holiday time

Just wanted to do a quick little post before we're outta MD and back to reality.  Another post will come with a bunch of stuff that we did over the holiday soon, that said, it was so great seeing the people that we have been able to see and getting to spend so much quality time with our families!  We miss and love them so much.  It's strange to think that the next time we're in MD, we will have a son!  I am so excited to be a father and so excited to be parents with (I'm bias) the best soon-to-be mother in the world.  So much is going to change in 2012.  Bring it on, I'm ready for the ride of my life.

THUNDERSTORMS

It has taken me a couple days to feel as if I can write about this.  I think I'm ready now...

On Sunday night, Carly and I did some work in Brady's room (pictures to follow soon and it is AWESOME), watched Homeland and went to bed.  Per my usual, after about 3 or 4 minutes (during Dexter even), I was asleep.  Then out of nowhere, around 2:00 in the morning I was woken up.  I saw a 41 pound beagle lab standing on my head.  He was literally doing this.  Front legs on the right of my head, back legs on the left of my head.  He immediately started licking me and for me to say that he had morning breath would be an enormous understatement.  I was so confused as to what in the hell Camden was doing, then I got it.  I heard thunder outside and heard the rain hitting the window.  Camden was scared of the thunderstorm.  He has always hated thunderstorms but apparently he got soft due to the lack of rain in Houston this summer.  He was a wreck.  I was pissed.  How dare he wake me from my deep sleep on my Target memory foam pillow!  Then I laughed because it was kinda funny looking at him shaking and panting because of the storm.  I suppose I better get used to the 2:00 am wake up calls with a little boy on the way.  Maybe I can convince Carly to take those, I'll take the 5:00 am ones...  

Saturday

I really don't have anything to say.

The day of giving thanks

Today is Thanksgiving.  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  Today instead of fixing or own meal, Carly and I went to Brittany's grandma's house.  We are so grateful that Brit's family allowed us to hang out with them today for Thanksgiving.  The food was flat out amazing and I'm 100% sure that I gained around 8 or 9 pounds today.  Carly and I are so lucky to have such great friends.  It can be hard around that Holidays without our family close by.  That said, I truly feel as if we are welcomed in a lot of places down here as if we were family.  Maybe third or fourth cousins but still family.  Long story short, Carly and I are very LUCKY.

OK, so Carly made crab dip today to bring a little "Maryland" to the Texas Thanksgiving feast...  That wasn't good.  Well, it tasted good.  It wasn't good because of how much of it I ate after we got home.  I kinda feel as if I keep getting pinched in my stomach by the 3 or 4 crabs that are crawling around in there.  I miss Maryland Crabs.

Rewind to yesterday, I went hunting again.  I was unsuccessful again.  Sitting in your treestand for 9 hours makes for a LONG day when you see 6 squirrels all day long.  At around 3:00, I looked through my scope at a bush because I swear it was moving.  I knew it wasn't honestly, I just wanted it to be a deer.  I did however catch a bass at the cabin during lunch.  Yippee! 

Tomorrow is only FRIDAY.  This is great news.  This means that we still got a 3 day weekend left!  I will NOT be going shopping tomorrow.  Hopefully I will be able to buy everything online again this year like I did last year.  If I can't, sorry people.  You ain't getting nothing for Christmas...

Oh yeah, we are in the 3rd trimester of Baby Baugher's life.  Carly is still feeling pretty good I think.  It's getting a little harder for her to get comfortable but all things considered, she's rolling right along.  She's kinda kickin this pregnancy things butt.  I can really feel him moving a lot too now!  It's a pretty amazing feeling.  Pretty amazing is somewhat scary though when Carly yells "Ouch!" cause he's kicking her in the ribs.  I'm thinking about letting her kick me every time the baby kicks her but there's no way for my to know if she's telling me the truth or not.  Plus I'd cry cause I'm kinda a wuss...

Saturday is the day that we've all waited for for a year.  It's the day that Michigan plays Ohio State.  I really can't believe that it's been 7 years since we beat Ohio State last.  Good Lord, I was 21.  I definitely had less gray hair and I was probably around 250 pounds lighter (OK 185 pounds).  I blame all 7 years on Rich Rodriguez even though he was only there 3 years.  Good luck at Arizona you big butt head.  I'll put a victory dance on here on Saturday night HOPEFULLY.  Till then Happy Thanksgiving, Go Blue and God Bless America.

Mary Land weekend

Well, I got to hit up Maryland for a long weekend and it was AWESOME.  I miss my family and friends up there so much!  Here's how it went down...

Friday night, get there.  See Mom, Dad, Brian, Leslie, Charlie and Daisy.  Tired.  Sleep.

Saturday, hunt.  Morning - Bucks chasin does like crazy.  See a couple of them makin love, seriously, it was pretty awesome.  Was going to go home at lunch and couldn't (sorry mom)  Slow evening hunt.  Thought my luck had run out.  Shot a doe 15 minutes later.  Excited.  I still got it.

Sunday, head to the McDonalds for Carly's baby shower.  Got to see the in-laws, Great, super, excellent.  Got to see amazing friends that I haven't seen in a long time.  Awesome.  Got tons of awesome stuff for Brady, thank you.  Leslie and Momma did a great job with decorations and everything.  A great time was had by all.

Monday, chill and fly back to H town.  Mad cause I had to go to work the next day but feeling so blessed from the weekend.

There is never enough time to do everything I want to up there.  I love you guys and really do miss you guys like crazy!  I feel extremely blessed for the time that we do get to spend together, even though it's always too short...    

Huntin again!

OK, so I haven't been keeping up with this as much lately.  For that, I apologize.  I'm sure that everyone is heartbroken.  That said, here we go...

