Two weeks ago I finished my accounting classes at MTSU. For the last year and a half I’ve been driving to Murfreesboro, TN, about 45 minutes from my house, twice a week. I’ve learned a lot–and now I have the hours required to sit for the CPA exam.

At first, classes were a lot of fun. After about a year of it, I got pretty tired of them…tired of the drive, tired of the time commitment, tired of not having a life outside of work and classes. I was counting down the days until I got done and could leave Murfreesboro and never return.

So much to my surprise, the next to last day I was going to class I got a letter from the city of Murfreesboro. I opened it up and–much to my surprise–it was photos of me running a red light, along with a blackmail note saying–”we have proof of you running a red light and you need to give us 50 bucks or we’re turning you in to the Tennessee Department of Safety.” (my summary of their words) But let’s remember folks–this is from the CITY GOVERNMENT of Murfreesboro, sending this letter saying to pay them 50 bucks before they turn me over to the TN DoS and a collection agency. How absolutely corrupt is that?

I could go on about how I’m the victim here–I sat at this light for about a total of 20 minutes before running it. There was a train on the other side of the intersection that took up about 10 minutes, and the light was only letting about 5 to 7 cars through at a time. So when I sat there for 4 full cycles plus an entire train crossing…it was pretty ridiculous…but now it makes sense, when you think of it in the context of a trap by the city to make some quick and dirty money.

So today I went to pay the bill online and much to my surprise they even gave me a free VIDEO of me running the red light. It’s too funny. So here you go, world. I’m a criminal. Watch me run the red light.

You can click here if you don’t see the video above

Last week we agreed to dogsit our friend Renee’s dog, Alvin. And if you read my posts and/or Facebook rantings at the end of last week, then you know I was about to murder Alvin because he isn’t house-trained and was supposed to be going to the bathroom on training pads but was instead using our entire house including walls and furniture as his training pad.

You will all probably be glad to know that Alvin is still alive. After I wrote that blog last week, Alvin began to get a better idea of where he should be using the bathroom. In the three and a half days that have passed since the last blog post, Alvin has pooped on the bathroom floor only once…and peed on the bathroom floor only twice…and all of the other times he has managed to hit his pad. He did throw up on the kitchen floor today too…but doggie vomit aside, this is encouraging. Though I have ruled out any hope for Alvin learning to go to the bathroom outside the house where he should be going, I now have regained hope for my floors not permanently looking and smelling like dog poop. And that is encouraging.

And even though the potty situation is getting better, he is still the most emotionally needy dog I have ever come across. We can’t do anything-eat, watch tv, sit on the couch and talk-anything-without him hopping in one of our laps, licking our face, and demanding our attention. This was endearing the first day or two. Now I’d rather him just go sit in a corner and chill out for a couple hours. Without going to the bathroom there.

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We love having friends come stay with us. We have a nice little townhouse that we are lucky to have, and we like it when friends from out of town get to come and stay with us. If you ever want to visit Nashville, come stay with us!

Sometimes a friend of a friend will come stay with us, too. We have found this to be a fun way to meet to meet new people. Our friends are nice…and their friends are nice, too.

I have a friend named Renee. We like her a lot. Renee and I go way back to high school days in South Carolina. Renee has a friend named Alvin. Renee is going to be out of town for the next week, and her friend Alvin needed a place to stay…because, as you might guess, Alvin is her dog. He is a Maltipoo, acutally. A male Maltipoo. That’s kind of similar to being a male ladybug, I think.

Lyndsay volunteered us to house sit Alvin while Renee is gone. That is fine. I like to help Renee out…and I can endure anything for a week. Or so I thought. Either way, I figured this would be an excellent opportunity to settle the two year old debate between Lyndsay and I on whether we should own a dog or not. She says yes, because she wants a friend. I say no, because the thing will destroy our nice new house.

Alvin is fairly well trained as dogs go. I can make him sit and beg on command already. And he is what girls would call a “cute dog,” which makes him endearing. But the one thing he has not been trained on is going to the bathroom outside the house. He has been trained, Renee told us, to go to the bathroom on a little disposable pad that you put out around your house. Okay.

So far Alvin has been with us for almost 36 hours. He has peed on the kitchen floor, pooped on the kitchen floor, peed on the carpet, then on the couch, then on the carpet again, then on the wall, then pooped on the kitchen floor again, then peed on the carpet a third time, and on the couch a second time. The one place that he has not peed or pooped? The pad. It’s still as clean as when it came out of the package.

And it’s not like we haven’t given him the option of going outside our house…we’ve taken him our 4 or 5 times. And he goes to the bathroom out there some too. But yesterday Lyndsay walked him for 30 minutes…and he didn’t poop…and as soon as he got inside, he went straight for the kitchen floor and pooped on it.

Oh the joys of pet ownership. Why someone would pay money to subject themselves to this torture, I cannot understand.

A couple weeks ago Lyndsay and I had a few days off work and we decided to take advantage of them and take a spontaneous weekend getaway. We found an amazing price on a last minute flight, a good deal on a hotel and rental car…and off we went (with all of about 2 days planning). While in Dallas we saw the JFK museum, Six Flags, and we even got to go to this outdoor festival called “Taste of Dallas” where the local restaurants lined up along the street and sold food.

