Shar-Pei Diem

Hello out there!!!

Ok, ok, ok....

I know, long time no post. Besides battling an on again\off again cold, I have been busy (yes, not letting my body get enough rest)

So here is a quick post just to say I AM FINE and Ripley has found a group of people who love him so much that they are now asking "when is he coming back" every time i pick him up!!! lol

Yes, my parents have even developed their own relationship with him that it makes me laugh to see him get so excited with each of them. And to think, all because of my wrinkly shar-pei!!!

On another note...I can honestly say that I am a truly blessed man. Too many times in the hustle and bustle of life, we do not stop to smell the roses.

I have updates coming soon, I promise but until then I have my last officiating camp this weekend in Lake Charles, LA for the SWAC (wooooohoooo) then work will dominate the travel plans until the season starts but Im  excited about it.

Anyone doing anything fun this next month? Travel plans? Trips?

Until next time...peace out

jflo

On the road again...

Well looks like I will be utilizing the services of twitter to communicate with people my whereabouts.

Its alot easier than emailing everyone plus it keeps everyone on the same page without little work lol

I hope everyone is doing fine. Im in some major need of R&R

Peace out...

jflo

Slow rolling....

Well, it has been a while since I have posted and it is not because I did not want to write but mainly due to the simple fact that I have been busy....

This has been a special summer for me and I have been quite blessed with many things going on.

I am a little tired BUT I am not complaining as I believe things happen for a reason so its just part of life's challenges to conquer. Alos looking back on the places I have gone and the places I will be going and think..WOW....Ive done alot in a short amount of time.

Denton, Texas (yes, officiating camps lead me to the most entertaining places in the world)

Shawnee, Oklahoma (dont knock it, they have a nice campus and casinos too!!! lol)

Cincinnati, Ohio

Augusta, Georgia

Mobile, Alabama

About to head to Cancun for some much needed R&R

Then up and coming trips include: Hobbs, New Mexico, Bakersfield, California (will most likely fly into L.A.) ,Cresson, Texas (dont be jealous) and then hitting the state of Lousiana for Lafayette, New Orleans and Lake Charles....all by mid August...

Ive made some new friends along the way, met some special people and have experienced some funny stuff too.

Oh and guess who has been enjoying their grandson? Yup, come to find out my parents have been enjoying Ripley so much that they ask "when is he coming back?"  lol...He is such a stud (just like his daddy!!!)

Well, I hope everyone is doing well, keeping busy and trying to have some fun as they deal with the hustle and bustle of life.....

Until next time, peace out

jflo

Camp Follow-Up for 5-8JULY08

Before I get started, I needed to follow-up on the most recent events that have happened this past weekend.

After my officiating camp in Shawnee, Oklahoma.....the next stop ended up in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Games were held at the university of Cincinnati.

This camp was held by my current supervisor who is over the MAC and Summit League.

The play was top notch as Adidas was holding a competitive tournament of traveling teams across the nation. Top D-1 coaches were on hand to watch the top notch high school players who eventually will be playing at the next level.

To add to the weekend, Brad was able to get in on the trip (he was on standby and works for Sam also)

So, as you can imagine, we had a blast and fortunately enough, we took care of business on the court. It was great to work in front of big time officials and get feedback on things that I may need to tweak.

I will post pictures later as I am writing this from Augusta, Georgia...more to come later

jflo

In Honor of the 4th of July....

Just wanted to recognize this special day and hope everyone is able to reflect and enjoy in what this day means.

Unlike years past, I actually went to workout this evening instead of attending some event which would result in major traffic thus elevating my road rage :)

Seriously....Ive been quite distracted with things going on in my life (some great, some blah) but nothing has stopped me from focusing on my next set of officiating camps.

Luckily enough, Brad was able to get into our Summit League & MAC Officiating camp which is held this weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio. This will be the first time our new supervisor will get a chance to see ME officiating so im mentally and physically prepared to show him what this Houston guy can do :)

Officiating camps are alot like interviews. You pay for camp, your travel\lodging in some cases and food. You attend meetings, sometimes classroom sessions and you also, uh....OFFICIATE!!! shocker huh?

