2 Dogs Shot After Chewing up a City Worker

Did any of you see this article today?
A city worker was attacked by a couple of dogs, and dragged around like a piece of flesh until the Police arrived and were forced to shoot them.

Crazy...

JJ Costume Galleria

The Hallelujah Harvest is coming up, and Jeremiah needs something to wear. I did a little photo-shopping with his cute little face.

In which one does he look best? (click to enlarge)

...fyi, the rebel on the right is not a serious consideration, but I had to put that frowned face on something.

Birthday Broadcasting

Jeremiah will be one year old on 11/20 and we're starting to think about how it will be celebrated, considering that most of his relatives are more than 700 miles away.

SOOO.... I'm wondering if anyone would be interested in jumping online for 10 to 15 minutes to see him celebrate at his party LIVE. You don't have to have a camera, you'd just go to a URL and watch. And it wouldn't be for the entire thing, maybe just the singing/cake part or something. Or maybe I would broadcast the whole thing, but you could just come online anytime during the two hours or whatever it is and watch.

Or maybe you'd prefer that I make a B-Day Recap video??

This post is directed to all 3 people up North that somewhat follow this blog, but EVERYONE is encouraged to vote.

PLEASE VOTE TO THE RIGHT------------------->

(p.s. if you're reading this via email, you need to come here and vote on my home page where the poll is)

I'm Wired Differently

I really am. I love experiencing the jolt of electricity that permeates my body every time I create something, or pursue an idea technologically related. If you were to slice my brain open, I think one of the things you'd see is a mouse named Butch. Butch would be running on a treadmill named Creativity, while drinking a big green glass of Innovation. Or maybe he's a gazelle, not a mouse, because gazelles are faster. I don't know. But I do know that treadmills are fun. At least the one that Butch runs on.
I have a secret for you: my real name is Butch.

I want to create. I want to create for God's glory; for the purpose of sharing the love of God to the ends of this earth. That's all. Have a nice day, and ask yourself today: "how am I wired diffrerently?" Because you are.

Grandpa in Mexico

Jeremiah just spent eight minutes with Grandpa Chris in Mexico.

He gets the credit for adding Skype to my technology arsenal.

Now go download Skype for free. Plug in your webcam. And call me. Name is schlegelhead

VP Talk

VP: "Where's Joe? He's not in his office..."
Person that works for VP: "I don't know..."
VP: "Is he at lunch? It's 1:30..."
Person that works for VP: "Want me to check under his desk? He might be hiding..."

Being on the 5th floor is not all bad...

10 Months

-Stands on two feet and balances for about 15 seconds. Still not walking
-Says all sorts of gibberish; often words like: dad, mom, ya.
-He flops around on the floor like a fish when he throws his fits. Legs kick in every direction possible.
-Successfully climbs off the couch landing feet first
-He no longer considers me his favorite
-He shares. Could be a toy or a cracker. He’ll give it to you, then take it back.
-Facial expressions are really changing. It’s fun to say what we think he’s thinking based on his expressions

Here is his cousin riding him like a bull.

Weekend Recap

Highlights for this weekend include:
-Mazzios Pizza
-Yard Sale Day (a la church)
-30 foot fire
-PC restore
-QT with family

We fed JJ a good sized meal before going to Mazzios for dinner on Friday night. Apparently it didn't sit well with him because just as we were putting dressing on our salads at the salad bar, he threw up the entire gallon of food that he ate; on himself and his mother. Not fun, but a weekend highlight nevertheless.

Our church hosted a Yard Sale Day. Basically, everyone brings stuff they want to sell and they each man their own tables. Our parking lot was half full of stuff and customers to buy the stuff. It was a good time and they plan to do it every year cuz of the great success that it was.


I watched the two nephews and JJ Saturday night while the ladies went shopping. As you can see pictured below, my brother is a pyrotechnician just like me. Click on the photo to zoom and you'll see a big grin on his face, because about 8 seconds before this picture was taken, the fire behind him was twice that size. Apparently 3 year old lacquer is extremely flammable. Who would've known?

