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I (still) Can't Believe What I Just Saw

2011-11-06T10:30:00.002-05:00

One of the greatest home run calls could easily be applied to the last 6 weeks of Cardinal baseball. A season that appeared to be lost with injuries and mediocrity, turned into arguably the greatest season in Cardinal history. After a little over a week, I am still stunned and amazed.

Wow!

2011-10-11T23:16:00.000-04:00

Almost Grown Up

2011-10-10T19:20:00.008-04:00

Our little Suki has grown from under a pound when Nikki found her to over 5 lbs now. It's so good to have another pet around. Especially to watch her learn about things like the printer and seltzer water. She tends to sleep wherever she falls and still wants to 'pet' Cooper, but all of that goes with the fun of having a kitten. Coop seems to enjoy the company, unless she is having a fit too late at night. The only downside is that she is impossible to photograph. Oh well, we still love her.

Happy Flight

2011-10-07T23:36:00.000-04:00

Pa-paw

2011-10-04T10:52:00.008-04:00

Leslie "Pa-paw" French

April 30th, 1926 - Sept 28th, 2011

After having a stroke a couple weeks before, my granddad passed away last Wednesday. I have several images of him in my head over the years, but the blurry one below is one of the most enduring. I started thinking about him about what he meant to everyone on the flight home. He was most likely responsible for a bunch of Cardinal fans and several people catfishing on the banks of Kentucky Lake. He never met a stranger and there were probably very few moments where he had little to say. But through it all he never forced his opinion on anyone, it was more of talking to an old friend. He probably never knew it or thought about it much , but he left a great blueprint on how to be person in this tough world. He will be sorely missed and even after all his talks and tales, I still feel like there were more to hear.

The winner is...

2011-10-04T10:34:00.002-04:00

Glenn. What a way to end the fantasy baseball season. I was leading with 2 days to go when Glenn passed me, then Justin got me on the last day. If he would have had one more game, I think things would have turned out differently. So after 162 games, there was 6.3 points separating 1st and 2nd and just a single point between 4th and 5th. Interesting to say the least.

In regular baseball, what a way for the Cards to close out the season and make the playoffs. Good luck in the next couple of games.

Down to the Wire

2011-09-28T09:10:00.003-04:00

The Cards finally caught the Braves and Fantasy Baseball is shaping up to be a great finale. With one game to go in the season, things are very tight. It's fun to see the wild card races come down to the end. But in Fantasy news, Glenn passed me yesterday to take first place after 161 games. 53 points is all that separates 1st to 3rd (Justin) and then ladies have their own race. Nikki leads Amanda by 1.7 points and Kathy by 22.7. Pretty amazing after close to 7000 points by the leader, we come down to such tight races going into the finale today. Plus we have some good regular baseball also. Go Cards.

Employed

2011-09-08T23:39:00.002-04:00

Well the big news? As if everyone who reads this doesn't know, I am back to doing what I guess I really love. Most know that the last couple years were rough at times, but also a lot of fun (in a weird way I guess). Even though there were times in the previous years where I had to dig deep to accomplish what I was trying to do, the last two made me dig deeper. I realized (or reaffirmed) that I have a great social network and support group of family and friends. Everyone knows how self-reliant and stubborn I can be, but there were quite a few times in this down turn where I really needed some friendly advice or encouragement, even if I wouldn't admit it. Those people that aided and stuck by me through all of this really showed me what friendship should be. Hopefully I learned a lot through people's kind gestures and care.

The last couple months flew by. I have had firms interested in hiring me over the entire time, but things fell through or the timing was just not right. Plus I had my heart set on staying in the Justice field as long as I could afford the Vienna sausage. (Those that know me, know I would prefer to skip that stuff). In January, I started consulting with McCarty Company in Tupelo, MS. I have known about the firm since about '98 through my fellow goat herder Justin. Interest picked up with another firm in August and low and behold I had two offers within a week. After a lot of antagonizing thinking, I decided to follow my gut and join the firm in MS. Yep, we will be moving some time in the near future. So I have been officially employed for a couple weeks now. Feels weird at times, but very satisfying at others. I really like the firm and the people that work there. I was always looking for the right fit and this appears to be the place for me.

Over the last couple years, I thought about how things could have turned out differently and what the future holds. Yep I tediously think a bunch. That's probably where Cooper gets it from. Some times things just happen, no matter how much of yourself you give. It hurts but that's life and you have to realize that it isn't necessarily you when you see it happening all the time to good people. My goals are to always be learning and giving back. If I can keep those two things in front of me, I will be a happy camper. We will see what this next chapter brings me, Nicole, Coop and Suki, but I believe it will be just fine when you have good people looking out for you.

Time to Update this Blog

2011-09-06T16:12:00.002-04:00

I guess I have been busy for a bit or ignoring this blog. There is a quite a bit to talk about, but I need to do it in small doses. There is some big news that probably everyone knows, so I will get to that in a few days. But first something serious and something light.

If you haven't caught the Discovery Channel Series Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero, I would highly recommend it. The link below is similar in nature and equally inspiring plus a fitting tribute.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/31/us/sept-11-reckoning/skycowboys.html

The second link isn't serious at all, but something I wanted to post to lighten the mood a bit after the first link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BudhFVnN2o0&feature=like-suggest&list=UL

I will try to get to the rest of the updates in the coming days.

