Wednesday, December 28, 2005

August 5, 2006

In approximately 222 days, my life will change forever. On or near August 5, 2006, Shawna and I will welcome the newest addition to the Lavender household. And no, we're not getting another dog! Shawna is pregnant!

More details to follow. Needless to say, the soon-to-be grandma's and grandpa's were very happy!

And oh yeah, please pray that this baby takes after Shawna and not me. I'm going to need that if he/she is to receive an athletic scholarship someday!

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Tagged - My Top 7

I was tagged this morning by Craig Fisher. My task: answer the following questions with a list of 7.

List 7 things to do before I die:
1. Celebrate a Texas Rangers World Series Championship
2. Celebrate a Dallas Mavericks NBA Championship
3. Celebrate an ACU Women's Basketball NCAA National Championship
4. Father a child (with Shawna, of course)
5. Become the "official" Director of Basketball Operations at ACU
6. Play golf at Augusta National Golf Course
7. Make a hole-in-one

List 7 things I cannot (or will not) do:
1. Make a hole-in-one (have you seen me hit my irons??)
2. Become a vegetarian
3. Let the gas tank get below 1/4 full
4. Skydive
5. Become a handy man around the house
6. Shoot a deer
7. Ever give the referees the benefit of the doubt

List 7 things that attract me to my spouse:
1. Her ability to put up with my ever decreasing maturity level!
2. Her gorgeous smile
3. Her incredible figure
4. Her stomping her feet in a basketball game
5. Her love for God
6. Her look as she sleeps
7. Her ability to look hot when dressed down

List 7 things I say most often:
1. "Three Seconds!"
2. "Moving Screen!"
3. "Let's go Cats -- D up!"
4. "Why didn't you do/play ______ in the game?"
5. "What's the plan for tomorrow?"
6. "Where do you want to eat?"
7. "You're right, I'm sorry!"

List 7 books or series that I love: (Very tough b/c I don't read)
1. John Grisham novels
2. Max Lucado books
3. Fantasy Football magazines
4. Sports Illustrated
5. ACU Media Guides
6. The Bible
7. Do Blogs count?

List 7 movies I would watch over and over again:
1. Top Gun
2. Spies Like Us
3. Dodgeball
4. Anchorman - The Legend of Ron Burgandy
5. Million Dollar Baby
6. Sixteen Candles
7. The Natural

List 7 people I would love to join in:
1. Garrett Sublette (just to see what he says about section #3)
2. Jarod Cox (ditto)
3. Sarah Campbell (ditto, again!)
4. Andy Luster
5. Brandon Stover
6. Kimberly Holmes
7. David Pittman

Monday, December 12, 2005

The 52 Days That Were.....

A few people have gotten on to me for not posting for such a long time. It's partly because I have been pretty busy the last several weeks and partly because I have not been inspired to write anything insightful. When I don't post new information to my blog, I also usually don't read other people's blogs as much either. However, today I pulled up Chris Campbell's blog and started reading his diary of a bachelor. I figured if he can write about the mundane parts of his everyday life, I could at least post something to my blog. So, for the first time in 52 days, here is a new blog from the life of Mark Lavender.....and no, not that Mark Lavender (special thanks to Corey Patterson for finding that web site last week!)

Since I last posted a blog, here are a few things that have been going on in my life:

Shawna's grandfather passed away on November 16 in Deming, NM. What an incredible man. While I only knew him for 5 years and was only around him 3 or 4 times during that 5 years, I can truly say that "Grandpa" was a great person. He left behind a beautiful and loving wife, 4 children and 6 grandchildren. Shawna and I were privileged to perform his service on November 21 in Deming. What an honor to be asked to speak at his funeral.

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From November 17 through December 3 (16 days) I traveled over 4000 miles.
-- November 17 - 19 -- Abilene to Austin and back for a basketball tournament
-- November 20 - 22 -- Abilene to Deming, NM for Grandpa's funeral
-- November 22 - 26 -- Abilene to Fort Worth for Thanksgiving
-- November 28 - 29 -- Abilene to San Antonio for a basketball game
-- November 30 - 30 -- Abilene to Fort Worth to see my sister from Minnesota
-- December 02 - 03 -- Abilene to Commerce, TX for a basketball game

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Basketball season is in full gear. We're currently sitting at 4-3 for the season. We should be at the worst 5-1 but I guess that's why you play the games. Here's a breakdown:

-- ACU beat Incarnate Word 73-51
-- ACU lost to St. Edwards 66-54 (we had a 12 point lead with 5:00 to play and lost)
-- ACU lost to NW Missouri State 79-78 in OT (we lost on a basket w/ .24 seconds on the clock)
-- ACU beat Incarnate Word 66-44
-- ACU lost to Texas A&M Commerce 70-66 (we had a 3 point lead with 2:00 to play and lost)
-- ACU beat Central Oklahoma 66-64
-- ACU beat Northeastern State (OK) 64-57 (Norhteastern State was the LSC #1 North team)

We play Angelo State on Friday afternoon at 3:00 before leaving for Billings, MT for 2 games. If you have not already, you can check out my web site that I created to keep parents and ex-players informed -- acuwildcats.com

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Fantasy Football is winding up. Shawna is thrilled! I am in the playoffs and am tied going into tonights Falcons-Saints game. I have Alge Crumpler and Donte Stallworth and my opponent has Warrick Dunn and the Falcons defense. I know Shawna is really wanting me to lose so we can start going to late service on Sunday mornings and go to an occasional Sunday afternoon matinee instead of parking myself in front of the computer and tv for 6 straight hours.

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I've made a wager with a few players on the team that if they win their next 3 games (vs. Angelo State, St. Martin's (WA), and Montana State-Billings, I would wear an awful (and I do mean awful) Christmas sweater home on the airplane from Montana. This sweater could only be appreciated by a 65 year old kindergarten teacher (no offense to any 65 year old kindergarten teacher that might read this blog!). I'm looking forward to wearing it proudly!

Well that's about it for me. If I continue my postings at my current rate, you'll hear from me next on February 2.