We are in charge of our own destiny!

It seems surreal to me that we made history on this past tuesday. If anyone knows anything about me at all they will know Im not predjudice, but am skeptical of those who appear to"speak too well". I am a republican at heart and although everyone says,"we cant live through another 8 years like the past 8 years, I know alot of people who have prospered during this time. Youre right, NO, I dont like paying 4 dollars for a gallon of gas, nor do I enjoy what happened with the housing crisis. But for crying out loud people, what should we expect when lenders are loaning people 700,000 dollars for a home when they only make 35,000 a year??!! I dont know about you but when we recently applied for a larger than life loan, we practically had to sign away our first 4 children, all our cars, our loyalty to the U.S., well you get the picture... I was talking to my Dad tonight and we were discussing the last 8 years. We both agree that if someone doesnt have money its because they are afraid of work. There is money to be made out there but its not going to fall out of a truck for you to simply pick up and spend. Do what those of us who are doing ok during these trying times and work harder. Noone is saying its easy ,but it is worth it in the end. I shudder at the thought of how liberal our world has become and how everyone wants something for nothing(well not everyone). Remember when gas was on its way up and it exceeded 2 dollars a gallon for the first time?? I for one was furious! Look at us now though, we are ecstatic at the possibility of 2 dollar a gallon gasoline. Its all a mindset, its what the gov't wants us to be brainwashed into believing. Its just like all the things that are "ok" to show on television now that our grandparents would have hidden their faces. Our country has moved way too far to the left and as I said I shudder, not for me, but for my daughter who will have to grow up in this climate as it gets worse everyday. I know, I know, Im sounding like a fuddy duddy, but you know what, thats not necessarily a bad thing. Good luck everyone as we transition into socialism and get ready for us to be happy when gas goes down to 5 bucks a gallon!

Ella Claires Birthday

All I can say is "WOW"! As George Strait says in his song, I saw God Today! My daughter was presented to me on 08-08-08 at 5:01 pm and I feel as though my whole life has changed. As a matter of fact ,life as Mary Ann and I have known it for the last 13 years is over. We certainly dont look at that as a bad thing, but quite to the contrary, a true blessing. Ella Claire Fugate weighed in at 7lbs 15 ozs and is 21 absolutely perfect inches long. She is currently in her crib at her mothers bedside where they are both sleeping. At midnight I changed her first dirty diaper and she did it up right. Once changed she immediately quited down and went back to sleep only to wake up an hour later to have me feed her for my first time. She took over an ounce and then I burped her on my shoulder. She is everything I hoped for and more and unfortunately Mary Ann is overcome with exhaustion right now and unable to witness very much of her first night but I will be sure to document it so as to share the memory in the morning. I just want to thank God for yet another blessing on us and will sign off for now but stay tuned for updates. Good Night,
Phil

Perception is reality

Have you ever wondered why we do the things we do? Most of us go through life doing the same things in the same way on this journey. Sometimes its nice to do the unexpected, to see things from the other side and just see if you still see things the same way. I was recently going to lunch with a couple of therapists who were riding along in my car when, out of my usual habit, I made a left turn. One asked me, Phil, where are you going? I then realized I should have turned right to get to the destination but was faced with a dilemma of turning around in traffic. I immediately made a right turn into a church parking lot that also could be entered from the other side. I commented, if I hadnt made a wrong turn then I wouldnt have gotten to see the lovely stone work and stained glass of this old church and once turned around I found myself sitting directly across the street from where I started. I also told them that I always wondered what it would be like to be coming from the other side and now I had the oppurtunity. Thats a very long, boring story but it does illustrate how it brings to light a totally different perspective when you sometimes just do something a little out of the ordinary. I dont know if they were amused or felt sorry for me but we all got a good laugh and noone died so thats always good.
Take a different route to work or try some new place to eat sometime, who knows you may just like it on the other side.

Our Dream Home

This has been a really good year for us. Somehow, even with the economy killing us, we managed to build our dream home. I dont know how long we will live in it as we really dont need this much space but we plan to enjoy it while we are here. I remember just 15 years ago when I was in Tennessee living in a single wide trailer and now we are in this monstrocity. Oh wait a minute, here I go reflecting once again...wow. Anyway, we have been blessed with our new home as well. We hope to have an open house soon as many of you have wanted to see it. My wife and i often joke that we may charge admission so we can pay for the darn thing..lol. We have only been here in this home for 3 months but since it took 14 months to build we feel totally vested in it. Now we just have to continue decorating and landscaping and it will look great.

The only thing wrong with instant gratification is it takes too long

I have found that I really like quotes. Maybe its because I use them to reflect, or maybe its because I often find humor in them, but for whatever reason I like them. I recently sat in an Executive Directors meeting and presented my reflection of our companys mission statement. My partner and I had been asked by one of the owners to do this and we certainly didnt want to let him down so we did what any good manager would do and began to delegate...lol. Ive always heard that the key to success is to surround yourself with people that are smarter than you are and for some reason that hasnt been too big of a problem for me. We decided to collect pictures of our residents on therapy outings enjoying themselves and put them on a dvd with music in the background. Thank God for technology and for competent managers as I solicited Sandy, one of my directors, to put it together for me. We used a Kenny Chesney song, "Dont Blink", which was very appropriate and also another song by Josh Grobin(I think) called ," You raise me up". She did an outstanding job, with the help of her husband, and in the end she burned me an additional 50 dvds to give out as "souveneirs" to take back to their living centers and play for their staffs. I must say it turned out quite well and the comments were all positive. I remember when I was younger and much shyer that I would have been terrified to have spoken in front of a crowd, but now as an older, more mature version of me I actually dont mind public speaking at all. Im not trying to say Im good at it, but I just dont mind doing it. Im going to try and be a little more faithful to this thing as I am actually finding it to be quite therapeutic for myself to reflect. Go figure, maybe I have been out of high school 25 years!

