From the Rubble ("A Flair for God" returns in a few weeks)

Here we go again . . .

2008-08-07T22:18:00.002-05:00

The last time I tried to start the blog back up, the tornado hit and the blog became a place to report all of the news coverage my parents seemed to get. After that, well, let’s just say I got into MySpace for a bit, and now my new obsession is Facebook. Throw on top of that switching to a new role at work, traveling a lot, and raising a beautiful yet very rambunctious 2-yr old, let’s just say blogging got behind.

For those who are new to the blog, my first post describes my unique interests in life:
Original Post

Since my last posts, some interesting things have happened that correlate directly to that initial post. First, Ric Flair retired from wrestling, which to Vince McMahon’s credit (ok, so it was more HHH) was a wonderful tribute. But most importantly, I got to go to my first English Premiership soccer game and see 6 Americans play, including my favorite player ever, Kasey Keller. I went with two British comedians to the game, including one who guested on my all time favorite show, the BlackAdder.

And as for sports, it was a good pro year for who I like. Now if the Cardinals can get an actually bullpen, it might get better. Plus, the English Premiership is 1 & ½ weeks away!

Hope to be on more.

But no Flannel Shirt

2008-02-21T19:40:00.004-06:00

Tennessee US Senator (and former governor) Lamar Alexander stopped by for a photo opportunity on Wednesday. So, my parents got another write-up in the Jackson Tennessee paper. There is also an online gallery with several pictures of my parents (like 4 out of 10). My guess is that this will be the last news media they will get from this, so maybe the old blog will be back soon.

Also, the house was bulldozed today - after 22 years of living there.

The article:

Meeting Senator Alexander

And this is the photo gallery:

Pictures with Lamar

News Video

2008-02-10T13:06:00.000-06:00

Below is an article about the house, but once you click on the article to the right is a new video in which my mom, dad, and brother are interviewed. You will have to let the commercial run first on the video, though! The initial picture before you run the video is all of the collected debris in our front yard. Only the Whites have an Ole Miss and a US flag hanging from the house!

New Article and Video

My parents have settled in to their temporary home and continue to be taken care of wonderfully. The in depth job of listing inventory of what they have and what they lost is coming soon! I will try and keep this blog updated as best I can.

Tornado Article

2008-02-08T22:06:00.000-06:00

Below is an article from our local paper regarding our house and the tornado. I missed it the first time b/c as the big brother it is hard for me to realize that my brother is a "man". Second, my mom was a little irritated b/c she insisted she had a headache and not a nervous breakdown as she thinks the article implies!!

http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802080311

From the Rubble

2008-02-07T12:44:00.000-06:00

Here is my parent's house (and my childhood home) the morning after the tornado hit Jackson, TN. My mom was inside but thankfully was not even injured. The good news in
all of this, besides of course my mom being ok, is that most of our pictures and personal effects were salvaged – including heirloom china, etc. So many people are helping out it is amazing. They are much better off than so many other folks who lost their home just due to so many friends, etc . . . and hopefully good insurance!!

My dad’s company is setting them up in a house to live in while they figure out how to re-build, so that is good news and they have been given storage space to
store everything. So, they are being taken care of.

Good Morning America filmed their weather report in front of our “house” this morning, and interviewed the Mayor from our driveway. My mom has been on a couple
of regional interviews and I think even on national radio. I am still a little at a disadvantage being up here in the DC area, but it sounds like they are having plenty of help, so I will probably not try to make it to Jackson anytime in the immediate future. Rumors are that President Bush may come through the neighborhood at some point, but that may just be speculation right now.

More later . . .

Brother in the Bond

2008-01-30T21:33:00.001-06:00

My fraternity, Sigma Nu, at my college, Ole Miss, has produced some unique alums. For example, we had a guy who was a regular on the Lawrence Welk show. Another was the guy who wrote and directed the Benji (the dog) movies - not to mention Chevy Chase's Oh Heavenly Dog. There is a former US Senator (Lott) and a current US Senator (Wicker). Not to mention several lesser known politicians, writers, and athletes. Oh - did I forget to mention one of the main television plastic surgeons?

