Atlanta Boy Choir at the Monastery

For the past few years, we have enjoyed the Atlanta Boy Choir concert at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers. This year was no exception. The format changed this year, as the monks read scripture passages related to the birth of Jesus and the choir responded with song. The concert ended with an audience participation with The Twelve Days of Christmas. A very enjoyable evening!

Advertisements can drive you nuts !

Sometimes radio and TV commercials, or even billboards, have the opposite effect (at least with me they do)!
While watching football this past weekend, how many times did you see the fat-faced football player/actor drinking the Dr. Pepper, and acting stupid on the field? I'm not going to drink Dr. Pepper for a while.
Have you seen any Georgia Lottery commercial lately that wasn't idiotic?
I love their food and their business practices, but I'm tired of the Chic-Fil-A cow commercials. Also, stop with the misspelled words on the CFA billboards!
The holiday time brings out the worst in the jewelry store ads (although I don't mind the Tom Shane commercials - he may sound dry, but his message is okay).
All cellphone advertisements are bad!
The teasers on the local news promos drive me crazy!
I could go on and on, but it would just further elevate my BP !

A Busy Holiday Season Begins

The holidays this year are shaping up to be the busiest in a while.
We attended the wedding of one of Kellie's close high school chums, Mandi, yesterday in Rome, GA. Mandi and Kellie went to middle and high school together, and also ran track and played basketball. The wedding was held in the chapel on the campus of Berry College. A very nice day. Brought back a lot of good memories!
We leave today for a week at Jamie's folks in Ohio. We're driving this year, so that we can make some stops on the way up and back. As we get older, the trip gets longer. Looking forward to seeing the family again. A few side trips planned, including a day in the Amish country (ooh-ahh, the lunches). The fireplace will be roaring, and maybe a touch of snow.
Chipper will have full reign of the house for the week.
See ya'll when we get back.

Sports Weekend

A lot of different sports grabbed our attention the past few days.
Kellie's KSU girls soccer team made it to the NCAA playoffs. Their hockey team beat Duke, also. The KSU basketball teams have also started off the season okay, although the girls lost by one point yesterday.
My niece plays on the University of Pennsylvania basketball team. They started the season with a win over Elon, but lost the second game to William & Mary (a coed team?).
Jimmie Johnson is about to capture a Nextel crown next week. Gordon is letting it slip away. Go Jimmie!
Jamie is a big Ohio State fan, so I had mixed feelings about their loss Saturday (not!). It's good to see an SEC team back on top.
Calvin Johnson's Lions took it on the chin against Arizona. He only had three receptions. They need to throw it his way more! Looking forward to watching the Lions on Turkey day during our trip to Ohio.
Kellie is still on the DL from softball, with her foot injury. She's out of the splint, but it's still sore.
The Sandy Creek Patriot's are in the football playoffs, and they travel to Hart County this weekend for the first game. Go Braxton.
Congratulations to Fayette County, on their 10-0 season. Good luck in the playoffs.
Congrats to the Sandy Creek girls volleyball team, who were runners-up in the state playoffs.
The Gwinnett Gladiators are off to a great start. We need to see a game soon.
The Thrashers are rebounding (sorry, wrong sport lingo).
The heck with the Hawks and the rest of the NBA. Bring on NCAA basketball.
I still can't find any curling on the tube !!

Strange appetite

As you can tell, I like to eat!
I work for a Korean company, and we recently had a sales meeting / dinner at a Korean restaurant on the north side of Atlanta. I love a Korean dinner, because they bring out dozens of different side dishes (some of which you need someone to identify for you).
I love to try different foods. If I travel somewhere, I always taste test the local foods and libations. A few examples and where I had them:
* Ox-lip salad (Austria), shaved ox lips on top of greens
* Sweetbreads (Austria and Germany), various internal body parts
* Black pudding / blood sausage (England), level 2 on the gag meter
* Haggis (Scotland), animal potpourri sausage, numero uno on the gag meter
* Pig's brains and eggs (Richmond, VA), at a roadside diner at 2AM
* Horse (Montreal), made as a hamburger (sweet)
* Sushi (everywhere), I love sushi!
* Cooked octopus (Korea), the bigger the tentacles, the harder the chew!
* Live octopus (Suwon, Korea), only one small piece was enough!
* River eel (Korea and US), cooked only!
Reminds me of the Indiana Jones movie, with the chilled monkey brains!
If I make it to China, I want to eat at one of the infamous snake restaurants in Shanghai. Another possibility will be fillet of canine, in remote parts of Korea.
Still hungry ??

