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In the past couple of weeks I have been gearing up for this year’s 2010 Honey Festival in my hometown of Jackson, KY.  In addition to making tote bags, stickers, and a host of other various freebies for my “I Found Me” booth, I had almost forgotten the most important part, Shoes!! If you are like me, I find every excuse I can to purchase some new shoes. Thankfully Payless was having a “buy one, get one half off” sale.  My intent was to get just one pair of comfy shoes since I will being doing lots of walking around the festival. Yet how I could I miss out on a sale like that? My one pair turned into four pair of shoes.  =) Now I am stuck debating which pair to take on my trip back home?

Yet getting a pair of new shoes was never easy to come by when I was growing up.  Getting a second pair would have been unheard of so I think I am making up for lost time! I always hated school shopping with my mom.  Not only did it mean that the summer was over but I had to be dragged to the thrift store or to Wal-Mart to get clothes.  Plus it really didn’t matter what clothing or shoes I liked.  I was stuck with whatever my parents could afford and whatever my mom liked.  Of course there were arguments which I failed miserable at as she would say that when I got my own money, I could buy my own shoes. 

When my dreaded freshman year rolled around I had a few dollars saved up from selling eggs.  Like most early teens, I thought I knew it all! I was going to have a “say so” this year when we went shopping for clothes.  Wal-Mart had just opened up the year before in Jackson.  Everyone flocked to it like a fox in a hen house.  My mom and I went through the same routine just like ever year.  We bickered over the clothes she picked out and I had to try them on anyway.  I hate trying on clothes still to this day!  After coming out of the dressing room, my mom and total strangers would be conversing on whether the clothes fit right or not.  She’d make me turn around several times before I’d have to do it all over again with another outfit.

My feet had grown quite a bit over the summer so it was hard to find shoes at Wal-Mart.  Somehow we got stuck going to a fancier store in Jackson like Rose Brothers or Dawhar’s.  It was there when I first fell in love with shoes.

The year was 1984 and of course Michael Jackson, break dancing, and music videos were HOT!  My cousin Alonzo had a break dancing book and he taught me a few moves.  Naturally, a dancer at heart, I fell in love with break dancing—moon walking, popping and locking and whatever other freaky moves we learned.  Yet in all the videos, the break dancers seem to have “special shoes” that made them look like they were floating.  THOSE shoes were on Sale at the store we were at and I HAD HAD HAD to HAVE them, no matter what!! Unfortunately, the shoes only came in RED.  They had no other colors or styles.  It didn’t matter to me! They were break dancing shoes!  I thought they were the most awesome, coolest shoes ever invented!

Unfortunately, even being on sale they were too expensive for my mom’s taste. I begged and pleaded with her. I even gave her my egg money, which in all honesty, was probably just about $5.  The shoes were a lot more than that! She reminded me that these were the only pair of shoes I could get for the entire year.  I tuned out everything she said and thought she was mean and dumb for not wanting me to get the shoes.  Unfortunately, I got them–bright Red Cloth shoes.  Cloth shoes.  Not ideal for walking in and out of a holler for a whole year in mud, rain, snow, and ice not to mention that the soles were pretty thin as well.  They also didn’t go very well with my school clothes.  I had to wear the RED shoes with Every outfit to school.

Those shoes lasted about a month or two before holes were torn into them from my walking and the rough conditions.  It didn’t matter.  They were my break dancing shoes and MJ would be so proud. My pride would not let me complain much either. Thankfully my Grandma felt some sympathy for me and got me some tennis shoes from the Dollar Store later that year .

What’s the moral of this story? Never buy red shoes? LOL  Nah…!  Sometimes God gives us what we want even if its not good for us.  Sometimes, like my mom, He’s says “Ok…but you will have to live with the consequences.”  

Choose carefully the life you want and the things you want, 

as you most often don’t get a second chance!

