Minutes to Memories

It has been a little while since I've given a full update on my law school selection process. So you won't mind waiting a little while longer, right?

We have heard back from five schools now: Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida, and Pepperdine. We are still waiting to hear from three: Virginia, St. Louis, and Missouri.

I have a pretty good idea what the three remaining will say now (based on the first five), so with that in mind, and believe it or not, things are finally beginning to come into focus. We won't know for sure where we'll be going for another month or so, but give us just a few days to sleep on things, and I think we'll be comfortable telling everyone what we're shooting for...

Thanks for caring.

Today was my daughter's school spelling bee. Hillary was a late addition to the 30 spelling competitors in this school of about 400 kids. There were two kids from each of the fifteen classes, and though Hillary came in 4th in her class competition, two students ahead of her did not want to compete. She did.

When I arrived, Hillary and Alexa were headed toward the competition, and I stopped them long enough for the pretty picture above. The students gathered in the library where the competition was broadcast over a school-wide television system for everyone in the school to see. All of the classes watched in their homerooms, while the parents were herded in the cafeteria, which is as safe a place to put thirty sets of nervous parents as any.

By luck of the draw, Alexa and Hillary went first. They looked a little nervous, but I WAS A LOT NERVOUS!!!!. They did good, and after the first two rounds, the field had been cut in half. In Round 3, it was cut in half again, including my favorite speller, Hillary.

Okay, you've watched "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" right? So let's play along.

Spell the following word: alot.

(Play the Jeopardy music.)
(Take your time.)
(No hurry.)

How did you spell it?

WRONG!!! It's actually spelled "allot," but Hillary spelled it with just one "l."

She was fine with it. I thought she spelled it close enough, but they're really cracking down on spelling bee rules now-a-days, so they made her go back to her class after Round 3.

I walked her back to her room, gave her a big hug, enjoyed her beautiful smile, and when she opened the door to go in her class cheered for her.

Too cool.

I couldn't wait to pick Hillary up this afternoon. She said her buddy, Alexa, came in 5th place - going out in the 7th round. She said the class cheered extra loud for Alexa when she came back, led by her friend, Hillary.

It has been a good day so far. And one thing I know: I love my little girl ALOT!

Been busy, busy, busy, busy, busy...

* My great friend, David Watson, closed down his dental practice and came to Ocean Springs just to spend a couple of days with us, and we had a GREAT time with him. He arrived Thursday evening, and we spent all day Friday and all day Saturday together. He worshipped with us this morning before heading home. He's Dr. Watson to lots of folks, but Big Dave to me. We have been friends for just about as long as I can remember. He was the best man in my wedding, and my Cardinal/Cowboy/Razorback buddy. He came to Ocean Springs specifically to help me with my Ocean Springs photo-project book, and let me tell you - HE'S A GENIUS!!! We're only a little over halfway done now after two days of work (you can see us hard at work last night in the picture above), but we'll be able to do the rest via internet exchanges. It will be too cool, but cost prohibitive for people to buy. But it will be a special treasure for me and my family as we remember Ocean Springs - and an even greater treasure because it was created with a wonderful friend.

* On the law school update front, I received an acceptance letter from the University of Florida yesterday!!! Four acceptance letters so far (Arkansas/Mississippi/Tennessee/Florida), and four to wait on (Pepperdine/Virginia/Missouri/St. Louis).

* This afternoon was really enjoyable. I had the chance to go to Pascagoula and attend a farewell reception for the Dobbs family. John Dobbs has been a special friend of mine here on the Gulf Coast, and he will continue to be forever and ever - mostly because John is the undefeated king of the internet. If you haven't run across John Dobbs on the worldwide web, you just haven't been paying attention! John will begin work next weekend as the pulpit minister for the Forsythe congregation in Monroe, Louisiana. He will be GREATLY missed on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He has been the preacher at the Central Church of Christ in Pascagoula for the past sixteen years.

Okay, gotta jet everyone. The weekend has been great, but busy, and I've got lots of catching up to do still...

Jon was built to be a fullback, or a wrestler. Maybe even a boxer, but not a basketball player. By basketball standards, he was short. By any standards, he was thick and strong.

I was 21 years old, fresh out of the University of Arkansas, and too young to be coaching high school basketball, but there I was in August of 1992, holding my first practices, and checking out my team. Jon was 17 years old, one of four seniors I would eventually start that year, alongside his classmates, Rusty, Daniel, Jeremy, and a talented junior named Rob.

