it is like running the 90 yard dash...

the only problem is it is a 100 yard race.

This is the way i felt last night when the NY Giants kicker did his job under pressure and weather conditions. As i sat there watching the Packers dream of a super bowl game go down the toilet, i was thinking about the weird year in football. College games that were major upsets all season. It just goes to show anyone can get beaten by anyone at anytime.

I know this is a long leap but....

this is why we need to by on guard - as a family, as husband and wife. On guard, because anyone can get beaten at anytime, anywhere. I like to watch TV land sometimes. They run the show MASH alot. This particular episode BJ Hunnicut was struggling with the fact that he found a women overseas. She was perfect. Her attitude, sense of humor, the look. Lets not forget that his character is married and has a child.

The odd ball part of it was a part of the dialogue. He was talking to this lady. She is apparently a journalist - so she comes and goes as the news hits or as she pleases. His comment was he is trapped. He wakes to the army; he sleeps for the army; he eats what the army tells him to eat. She can come and go as she pleases. She tries to make him feel better. He gets more enraged. He is trapped at home with his wife and that house...he confesses.

I am not sure where i am headed with these thoughts. I just know how easy it is to get distract. I know how easy it is to lose someone very special. I know how numb i became. i know the hard work it has taken to come as far as we have. I know the pain of waking up and not having family there.

Wow. i guess the show did bug me a little.

Carter

bumper sticker

Enjoy!

what a great holiday

yeah it was great. spent two weeks in michigan at the holidays. caught up with becca and other family and friends. Great time. Couple campfires. good quality time with becca and of course christmas and new years.

It is back to the grind this week. I am in indianapolis finishing up a couple loose ends. things are crazy at work. we have much to do with little time to do it in.

thats all for now. gotta get back at it.

Carter

how you know you have been naughty

naughty

It is better to give than receive

i love that statement. it was a premise i was raised under and it is one that my daughter is very familiar with. It brings a different feeling at christmas time.

I alooted to some feelings i have about Christmas time. I hate the material aspect. It is like the advertising media goes crazy this time of the year. Even financial analysists base how well the economy is doing by how much comsumers spend.
it drives me crazy.

A few years ago, a good friend of mine was talking about the buy nothing for Christmas. i am not so sure that line of thought is not spot on. It does not mean give nothing christmas and give from the heart.

That is my rant for now.
C
buy nothing for Christmas

pics from this morning

here is what i woke up to. these are pics of where i live.

extreme weather?

howdy.

right before i took the job at Spectrum, one of my future co-workers said that the weather in Oklahoma City is extreme. i am finding that out. late last week it was in the 40's here. for the last three days, it has been raining and freezing. we have ice and lots of it. many places out of power including some of my friends and co-workers. hopefully, that will correct itself soon.

anyway, we had our company christmas party friday night. good time was had by all.

in other new, i had an eye doctor exam on from friday and picked up contacts. i was having problems with my glasses seeing up close. so, the eye doc suggested having two different prescriptions in each eye to compensate. i understand this is a common practice. so i am trying it. i am having alittle tought time but it going well.

Getting ready to head to west michigan. can't wait to see my daughter.

Well, that is all for now.

l8r
carter

Getting ready for the Christmas holiday

Why is it that this holiday is so expensive?

I was conversing with my younger brother about this. We both struggle with the emphasis that is placed on the material side of Christmas.

I don't know. I think we miss the point.

More as i formula what the heck i am trying to say later
Carter

isn't this a nice pic?

Thanksgiving 2007

Wow. Has it been that long since i posted last? I apologize to the handful of you who actually read this.

Well, it was a good holiday. I spent the day with one of my co-workers and his family. it was great. we went out to the family farm in rural Oklahoma. There was a spread of food two tables long. I would guess there were probably 25 or so people there. We spread out all over the house and watched football. it was a good day.

The rest of the weekend i spent laying low. i was not active at all. i resisted the urge to go into work and started rethinking some things. between thanksgiving and the new year is always a renewing time for me. to reflect on the year past and see what changes to make for the year ahead. i will keep u posted.

