Computer problems

Sorry about the lack of posts here last few days. My computer is on the fritz right now and I am using my wife's right now. I will try to post some blogs while I use her computer. But just wanted to get everyone updated as to why I have not posted last few days

Back from Canada

Hello your favorite Catholic blogger is back! My wife and I arrived back from Toronto on Monday evening after 10 days in Toronto visiting family. I had a good time visiting family and friends. The weather was really cold for about 3 days. It was in the high 50s low 60s. My wife and I visited the Jewish Holocaust Museum in Toronto and the Gibson House. The Gibson House was about the Gibson family who lived during colonial times. I highly recommend both if you are looking for places to visit in Toronto area. We also went to the Kortright Centre in Toronto which was a wildlife/hiking area. I never been attacked by so many bugs in my life haha. Of course we forgot the bug spray too! I think if I decide to go there next time I will either go in December or bring bug spray! We also went to a real exciting church. St Peter's in Woodbridge, Ontario. It was led by a Franciscan Friar: Father Mike. He says mass at noon every Sunday. His homilies were outstanding and even involved people in the pews. He really relates the gospel to todays life. Well I should be back to normal with my blogging now. By the way make sure when you get to the Canadian side of the Border to stop at Betty's restaurant in Niagara Falls, ON. The food is outstanding!

Sad Blog

Hello all, it was with great sadness today that I write this blog. My favorite news anchor passed away suddenly this afternoon, Tim Russert. Tim was a devoted husband, father, and son to Big Russ. He was also devoted to his catholic faith.
It was just a few days ago that I mentioned that you should go out and get his books if you are looking for a great book for Fathers Day. I remember reading Big Russ and Me for the first time a few years back and thinking you know Big Russ sounds just like my dad. When I was a kid my dad was Big Jim to everyone. While Tim's dad had to work two jobs I was the fortunate one my dad retired at age 51 after 25 years on the police department. I was about 8 years old at this time and was blessed to have my dad around all the time growing up. Both our fathers served their country at wartime. Big Russ served during WWII and my dad served during the Korean War. They both did what was required of them when their country called. Tim Russert mentioned in many interviews that many people said this book sounds just like their dad. Big Russ and Tim were both die hard Buffalo Bills fans. My dad and I are both Cleveland Browns fans. Once again neither one of our teams have ever won a Super Bowl. That has not stopped me from being the biggest Browns fan though nor did it stop Tim from rooting for the Bills each and every week.
One thing that I learned to do from Tim Russert is read up on everything and be prepared. I read books from both sides of the political spectrum to see where each stands on the issues. Tim always grilled Democrats and Republicans alike and would try to be as neutral as possible, and hold both sides accountable. Tim Russert will be missed in the broadcast world but I wanted to thank him for reminding me and I am sure many others the importance of what a good father can do in our lives. So I want to say Happy Fathers Day to my dad and thank you for all you have done and for always being there for me. If I can be half the dad to my children someday that my dad was to me I can say that I succeeded. Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there!

Powerful Thought

This was sent to me in an email and I thought it was too good to not share it with the readers of my blog. I hope that you enjoy it. I do not have the pictures that were included with the email but the presidents that were asked started with our current president and went all the way back to George Washington.

Truly one of the best e-mails I've seen.A mother asked this President...?'Why did my son have to die in Iraq?A mother asked this President...?'Why did my son have to die in Saudi Arabia?
A mother asked this President...?'Why did my son have to die in Kuwait?Another mother asked this President...?'Why did my son have to die inVietnam?Another mother asked this President...?'Why did my son have to die in Korea?Another mother asked this President...?'Why did my son have to die onIwo Jima?Another mother asked President...?'Why did my son have to die on a battlefield in France?Yet another mother asked President...?'Why did my son have to die at Gettysburg?And yet another mother asked President...?Why did my son have to die on a frozen field
near Valley Forge??'†††Then long, long ago, a mother asked...'Heavenly Father...
why did my Son have to die on a cross
outside of Jerusalem?†††The answer is always the same...
'So that others may live and dwell
in peace, happiness, and freedom.'AMEN
†††

This was emailed to me with no author.
I thought the magnitude
and the simplicity were awesome.If you are not willing
to stand BEHIND our troops,Please,
please feel free
to stand in front of them....

Some Fathers Day Ideas

I thought I would take a break today from talking about Governor Huckabee's book today to recommend some good books for Fathers for Fathers Day. That is of course if your dad likes to read books! First on my list for books for Fathers Day would be Tim Russert Big Russ and Me. This book talks about Tim Russert about growing up and all the different lessons his father taught him, he also wrote another book called Wisdom of our Fathers which is a compilation of letters written into Tim Russert talking about the wisdom that their fathers shared with them through the years. A recent book that I finished reading about a month ago was by CBS Sportscaster Jim Nantz, Always by my side. It is very similar to Tim Russerts book. I definetly recommend this for Fathers. Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy (Coach of the Colts) is a great book by a very spiritual coach. Under the Golden Dome by Coach Gerry Faust is another good one by a very devout Catholic. You can pick up most any book written by Lou Holtz and it will be an excellent read. Terry Pluto who is a sportswriter here in my town has many great sports books and also he has two books on Christian faith. If there any books that the readers of the blog might recommend for our fathers out there feel free to post them here. They can be sports related or spiritual. Maybe your dad likes to fix motorcycles and you want to recommend Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance that is ok too!