Jon had the odd mixture of playfulness and intensity that made him a team favorite - and a scourge to the opposition. If there was ever a star opponent that needed to be bothered endlessly – and there often was – I would sic Jon Coleman on him. Jon relished those opportunities.

If our school was big enough for a football team, or in those parts of the country where wrestling is the dominant sport, he would have been a star. We just offered basketball and track, so Jon made his way to the starting five through hard work and determination, and found a place in track throwing the shotput and running relays.

Jon graduated high school and moved on to my alma mater, the University of Arkansas. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree, and then law school to follow in the footsteps of his father. He returned to Jonesboro to practice, and though I lost touch with him completely, I can imagine he became one heck of a lawyer. I can picture his bulldog intensity, along with his mischievous grin, endearing himself to clients, and frustrating the stew out his adversaries.

I called my mom yesterday, and she told me the news. Jon died Sunday morning at his home of natural causes. He was 32 years old.

In less than an hour, visitation will begin at Emerson Funeral Home in Jonesboro, Arkansas. I am five-hundred miles away, but my heart is there with the mourners. Tomorrow morning, Jimmy Adcox will deliver a tender eulogy I’m sure, but I will be at work in Ocean Springs. I have to attempt my bit of dealing with the news by typing out words on a keyboard tonight.

Jon’s father preceded him in death, so the burden lies heavily on his mother, Jan, and his younger brother, Kyle. I cannot imagine how they feel tonight. I left my message on the guestbook at the funeral home, and already there are seven pages filled with condolences. I hope those help in some small way.

Of the fourteen or fifteen guys I handed Falcon basketball uniforms back in 1992, two of them are gone now: Jarrod left us at 19, and now Jon at 32. Death is sobering, and as the years pass, it grows more sobering still. We posed for a team picture back then, and two of those faces have faded away now. Over time, one at a time, we’ll all have our turn.

You don’t know what you have in a moment of time. The flash blinds us, the memory is secured, but you just don’t know that this moment will never be replaced. It is an irredeemable treasure.

I shared part of one year with Jon Coleman, and I hadn’t seen him in close to fifteen years, but all of a sudden I miss him tonight.

I hope he knows now, if not before, just how many lives he touched along the way.

So my friend, Tom, whom some of you may remember from the legendary building of my deck, calls me yesterday and invites me out for a cup of coffee at Coffee Fusion. Hillary was out of school for the holiday, so Hillary and I turn it into lunch while Tom enjoys his coffee. After just a little time for casual pleasantries, Tom says he has something to tell me that, although good, may shock me. This is usually where my heart momentarily stops beating (my preacher friends will understand). Then Tom tells me that he wants me to baptize him.

The rest of the lunch conversation was one of the best conversations I've ever had as a preacher. Tom's wife, Laura (who also happens to be my secretary), has been praying for Tom to make this decision for fourteen years now, and over the course of lunch, he told me how piece by piece the wall fell during his time in Ocean Springs.

He told of how past churches seemed to be filled with people who had it all together, and he thought you had to have it all together like that to be baptized. We, on the other hand, are an obvious bunch of losers. (LOL! He didn't say that at all! But it is the truth, and my saying so just provides dramatic effect!)

He told of understanding baptism as the final step in a process, but coming to see it here as the first step instead.

He told of a past preacher who cornered him every week to pressure him about being baptized, and how each time led him further away from making that decision.

He told of how church had just been something he went to in the past, but that our men's group going to baseball games and out to eat wings for fun led him to have real relationships and see people as "people" - not "church folks."

He told of how he struggled with the reality of his job in the military - ultimately training to kill people - and how one of our teachers (Keith) helped him come to terms with his job.

He told of how our elders impacted him by seeing him as someone that behaved like a Christian leader, and how that helped convince him that he really can be part of this Christian group.

It was a wonderful conversation.

I thought it was cool that he said he kind of wanted to wait until summer so he could be the last person I baptized here, but he knew the time was right now. I told him at the rate I go, he very well could be the last person I baptize here anyway. :-)

So Tom emailed several people, specifically those that have helped him come to this decision, and invited them to our church building tonight to share this occasion with him. And I had the honor of baptizing my friend.

What a terrific way to spend an evening.

