Goodbye 2016

It was a busy year… so I thought it would be good to have a little review on here. In no real order, this is what my year looked like…

*THE CHICAGO CUBS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*We sold the old I’m just sayin… offices and moved into a temporary space (not nearly as easy as it sounds).

*We got a loan to build a new office building (really not nearly as easy as it sounds).

*We started building the new office building (not nearly as cheap as I’d like).

*I had a chance to spend a week with Mom and Dad (it was fun… though I did miss The Wife and Kids. Stop it… I’m not kidding. I really did).

Like every year, people died. This isn’t a complete list, I know I’m leaving people off… and yes, I know people lost loved ones and that far too many service men and women die each year. This is just a list of famous (or at least famous to me) people who died in 2016. So, in no real order…

*John Glenn (astronaut, politician, American hero)
*Muhammad Ali
*Kenny Baker (actor [R2D2])
*Carrie Fisher (actress [Princess Leia])
*Gene Wilder… from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
*Debbie Reynolds (actress/mom of Carrie Fisher)
*David Bowie (singer-songwriter)
*Gordie Howe (Hall of Fame hockey player)
*Doris Roberts (actress)
*Prince
*Pat Conroy (author)
*Nancy Reagan
*Frank Sinatra, Jr.
*Phife Dawg (A Tribe Called Quest)
*Joe Garagiola, Sr. (baseball player & Hall of Fame sportscaster)
*Garry Shandling (comedian/actor/writer)
*Buddy Ryan (football coach)
*Alan Rickman (actor)
*Glenn Frey (singer-songwriter/actor)
*Abe Vigoda (actor)
*Arnold Palmer
*John Saunders (ESPN broadcaster)
*George Michael (singer/songwriter)
*Alan Thicke (from Growing Pains)
*Zsa Zsa Gabor
*Ralph Branca (baseball player)
*Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch)
*Burnet R. Maybank, Jr. (SC politician)
*Rashaan Salaam (former Heisman Trophy winner)
*Peter Vaughan (Maester Aemon in Game of Thrones)
*Craig Sager (sports reporter)
*Garry Marshall (director/producer/writer)
*Dennis Green (football coach)
*Tim LaHaye (author of the Left Behind series)
*Michu Meszaros (actor [ALF])
*Blackjack Mulligan (Pro Wrestler)
*Jerry Heller (N.W.A. manager)
*Mr. Fuji (of WWF fame)
*Patty Duke (actress)
*Antonin Scalia (Supreme Court Justice)
*Harper Lee (author)
*Tony Burton (actor)
*George Kennedy (actor)
*Red Parker (former football coach at The Citadel and Clemson)
*Bill Foster (former basketball coach at Duke and University of South Carolina)
*Lawrence Phillips (former Nebraska running back)
*Leonard Cohen (singer/song-writer)
*Janet Reno (first US Attorney General)
*Cuban dictator Fidel Castro
*Robert Vaughn (actor)
*Leon Russell (Hall of Fame musician)
*Gwen Ifill (PBS NewsHour, Washington Week)

*Michael Weatherly (Tony) left NCIS.

*Michael Weatherly (Dr. Jason Bull) started a new series Bull… it’s great.

*Teresa Lynn (my sister) has a brain tumor… it’s benign (whatever that means), but it’s still on her brain (not much space there… HA!). Be a pal and pray for her.

*I saw some great movies… including: Rogue One, Deadpool, Captain America: Civil War, The Nice Guys, Zootopia & SING

So there were ups and downs... let's hope 2017 has more ups than downs.

Happy 11th Birthday Mary Ruth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would like to wish my sweet little (now big) girl Mary Ruth a VERY HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! All she wants for her birthday is stuff for the SPCA. I’m not sure how God gave me such a sweet girl, but I’m glad He did. I hope she has a GREAT day!

From all of us, to all of you...

This is a little I'm just sayin... tradition. As my children get older, I like it even more. It helps answer questions that have been asked and will be asked. If you can't see the video, it's the "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" video. Google it...

From all of us at I’m just sayin…, to all of you… I’d like to wish you a Merry Christmas! I hope you get to spend it with the people you love. I know I will.

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just want to take a minute here to wish my Dad a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am thankful every day that he is my Dad. As you know (because I’ve probably told you), it takes a special man to raise a son as great as me while still making his daughter and functionally-mute son think he loves them just as much. I hope he has a great day!

Happy Birthday Brent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law Brent!!!!!!! I hope Teresa Lynn and the girls make it a great one!