Amen

2011-07-25T12:40:00.001-04:00

Interest in NASCAR and religon would be up with more invocations like this one.

#9

2011-07-24T10:51:00.006-04:00

Some little bulldog turned 9 yesterday. His new best buddy was there to help him celebrate with some frosty paws.

Meet Suki

2011-06-18T20:36:00.012-04:00

I had the "Movies" post in the think tank (ha) last night when I got a surprise. So today you get a twofer on posts ...

Nikki went for a walk last night, a little later than normal. I was working (playing) on computer stuff, like the other post, so I didn't go. She wasn't home in her normal time, so I sent her a text. The reply surprised me. She said that she found a very young and small kitten up by the road close to a shopping area. I didn't hear another response from her, so I decided she may need help with it or something else might have happened. I was loading up supplies and food when she walked in with the tiniest black cat.

Suki, what we are tentatively calling her now, is basically skin and bones, but playful. We have checked around and can't find any signs or evidence that anyone is missing a kitty. Cooper may just have a new roomie.

Cooper is happy about whatever in the world he thinks the small thing is.

We started exploring this morning. She seems fine and eating all she can. Poor little thing is adorable and loves running around and playing. She could really care less about the beast that outweighs her by 65 lbs. She was courageous enough to get within a foot of him before bounding off.

Cooper does watch her and his belongings.

She found his food though...

And she enjoys TV time.

Plus sleeping a bunch. No telling what she thinks but her world is totally different from 24 hours ago. She was about 10 feet from 5 lanes of traffic. I told Nikki she was smelling Bojangles and you really messed her up. Ha.

Nikki is out walking again, but claims to be ignoring the sounds in the bushes tonight.

Movies

2011-06-18T20:07:00.003-04:00

It's no secret that Nikki and I really like relaxing with movies. With work being slow right now, even though there appears to be some good news on the horizon, we took in a few movies over the last month.

Hangover 2 - The first Hangover has to be close to being my favorite comedy of all time. I think it had been awhile since I had seen such a fresh comedy. Well, in my opinion they kept the same formula for the second one. Even if it is a bit predictable and in the exact same mold, I still laughed a bunch. Good movie to see, but I left the theater hoping for more.

Super 8 - Nikki's choice, b/c I hadn't seen much about it. Good, campy movie in the style of Goonies or something. I think I went in thinking it was going to be a little more of a thriller than a campy film. It was decent, but not worth the price of admission.

X-men:First Class - Comic movies are usally a big miss with me. But this one really caught my eye. I can say I really enjoyed this movie. I loved the ties to historical events and introducing the backgrounds of characters that I read about way back when. Great movie and it really seemed to have a control on the visuals and special effects which I enjoyed.

But now to what I can't wait for.

I saw this trailer a few weeks back while looking up what David Fincher was up to. Fincher has been one of my favorite directors since Se7en and Fight Club. I had heard of the books, but never found the right time to read them in my backlog of reading material. It appears that I need to read the first one before X-mas. Maybe I am a schmuck for interesting cover music and flashy images, but I have watched this trailer several times already.

And one more trailer that appeals to me. Probably only me, b/c of the subject matter.

New Cardinals

2011-06-08T00:11:00.002-04:00

No wonder the Cardinals are doing so well!

(sorry the embed isn't working)

http://mlb.jibjab.com/view/3zdVFkrPnI8hdS7m

Guy Arguing with an Ibex

2011-05-04T13:39:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of Justin

Random Phone Pics

2011-05-03T08:49:00.019-04:00

One of my simple pleasures in life is always having a camera on me. Here are a few random phone shots from the last several months.

Its so easy to antagonize Cooper and we both like doing it.

More margay pics from Honduras

Nosy neighbors at one of my friend's house. But they are cute.

Another friend has beaver problems.

Self checkout extreme style

A nice, miserable day but we were at a Cirque du Soliel show

Did some relative make it famous enough to have a sign?

You might want to rethink the position of your attachment

I see this lizard picking at a larger one and I realize this may not end well for the little one. But after a few minutes he did escape with only a bruised nose.

Ms Sweet Pea posing from my recent trip to MS.

Kaylie said she liked traveling this way.

Dad's little helper on the tractor restoration project.

A couple pics from my trip to Dallas. The infamous book depository is on the far right.

And more pics of Cooper.

Miami

2011-04-12T08:16:00.005-04:00

Before we knew it we were back stateside in Miami. We had a little over a day in Miami on our way back home to see the beaches and to walk around some more. We were fairly tired and missing the boat so we didn't take many pictures. But it was fun to see a beach a couple more times on the trip, even if they were the nastiest beaches I had seen in awhile.

Well that is it. One last goofy picture of us on the boat. The trip seems like a distant memory now, but it was so much fun. We may or may not do another cruise with Carnival, but I am sure we will cruise again some day, hopefully in the near future.

Cayman

2011-04-10T14:22:00.004-04:00

Our last port was George Town on Grand Cayman Island. We took it very easy on this day and just walked around the island.

7 mile beach is a must if you ever go to Cayman. The sand and water is picture perfect. It was not that hard to relax lounging around here.

After some more walking around, and a stop at a rum cake shop, we ended up at a stop in the road labeled Hell. There are some old lava rocks here that the captialized on, but not much else. Just a fun loving older couple that run the general store and their every comment has to have the word 'hell' in it. Fun stuff for a break. Oh yeah, the man was wearing a devil's costume also. But we can say we survived Hell.