So rifle season came in down here last week.  I got to go Sunday.  By 9:30, it was a great day.  At 7:30, I looked to my right and saw horns getting ready to step out.  Needless to say, I got nervous.  When he came out I realized that it wasn't a shooter down here.  He was a young deer but a dead deer in MD.  In a year, he is going to be pretty big.  He was a 7 point and had about a 6 inch browtine on his right antler.  These stupid antler restrictions.  Bucks are required to be out to the ears or 13 inches.  Good idea however, if that was the case in Maryland I would have killed one buck my entire life, MAYBE. 

REALLY?  That's like a once in a lifetime deer...

Anyway, I was happy because I had already seen a deer.  My buddy saw 2 does and then I saw antlers again.  He was on the same trail as the first one.  It was an 8 point at 25 yards.  I could have taken him with my bow.  He had no idea I was there so I took a deep breath and looked through my scope...

His antlers stopped literally about half an inch from the tips of his ears.  Now I'm frustrated.  I worked so hard all summer for this day and I can't shoot???  I let him walk.  I don't think I should have.  If I get the chance, he won't walk again.  Anyway we came out, shot the breeze with the guys at camp, ate a quick lunch and back in we went.  At about 3:30 I heard a shot that sounded like my hunting pal.  Sure enough it was.  I didn't see anything so about 30 minutes before dark I went to help with the trackin.  I found blood and come to find out, she only went about 10 yards in the woods.  Pretty thick so it was a pain getting her out but we got her.  Sorry coyotes, no food for you.  We tagged her, cleaned her up at the cabin and we were back home.  First weekend of rifle, 1 deer.  Nice start to the season and the start of stockin up the freezer!

In other more important news, we are getting baby things delivered to the house now.  I am so excited except I'm afraid that our home will never be clean again...  Toys are piling up!  I can't wait to say, "Brady, pick all this crap up!"  I'll probably say, "Brady, this is a mess but Daddys got it.  You rest."

Carly said that see can see him moving just lookin at her stomach and I am PUMPED to see this.  My boy is active!  Carly is lookin and feelin great and we are as happy as can be! 

colder weather...

What???  Is this really happening???  I'll believe it when I see it.  A cold front was supposed to come in today around lunch.  Big surprise, not here yet.  I know that weathermen in general aren't right very often but I think Houston is where they all go when they get fired.  I'm not even lying.  Although, for the past 7 months I could have been just as accurate as the weatherman.  Let me show you.  Hot, Humid, Sunny 98-103.  No wind.  Rain...  You're an idiot if you think it might rain.  See...  right on the money!

In other, a lot more important news, Carly and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on Monday.  (and Boom Goes the Dynamite)  I know that everyone says marriage is hard but I'd be lying if I told you that mine is.  (Warning - gonna get a little "sappy" here for a second)  I think when you're married to your best friend, marriage isn't hard at all.  Carly and I have been best friends for sooooo long that marriage honestly seems no different.  Only thing is, now her last name is as awesome as mine!  OK, I'm done.

I went hunting all day last Saturday and, drum roll please...............  NOTHING.  At least last time I saw a coyote.  This time, a few birds.  No squirrels, No deer, No pigs, No rabbits.  That's OK.  Kinda...  I did (with the help of my buddy) hang a tree stand though in a spot where it appears that deer will ask me to shoot them EVERY TIME that I'm there.  I guess we'll see.  Next time I hunt it, I'll have my rifle so seriously, no more playing around...

I'll close with the following.  Michigan will bounce back from the Michigan State joke to win at least 8 games this year and The Texans are a playoff team.  That's right, Chris Baugher is back on the Houston Texan Bandwagon.

 Goodbye.

What a week this past week was...

For beginners, I only had to work 4.5 days this week because on Wednesday, the little children had an early dismissal day.  I still had to do training things that didn't apply to me, the P.E. teacher, however school isn't that bad of a place to be when no kids are there...

The best thing happened on Thursday night though.  Carly and I had just eaten some pretty spicy jambalaya for dinner and were sitting on the couch complaining of how we couldn't move when she said that the baby was going crazy!  We didn't think I would be able to feel it but we tried anyway...  We were wrong!  On Thursday night I felt my baby move for the first time!!!  I was definitely scared/like "wow" about the whole thing but it was something that I will never forget my whole life.  Carly has been so great through everything.  There have only been a couple times where I have had to look at her and say ,"What..."  Kidding.  She hasn't really complained about anything other than me which is awesome.  (I'm sure that I deserve some complaining about).  I think this weekend we are going to head out and do the "registering for baby" thing.  I am super excited for this!  I don't know if I'm changing (I'm sure I am) or I have always been a little "childish" (I'm sure I have) but baby stuff is AWESOME.  1- Babies get SO much stuff!  If I could have as many toys as a baby that would be amazing.  2- Babies have literally EVERYTHING.  If they get bored playing with one toy, they can roll over 4 feet and play with another one that is just as fun however TOTALLY different.  3- Babies can get anything they want by crying.  Could you imagine how many adults you would see crying if this were true at any age?  To test this theory, I'm thinking of trying it out next week at school when I'm told to do something that I don't want to.  Let's see if adults can get away with this too!  I encourage you to do the same at work next week.  Let me know how that goes...

My truck is still running amazing from my mechanical-genius move that I pulled off last week.  FYI, if you're getting horrible gas mileage, clean out your throttle body.  I did and I feel like I'm not using hardly any gas...  (My gas gauge better be working),

Now on to more important things, Michigan Football!  I have 75% given up on the Texans again so I doubt you'll see anything else in here about them...  Today, Michigan plays Michigan State.  Michigan State's coach is a jerk.  He always looks so mad.  It's funny to me how he thinks by beating Michigan he has proven that he is awesome...  State usually gets owned by someone who sucks really bad.  If you beat Michigan (under Rich Rod) and lose to Alabama 49-7 in your bowl game, are you really the man?  If you get killed by Notre Dame who Michigan beat (I don't know how, but still beat) are you really the man?

