met Daniel and family members, drove four hours home, which was four of the quickest hours in my life; it was fun!!!

---Dad turns 75 and Rachel turns 10---the same day! We celebrate in Carolina on the 25th (birthdays were the next day).

---THE MOODY BLUES!!! August 5th at Wolf Trap. What a night; even better than the 2004 show here in Richmond. They're in Baltimore in April. Maybe??

---I turned 40! Yes, I consider this positive, why not? I made it to 40; there are many who do not.

---Robbie's first big trip without the parents. Chorus trip to Orlando. He had a blast, and was kind to call home alot! :)

---Enjoyable visits from Uncle Frank and Aunt Tammy, especially near year's end; a great source of fun during a ROUGH time for moi.

---A final GREAT ten months with my friends at work (love ya Kim, Dionne, Rodney, Desiree, Gina, and Angela!!)

---The chance to spend significant time with the kids since November 5th (about the ONLY positive that came from THAT day...)

---BONNIE LOST 71 POUNDS IN ONE YEAR!! Go, Lap Band, Go! Go, Bonnie, Go!

---Robbie heads to 10th grade; Rachel is elementary queen (5th grader) and becomes safety guard and TV announcer (the morning announcements!)

---WELCOME, HARRY J!!!!!!!!!!!

---Two trips downtown for wrestling.....

---"24": Season 6. Disappointing, but still good.

---The opening of my campaign to open the first Smithfield BBQ outside North Carolina.

---The continual pathetic play in the Raider Nation. (Good? Yeah, it didn't surprise me.)

---The continual pathetic play of the Orioles. (Good? Yeah, it didn't surprise me.)

---Sidney Lowe's red jacket.

---Women's Murder Club

---Jessica Biel

---Rachel's SURPRISE birthday trip to see Rascal Flatts in Charlottesville!

---Bonnie and Rachel to VEGAS, Dad and Robbie do 'da bachelor thing!

---A playoff year for Patrick Henry Football!!

...and the Withams survived another year at Witham Nation.

As Rodney Woody would say, "It's all good!"

2007: We Said Goodbye......

First and foremost, these heroes.....

--Melissa Greer
--Darrent Williams (Denver Bronco shot to death at 24)
--Bobby Hamilton
--Yvonne DeCarlo (Lily Munster)
--Jennifer Strange
--Benny Parsons
--Bam Bam Bigelow
--E. Howard Hunt
--Tige Andrews (The Mod Squad)
--Terry McMillan
--Barbara McNair
--Steve Barber
--Lew Burdette
--Hank Bauer
--Robert Adler
--Mike Awesome
--Dennis Johnson (DJ)
--Thomas Eagleton
--Ernest Gallo
--Bad News Brown (Allen Coage)
--John Vukovich
--Brad Delp
--"Big Cat" Ernie Ladd
--Bowie Kuhn
--Calvert DeForest (Larry "Bud" Melman)
--Herb Carneal
--William Becker
--Eddie Robinson
--Darryl Stingley
--Johnny Hart
--Don Ho
--Kitty Carlisle Hart
--Boris Yeltsin
--Warren Avis (he tried harder to the end!)
--Jack Valenti
--Tommy Newsom (what a wardrobe, Johnny!)
--Tom Poston
--Wally Schirra (THE space expert on TV during Apollo when I was young)
--Yahweh ben Yahweh (source of my head shaking in disbelief on local access cable)
--Jerry Falwell
--Charles Nelson Reilly
--Bill France, Jr.
--Ruth Graham
--Sensational Sherri Martel
--Nancy Benoit
--Daniel Benoit
--Chris Benoit
--Claudia Cohen
--Rod Beck
--Bobby Hussey (former Hokie basketball coach)
--Liz Claiborne
--Joel Siegel
--Beverly Sills
--Lady Bird Johnson
--Tammy Faye Messner
--Mike Coolbaugh
--Skip Prosser
--Tom Snyder
--Bill Robinson
--Bill Walsh
--Ingmar Bergman
--Oliver Hill
--Merv Griffin
--Brian "Crush" Adams
--Phil Rizzuto
--Wild Bill Hagy (O-R-I-O-L-E-S...Orioles!!!!)
--D. James Kennedy
--Luciano Pavarotti
--Jane Wyman
--Brett Somers (blank!)
--Alice Ghostley
--Rex Humbard
--Al Oerter
--Jo Ann Davis
--Deborah Kerr (kissing on the beach...)
--Joey Bishop
--Max McGee
--Jim Cummins
--Porter Wagoner
--Robert Goulet
--Paul Tibbets (Enola Gay; he did the right thing, plus it was his orders!)
--Dick Wilson (Mr. Whipple)
--Sean Taylor ("21"---hail to the Redskins)
--Henry Hyde
--Evel Knievel (yes, I had his toy figure and motorcycle)
--Dan Fogelberg
--Don Chevrier
--Jim Beauchamp
--Benazir Bhutto

