Phall Photos

Thanksgiving. It is the one day of the year that we allow ourselves to eat beyond the point of no return- with little to no guilt. There is something about pumpkin, sage and tripdaphan that sends us into the land of oblivion. How else could the TV networks get away with showing the Detroit Lions year after year after year. You know what I’m talking about.
Round 1: Begins way before you sit down to eat. It begins with making the biscuits and cornbread for the dressing. But, you can’t JUST make cornbread. Somewhere in the code of Southern Hospitality you are required to cook some fatty dish to accompany the hot buttery staple.
Round 2: Takes place while the meal is being prepared. Taste the dressing to make sure you have enough sage. Sample the turkey to make sure it isn’t too dry. Eat a hotroll as soon as it comes out of the oven – with loads of melted butter. The glaze on the spiraled ham needs to be tried as well as the consistency of the mashed potatoes. What’s the use of cooking if you can’t enjoy the spoils in the middle of your labors.
Round 3: Finally you sit down to eat. Depending on your holiday tradition you will either pass the dishes around the table, or you will do a walk by- buffet style. Regardless, there’s about a 95% you will have early peas rolling off your plate because there is no room left. Your plate should have a nice geometric curve, representing the billowed sail of the Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria. You know, keep with the season… do your part for the festivities.
Round 4: You are beyond full at this point, but you just can’t say no. (Where is Nancy Reagan when you really need her?) So, you load up for ‘seconds’ which at this point are really ‘fourths’ but who’s counting.
Round 5: You have a dull ache as your stomach has expanded to twice its original size. The place where the stomach meets the esophagus is registering overload. You have promised yourself to wait for dessert. But, then someone cuts the pumpkin pie and lathers the top with cool-whip. “I’ll just have a sliver… of each” We all know what that means. You have lost complete control.
Round 6: Generally requires some form of antacid or bismuth.
Round 7: Naptime.
Round 8: Did someone say Turkey Sandwich?

I really do love the holidays. They are generally the pause button on the roller coaster we call life. They give us reason to stop and consider the great joys of life. The apostle Paul did not have such a holiday but he did have such an attitude. While sitting in a cold prison cell he penned these words of thankfulness:
Phil 1:3 "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Not that I have this whole thing figured out, but I do think we have a choice to be grateful or disgruntled. I know the economy is a pretty big stink-O! I realize that Oklahoma State got beat by Oklahoma. I understand the pain... but, in the big scale there's a lot to be thankful for, here's a few of mine:

Happy Birthday Micah "6" !

Football, Foilage, Fair and Soccer

I figured I needed to get a blog up before Halloween and Micah's Birthday, otherwise you would have to navigate through 50 pics in one setting. I realize that can be a bit much, especially when they aren't even your kids.
I'm not exactly sure how I am going to pull this off but at some point the plans are to download these blogs and stick them in a book. We have not done well with the whole 'baby book' thing, so maybe this could suffice. When I was a kid we had these slide projector thing-a-ma-jigs. It was a carousel of memories pulled out for special events. I can even remember the smell of that old projector - something akin to old oil, singed hair, and burnt silverfish. Every vacation, every birthday, every holiday is captured on a 1" x 1" square card filed away into the dark oblivion of 'The Hall Closet.' I vaguely remember holding those little slides up to the light trying to figure out which one of those micro people was me. Wait a minute, that wasn't those family slides I remember holding up to the light... it was the microfiche of a 1976 'nudie' magazine that my younger brother lifted from the public library. We were 10 - 12 years old and only interested in the articles I assure you.
All that to say, if you want to leave a comment for the kids feel free to do so. If you are a friend, a family member, a friend of the family, or the family of a friend, we'd love for you to leave your mark. I'm sure one day the kids will pull out these "old" blog books from the closets of oblivion and laugh at their clothes, their hair styles, and their out-of-touch / out-of-date parents.

Pigskins and Pumpkins

So, here's my dilemma. Here I am sitting at the front edge of fall and loving almost everything about it: those harvest moons that perfectly frame every spooky tale, the almost perfect weather, carving pumpkins, Saturday afternoon flag football games, Tuesday night soccer games, hayrides, bonfires, sitting outside with a dark roast dunkin donuts coffee by the fire pit, the smell of 68 degrees, the elongated shadows of fall, thinking about cruising around in my scout, leaves on the ground... you get the idea. All should be well in the Stockstill home, but... there are little quirks that keep things in a proper balance. Believe me, I'm not a ying yang type of guy but there always seems to be something ‘in our crawl’ even when things are going well.
For example: Last Saturday there was this little issue that I share with most Sooner fans… why can't we win the big ones? We likely will win 10 – 12 games this season, which for most is an outstanding season… but, we lost to Texas. I understand that the folks back at ESPN think last Saturday was a great game. (They thought the same thing about the Boise State debacle a couple of years ago). Unfortunately, both of these will games will show up in the annals of history as LOSSES. Good game or not, I'm tired of explaining to all my SEC fans that the Big XII is a great conference and OU really does belong in some of the great match-ups. Nowadays it’s not just my southern friends I'm trying to convince... it’s me.
Then we have this little thing called the election that is just around the corner. The older I get the more concerned I am about the type of world that we will pass on to our kids. My generation is a pretty demanding generation that wants our share of the pie, and we want it right now (hot out of the oven, with latticed crust, a side of bluebell homemade vanilla ice cream on the side, with a short fork, and a cup of coffee with one cream and one sugar… no, hold the sugar). I pray my kid’s generation is more appreciative of the things they have. I pray they grow up in a country that they are proud of: where red white and blue mean something special; where military hymns bring tears to their eyes; where the pledge of allegiance never goes out of style; and honor, respect and courage are good things.
I recently read through the book of Philippians, a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to a group of people while he was in prison. As I was reading it struck me as odd that the one in prison was the one writing words of encouragement. Typically its the other way around. How is that possible? One word... contentment. The perfect balance between drive and rest.

Only when we find contentment can we enjoy the moment.
Only when we find contentment can we enjoy people, places and things.
Only when we find contentment can we build a great nation for the generation to come.
Only when we find contentment can we enjoy pumpkins and pigskins.