Typically camp is held in conjuction with an AAU tournament, college coach's clinic or some type of basketball showcase. Its nothing to get a chance to see the top high school prospects and even alot of big time Division 1 coaches during an officiating camp. Not sure what this weekend is going to hold but I better be on my p's & q's (especially since I hold the best trick for 2008 and Brad will be around ---see post about Denton)

And one last thing...topic came up today since next week I will be attending the SEC camp in Georgia. Many people THINK "oh how cool, you are going here or there" but truth be told, there is very little time to doing site seeing and touristy stuff. Last year when Brad, Brendan and I went to Miami for a camp, all i remember is the campus of FIU and the hotel. Personally, I was hoping to see something remotely looking like CSI Miami but we had our priorities straight.

Well, my flight leaves early in the morning so I will end this now. Still have to go through my normal packing routine and instruct Ripley of the agenda for tomorrow (he's staying with the grandparents while I am out...their first long term ripley sitting duties....and yes, I have a folder with all his info prepared for them)

Once again, have a safe and blessed 4th of July....Salutes to all my military friends out there serving OUR COUNTRY......and special salutes to all of those who have served!!!

Peace out...

jflo

PS-they are popping fireworks all over my street and I was worried about Ripley earlier while I was out, but as I sit here being annoyed by all the loud blasts, I look over and GUESS WHO is sound asleep??? lol

Bloggers block!!!

Ok ok...maybe not bloggers block, I have been a little distracted with preparing for my officiating camps and work drama that its been quite hard to focus from time to time with exactly what I want to write about.

But to go back a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of taking a trip with Brad and Brendan to one of our officiating camps in Denton, Texas. Yes, I know.....you are hella jealous!!!

Anyway, lets start this off by showing you HOW I ROLL!!!!!!!

Yup, as you can see, as I sit in the back of the vehicle, I have my driver, MR BRAD BATTE (take a look here: http://www.rattledbaby.com/?p=779 and then look at the second image to understand why I spell Brad's last name incorrectly....

Sooooooooo we leave a little later than normal but we had to make sure we had all the essentials: Poker chips, cards, laptops for online poker, IPODS with JFLO mixes, ipod speaker, itrip and oh wait...officiating gear!!!!

And SILLY ME!!! I forgot one more thing.....Brad decided to show us how he rolls by borrowing (he says TAKING) but we all know he had to beg and plead to borrow Carrie's new Acura...

Must admit, the Acura is pretty nice to ride in...

And I even VOLUNTEERED to drive as I could see Brad was a little tired later on during the trip (yes, Im such a great guy even though those punks decided to get online and play poker (yes, we all had our wireless air cards too)

My only deal for driving is that I play MY IPOD and sing along if I feel like it....oddly enough, we have

been hanging around each other for years that sure enough, Brad and Brendan join in the fun between hands....

On to camp....we register in the morning, get our assignments, get our classroom schedules (we listen to veteran refs talk about alot of things related to just being a good person, personal development, leadership, respect, integrity, priorities and so on....)

In between class, we ref our games on different courts and stuff. Since Brad, Brendan and I have officiated together for quite some time, we tend to push each other (in some cases, give each other hell ON the court, talk about each other and yell silly things but most of all, Brendan and I are trying to get hired by Brad's supervisor. Only X amount of spots open each year so you just have to be prepared and shine when the moment presents itself. This year Brendan and I had a strong camp. We walked away knowing that people know who we are so we must now practice PATIENCE!!! Its not easy but officiating is alot like being an actor. You just dont get in and star in a lead role. You work your way up and this is where we are. Its great to spend time with these guys because they are like family to me (quite annoying lol).

So during the games, I tend to video tape or take pictures of our crew in action.

It never gets old because you get some good shots to talk about or make fun of....sometimes even funny video (Brad has a couple of me from years back)

And in this case, I could not resist posting this picture because...IS THAT A GSOA WHISTLE???????? (did I hear a niner in there? were you calling from a walkie talkie???)

I could be mistaken but then again, what do I know....

In between games, I had Brad shuttle us to and from the campus to our hotel. SOMEHOW the built in navigation system put us on the wrong path to the hotel one day so we have to make the best out of the situation....