and finally.....We Are Virginia Tech.

The "Final Days"

Day 17 of 19: I preached anyway. That would be Mama's request.

Day 18 of 19: Greeting friends and viewing the body privately.

Day 19 of 19: Five years ago today, the funeral. I am so glad I spoke there; it has been a source of therapy and comfort throughout these past five years.

ALL DAY BLOGGING!!!!! Happy New Years Eve!!

I'm home from WWE Smackdown at the Richmond Coliseum Sunday night; I've gotta get some sleep, we've got some bloggin' to do!!

The "final days" of the 19

Best and worst of 2007

2007 in review

2008 thoughts??

And the countdown to the end of this yukky, yukky year. I'll be SO glad when it is over. :)

Good night for now!!

The day of days.....

Day 12 of 19----Christmas Eve. Afternoon spent at bedside; late night spent flying down the road to get to the hospital after church, sleeping all night in a coat and tie

Day 13 of 19----Christmas Day. Left at 6am to see the kids open presents; worked 8 hours to stay ahead, spent the night at the hospital.

Day 14 of 19----The first full day of silent breathing. The laboring was gone.

Day 15 of 19----Silent breathing continued (to our relief)...

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

Today is Day 16 of 19, the first day I was not going to the hospital. Until the BP went to 60/30. I went in the evening.

She passed at 1127pm. Five years ago tonight.

I love you, Mama.

Please welcome our newest blog find.....

....think of your five memories from 2007 and share with Barbara, who presents Random Reflections of a Post-Presbyterian in her blog:

Views from the Road

Click on the title to welcome our newest blog find!

P.S.---ANYONE who uses Mr. Peabody as their picture is cool by me!!!

The Good, The Bad, The Wal-Mart!

So, Christmas morning, Rachel and I are waiting for Robbie and Mom. For some reason, Robbie, who wakes up with roosters every other day, seems to sleep in most every Christmas morning, but that's another post.

She sees that Santa dropped off the WWE video game he's wanted and brought it to me to look at it. I note that it's labeled "Play Station III" down the left side.

Uh oh. We only have PS2. This isn't good. So, Robbie gets up and we eventually start the present open thingy, and he sees the game and understands (for the most part) about the snafu, as Mom apologized profusely.

"I'll get you out to get it exchanged tomorrow."

So, yes, Dad's gonna go to Wal-Mart. Oh, Wal-Mart....the bane of my existence. Although IF I have to go to a Wal-Mart, the one I will go to is in Ashland. So, into the cold rain we go.

The rest is best described by a portion of an email sent to a friend last evening. I give you that portion; almost verbatim. :)

"Robbie got his WWE video game, well, a day later than planned. We bought PS3 version and we just have PS2, so it was off to (ugh!) Wal-Mart this morning to trade. The only Wal-Mart I'll agree to go to did not have the PS2 in stock, but the customer service lady was incredibly helpful and wonderful (the kind you need to call the manager and compliment!); she called another store and found a copy, so off we went to that W-M. Only problem; it's the one I CANNOT STAND!!

Sure enough, the lady at the door would here nothing of the fact we'd already talked to their electronics department; we HAD to go to customer service first, so I just ended up agreeing with her, heading to C.S ., telling the kids, "...let's just do this, and end the conversation." Well, for today's rush, Customer Service was only taking warranty issues. They had four register lines dedicated to returns/exchanges only. Sounds very customer-oriented, doesn't it?