Probably the most dramatic sight to see post-Katrina in my town was the wreckage of the Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge. Most everyone who came to volunteer ended up standing at the bridge, snapping pictures, trying to capture the unbelievable scene. Today, driving to Biloxi to visit a nursing home, I snapped a picture out my front windshield from close to the spot where many of you out there have stood. It is good to see progress, no?

We shared a great lunch at our house yesterday with Judge Sharon Sigalas, Jackson County CASA Director, Frances Allsup and her family, and fellow CASA volunteer, Dana Mitchell, and her kids. Great food, great conversation, and great people.

Well, I'm two for two in the lunch department. Hillary is out of school for Dr. King's holiday, and we shared a great lunch at Coffee Fusion with my friend, Tom. I suspect I'll tell you all more about it a little later on.

* Erica called to say it was snowing in Hattiesburg today!!! Here, it was just 37 degrees and rainy...

* Much of today was focused on Hillary and the Science Fair (pictured above). I don't know if her project, "Colder Than Ice," will set the scientific community abuzz, but we found it interesting. Did you know that adding salt to ice water makes the temperature of the water colder? Tell the truth now, you didn't know that either, eh? The best news is that our procrastination did not bite us on the rear end. We researched this project a few weeks ago, then did the whole thing in one day (today). It's due this Wednesday.

* The other focus of today was cleaning house. Not fun, but we did it together, which is the way to go. We have company coming over tomorrow (you knew there must be a reason for house cleaning, right?).

* I checked the mail today, and though I didn't receive any law school notifications, I did receive notification of jury duty! The weird part is that I'm pretty excited about this - I've always wanted jury duty. Of course, I'm sure either (a) the fact that I'm excited about jury duty, or (b) the fact that I'm planning to go to law school next year will get me disqualified somehow. I'll be the only disappointed disqualified juror.

* I read a book today, too. Mitch Albom's "For One More Day." Good book, and easy read (200 pages in a coupla hours), but not as good as either "Tuesdays With Morrie" or "The Five People You Meet in Heaven." According to me, that is...

* Jody, Hillary, and I braved the uncharacteristic Gulf Coast cold weather and went to Applebee's for dinner tonight. Good folks, Jay and Glenda, gave us a gift certificate for Christmas, and we used it tonight (and appreciated it, too!).

At Least - by Raymond Carver

I want to get up early one more morning,
before sunrise. Before the birds, even.
I want to throw cold water on my face
and be at my work table
when the sky lightens and smoke
begins to rise from the chimneys
of the other houses.
I want to see the waves break
on this rocky beach, not just hear them
break as I did all night in my sleep.
I want to see again the ships
that pass through the Straits from every
seafaring country in the world -
old, dirty freighters just barely moving along,
and the swift new cargo vessels
painted every color under the sun
that cut the water as they pass.
I want to keep an eye out for them.
And for the little boat that plies
the water between the ships
and the pilot station near the lighthouse.
I want to see them take a man off the ship
and put another up on board.
I want to spend the day watching this happen
and reach my own conclusions.
I hate to seem greedy - I have so much
to be thankful for already.
But I want to get up early one more morning, at least.
And go to my place with some coffee and wait.
Just wait, to see what's going to happen.

* My daughter called from college this morning just to say Good Morning to me
* I engaged the smartest people I know on the Hungry, Hungry Hippo blog in an important conversation on the meaning of life
* I went to the hospital in Pascagoula to pray with a dying woman and her grieving family
* I ate 4 Krystal burgers and french fries, one of my favorite lunches
* My wife and I unexpectedly met at our house in the early afternoon, and she gave me a kiss
* I talked for 30 minutes to the associate dean at the University of Arkansas law school, and he upped his scholarship offer. More importantly, we had a wonderful conversation.
* I picked up my youngest daughter from school, and we laughed together in the car
* I am about to head to a board meeting for Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast

How does one person get hold of such a wonderful day?

BLOG-SERVATION #1: I spent the afternoon in Youth Court (pictured above) concerning my CASA case. Our director's office is adjacent to the courtroom, so standard procedure for a CASA volunteer is to sit in there and chat with Frances while we wait to see if we're needed. If we're needed, there is a knock on her office wall, and we enter the courtroom. When the knock came and we entered, Judge asked me about my law school application process, and she and the Guardian Ad Litem compared LSAT scores with me. Judge, ever with a clever comeback, remembered the saying, "Those who make A's get to be professors. Those who make B's get to be judges, and those who make C's get to be RICH!" Anyway, court, as always, was interesting, and though I cannot go into any details I can simply say that my legal education continued today by learning this truth: if I think I will go to law school and learn how to sort out the messes in this world, then I'll be sadly mistaken.

