I had some work in Gulfport, Mississippi on Thursday and Mobile, Alabama on Friday. So, I took Diane with me and we drove around the Gulfcoast into Florida. We settled into Panama City Beach (PCB) on Friday afternoon and got a nice resort hotel on the beautiful Emerald Coast. This was Diane's first trip to the pan-handle of Florida. We have always had relatives in central and southern FL so there was really no need to go to the Northwestern part of the state.

PCB was gorgeous, but we had to choose our "beach time" wisely to avoid some crowds that are starting to flow into Florida this time of year. I am not a very "sun-friendly" person because my skin tends to burn immediately and then peel off. My only tan comes from self-tanning lotions. (Probably a lot more healthy that way, right?) However, my wife LOVES the coast...the waves, the positive ions that come from the ocean...etc. So, I put SPF 70 on my arms, face and legs from the knee down...and we go strolling along the shoreline together in the evening as we watch the sun slowly sink into the gulf waters.

On Saturday night, we went to Destin (45 miles) to grill out with Jonathan and Tanya Halbrook & their four children, who had just driven down and rented a house over there for the week. How wonderful to go 800 miles away from home and meet up with friends! It was a great meal and the house they are renting is WOW! (Diane said, "let's just stay the rest of the week with them and maybe we can ride back with them too.") Jon & Tonya said that would be great, but we would have to decide if I was riding on Diane's lap or if she was riding on mine. Okay, we'll fly back home instead.

Diane celebrated her birthday on Sunday, and we enjoyed catching up with an old family friend of mine (Ben Liggin) who preaches at the church in PCB. We also enjoyed two birthday meals (one was mexican, one was seafood) at some nice locations. I also gave her some special jewelry from Hawaii - long story, not on this post - and we got to see and hear the ocean waves crash 24/7 from the balcony of our oceanfront room. (It is nice to wake up to the sound of waves crashing...a rare treat for us.)

It was a very nice relaxing birthday weekend. But, Diane has informed me that she has decided to celebrate her birthday ALL YEAR this year until the next birthday. Looks like I will have to get creative with little surprises here and there throughout the year!

Now, we are headed back to Kentucky. We LOVE PCB.

Happy birthday, Diane! I love you very much and enjoyed "taking you away" for your birthday.

I'm back.

Still can't stand Facebook. I get so frustrated when I get on there...however, I did get on recently (it said I hadn't posted in 326 days) and make a few comments to some friends.

Life at home has been good. I have been traveling less in the last 30-45 days, which has been nice for our family.

Diane and I celebrated our 27th Anniversary (July 12) in Colorado Springs this year. I absolutely LOVE the mountains, and Colorado Springs is on my "top 10 cities" list. I was going there on business, so my lovely bride came along and we took some extra time for ourselves. Wonderful, clean mountain air...with a lot less oxygen in it! On our special day, we went to the top of Pike's Peak. The next day, we went on the zip lines at Royal Gorge. They are the only "world-class" zip lines in Colorado - whatever that means - but I can say that this experience (our first) was fantastic. Then, our Anniversary Dinner was phenominal. We found a one-of-a-kind restaurant called "Marigold" that had the freshest, tastiest food...and a knock-out dessert!

As the school year starts, Gavin has been enjoying the fact that he is NOT in school (and has been rubbing it in to all of the teenagers at church.) He got a job at UPS and is going to work for a while until he figures out what he wants. I am happy that he decided to WORK while he figures out his life - instead of getting STUDENT LOANS while he figures out his life. This is a good plan for him. He hates school, so Diane and I have counseled him to only go when he is focused on what he wants.

Grayson is winding down his undergraduate studies at MTSU. This summer, he took a course where he spent a lot of time in jet simulators. He now has logged time on the Canadair Regional Jet - 200 Series. He also has his private, instrument, commercial, mulit-engine ratings...and is working on becoming a flight instructor (CFI and CFII). He pretty much knows what he wants...so that's easy.

Garrett is living on his own and still trying to figure out his life. He will also graduate soon with a degree in Psychology. In today's economy, those credentials will get you a job at Starbuck's. However, Garrett already has a good job in logistics (shipping) for a company that packs internet orders. He is somewhat financially stable, yet still "searches" for the meaning of life. We pray for him constantly, but know that it's really up to him to find his way. We watch from a distance and hope that he will find his way back to God and to his family.

Well, so much for a quick dose of our life. (I'll bet you're sorry I got back on here now!)

Take care, everyone! I'll have a lot more exciting things to post in the near future!

Last night, I spent a lovely evening with my wife, which included dinner and running a few errands.

She decided she needed a few items from Wal-mart, and we were getting some photos printed, so we strolled into the store.

As we passed the checkout area and headed into the heart of the store, we saw two female employees laughing as they were transporting broken down boxes on a dolly-cart toward the back of the store. They had stopped more than once already as flat boxes began to spill from their stacks into the floor and they had to retrieve them.

The younger one (maybe mid-to-late 20s) thought this whole event was hilarious...totally ignorant of the fact that they were blocking the main aisle and customers were trying to figure out a way to go around them. The older one (mid-to-late 40s) was laughing too, but seemed to have a greater sense of urgency to get to the back of the store.

Amid this chaos, Diane asked the two for help in finding a particular item in the store. The younger one stopped laughing and got a puzzled look on her face as she tried to mentally picture where she had seen this item. "I think it'll be somewhere in the Home section over there," she said, not sure of her own words. Then, she looked to her older colleague for support.

The "seasoned Wal-Mart professional" looked at Diane, pointed toward the right-rear of the store and said:

"It's somewhere over there in that vin-zility."



Needless to say, I immediately added this word to my vocabulary, and for the rest of the evening I kept Diane in stitches as I found new ways to "weave this new-found word" into our conversation.

I am still laughing as I type this! I just thought you would enjoy this little story. I hope it brightens your day like it did mine...

...and you all come to see us, if you're ever in the vinzility.

This afternoon, I was mowing the backyard at the edge of the woods, when I happened upon a tortoise (box turtle) slowly crawling away from the noise of the lawn mower. Actually, I almost hit him, but I quickly maneuvered around him.

The sight of him made me smile as I went on by.

Then, it occurred to me. Wait! I just saw a turtle and I didn't have a gut reaction to stop and catch it!

Does this mean that I am offically NOT a child anymore???

If so, I'm depressed about it.

...on a windy afternoon. Equals - FUN!

Plus, he grilled chicken and I made some broccoli-cheese rice for dinner.

Diane had her own (diet) meal.

The three of us really enjoy each other's company. I kinda LIKE having one child at home...