I guess it's my turn to blog about the 4Th of July. I took off last Thursday and deb and I headed out about 8:00am to run some errands. After the errands we got to mom and dad's house about 9:30 and on the road by 10:00. We took I 85 to Greenville and picked up Deb's niece, Sydney. Syd is heading to Canada for the summer so we got to spend a few days with her before she flew out. We got to Peg and Steve's about 3:30 or so and just relaxed the rest of the day.Some games were played and some baseball was watched. Friday the weather was great, the deck is in the shade and was the perfect place to hang out.Steve cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and we watched the Braves. Saturdays weather was just as good and everyone basically hung out all day. It was great to have Mike, Michelle and the girls with us. All three girls Hannah, Heather and Sydney are all big readers, so when they were not playing games with grand mom and aunt Debo they were scattered around the house with books. Steve put a pork shoulder and a bunch of ribs on the smoker in the morning and let them go all day. After the feast we watched the NASCAR race out on the deck. then came the fire works. Steve had a nice selection that would have awed the crowd until the neighbor broke out the professional set. just one of those things was 2 feet high and 12 inched across. Thay were wild.

On Sunday we headed home. After dropping off mom and pop we made a stop at Sam's for some grocery's then home to get ready for another work week.

An other Weekend

Another weekend and I have a lot going on. Dan and I went on another Patriot Guard Ride. Three members of the Georgia National Guard were killed in Afghanistan last week. They were only in country for 20 days when they hit an improvised explosive device. A fire fight ensued and 3 lives were lost.

We went to the funeral of Sergeant John Beale. Sergeant Beale lived in McDonough with his wife and 2 children. His body came home last Thursday, his son’s 13th birthday. One of the neat things I saw at the church was when the family limo came up to the door it was flanked be 2 State Patrol motorcycles and 4 Patriot Guard bikes. The bike in front of the limo has the 13 year old son on it. The PGR had a good showing, 140 members showed up to honor the family. This was the largest procession I have ever seen. Not counting the PGR motorcycles It took 35 minutes from the time the first vehicle left for the cemetery till the last one got out of the church parking lot.

It was 22 miles to the cemetery and every car in both directions stopped and most of the people got out and stood at attention. Hundreds of veterans stood saluting in front of their homes and subdivisions. Every police and fire man in every jurisdiction we went thru were along the road to pay respect. The city of Lovejoy has 2 ladder trucks with an American flag across the road. This all tells me that AMERICA STILL CARES.
I would invite any of you to join me or Steve on a PGR mission. You do not have to be on a motorcycle to participate.

After the ride Dan and I went to Peachtree City to see a C130 storm chaser that was on display. The line was very long so we did not go in but we spent some time with the load master and got some great info.

The picture below is a probe they drop in a hurricane out the bottom of the plane, and it has a parachute to get weather info. ( I was told if the Russians got a hold of this picture they could play havoc with our weather for years to come,so do not pass this on.) Hay Bryan, This a modified J model (Early J model)

All in all I had a good day. I got some sun and shed some tears, but it was good.

New Car

Well I found a new vehicle. It is a 2005 Kia Sorento. I had never thought about a Kia, but I needed a car for the wedding and the Sorento was the biggest one the rental company had. I really liked it and started to look in to them. The Sorento is rated very high by all the consumer magazines and web sites. I started looking for one and found quite a few in the price range I was looking. After looking at 4 or 5 I found this one in Gainesville. It has 45,000 miles, so I still have 15,000 on the warrantee. It has more options on it than anything I have ever had. All the normal power stuff plus a sun roof 4 wheel drive and remote start. It has 3 garage door openers built in the rearview mirror.
I think it will be a good car, and the best thing is it is not a Taurua.

I've Been Busy

It has been a while since I blogged. We have been busy. On Friday the 15th I was on my way to the office and had a small accident. I hit a guy in the rear in traffic. My air-bag went off and the bumper was pushed in but with 137,000 miles it was totaled. I think I have bagged my limit on Taurus. ( or is it Tauri?) I have been looking for a new vehicle and actually found one today, but I will tell you about that in the next blog.

This past weekend was Micah’s wedding. The week leading up to it was full of stress but the events went early well. Deb, the bride and groom and I are the only locals in ether family so we invited everyone to the rehearsal dinner as a get to know each other. The biggest compliment we got all evening was when Christine’s grand father told us it felt like a family reunion not a meet and greet.

