I laugh in your general direction! Our baby boy, Elliott (first name is Kevin for those of you who didn't alreay know)turns 21 on Monday, January 30th. In the fine traditon of politicians in touch with their constituency, State Senator Mike Haridopolos's office sends out birthday card greetings. We received this one this week and will proudly pass it along to Ms. Kevin Blount.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Driving Mr. Ian
Ian now is the proud owner of a driver's permit in the state of Florida. After sitting in the Driver's License Office for an hour and a half, Ian got his picture snapped, I signed off on things and signed a check, and we headed out. Ian drove in the church parking lot for a while getting the feel of the wheel, the gas and brake pedals, and working on pulling into parking places. Then he drove me home. Yep, he drove me home from the church building! Yay! It has been a very good day.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Sick As Sick Can Be, I Must Say
The 2005-06 University of Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Team is as sad as sad can be I must say, and it makes me as sick as sick can be, eh? Losing three straght games for the first time since 1999 and losing back-to-back home SEC games for the first time since 1989, it put me in the mind of Ed Grimley. I know that Tubby must feel like he has a team of Ed Grimleys right now, as they are just not a very good team at the moment. I will not say that Tubby is at fault, and I know that if any college coach in America could turn them around it is Tubby.Meanwhile, Ian and Emily are feeling better, but it was my turn today. I have gone as far as the mailbox, and should get up on the roof and take the Christmas lights down since the wind is blowing big time today and has knocked some of the strings loose from the roof. Just don't feel all that swell today, so maybe I'll wait till tomorrow. We are getting some pretty serious winds this afternoon. The strongest since Wilma blew through here in October. Temps in the 60's today and expected to dip into the 30's overnight! YIKES. That makes me as sick as sick can be, I must say!
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Sickness Reigns
Well, 'tis the season...for the yuckies! Elliott called yesterday with a sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, etc. Ian and Emily both woke up this morning with a stomach virus meaning they could not venture too far from the "potty" so I let them stay home. To top it off, Elliott's car (which is still showing the "check engine light") needs repairs not covered by his warranty and totalling over $300. Oh the folks at Vatland are in for a surprise. They WILL fix this problem, or I will be discussing the Lemon Law matter with someone. Actually, we are about to decide that the problems were caused when they (meaning Vatland) had to pry open the locked gas cap since they didn't have a key. I'll keep you posted on that little drama as it unfolds. So, with Elliott pumping himself full of antibiotics due to his sinus infection, he now can go to his apartment for the rest of the evening and seeth, uh rest.
Peggy and I have a "Supper 8" date tonight with some folks from the church, we're heading to Bonos. Ummmm, bar-b-que! Ian and Emily meanwhile will feast on chicken noodle soup and crackers. Ha!
Peggy and I have a "Supper 8" date tonight with some folks from the church, we're heading to Bonos. Ummmm, bar-b-que! Ian and Emily meanwhile will feast on chicken noodle soup and crackers. Ha!
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
OrangeBowlTicket
When you don't have a dog in that fight, and you get invited to a BCS Bowl Game for FREE, and it turns into a triple overtime thriller...well, it just doesn't get any better than that, folks!
Tim and Lou Ann Collins have some connections for the Orange Bowl, and they had two extra tickets, so they asked Peggy and me to go. Well, Peggy has already started back at school, so she couldn't go, but Elliott quickly and enthusiastically said "yes" when I asked him if he would like to go.
So the big day arrived yesterday, with me still trying to get a hot water tank delivered and installed (no hot water since New Year's Eve is getting old). the Collins' picked us up at our house at 3:00 PM, and we began the trek to Miami. We arrived at the Dosphins' Stadium around 6:30 and "quickly" found a parking spot along with 77,769 other people who attended the Orange Bowl with us. We were supposed to meet up with some friends of Tim's and do some tailgating (tranlaste that eating lots of free food), but none of our cell phones wanted to work in the sea of cell phone users around the stadium, so we wound up just going on in the stadium and purchasing extremely overpriced morsals of "nutrition" inside. Elliott and I got the wings, which were okay...no Beef O'Brady's to be sure, but they were okay.