And the best part of all was that we got to visit with our friends Chris and Sallie Thomas! We had a great time driving around Dallas with them…and enjoying what Mexican food is SUPPOSED to taste like, apparently.

Dallas is a pretty neat city. I give them a D- for their roads (highways don’t have exit numbers) and intersections (they put all their stoplights downtown on the side of the street). and I give them an A+ for their food (amazing mexican) and an A for their rollercoasters (the Titan at Six Flags put a hurt on me that I can’t even begin to explain).

You can see more photos on the “Photos” page

This past weekend was “Christmas in July” with Lyndsay’s family. They all get together a couple of times each year, and this is one of them. It was a lot of fun. We woke up early, drove up to Graham, KY, and had a HUGE lunch. I took some pictures, so I thought I’d post one here. After all, one of the things we discussed is that they actually do read my blog! Always nice to have someone pat you on the back and let you know they care…even if it is your mom(-in-law). We reminisced about Lyndsay driving her car into walls and parked cars.

From left to right: Cheryl, James, (known more commonly as “Granddaddy”) Mollie, and Rose.

Shirley (known more commonly as “Grandmother”), Charlie, and Mollie

It was a great day with family!

I was reading today’s entry in “My Utmost for His Highest,” which is a totally awesome day by day devotional book. (And by today I mean July 25th. Because even though it’s only been July 25th for 14 minutes right now, I am on the cutting edge of devotion.)

It signed off with this sentence: “The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations: it is a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is getting His way with us.”

So I decided to read the Beattitudes for what seems like the ???th time of my life. But I decided to try out the version of the Bible called “The Message”…and I was pretty impressed by down-to-earth the writing style was:

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are–no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought. “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.  “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being “carefull,’ you find yourselves cared for. “You’re blessed when you get your inside world–your mind and heart–put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family. “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. “Not only that–count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens–give a cheer, even!-for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

Lyndsay, my lovely wife, doesn’t like feet. And by “doesn’t like,” I mean “despises and is repulsed by.” I don’t understand why. I spent some time thinking about it today…and the more I think about it, the less it makes sense.

First…she’s a nurse. She tells stories about people bringing her their fingers in a bag. And she laughs while she tells them. It’s disgusting! But how different are messed up hands and messed up feet? I don’t see much of a difference. Especially not enough of a difference where it is okay to laughingly recall memories of detached fingers while not wanting to be within three yards of a perfectly healthy foot.

Putting the nurse thing aside, I know that she’s not the only person on earth with this “foot-phobia.” I’ve met other people before who echo her ill will towards feet. She is not alone.

But here is the greatest mystery of all: She has no aversion whatsover to the ground. She walks on it. I’ve seen her bend over and touch it every now and then. I’ve even seen her sit on it. Once I even watched her roll down a big grassy hill inside Samford’s football stadium (though that was mostly because the cardboard box she was attempting to ride stuck to the ground at the top and catapulted her forward).

So let’s recap: Okay with the ground…okay with people, above the ankle…what is wrong with feet?

That’s my boy!

Originally uploaded by ScottCrews

That’s my boy! I love compassion international.

Today I found the list of Starbucks stores that are going to be closing nationwide. Since the announcement a couple weeks ago, I’ve been on pins and needles in fear that my local Starbucks was going to be one of them. For those of you who haven’t been to my house (yet)…I have a Starbucks about 300 yards from my house. It’s pretty awesome. When we moved here I hadn’t yet discovered the wonder of drinking coffee (another post for another day), so I didn’t care as much.

In the last few months as I’ve begun drinking coffee, I’ve come to love my Starbucks. First, it’s a nice place to meet people that I don’t want to let in my house. Second…it enjoy all the different beans that I can buy to make my own coffee. It’s a bit overwhelming, but two of the three times that I’ve stood there staring at the assortment of coffee beans, a barista has come out from behind the counter and walked me through the selection, giving me their explanations and recommendations. Excellent customer service at my Starbucks.

Which…besides resale value…is a large reason I didn’t want it to go out of business. When I heard about the 600 closing I said to myself, “nah…that’s like what…less than a 1 in 10 chance? I’ll be fine.”

But then they announced that 1 in 5 stores opened since January 1 of 2006 would be closing. That’s when I quitely freaked out. After all, I live in a developing area of town. There aren’t a lot of people here yet, which probably makes our numbers for the last year or so a bit lower than they will be in the future when stuff finishes being built. It’s obvious when you drive around the area, but not as obvious when you look at numbers on paper at a corporate office on the other side of the country.

But then today I saw the list here. You can download the list of all the stores. There were a few in Birmingham, and a couple in Murfreesboro where I go to school…but that was it. No store closing for me! There weren’t even any in the Nashville area.

I will sleep better tonight for sure. Well…maybe not. Because I just had a big ole’ cup of coffee to get me through class tonight and I’m a little bit jittery still.