Whirlwind Week

Last week was such the whirlwind. Work was keeping me very busy, not to mention it was payroll week for the church staff, which is always exciting.
Back in November , when Lee and I were in South Carolina for the Weekend Angler Series National Championship, our club sent a 6 man team to the State Tournament to qualify for the Southern Regionals of the Bass Club World Championship Series. They needed an alernate for the team and I agreed to take that position. They qualified high enough for the Southern Regional Tournament, which was scheduled for last week at Lake Wheeler in Decatur.
At one point a month ago, it looked liked I was needed to fish this event, but everything seemed to work out for the original 6 men.
Then, Wednesday morning I got the call. Their 6th man backed out at the last minute. Keep in mind, the tournament was Thursday and Friday, this was 10 o'clock in the morning on Wednesday. There was no way I could make it. But as providence would have it, things worked out. Elizabeth got a crash course in doing CPC payroll, and Jeff and Nick took care of the rest. So by 2 o'clock I was headed North.
The first day of the tournament, our 6 man team was sitting in 8th place. They were taking the top 8 teams to the Nationals. We shared alot of info as a team that night and came up with our plan. Right or wrong we were in it to win it in the grass.
At the end of the competition, Birmingham Bass Club finished in 4th place. We got our entry fee back, plus some, and we are headed to the National Championship! Pretty huge, considering I was sitting in my office working one moring, and catching tons of fish the next two mornings!
God was good to us, for sure. Isn't it interesting how our plans are not necessarily what He has in plan for us. I do not like suprises, at all! But, He had a plan. I did not see this coming, but what a great opportunity? Did I mention the top prize for the winning team at the Nationals is $250,000? That would be nice, to say the least!

Lose, Lose, Lose

No, this has nothing to do with our baseball team, although that title would be fitting.

This is about losing friends, hair and fat. Nice Combo!

Yesterday my good friend Quinn busted out of Moody to pursue his education for the ministry. In the last year or so, Quinn has been a great friend and a blessing to me and the whole church family. He and Kim will be missed.

In honor of mountain man Quinn and his departure I shaved off my mountain man chin this morning, seemed like a good time to lose that. I look 15 years older, and meaner!

Thirdly, Burt and I have thrown down the gauntlet on fat. I'm not sure when the official start will be but we are going to see who can lose 10% of their body weight the quickest. (All this was decided over Milo's last week). Biggest loser! He said no holds barred, which is good cause I intend to cheat. Got the cheater pills already, been choking down greens and water, and if he starts beating me, I'm hitting the x-lax like a banshi! (just kidding, well maybe).

If you would like to join our contest, contact Burt or myself.

Bon Voyage Kim and Quinn

We hate to see them leave, but our friends Kim and Quinn are leaving us for RTS next week.
We will be having a party in their honor Friday Night at our house from 6 till ?. Everyone is welcome.
Email me for more info and directions.

Season Maker!

I havent talked much about baseball this year, mostly because there is nothing good to talk about. We ARE the Bad News Bears.
Most of our games have ended with the Slaughter Rule in effect. We are bad. We can't catch, we can't hit, and we can't pitch. It's hard to win baseball games this way.
Clay has improved alot since the beginning of the season. He has reallized that his team won't win much, but he is trying to do his best, and that's all I could ever ask for.
Tonight was no different. We were getting our brains beat out, as usuall. Clay was 1 for 1 and had fielded flawlessly. He came up to bat with 0ne out and two runners on. I will let the video tell the rest.

Finally!

A check. After much time and effort this year, I finally managed to place well enough to get a check.
Fished Lake Wheeler in Decatur this past weekend for 3 days. Lee and I caught a ton of fish shallow Thursday and Friday fishing like I like ( shallow, dirty water with grass and bushes).
Once again, got paired out with someone fishing completely differently. This time, though, this guy was actually on fish, good ones. Unfortunately, I had to fish deep, clear water with light line and a little worm. Not my cup of tea, but if it works, do it.
I finished 3rd on the co-angler side with 3 fish weighing 8.44 and my partner won the boater side with 14.40.
Going to Lake Tuscaloosa this weekend for the BASS Federation in which I am in 3rd place for Angler of the Year. Unfortunately, this is a deeeeep clear lake which does not fit my style.
Here is the standings from the BASS Weekend Angler Series http://www.abaproam.com/results/7.pdf

April Fishing

April is one of my favorite months to fish. The weather is great, the fish are moving up, and all is well in the world.

I haven't whacked them in any tournaments, yet, but maybe soon. So far I am in 2 place for angler of the year inthe Alabama BASS Federation Nation but I have a long way to go before the season is over.

Here are a few pictures of fish from this month. One is a monster bream and perhaps the largest bass I have ever caught, both caught Sunday afternoon in a farm pond in Shelby county (aka Cheater Pond). Lee, Hebert , Quinn and I had a fun time on the water and caught tons of fish. The spotted bass was about 4 pounds and caught at Twin Lakes.

Just being outdoors this time of year is cool. I have seen several bald eagles, turkeys, a fox. I caught a Bowfin (really odd looking pre-historic toothy fish), and 3 Pickerals (southern cousin to the Northern Pike), a few snakes and some gators too. Just a great time to be out in God's creation!

Life and Death

After reading Matt D's Blog about his Dad, I started going through the memories I had during that same circumstacnce 10 years ago. My Dad was diagnosed with brain Cancer around 1996. After years of roller coaster emotions, we were told in 1998 that he didn't have much time to live.
We have a small but close family and we gathered the whole family and went to the beach for a long weekend. We laughed and cried and spent the weekend fellowshiping together as if it was our last time together.
Shortly after, his personality and demeanor changed. He was like a different person. He had always been kind and loving and fun to be around, but the cancer and/or the treatments had caused a sharp change.
He died in June of that year. For a short time my memories were of him as he was towards the end and how his body and mind had diminished. But I thank God for the time we had before then, the time at the beach is what I remember now, happy.
He was a believer and he KNEW his destination and that his affliction would be over soon. How gracious our God is for giving us peace during these times.
Pray for Matt, pray that his family will know this same peace during this time, that they will enjoy this time together and will remember the good times.
Remember we are only here to serve him for a short time, and we will spend eternity glorifying our Father in heaven, reunited with our loved ones.
Don't wait till a loved one is given a short time to live. I especially need to remember to love and laugh and enjoy my friends and family every moment, not only when the end is near.