This is a tattoo that a cool guy who plays for Michigan State got on his arm this year.  It is of a Spartan stepping on a Wolverine...  Pretty original.  Where did you ever come up with that idea?  Good job man, before you were just an idiot because you play for Michigan State.  Now, you're an idiot because you have that stupid looking mess on your arm.  On a side note, nice black wife beater.  I think those things were cool when I was in school...

State will be wearing really stupid uniforms, this doesn't make you cool.  Just remember Michigan State, Mike Hart called you, "Michigan's little brother."

I'm sure I will have to watch the game on mute because ESPN usually does a horrible job of broadcasting football games.  I'm going out on a limb but I bet whoever loses, ESPN will talk bad about them and whoever wins, ESPN will say "Watch out Big Ten, __________ is coming for you."  Who needs audio to games though?  I usually provide PLENTY of my own...

updated weekend doings...

I'm taking the weekend off from hunting because some things have to be done around here...  For example, Thursday when I walked to my truck after school, I put my key in the ignition and turned and nothing happened.  My battery was non-existent...  I do not handle adversity very well so naturally I immediately started to panic.  I got jumped (my truck got jumped, I did not get beat up) and headed to Wal-Mart.  I parked on the wrong side of the store and the man tells me, "Just drive over here and we'll take care of it."  I'm happy because this looks like it's going to get fixed.  Only problem is, when I walk 3 miles back to my truck to drive it to the other side of super wal-mart, my battery is dead.  Who would have though that?  Walk all the way back, he gives me jumper cables and says, "Get the security guy to jump you."  OK, so I'm starting to get mad...  Eventually I get jumped and get a new battery put in.  Truck is running great.  That is until I get in stop-and-go traffic.  My RPM's drop so low my truck stalls...  That's right.  I'm one of the people who stall in traffic.  Be careful what you wish for I suppose.  Everything I read seems to think that my (not to sound like a pervert) throttle body needs to be cleaned.  Today I will attempt that.  I hope I can do this...

It's OK that I'm not hunting cause it's still hot here and I don't feel like sweating all day.  Maybe next weekend it will only be 85 and I can hunt again.  Also, I only would have been able to hunt in the morning because Michigan plays at 6:00.  Yeah, number 12 Michigan (way overrated but still number 12).  They play Northwestern and I am nervous and scared as usual.  Hopefully they will be OK though...

Also, I would like to take my wife shopping today for baby stuff.  I'm really excited about that.  Seriously.  I'm serious.  Regular shopping = not fun.  Baby shopping = A BLAST.  Carly is going to be such a great mom.  If she is anything to the baby like she is to Camden, I'm sure our baby will be pretty spoiled.  Our little baby BOY that is!

Opening Weekend

First, let me start off by saying Happy Birthday to my Amazing Mother!

Before I get into hunting, I would just like to say MICHIGAN IS 5-0, THE TEXANS JUST CRUSHED THE STEELERS, DALLAS SUCKS AND THE REDSKINS ARE 3-1.  Now that that stuff is outta the way... 

Last Saturday was the first day of Archery Season in Texas.  On Friday after school, we jumped in the truck and headed to the lease.  It was a very exciting drive.  We were anticipating big things from opening weekend.  That said, we couldn't stay in the cabin because it was full.  No worries, we would sleep under the pavilion on air mattresses.  That plan was spoiled when one of the air mattresses didn't have a cap on it, therefore it would not hold air.  No worries, I will sleep on the air mattress and my buddy would sleep in the truck.  I only had my snuggie as my blanket which was not a big deal seeing how it was 92 degrees that day.  At 4:00 am, I woke up FREEZING.  The temperature was in the low 50's.  It gets chilly when ya get outside of the city I guess.  I stayed up and waited till it was time to go.  We rolled out of camp at about 5:00 and headed to our stands.  I was up in the air by 5:15 and then I realized, it wasn't going to be light for a while.  At around 6:00 the sun started to break though the trees and it was BEAUTIFUL.  I was sitting on a trail that looked as though every 5 minutes something walked down it.  I was wrong.  At about 7:00, I heard something that startled me.  Being from the northeast, I had never heard it before.  It was a (wait for it...) COYOTE.  There were about 6 of them and they howled for an hour.  It was a pretty awesome sound.  Other highlights from the morning included seeing a HUGE hawk and a vulture circling me for approximately an hour.  I'm not going to lie, I was literally waving to him as if to say, "Hey, I'm alive down here!"  At around 11:30 we got down and headed to get some lunch.  While talking at the cabin, a doe walked about 20 yards from us.  Cool...  We were back in our stands by 1:30 for the evening hunt.  At around 2:15, I saw something coming up the trail.  I thought to myself, "This is your chance buddy.  Don't mess up."  It thought it could have been a hog.  I was more than OK with that because after the destruction that they have caused this summer, I wanted to take one out.  When it started moving again I realized what it was, it was a coyote.  Still OK, coyotes eat baby deer.  Time to make this coyote pay for that.  It got about 50 yards from me and turned and went into the thicket and I never saw it again.  BOO.  Let's back up...  As I was climbing my tree in the afternoon, I got all the way to the top and dropped my water bottle!  That's OK I thought, I'll be fine.  Wrong again.  At around 4:00, I was so dehydrated that I was trying to spit and nothing was happening.  From 4 till dark I was leaning over my treestand just trying to survive.  I also proceeded to get sunburned on the left side of my body.  It was HOT!  I don't know why, but deer were not moving.  At dark we got down and headed to the truck and back to Houston, 0 for 1 on the year.  Still, it was so great to be able to get after it again and go hunting.  Next time, you better watch out deer/hogs/coyotes/hawks/vultures.  No more Mr. Nice Guy...