As you can see from the ticket, we were in the bottom section of the stadium, 12 rows off the field along the 20 yeard line in the Florida State section. The Penn State touchdown pass with six seconds left in the 1st half came right at us. All the missed field goals in overtime were on our end of the field. I have to tell you that this game was the best football game I have ever seen in person. Sorry, but the best game I have ever seen would still have to the the Marsall/East Carolina matchup in the GMAC Bowl when Marshall came from a 30-point defecit to take the victory behind my man Byron Leftwich. But last night's game was truly a classic!
By the time the winning field goal was kicked by Penn State at 1:00 AM on January 4th, we were emotionally exhausted, and again, I didn't have a dog in that fight! I know the FSU faithful were disappointed by the outcome, but they couldn't have been disappointed by the thrills of the game. I do have to admit that I laughed out loud when the FSU place kicker boinked the right upight of the goal post in the third overtime. Fortrunately, there was enough crowd noise goaning to drown out my laughter. But it was funny.
Anyway, I cannot thank Tim and Lou Ann Collins enough. It was a great game and a great time with great friends.
Tim and Lou Ann Collins have some connections for the Orange Bowl, and they had two extra tickets, so they asked Peggy and me to go. Well, Peggy has already started back at school, so she couldn't go, but Elliott quickly and enthusiastically said "yes" when I asked him if he would like to go.
So the big day arrived yesterday, with me still trying to get a hot water tank delivered and installed (no hot water since New Year's Eve is getting old). the Collins' picked us up at our house at 3:00 PM, and we began the trek to Miami. We arrived at the Dosphins' Stadium around 6:30 and "quickly" found a parking spot along with 77,769 other people who attended the Orange Bowl with us. We were supposed to meet up with some friends of Tim's and do some tailgating (tranlaste that eating lots of free food), but none of our cell phones wanted to work in the sea of cell phone users around the stadium, so we wound up just going on in the stadium and purchasing extremely overpriced morsals of "nutrition" inside. Elliott and I got the wings, which were okay...no Beef O'Brady's to be sure, but they were okay.
As you can see from the ticket, we were in the bottom section of the stadium, 12 rows off the field along the 20 yeard line in the Florida State section. The Penn State touchdown pass with six seconds left in the 1st half came right at us. All the missed field goals in overtime were on our end of the field. I have to tell you that this game was the best football game I have ever seen in person. Sorry, but the best game I have ever seen would still have to the the Marsall/East Carolina matchup in the GMAC Bowl when Marshall came from a 30-point defecit to take the victory behind my man Byron Leftwich. But last night's game was truly a classic!
By the time the winning field goal was kicked by Penn State at 1:00 AM on January 4th, we were emotionally exhausted, and again, I didn't have a dog in that fight! I know the FSU faithful were disappointed by the outcome, but they couldn't have been disappointed by the thrills of the game. I do have to admit that I laughed out loud when the FSU place kicker boinked the right upight of the goal post in the third overtime. Fortrunately, there was enough crowd noise goaning to drown out my laughter. But it was funny.
Anyway, I cannot thank Tim and Lou Ann Collins enough. It was a great game and a great time with great friends.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Orange Bowl
Tim and Lou Ann Collins have taken Elliott and me to the Orange Bowl to watch Penn State and Florida State tangle! It is about an hour before kickoff, and I am sitting in my seat which is 12 rows off the field along the 20 yeard line in the Florida State section. I'll give you a further update with a picture of my Orange Bowl Ticket tomorrow, but for now just realize that I am at the Orange Bowl in person! SWEET!
Who's Grillin'? I'm so Grillin'!
So, I turn on the grill Sunday to fix Salmon (one of mhy favorite meals to fix on the grill) when flames shoot up between the burner part of the grill and the control knobs. Not a good sign. The vents on the gas lines going to the burners had flames coming out from them. I grilled the salmon knowing it would be the last meal ever prepared on the grill Peggy's parents gave us five years ago as a house warming party.