We didn't take a lot of pictures in Cayman for some reason. But it was just as much fun as the other places. We did shop a bit and had a great day just bumming around.

Isle Roatan, Honduras

2011-04-09T13:01:00.012-04:00

Next stop was an island off Honduras, Isle Roatan. We didn't stay long on it, because we were quickly taken away to another private island, Maya Key. You can walk around the entire Maya Key island in about 20 minutes, but there is tons to do here and it was a great day.

The welcoming area to Isle Roatan.

The rest of the pictures are from Maya Key. They had replicas of the Copan ruins to walk through.

Wild island rabbits. Funniest rabbit I have seen.

The island is home to an animal Rehabilitation and Rescue Center. All of the animals have been rescued as pets or hurt in some way. It was probably the best center that I have seen. Countless birds, a few big cats and other little animals. Sad to see all the former pets here, but people need to realize parrots and other similar birds will most likely out live you. Then what happens?

An ocelot pawing at Nikki.

The margay looked almost like a house cat.

The male jaguar was basically a domesticated pet at one time. He really hammed it up to the crowd.

Farmers tried to torture and kill this poor anteater. After seeing one in Costa Rica last year and now this one, I think I have to add them to my list of favorite animals.

The female jaguar seemed like she wanted to play or maybe eat me or my camera. Wish I wouldn't had jumped back when she lunged at the camera and the fence. But I was about 2 feet from her.

The other part of the island was the beach area. Nice, relaxing area and the snorkeling around the reef area was amazing. Some said it was the best they had ever done, but I don't have much to compare it to. I did see tons of small colorful fish though.

The airport was right over our island. Took a bit to get used to seeing planes land.

Belize

2011-04-05T19:35:00.012-04:00

The second day of our stops dropped us in Belize City, Belize. Well a short boat ride into the port. At times, I realize how sheltered I am. I didn't know that Belize was as poor as it is, only 300,000 people or the size of Massachusetts. But that is why we take these trips, to learn something new.

I was expecting Belize to be more developed for some reason or I guess larger commercial buildings. Funny how your expectations turn out.

The below pitcure might have been the highlight of the 90 minute bus ride into the jungle. Ha. Mountains that resembled a guy laying down.

Most of the Belize houses looked like this one.

Our excursion for the day was cave tubing down a lazy river. We tubed for about a mile through 2 stunning caves. It was a lazy day and there were several groups but we enjoyed it all. Most of the pictures are from a CD we bought. I decided to leave the small camera in a locker thinking I would get it wet somehow. Funny thing was that it broke shortly after we were done tubing anyway. Glad it was the cheap camera. I guess that was our only hiccup on this trip.

Belize was nice relaxing day. The people were very nice and we had a great time shopping and getting to know their country better. A couple other facts that our guide told us. Did you realize that cashews in their shell right off the tree are poisonous to us? Also, their oranges were engineered to be more of an orange color so that we would buy more. Other way of saying it, most oranges aren't really as orange in color originally.

Tulum

2011-04-04T21:30:00.013-04:00

Our first stop on the cruise was the Mexican island of Cozumel. It was pouring rain when we departed. I think that was basically our only rain of the trip though. Since it was pouring and we had to make it to the ferry, I didn't take any pictures of us landing. The ferry to the mainland was rough because of the storm but we landed in Playa del Carmen and took a bus up to the Mayan city of Tulum.

Our guide, Manuel, was the best guide we have ever had. He really has a passion for the Mayan civilization and culture, albeit probably since he is part Mayan. Someone researched Mayan lineage and you can now send blood in to see if you are part Mayan. He knew he was since one of his grandparents was directly connected. Yep, there are still Mayans.

The site was probably the biggest surprise of the trip for me. I was expecting one temple on a cliff, which I would have been pleased with. Instead it is a complex with a few preserved buildings. The Spanish conquistadors razed the rest looking for gold underneath them.

Love seeing more iguanas this year.

Pelicans are one of my new favorite animals. Yep I am weird.

You can't see them, but there are several turtle nests in this roped off beach.

Cooper could choose a better hiding spot.

The red hands to the left of the door are the prints of the building's architect. Sounds like something I should start doing.

The little village before Tulum was a festive place. Look at the center of the picture. There were swinging round and round by their ankles. There were also several people in full Mayan dress and all sorts of knick-knacks.

Our snack was great, besides the the peppers which were tremendously hot and I only had the vegetables that touched them.

Leaving Playa del Carmen

Fransisco was our ferry boat entertainment. Definitely helped taking our minds off the 8-10 foot waves on the way back.

Leaving Cozumel.

Yep, everywhere we went there were more cruise ships.

If you are wondering we did talk about the end of the world next December. If you don't know some people believe the world will end since the Mayan calendar 'ends'. Manuel talked about this a bunch. The calendar doesn't really end, more that it starts over. I may have my facts wrong, but every 5200 years are considered an era in Mayan terms. We are in the 4th era right now and approaching the 5th. So next December we start the 5th Mayan era. Manuel laughed and said to add all the stuff you collected to your Y2K stuff.