Final Hunting Stats:

Dates Hunting:  October 1, 2011
Animals Seen: 1 woodpecker, 1 jackrabbit, 1 hawk, 1 vulture, 1 coyote, 6,035 butterflies and a mosquito as big as my head.
Shots Taken: 0
Game Fatally Injured: 0
Overall Rating of the Weekend (scale 1-10):  10 +.  Hunting season is back and I'm doing it in Texas...  can't complain!

time to get my mind right...

I don't have school tomorrow.  Yeah!  So instead of yelling at children, tomorrow I will get mentally prepared for hunting season Saturday.  The day that I deer hunt in Texas is finally here.  ALL of the work that I've been doing for the past 6 months is finally getting ready to pay off.  ALL of those miles I have put on the truck are getting ready to be worth it.  I literally have dreamed of deer for the past week.  On Sunday when I went up to the lease, I saw a buck RIGHT where I'm going to be hunting Saturday.  I dare him to come back to that spot this Saturday.  I dare any wild animal with 4 legs to come by me on Saturday.  I'm not 100% sure, but I might have something waiting for them...

Seriously???

Just when I think that the Texans have turned the corner and can actually be a good team, today happens.  Right about the time that I think the offense looks awesome, we get inside the 10 yard line 5 times in the first half and can't score a touchdown.  AND THEN, I think the defense is better this year and New Awlins puts up 40 on us.  Pretty awesome game guys.  Whatever...  Michigan is 4-0.  GO BLUE! 

Hunting Day 1

Today was my big day.  Let's talk about how it went...

2:50 a.m. - My alarm went off
3:00 a.m. - Jumped in the shower
3:10 a.m. - Made coffee, fed Camden
3:14 a.m. - Camden refused to go outside because it was too early I suppose
3:15 a.m. - Pushed Camden outside
3:30 a.m. - Left home
4:00 a.m. - Picked up my buddy, headed to the lease
5:45 a.m. - Started climbing my tree
6:00 - 7:00 a.m. - Saw a woodpecker
7:00 - 8:00 a.m. - Felt a little sleepy, saw nothing but knew by 9:00 we'd have one on the ground
9:00 a.m. - I was wrong, nothing yet but still hopeful
10:00 a.m. - A little less hopeful and starting to think about finding a new hobby
10:45 a.m. - Storm blowing in, time to leave the woods
10:50 a.m. - Thought I felt a lone tear roll down my right cheek.
11:00 - 1:00 p.m. - Driving back to Houston, cussing and confused
1:10 p.m. - Talked to Dad, told him I just didn't understand.  Pops made me realize it's not about the kill, it's about being there and the memories.  Feeling pretty good.
1:50 p.m. - Let Camden out of his crate, he was very happy to see me.  Made me feel good about myself
1:51 p.m. - Talked to Carly, told her I didn't see anything but admitted how great it felt to climb a tree and take in nature again
2:00 p.m. - Realized it called "hunting" for a reason, I'll get um next time.  Back in a good place mentally.
2:30 p.m. - Felt sleepy but gotta get ready for the Texans at 3:15.  2-0 to start the year???

So there ya have it.  I got nothing, saw nothing, was mad/tired/happy/relaxed all by 1:00 today.  I realized I spent half the day 20 feet in the air in the middle of nowhere, quiet, taking in nature and relaxing.  It's not always about the kill, it's about just being there.  Hunting Season is here again.  Thank God... 

I smell something...

It's bacon!  Tomorrow is the day we all (OK, I) have been waiting for.  I will attempt to shoot my first ever hog.  With a bow none the less.  That's right, I'm not going to do it the easy way.  I'm going to try my food old bow and arrow.  (I might have the gun for back up just in case...)  When bow season came in on the 15th in MD, I've been sad that it doesn't come in down here till October 1st.  That's OK though, I don't want to sit in a tree when it's 95 degrees anyway.  It will probably only be 90 degrees...  Regardless, I will be very excited if I can slay a wild beast like Robin Hood tomorrow. 

What a weekend!

Yeah, so did you see the Michigan game?  Are you serious???  That game took 7 years off of my life.  I cried for the first 3.5 quarters and then it happened...  They started to play football.  Luckily they weren't as far behind as they probably should have been.  28 points in the 4th quarter = mild heart attack/more crying/screaming/laughing/weeping/laying on the ground in the fetal position.  When Michigan scored with :02 on the clock, I immediately started running around the house screaming "We just (bleepin) won, We just (bleepin) won!"  Instant classic.  I don't think that Carly was too amused by my actions though.  I do have to stop getting so crazy during those games.  I'm 28 years old and my actions are like those of a child who gets exactly what he wants for Christmas.

WHAT A GAME THOUGH!  And I thought I would hate the uniforms, instead, I thought they were SWEET!

I told you.  Sweet.

And then today, are you serious Texans?  The one team that we can never beat, The Colts, and it's 34-0 at halftime...  and we're winning?  Man!  I must have done something right because I was smiled upon by the football gods this weekend for sure.  What a crazy sports weekend.

Also this weekend, I have noticed an alarming trend...  the temperature is beginning to rise again and STILL NO RAIN.  Tomorrow 99 degrees, Tuesday 100 degrees, Wednesday 100 degrees,  Thursday, Heat Stroke, Friday, Packing, Saturday, Moving to Alaska.

Little pig little pig I hate you

Not saying anything.  Here's what going on at the lease.  At least the corn isn't going bad...

Damn...

Finally!