Then there is a man who fathered two different sons that started a Super Bowl (Archie Manning). Speaking of the name Manning . . . for all of those people with their unique successes, not many people can say that a man who was in their fraternity at their school (even though at different times) started in the Super Bowl.

Here's to you Eli.

Movin' on Up Like George and Louise

2008-01-25T20:50:00.001-06:00

I just read on Yahoo! real estate that the county we live in, Loudoun County, VA, is the second wealthiest county in America:

America's richest counties based on median household income

The county I work in, Fairfax, is the wealthiest. And they are 1 & 2 by a pretty large margin.

I guess being in #2 is not good enough for us. So, in April, we plan to move from Loudoun to Fairfax. If you can't beat 'em join. Watch out Jeffersons - we are moving on up as well. We finally got a piece of the pie.

MMMMMM . . . Pie.

A Flair for Home

2008-01-23T21:31:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine at work today let me know that Ric Flair was appearing at the Washington auto show tonight. Now, considering this blog is a pun on his name, and he is one of the 5-10 people I would like to meet in this world, you think I would have worked it out to go. Granted, it would have taken me about an hour to get there, but still . . . Alas, work, cold weather, family and just being plain tired was enough for me to get in my car and head home instead. It's like I am Dusty Rhodes giving in to a figure four . . . without the Dusty finish.

Maybe I am just getting old. Unlike Ric Flair & Space Mountain, me and Thunder Mountain Railroad just can't go all night long anymore

The Return

2008-01-02T20:13:00.000-06:00

After some thought, I am going to try and bring back A Flair for God. I figured now is a good time, being a new year and all. Further, several things from my initial introductory post have been making headlines . . . at least in my world. First, Patrick Willis led the NFL in tackles as a rookie and continues to show why he is one of my two sports heroes (along with Albert Pujols). Next, the WWE is running a Flair retirement angle which is excellent. And, in the spring, my wife and I are going to see our first English soccer game hopefully to see the team Kasey Keller is on.

Maybe like the Nature Boy I have a little left in me.

Anyway, here is the original introduction to the blog which I think sets up the blog well, entitled "The Sum of Which is Pro Wrestling":

People always ask how I, an educated person who enjoys cultural activities and knowledge of the world, can possibly be such a fan of pro-wrestling. Simple. Outside of God and family, my three favorite loves are sports, acting and comedy. Add sports, acting and comedy together, and you get . . . pro wrestling.

I have always known the that outcome of wrestling was predetermined, even at a really young age. I am surprised that I did not get involved in reformed theology later in life. After all, I believe God in his sovreignty has already predetermined everything. And, as far as I know, pro wrestling matches are predetermined too.

So on behalf of:
The Nature Boy Ric Flair (Whooooooooo)
John Calvin
The Blackadder
P. Willie, and
Kasey Keller

Welcome to the ring. Jerry Calhoun is your referee. Ding, Ding!

WWII Memorial, Arlington & Brinson

2006-09-27T15:21:00.000-05:00

Pictures from when my dad came into town in mid-August. I could not help but laugh thinking at the Taft grave of the old line from the Simpsons that Mr. Burns could not forgive his mother for having an affair with President Taft.

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DC Part II (as of August 24th, 2006)

2006-09-01T16:29:00.000-05:00

A letter (slightly edited) sent to my grandparents with the latest update on my life in DC:

Hey – hope you are well. Anyway, continuing from the last letter . . . in late July I went to Tupelo to assist in a tax seminar. The seminar was very laborious and unenjoyable and I do not know if I will be doing another one of those any time soon. However, I got to see some good friends for one last time and had a nice dinner with Granddaddy and my Tupelo relatives, including getting to see my cousin Anna Grant (Brannon’s daughter) for the first time.

Upon returning to Tupelo I slept and recuperated from back-to-back travel and waited until Shae and Brinson returned from Oklahoma. It was great to see them.

