Smart Cookie

Hat tip to my buddy Chris for this little gem. I don't know what is more disturbing -- the fact that this girl (with a 3.5 GPA) couldn't string together a coherent answer to a pretty easy question or the fact that despite this answer, she still got 3rd place.

Cheers!

Dogs' Revenge

Michael Vick's chewed-up football cards are fetching big money for charity on eBay. What a great little story.

Update: eBay made her pull the original listing. Here is the new listing.

I WILL GIVE PROOF TO THE WINNING BIDDER OF THE DONATION, AN E-MAILED/OR SNAIL MAIL RECIEPT FROM THE SHELTER ON LETTERHEAD. I AM NOT OUT TO MAKE MONEY ON THIS SINCE I AM PAYING FOR THE LISTING/INSERTION/shipping FEES OUT OF MY POCKET.

THIS IS FOR MY LOVE OF DOGS/ANIMALS, ESPECIALLY THE ONES WITH NO VOICE.

THE WINNER OF THIS AUCTION WILL GET THE CARDS AND MOST IMPORTANT: THE KNOWLEDGE THAT HE/SHE HAS DONATED TO A GREAT CAUSE.THANK YOU FOR LOOKING AND TREAT ANIMALS WITH KINDNESS> ALWAYS.

Cheers!

Color Movies & Working Women

Week #2 of preschool kicked off today. The boys really did well last week the two days they were in school. When I drop the boys off in the mornings it is a bit difficult -- both for them and for me. Since school just started most of the kids are going through some separation anxiety once they are dropped off by their parents. So when I open the door to take Gus & Owen in, it is pretty stressful for the boys to face a roomful of kids crying. But the teachers are great and get the roomful of toddlers settled down pretty quickly.

C.E. and Jane are in town for the week to spend some time with us. The boys are happy to see their Pappy & "Ju-J," as they are calling her now. We don't have many major projects lined up this visit -- some touch-up painting & tinkering here & there -- so we should send Pappy back to Kentucky in one piece without the typical aches & pains that usually accompany him after a visit. No grubbing hoes this trip.

So while the grandparents were in town Amy & I took full advantage of their offer to have a date night away from the kids. The last time Amy & I went out for a movie together that didn't involve Curious George was M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" -- three years ago! We happily ordered up a giant popcorn & drink for a matinee showing of the third installment of the Jason Bourne trilogy "The Bourne Ultimatum." The movie was exactly what you would expect -- cool, smart action hero thriller flick with lots of action. Really it was exactly what we wanted for two uninterrupted hours. Amy & I followed that up with dinner at an Italian restaurant we had not been to before while GJ & Pappy took the boys out for a dinner of their own. Date night was a much appreciated getaway. (Did you know they show movies in color now??)

Finally, Amy starts back to work part-time with IBM today. She was supposed to receive her PC in the mail last week. But when the delivery came on Friday, the box was empty so she had to refuse the shipment. Her computer is lost somewhere in DHL land. Now she and her manager are trying to sort out replacement PC's, police reports that need to be filed, etc. Fun stuff. Amy & I talk about the different kinds of stresses that we are all exposed to -- work stress in dealing with all the issues that each of us has there and home stress in dealing with issues with kids. Nothing like jumping right back in to the work stresses on her first day back in two and a half years. Amy is a trooper though -- she has her priorities in the right place and will work through the hurdles.

Cheers!

Dayton

While we were in Dayton, Amy, her sister Ashley, her mom Elaine, and I got to check out the Rhea County courthouse, which was home to the Scopes Trial in 1925. This was the trial of teaching evolution vs. creationism in public schools. William Jennings Bryan -- who has a statue and a college in his honor in Dayton -- was the prosecutor, and Clarence Darrow defended the football coach (John Scopes) who was accused of breaking a Tennessee law that banned the teaching of evolution. The courtroom was restored to the way it was in 1925, and a museum occupied the basement floor of the courthouse depicting the trial of the century (sorry, OJ). The four of us got a sense of history and some good pictures while Granddaddy was a sport in manning the van with two sleeping grandsons.

The Rhea County Courthouse



A statue in honor of William Jennings Bryan



The site of the famous Scopes Trial



The actual courtroom, restored to its original form as it existed in 1925.

Chief

Amy and I traveled with the boys to Dayton, Tennessee this week to attend the funeral service for her grandfather, Billy Frank Smith. It was a long trip over a quick two days. And while losing a loved one is always an experience that brings loss & sadness, being together with so many people from (Amy's dad) Billy's family made the experience better for all of us. The boys helped provide a diversion as well as they were stimulated by all the attention from family -- and by all the gravel rocks that they could throw outside. So it was a mix of joy and sorrow. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Billy and his family in the loss of his dad Billy Frank, who taught us all a great deal about the love of family. We'll miss you, Chief.

Terry McCarthy on Charlie Rose

This is by far the best interview I have seen in a while. If you have some time (20 mins) and are interested in getting an unbiased take on what is really going on in Iraq -- politically with the Maliki government, how the American troop surge is working in some areas, Iran's involvement in aiding Iraqi insurgents, and the impacts the war has in the Middle East -- check out Charlie Rose's interview of Terry McCarthy, who is the ABC News correspondent in Baghdad.

Highly recommended.

http://www.charlierose.com/guests/terry-mccarthy

Baby Wise

Congratulations go out to our friends Brian and Kelly Wise on the birth of baby girl #2, Cate Parker Wise. Sister Gracen has a playmate that will need to be shown the ropes. Brian and Kelly have jumped in to the blog arena as well to document the journey. We will be keeping an eye on them here.

Cheers Wises!

Heat Wave

It is miserably hot here in central North Carolina as with many places across the country right now. It's August -- the dog days of summer are upon us. Today the heat index is over 100 degrees with no end in sight.


Our crew is basically stuck in the house except for the mornings before the sun heats up or the evenings when the sun goes in. So we tend to find inside things to occupy our time as of late -- for example watching hummingbirds. It is a treat for the boys to help clean out the hummingbird feeder and fill it back up. Then we watch and wait.

The feeder has become quite the center of activity. Hummingbirds stock up on the sugar and battle each other for feeding position. We humans marvel at their determination -- from the air conditioned indoors. Stay cool.

The lookout, on guard against rival birds getting a taste of food...

...and when one comes in for a sneak food attack, the lookout pounces.

All Aboard the Moist Train

If I still lived in my hometown of Glasgow, Kentucky I would proudly be a part of this group "More Jobs for Glasgow," or as I call them "The Drive-Thru Fast Food Abolitionist Society." The group is gathering signatures for a vote on limited alcohol sales in large restaurants there. Some of our blog's loyal readers -- I see you hiding in the back GJ & Pappy....and I believe I spot a couple of Downings in there as well :-) -- are members of the group trying to push this boulder up a steep hill.

There will be opposition of course, from establishments in Bowling Green that benefit from the current ban and from some fire & brimstoners. (By the way I'm going to bookmark the editorial page of the Daily Times from now until Election Day to get a chuckle at some of the letters.) But in my opinion if this vote is going to pass, the key will be to broaden this issue into an economic and social issue instead of just as a moral issue. Of course the issue is a moral one for some people, and their opinions should be respected. But at the end of the day no one is asking opponents to change their lifestyle or beliefs. The fact is when industry, local business executives, tourists, and restaurants without combo meals will not invest in your town, you have to look at what you can do to change that.

Kudos for those that are trying to push Glasgow in the right direction! Cheers!