It's here!  College Football is back!  I woke up at 5:30 this morning, forced myself to go back to sleep and them woke up and ran downstairs at 7:30.  Around 8:00, I decided I had to do something so I went outside and mowed the dead grass.  Around 9:00, I called Mark May and idiot for the first time this year and said, "Your stupid Lou Houltz!"  At 9:15 I called Keys and talked Michigan Football for 10 minutes.  (This happens every Saturday that Michigan plays FYI)  Now it's 9:40 and I can't stop making my knees bounce up and down.  I am pacing in the kitchen and I'm already scared for next week when Michigan plays Notre Dame.  I LOVE COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!

random update

It is still hot in Houston.  Today it is 106 and tomorrow it is supposed to be 105.  I didn't think anywhere got this hot that wasn't in the desert.  It will still not rain.  We got a not beneficial lightning storm a couple of days ago but shocking, it did not make my grass turn green again.  When will it end?  It's almost September...
In other fascinating weather news, Maryland is bracing for a hurricane.!?/%&!  Huh?  That's right, a hurricane.  The same thing that hits places like Florida, Louisiana and Texas.  Crazy, I know.  I really hope that it isn't really bad up there.  I don't think it will be as far inland as Frederick, but I think it could be bad on the coast.  Coming from someone who grew up knowing nothing about hurricanes and then living through Hurricane Ike, let me say that they are no joke.  I hope everyone is safe in the Northeast and we'll be thinking about you all! 

That said, today I went to the lease again.  (This is becoming a weekly occurrence)  Every feeder has been trashed by the bacon.  They are running wild up there at the lease and something has got to be done.  I think something will be done next weekend but I'm not going to say anything until I know for sure.  My deer aren't getting a chance to eat because pigs are eating all their food.  I do however have proof that there are something other that hogs there...

  
Oh my...  They do exist!  Now if only I can figure out how high to hang the stupid camera...  It really shouldn't be so hard.  There were also 10 pictures of hogs, 1 doe and a tree falling (oooooooohhhhhhhhh).  I'm not sure if it made a sound but I got to see it...   Bow season is 35 days away and I am ready. 

As ready as I am for Bow Season, College Football is almost BACK!  I can't wait for that either!

I have also finished my first week of school.  It was actually really good.  I want to be positive this year but we'll see.  I have a little while to go still...

PIGS

I went to the lease this morning and moved the feeders around, tried to pick out some spots for hunting season, shot my bow and checked the camera.  Pretty productive day.

Just like last time, hogs have cleaned me out.

 
Different spot, same result.  Awesome.  I'm feeding pigs.

This is a new spot.  I just want to see if I can get something else to come in.  This is a perfect place for bow hunting.  I can climb a tree like 15 yards from this feeder.

 
Where I moved the other feeder to.  If deer come to this one, I'll have a 20 yard shot.  Perfect.

Back to my old spot.  I know I said that I was feeding the pigs and now I have proof!  (These are my pictures.  I swear.  The computer wouldn't read the card for some reason so I had to put the card in the Wii.  It worked, but I had to take pictures of the T.V. Screen.) 

  

So there it is.  I knew it.  I gotta get them outta there.  I guess it's getting ready to be pig season...

Lease, I thought...

Instead of going up to the lease this morning, I have been forced to stay home due to school.  It's already messin up my plans!  OK, well I wasn't really forced.  I have to be at school today at 1:00 for an open house.  (and so it begins...)  This means that I wouldn't be able to "play around" at the lease for a long time.  I have pushed the lease back until tomorrow with a helpful suggestion from Carly.  Hopefully my cameras will have some pictures on them.  I know there are animals eating my corn!  Unless it's so hot, the corns just blowing up which is possible too I guess.  Oh well, we will see tomorrow I guess.  Plans for lease include but are not limited to, moving the feeders and the cameras, shooting my bow and picking a couple trees for bow season.  Stay tuned...

Baby Baugher

That's right.  We, Chris and Carly Baugher are expecting!  Baby Baugher should be here around the end of February.  Here is one picture of the beautiful little boy/girl!  More to come...  It's late and it's been a crazy day!

 
OK, here is another one.  I can't stop

That's just not right....

How is it even possible that summer is over and it is 100 degrees, EVERY DAY?  I'm not even going to be able to take all my wonderful children outside at school because it's like code black everyday.  (code black means if your outside for 30 minutes, you just die.  You just topple over and melt into the ground.)  Outside feels like a Mortal Kombat fatality move where fire shoots out of your hands and you burn your opponent to death.  I can't drive because my steering wheel melts in my hand.  If I grab it too tight, I get blisters.  I'm very sorry to everyone in Houston that has leather seats.  How can you even sit down???  Today Carly and I talked seriously about moving our bed into the kitchen because it's always cool in there.  We decided against it though because we didn't think it would be good for the shape of our body...  A bed in the kitchen???  I'd never even have to stand.  I'd like to apologize to everyone too because starting tomorrow, traffic in Houston will get a lot worse.  Awesome.  I'm sorry.  Kids don't come back to school for a week so starting next week, I'll attempt to bring "child humor" to these post things.  I usually cry laughing at least once a week at the kids at school for saying/doing something hilarious, so stay tuned for those updates.  In the mean time, try not to melt Houston and watch out for those fire coated steering wheels! 

hunting season

I went up to my deer lease this morning just to check some stuff out real quick.  I wanted to check my feeders and see if I can start figuring out these deer a little better.  That way when October 1st comes, watch out.  I gotta have a plan of attack so I can be on these deer in bow season.  So far I have two main spots that I already know I'll be hunting.  One in bow and one in gun season, mainly.  The bow spot is crazy but I'll get to that later.  Let's see if I can paint a picture for ya.  My gun spot is REAL thick overgrowth.  Like you might get lost if you go in there more than 20 feet.  It will be a little less thick later on in the year when the plants start dying.  There are about 5 good deer trails coming out of it that I could hunt.  Gotta see where they're coming out at for sure though.  Where the overgrowth starts, there is a massive trail.  I have a feeder about 50 yards up the trail with corn and a salt block where I would head up the trail.  The deer are cruisin in the overgrowth fields cause they think they're safe.  They are for now...  About 200 yards from the start of my overgrowth plot, is the start of my other area.  You turn off the road and go about 100 yards back in the woods on another road.  I can hunt anywhere on that road.  Good sign today, as soon as I parked the truck and took about 5 steps back the road I heard a deer blow and saw a pretty little white tail going through the woods.  That means they are there!  At the back of this section, there is about a 50 yard by 30 yard clearing.  That's the spot.  There are so many tracks in that opening, it is ridiculous.  I'm thinking that the deer come out, feed around in the clearing and then go back in on the other side where I'm standing when I took this picture. 