Cruise

2011-04-03T12:39:00.038-04:00

After a couple ballgames, the Space Center and making our way down to Miami, it was time to board the ship. I think the appeal of a cruise to us is the destinations more than the boat. We do like waking up in different cities every day. We decided on Carnival this time. It was nice, but probably not as nice as our first cruise with Celebrity. Seemed like there wasn't as much food variety and at times the quality wasn't as good. Plus the ship decor was straight out of Vegas and the layout wasn't that great. Don't get me wrong though, we had a blast and there were a few things that were better than our last cruise.

The shear monstrosity of these boats always amazes me.

The thing we learned from the first cruise was to always choose a balcony. It allows for an escape from the 4000 or so people. The thing we learned this time, when choosing a room make sure it isn't across the hall from a crew door that they use constantly through the night. But we opened our balcony door and the sounds of the sea quickly drowned the other sounds out.

Buffet area.

Carnival did have a better gym.

The ship also had a big TV for movies at night.

This is Glory's sister ship. It was traveling around the Caribbean in a clockwise motion on the same itinerary while we were going counter-clockwise.

A lot of jet skiers came out for our wake when we left port.

Numerous bars, all with similar style.

After dinner chess.

I loved seeing other cruise ships at night.

Look closely, especially in the upper left corner. I was watching Nikki jog (yep i was on vacation) when I saw 14-16 dolphins swimming 12 stories below us.

Our main dining area.

This ship did have a few more entertainment options if you didn't want to water buffalo around the small pools.

Out little retreat when we wanted to getaway from the getaway.

The steakhouse dinner (more private, a little extra cost) was well worth the fee even if all they had was corn fed beef.

The server in the center, Martina, was our main server for the week in the main dining. She was the best and such a pleasure to talk to. All of the service was bar none.

We really lucked out with our dining arrangement. We chose late dining this time, which was better and allowed a little sushi snack when we came back on to the ship from a city. Plus it was only 4 of us. Scott and Jessica from Maine were such a pleasure to eat with most nights. We really enjoyed seeing them at dinner time and exchanging stories from our day. Hopefully we can stay in touch with them because they are worth it.

Towel art. Wonder if I can make one look like Cooper.

There must have been a shotgun start to the fishing day when we landed in Grand Caymen. Boats went every which way.

A late night snack for someone. I heard it wasn't as good as it looks.

Probably the best example of the ship's decor. Vegas cheesy/gaudy was our name for the whole style. but some people must like it. The picture isn't the point, really, it is more that the colors in it are found throughout the ship.

Tough to get a picture of all the flashing LED signage for everything.

Someone was an early bird.

Seems like random crew guys in the halls take better pictures than the expensive setup booths.

Yep, someone was up early to catch our arrival back into Miami. Trust me, I was sleeping.

Ball games

2011-04-02T11:05:00.012-04:00

Going to Cardinal Spring Training games was part of a nice side trip to our excursion. Funny how I plan stuff like that. Since the Cards were playing a split squad game on Saturday, we decided to go to the Nationals ballpark near Melbourne in order to hopefully see most of the regulars. Spring Training games are such fun, since there is a 1/4 of the people at them and you can sit very close for fairly cheap. Cards won the first game and lost the second, but the fun was being back at the park.

A couple notes: There was an osprey's next on top of the light stand at the Nats' park. Also, fans were heckling Pujols a bit about his contract situation at the Cards home park. He had fun with it though.

Kennedy Space Center

2011-04-01T13:27:00.011-04:00

Our first stop on our vacation was the Kennedy Space Center. It was such a fitting beginning to our trip. We had so much fun, I guess since both of us love science and museums. We didn't think about the nature aspect of the island, but we sure did see a bunch. If you look closely at the center of the tree picture you can see an young eagle and its nest. We also experienced a simulated shuttle launch. If that was as bad as it really gets, we will be saving for tickets soon. We would highly recommend the Center if you are in the area. make sure you do the launch pad tours also. Another note, the stripes on the flag of the Assembly Building are large enough to be lanes for a tour bus.

A Little Trip Preview

2011-03-31T14:15:00.009-04:00

I realize it takes me forever to do anything anymore. But let's get started. I decided to surprise Nikki with a trip for our first anniversary. She has known something was up since Christmas, but didn't really figure it out until the end of February. So here is a little preview of our last couple of weeks.

Kennedy Space Center - I wasn't sure we would be able to see the full Cardinals roster on the Saturday before the main part of our trip began, so I added a couple days in order to catch another game up the coast. In turn, it allowed us to go to the Space Center. What an absolutely amazing place and experience.

Cardinals - We were also able to catch a couple games. I gave 5 my opinion on his contract, told him the bill was in the mail. I figured at $30 mil + a year, we should sit close in to him in case money just fell out of his pocket. Oh yeah, we are within 2 hours of first pitch of Opening Day today. What a great day.

Cruise - The main body of the trip was a cruise around the Western Caribbean. A lot of fun and relaxation that I think we both needed. We are not 100% sold of future trips with Carnival, but we did have a great time.

Tulum, Mexico - Our first stop was Cozumel, Mexico. From there we took a boat to the main land and ended up at the Mayan ruins of Tulum. Probably the most informative tour we have ever been on. It sets on a cliff over the ocean. Truly a great place to see, even if it was misting rain.

Belize - Our second stop was cave tubing outside Belize City, Belize. That isn't something everyone can say they have done.