Aisles 17, 18, 20 and 22. 17 was open with a line. 18's light was off with a line (is she getting ready to take a break??). Meanwhile, 20 and 22 aren't even open; no blue vests to be found. Finally, realizing what my kids were trying to tell me ("Dad, they talked to Electronics, let's just go there"), I said, "Let's go".

Line again. With a side order of some disarray. A gentleman helps us; the kids going around the corner to pick up the PS2 version; which the gentleman does and takes to register; which by this time, has some more people in, ah, "line". Looked more like a half-a-football-huddle. Robbie makes the "move" in the line/pack after a customer finished, and aggressively (without realizing it!) got to the register. One might have thought Robbie had "cut in line"; the other people not knowing that those he stood "with" had come post our arrival. Long story short, guy finds manager (dressed in a Redskins jersey), who escorts us to Customer Service.

No, not those register places. The real CS. Somehow, she got the lady there to take care of our exchange, when, technically, the law of the day would have overruled. Maybe Redskins lady was her boss, too??

Anyway, a rainy trip to two Wal-Marts comes to a close, and right now it looks like Robbie's wrestler is beating his opponent with a bat wrapped at the top with barbed-wire. Nothing says I love you like barbed-wire."

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I haven't called the Ashland store to praise the lady for her great help. The good news is, there's a whole new plethora of cage matches, Hall of Fame wrestlers to unlock and shovels, rakes, and implements of destruction under the ring. (With all due apologies to Arlo Guthrie).

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

In other news, I SO MUCH enjoyed my luncheon with my old friends (co-workers) today, seeing three of four for the first time since I was, ah, booted. The fact that Olive Garden had enough patrons to fill a small town kinda threw things awry (it was our original meeting place), so one of us traveled just down the street to see the "immediate seating available" light on in the window at TGI Friday's. So, via cell phones and meetings in the parking lots, we all make it to the round table in non-smoking.

It was great to see them, catch up, check on their Christmases, and to know as I left that a sense of "semi-normalcy" was thankfully invading their cubicles/studios. I did note to myself early on that a conversation regarding a current work situation made me feel, for the first time, "outside" the circle so to speak. But that is to be expected!! Life continues, as should their working, their relationships and, I hope and pray, GOOD times for them!! That's what I want for them, because they mean so much to me. :)

If life doesn't go on, what da heck will we laugh about the next time we dine??? :)

I guess I should have added "and the WONDERFUL!" at the end of the post because of our lunch together today. But I'm way too afraid someone will glance at this post, and leave assuming I used the term "wonderful" to describe Wal-Mart, and my friends, nothing (save at least on of their employees!) could be further from the truth. :)

LOL.....go Target!

Well, at least the year ends Monday!

You Had a Bad Year

Your year was horrible. There's no other way to say it. A lot went wrong for you, and you're still recovering from it. The good news is that things probably won't get worse for you. So look forward to the new year, where things will hopeful be much better!

How Did Your Year Rate?

I'm so excited!! Patience pays off!!! Hey Ris!!!!

I have a mental list of several old friends whom I have attempted to "find" via the web the last few years.

I can check one off my list!!

"Ris" (her nickname) was the first person ever to train me on a commercial radio station (teaching me how to run the board for a University of Massachusetts football game); she got her start in radio in high school! I did not mind being trained by someone a year younger than I. Who cares!

We came good friends, worked together, even visited her at UMass one time before I had to move back home.

And this morning, after a few years of trying, bingo! Found her blog.

Read it here.

She's awesome (note in her profile she is even polite in traffic....Boston-area traffic!! You have to be awesome to do that, and patient, too!).

Happy Holidays, Ris!!

For Christmas, I got....I got....I got a....I got a refrigerator?!??

My Christmas list this year was one request deep:

A Moody Blues DVD....

I was blessed with two! Yes, two!

One from bro and sis-in-law, and one from the fam this morning. :)

But THEN.......