BLOG-SERVATION #2: It is a cold, rainy day, which makes me wonder how many people will actually show up for our mid-week class tonight. I'll be teaching 1st Corinthians 5 to the adults, a chapter on the need for disfellowshipping brash sinners from a church, which is always a fun topic for all. One of the thoughts I've had is that I wonder if anyone has ever seen a "disfellowshipping" work. By work, I mean accomplish its supposed purpose of leading someone back to the fold. I haven't, but maybe others have. If not, then maybe we should be honest enough to admit that there's something wrong in our whole approach to the subject.

JOURNAL BLOG

Nothing terribly exciting today...

* The morning began with iced over car windows, a rarity in these parts...

* A morning full of prep work - classes, writing, emails, etc.

* An enjoyable trip to the nursing home in Biloxi to see my friends, Hezekiah, Mr. Flowers, Miss Katie, and others.

* On the way back, I parked at the Coast Coliseum and walked over to Beauvoir. Visitors to the Mississippi Gulf Coast know about Beauvoir - if you don't, you can read about it HERE. As the picture above shows, the exterior work is coming along nicely.

* I took Hillary to the eye doctor to make sure the contact lenses were working out.

* I'm about to take Hillary to dance class, where I plan to continue making progress on reading 'Tis by Frank McCourt, the follow up to Angela's Ashes. I'm enjoying it just as much as the original so far, mostly because McCourt's writing style is simply that wonderful.

* A scratchy throat appeared a couple of days ago, and today I noticed a white spot on the back of my throat. Probably nothing, but now I'm looking in the mirror ever so often with my mouth wide open, which isn't a pretty sight. :-)

These four lovely ladies (I find the one on the far left particularly fetching) are from the Ocean Springs Church of Christ, and I snapped this picture just before they loaded up and headed to the Youth Shelter to volunteer this afternoon.

This has been a long time in coming, and because you are interested, I will take the time to explain.

I shall begin by sharing a huge "church" pet peeve of mine: if church were compared to a high school curriculum, standard courses would be classes such as Go To Church 101, Praying Regularly (or at least know that you should be), Read Your Bibles (same exemption as Praying Regularly), Not Cussing Around Other People (or at least your preacher)... There are others, but you get the idea. In this metaphor of mine, Serving Hurting People would be considered an extracurricular activity. That is my pet peeve.

So I had this bright idea a year or so ago now. (Well, I have had several ideas I thought would be bright for many years now, but none of them took in motivating us to move Serving Hurting People into our core curriculum.) My idea was to REQUIRE (okay, maybe beg and plead and use guilt, etc.) all of our Sunday classes not just to talk about things, but to reach out into our community and serve real, breathing people.

Well, our Forty-Something Class decided we wanted to serve at-risk children, so we started trying to figure out how to go about doing just that. (This is how Dana and I ended up CASA volunteers.) Several members of our class found out about the Youth Shelter and wanted to volunteer there. This decision set off a frustrating, lengthy battle with applications and red tape, but today was the day these folks had their first chance to go and spend time at the shelter.

Do you know what happens in your community when children of abuse and neglect are rescued? I didn't. But I know now. They are taken to the Youth Shelter.

First, imagine being abused and neglected by your parents. Then, imagine being taken away from everything you've ever known to a small Youth Shelter where people are paid to watch you 24/7.

These lovely ladies pictured above know what kids that have experienced this look like now. They played today with two two-year old children and a nine-month old baby.

Jody said they learned a lot today, and they are looking forward to going back next month better equipped to brighten the dark lives of precious children.

It has been a long wait, but the persistence has been worth it.

Today was a big mail day at my house. In addition to a few bills, a few pieces of junk, and a few law schools introducing themselves to me, I received THREE... count 'em, THREE... acceptance letters.

I have been admitted to law school at the universities of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee for the Fall of 2008, which is just a pretty cool feeling. Arkansas even attached a nice little scholarship offer, bringing its price down a little below the level of the in-state Mississippi.