Some of you may have realized I haven’t been posting a lot lately… what can I say? I’ve been busy. To give you some quick thoughts on some recent news:

R.I.P. former astronaut and US Senator and all around American hero, John Glenn. He was 95 years old. You can look him up if you want to know more about him, but here I will tell you this: Along with being the first American to orbit the Earth, he was also a distinguished fighter pilot in BOTH WWII and Korea with six Distinguished Flying Crosses and eighteen clusters to the Air Medal. He was the last surviving member of the “Mercury Seven”.

A man drove from North Carolina to a pizza shop in the DC area because he wanted to free child sex slaves. He knew they were there based on online news reports… also known as “Fake News”. Why do people believe this “Fake News”? Because they don’t trust the “mainstream media”. Why don’t they trust the mainstream media? I can’t say for sure, but the next topic probably doesn’t help…

The Today Show was “reporting” on the outcome of Michael Slager’s trial (a mistrial was declared)… they were talking about Walter Scott’s family asking protesters to remain peaceful. As they were doing this, they showed a picture of a large protest in the streets of (one would think) Charleston. Except it wasn’t Charleston. It was Baltimore… and it was from 2015. NBC later released a statement saying: “The video mistakenly included an image from an event not related to the Scott trial, and we apologize. The image has been removed from the story online, and we will make an on-air correction and apology tomorrow.” This is, in my professional opinion, pure bullshit. Or maybe horseshit. I’m not 100% sure which one. Might be both. I dare say it wasn’t a mistake and they don’t really apologize. They may apologize for getting caught… but that’s as close to being sorry as they really are. It’s stuff like this that makes people not believe the mainstream media… and that opens up space for other “media” outlets to release “fake news”. Shame on the Today Show and shame on NBC.

Congrats to Army on their victory over Navy this past Saturday. The streak was bound to come to an end and so it did Saturday. This is the first time Army has won against Navy since Sonny and I officially decided to cheer for Army (Sonny) and Navy (Me). While I, of course, wanted Navy to win… I can’t help but feel good for the Army seniors.

I’ve got my tickets for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story this Thursday night. I can’t wait to see it!!!!

Happy Birthday Allison!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’d like to wish a VERY HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY to my oldest niece Allison!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know it’s a little cliché, but I really can’t believe she’s 18 years old. I can still remember making the drive from Rock Hill to visit her. I’m not sure how many times I visited, but I can tell you I drove a different way there every time. It got to the point that even the “wrong way” looked familiar. It’s been fun watching her grow up… I hope the next 18 years are just as fun.

I have a bunch of various pictures I want to share on here, but I haven’t had time to get them from my phone to my computer. I’ll try to do that soon.

If you haven’t seen the Joe Biden memes going around, you need to check them out. Just search “Joe Biden memes” and you’ll find them. Prepare to spend a lot of time reading them. A LOT of time.

If you’re looking for my thoughts on the recent election… I don’t have many. I wasn’t happy when I woke up to find out who won the Presidential race (I didn’t vote for him), but I can honestly say had the person I voted for won, I wouldn’t have been happy then either. I hope I have better options to pick from next time.

FYI… South Carolina won’t let you write-in a vote for President… so I was unable to write-in my Labor Day Aunt Janie for President (and, of course, my good friend and brother Jeremy for VP).

Having said that, I hope I’m wrong and he ends up being the greatest US President ever.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!

I, of course, am thankful for all of you.

I'm also thankful for another year with my family and friends.

I'm thankful that Gertrude (our outside cat who now refuses to go outside) found us... I never thought I'd find a cat that acted so much like a dog.

I'm thankful that Maverick is still with us.  His breath died 5 years ago, but his body is still with us.

It goes without saying, but I'm thankful for the Cubs World Series Championship this year.

I'm thankful that there's a new Star Wars movie every year now.  I would have killed for that as a child.

I'm thankful nobody has tried to re-make The Godfather or Jaws... some things are great the first time around.

I'm thankful to be from James Island.  How much worse would my life be now if my parents had decided to live in Goose Creek or North Charleston or... gasp... Ladson?

I'm thankful that our house/the new I'm just sayin... office is being built.  The only place other than James Island that I'd want to live is Knightsville... and we're less than a year away from that happening.

I'm thankful for the time I get to spend with my family... which is why I have to cut this short.  I'll try to post again later this week.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday J. Michael!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just wanted to swing by this morning to wish my good buddy J. Michael a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I trust Adrian and the boys will make it a great one!

Happy Birthday Leigh-Ann!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would like to take a minute today to wish my friend Leigh-Ann a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I trust KC and the kids will make it a great day.


So, as you know, I hate the Coastal Carolina Fair. The traffic is usually terrible and the place is usually packed. Plus, it is a huge drain on my bank account. All for what? So The Wife and Kids can ride some un-safe rides (in my opinion) or we can spend $100 to “win” a stuffed animal that will be lost within a month at the latest? No thanks. Not interested.

