It's a...

BOY!!

Check out our Facebook pages for the announcement.

Here are some pics and a silly vid from the day:

No, we're not the type to post his parts for the entire world to see.

Sweet sister kisses

Munchkin wanted to take a picture of me with the flowers.


Sure, this video is corny, but what do you expect from me?

Back When

I really like Pandora radio. One of the cool features is having the lyrics for the song.

Well, Tim McGraw has a song entitled "Back When". It's a fun little tome about how things used to be. It's got a catchy chorus:

Back when a hoe was a hoe
Coke was a coke
And crack's what you were doing
When you were cracking jokes
Back when a screw was a screw
The wind was all that blew
And when you said I'm down with that
Well it meant you had the flu
I miss back when

But the most ironic lyric is this: Cause they put pop in my country

Well Timmy, you might've sang about the evils of pop invading country music, but you sir, are a perpetrator. This song was released on 2004's "Live Like You Were Dying", well after you'd gone the way of syrupy ballads and cross-over pop-tarty sound. Hypocrite.

Happy Birthday Babe!

Who are those crazy kids?!

We've celebrated NINE of your birthdays together. It's hard to imagine that I've spent a third of your life with you, but the math doesn't lie.

We've had a lot of great moments during this span. Pixar has been nice enough to release their summer blockbuster most of those years, so it's been a fun little tradition of ours. We've been all over the Midwest and Europe, seeing lots of your extended family on the way. We have two wonderful children and a third on the way.

I wonder what adventures these next few years will have for us.

I love you.

Hope you have a good nap.

Our Little Picasso

Munchkin is a much better drawer than her old man, especially at the age of four.

I guess this is me.

I really like the ears.

Happy Mother's Day!

Hey Babe,

I'm so blessed that you are my wife and the mother of my children.

I'm glad that the Lord has blessed us with another tiny soul to shepherd.

I look forward to dedicating the next baby Carrell on Mother's Day next year.

Love,

Me

Four Things I Love About You

1. You still like to plop down in my lap to read books.

2. Your sweet singing and the songs you make up.

3. You still say gym-natch-tics, even though you've been doing them for over a year now.

4. The way you half-asleep sputter and mumble and cling to me when I take you for your 10:15 potty break.

Happy Birthday Munchkin!

Love,

Daddy

Word Whimsy

Here's the challenge: See if you can use the following words in the normal flow of conversation this week.

1. Panacea
2. Genesis (just regarding a beginning, not the first book of the Bible. that'd be too easy)

Bubble Watch

Joe Lunardi posted his weekly Bracketology on Monday.

I know I'm going to take some flack from my fellow Texas alumns and diehards, but I don't think we deserve to go dancing this year. If I was on the NCAA Selection Committee, I would pick A&M ahead of UT. We just haven't had that many marquee wins, and those wins are close. We haven't consistently blown people out.

Now, will UT get into the tourney? Probably, assuming they don't get creamed at Kansas on Saturday and win two games in the Big XII tournament. They're the Arizona of the Big XII. Even if they don't have a great record, it's almost as if the selection committee believes they have a birthright to the tournament.

I think yesterday helped clear up the picture.
Minnesota and Wisconsin switch places with the Golden Gophers in and the Badgers out. Either way, the fewer rodents the better.
Say bye-bye to Miami. The ACC is 6-bid conference at best, with BC not helping its cause by gakking at NC State.
The SEC is down this year, as noted by Kentucky losing to an 11-18 Georgia team. It's hard to deny the Wildcats, both the program and Billie Gillespie. I know Pat Forde would have a heart attack.
Same goes for Florida. Not much margin for error.
I think Tulsa played its way in.
A&M is on an absolute tear lately and owns non-conference wins over LSU & Arizona.
San Diego State and UNLV are battling for the 4th MWC bid.

The Big East is a good conference. However, I don't think Providence has done enough to get in. Seven bids is good for this league.

I think URI takes one of the bids from the ACC or Big East.

[Editor's Note: The above portion of the column written at lunchtime on 3/5/09]
Here's last night's scoreboard.

Well, Providence sure spit the bit last night. Thanks for making me look smart. :o)
VMI is the feel-good story of the year, taking out Liberty by 20.
Did Tennessee switch places with South Carolina or just push themselves onto the bubble a little further?
I think Penn State cemented its place in the Field fo 65.
Cal pushed Arizona firmly out of the Dance with a road win last night. If you have 12 losses and you're not from a traditional single-bid conference, you have no place in March.