As you can see from the picture here, we were in a bind...do we turn around and go back? Use more gas and time or do we just go straight ahead to our hotel (as seen in the picture)

After much debate, a back-up, take picture then video, we decided in the best interest of time, we decided to move forward for some off roading. We even said WWJD???..yup, what would JOHN do!!!

So, we all agree that the Acura is a great off-roading vehicle. Quite impressive....even the employees standing outside the hotel were in awe!!!

Anyway, the weekend was quite fun, we ran our butts off and of course played our jokes all weekend...

As for the JOKE OF THE CAMP for 2008......saturday evening as Brad and Brendan went down to start setting up, somehow SOMEONE got into their room and turned the HEATER to 84!!! (Max was 85 from what I was told so the person who did this was kind enough to not let them burn up so much)

Let's just say, Brad was not a happy camper when he got back to a hot room (and only to notice Brendan so damn tired that he passed out UNDER the covers with a room at 84 degrees!!!)

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh good times.....

Peace out.

jflo

A source of inspiration...

As previously stated, Ive been in a major funk and its like I was unable to shake it....

Well, all I can say is God moves in mysterious ways and I am truly a blessed man.

I just got done with a workout and its interesting when you focus on something positive, the amount of energy that comes from it...

Im sitting here now feeding Ripley some treats and nursing his right shoulder area as the groomers did not dry him properly so he ended up with an irritation which he has now scratched pretty badly.

Im preparing for my next officiating camp in Shawnee, Oklahoma.....yes, I know you are jealous of this nation wide travel I am doing but hey, its preparing for other stuff yet to come.

I needed to re-focus and I found my source. The most interesting thing that happened when Brad and Brendan and I were at camp two weekends ago was that there was this huge focus on "communication" and then another focus on "not stressing about things we are unable to control".

I asked for some guidance and sure enough, the man upstairs put some things in my path to make me realize that all is going to be well for me....

Soooooooooooo I hope everyone has enough patience out there to find their source of inspiration.

Have a great week....

jflo

Happy Father's Day...

First, Happy Father's Day to my dad....there are so many things I could say about this man but the one word that comes to mind is SUPPORTIVE....

Thanks for all the encouragement, guidance, advice and total support to all that I have ever done or do.

Second, I wish each and every one of you out there a special blessing...those of you who are acting as mommy and daddy, those of you who are acting like daddy and mommy, those of you who have stepped in to be a father figure and to those of you who have lost loved one's who were your father\father figure.

Third, a special friend of mine has been on my mind this past weekend as I was out of town along with his parents. My friend Brian passed away roughly 3 years ago but at times it feels like it was yesterday. I often think abou this parents (Wayne and Yvette) as this was their only son. I pray that God gives them and everyone else stregnth to get through the days, day by day.

Fourth...I just got back into town from Denton, Texas. I will be blogging about CAMP and the experiences we had along the way. Some wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too funny and some, well, some of it has to be just experienced!!!

Also thanks for all the Happy Father's Day from Ripley text messages from friends\family!!!

Peace out...

jflo

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Nope, not referencing the wonderful Houston weather.....I am talking about The Cure!!!

Yup, as luck would have it, Monday night I was entertained for over 3 hours as The Cure played their new songs along with the memorable songs way back when. Without really going into detail, I think I needed that evening more than anything.

Im still in a little funk but I have shifted focus to my workouts, projects and officiating camps which my first one is this weekend in Denton, Texas. This should be interesting as Brad and Brendan will be there. We are riding up together and I am sure the trip will be the typical "never let you finish a story, offering a nice glass of STFU, prop bets, saying stupid movie quotes and Da' Pokers" to name a few. Yes, I know what you are thinking..."WILL THESE 3 EVER GROW UP!!!"

Ripley is doing great (knock on wood) and he will be spending his time at Chez Sister while I am out. He actually managed to hit the A List at Grandma\Grandpa's in which he actually spent the night and was catered to round the clock (talk about SPOILED!!!)

Well, I will be sure to update over the next couple of days as Im sure we will have stories\pictures to share as we go through the challenges of attending camp and trying to impress a D-1 Conference Supervisor.

Peace out

jflo

Happy Friday Everyone....