Friday night The Wife says to me, “How would you like to go to the Fair tomorrow with Rebecca and the boys?” I, of course, say “No”. Then she takes the low road and says, “Well Jeremy can’t go so Rebecca will probably need help with Ethan”. So Saturday a little after noon, we head out to the Fair. It’s not like there was anything on TV on a Saturday in November that would interest me (like, say, college football). I won’t say it was the worst day ever, because I got to spend a lot of time with Susie and Ethan while the other kids were riding all of the various rides… but it wasn’t an easy day. God, though, must have been smiling down on me because I did get to see (and say “Hey” to) former Clemson football Coach Danny Ford. He was there from 12-3 signing autographs and taking pictures and all that. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize he was there and just happened to walk into the area he was at after 3:00… so I just saw him on his way out. But, being the polite man that he is, he did say, “Hey, how ya doing?”… to which, being the child of the ‘80s who grew up watching/going to Clemson football games that I am, screamed, “HOLY SH!T SUSIE! LOOK, IT’S DANNY F’ING FORD!” I then pushed her out of the way because I didn’t want her distracting me from Coach Ford. At least, that’s what happened in my head. In real life I just smiled and said, “Hey Coach”. I would guess that had I stopped to talk to him, he would have stopped and talked to me. From what I hear, that’s the kind of guy he is. But I didn’t want to take up his time and, frankly, I was worried about what I might say. It would have probably been a bunch of “Do you remember that game when…?” or “My favorite Clemson players are _____, who are yours?”… stuff like that. Still, seeing him made me happy. So happy that I was able to make it the rest of the day without complaining one bit. We ended up leaving late that night (after 7pm). In “Dad-time”, we spent a good 17 hours at the Fair and that is time I am never going to get back. But I do have some pictures to share…

CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! HOLY COW… CUBS WIN!!!!!!!!

By now, you may be aware that the Chicago Cubs won the 2016 World Series. The Wife has said that she thinks that I feel that the day the Cubs won was the “greatest day of my life”. I, of course, said that January 21, 1979 (the date of my birth) was, in fact, the greatest day of my life. But this Cubs World Series Championship ranks very high up on the list. Probably, if I’m being honest here (and I usually am), it ranks higher than it should. I can't help it, though. I remember growing up watching the Cubs play day games on WGN… Harry Caray and Steve Stone... Sandberg, Sutcliffe, Dawson, Grace, Dunston and Maddux (but not Sammy Sosa… I hated that sonofabitch)… I was still a wee little lad in ’84, but I remember the stories… I do remember ’89 and how close they came to winning the NL. At that point, I figured it was just a matter of time until they won the NL and made it to the World Series. I figured wrong. There were some good years here and there, but none (in my opinion) were as good as the ’89 team. Until last year. Last year I saw a team that was fun to watch. They were young and they had a manager that looked like he was fun to play for. Then in the off-season they went and got some free agents to complete the team. I knew things were looking good when word got out that at least some of these free agents passed up more money from other teams to sign with the Cubs. Then this season came along and I watched them win and win and win all while fearing the “other shoe” would drop and they would lose. But they didn’t (well, they lost some games, but not many). Through it all, I had this strange feeling of “this is the year” mixed with “I may very well live my whole life and never see them make it to the World Series (much less win it)”. Well, as of yesterday morning, I don’t ever have to worry about the negative part of that feeling. If they never win another game, I’ll still have 2016.

Happy Birthday Uncle Keith!!!!!

 I just want to take a minute today to with my Uncle Keith a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I hope he has a great day!

Go Cubs Go!!!!!!!!

As I'm sure you have seen, the Chicago Cubs won the National League pennant Saturday night!  This is something I haven't seen since 1945... which, of course, means I have NEVER seen it.  Now, some of you may have seen this story on Facebook, but I'll share it here in case you missed it.

I watched the game with the sound off.  Why?  Because I was nervous and didn't want to hear what the announcers were saying.  I was worried they would spend the whole game talking about a fan from 13 years ago who did nothing wrong but was blamed for the Cubs losing that year.  I cannot begin to tell you how much it ticks me off that people still blame him for the loss when the players were to blame.  Anywho... I wasn't in the mood to hear it.  So the Cubs jumped out to a lead and I watched the game part happy, part nervous.  Part of the time was spent pacing around like Granny would do while watching a football game, and part of it was spent rocking in Da's recliner.  We get to the top of the 9th... the Cubs are 3 outs away from making history... but I understand the game isn't over until it's over.  The Wife then looks over at me and says, "Can you turn the sound up?"