I did not expect to hear from anyone until February or so, but now I'll start running for the mailbox every day to look for letters from Florida, Pepperdine, St. Louis, and Virginia.

And just to make matters a bit more complicated, it looks like we will add another application this week, this time to the University of Missouri-Columbia (but this will be the last one, I promise!).

Looks like this law school idea is going to happen after all.

No pictures again today, even though it was a day "off" for me.

Jody and I had a really good talk this morning before she left for work about this whole law school concept. It really helped clarify some things as to our goals and way of thinking. Once we hear back from schools, I think we'll have a much easier time making decisions.

Late this morning, I ran/walked my two miles (three days a week, I do such fun). It turned out to be a gorgeous day after such a stormy day yesterday. Running in shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt on January 11 with blue skies, a cool breeze, and temperatures in the upper 60s is just all right with me.

I headed to the office to do a little bit of work before picking up Hillary from school. Mostly some Habitat stuff after our meeting yesterday.

And now, I'm waiting for Jody to get off work so the three of us can spend the evening together (three, since Erica is back at college now). We need to talk more Science Fair with Hillary, and I suspect Jody & I will talk a little more about law school. I'm convinced it will be a good night, even before it happens.

Hillary took the picture above of me with two of the coolest people around after our Governance Committee meeting in Biloxi for our Habitat for Humanity affiliate this afternoon.

I began Habitat for Humanity of Jackson County in early 2001, and Nicole Grundel came on board soon afterwards. She has been an integral part ever since. In fact, if there were an MVP from the Jackson County affiliate over the years of its existence, it would have to be Nicole. She was the glue that made everything happen. When term limits led to my exit from the board in 2006, Nicole stayed on and helped navigate the merger with the Harrison County affiliate to form Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. HFHMGC is now the largest affiliate in the United States.

Chris Monforton is at the helm of HFHMGC, and he was made for the job. It takes everyone who meets him about two seconds to figure that out. I first met Chris shortly after Hurricane Katrina when he came to the Coast on assignment from Habitat for Humanity International. He first served as a consultant to the affiliates throughout our region. He was then hired as the Executive Director of the Harrison County affiliate, and finally, after the merger, he was hired as the Chief Executive Officer of HFHMGC. He has worked non-stop ever since.

There are lots of big things happening with our affiliate. The highlight of 2008 promises to be in May when we are scheduled to host the Jimmy Carter Work Project. This is a HUGE event, and I am SO excited about being a part of it. That my affiliate will host this event just before I move away is simply too cool for words.

But back to Nicole and Chris.

If you don't mind a little advice from me, let me offer some up for the taking: volunteer in your community. There are 1000s of reasons why, but I'll give you two that are plenty all by themselves. Meeting people like Nicole and Chris.

I'm not an attorney yet, but with that, I'll rest my case anyway.

I went on my first blog-venture of 2008, and had a (cue Tony the Tiger) GRRR-EAT time watching the BCS National Championship Game at the Superdome in New Orleans.

I am indebted to my friend, DeJon, forever and ever. He bought his parents tickets as a Christmas present to his dad, and he ended up with four tickets and only three people. I am both stunned and honored that he asked me to tag along, and I had an unbelievable time. I am an Arkansas Razorback fan, and thus an SEC fan. So, though it was strange to be so fully an LSU Tiger fan for one night (chanting L-S-U so many times my throat is sore today), it was just a whole lot of fun. GO TIGERS!!!

You can check out a folder of my pictures from yesterday HERE.

New Orleans was nuts. I knew it would be nuts, but it was more crowded and more crazy than I expected. I did get to park right next to the Dome for $20, which was refreshing…

I bought a BCS championship shirt first thing, since I didn’t have any purple or gold shirts in the closet, and then walked around the French Quarter for a while before meeting up with DeJon and his parents. We sat and talked (mostly about law school since, coincidentally, DeJon is applying to law schools right now, too) and wandered before deciding to head the mile or so back to the Superdome.

On the long walk back to the Dome, we stopped in the Ritz-Carlton for a potty break (I mean, if you gotta go, you might as well go at the Ritz-Carlton). There, we saw both Jimmy Johnson and Urban Meyer in the lobby. I was going to get my picture made with Jimmy Johnson, but he was on a cell phone when we started to leave and looked like he was in a hurry. He had posed for a few pics with others and seemed really gracious.