Maya Key, Honduras - Stop 3 was Mahogany Bay on Isle Roatan off of Honduras. From there we went to a small, private island for the day. the animal sanctuary and snorkeling here was fabulous.

Grand Caymen - Our last stop was the Caymen Islands. I won't bore you with the picture perfect turquoise waters yet. We made a brief stop into a small blip in the road called Hell while we were there. At least, Hell is near paradise I guess.

More Cruise - We had a couple sea days also. there were a few other folks on board.

Miami - We savored the last couple of days of the trip while we were in Miami. We sure do miss that warm weather and sunshine right now.

More pics to come over the coming days.

Passing the Time

2011-03-14T08:27:00.002-04:00

Most of you know I have been a little busier lately. Hopefully all this hard work is about to pay off into something I can share and be proud of soon. Until then a couple fws I received this last week. I have been itching to hike lately and really wish I had the time and stamina to hike the entire trail. Maybe that will be a future goal to work toward. My next post, in a few weeks, will at least be exciting because we have a nice vacation coming up on Thursday. We can't wait!

http://www.wired.com/playbook/2011/03/video-appalachian-trail/

Green Tunnel from Kevin Gallagher on Vimeo.

Amazing

2011-01-28T21:57:00.001-05:00

Fixed It

2011-01-23T19:08:00.007-05:00

World Economic Growth

2011-01-16T11:34:00.001-05:00

Great analysis of the world over the last 200 years. Thanks goes to Justin for sharing this video.

Christmas in Wendell

2011-01-12T11:00:00.006-05:00

Our holidays this year started in Wendell with Nikki's family. Nice relaxing time, with quite a bit of snow right after Christmas.

Duke Lemur Center

2011-01-11T22:25:00.007-05:00

Right before Christmas we went to the Lemur Center at Duke. They house the most Lemurs outside of their natural habitat of Madagascar. 15 different species on 85 acres is quite a sight to see. It was cold, so they were inside for the day, but it was still a cool experience.

http://lemur.duke.edu/

Catching Up

2011-01-10T18:14:00.009-05:00

Seems like November and December just flew by this year. The year itself passed rapidly. Wasn't it just yesterday that we were on a beach in Costa Rica getting married? Oh well, to the present.

We decided to do a Christmas card this year. I thought it turned out pretty decent for only a couple hours of work. Good thing we have the pup of many faces.

The first half of our holidays were spent with Nikki's family this year. Those pictures are on a drive somewhere that frankly I can't remember where she said she put them right now. I will have to get to them later. Once I finally get motivated to do something, I better keep it rolling I guess.

It snowed about a foot the day after Christmas at our family's house outside of Raleigh. Signs of the snow still lingered in the mountains on our trip over to TN a few days later.

I like stretching the holidays out a little longer now. I think everyone else seems to also. Especially when we all get to play in Dad's basement for a few days. The train sets and doll houses are a nice break between the fierce games we play. No need to say who won what games here.

Dad must have practiced that face for awhile.

We did manage to get out of the house for a bit of roller skating one night. It was both of the kids first time skating. I think they will be going back.

Sleeping through lunch. Wow.

I am glad we could spend some time with my mom's side of the family. But it is hard to take a picture with all of us looking the right way.

More lazy movie time. Others not pictured were trying to play Monopoly. Like I said earlier, no reason to say who won.

There was also some real good football played over the break. Congrats MSU football on a really good year. I can't wait to see what the future holds for the program.

And finally more snow this morning. Maybe Costa Rica isn't such a bad idea.

Semi-annual Hiking Trip

2010-11-04T12:35:00.016-04:00

This last weekend was mine and Justin's semi-annual hiking of sections of the Appalachian Trail. 4 days around 46 miles of hiking from Fontana Dam, NC south to Wayah Bald.

Frost is not a great sign on the morning of the hike. The low the first night out was 30 but during the days the temperature would hit 70, so not all that bad. The wind kicked up the last night and it stayed chilly on Tuesday.

After seeing a bear and a boar last year, Justin and I brought along secret service protection. Not actually. Cary, our friend from MSU days, joined us for the little walk this year.

Fontana Dam

The shelter by Fontana Dam might be the best one on the trail, but we didn't stay here.

This year's portion of trail was probably the toughest yet. There was a 6 mile, 3500 foot descent into Wesser and then a 4 1/2 mile ascend out of it. Add in a couple more grueling ascends and I can attest that this is a section that will take its toll on you.

Our shelter for the first night.

Funny to see a bench on the trail.

After a 15 mile day and rolling in around 8.00, the 2nd shelter was a welcome sight. Yep, at 8.00 we were hiking by head lamps for the last hour. So we had hiked roughly 24 miles the first 2 days, since 11 on Saturday. A thru-hiker came to the shelter about 20 minutes after us. (A thru-hiker is someone hiking the whole thing at once). He made the 24 miles in one day and had hiked 30 miles the day before. Well, he just had to deflate my ego some didn't he? He is supposed to be at the finish on the 8th. Hopefully he makes it, but he looked determined.

On Monday, we hiked through the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Very weird, since we had probably seen 5 people since Saturday. It looked like a great place though.

There was a tremendous amount of storm damage after the storms from the previous week. At times, it was tough to get around the downed trees, but I was just grateful that we weren't out there in a storm like that.