(taken from their front porch)

I restored my Sony VAIO laptop yesterday and its working flawlessly; good as new. It's not a Mac, but I still really enjoy it. Was a b-day gift 4 years ago, and still kicks butt.

Lots of quality time with the family this weekend. I'm blessed to be able to spend the time that I do with the two people I love the most. I am a blessed man.

Banana

Ok, my 4th post today already, I promise no more after this today unless something supernatural happens.

I packed my lunch this morning like I usually do. When lunch time came around, I unloaded my lunchbox to eat:

Chili
2 Cornbread muffins
Banana

I saw the chili, but smelled banana. I took a bite of the cornbread and tasted a hint of banana. I don’t know about you, but I like to mix my cornbread into the chili. So I mixed it in. When I tasted the chili, guess what; it took on a new flavor: banana chili.

I want to be like that banana. Just as the aroma of that sweet-smelling fruit was to the muffin, and in turn the muffin to the chili, I desire for God’s love to be in me, so much that it penetrates and clothes itself on who and what is around me. Unless I was to burn that muffin to smithereens, I don’t think I could have extracted the banana flavor. God's love is the same: it changes the flavor of things.

I am a banana living in a giant bowl of chili surrounded by a bunch of cornbread muffins. Billions of them.

Who’s with me?

Tag: I'm it

I was tagged by Adam. He has a beautiful family, and has his own blog plus a blog dedicated to his son Gavin who has been on a medical rollercoaster all of his life.

I've never physically met him but would like to. I just follow his blog. Anyway, he tagged me.

Here are the rules that he posted on his blog.
-Post these rules on your blog
-Write 6 random things about yourself.
-Tag 6 people at the end of your post
-If you were tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag.

And my 6 random things are:

1. When I watch T.V., especially commercials, I think of how I can duplicate what I see with the video editing program I have. It's just a habit I guess.
2. I feel like I slouch too much. In church, at work, in the car, whatev. I'm relatively tall and got into this bad habit way back in middle school when I thought I was cool.
3. I miss my Passat and would like to trade my Grand Prix back to whoever has it:

4. If my offspring were to thoroughly convince me to get a pet it would be a really cool nontypical dog. Sorry, I don't know what breed is what. Otherwise I am a no-pet person. Except maybe a goldfish or somethin.
5. Not a single day goes by that I don't dream of having a motorcycle and all of the sights/feelings/emoition/smells/sounds that it will entail


So there's my 6 random things about me. I am now tagging: Matt, Kevin, Susan, Sheen, Evan, Sabrina

Consider yourself tagged.

Sabrina is my mother. I told her I would setup a blog for her, but still haven't done it. So Mom, I ask you to email me your 6 randoms, and I will post them on this post if you so dare...

TKOPIDWTB #5

The kind of parent I don't want to be...

is the one that doesn't take my kids to the ball game. I grew up playing and watching sports, and I loved it. You learn a lot about life when you play sports, and you learn a lot about sports when you watch them. You also learn about rude parents when attending high school games. I want to be the dad that takes my kids to experience things.

I want to SHARE my kid's experiences.

(taken two weeks ago at the Alma HS football game)

Friday and a Whatever Post

I'm glad it's Friday. Glad is an understatement. Few random things, (sorry for the long post):

-I feel like I live for the weekends. I am continuing to pray about the things God has prepared for me, and the desires to rise up on the inside of me so I will be led to go there. Anyone else want to work aligned with your desires? People who consistently achieve outstanding results all have this in common: they are passionate about what they do. It’s no longer work, but an active participation of joy and creativity. I WANT THAT, and I have it when I get to do stuff for the ministry.

-Jeremiah had an explosion in his pants this morning. He's teething, therefore the aroma was deadly. You would have upchucked. His clothes are in a ziplock bag right now, and I pray for the plastic to not disintegrate.

-I want Adobe Creative Suite Production. It's a bundle of software applications geared towards producing sweet videos. It's only like $1600.

-I came home yesterday to see that my entire yard was mowed and trimmed, and the big 40ft tree that blew over last weekend was all chopped up and hauled off, and the scraps were in a nice n' neat burn pile for me to burn. Who did it, you ask?