Of course dad came to visit for several days during the second week of August. He enjoyed seeing Brinson and he helped us break down some moving boxes and a few other things around the house. One day we went into DC and went to Arlington Cemetery. I saw a few graves of people Shae and I did not see previously (such as Omar Bradley, George Marshall, Doolittle, Audie Murphy and Howard Taft). My dad and I then walked over to the National Mall which was a much longer hike than we expected. I saw for the first time the WWII Memorial. It was very nice. They have a Pacific wing and an Atlantic wing. We also saw the Vietnam again. It is fascinating every time one goes there. We saw the other monuments from a distance, though we did take some time and go to the Korean War memorial. We should not forget about the service of those men either. After the extremely long walk from the cemetery to the monuments, it was a long day.

We all went to church on Sunday and then just spent the next few days relaxing before Dad went home. On that Monday he visited with a retired 4 star general who fought with my grandfather White in France. His name was Frederick Kroesen and he served as head of the US Army in Europe in the early 80s. Very neat.

After my father's departure, Shae's sister Jodi and Shae's niece Brooke came into town for a quick weekend. Shae went with them to the national mall for several hours. I ended up keeping Brinson by myself for almost 5 hours or so. Though it was fun, though I now really appreciate what Shae does every day!! He is growing and is pretty advanced in his motor skills. He can stand himself up with some support from us and already has pretty decent balance. He puts every thing in his mouth and is in great spirits until his stomach hurts him or he gets tired. He has the cutest smile too.

This past Sunday we went shopping for clothes and shoes for my birthday and also bought some furniture. Of course, we buy things for Brinson at every corner.

The town home is coming along. Shae's sister Jodi loves to decorate and she did a great job doing some things for our townhome - much appreciated.

We are going to try and take it easy this weekend since it is the first weekend we all have free in over a month.

DC so far (in letter form)

2006-08-01T20:28:00.000-05:00

I sent letters to my grandfather and grandmother telling them about my life here in Northern Virginia. Here is an edited version of the one sent to my grandfather regarding what's been going on with us the first two months in DC.

Dear Granddaddy:

Well, I am working on two months here in Northern Virginia. Things are going pretty well so far. I moved up here at the end of May and was fortunate to find a place to live with a guy in my church denomination. He lives in a town called Sterling, and Shae and I found a town home to rent in Sterling. Sterling is about 15 miles west of where I work in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia, and around 30 miles west of DC. Getting into the city is definitely a chore, but Shae is glad I have put her and the baby in a nice suburban area with tons of stores and plenty of walking trails. Plus, my commute is not too bad since I am not going into the city.

Work seems to be going well. Challenging, challenging work, but I think I am really going to enjoy it. Mergers and Acquisition tax is a great, if not mind-wrenching, area to work in. I really like my co-workers and bosses. Everything is pretty high stakes when it comes to the work we are doing.

Since the end of May, I went to a reception at the US Capitol for Ole Miss law alumni. That was nice. Senate was in session so I was getting passed by a lot of Senators in the hallway going to the reception. At the reception, we had Chancellor Khayat, Dean Sam Davis, Carolyn Staton-Ellis, Trent Lott, Roger Wicker, Thad Cochran, and several other Congress folks I did not know. Donna Shalala even showed up as she is a friend of Staton-Ellis, I believe. As he always has, Dr. Khayat once again repeated how he can see the resemblance between you and me.

In mid-June, I went to the picnic celebrating Mississippi next to the Washington monument. I saw a few old friends I knew, but most were young interns on Capitol Hill so I did not know too many people.

I also went to a professional baseball game, at least some of it because it ran so late with rain delay, between Philadelphia and Washington. It was at the old stadium, RFK stadium.

I flew to Tupelo and closed on the house on June 28. Dad picked me up since Shae had already moved to Jackson with my parents. The movers got our furniture on the 22nd. After a family reunion, Shae and I started the long drive to DC on Thursday at noon on the 29th. We stayed with Leah in Crossville for two nights and then made the final trek to No. Va. That was a wonderful and very relaxing time. Weather was really nice and Leah and Grant really enjoyed seeing Brinson.

From Leah’s, it took me 8 and ½ hours by myself, but with baby and dog it took almost 11, and we lost the hour going to eastern time. I think we arrived in Sterling around 11:15 at night.

We stayed with my friend a few days before our furniture showed up on July 6. Since then we have been unpacking and eating at the myriad of restaurants. There are plenty of places to eat. Shae left for Oklahoma on the 24th, the day I left for my seminar in Tupelo.)