We rolled into camp late on Monday also, well I did since I was dragging butt. To our surprise, we found the North Greenville University Outdoor Leadership group there already. They had camp prepped thoroughly and the fire felt great. This program teaches first responders and such things. It was fun sitting around hearing about their program and things they had done.

Another shelter right on the trail.

So the toll? I was banged up this time more than ever. Blisters, bruises and lost toe nails. But even with all the damage, I can say I really enjoyed being out there with two great friends and feeling like I was accomplishing something.

My 'damage' wasn't as severe as Cary's when he hit a deer on the way home. He was fine, and it can all be fixed. Always something I guess.

Next year, the Smokies. I think we have now completed about 170 miles of the AT. 2,000 miles to go.

Go Bulldogs

2010-10-27T19:13:00.002-04:00

Tis the season to be a bulldog. It has been a long time since I have been excited about MSU football, but this year is a good one to show my support.

Pencil Art

2010-10-13T19:42:00.006-04:00

Art by Dalton Ghetti. I am constantly amazed at what people think of turning in to art.

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/08/08/2010-08-08_he_makes_a_point_artist_sculpts_tiny_wonders_on_pencil_tips.html#ixzz10S65533S

Grover - Old Spice Parody

2010-10-09T11:24:00.001-04:00

I loved the original commercial and this parody is equally as good.

The winner is...

2010-10-04T18:57:00.002-04:00

The 2010 Fantasy Baseball Season is officially over and the winner is...

well, me.

No one put up much of a fight in year 2. I guess they were worried what would happen if I lost for a 2nd year. Glenn was a distant 2nd and Justin passed Amanda in the next to last week. The others, well they tried. Ha. We had a good time and we will see if I can do a better job of defending my crown than Glenn did next year.

Rome Burns Again

2010-09-20T21:03:00.003-04:00

Thought this video was interesting. We have been thinking about our time in Rome recently. Mainly because we can't find the name of the pizza place we ate at twice. We only consider it the best pizza we have ever had. Oh well, an artist's presentation will have to satisfy my dreams of Rome for now. Actually, not sure how a video of Rome burning satisfies a longing, but it does make me remember how hot it was our first time there. Ok, enough rambling...

Here is a link to read more about the artists http://cityonfire.org/projects/Coliseum/Coliseum.html

Sav/Atl

2010-09-18T18:06:00.013-04:00

As an early birthday getaway for me and us, we took off to Savannah and Atlanta for a 3 day weekend. Savannah was humid, as usual, but it was good to get down there for a day. We went to Tybee Island for an afternoon and another highlight was a great dinner at the Pink House. I had almost forgotten how scenic Savannah is, but I didn't take many pictures for some reason.

I had never been down to the far end of Tybee Island. I couldn't believe how far the beach stretched out into the Ocean. What a nice relaxing way to spent an afternoon. I think we are longing for beach property one day. Maybe back in Costa Rica. Hey we can dream.

I had also forgotten about the candy shops.

The houses are so beautiful, but so many need repair also.

We had great seats for both of the games in Atl. Plus very good people to sit by also.

We were able to meet up with Lee Ann, one of Nikki's old friends and her family after we went to the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain. It was good to see them, but the festival was a little much. Even though we bought a couple pieces of absolutely gorgeous pottery.

It takes intense concentration to root for the Cards down the stretch this year, ha.

Did someone lose their kid? Like I said, loved the seats and the fact that they won on Sunday didn't hurt. So the Cards went 2-2 in games that we were at this year. Sounds typical for them this season, but we had a great time.

Spell check please

2010-08-31T15:38:00.003-04:00

I didn't make a post when 'school' was misspelled somewhere north of here or when my alma mater was slighted by Bama. But this week a signage company unveiled a new sign fairly close to our place in Charlotte. I know my grammar is atrocious, but I usually have 4-5 people look at anything I design that goes public. Maybe a few others should also have backup readers or scapegoats as I call them.

washing machine vs brick

2010-08-16T23:15:00.001-04:00

Kaylie turns 3

2010-08-07T18:00:00.004-04:00

Happy Birthday Princess!!!

Well, the party is today. The cake looks amazing and we are very jealous.

Uh yeah ...

2010-07-31T21:03:00.005-04:00

It was MLB's first trade deadline today and anyone that has taken a second to talk to me realizes that I don't think the Cardinals' deal made much sense. In honor of that, a few more nonsensical things.

Birthday Wishes

2010-07-26T20:24:00.004-04:00

It is that time of year where there are 3 birthdays within a couple days. Best wishes to you all.

First off, a special gal turned a little older this year (but I think next year is a big one). I know you secretly wanted to make the Tinker Bell cake for yourself instead of for Kaylie in a couple weeks. Go ahead, you deserve it. And you know I have the other couple glamour pics also.

Our good friend Mary and our little one share a birthday every year. That makes it one of the easiest birthdays to remember for people with bad memories like me. John gave Mary one of the best presents I have seen in awhile. I am totally jealous. Their Cooper makes a guest appearance in the picture also. We hope you had a great Birthday Mary.

Finally, the prince himself turned 8 on Friday and per the last picture, he developed a new talent. How could I resist getting this little guy from the first pic? Coop, you are a pup of many expressions and moods. I am glad you provide a little comic relief around here.

St Louis

2010-07-10T12:54:00.004-04:00

I am glad we topped our trip to Dad's off with a couple day jaunt to St Louis for our almost yearly trip to a couple games. The ballpark tour was a good twist also.