I have a feeder up where the trail goes back into the woods.  You can see the feeder in the next picture.  All it is is a 5 foot PVC pipe tied down to a tree filled with corn and covered with whatever I could find in my garage.     

Pretty crazy trail.  Told ya.  Anyway, when I get to the feeder today, I find this!

Serious...  Look at this!

At first, I'm thinking deer on steroids.  Then I calm down and realize what really happened here...  HOGS.  The other feeder that I had up had the same thing happen.  You can kinda see the scuff on the side of the pipe from the hogs demanding more food.  Now I have a new plan, hog hunt before deer season.  Good thing about Texas, you can hunt hogs year round.  There is no season.  If your deer hunting and see a hog, shoot it.  Turkey hunting and see a hog, shoot it.  They want them gone.  This is two weeks in a row that they have left they're mark on my spot.  Now it's time for revenge.  The entire road back to the opening was torn up by hogs.  I'm guessing that with the drought, they are looking for food and water wherever they can get it.  They found it in the form of my deer food.  Stupid hogs.   

It's coming...

School.  Next Monday, I have to go back to work.  The kids don't come the following Monday but still, going back to school again kinda sucks.  It doesn't feel like summer is over due to that fact that every single day in August has been over 100 degrees.  Seriously?  That really sucks.  This is the temperature right now outside...

I mean come on...

With school coming back in comes the useless trainings that I am "required" to go to .  I find it funny that the other P.E. Teachers at school are "required" to go to them to and for some reason, I am always there alone...  With school coming back in, I also realized that it was time for Shaggy (ME) to get a haircut.  It was my first haircut since May which means that my hair was mighty long.  It looked like this...

Gross.  I told the barber that I was sorry before I even sat down.  Her response to me when I told her what I wanted her to do to my hair was, "Wow.  You haven't had a haircut in a while."  The insults kept on coming when she was done.  She told me that I looked like "a man again."  Apparently, when I got in there I didn't.  I found this out because she also said, "You looked like a little boy when you got here."  Thanks.  I did it because I wasn't sure how many more haircuts I had in me before the "buzz" started.  From the looks of my hair now, there is 1 maybe 2 left.

I don't care.  At least I look like a man again...  Right SuperCuts girl?

I had to get a hair cut now because I'll admit, I didn't look very professional with that mop that I was sportin! 

In other exciting news, MICHIGAN FOOTBALL IS ALMOST BACK!  That's right, 9 maybe 10 wins this year.  Mark it down.  Go Blue!

It's like a heat wave...

Wow it's hot outside!  For some intelligent reason, I decided to mow the lawn today around 1:00 and then fix the sprinkler system.  I came inside a little after 3:00 and for a second, I seriously though I was on fire.  Seriously.  If not on fire, I was smoking a little bit for sure.  It probably took me about 2 hours to stop sweating.  Awesome feeling.  I want a pool.  I'm not sure if I want a pool or I actually need one.  That would be so nice.  I really can't complain because it has been just as hot at home for some reason this year.  Actually, it's been hotter up north a lot of days this summer than it has been down here.  It's hot everywhere.   

Which is why it's hard for me to understand why I have a sinus infection right now?  Summer colds suck.  Bad.  I have literally been taking pain pills the last couple of days because my right cheek hurts so bad.  I was telling Dad today and he pointed out that while the pain pills will take away the pain, it will not cure the problem.  The man is a genius I tell ya.  So it's back to Claritin for me and hopefully that will do the trick.

I'm going up to the lease again tomorrow to see if what I did last time is working at all.  It better be.  I hope that right now, there are deer, hogs and turkey all eating corn from the feeders that I made for them.  Better yet, I hope that on October 1 they come back to eat again.  October 1 for all of you that don't know is the first day of bow season in Texas.  That would just be splendid.  I put up a camera too so hopefully I'll have some pictures of some wild animals to show everyone!

My tooth hurts

My sinuses are so screwed up, it feels like all of the teeth on the right side of my mouth are loose/falling out one by one.  It hurts.  I am in pain and it is not fun.  I feel like someone is drilling into my cheek with a drill bit that is covered in glass.  Seriously.  The pain is bad.  The same thing happened last summer and I was down for about three days last summer as well.  Hopefully today is the last day of pain.

Look out Texas Wildlife...

Chris Baugher is coming for you!  If you don't really care about hunting or you think hunting is gross, skip to the next paragraph.  If it doesn't matter to you, this was my Thursday.  Yesterday, I went up to my lease to get some stuff ready for deer season.  I put up a couple deer feeders and hung a camera so I can see the monsters that are roaming my land while they are still walking around.  Hopefully that will change come deer season.  As in, they won't be walking around anymore because they will be riding in the back of my truck back to Houston.  As in, we will be eating them for dinner.  As in, I will be lucky enough to shoot one or more.  Ya got it?  I really hope that I get some pictures of some hogs and some turkeys on there too.  If I do see some hogs there might be a Pig Roast at the Baugher's.  We will just have to wait and see.  After I got the stuff ready for the deer, I went over to the cabin and fished a little bit at the lake.  Two bass later, it was time to head back into town.  Hunting is a lot different in Texas.  There isn't really "open" woods in East Texas.  My lease is pretty much exactly what you would think Texas is.  Flat and thick with gas pipelines running through it.  Most everyone hunts out of box blinds of tripod stands.  I'm pretty lucky though because my part of the lease has a tons of trees for climbing and a sweet opening that should be perfect for bowhunting.  I am pumped...