Tune in these next three days to see what movement happens as the low- and mid-major conferences wrap up their tourneys.

[Editor's Note: The previous two paragraphs were published before Joe's Bracketology update today.]

Joe's new arrivals? Minnesota, Texas A&M.
Joe's first out? Arizona, Kentucky & Providence.
The second out? Miami.

Thanks Joe for confirming my thoughts.

Overheard This Weekend

Tiny One to her doll Emily on the dark car ride home Friday night:
"You can't see Honeybunch!"
"WeeHee Emily!" repeat ad nauseum

Tiny One to me Saturday night during Munchkin's 10-minute resistance to eating her green bean:
"Don't get frustrated Daddy."
When a 2-year-old is calling you out, you know you need to work on tone and body language.

Munchkin when presented with her black shoes to wear with her red dress on Sunday morning:
"Christmas shoes! WooHoo!"

The Good Things

It hasn't been all bad lately.

The girls have been playing very sweetly together a lot, becoming friends in addition to being sisters.

Tiny One has been really affectionate toward me, which revives my soul. There's been lots of Daddy hugs and air kisses. She's also been really into running to a spot and jumping. The gymnastics have been good for her.

Munchkin continues to be our little artist. It's fun to see the creativity she has with her designs and colors. She is very good at coloring inside the lines and cutting things out.

The weather is vacillating between mild winter and mild summer. The weatherpersons and newscasters are so annoying because they're always overly thankful for the warm weather. Alas, our 3-week allotment of winter weather is finished. I wonder what it would be like to live in a place where there's actually four seasons and summer doesn't last from May to October. A man can dream.

Viva Fernando!

What a concert!

I thoroughly enjoy his music and his time with us tonight was no exception. His off-the-wall rabbit-trail humor lends itself to a more familial tone, which is rather endearing.

I was a little bummed he only did one of his funnier songs, but was quite thrilled by the overall experience. The sound was amazing and the cello accompaniment was fabulous.

Thanks to MT for taking care of the girls for us.

Crawling Out From Under The Rock

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I've been stupid busy at work. Yes, I just said "stupid busy".

Long story short is that we lost a couple of people in the lab three weeks ago and I've absorbed a lot more responsibilities. And one of my tests hasn't been working, compounding the extra work. There's been a lot of early mornings, late nights and weekend trysts with my GCs.

I am feeling very overwhelmed with everything. My esposa pointed out that I have a smattering of stress on my face, which I've been trying to combat with frequent face washings. So if you think of me, send up a prayer on my behalf, specifically that I'd be efficient with my time and that I'd be humble in my successes, as well as having the energy to be a husband and father when I am home.

Thanks.

Grace Memories

One of the founding couples of our church mentioned some of the memories they had in what will soon be the old sanctuary.

I thought I'd give some of my favorite memories of the old facility.

Got married to my beloved wife.
Dedicated both our children to the LORD.
Played saxophone for the music portion of worship.
Fernando Ortega and Andrew Peterson - Behold the Lamb of God concerts.

I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting; I've been a regular attender since January '98. Leave a comment with your favorite memories.

R

Super Bowl Reaction

So, as a parent, the days of sitting down to watch a full game are well done and gone.

The play that many talking heads are touting as the greatest play in Super Bowl history (probably), and even all of sporting history! is what I'm going to rant on.

Great play by James Harrison, including the high-stepping routine down the sideline. Deion Sanders would be proud.

HOWEVER!!!! that was a poor play call. I put that on the offensive coordinator. Does he have Greg Davis as his special counsel? YOU'VE GOT LARRY FREAKING FITZGERALD! HE LOVES THE BALL AND THE BALL LOVES HIM! HE IS THE JUMP-BALL KING! I throw at least two fades to him. At the very least, vary the snap count! Imagine if they gave the hard count on that ill-fated play? Guess what? Arizona football at the half-yard line. Think about if they started the play with the motion left and Warner swivels around and boots to the right to have a tight end pulling across the grain? So many options. Especially since there's not much room for the defense to patrol, you don't want to have a short pass. Everybody's coming forward.

Oh well.

Great game. Congrats to the Steelers. I know my manager is a happy woman.

New Building

Grace Transforms.

It's a catchy phrase. It was the theme for the campaign to build a new sanctuary. Not only was Grace Covenant Church transforming with the new facility, grace was also supposed to transform our lives in such a way that we'd be willing to give sacrificially to this project. It isn't supposed to be just for us to enjoy. It's for our Creator. And it's for the people of Austin to have a haven in their time of need.