In other news, i will be up in west michigan for christmas. My daughter wants to come down for Spring Break. and i am already making summer plans as becca wants to roll with me for the summer.

thats it! i hope u had a blessed holiday!
Carter

funny.

Yup. you are out of the office for 2 weeks on business and this is what happens.

Enjoy! Balloon-man

Carterland

The power of words

I frequent the bloggers i have. i am addicted. I do it because most of the time God shows me something. My friend Ken, whom i respect because of his wisdom, said to me one time "always remember Carter, words are eternal".

Check out these blog entries Moments of Clarity and My tiny little human.

People are always watching and listening to see how we react to situations.

Good stuff.
Carter

i have seen some silly things in my time. i stumbled on this reading another blog. This mom to be is worried about how the jackhammering is going to effect her unborn child. So much so that she had to light a cigarette to think about.

Way to go!
Carter

ok. there are times when life is just plain good

Ok. what i am about to write may not seem like a big thing but i am busting at the seams to share. I also know that this may be a small speck but...

I was talking to becca today. We talk almost daily. It is awesome. It helps keeps the distance shorter than it is. She was telling me that she is writing an essay. The essay is on who she thinks is her hero.

She had thought this out. Her mom. Her favorite teacher. My best friend Jeff Johnson. Two people from watermark (who have now moved on to other ministry positions) - wally harrison and jason deroche. and me. At this point i was really excited to make the list. So she proceeds to tell me why she chose each person. Great descriptions of how these individuals impact and impacted her life. Then she tells me who she chose to write the article on and why. It is me. i was and still am blown away.

Well, thanks for letting me brag for a moment.

carter

well -- all things come around

I am back in OKC now. I arrived thursday night about 9:30 pm. It is good to go but it is better to come home.

I have some time to think about things. Without going too deep, how important it is to tell the people you care about how much you love them. Let me give you an example.

My oldest brother's name is Chuck. He is married to Valerie. They have a great marriage and one daughter Melissa who is married and has two boys. They all reside in Cincinnati, Ohio. Chuck and Val have had up times and down times just like everyone else. But thru it all they have a great marriage and great relationship with God and others.

I have the greatest respect for all my brothers. But Chuck being the oldest hold my highest regards. He is not only a good husband, good father, but he is a man of character. And he is developing a wisdom side that is pretty awesome too. To see him in operation this last weekend with my family and people he does not even know just being the church and loving on people at the funeral was really cool. Needless to say he inspires me to be a better person than i am.

with all of that side, i have dished out a ton of crap to chuck. He is a funny guy and i have picked on him about many things for a long time. Well, in that process of harassing he was under a completely different opinion of how i felt about him. In fact, i stumbled on that while i was chatting with him on the phone.

I spent a good deal of time on the phone straightening that out.

I guess what i am saying is do not assume that the people you care about know that. Tell them, let them know. Life is too short.

Carter

dust in the wind

it does not take long in a conversation to me to discover how much i like classic rock. 80's, some of the 70's, 90's good stuff - well some of anyway. I am listening to Dust in the Wind by Kansas. I can remember when i was much younger and did not know Jesus how music influenced my world view. How music shaped my thoughts and would change my heart and feelings.

Well, i have sat here for 5 minutes staring at this screen trying to figure out how to write what i am about to write. so here it is. i received a call this morning from my dad. i never get calls from my dad in the morning. it us does not happen. so i know when he does call, it is bad news.

One of my nephews committed suicide last night. My brother Chris, who is slightly older than i, is a quiet person. He would give the shirt off his back - until you wrong him; than look out.

I have not spoke to him yet. i plan on trying to call later today. but that brings me back to dust in the wind. isn't it amazing quickly things change?

I have my itunes set up for shuffle. Ya know what was the next song? U2 still haven't found what i'm looking for. Next song. Boston more than feeling. not sure what all that means or what point i was trying to make.