Morehead State

NCAA has determined that the men’s basketball program committed major violations in its recruiting related to a booster activity and that the University has accepted a summary disposition report developed by the NCAA and the institution.
As a result of the investigation, the program has been placed on probation for two years. The situation did not warrant a postseason ban or forfeiture of wins.
Dr. Andrews said that the NCAA agreed with MSU’s self-imposed penalties which include the loss of one scholarship in men’s basketball; a reduction in the number of recruiting days by 30 for 2009-10 and by 15 in 2010-11; a reduction in the number of official visits by three in 2010-11; and a reduction in the number of permissible telephone calls to each senior prospective student-athlete from two per week to one per week in 2009-10 (except for when arranging official visits); and a permanent ban from recruiting student athletes in all sports from the NIA school in Newark, N.J.  Head Coach Donnie Tyndall will personally assume several of the missed recruiting days.
“We are very disappointed that we had NCAA violations in our men’s basketball program and I have expressed that to Coach Tyndall who has accepted full responsibility,” said Dr. Andrews. “We cooperated fully with the NCAA throughout the investigation. We learned much and identified system and process opportunities for improvement. We have begun to implement changes in our compliance programs that will enable us to move forward with confidence and avoid incidents of this type in the future.”
President Andrews said that the University will continue to develop a comprehensive educational program on NCAA legislation and will enhance all training for athletic staff, particularly with regard to recruiting rules. MSU will regularly report its progress to the NCAA during the two-year probationary period.
“It is upsetting to know how hard we work to stay within the rules of the game and to find anything contrary to NCAA rules occurring in our program,” said Brian Hutchinson, director of intercollegiate athletics. “Coach Tyndall and I have carefully analyzed all of the circumstances around this case so that this experience could serve as an opportunity to become more proactive in our compliance program. We are encouraged from our own investigation and that the NCAA also believed the violations did not warrant a postseason ban or forfeiture of any wins. Our athletes work very hard and have done so since I’ve been here. I feel much better knowing that current and future Eagles’ success won’t be affected by the violations.”

Though I’ve only been golfing a few times in my life, it was clear that my reputation had preceded me at the course last weekend. I know this because golfers immediately traded ball caps for hard hats, then scurried down into the sand bunkers like allied forces preparing for heavy fire.

As I took a practice swing, the surrounding trees emptied of all bird species — not in a smooth, organized pattern, but in a frenzied explosion of flapping and panicked birdsong that left three Canada geese lying unconscious in the rough.

(Speaking of which, I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize once again for the tragic death of that swan near the putting green. Had I known the difference between a putter and a pitching wedge, things might’ve turned out differently for that majestic creature.)

Because of my past experiences, I was determined to make things different this time.

How?

By becoming more comfortable with the game. Like a lot of people, I’ve always been intimidated by golf. This stems from my fear of unintentionally doing something which, as a result of NOT knowing the proper etiquette, gets me clubbed to death by someone with a 9-iron. What’s confusing is that actions which would justify a good clubbing under normal circumstances are actually no big deal in golf.

You want to swing your club and take a six-inch gouge out of an otherwise perfect lawn?

Fine.

Want to drink a beer AND drive an electric go-cart through the woods?

Perfectly acceptable.

However, walk between someone’s ball and a small hole in the ground, and there’s a good chance you’ll be found floating in a water hazard.

Once I felt comfortable with the basic etiquette of golf, I then focused on the fundamentals. This starts with finding your “natural swing.” Ask any golfer the secret to finding this, and they’ll tell you its all about having the proper grip. To achieve this, make sure the back of your left hand and the palm of your right hand are both facing your target. Then, in a smooth arc, bring them up to your mouth while making sure not to spill your beer. After several practice swigs, you’ll be ready to leave the cart and try teeing off. This may not improve your swing much, but it will provide you with a legitimate excuse as to why you shot a 168 on a par 72 course.

All in all, the thing to remember is that you will undoubtedly make some mistakes your first time on the course.

That’s to be expected.

What won’t be expected, however, is a hollowed-out golf club that can be loaded with tees and used as a blow gun should you need to defend yourself.

(You can write to Ned Hickson at nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com, or at the Siuslaw News at P.O. Box 10, Florence, Ore. 97439)

Labor Day traffic expected to increase this year (Click image to enlarge)

AAA Expects Labor Day Travel to Increase Nearly 10 Percent
Families, friends look forward to celebrating end of summer
 
AAA projects approximately 34.4 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more this Labor Day holiday weekend, an increase of 9.9 percent compared to 2009. Over 31 million Americans are expected to drive to holiday destinations, an increase of 10.3 percent. Air travel is expected to increase by 4.6 percent with 1.62 million holiday flyers.
 
“Travelers are eager to hit the road one final time to celebrate the end of summer,” said Lilla Mason, AAA Director of Traffic Safety. “AAA travel agents are busy looking for great travel deals and booking trips for those gearing up to hit the road over Labor Day weekend.”
 
Additional information on Labor Day travel includes:
AAA expects national gas prices to average between $2.65 and $2.75 over the holiday weekend, barring any major tropical storm. 
Airfare over the holiday weekend is expected to increase 9 percent from last year with the lowest round-trip airfare averaging $179.
Hotel rates for AAA Three Diamond properties are also expected to increase this year, up 6 percent to an average of $139 per night compared to $132 per night last year.
 
AAA’s projections are based on economic forecasting and research by IHS Global Insight. The Boston-based economic research and consulting firm teamed with AAA in 2009 to jointly analyze travel trends during the major holidays.  AAA has been reporting on holiday travel trends for more than two decades.  The complete AAA / IHS Global Insight 2010 Labor Day holiday forecast can be found at AAA.com/news. The Labor Day holiday period is defined as Thursday, Sept. 2-Monday, Sept. 6.