Football question in time for the Superbowl

I have been a football fan all my life and have never noticed this before last month.


In a typical offensive scheme, the quarterback lines up under center. Behind him is the fullback who is in front of the halfback. Can someone please explain why the Fullback is between the Halfback and the Quarterback? It seems to me that the logical progression would be Quarter, Half, Full. I have been a football fan all my life and have never noticed this before last month. And we wonder why American kids struggle in math, our games don't even use fractions correctly.

Feel free to use this question if the game is a blowout and you need something to keep the Superbowl party going.

Any predicition? I say Steelers 24, Seahawks 21

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I have been promising this recipe to Dee for sometime now. This is the recipe for James’ favorite meal. It was in a church cookbook from Homewood Church of Christ. It was submitted for publication by a super lady there, Cindy Lawrence.

Here is the recipe as published with our modifications:

2 Tbsp. grated onion
½ cup butter or margarine, melted
¼ cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup half & half (*we just add more milk and omit the half & half)
1 large can of chicken broth (* we just use the regular size can)
½ tbs. Salt
1/8 tbs. Garlic powder
½ tbs. Dried whole basil
3 cups chopped fresh broccoli
8 oz. Jar of Cheeze Whiz (*we use Velveeta instead)

Sauté onion in butter in a Dutch oven. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook 1-minute stirring constantly. Gradually add milk, half & half, and chicken broth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened and bubbly. Mixture is not real thick. Stir in salt, garlic powder and basil. Add broccoli; cover and cook over medium heat 15 minutes or until broccoli is tender. Add Cheeze Whiz (Velveeta), stirring till melted. Yields about 5 cups.

This is easy enough that I have even made it before and even I got the James "mmmm" of approval.

BTW the reason James is in his pajamas in the picture is that his birthday happened to be pajama day at school as well. Don't we all wish we could wear pajamas all day long on our birthday?

Happy Birthday James

Six years ago this morning, Shannon and I drove through the light snow of Birmingham to Brookwood Hospital. James Clay Duer was born that 1/27/00 and it hasn't snowed in Birmingham since.

Our life has been full of surprises since that day. Here are some of the things that make James the unique individual God made him:

1. He loves numbers and has boundless energy. He wears his pedometer everyday to see how many steps he takes. He is disappointed if he doesn't get to 10,000 on school days and close to 20,000 on weekends.

2. Life is a musical. In the middle of everyday events, James will break into song. Usually songs that he has made up on the spot.

3. His love of sports. Last Sunday, he woke up early and asked me to find his Major League All Star game video so he could watch it. Then he asked when baseball season started.

4. His sensitive heart. He has often been upset when we have left Mommy at home, thinking she will miss out on the fun we will have.

5. His morning cuddles. Since he is our early riser, he sometimes will come and cuddle. Great morning times are had in the recliner under a blanket.

6. The quotable James. Most recent butchered quote "I would like to pay this computer game at home but we don't have the right silverware."

7. That he and his sister play together so well.

8. His desire to excel. Sure it's frustrating when it comes to new things, because he wants to do it right the first time. But once he gets it in his mind that he will learn it, he masters it.

I could keep going forever. God has blessed us with two super children. Tonight we will dine on Broccoli Cheese Soup (James' favorite meal) and open a few presents, but this morning, I am feeling that I am the one who has been the recipient of a gift. Happy Birthday James!

Grace & James in Snow

Dee had a winter picture contest. She was going to use the winner as her desktop on her computer. My entry was a favorite picture of Grace & James back in 2004 when we had a whopping 5" of snow. She couldn't get the picture to load on her site so I am posting it over here for all to see.

Seeing this picture makes me long for a good snow day here in East Tn. However tomorrows forecast is for the mid 50's. Some winter time huh? (Of course I wasn't complaining about the mild weather when our heater was out for 3 weeks.)


I encourage you to go to Dee's picture contest post to see the wonderful pictures people submitted.

Lessons from Master Class

Grace had the priviledge of being selected for a piano master class taught by a visiting performer. Alexander Peskanov, a very talented Russian trained pianist worked with about 15 students for a few minutes each. It was very neat to watch him work. He gave pointers to improve their performance. One of the ones that applies beyond piano is this one: "The slower you practice, the faster you learn."

I am not very patient sometimes. I want things quickly. I have to remember to go slower so that maybe I will learn and not make the same mistakes over and over again.

What is the moral of this story?

Last week, I had to do one of the things I like least about my job. I had to discipline an employee. The behavior of the employee left us no choice but to fire them. I had to drive to one of my outpost offices to take care of the situation.

I put on a shirt and tie that made me feel confident. I practiced my speech over and over on the way there. When I got there, the conversation went as well as could be expected. I then supervised the employee as they cleaned out their desk. I even helped them carry their things to the car.

I walked back in feeling good about how I had handled that rough situation. Then I went to the bathroom and discovered my fly had been open the whole time.

There is a lesson in that story. Anyone want to suggest a moral?

It's official, the wrist is broken. I called and got the CT results today. I will go to the doctor on Thursday to see if it changes any treatment. I don't think it will. The brace has worked well so far. Typing is still not as easy as I would like.

On a lighter note, James was trying to figure out how long Shannon & have been married and he said we have had "15 years of merriment." I like the way he put that!

Today, for the first day in 3 weeks, we have heat in our house. The parts finally arrived and were installed. Going without makes you appreciate things.

Had a follow up visit with the hand Doctor today. He wants me to have a CT scan to once and for all confirm if I have a fracture or not. He keeps seeing things he things are fractures but he can't be sure. He saw one today that the might treat differently so he said let's do a CT scan. I go on Monday for that. Whoo Hooo!

Hand update & Five Weird Habits

My hand is healing okay I guess. I am able to type using more fingers now but still not at full speed. I go back to the doctor on Thursday. He will tell me how much longer I must use the splint.

My lovely wife, Shannon still has not told me "I told you so" but she did find a spelling error in my last post. I guess that is what happens when you are married to an English teacher. I am just glad she didn't use red ink on the monitor :).

Having a hurt hand has had me thinking a great deal about I Cor. 12 this week. It is amazing how every little part of the body (physical and spiritual) is necessary for things to function correctly.

After alittle delay, here are five of my many weird habits:

1. When eating cereal, I run the spoon over my lip a second time to catch any milk drips.
2. I am opposed to gift bags in principle. I enjoy wrapping and unwrapping presents.
3. I am an impulse shopper (but I have the coolest kitchen knives in the drawer that I bought a sams during a live demonstration as a result).
4. When trying to explain things I tend to think in analogies.
5. I always pick cards up as they are dealt. I cannot wait until they are all out no matter how many times I am told it is bad luck.

That is as weird as I want to share. My brothers and my wife could fill a book with my weird habits. I'd rather not have those out for all to see :)