Cheers!

Well, It’s been 19 days since I last posted, but I’m back! It’s at that time of the semester when it’s so easy to roll over and stop studying quite as much, stop going to class quite as often, and just flat out be ready for summer (or at least spring break!) I’m in the middle of the busiest week of this semester for me. I had tests in French Lit and Cost Accounting last Thursday. I have tests in Management and Finance tomorrow, and a test in Intermediate Accounting 2 and a 1500 word paper due in Cost Accounting on Thursday. Thankfully I got that paper done last night, so I don’t have quite as much to worry about now.

The weather here has been flat out ridiculous. I saw the weather report on the news this morning, and the high today is 69…..awesome (sorry Jonathan)! But……the high for tomorrow is 51! 51!!!!! That’s like a 20 degree difference in one day! One thing is for sure, it’s taking a toll on my sinuses. I would love to go into details, but it’s pretty gross.

On Sunday, Eric and I went downtown after church and chilled for a while. I haven’t been downtown on Sundays much, but it was great! There was like nobody there, so we were just chillin’. We stopped by Ben & Jerry’s after a little food from Southend Brewery. I highly recommend the “Jamacian Me Crazy” which is like a pineapple/ passion fruit sherbert thing. Very good for your taste buds, but at $4.05 for the smallest cup, not very good for the wallet. But if you’re a fan of good ice cream (and aren’t we all!) then it’s worth it on occasion.

I’m pretty pumped about this weekend! First of all, it’s the start of spring break! I’m going home on Friday to celebrate my grandma’s birthday on Saturday. Both sets of grandparents are coming to our house as well as my aunt and uncle and their 3 kids. It should be a blast. My grandparents are pretty young…I think she’ll be 64. I’ll be 21 in May. so that’s not too much of an age difference for 3 generations. My parents had me 11 months after they were married, and my youngest grandma was only 41. My mom claims that until the day I was born, she persisted that I would call her “Diane” and not grandma or anything of the sort. Well, that was all until May 22, 1987 when I arrived on earth. I was then permitted to call her whatever I wanted, and thus she is now affectionately known as Grandmama.

Well, it’s about time I start studying for those tests. Have a great week!

Missing Maravich

I saw something on PTI (Pardon The Interruption) today about “Pistol” Pete Maravich. Pistol Pete is by far my favorite basketball player of all time. In high school I owned his “Homework Basketball” video series, studied up on him, and read every book on him I could find. The man was a basketball genius of his day.

His father “Press” Maravich coached at Clemson University for a time, and Pistol Pete played basketball at Daniel High School during his 8th grade year. I grew up very close to Clemson, and my middle school team even practiced in a gym that he played a few high school games in. I still have a picture of him on my bedroom wall both in my apartment and in my bedroom back home.

Pistol holds the NCAA record for most points averaged per game, 44.2 (before the 3 point line!). I have read that it is believed that if Pistol would have been able to play with the 3 point line, he would have averaged 57 points per game. Pete died in 1988 from a heart condition at the age of 40 years old. Most people with this condition died at age 20. Fortunately though, Pete became a Christian in 1982 and his life was completely transformed. He even died while playing a game of pick-up with Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family.

There is no doubt that basketball misses Pistol Pete, a hero on and off the court.

Wow!

Some of you may know about a popular radio show based in Birmingham, Alabama called “Rick and Bubba.” Just this past week, Rick’s youngest son known as “Cornbread” passed away after drowning in a pool. He was only 2 years old. If you have some time, please watch this video of Rick speaking at his child’s memorial service. It’s amazing. God bless.

The Best Time of My Life

It seems like only yesterday I was a senior in high school. I was nervous and excited about going off to college; ready to see what the world was like away from mom and dad. My parents always told me “college will be the best time of your life.” Now, here I am with only 3 semesters left. Still some time, but steadily coming to an end. As a kid I always loved to look at my dad’s college ring. To me it was really a symbol of everything cool about Georgia Tech. First off, the ring was gold with a white stone and a sunburst style to it. It easily caught my eye. It had my dad’s full name engraved on the inside, “Michael Steven Mitchell.” The Georgia Institute of Technology crest on one side, and the good ol’ ramblin’ wreck on the other. I’ve known the fight song for so long that I don’t remember learning it. “I’m a ramblin’ wreck from Georgia Tech and a He[ck] of an engineer!” I always thought of college as some kind of time of glory, something special.

Now, here I am almost done, and although I can’t say that my college experience has been every thing I expected in every way, it has been more than I could have hoped for in many others. I’ve made friends here that will definitely be lifelong. We’re more like brothers really, and no, we don’t need a fraternity to prove it. Jonathan and Eric are my boys. Both mean different things to me in my life, but I love ’em both. I’ve had times with both of them that I’ll never forget from blowing up pound cakes in showers, to riding around downtown in a big ol’ redneck truck listening to Eric holler at girls over his PA system while laughing so hard I could barely breathe. Great times.

Eric’s apartment got robbed over the weekend, so of course Jonathan and I were there for him. They gave him a new apartment (right beside ours), so we helped him and his roommate move all their stuff over this way. Although I can’t say I’m necessarily glad to have a memory like that, for Eric’s sake anyway, I will always remember how Eric knew who his friends were and came to us for help. Before this whole thing we hadn’t really seen him much this year. He’s been hanging out with his frat brothers and stuff, but I’m glad he called me when he first found out about the robbery. He knows who his friends are, the ones who will be there with him, good times and bad.

I’ll always be thankful for the times I’ve had with Eric and Jonathan. It’s amazing how your friends shape who you are, and how you look at life.