All I could do was look at her and say, "Are you kidding me?"

I mean, look... I KNOW that me having the sound on doesn't matter to how the game is going.  But I also KNOW that IF I were to turn the sound up at this point in the game and IF the Cubs were to then choke the game away, I would carry that guilt with me the rest of my life. That wasn't something I was willing to risk.  And, to be honest, I was a little surprised (and slightly disappointed) that The Wife would even ask me to turn the sound up at that point.

So, the Cubs won and now they are four wins away from making all of my dreams come true.

Happy Birthday Susie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would like to take a minute to wish my sweet little Susie a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!! She is a great little girl who hates to beat me at anything (it’s kind of funny/sweet) and hates to lose to anyone else. She had a “girl’s day” on Sunday with The Wife and Mary Ruth to celebrate her birthday a little early. Here are some pictures from that day…

While the girls were away, Daniel and I had a “boy’s day”… We went to church, had PB&J for lunch, took a nap, watched a Western (The Magnificent Seven… the 1960 version), went to Ye Ole Fashioned for supper and ice cream and watch some NFL football. Here’s a couple of pics of that…

Daniel napping

Maverick napping

Scooby napping... with a ball in his mouth and his head up

Happy Birthday Jane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’d like to take a minute today to wish my Labor Day Cousin Jane a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!! I hope she has a GREAT day!!!!

So for any of you who were worried… we survived Hurricane Matthew. The worst thing that happened to us was our DirecTV went out Friday night (right before the start of the Clemson game) and we lost power for about 3 – 3.5 hours (after the wind and rain stopped) Saturday. Other than that, we did great. Some limbs fell, but not many. The people in the back of our neighborhood weren’t as lucky. Flooding got most of those houses. Hopefully all of you were able to stay safe during the storm.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOUIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to keep my post today short and sweet and simply wish my cousin Louis a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope he has a GREAT day!

Happy Birthday Chandler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’d like to take a minute today to with my Labor Day Cousin Chandler a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope she has a GREAT day!!!!!!

So, since my last post there have been some things to make me tear up (for different, manly, reasons). The first was watching Vin Scully call his last regular season home Dodgers baseball game. There is something special about watching someone who is great at their job do their job. I don’t care if it’s the fella pouring your driveway or the Hall of Fame baseball announcer calling a game… it’s nice watching people who take pride in their work. Not only is Vin Scully one of the best, he’s been doing it forever. By “forever”, I mean since 1950. At the time, only four MLB teams (2 in the AL and 2 in the NL) were integrated (a 5th team, the Boston Braves, would get their first black player in 1950). Anyway, it was touching to see the love the players, umpires and fans showed to Scully during this game.

On this same day (the last Sunday in September), it was announced that Arnold Palmer (hall of fame golfer and legendary man) had passed away. So far, I have not heard anyone (and I mean anyone) who has had a bad thing to say about Mr. Palmer. Word is, as great as he was as a golfer he was even better as a man. Everyone has talked about how nice of a man he was. Everyone. That almost never happens when talking about someone who has been in the public eye for so long.

I’m going to go a little out of order here and talk about a nice moment that got to me. It happened in the seventh inning of the Cubs game that night. Manager Joe Madden came out and took catcher David Ross out of the game. Ross is retiring at the end of the season and this was a chance for Cubs fans to show him some love. Something about this move touched.

The last thing was hearing of the passing of Jose Fernandez. To be honest, hearing of the passing didn’t do much to me because I didn’t know him (or of him… I love the Cubs, but don’t know a ton of other players)… but seeing the reactions from other teams (including the Cubs) was touching. Then, on Monday night, I saw this (well, not exactly this… this is just a report of what the Marlins did last Monday night…)

It gets me every time…

Happy Birthday Cory!!!!!!!!!!!

I just wanted to swing by the I’m just sayin… offices to wish my buddy Cory a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!! I hope Ashley and the girls make it a great day!

In honor of Cory’s birthday, I will share some pictures with you from Ethan’s birthday party a couple weeks ago…

This younger generation doesn't always wear their hat the right way...

Hmm... it fits in my hand...

I should try to eat it...

Me and Mary Ruth

Now that's how you wear a hat...

Trying to play hard to get with the cake

Now this is how I eat cake

This is also how I celebrate eating cake

Daniel's girlfriend with her future in-laws

I'm pretty sure his first kiss was with Maverick

and his second kiss was with this red solo cup...

what a clown

goofball

Lucas and Daniel having a good time at the party

Sassy clown

One of us is upside down

Getting ready to join the Four Horsemen... Wooooooooooo!!!!!!