Well, we were treated to a special sneak preview on Christmas Eve. I snagged this short panoramic video during one of the songs. You'll notice how packed the new auditorium is. This is mainly due to all the kids being there as well as the fact that was the only service of the night.

What a special time it was. It was awe-inspiring walking into the new place for the first time that night.

I hope you enjoy. If you can get past the blurry blackness.

Made it Into the Mailbag

Granted, it wasn't the Sports Guy's mailbag, but it'll do.

I'm a loyal reader of Tim Griffin's Big XII blog on ESPN and I sent him a question last week which made it into his mailbag.

Here's the text:

Ryan from Round Rock, Texas, writes: Tim, Why does everyone fawn over Josh Freeman? I know he has prototypical size for a QB, but he's maddeningly inconsistent. He's Chris Simms, except in a purple uniform. If I were Bill Snyder, I'd make him Kerry Meier 2.0 and put in a signal caller that can really read defenses.

Tim Griffin: The scouts I talk to all love Freeman's size and arm and his ability to move in and outside the pocket, but like you aren't enthralled with his consistency. I think he would do better to return to school, but I think some NFL team will make him a first-day selection if he was to declare.

And with all of the talk about the upcoming rookie salary scale, I think we'll probably see more players than ever declare for the draft this season.

Ruined!!

On our way up to visit family this weekend, we spent some time playing the alphabet song game, where you come up with a song that starts with every letter of the alphabet.

You know the song "He's got the whole world in His hands"?

As soon as we started singing it, my mind went to the scene in "Con Air" when they're leaving the old abandoned airport and Steve Buschemi is singing that while clutching the girl's doll. It's forever etched in my brain and I can't hear that song without thinking about that scene.

Pet Peeves

At work, there are windows along the hallway and on the door.
Why is it that people don't knock?
They just stand there at the door or the window and stare at you.
I guess they just expect me to sense they are there.
Do they think I am Darth Vader? (I can feel him)
Do they think I have eyes in the side or back of my head? (Ever see that episode of Outer Limits with the nanobots? Creepy!)
It bugs me to death.
I think I'll just start ignoring those people.

And another thing...
There is a guy at work that texts while he's on the pot.
I'm in there doing my business and I here this clicking in the stall next to me.
Does that person know they're being texted to from the john?
ICK!

And while we're here...
I'm beginning to be that old guy. You know the type.
Just a few short years ago I was that young punk weaving in and out of traffic, nearly causing a wreck every ten miles.
Tonight there was some jerk in a Spider that would tool around for a bit and just for fun start dartin in and out just because he could with his little sports car.
The best part? We stopped in Hillsboro and the doofus was wearing a Santa hat with a sly grin on his mug.
You know what happened next...he has to prove he's cool by blowing us off the line. Yeah, dude. You're cool. You just whupped a dude in the family car. Here's your sign.

Well, that about does it. Time to get these tired old bones to bed.

The Gory Details

Caution: If you've eaten recently or are not sitting down, come back when you're ready.

To get my beloved's take, click here.

These pictures are at the behest of the Zookeeper.

These are directly after the accident and before I cleaned up.

Please note: I understand that hairy legs aren't necessarily attractive, so adding the blood and subtracting some skin does not help at all.

Scraped nose and a bloody, but not busted, lip

Bloody elbow

Road rash on the right shoulder

Back of the left leg. I don't know where the flesh went. But I do miss it.

Front of left leg. The darker spots are some loose gravel from where the city has been repaving perfectly fine roads around our neighborhood. Something about beautification/upkeep.

All in all, not too bad. A lot of people have asked how my bike fared. The bike shop said it'd be about $65 to fix it. That sounds pretty cheap right? THAT'S BECAUSE MY LEFT LEG CUSHIONED THE BLOW!

The wheels looked okay. The only things that needed replaced were the quick-release mechanism and chain assembly on the back wheel. And the handlebars needed a little tweaking.

Yeah. But you should see the truck. Totalled the poor guy's Ram.

In all seriousness, though, I am very blessed to have walked away from this accident with what looks like only a sprained left knee and some road rash. PRAISE THE LORD!

Week 14 Rankings and the BCS

After last week saw no change in the top 6 spots in my rankings, it's time to publish my final rankings of the year. Again, I apologize for the formatting.


