We <3 Flip Video

Brian got an inexpensive Flip video camera and it has been way fun. It's super compact, easy to use, and takes great videos. Check out the video I posted on Facebook from yesterday's Atlanta Tea Party protest. Or, for brief moments of silliness, watch these:

Christina Makes Them Dance

Future Olympic Athlete

Chillin' - or Not - to the Backstreet Boys

Goinz On

I have been so bad about posting, I know. Sorry : (  There's been a lot going on but perhaps things will slow down a bit now that I'm all married and stuff!

I have posted pictures from our wedding on Facebook. If you want to see them but aren't on Facebook and don't want to be, e-mail me and I'll send you a link to them.

Not quite two weeks ago I had sinus surgery, which technically included a nose job (ha ha). They put me under, ripped all the crappy sinus tissue out and fixed my nose so it could actually drain if I get any congestion. And given that I have allergies and I live in Georgia, that's inevitable. Recovery has mostly been okay but breathing only from my mouth the first few days was the worst.

Brandon is now on the track team at his new school and they are wearing him out. Last night I went into his room around 8:30 and he was out cold. I can't wait to see him do his thing at a track meet.

Michelle is resisting the pressure to pick up an extracurricular activity of her own. It's not that she's unwilling, exactly. She just doesn't want to do anything athletic...or anything big sis Christina has done...or anything requiring coordination...or anything that might be considered uncool by her peers.

We have another foster dog in the house. His name is Cane and he is a good-looking 2.5 year old boy. Alas, he does not seem to be the brightest dog...but he sure is enthusiastic! He recently discovered the area under the deck, but it took him a while to figure out how to get out from under the deck. Standing at the back door and calling him just confused the poor boy. He'd go - still underneath the deck - to where you were calling him, which was at the opposite end from the opening. Cane never really raced. They let him try 15 times, but that apparently wasn't enough for him to figure out what he was supposed to do. He has his own blog, which I am (supposed to be) maintaining, so check him out if you like.

Created by Janet

Destroyed by Brandon & Michelle.

: O

Beautiful, but...

...not the trip you want to make.

As Amanda mentioned, Brian's father passed away on the 27th. He was only 57. He had COPD like Mom but that alone didn't take his life. Having an intestinal obstruction and putting off seeking medical attention for some three weeks in his already weakened condition did it. Brian said his mom would have let his dad go a couple of days max before she drug him to the doctor - by the hair, if necessary. But unfortunately she passed away about 2.5 years ago.

An upside is that it was absolutely beautiful in Michigan, and I got to see where Brian grew up. The air was so clean there that the clouds had a dimension I've only ever seen aboard an airplane.

We caravaned back to Georgia on the first of July, stopping in Chattanooga to buy the super cool kinds of fireworks you cannot find in GA (probably because they're illegal, but that's another story).

We did not outdo Ryan & Charles' New Year display, but if we didn't one-up the neighbors, we came darn close. It was good to be back home, even if the air was dirty and the temperatures 20 degrees higher. Here are a couple of other pictures from Michigan (Brandon with the biggest Dandelion I've ever seen, and another shot of a cornfield against a beautiful blue sky).

Racy!

We (Brian, Michelle, Brandon & I) went to an animal farm of sorts as well this weekend. SummerWind Farm, to be exact, where we attended an annual gathering of something like 300+ Greyhounds and their owners. It was a lot of fun, but tiring. Brian judged the Greyhound contests for the second year in a row, and was licked and hugged by numerous doggies while trying to determine the best kisser and hugger. And for the second year in a row, Sara had the second-longest tail and Grayson was the second-or third-tallest (I forget).

Probably the best thing we got to do is watch the dogs take off as fast as they could toward a stuffed bunny at the end of a training lure (what they use to teach Greyhounds to chase - they don't need much encouragement). Next to the person with the lure was another person with a squawker - a gadget that makes a generic prey-like sound (close to a squirrel, but not quite). It's a combination that makes the dogs so crazy they want to go get it. A third person was there with a radar gun, clocking the dogs. This year, both Sara and Grayson beat their times from last year, coming in at 46mph. Needless to say, they've spent most of the time since then laying around the house!

There was a big (for us) announcement about a special, secret fundraising effort that had been undertaken. Since it costs, on average, $475 to take a dog from the track, spay/neuter and house it before adoption, and we can only get $275 for an adoption fee, there would be a constant shortfall without fundraising and donations. So someone had the bright idea, after seeing the film Calendar Girls, to do a similar nude calendar using some of our members and their Greyhounds in shots with, shall we say, strategically placed props. It was really nicely done, and we hope to sell at least 1500 of them. Take a look (it's maybe PG-13 and there is very little actually revealed, so don't panic!) - www.greymates.org. Please, please pass it along to anyone you think would get a kick out of it. Even if they don't buy a calendar they may pass it along to someone who will. Surprisingly, women - straight ones - have been the most enthusiastic supporters so far.

No, I'm not in it. I seriously considered it, though! But I did do the design and coding for the web site : )

Grand Funk Railroad

What a great show!

Unlike Little River Band, Grand Funk still has pretty much everything that made them rock all those years ago, plus the former lead singer of .38 Special (he's been with them quite a while, from what I understand). The drummer's got to be pushing 60 but he's still a wild man. Well, perhaps some of his edge is gone - Brian said he used to jump out onto the stage over his drum set, and we didn't get that last night. But it was a good rockin' show. Don't know who Grand Funk is? I bet even the youngest of you would recognize "Some Kind of Wonderful" if you heard it.

The opening act - Bobby Yang and His Unrivaled Players - TOTALLY rocked. This guy is a classically trained violinist of immense talent, and what he loves doing with that ability is jamming to the songs of Led Zep and other rockers. His backing band is awesome, too. Christopher was instrumental (ha ha) in booking him for this show. Bobby Yang is from Atlanta and has a bunch of upcoming tour dates near just about anyone reading this.

Angela's sister, Mona, and Mona's husband, Ken, were there. We met up with them after the show, and Ken asked how David was doing. Ken had an Army career many moons ago and has had a special affection for David even before David enlisted. He said, "Tell that boy I think the world of him." His words were a little slurred because it was after the show and Ken always brings a 12-pack, but he was sincere.

The only down side to the show was the incredibly obese - and unbelievably rude - man Angela was sitting next to. He really needed to have purchased two seats - he was spilling out of his and into hers. He had the nerve to ask her to move over, and she replied, "Where to?" He said, "You're touching me!" Then, after she told him something like she wouldn't be touching him if he wasn't so large, he switched seats with his wife, who was kind of big herself. Both sat like statues - very big ones - through the jamming Bobby Yang and the rocking Grand Funk Railroad. Having fun burns calories, people : O

Tons of Fun

We went to Six Flags Over Georgia today and had a blast despite getting rained on intermittently. We were all wiped out except for Brandon, who was disappointed we were leaving before he'd ridden everything twice.

It was rainy and a little chilly at times, and Michelle and Christina were the only ones brave - or crazy - enough to want to ride Thunder River. They should have known better than to leave Brian, Amanda and Brandon behind, because those three were waiting at the Thunder River water cannons to soak the girls as they rode by.

It's not quite 8:30 now but I think I am going to hit the "Publish" button and then hit the rack. I'm beat!