When we made it back to the Dome, we stood on the bridge, enjoying the cool breeze and 70 degree temps on a perfectly overcast day, and watching the assorted fruitcakes that continuously gathered around. When you check out my pics, you’ll see a pregnant LSU fan who had painted a tiger on her pooching belly, one of the reporters from the Best Dang Sports Show Period interviewing some wildly costumed characters, and other various and sundry oddities.

They opened the Dome at 4:30pm and we went in right away. Our seats were simply awesome. We were behind the E in the OHIO STATE endzone. We were officially on Row 17, but the actual seating started on Row 9, so we were actually on the 9th row. The end zone we sat in witnessed 6 of the 8 touchdowns scored in the game, including both of Richard Dickson’s TDs (my man from OCEAN SPRINGS!!!).

DeJon and I wandered over to the TV stage and saw Eddie George, Jimmy Johnson, Urban Meyer, etc. We also saw Archie Manning wandering around a bunch, along with lots of Fox Sports dudes and dudettes.

The game, of course, was great, and LOUD – a raucous, fun atmosphere.

When the game ended, we stayed for the trophy presentation and pretty much waited until all the players finally wandered off the field and into the dressing room. I left the Dome at 11:30, was on I-10 by 11:50, and home and in bed at 1:30am.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime sort of night. Simply unforgettable.

Today began my tenth calendar year in Ocean Springs, and I issued a challenge for what promises to be my final year here: I challenged our church to become the friendliest church around.

I spent a lot of time playing around with the Greek word koinonia in my sermon. In particular, I told the fascinating origins of the Koinonia Farm in Americus, Georgia, a place that bears a tremendous likeness to the church described in Acts 2: 42-47.

I admitted out loud that I find it a bit embarrassing that I am a part of a heritage that claims that we are most like the restored First Century Church, when there is a farm in Georgia that lives together, works together, worships together, and studies together – EVERY DAY. Like the first church, you know.

If you don’t know about Koinonia Farm and its history, check it out HERE.

Nothing much to take pictures of today...

LAW SCHOOL BLOG

To confirm all rumors of my goofiness, I have now applied to a seventh law school.

To explain, I checked the little box in the Law School Data Assembly Service application that allowed them to release my information to other law schools. I did this on purpose. My GPA (from a long time ago) was high, and now my LSAT score is decent, so I thought there might be doors opened that I hadn’t considered. I’ve had emails asking me to consider applying to schools from Yeshiva (New York City) to LaVerne (Southern California).

Yesterday, however, I had an interesting one. Now, I’ve applied to SEVEN schools.

Saint Louis University is considered a second tier law school (as are two others on my list: UT-Knoxville and Pepperdine; Virginia and Florida are top tier, and Arkansas/Ole Miss are third tier). Their email yesterday informed me that I would be a strong candidate for their 1843 Scholars Program, which would provide full-tuition for all three years. That was interesting. They waived my application fee, and all I had to do was write an essay, which I did this morning. So, there.

I did a little math and figured that I’d be a top fifty candidate or so for these scholarships. They award ten. So, I don’t expect to get one, but there are definitely worse odds out there.

So… for all of you grading at home, here is where things stand for me in this crazy process (in alphabetical order):

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS: This is the only school I know I will be accepted at so far (based on their simple mathematical formula of admission). But the only real chance for UA in my book is if they waive out-of-state tuition and offer me a big scholarship. I doubt that will happen, but you never know.

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA: Florida is the overall frontrunner right now. I don’t expect any scholarship money from Florida, but I would go there anyway. Big scholarship offers from Arkansas, Ole Miss, Pepperdine, or Saint Louis would be worth considering. Acceptance from Virginia would be very interesting. And the wildcard, Tennessee, keeps flip-flopping with Florida in my mind, so anything could tip that balance back toward Big Orange Country (Tennessee Orange, that is).

UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI: Scholarship money would make Ole Miss very interesting, particularly if I was named one of their Eastland Scholars. Ole Miss is the most affordable choice for me already, and if that gap widened I would strongly consider going there.

PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: I still really, really like Pepperdine. Jody’s job opportunities there and the fact that we’d be living and working and going to church on campus is just super cool. Going there, however, depends on scholarship money - specifically the President’s Award (for active members of Churches of Christ).

SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY: I would only consider Saint Louis if I was named an 1843 Scholar. Period.