So I guess the rumor is that football is back.  Awesome.  I said it before so don't be all surprised when the Texans go to the playoffs this year.  I'm not saying Super Bowl, I'm saying playoffs.  Just like I said that Michigan will win a National Championship with Rich Rod and the Orioles will, well, I never really said anything about them.  Not that dumb.  Plus, I promised myself that I wouldn't complain about them anymore so, how bout this tropical storm huh?  Anyway, the Texans have a new Defense with "Squinchy Face" Wade Phillips running the show (Shout out to Carly.  She came up with Squinchy Face.  Really, check it out.  He always looks like he is eating a lemon)  and they just got a corner and a safety.  You'll see.  All the Texans need to do is get better on D.  The offense is good.  Check it out for yourself...

That's right, I have his jersey...  I'm not really sure why I never really got into the skins or ravens.  It was always about baseball for me.  Don't get me wrong, I want the redskins ad ravens to be good.  It must be because I've been to a bunch of Texans games and I never went to a football game growin up.  Being so close to Reliant has allowed me to get to a bunch of games and really like the Texans.  And I'm not a bandwagon fan because they have never won ANYTHING.  Usually, they don't win as many games as they lose during the year.  This year is different though, this is the year. 

I am starting to get bored with summer.  It's hot and I'm running out of things to do.  We don't have a pool and every time I go outside I get sunburned, sweaty and tired.  Fish don't bite in the summer and you can't hunt.  I took Cam for a walk a couple of days ago at 9:00 in the morning and after 5 minutes he was pulling me back to the house because he couldn't do it anymore.  Being outside is torture... 

Oh crap...

Man, I haven't done this in a while.  Must be because I have been so busy working...  haha  Well, I knew it would be here soon.  I have seen so many post about back to school shopping and I remembered, in less than a month I will go back to work.  The summer goes by so fast.  It went by fast when I was in school and I think it goes by faster as a teacher...  The only good that comes of this is that I will once again feel as if I'm holding up my end of this "grown up" deal.  I do feel pretty guilty when Carly gets up to go to work and I say good bye from the couch.  Just like every summer, Camden is MY best friend because I am usually here with him most of the day.  Once I go back to work, he definitely will love Carly more again.  I guess all I do is pull even every summer in the doggie love department.  I did paint a little bit this summer and I feel that I did a pretty good job.  I guess all those summer and winter breaks growing up were worth it.  I also learned a little bit about fishing for something other than bass.  Fishing Galveston is different but it's pretty cool not having any idea what your going to catch...  I have also achieved, as I have said before, half way decent guitar status.  My fingers are gross but that's the price you pay for being a singer/songwriter.  I really gotta step it up this last month of summer break and do something outside!  If only it wasn't 100 degrees everyday.  (Thanks Houston)  I kinda miss getting to school everyday and having kids scream at me though.  I haven't given a high five in about 2 months and that makes me a little sad.  I guess at 27 (less than a month from 28) I'm still a kid at heart.  Counting down the days until I "go back to school".

I find myself waiting for Monday nights because the Bachelorette is coming on!  OK, so I guess I really need to go back to work.  Say what you want about me, that is a great show.  As long as you watch it "for the right reasons".  (That's a Bachelorette joke.  You don't watch, you don't understand.)  With the end of summer comes College Football.  Thank God, this baseball thing has really gotten me down.  Michigan better win 7/8 games this year or I don't know what I will do to myself/house/personal possessions.  It doesn't matter though.  Every year I'm filled with the same dreams that every college football fan is of a great year and a good bowl game.  This is what is getting me fired up now...

Are you ready for some football?

A bunch of meaningless information

I'm bored so I am writing in this.  Warning, this will not be entertaining.  If you want to, get out of here.  If you are bored you can be bored with me.
Everyone is bored.  Check Camden out.  He's bored too. 

He's not asleep.  He is bored.  Just laying down with nothing to do.

Let me start by saying, I can't put my finger on why, but I have been in a shitty mood for about 2 weeks now.  I complain about everything.  I really am being Negative Nancy and I can't seem to shake it.  This morning, I woke up furious because my ankles were itching.  I sat up in bed, sighed deeply and went downstairs at 4:30 in the morning.  Kinda felt like crying when I came down here but I swear I didn't.  I don't know if it is mosquitoes or the fact that I have been laying down on the ground in various places for 2 weeks painting but my ankles are itchy.  Ya know how you are always told as a kid to not itch it?  Yeah, can't do that.  I itch.

Because I get Texas Rangers games on TV, I got to see the O's play for the last three days.  Well, I had the option.  I watched about 3 total innings because they suck so bad.  Maybe the Orioles have put me in a crappy mood.  I just don't get how a team can be so bad for so long.  It has to get better someday right???  I'm still a fan don't get me wrong (Carly was telling me I wasn't being one with the way I was acting) but SERIOUSLY O'S?

I'm afraid to cut my hair because I'm scared that it won't come back.  I've been saying this for 5 years, but I'm serious now.  It's getting mighty thin on top.  It's almost long enough to put it in pigtails.  I feel like a surfer guy from California.  I could have a crucial "Middle School Middle Part" if I wanted too!  It really doesn't bother me that I'll have to start shaving my head soon.  It's just gonna hurt that first time I buzz down the middle.  I'll take some funny pictures and laugh but when I'm alone, I'll probably tear up.