Peggy and I had been talking about replacing the grill in February anyway, and had discussed getting a stainless steel grill. While shopping for a hot water tank at Lowe's Sunday afternoon, I found my new Grill-love. It is a commercial grade stainless steel grill with a 45 burger capacity. Five burners in the main section, a top shelf for warming, and a side burner complete with a teflon plate for pancakes, scrabled eggs, bacon, etc. Peggy's first thought was it would be great for those times when our electricty is out during hurricane season. My first thought was that Salmon will taste even better on this puppy! Anyway, this picutre shows the upgrade we have made in the grill department. Again, the old grill was great, but it is now heading to the great grillfest in the sky. Or the county landfill.
Peggy and I had been talking about replacing the grill in February anyway, and had discussed getting a stainless steel grill. While shopping for a hot water tank at Lowe's Sunday afternoon, I found my new Grill-love. It is a commercial grade stainless steel grill with a 45 burger capacity. Five burners in the main section, a top shelf for warming, and a side burner complete with a teflon plate for pancakes, scrabled eggs, bacon, etc. Peggy's first thought was it would be great for those times when our electricty is out during hurricane season. My first thought was that Salmon will taste even better on this puppy! Anyway, this picutre shows the upgrade we have made in the grill department. Again, the old grill was great, but it is now heading to the great grillfest in the sky. Or the county landfill.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Everything Ashland
Our whirlwind trip to Ashland, KY, would not be complete without this overview, so as promised earlier on this site, here it goes...
We left Vero Beach at Midnight Christmas Day, arriving in Ashland at 2:20 PM Christmas Afternoon. Elliott had the most interesting part of the drive, as all the idiots in the Charlotte, NC, area managed to get out on I-77 in front of him. He also had the pleasure of driving into one of the worst fog banks I've seen in recent memory as we crossed the Virginia border and started the climb into the mountains. A caravan of three cars thought it would be a good idea to drive in the middle lane on I-77 at 10-15 mph. We cam swooping down upon them driving at 35 mph, causing me to need to change my pants, if you know what I mean.
Upon arrival in Ashland, Peggy's Parents wanted to take us to the Ponderosa Steak House for Christmas Dinner. Exhausted from the drive, and more than a little giddy, we went. While standing in the line of about 50 people, we observed the most perfect she-mullet! It was all we could do to keep from rolling around on the floor laughing! We also saw a lumberjack and his "Babe" (she was even wearing blue)! Oh man, it was a good time while eating the Christmas Buffet.
Of course there was plenty of gas-passing at Nanny & Papaw's house, so that wouldn't really be a highlight, but rather a way of life. We gave Terri & Alvin the great Christmas Classic CD Christmas In the Air which set the proper festive mood throughout the week. We played at least one song from the CD for everyone who came by the house that week...that includes Whitney, Chris & Cheryl, Jim & Debbie, and the Amerines & Sahib. Good times for sure.
I have already documented the playground trip, the Texas Roadhouse outing, our numerous visits with Gran, and the No Moes experience.
Ian, Emily and Elliott went to an Ashland Invitational Tournament basketball game on Tuesday night, because a couple of guys on the Ashland team played ball with Ian in elementary school. On Wednesday night, I took Ian and Emily back to the A-I-T for another game. We saw several folks from the community that we knew, so it was a cheap way to see lots of folks...no extra driving necessary1
Nanny got all five of the Grandkids in a portrait studio at the Wal-Mart in South Point, OH Wednesday morning, all sporting University of Kentucky T-shirts. While in the neihgborhood, we drove up to see Fred Kilver at the Mustard Seed Christian Bookstore. I have been trying to find some soundtracks from the CD of music inspiried by the Chronicles of Narnia to no avail. I knew that Fred could find them for me, and he did. They are on order, and I should have them within a couple of weeks. Fred still runs the BEST Christian Bookstore in America!
But, one of the major highlights of the trip had to be Thursday evening's jaunt to...Gatti-land! Hence the picture with this post. Oh Gatti-land is a pizza buffet and games galore paradise. It has been a tradition in our family since we started having kids, and Elliott was about to cry at the thought that it was our last day in town and we hadn't yet feasted on gatti-land pizza (and I'm pretty sure he wanted to play some games, too). As is the case for many of the events mentioned in this post, there are plenty of picutres chronicling our journey (alas no she-mullet pictures) on my FLICKR site.