Philip and Landon Parker

The Parkers are the kind of people that are always helping others. Truth is, if you don't ask them for help and they find out you could have used their help for something, they give you a hard time about it and remind you they are your friend. They desire to help.

I am still blown away by this. It was a big job. Let's just say that they got a nice tan. Thanks a lot guys. Really.

That's all for now. I rarely do random update posts because I think they are boring to read, but at the minimum I wanted to publicly thank the Parkers.

I often tell Mona she is Mom away from Mom. And who doesn't like their mom?

young

Today I was told that I look young enough to have kids.

Not old enough, young enough. There is a difference.

Happy Camper

Today was my company's vendor fair. I got a free health screening and found out that my blood pressure is 122 over 74 I think. Is that good?
I also won a camping chair, stainless steel flask, flash light, and a flourescent bulb.

It was the Outdoor Kit from River Valley Electric. There were probably 15 different prizes total today, and out of a few hundred people I'm a winner. I also found out about a 12% discount I can get on my AT&T bill. Apparently its one of the many company benefits I have but didn't know about. Sweet-lickin!

I'm going camping.

you can hear her smiling

If you know my wife, you know that one of her greatest qualities is sweetness. As in, you walk away from talking with her saying to yourself "wow. She is really a sweet person." She setup an appointment the other day when I snapped this shot.

When you talk to her on the phone, you feel good. Good, becauce you can hear her smiling whenever she speaks. It's like the sound of a massive waterfall, yet as gentle as a trickling stream.

I love that. There should be more Sheenas in this world. Imagine if she was a telemarketer. When the person answers the phone, she would just smile, and they would be convicted to buy the 5,000 purple stuffed elephants she's selling. That, or the long distance phone cards no one uses anymore.

Parenting Realization

I have learned so much already by being a parent. Before we had JJ, I assumed and imagined what it would be like, and almost all that it would entail.

If there was a word stronger than the word love, I would use it to describe my affection for this guy.

When I became a parent, a love developed on the inside of me unlike any other. Here I am almost 10 months after delivering him in my own two hands, with an even stronger affection than I've ever had for him.

And I believe:
-it is NOT because I am his daddy
-it is NOT because he is above average in development
-it is NOT because he is extremely cute
-it is NOT because he resembles his mother in countless ways

NOPE. It's because I spend time with him. I love my son more and more because I know him, and he knows me.

The same is true for my relationship with God. The more I get to know Him, the more I love Him, and the more I realize how much He loves me. The good news is that He loves us all the same. He has no favorites. He yearns for that intimate relationship with EVERYONE.

Quote by Clapp

I just ended a call with a friend named Jonathan. He likes to be called by his last name (who doesn't?) and flies jets for the military in Texas.


Well, something I will never forget is him saying back in high school, is "that's crazy-cool!!!" Actually, this isn't what I wanted to blog about, but thought it was worth mentioning since lots of people made fun of his self-invented interjection.


What I wanted to blog about was him defining a friend: "friends make you laugh. Do you have a friend that doesn't make you laugh? No. I didn't think so." And it's a true... unless you have some messed up friends.


I actually heard myself laugh out loud a few minutes ago while chattin with him, something I seldom do without force. I can't give him too much credit though. We were laughing at the memory of launching fireworks at a friend in the boat.

Skittles, I mean iPod Nanos

Apple announced a bunch of updates to their iPods today highlighting the new Nano.

Which color would you get?


I seem to be drawn to bright orange, the same color of the sport bike or custom chopper I will own some day.

Quote of the Day

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.“
~ Steve Jobs

This one is for me.

Speaking of Steve, today is the "Let's Rock" Apple event in San Francisco. Kicks off at noon, and the announcements are expected to revolve mostly around new iPod models.

TKOPIDWTB #4

The kind of parent I don't want to be...

is the the one that messes up and doesn't admit it.

"Dad, you said we could go to the park today, but instead we just sat on the couch all day eating oatmeal cream pies and watching Spongue Bob Squarepants."
"Deal with it buddy. And here: have another otmeal cream pie."

