HAPPY BIRTHDAY Marie!

I would like to start the post today by wishing my friend and I’m just sayin… follower Marie a very Happy Birthday! Marie is the older sister of my sister-in-law Terry… which most people don’t believe because she looks a lot younger than Terry. It’s a little known fact that when The Wife and I were engaged, Marie and her husband Jeff were part of a group that threw us a “couples” shower. If one were to ask me if I wanted a couples shower, I’d say no. But I have to admit that it was a lot of fun and I’m sure that’s because of all of the hard work and effort that went into planning it. I would like to think that I sent them a thank you note expressing my gratitude for what they did, but in all honesty I’m not 100% sure I did. I hope I did… but thank you notes (like spelling, geography and healthy living) are an area in my life that I do not excel in. So if I did, then great. But if I didn’t, then I hope this lets Marie (and Jeff and everyone else involved with that shower) know how much I appreciated it. And, of course, Happy Birthday Marie! I hope you have a great one!

We caught the end of Steel Magnolias yesterday on CMT. Well, I guess we tuned in around the middle. While I differ from The Wife in that I don’t think it’s the greatest movie in the whole world, I do think it’s on the list (hmm… maybe I should do an I’m just sayin… Top ___ Movies of All-Time list… I’ll have to get with the staff and see what they think). Back to this movie… if you haven’t see it, you should. It has an all-star cast and by that I mean Shirley MacLaine is in it. That’s not to say that Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis and Julia Roberts aren’t good… because they are. And they all did a great job in this movie. But come on… Shirley MacLaine. I mean, she was the unanimous selection as the I’m just sayin… Greatest Actress of All-Time.

Sad news in the baseball world from Saturday... Coach Chal Port, former baseball coach at The Citadel, passed away on Saturday. If you read the paper, you’ll see that Coach Port ended his career with a record of 641-386-2. You will also see that he lead The Citadel to the College World Series in 1990 and is a member of The Citadel, State of South Carolina, Charleston and American Baseball Coaches Association Halls of Fame. What they won’t tell you (at least not in the exact words that I’ll use) is that when you make a list of the Greatest Baseball Coaches in this area, you’ve got Coach Port and that’s it. That’s the list. I guess there could be other great coaches in the area… but with very few exceptions, they all either learned from Coach Port or learned from someone who learned from Coach Port. I, myself, didn’t get a chance to play for Coach Port. Boy, I would have loved the chance. Especially in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s (which included the year they made it to the College World Series). Man, how great would that have been? Who, really, would pass up that kind of opportunity? I mean, other than Sonny of course… Still, while I didn’t get to play for Coach Port, I did work for him one game as a bat boy (during the 1989 season, I believe). I also went to a number of his baseball camps over the years. I also got the chance in high school to play for Coach Hatley… which is the second best thing to playing for Coach Port. There wasn’t a practice that went by where Coach Hatley wouldn’t share a lesson he learned from Coach Port or a story about playing or coaching for Coach Port. He was a great coach and a great man and he will be missed.

So Daniel got baptized yesterday. Thank you to I’m just sayin… friends Jeremy, Rebecca, Danny, Jen, Michael and Adrian for making it to the 11:15 service so see it. I would like to take this moment to apologize to the person responsible for cleaning the sanctuary. I’m sure when you go to work this week you will notice a large amount of glitter on the floor in front of the front pew. How did it get there? Well at about 8:00 Saturday night The Wife came to me and said, “Susie has no shoes so I have to go to Target to get her some”. She had to go to Target, I was told, because they have the best selection of shoes in Susie’s size… All of the church shoes she has now are too small for her and I was stupid to think that she could wear any of them for even just one day. So off The Wife went to Target while I stayed home with the kids. She came back some time later with these red shoes that were made of glitter. It seems these were the only shoes Target had in Susie’s size. I think you see where this is going so I won’t drag it out. While sitting in the pew, Susie does her best to get as much glitter off the shoes as possible (thus, getting it on the pew and floor). She then proceeded to take them off because they were too big and her feet kept coming out of them. So when it came time for us to go to the front of the church, I carried her up there and held her while she was barefoot. Guess we could have saved some money on those shoes…

My friend Danny got to meet No Name Teri at lunch after the service. Just an example of I’m just sayin… bringing people together.

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Sergeant Jose Calugas (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on January 16, 1942 at Culis, Bataan Province, Philippine Islands. His citation reads:

The action for which the award was made took place near Culis, Bataan Province, Philippine Islands, on 16 January 1942. A battery gun position was bombed and shelled by the enemy until 1 gun was put out of commission and all the cannoneers were killed or wounded. Sgt. Calugas, a mess sergeant of another battery, voluntarily and without orders ran 1,000 yards across the shell-swept area to the gun position. There he organized a volunteer squad which placed the gun back in commission and fired effectively against the enemy, although the position remained under constant and heavy Japanese artillery fire.

Private James S. Calvert (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions from October 1876 – January 1877 at Cedar Creek, Montana. His citation reads:

Gallantry in action.

Private Carlton M. Camp (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on April 2, 1865 at Petersburg, Virginia. His citation reads:

Brought off from the picket line, under heavy fire, a comrade who had been shot through both legs.