The Closer we get...

I recently received an invitation to our 25th High School reunion. I thought surely they must have me mistaken for someone else as I couldnt possibly be old enough to have been out that long!! Where does the time go? I am simply amazed, could it be that I REALLY am that darn old? I guess I am and maybe thats why I married someone 9 years my junior so that I can constantly try and make myself believe that I too am her age..lol. No, seriously, I thank God that I have made it to this "experienced" age and hope to be able to hang in there for quite some time. After all, Ella is going to need her dad, although older, to be around to shoo all the boys away!

On Mary Ann's latest doctors appt, she underwent another ultrasound. This one was a diagnostic one to measure Ella's organs, and to try and determine a closer estimate to her due date and her size. We were told one and a half weeks ago that she measured out at 35 weeks, thats one week sooner than the anticipated due date. Since this her first baby though, the real date is anyones guess. Ella was estimated to be 5 lbs 5 ozs and Dr Bartley thinks she will gain at least 2 more lbs before she is delivered. Mary Ann has done excellent and has only gained 22 lbs the whole time. She has also been one of those persons that hasnt looked pregnant until very recently. She does have that "glow" people talk about and it just affirms that Ella is meant to be.

My Pride and Joy

Well, I got this thing started now so let me tell you about my family. As I state in my profile. I am happily married to my wife of 13 years, Mary Ann. We have tried for a really, really long time to create an addition to "US" and Im happy to report that on August 07,2008 we are expecting Ella Claire Fugate to make an appearance. If I were to say we are excited it would be an understatement! We are beyond belief excited and as we count down the weeks we become more and more anxious. I never believed it would happen and honestly were at the point of giving up and considering adopting when she broke the news to me. Mary Ann, at the urging of a coworker, decided to take a pregnanacy test. You have to understand here that we have bought many of these devices only to find one pink line. When she called me and said there were two lines we both thought the test must have been defective. I agreed that she would get another one and "retest" to see if what she was seeing was indeed true. As in Mary Ann fashion, she got not one, but two more and proceeded to complete the experiment. When they both came back positive we were in disbelief, could it be true? Were we finally receiving the blessing that is called life?? It is now her 30th week and it has sunk in that we are going to be parents to a baby girl and life as we know it will totally change. I know I was excited when my two boys were born in 1986 and 1988 respectively, but I was so young then it seems like a world away.

Speaking of my sons, let me tell you about them. Prior to my move to South Carolina in 1993, I lived in my birthplace of Dayton, Tennessee. I was blessed with Ryan at the early age of 21 and Darius soon followed 18 months later before my 23rd birthday. We had good intentions I suppose, but the marriage fizzled and I became a weekend dad. Thats all I will say about that as my new motto(one of them) is the past is the past.

Ryan, now almost 22 years old(I cannot believe it!), is attending the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga where he resides. He will finish in the spring of 2009 with a degree in Marketing. Im so proud of him as he works and goes to school, yet maintains an active "personal Life". He is in the fraternity, Sigma Chi. I remember him calling me prior to joining and saying, "Dad, I can join the Sigma Chi fraternity, which is more of the preppy, professional types or I can join this other party fraternity and probably have more fun". I urged him to join the professional one for what it would lend him later in life, contacts with the right people. He did so and I hope he hasnt regretted it. He always has been a smart guy and since he lives in Tennessee I dont get to see him often and do miss him alot. Thank God for free mobile to mobile so we can keep in touch.

Darius, 20 years old and now a father decided to forgo the traditional college trek and go into the field of plumbing/pipefitting. He works for Jake Marshall, an outfit in Cahttanooga with wonderful credentials. Darius has a work ethic than an employer can only dream about. Working 7 days a week 12 hours a day is a cakewalk for him. He works hard and never complains and this company is sponsering him to get into the apprentice program this year and once finished he will be able to earn top dollar as a journeyman. He is serving under a man who was apprentice of the year several times and it is his goal to attain that himself. I believe he will and it will be quite an accomplishment. It wont top his greatest accomplishment though ,as I said earlier, he is a father. He made me a very young(lol) grandfather on December 22, 2007 when he wasnt quite 19 years old. He created Kyleigh Alexis Fugate with his girlfriend Haleigh Hall. Kyleigh is a beautiful child and makes me wish sometimes I didnt live so far away. Darius allowed me to bring her to South Carolina last November and keep her a week and we had the time of our lives. That visit with Kyleigh may have been the defining moment when God said Mary Ann and I deserve a little girl of our own because we found out soon thereafter we were expecting.

Im very proud of my wife and boys and we are ALL excited to welcome our daughter and their sister in about 10 weeks. Ill keep you posted as to the goings ons with that as we progress....

Til next time, "It is what it is"