RC1 RC2 BCS
1 Oklahoma 12-1 0.9526 1 Texas 0.9583 1 Oklahoma 0.9757
2 Florida 12-1 0.9444 2 Oklahoma 0.9508 2 Florida 0.9479
3 Texas 11-1 0.9407 3 Florida 0.9427 3 Texas 0.9298
4 Texas Tech 11-1 0.9296 4 Utah 0.9240 4 Alabama 0.8443
5 Utah 12-0 0.9253 5 Alabama 0.9198 5 USC 0.8208
6 Alabama 12-1 0.9036 6 Texas Tech 0.9075 6 Utah 0.7846
7 Boise State 12-0 0.8953 7 Boise State 0.8931 7 Texas Tech 0.7840
8 Penn State 11-1 0.8943 8 Penn State 0.8929 8 Penn State 0.7384
9 Ohio State 10-2 0.8928 9 Ohio State 0.8894 9 Boise State 0.6980
10 Cincinnati 11-2 0.8741 10 Cincinnati 0.8738 10 Ohio State 0.6354
11 Georgia 9-3 0.8632 11 USC 0.8669 11 TCU 0.5848
12 TCU 10-2 0.8577 12 Pittsburgh 0.8661 12 Cincinnati 0.5384
13 USC 11-1 0.8524 13 Georgia 0.8597 13 Oklahoma State 0.4866
14 Georgia Tech 9-3 0.8487 14 TCU 0.8556 14 Georgia Tech 0.4516
14 Pittsburgh 9-3 0.8487 15 Michigan State 0.8477 15 Georgia 0.3775
16 Oklahoma State 9-3 0.8446 16 Oklahoma State 0.8422 16 BYU 0.3580
17 Florida State 8-4 0.8312 17 Ball State 0.8261 17 Oregon 0.3395
18 Michigan State 9-3 0.8310 18 BYU 0.8260 18 Michigan State 0.2866
19 BYU 10-2 0.8265 19 Georgia Tech 0.8258 19 Virginia Tech 0.2440
20 Ball State 12-1 0.8264 20 Nebraska 0.8195 20 Pittsburgh 0.2377
21 Virginia Tech 9-4 0.8216 21 Boston College 0.8194 21 Missouri 0.1627
22 Boston College 9-4 0.8207 22 Missouri 0.8192 22 Ball State 0.1464
23 Missouri 9-4 0.8202 23 Virginia Tech 0.8187 23 Northwestern 0.1377
24 North Carolina 8-4 0.8044 24 Florida State 0.8049 24 Boston College 0.1046
25 Nebraska 8-4 0.8024 25 North Carolina 0.8017 25 Ole Miss 0.0837
26 Ole Miss 8-4 0.7999 26 Ole Miss 0.7974
27 Northwestern 9-3 0.7955 27 Northwestern 0.7948

Some brief thoughts:
1. Except for USC & Oregen being too low and Florida State too high, RC1 was pretty close to the BCS, even jumping Florida over Texas this week. Last year RC2 was closer. That's the fun part.
2. Word to Nate Davis: The ball is not a live ferret. (More props to TMQ). Do not drop it or give it to the other team. (I know one wasn't your fault).

Now, onto the BCS.
You may or may not remember this post back on November 23rd. Let's just say that so far I am two for two. OU did jump Texas for the Big XII South title and the BCS Championship Game is Florida versus Oklahoma. Overall, I'm not too upset. After expecting four losses and only getting tagged with one (a game which we had no business winning), I'm good with how things broke.
Now, youz guyz wit da Burnt Ornge flowing tru dose veins, don't get too upset. I'm flummoxed by the BC-Mess just like everyone else is, but there's not going to be a playoff any time soon, no matter what the President-elect says. I urge Mr. Obama to focus on much more important things like Social Security, Wall Street and the like. With any format you look at with 4, 8 or 16 teams, we still have to go through Florida and OU again. With the 8-team format we'd beat USC fairly easily and then meet Florida. With a 16-team format, we'd take care of Georgia Tech (not without a good fight), then cruise past Utah before meeting Florida. Do we beat Florda? It's not outside the realm of possibility. Our D-line would cause some havoc, which is what Ole Miss used to defeat the Gators at The Swamp. Offensively, we've got more weapons than the Crimson Tide team that fizzled out in the SEC Championship Game. Beat them and we have a rematch with OU that we win or lose by a slim margin.

As far as The Ohio State University making it into the BCS, I think it's a sham. I'd much rather see Boise State in there.

Well, that's it for now. I'll check back later when bowl season starts.