Brinson is growing fast and is absolutely adorable. His hair is getting lighter and he is being really good about all of the changes we are making. Maverick is hanging in there as well. Our townhome we are renting is 4 stories with three large bedrooms and 4 and ½ baths. It is too expensive to buy, but we are hoping we can rent it for a while.

On July 15th, Shae, Brinson, Maverick and I decided to explore the city a little bit. We drove on the George Washington Memorial Parkway where you can see lots of sites across the Potomac, like the Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln Memorial. We went to Arlington and went to the statue of Teddy Roosevelt on Roosevelt island. The island is a little piece on conservation on the Potomac. Pretty impressive statue of Teddy – I had no idea this existed. Lots of trails to run on as the road remind me of church camp roads (of course, no cars can get over to the island as it is only accessible by a walking bridge).

We had a small shower which made things real muggy, but we went on over to Arlington cemetery. The first thing we did was find George McInvale Grant’s tomb. I found out that Aunt Matalee died in 2004, which my mom did not know. It was so hot and muggy that we had to strip Brinson into simply a diaper and a bib. I laughed and told her we moved up from the south and already had our baby in nothing but diapers! Anyway, Uncle Grant is buried real close to Joe Louis, the famous boxer. We saw the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown. Being older it kind of bored me, but I understand the pageantry is important to people. We then walked to President Kennedy’s grave, but did not really see the rest of his family besides Jackie. It was so hot we left after that.

I went to a small town outside of Charlotte, NC for a few days recently for work. We have not started going to a church yet, but when Shae gets back from Oklahoma we plan on pursuing that. Besides all this, it is mostly work for me and taking care of the baby and unpacking for Shae. Needless to say we are staying very busy.

A belated picture

2006-08-01T20:23:00.000-05:00

This is from June at the Mississippi picnic on the mall:

I hope the blog is back

2006-07-29T19:14:00.000-05:00

I hope my blog is back. It is going to chamge to more of an update site of my family than the topics in the heading, though hopefully those topics will be discussed some in the future.

To see lots of pictures of my son Brinson, click here:

http://onceuponababy.blogspot.com/

For the original introduction to my blog, click here:

http://bowhite.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_bowhite_archive.html

So, hope you enjoy the saga of my family in the DC suburbs of No. Va!

At Arlington cemetary

2006-07-29T19:09:00.000-05:00

Bo & Maverick

Bo in front of Joe Louis's grave

Shae

Bo & Brinson in front of the grave of Bo's great, great uncle, the Congressman from Alabama

Our new townhome in Virginia

2006-07-29T19:02:00.000-05:00

The townhome we are renting in the No. Virginia suburb of Sterling.

Ole Miss Sports & Free Grace

2006-01-03T23:13:00.000-06:00

I just returned from the Ole Miss basketball game tonight and we are horrible (we barely beat a bad team tonight). It is going to be a long SEC year. I thank God for his free grace and mercy because Ole Miss sports brings out the sinner in me. If you do not believe me, try being a lifelong Ole Miss fan. I cannot jump on random collegiate bandwagons like some folks like to do. Ole Miss is in my blood - maybe that is why it boils and makes me so angry. I glad to know God's grace is larger than my frustrations with Ole Miss athletics. Truly that is grace that is vast, unmeaured, boudless and free.

The Sum of Which is . . . Pro Wrestling

2005-12-31T17:37:00.000-06:00

People always ask how I, an educated person who enjoys cultural activities and knowledge of the world, can possibly be such a fan of pro-wrestling. Simple. Outside of God and family, my three favorite loves are sports, acting and comedy. Add sports, acting and comedy together, and you get . . . pro wrestling.

I have always known the that outcome of wrestling was predetermined, even at a really young age. I am surprised that I did not get involved in reformed theology later in life. After all, I believe God in his sovreignty has already predetermined everything. And, as far as I know, pro wrestling matches are predetermined too.

So on behalf of:
The Nature Boy Ric Flair (Whooooooooo)
John Calvin
The Blackadder
P. Willie, and
Kasey Keller

Welcome to the ring. Jerry Calhoun is your referee. Ding, Ding!