Carter

***NEW BLOGGER ALERT***

Yes, yet again, another brave soul enters the blog world. One of Watermark's (my former church family in michigan)core values is to plant churches; reproduce what they are doing in another community.

Rob Paterson is the guy God has chosen to lead the charge. I have only talked to Rob a few times. but what i know about him i like. A man with a strong love of God, his wife and his family.

Anyway, read about his journey as God pushes him.

Should be good stuff.

i am "that guy"

Ok. this is ridiculous. I have an 8 minute trip to work from home. I have to travel up south meridian avenue here in OKC. Meridian is one of the main north/south conduits here. It just so happens that on my end of meridian is under construction. So the traffic is close and it is slow.

One Wednesday, we went to the Golden Palace for lunch. It has a mongolian b-bque which i personally love. Anyway, it was a beautiful day. So i was cruizing the construction zone with my windows down.

As i was rocking to the "classic rock" - sidebar: when did 80's music become classic? - when i here some one in the opposing traffic say to me, "hey how you doing?"

So for the 2 minutes i sat there i had a brief conversation with a total stranger in traffic.

Now that is not bad enough but it happen again a little further down that same stretch.

I am that guy who people like to talk to.

from OKC talking to strangers
Carter

back in the saddle again

what a wonderful time in western michigan! the weather was amazing. I was able to hang out with my daughter - that was great. Saw my good friends the johnsons and the fischers. Took the thompson family swimming and the thompson boys to their first game of laser tag. We laughed and smiled and eat alot. In addition, i stopped by the watermark offices and ended up playing bass sunday morning. HOW COOL IS THAT!

Well i am back; trying to get my head back in the groove. not so quick story about the trip back. i had not seen one police officer the entire trip until one of my co-workers called and said, jokingly, "don't get stopped".

I took the next exit ramp to get some gas and saw the familiar bubble lights flashing in the mirror. i pulled over and the police officer approached my vehicle. He quized me at some length about where i was coming from, where i was headed, how long i been on the road, etc.... at great length. I answered all the questions and said, "why are we hanging this conversation?" he told me that people have been picking up drugs in mexico and driving them to chicago picking up money and taking it back to oklahoma, texas, or arizona.

and then said, "Would you step out of the car, please?"

I did and he called another cop. He asked me to step over by his car and i said, "Hey i have seen COPS, i know the drill." they laughed. Then they frisked me. I asked if he could call a female cop for that. They did not laugh. That was ackward.
Then they proceed to search my vehicle.

This took 25 MINUTES! after it was all said and done, shook my hand and said have a nice day.

I have decided if it is going to happen - i will be the one it will happen to.

Carter

labor day 2007

Well i greet your from the western michigan area. yes it is true. after some kicking and screaming, i am here for the weekend and the rest of the week. i say kicking and screaming because we are so busy right now with upcoming and existing projects that it is difficult to find time to go to the bathroom - let alone a week time off. but all is good.

i am hanging with the becca. she starts school this week. i cannot believe she is going into 8th grade. wow. things are moving much to fast. but this her last year in middle school and i am sure she will have a good year.

spent the weekend with good friends cooking and laughing. it has been a much needed time for me to relax and let my hair down. started off with a great conversation with my ex and her husband. i cannot explain it but we laughed and talked seriously about some things. it was great!

as time goes on i am reminded more and more how important things are. i have commented on this before. most of my career and the things i accelerate at have to do with technology. Computers and electronics, sound reproduction, acoutical evaluation, lighting, programming, video recording and reproduction etc, is what i do. all of those things and more revole around technology. but what makes me happiest - hanging out with friends, fire optional, talking about things that are going on in life. turning off the tv and picking up the phone. where i work we set up some of the most technically advance systems in the lower 48. stuff that would blow your mind. yet, when it comes to my personal style of worship - acoustic, paper to read words and a good speaker who listens to God.

i am reminded of these things because i am back in west michigan and it is a point of reference for me on my journey. it is great to regroup and refocus.

that about it for now except i am here all week - don't forget to tip your waiters.

hee hee
C of the C