Monday

It has been quite the heat wave here for the last few days. My wife and I made sure to go swimming the last few days to cool off. If you were in a heat wave I hope that you had a chance to cool down by swimming too! If not stay indoors and enjoy the A/C. I left off sometime last week with Governor Mike Huckabee's book From Hope to Higher Ground and I decided to continue on with his wisdom in today's blog. This chapter that I finished reading was about thinking horizontally. I think we all do this. We get into a comfort zone and just keep doing the same things over and over. Well here are Governor Huckabee's 12 Action Steps to stop thinking horizontally.

1. Open doors for others
2. Tip waiters and waitresses generously.
3. Attend worship services every week.
4. Compliment a co-worker.
5. Always say "Thank you"
6. Know the name of the person who cleans your office building. (If you work in one of course)
7. Never ask for anything without saying "please".
8. Don't use profanity.
9. Just for the fun of it, allow someone behind you in the checkout line to go first
10. If you see a parent or child together at a ball game, shopping, or a park, say, "It just does my heart good to see a parent spend time with his/her child".
11. Always pull over to the side of the road when a funeral processionb approaches, and once a year visit a cemtery and read the headstones.
12. Purchase some inexpensive umbrellas and give them to total strangers on a rainy day.

The thing I like about all of Governor Huckabee's 12 step ideas are that they are all very easy to do and follow. It all is up to you to do it and it does not depend on anyone else. Over the next few days I will continue to feature his 12 steps from every chapter. I hope that you are enjoying these because they give me new things to try every single day. God Bless

Summer Traditions

Hey Everyone its Friday. Hope that everyone is having a great week so far. The weather got really hot really quick here. Today we topped out at over 90 degrees by mid afternoon. I think we have two seasons here, Extremely Hot and Extremely Cold. Although I have to say I prefer the Hot Weather. At least I can sit by the pool and work on my tan. I can go swimming too. This sunday we are heading out to a waterpark by our house. Geauga Lake Wildwater Kingdom. I enjoy going into the wave pool and getting a huge bucket of water dumped on me along with floating along a lazy river ride. Going down water slides are fun too. Its a nice way to pass the day by and cool down too. Those are the fun things in summer. Also grilling hot dogs, burgers and chicken. I have a rule when it comes to hot dogs and burgers. Burgers must always get ketchup and hot dogs must always have mustard. I am sure there is someone out there that does the opposite. The one summer tradition I have never understood is having vinegar or mayonnaise on french fries. Someone please explain that to me because it does not sound good at all? I ve actually seen an old tradition return around here in the last few years, and that is the ice cream man coming around in a truck. I remember seeing that in the 80s and then in the last few years. Maybe they have been around but I must have missed them. Summer is my favorite season and I am ready to get it started! I hope we have a nice long summer because here we had a really long cold snowy winter! Hope everyone has a chance to swim or go walking and enjoy a beautiful summer. Be Blessed.

Been Busy

Sorry things have been kinda busy around here last few days so I did not post anything on Tuesday or Wednesday. I wanted to drop a quick blog now to let everyone who reads this I am going to get back into the swing of things. Hope that everyone is having a blessed week.

Monday!

Hello its Monday again hope that everyone had a great weekend! I am still reading Governor Huckabee book "From Hope to Higher Ground" and I thought I would give you another one of his 12 step programs. This one has to do with stopping the robbing of taxpayers. If only we could do that!

1. Write your congressman and senator for a simpler,fairer, flatter tax system (We are all overtaxed)
2. Donate a tithe or more to your church
3. Become familiar with the federal budget and how your money is being spent (Not wisely that is for sure)
4. Attend meetings of your city council and local county government.
5. Add up all the money you pay to government in various taxes- federal, state, local, sales, utility, property, social security, fees and so on.
6. Run for office
7. Volunteer in a campaign
8. Take all deductions possible on tax returns.
9. Write a letter to the editor.
10. Read publications like Wall Street Journal.
11. Keep receipts for tax deductible items.
12. Avoid taxes you legally can, but NEVER evade taxes.


We all can agree that we pay way too much taxes. The thing is that the taxes we do pay the money seems to never be used properly. The answer always seems to be to raise taxes to fix any problem, build a sports facility. Its high time we start holding politicians responsible and they are thrown out of office if they do not take care of our money. This is for republicans, democrats or independents.

Have a great day God Bless.