I hope this specific scenario has never happened, but the point is: if and when I am unable to fulfill my word to my kids, I hope I will be man enough to admit my fault, apologize, and seek their forgiveness.

After all, children are quick to forgive, kind of like dogs. But ya. That's a whole 'nother story.

Another Family Friendly Photo

Because I can:

I love that Joel gave me full editing rights to these. Click for larger view, you can see mom's hand supporting his tushy.

Header

Updated header again. The other one felt a little cold. This one is warm with love and giggles.

JJ's Newness

One of the main reasons I blog is to keep family and friends updated on my life in Arkansas. Also, to document the latest and greatest of my son, Jeremiah Jacob Schlegel. He will someday read this post.

It's funny. Sheena and I are frequently caught off guard when the dude does something new. Until you become a parent, you really cannot relate to this. Here are some of the latest facts:

-He crawls at blazing speeds and can take 1 step on his own
-He is beginning to reach his hands toward what he wants
-He is beginning to laugh/giggle on his own (this is very cool)
-He eats more, drinks less
-He sleeps 9+ hours every night
-He touches his weeny while taking baths
-He is beginning to wave when you wave at him for a long period of time
-He doesn't cuddle as much as he used to
-He still has a mullet
-He had five diarrhea diapers today (thank you Jessica for changing them:)
-Today is his 290th day in this earth

ING Direct Savings

Ever heard of ING Direct? Well, they offer a FREE online savings account, that provides 3.00% APY return. Not much, but better than your bank's 1/2 percent.

Cool thing is, there are no fees. Ever.
Another cool thing is if you use the referral link I email to you, and you open a savings account with at least $250, then they will give you $25, and me $10.

The catch? There isn't one. It takes about 10 days I think for the funds to become available for you to withdraw, but that's it.

Another cool thing is that within this online savings account, you can setup as many sub accounts as you wish, and also setup automatic withdrawl savings plans. And if you're like me, you would use this monthly for those bills that only come once or twice a year, like car insurance, your wife's diamond ring insurance, property taxes, Christmas, etc, etc.

So, if you have $250 to save and you wouldn't mind being $25 richer, then email me, and I'll send you referral link. No strings attached.

You can even withdraw all your money 10 days later and still get your $25 bonus and have a $0 balance with no fees if you want to.

I've had my account since October 6, 2004. The APY keeps gradually increasing, but even cooler is the fact you can transfer money to and from your checking account as often as you wish and not pay a single cent.

I'm rambling here because I feel like ING Direct savings accounts are the best kept secret.

Email me if you want more info.

jake.schlegel (at) gmail (dot) com

To video podcast or not to video podcast

One of the things I really enjoy about having an iPhone is being able to subscribe to free video podcasts, and then watching them whenever I want to. I captured these images from my iPhone while watching this particular episode:

I would like to publish a video podcast. I just don't know what it would be about, or who would actually subscribe to it, being that video podcasts are still not so popular.

60 seconds of brainstorming brought me these ideas:

-father tips

-coffee consumerism

-arkansas epitomies

-life without pets

Any ideas???

oooh, I know. The livin' it up in ARKANSAS video podcast. hmm....

Smarty Pants

I work in a corporate building with a "business casual" dress code. I work on the 5th floor, same floor as the VP of this company who wears a suit and tie every day.

I overheard he and my friend Joe chattin' in the hall and then he dropped the bomb:

VP: "If you dress like that tomorrow, Joe, just stay in your office."
Joe: "Ok. I'll lock the door too."

I always enjoy a good quick line.
My father-in-law is also pretty talented at those. I just can't think of an example right now.
Since Chris subscribes to this blog, I'm guessing he's gonna send me a smart mouth line after reading this.

UPDATE, email from Chris:

"Be quick to listen
Slow to speak
Slow to wrath.
It's the new me baby!!!!"

TKOPIDWTB #3

The kind of parent I don't want to be...

is the one that says they want their child to have fun, but has no evidence to prove of their child's fun.



Fun doesn't always cost money. The birthday suit came free.

He Gets Into Everything

I do mean everything.