They were married at Holy Spirit Church on Northside. It was tough to find. Even people with GPS had trouble. Deb’s mom and dad almost missed it. Once they got there everything was great. The reception was at the Hyatt at Windy Hill. We danced and celebrated till midnight. All in all it was a perfect day. I have some of our pictures to share with you. I didn’t get any at the church because we were front and center but when we get the photographers shots I will share.

Enjoy

Micah and Christen

Up To Something!

Deb with Vergil and Mary, parents of the Bride

Barbara Money and Mildred Evans

Micah and John puton a dance clinic.

And finally the obligatory Y.M.C.A

Just a quick bolg, last weekend I went on the ride for the Children’s Healthcare Network. I met Dan, John Franck and Larry Collett for breakfast at the IHOP on La Vista rd at 7:00am. We then headed to Stone Mtn Harley for the ride. It was an over cast day so not a lot of people showed up. At about 10:00 we took off on a circuitous route past 3 of the Children’s hospitals. It was a good ride for the most part, but as we were headed back to the Harley dealership one of the escort officers was hit by a car coming out of Stone Mountain Parl. He was stopped and rear ended. He was not seriously hurt and one of the new trauma ambulances that Wal-Mart donated was following the bikes so help was there literally in 2 minutes. They put him on a back board and took him in for a checkup. He was only bruised but not broken.

Dan and I went by the Honda dealer in Conyers after that. They had a stunt bike show going on. (quite a different crowd) That is when we saw this guy. Neck brace, stunt vest and German helmet, that is a “never say die” attitude. The Dan got a picture of Sergeant Schultz
“I KNOW NOTHING”

On Sunday morning I had to leave for a business trip to Tampa. I had meetings Sunday night and Monday. I worked my way home on Tuesday and was home for a late dinner. All in all another busy week ,but that is my life.

How can they do that?

That is the question. How can they do that? Two weeks ago Deb and I went to Kohl’s to look for a black suit for me to ware at the wedding. I got a new suit, tie and belt for $127.00. I also got $20 in Kohl’s bucks to be spent in the next two weeks. Thought that was a great deal. The next weekend I took my Kohl’s bucks and went looking for some sneakers. I found the shoes you see in the picture. They were $59.99 on sale for $29.99. Holy cow. I give the cashier mc Kohl’s bucks and she tells me it is $25.83. I said they were on sale for $29.99(not sure how we got to $25.83) She said everything in the shoe department was an additional 15% off. She then deducted my $20 and I paid $5.83 for a $60.00 pair of shoes. How can they do that?

I spent Saturday morning working in the yard. I trimmed some trees cut back some undergrowth in the woods. Deb’s mom and sister came down to go to a funeral of an old neighbor so they went out Saturday afternoon. I took my motorcycle out for a ride and got home about 8:30. Today when the girls went to the funeral I met Dan and we went out to the Monroe airport to see the new skydiving place being set up. I took my camera and was practicing some shots.
Oh yah we also went to the radio control airport.

Another Weekend

We spent this weekend just doing some things around the house. Friday evening I mowed the lawn so I didn’t have to do it on Saturday. When we got up on Saturday we went and had a bagel then did some errands. Deb needed some shoes to go with a new dress she got for the wedding and I needed some sneakers. That is a story for the next blog. (How Can They Do That) coming soon.

We stopped at the hardware store and I got some tomato plants. This year I thought I would try the upside down tomato planting thing. I made my own planter instead of buying one. I have seen the upside down with the plants coming out the side and some with the plant coming out the bottom. I decided to go out the side but think next time I would come out the bottom. I am worried that the weight of the plant may break the stem. Time will tell.

We also planted a couple of azaleas around the yard for some color sometime in the future. When we were finished we hopped on the bikes and rode to dinner. We wound up in Loganville and met my buddy John. We got home just before dark.
Steve called last night to let me know his deck was at the finally finished. I’m sure Peggie will tell that story, I just wanted to say good job. I know he spent a lot of time on it but he will get many more hours of enjoyment from it.

The weather is not supposed to be great so I fired up the smoker. I figured we would just be hanging around the house so I could keep an eye on it. I put a roast beef on it. I usually do pork roast but figured I would try something a little different. I will let you all know how it goes.
I took some pictures around the yard this morning and wanted to share them.

See you all later.