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE: This is the frustrating one for me. Because I like it a lot. It is grouped with the University of Florida in my mind in so many ways, and as of now I’m just leaning toward Florida. But that can change. Lots of factors could tip the scale.

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: This is by far the best school on my list. I do not think I will be accepted there. I would be at the bottom of their barrel. However, they make a big deal about the fact that they don’t base their offers solely on LSAT scores, so there is still a remote chance. And if they accepted me, I’d have a LOT of thinking to do. Because UVA is one awesome school.

If you can’t tell, I’ve been thinking about all this a lot. It is hard not to think about it all the time. I sort of suspect that I’ll hear from all the schools sometime in February (maybe not Virginia, but the rest). And February will be here before you know it.

I’ll keep you updated.

Friend Blog

Hillary and I drove to Biloxi today to see our friend, Hezekiah, and as you can tell from the picture, he was looking especially fine today! He always looks good in a hat, and he was especially pumped about his new suit coat to go with his oversized sweats. Hezekiah is one cool dude.

I was really happy to hear he was pleased with how Santa Claus treated him this year, what with how I was the communicator to the Big Man in Red. Santa told me that he had never gone shopping for pipes in a tobacco store, but Hezekiah was very pleased with his new pipe and was giving it a good workout already. He wouldn't even take it out of his mouth to smile for a picture. And Hezekiah was really proud of his "brand new radio." I'm not totally convinced all the residents are quite as happy with Santa's work in that department, but at least the nursing home is never devoid of music.

Hillary and I enjoyed our visit, as always. I got to share another prayer with Mr. Flowers. We saw Miss Katie, who once again dramatically and emotionally shared her latest personal crisis with us (today's had something to do with coming inside out of the cold). We tried to help a sweet resident decipher a problem another lady was having, something to do with trying to get a duck for a dollar. We weren't much help there.

My oldest sister taught me how to visit a nursing home when I was Hillary's age. I hope Hillary will remember how when she grows up.

And I hope I never forget.

BOOK BLOG

There's nothing better on a cold day like today than curling up with a good book. Which is why you shouldn't pick up John Grisham's Playing for Pizza on a cold day like today.

It pains me to write this because I like John Grisham. He's an Arkansas-Mississippi boy. He's an SEC fan. He seems to be a really good guy. He actually called me on the phone after Hurricane Katrina and donated a lot of money to our Habitat for Humanity affiliate to help build houses for needy people.

And I enjoy reading his books.

But not Playing for Pizza.

Well, now, I should qualify that last thought. I sort of enjoyed it. It is a fine story about football, and I like football. There just isn't much to it.

Playing for Pizza is a story about a stereotypical semi-dumb jock who ends up playing football in Italy after his career falls apart completely. There's sort of a hint at redemption in the storyline, but not much of one. In the end, he wins a game, gets the hot young girl, that sort of stuff...

I make it a point to read Grisham's books eventually. I think he does a great job with the legal thriller (The Street Lawyer is my personal favorite). He told a great Christmas story in Skipping Christmas. I enjoyed A Painted House, mostly because it was set in the area where I grew up. I've ordered his one nonfiction book (I'll report on it later).

But his two sports stories, Bleachers and Playing for Pizza... well, not so good.

Disclaimer: I am VERY thankful to my mother-in-law for giving me her copy of the book. I would have spent money to purchase it because I was definitely going to read it. She told me she didn't care for it, but thought I might since I understand football. Well, I do understand football, but that didn't help much. I can only imagine reading it without understanding football.

New Year's Resolutions

#1: Start blogging every day again (much to the delight of Mamaw Bell!)

#2: Try to take pictures every day again (which I'll be very thankful for once we move away from our special friends)

#3: Eat less (the exercise habit stuck in '07, now on to the diet part)

#4: In the seven months I've got left here, help transform the Ocean Springs Church of Christ into the friendliest church in town!!! (launch date: January 6!)

#5: Thanks to my GREAT friend, DeJon... Go to the BCS National Championship Game!!! (#16 on my "things to do before I die" list)

#6: Thanks to my GREAT friend, David... Publish a photography book called, My Ocean Springs (#17 on my "things to do before I die" list)

#7: Meet Jimmy Carter when our affiliate hosts the Jimmy Carter Work Project in May (#18 on the list)

#8: Go to Law School (#19 on the list)

#9: Make new friends in a new hometown

#10: Make excellent grades my first law school semester!!!