We left Ashland at 11:00 PM Thursday, still full of pizza, and made it back to Vero Beach around 2:00 PM Friday afternoon. A most satisfying trip, but it is good to be back home!
We left Vero Beach at Midnight Christmas Day, arriving in Ashland at 2:20 PM Christmas Afternoon. Elliott had the most interesting part of the drive, as all the idiots in the Charlotte, NC, area managed to get out on I-77 in front of him. He also had the pleasure of driving into one of the worst fog banks I've seen in recent memory as we crossed the Virginia border and started the climb into the mountains. A caravan of three cars thought it would be a good idea to drive in the middle lane on I-77 at 10-15 mph. We cam swooping down upon them driving at 35 mph, causing me to need to change my pants, if you know what I mean.
Upon arrival in Ashland, Peggy's Parents wanted to take us to the Ponderosa Steak House for Christmas Dinner. Exhausted from the drive, and more than a little giddy, we went. While standing in the line of about 50 people, we observed the most perfect she-mullet! It was all we could do to keep from rolling around on the floor laughing! We also saw a lumberjack and his "Babe" (she was even wearing blue)! Oh man, it was a good time while eating the Christmas Buffet.
Of course there was plenty of gas-passing at Nanny & Papaw's house, so that wouldn't really be a highlight, but rather a way of life. We gave Terri & Alvin the great Christmas Classic CD Christmas In the Air which set the proper festive mood throughout the week. We played at least one song from the CD for everyone who came by the house that week...that includes Whitney, Chris & Cheryl, Jim & Debbie, and the Amerines & Sahib. Good times for sure.
I have already documented the playground trip, the Texas Roadhouse outing, our numerous visits with Gran, and the No Moes experience.
Ian, Emily and Elliott went to an Ashland Invitational Tournament basketball game on Tuesday night, because a couple of guys on the Ashland team played ball with Ian in elementary school. On Wednesday night, I took Ian and Emily back to the A-I-T for another game. We saw several folks from the community that we knew, so it was a cheap way to see lots of folks...no extra driving necessary1
Nanny got all five of the Grandkids in a portrait studio at the Wal-Mart in South Point, OH Wednesday morning, all sporting University of Kentucky T-shirts. While in the neihgborhood, we drove up to see Fred Kilver at the Mustard Seed Christian Bookstore. I have been trying to find some soundtracks from the CD of music inspiried by the Chronicles of Narnia to no avail. I knew that Fred could find them for me, and he did. They are on order, and I should have them within a couple of weeks. Fred still runs the BEST Christian Bookstore in America!
But, one of the major highlights of the trip had to be Thursday evening's jaunt to...Gatti-land! Hence the picture with this post. Oh Gatti-land is a pizza buffet and games galore paradise. It has been a tradition in our family since we started having kids, and Elliott was about to cry at the thought that it was our last day in town and we hadn't yet feasted on gatti-land pizza (and I'm pretty sure he wanted to play some games, too). As is the case for many of the events mentioned in this post, there are plenty of picutres chronicling our journey (alas no she-mullet pictures) on my FLICKR site.
We left Ashland at 11:00 PM Thursday, still full of pizza, and made it back to Vero Beach around 2:00 PM Friday afternoon. A most satisfying trip, but it is good to be back home!
Sunday, January 01, 2006
With Gran
One of the main reasons we took our trip to Ashland during Christmas week was to visit with Gran. Peggy's 93-year-old Grandaddy has been living in a nursing home for about a year now. We visited him every day while in town, and he always had a smile on his face during our visits. He seemed fairly lucid, his color looked good, and we had several really good visits with him. Well, the day we left for Vero Beach, Gran was taken to the hospital with a temperature and elevated heart rate. On New Year's Day we learned that Gran's kidneys are failing, working at only about 20% capacity, and that he may have an anurism in his stomach. Thanks for your prayers for Gran and for the family as they tend to his care. Praise God for our time together with Gran last week!
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