Sliding over toward me is a LARGE package. Heh? I didn't ask for anything that would be THIS size!

And what did Dad get?

Heh?

A refrigerator??!!??



Yep. Apparently I chose door number two on Let's Make A Deal. :)

My immediate thought was this would be for me to put, well, wherever I may end up employed (SOON, I HOPE), in an office, as wifey had asked me if I wanted one at my old job, lessening the chances my food/drink would be stolen from the communal refrigerator, which, of course, got pretty nasty over time.....

But, no. I was quickly informed this itty bitty fridge is for.....

the bedroom.

Yep. The bedroom. Why? So I don't have a stumble at 3am down the hall, and, honestly, since I sometimes get "stuck" in bed (like yesterday when I pretty much slept all day) I don't come out of the room to be shocked at the sight of, like, members of wifey's family or something.

Sounds fine to me.....unless it cost alot!!!!

So, I guess the moral of this story is, "now Rob can chill out while watching the Moody Blues!"

Heh. Sorry, that was lame.

And did YOU get a surprise for Christmas??

She Shall Bring Forth A Son......

.....from myself, wifey, Robbie, Rachel, Cody and Zoe (the cats), Harry J (the dog), and even Peanut (Rachel's new hamster)......

.....we wish you the peace found in the one who was wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger; the peace which only God can give when we come to the ChristChild, who was born to bear the sins of the world, so that we may be free from our sin, and live with Him forever.

It's Christmas Eve! And, after 40 years, I know why I ALWAYS wear socks!!

You Are Socks!

Cozy and warm... but easily lost. You make a good puppet.

What Crappy Christmas Gift Are You?

One year = 52 weeks = 71 pounds....

Thank you, Lap Band!

I offer that sentiment on behalf of my wife, as well as me.

Over a year ago, when wifey decided to green light having the Lap-Band procedure, I was happy for one reason.

Health.

I've known her grandmother for 20 years; she's very overweight and I normally see her only sitting in a chair.

I did not want wifey ending up in that position, knowing how active she loves to be and how much (but she's NOT RUSHING IT!) she looks forward to running around with and spoiling grandkids.

So, I supported her 100 percent. I can assure my support had nothing to do with looks. Had that been the case, I never would have dated her, much less said "I Do".

So, today, we are one year and two days removed from her surgery. And where's wifey?

---she still has a couple of tiny scars (no big deal, she doesn't like bikinis and trust us, the Lap-Band procedure IS minimally invasive).

---she has radically revolutionzed how she eats and drinks (I'm SO proud of her; I wish I had that kind of gumption and courage)

---and, well, she's down 71 pounds. That's just over a quarter of the weight she carried into the surgical procedure.

The first 10-20 weeks, she would get down sometimes if there wasn't a weight loss of a pound on any certain morning, and I would have to remind her:

If you lose one pound a WEEK, you lose 52 pounds in the first year.

She stopped obsessing, stopped weighing herself every single morning, and focused on diet and walking. And now? Try 19 pounds MORE than 52!!

She stole the show at Rachel's elementary school open house in September (she lost quite a bit of that weight over the summer), turned heads in November when we visited our old church home, and she's a different lady.

I still love doing, well, you know....even though there is now much less of her to love. :) :)

Congrats, wifey!!! I love you!! Now, I need to catch up.

CLICK THE LINK at the top of the post for details on the Lap-Band procedure. Note that you cannot just "have" it done; you must meet eligibility guidelines and initial screenings.

....the days, and milestones moved on....

Yesterday was Day 9 of 19....our last conversation.

Today is Day 10 of 19....the day I was mad. Very mad.

A Pantyless Preacher's Wife??

I've always called wifey the "Anti-Pastor's Wife". I never thought of giving her this nickname. :)

This is an excellent blog! It's the newest edition to the blogroll on the right.

Visit now by clicking here!

Of scars and fish......

....great post over at "A Piece of Joan's Mind".

Read how Joan got over her fear of anything medical (I do NOT recommend going down her road and I am VERY SURE she wouldn't, either!)....

....then discover some information you may not have been told about transplants.