Well...first of all, THANK YOU to those who have sent me well wishes via my blog and even personal email. Really was not expecting any comments but its nice to know you have people offering words of encouragement!!!

Second...I am feeling a little bit better but there is alot going on in my world at this time so Im just trying to focus on the things I can handle and chop away at them....with an AX!!! lol..Seriously, I have increased my workouts to include swimming and talk about A WORKOUT!!!

Third...Now to the fun stuff.....Let's see, well Ripley had his "spa day" yesterday at Petco. I took along his stuffed lamb to keep him entertained as he is not too fond of the crates they put them in when he goes. He tends to yelp and sometimes stresses himself out. It was funny when I picked him up because his handler tells me "Well, it took him alot longer to dry because he did not like any of the crates we had him in until we moved them to a specific one where he stopped yelping." I told her THANK YOU and gave her part 2 of her tip (yes, I pre-tip and post-tip) and just chuckle as SOMEONE IS SPOILED!!!! (dont know where he gets that from). ANYHOW....he smelled great, looked awesome as his coat has this shine and plus, he walks out like HE IS THE SHIZNIZ and then reminds me that he has to sniff everything all the way to the car.

As you can tell, I get alot of joy out of my wrinkly baby.

Another joy (and item # four) that I have noticed is going shopping. What is it about SHOPPING that is so pleasing? Let me re-phrase this, I mean, I do not like to go through the process with others. I am a "get in and out" type of shopper (shut-up Brad) but on Wednesday, still in my BLAH mode, I decided on the way home to stop as I was running extremely low on lotions. (see image below)

As you can see, I was down to my last spritz, glob, dab or whatever you want to call it from a variety of sources.

OK SO SHOOT ME that I like fruity lotions. I will have to share a lotion story at a later time when I was at officiating camp with Brad and Steve. It is one of Brad's favorite stories.

I got hooked on Pear Glace thanks to an ex-girlriend like 10 years ago. Something about the fruity smell or fresh smell that is appealing. Plus, it was a great way to meet women lol...."oh your girlfriend is going to like that lotion!!!" me: "uh, this is for me, I dont have a girlfriend" and so the talks begin.....lol As you can see from my image, I had little left along with Pear Glace so it was time to stop at the mall for a quick re-stocking.

What I initially thought was to stop at Victoria's Secret and pick up som Pear Glace (body spray and lotion). You can imagine my surprise when I got there and it was 6 for $30.00  I mean, come on now, I might as well get four more, right??? So, of course I did....

Well, I left and ran across Bath & Body Works who also was having a sale. I knew this because I got an email from them. People can say and think what they want but im secure in my manhood plus would you rather have someone stinky around? Soooooo I walk into Bath & Body and its hard to ignore the $5, $4, $3 and $2 bends which have body spray, lotion, shower gel, bubble bath and shower lotion. I guess it did not help when I pick up country apple and say to myself (outloud) "Decisions Decisions" which the lady comes up to me and asked "do you need help finding something for your girlfriend?" which I reply "uhhh nope, this is for me!!!"  Long story short (hey, its my blog, I can write as long as I want!!!) here is my new supply...

Oh and one more thing, the Apple Store in Willowbrook opens this weekend!!! WOOOOOHOOOO!!!!

I noticed there was a ton of Pink Grapefruit which Im not a fan of sweet sweet stuff but I figured, what the heck, if people come over, they can use something. YOU KNOW HOW YOU WOMEN ARE WHEN YOU SEE LOTIONS!!!!

So now, I am re-stocked (until I stop again before the sale ends) and of our assistants informed me of the $10.00 off coupon on my VS receipt. Never knew about that.

Last but not least, I think the following picture is worth posting as I noticed as I was lining things up, it was pretty quiet so I turn around with camera in hand and what do I see? (see next image)

Yup....even Ripley has this "OH BROTHER!!" look. Almost as if he is saying "please tell me you did not buy all that stuff....PLEASE tell me its for someone else!!!"

Well, I think I made up for a weeks worth of blogging with my stories...

Anyone care to share what they do for stress relief???

Hope everyone has an enjoyable or relaxing weekend...

Until next time...peace out...

jflo & Senor Wrinkles.....