My Jackets came up with a big win tonight at NC State! Matt Causey is the man!

T.G.I.F.

Classes have only been back in session for 2 weeks since Christmas break, but I’m already getting sick of them. I like most of my classes (all but French Lit), and the work load isn’t overbearing, although I have had a lot of homework in finance and cost accounting. I really feel like this semester will be a lot better than the fall semester. I’ve been using the calendar on my ipod touch to keep up with when all my homework is due, and what days I have tests. I’ve never had a problem of not doing my homework on time, but something about having it where I see it all the time helps motivate me to get it done sooner. Then again, we’re only 2 weeks into the semester. I’m just glad it’s Friday! I love the weekend.

I was listening to the radio yesterday, and one of the disk jockeys was talking about a blog that John Mayer wrote about drinking and driving. In his blog, he talks about how for him it is so important to have a designated driver and not be stupid. To read his blog, click on the picture here.

Now, let me make it clear that I have never had a drink in my life, nor do I plan to ever have a drink. It’s my opinion, however, that if someone is going to be stupid they should at least be responsible about it. To me it’s refreshing to see a celebrity like John Mayer in contrast to the Paris Hilton or Brittany Spears junk that’s all over the news these days. About five years ago, my mom was hit by a drunk driver. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but it really could have been bad. If you’re going to drink, please be considerate of others and don’t drive drunk, buzzed, or whatever.

John Mayer is definitely one of my favorite musicians. His lyrics are deep and I like his mellow style. I’m not just saying that just because of this blog. I’ve been a fan for a few years now. Okay, moving on.
I got calls today from my mom, dad, and grandma all talking about the same thing…..snow! Yesterday it snowed in Anderson and in the North Georgia mountains (where my grandparents live), so they all called to rub it in. I haven’t seen any snow in several years now, since I’ve been in Charleston.

It’s always good to hear from the family, even if they are bragging about the snow. Dad’s back in school getting his masters degree in business from North Greenville (that’s a whole other blog in itself), and he usually gives me a call on his way to his classes he has a few nights a week. It’s about an hour drive from our house, so he always has plenty of time to talk. He has some classes on Friday nights and Saturday mornings, so mom and dad make it fun and usually spend the night in downtown Greenville on those Friday nights. They’re definitely enjoying the empty nest!

These are a couple of pictures mom emailed me today. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

SO CLOSE….again!

Oh, man! Georgia Tech played North Carolina last night in basketball, and it was one heck of a game. Georgia Tech’s biggest lead of the game was 7, North Carolina’s biggest lead was 8 or 9, and there were about 15 lead changes. That’s why I love not only Georgia Tech basketball, but ACC basketball. Even when it looks like one team will blow another team out easily, the unexpected happens, and the underdog makes it close. Although my Jackets ended up losing by only 1 point after 2 missed shots in the last few seconds, it was still a great game.

As a Georgia Tech fan you get used to these kind of games. Whether it’s football or basketball, you can just about bet every year that we will beat a team that nobody thinks we’ll beat, and lose to a team that we should beat. This has been a rough year for us in basketball. We’ve lost to UNC Greensboro and Winthrop, and have barely beaten teams like Georgia State, Notre Dame, and Charlotte. Now, I know that Winthrop has a good team, and Charlotte usually isn’t bad either, but it’s still disappointing to lose/barely win against teams like this. But not only does Georgia Tech have close games against bad teams but good teams too! This year we’ve played Kansas and North Carolina, both top 3 teams, and have lost to them by a combined 6 points. How does a team do that?! That’s Georgia Tech for you.

I guess I should just be happy that I can remember better times in Georgia Tech sports. One of my earliest memories is watching the 1991 Citrus Bowl, at my grandparents’ house (my parents were at the game). Georgia Tech beat Nebraska and split a National Championship with Colorado (who won a game on the final play after being given 5 downs). That was before the BCS system we have now. Georgia Tech also played in the NCAA National Championship game in basketball in 2004, my junior year in high school. Although we lost that game to UCONN, I still have great memories of that March Madness time. I think we won 2 tournament games on buzzer beaters, and beat Kansas in overtime to move on the the Final Four. Georgia Tech also played in the 1990 NCAA Final Four, but I was too little to remember that.

Well, this post has been absolutely boring to anyone who’s not a Georgia Tech fan. Although, if you’ve read down to this point then maybe you didn’t find it so boring.

Beginnings

Well, after a month of giving my roommate junk about his addiction to blogging I’ve jumped on board. As of now, I have no intention of giving this blog any kind of theme. I plan to simply blog about what’s on my mind at the time, whether it be sports, school, the future, the past, or my faith. With that being said, everything I write about will be filtered through my world view. I am a born again Christian, and my God has influence in every part of my life. I make no apologies about the way I see things…you can take it or leave it (comments are welcome). Now that I’ve got that out of the way, let me tell you a little about myself.

My name is Caleb Mitchell, and I’m 20 years old. I was born and raised in Anderson, South Carolina, and now live in Charleston, South Carolina where I am a student at Charleston Southern University. I’m a junior and only 3 semesters away from graduating with BS degree in Accounting. After college I plan to begin the MBA program at Clemson University in hopes of eventually becoming a CPA. My mom and dad have been married for 21 years, and currently live in Anderson, South Carolina. I have a brother who is 18 and a college student at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. My brother and I are very close… if you mess with him, you mess with me. I am a huge Georgia Tech fan. Both my parents graduated from Georgia Tech (where they also met), and I have been raised a yellow jacket.

I guess that’s enough for now. I’d hate to give away everything in my first post. I’m pumped about this blog, and look forward to writing again (when I can think of something to write).