I have been HAMMERING away on the guitar.  I keep peeling skin off my fingers and keep getting yelled at for it.  I feel like my three fingers being all callused up and gross looking makes me cool.  Right???  My set list looks like this so far...

Opening song...  Chicken Fried-Zac Brown Band
Red Rag Top-Tim McGraw
In Color-Jamey Johnson
Knee Deep-Zac Brown Band
Encore Song-Homeboy-Eric Church

Pretty good I know.  I'm really getting good. 

I really don't know what else I got.  See, I told ya it was boring and you read it anyway...

MICE

It makes me furious that mice are so small and they seem to be SOOOOOOOOO much smarter than me.  I continue to put out traps and in the morning, they eat all of the cheese or peanut butter and the trap does not go off.  How?  I don't know.  All I know is that everyday I wake up and run to the garage to check my mouse traps and 85% of the time, I feel like a moron.  Like a big dummy that isn't even as smart as a mouse.  Does wonders for my self-esteem...  This is what my garage looks like

Notice the three mouse traps.  Usually, every morning, I have to re-bait them.  Today only one of them had no food on it.  Apparently the jerk mouse got full.  Good for him. 

Mom got a picture with the great Chris Hoiles at the Keys Stadium last week.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hoiles 
She didn't work Monday but I just talked to her and she said Brady Anderson was there! 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brady_Anderson
That is big news.  Big time stars are goin to watch some baseball at The Grove...  (I played there in College and got a hit FYI)  Seriously Orioles, I don't even have anything to say about you.  You suck.

Rain Rain don't go away

So for the first time since MARCH, it is raining in Houston!  Thank God because I started to fear that my hunting lease would burn down...  Talk about money going up in smoke.  I believe that we are something like 12 inches below average the last I heard.  It's pretty unbelievable that the weather has been so cruel this year.  Flooding, Drought, Tornadoes and Earthquakes.  Pretty ridiculous.  It has been so long since it rained down here that Camden freaked out this morning when he heard thunder, worse that usual!  I know bud, it's been a while.  My yellow yard hopefully is enjoying this weather because according to the 10 day forecast, its not going to last long.  Back to 98 and sunny starting Saturday.  I believe all of my fishing holes have dried up.  Maybe next week I'll have to get out there and check them out...

I haven't been fishing much because I can't seem to put my guitar down.  (Except for this picture)




It's probably for the best that I can practice when Carly isn't home.  It doesn't sound very good.  But hey, gotta start somewhere.  I am in full rock star mode.  Laugh if you want but I change the color picks I'm playing with depending on my mood...  I gotta keep myself entertained some how.  This week, I'm going with the white pick.  Even dorkier, I sign the back of every pick.  Could be worth something someday, probably not.  Country music is awesome to play because it is mostly only 3 or 4 chords.  That's right, I know what a chord is...  I also know that if I continue to play, I will not win any "beautiful fingers" contest.  My fingers are starting to get all hard and callused.  Beautiful.

My guitar is the best pawn shop purchase EVER.  Thanks Carly, even though you are probably wishing that you wouldn't have agreed to get it after some of the sounds that come out of my studio.  I'm off, gotta go practice some good Ol' Country Music.  Homeboy...

Hot again...

Well, I'm back in Tejas.  Back to the summer months.  People are at work, and I'm watching Swamp People and The Maury Show.  I was in MD for 8 days and I don't think Carly and I slowed down for 8 minutes.  It is so hard to see everyone when we come home because we're never there for long enough.  We did have a great time though.

Leslie and Bobby's wedding was great last Saturday and when I read the bible verse, I didn't even cry!  Take that.  Awesome to see the family together for such a great day.  Everything was perfect.  The rehearsal dinner was awesome and the reception was awesome too.  Man, I really feel old now.  My little cousin has gotten married!  Soon I'll be yelling at people that drive their car with their music too loud.  Wait, I do that now...  Well, I'll be doing other stuff that makes me old I guess.

Friday night Carly and I stayed with Brian and Leslie at their place in Hagerstown.  It is awesome up there and they are doing so good.  The house was great except the stairs must have been a little too steep or something because Friday night I fell up them and Saturday I fell down them.  Pretty funny.  I literally fell down on the first step, slid on my butt to the landing, tried to get up and rolled down the bottom flight of stairs to the first floor.  Sounds rough, it was.  I stood up and expected someone to come and see if I was OK.  To my surprise, kinda, no one did.  About 5 minutes later, my brother came down laughing so hard, I started laughing too.  Ahhhh, the memories.  I'm so happy that my brother married someone who keeps his ass in check.  (I'm serious Leslie) 

Sunday, we went to Carly's parents house and it was awesome to see them again.  It has been too long.  We got to see the Orioles play awesome, kidding, and watched one of my favorite movies of all time, Forgetting Sarah Marshal.

I LOVE IT.  Ask Carly.  I constantly sing this walking around the house.  Extremely funny to me.  Probably not to everyone else in the world.  It was good to see Carly's brother too.  We definitely miss everyone up in the Free State.  I also go a chance to see the deer that eat 5 yards from Carly's parents house!  There was a buck there too, in velvet.  I have to pay, drive and sit in a tree to have the possibility of shoot a deer and if they would let me, I could shoot a deer from there living room.  Although, I wouldn't feel right shooting them seeing how Mick walks the corn out and talks to them and they stand 10 yards from him waiting for him to leave so they can eat.  Pretty tough hunting...

Carly came back Monday and I went back to hang out with Mom and Dad till Thursday.  As always, we had a great time together.  Too short, but a great time.  Shopping and just hanging out with Mom and Fishing with Dad and Brian.  PERFECT.  It was so great being able to hang out with Mom, Dad, Brain and Leslie so much while I was home.  We might have to just win the lottery and make this a every weekend thing.  We miss everyone up there and we're so glad we could be with family for a while again!  Now, back to the 100 degree grind...