Stinking tour.

Family/St Louis

2010-07-08T08:17:00.003-04:00

A couple of the lures to come back to Paris were seeing Dekan play t-ball and the cookout Dad was hosting. Neither disappointed. We seldom sat for any length of time while we were in Paris this trip, but we enjoyed every minute that we could spend with everyone.

And after a week of fun...

Fishing

2010-07-07T00:18:00.003-04:00

I was able to take in some fishing with Dad, Glenn, Dekan and even Justin came up for da catfish. So much fun and oh so perfectly relaxing, when you are catching some. We had good luck everyday and even saw some things we have never seen.

Our fishing spot on Kentucky Lake. I was able to see it at 5 AM every morning.

Twice we saw river otters. 3 white ones and 1 regular one. I could not believe it. The 2nd day we saw them, 1 was followed by a raccoon. But we will get to that rascal in a second.

We came home with double digits every time we went.

Justin was so proud of his first catfish, no matter what size it was.

How does that happen on a single cast?

Now to the rascal.

(Click the pic to zoom in some.) You can see how close he was to our bobbers. He walked on down the rocks. Just messing around. Dad had left a stringer full of fish tied up for us to grab when we went in. We didn't think anything about the raccoon or the fish, until we saw him pull the stringer up and start trying to pull a fish off.

The little guy was trying his best to pull the fish off before we could get the boat over there. Oh well, I still gave him the fish.

What a great time!!! I am so glad that I could spend some time with all the family that got to go out fishing those days.

St Louis - City Museum

2010-07-05T22:24:00.004-04:00

As I admitted, I have been lazy lately or maybe just procrastinating or maybe busy with other things. Who knows really. I have not got around to posting our pics of our trip to Dad's and on to St Louis. Dad, with help from Amanda, Glenn and other family members, hosted a cook-out to celebrate our marriage. It was a great day. The week away was perfect. Fishing, family, and baseball. I'll get to some more of the pics later this week, but first I wanted to post pics of the City Museum in St Louis. It is a wild place to say the least, plus it has an architectural museum in it. The place is full of things to climb, slides, and anything in between. It is very hard to describe what it is really, but everyone should check it out some time.

This cage walk thingy is about 70 feet or so in the air.

A Beach Break

2010-07-05T21:44:00.005-04:00

I told Nikki that I would take her to the beach as part of her birthday this year. We decided to go to Outer Banks for a couple days since neither of us had ever been, sad I know. We had a great time and it was an extra good thing to pick Rachel up on the way there. I think it did us all some good to sit back and relax for awhile.

I went to the NC Aquarium on Saturday morning, yep I have a habit. One of their newer exhibits is a suspended globe that displays weather patterns and such. Now that is how I want to get my weather information.

Is it legal to own otters? Coop would be surprised I think.

We took the ferry over to Ocracoke for an afternoon. Is it the most remote area to get to in NC? It would at least be a 8 hour trip from Charlotte.

Wonder how long it would take on roads like the above?

And we finally were able to see and climb the Hatteras Lighthouse. I am no lighthouse connoisseur, but I believe it may be the standard to judge all others.

A lot of roadside dunes.

Aww, Nikki brought her kid. We have all laughed a lot about the perspective on this picture.

We all said we were going to kite surf one day. But I didn't see anyone make a big effort to make that day one of the ones on this trip.

The beach awaits.

Nah, not our place, but where we crossed the dunes.

Great trip and great food. Especially the frozen custards.

time management

2010-06-29T22:54:00.001-04:00

this is what I think of my time management skills lately. make sure you have some sound on.

Graduation

2010-05-17T12:45:00.006-04:00

Saturday was the culmination of Nicole's undergraduate studies in Earth Sciences. She graduated. It is easy to say that I am very proud of her, especially because she persevered over the last couple years with me dragging her around. There were days when she didn't know if she would ever see the finish, but I know that everything tastes much sweeter now that she reached her goal.

Phone Pics

2010-05-08T23:15:00.004-04:00

I love having a camera on me at all times. So here are a few random pics over the last 6 weeks.

My future car? Triumph TR250 Might just have to make an offer for it one day.

Saw a hawk trying to fly when something fell from it. Mr bullfrog was about 8 inches long. No wonder why the hawk couldn't fly right.

Had to do a double take on this ladder setup.

So can some columns be removed at Home Depot? Not so sure about that.

Spring time.

Doesn't mention a thing about grumpy bulldogs or new wives.

A friend of mine has a bad habit.

Always look where the belt sander is going or move the friggin palm sander's cord.

Hail. Biggest I have seen in Charlotte

Bunny, you need to work on your hiding spots.

CR - Rachel's Pics Part 3

2010-04-24T13:38:00.007-04:00

CR - Rachel's Pics Part 2

2010-04-22T11:41:00.008-04:00

CR - Rachel's Pics Part 1

2010-04-20T15:47:00.006-04:00

Over the weekend, we picked up Rachel's pics of Costa Rica. So here are some more pics from the little trip. We could go back tomorrow.

Baseball Time

2010-04-12T12:37:00.002-04:00

It is one of my favorite times of the year, start of the MLB season. After a week on the road, the Cardinals are looking decent at 4 - 2, with their 2 loses coming in the bottom of the 9th. It should be a good year for them if the young guys contribute.

And the madness of Fantasy Baseball returns. We added Justin's lady to the mix, not sure she had a say in the matter, to give us a full 6 people this year. Glenn is out to defend his championship, but without Pujols this year. I can't really remember who was lucky enough to get him this year. It should be an action pack year and by the looks of the first week everyone is pretty serious this year. I'll update the points weekly.

Go Cards!!!

CR - More Wedding

2010-04-03T14:03:00.005-04:00

CR - Wedding Day

2010-04-01T13:34:00.011-04:00

I have heard rumors that I am stringing out the pics. Yep, I have been because I am still waiting for over half the wedding pictures. I didn't take a single pic during the activities. But here are some of the ones that were taken.

Juan, the lawyer who administered the vows, told me he was very nervous.

The band at the pool. Loved these guys

More new friends

Michele and Pat. Michele never stopped smiling and was the best chef

Sonny, the owner of Gumbo Limbo

Dinner

I liked the BBQ Octopus tentacle, but not so sure about some in the group

A cake to remember

Japanese style apps and champagne toast at the ceremony hotel. Someone made her own wedding statement in red that day

More apps and sangria back by the pool

We are not sure how Nikki was highlighted, maybe a flash from a camera

Lisa (L) helped out with everything and Rebecca, our fabulous wedding planner

Courtney, our photographer

Some pics captured the horses strolling the beach. Glad they missed the guy in a speedo and the wet dog

What a unique day and we are still smiling. Loved how we decided to have our special day.

More pics to come.

CR - Santa Teresa Hotel

2010-03-30T18:03:00.009-04:00

For me just picking out a hotel on the net and exchanging a few emails with the owner, we made out like bandits. We loved our hotel, Gumbo Limbo. It also seemed a little fitting with that name. Our hotel overlooked the town and water below, and it was a hill(!) to get up to it. It was worth it though. At times it felt like we were in some sort of luxury camping experience with the no A/C and a few critters running through the spaces. I don't think I would have enjoyed it any other way. I realized how much I missed it while I was waiting for these pics to upload.

Nikki's bouquet

Reef

Betty could cook us some good breakfast and she did such a great job on the cake.

CR - Eating

2010-03-30T09:10:00.005-04:00

One of the biggest surprises in Costa Rica was the quality of the food. I rarely tasted anything that I wasn't just thrilled with. Yep, even the squids stuffed with beast. Everyone looked at that one a little funny. My favorite restaurant was Playa de los Artistas. That was the place we were taken before our big day. So many good food stories and flavors to savor for a good while.

CR - San Jose Hotel

2010-03-30T08:10:00.002-04:00

We had 1 night in San Jose before we departed, so I selected Hotel Grano de Oro to stay in. I don't think any of us were thrilled with San Jose after being in near paradise for a week, but this hotel was a nice one. Every room appeared to be slightly different and we really enjoyed the design of our secluded suite.

CR - Hanging Bridges

2010-03-28T18:52:00.006-04:00

Back up to the Arenal area. On Tuesday, we took a 2.5 km hike over several suspension bridges with the volcano as our back drop. I could hike the jungles of Costa Rica every day. I felt like I was in such a foreign place with all the different flora and fauna, well I was I guess. The bridges did tend to sway more than I thought they would.

Leaf cutter ants

We kept hearing howler monkeys and we finally found them. One of them decided to join us on a bridge.

There is a bridge in the distance.

CR - random pics

2010-03-28T18:35:00.005-04:00

A few pics from different places this time.

Montezuma

San Jose

Florida Keys

Island off Cuba

Flight home

Montezuma

A place where the guide stopped for Colleen's family. I think the coatis understood that tourists might stop here and could be carrying food.

We stopped off at a tourist shop and noticed what this guy had found by the hotel's pool nearby.

The flight down (notice the jackets)

CR - Zipline videos

2010-03-27T17:43:00.005-04:00

I am not sure why they took a video of Nikki on one of the short lines, but I thought it was funny. What a great day.

CR - Canopy/Zipline Tour

2010-03-27T17:18:00.007-04:00

This tour was amazing (I guess like all the rest). There were 9 cables, with 4 of them being quite long. We stopped off at a series of waterfalls also. Unfortunately no one thought of bringing their suits and we knew we had good dinner plans. I wasn't sure how I would like this tour, but a couple of the long cables really got me going. I could have turned right around and done this thing one again. Also, it was cute watching the howler monkeys watch us come down the cables.

CR - Cabo Blanco Park

2010-03-27T16:43:00.004-04:00

On the afternoon over at Montezuma, we took a walk through the national park at the tip of the peninsula. We did manage to see a coati at the end of the hike and some bats at the beginning, but for the most part we only saw birds, lizards, and butterflies. We also heard a few more howler monkeys, but they stayed hidden. We had a good little hike and it would have been interesting to see what the wildlife would have been like early in the morning.

CR - Short Flight

2010-03-27T11:13:00.006-04:00

In order to get to the Santa Teresa/Mal Pais area, the fastest way was by small plane. I am not sure that everyone from our party had been on a small plane before. After a bumpy, but very scenic flight, we landed at a small strip right off the beach. 2 huge iguanas had to scurry off the runway before we landed. The Tambor 'airport' was a little less of an airport than I had imagined. But the flight was a great way of seeing some Costa Rica's scenery.