Halloween

Finally, trick-or-treaters at our house! We had a total of 8 this year, coming in 2 groups. This is 8 more than the last two years put together (in mathematical terms: 8 > 0+0). It's not like we live in the boondocks, either. I guess kids don't want to walk for their treats anymore!
Jamie runs the LaFayette Kids World childcare center in Tyrone. They always have a blast at Halloween time. Last week, every day was an event (pajama day, sports day, costume day, career day, etc.). This week, they had their pumpkin patch in the front of the center. Some very creative pumpkins (thanks Mom and Dad), and some that you could tell were down by the kids alone!
Finally, what to do with the leftover candy? Options: 1) bring it to work and leave it in the cafeteria, 2) have Kellie bring it back to KSU, 3) save it for next Halloween, or 4) throw it away. I'll think it over while I have another Snickers!

A Day at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Another interesting day at AMS this past Sunday. Went with Kellie and JB, and also John, a coworker and friend of mine from work. John is from Wales, and had never been to a Nascar event before.
As usual, the day starts with traffic. We lucked out, though, with a good parking spot. We convinced a security person to let us drop Kellie (with her bum foot) off at the main entrance, and we then slipped into the paved parking lot right up front!
The sweatshirts came off right away, as the sun was very hot in the cloudless sky.
The row behind us was well lubricated (and I don't mean suntan lotion) before the race even started. One guy yelled throughout the national anthem. His wife had the mouth of a ... .
Seeing Danielle Peck sing 'God Bless America' was worth the price of admission! Bo Duke (John Schneider) sang the anthem, and did a good job.
The much anticipated flyover was disappointing (one huge, slow B-something, rather than several fast, loud B-something-elses that everyone wants).
Driver intros went as expected, Cheers for Little E, and boos for the Busch's and Gordon.
I haven't seen it in years, but an actual big Goodyear blimp flew overhead (usually it's a pint sized version with another logo on the side).
The 1, 2, and 5 cars were very fast all day. The 8, 24 and the 48 stayed further back most of the race.
JB (Jason Bretch) is an avid Kyle Petty fan. We did spot a few other Petty fans in the crowd. Kyle finished a respectable 13th!
Peachtree City's Reed Sorenson was slick in his pink Target car.
A few decent wrecks (just like hockey fights, you wait for them to happen).
The last thirty laps were topsy-turvy. A couple wrecks, and restarts.
Kellie's favorite, Earnhardt Jr., was in the lead pack near the end, but he wrecked in turn 2.
The race ended under caution, with my favorite, Jimmie Johnson, as the winner.
Gordon now leads Johnson by only 9 points, with 3 races left in the Chase!
Limited our purchases to two beers, a Coke, and a discount Little E T-shirt.
Escaped very quickly from our secret, prime parking spot, and beat the mob out of the grounds.
Stopped for Chinese food on the way home, and pulled into the driveway before 7:30 PM.
A good day at the track!

Future Teachers of Georgia

If you passed Sandy Creek HS on Saturday, you may have noticed that the parking lot was absolutely packed. No basketball games or wrestling matches. No band concert. No football practice. Actually, it was hundreds of college students taking the GACE exam, Georgia's teacher certification test. Kellie was among the hundreds inside.
There aren't many professions as honorable as teaching!
Kellie has finished her course instruction at Kennesaw State University, and will now be full-time student teaching until graduation in May 2008. She has a fourth grade class at A.L. Burruss Elementary in Marietta, and she loves it!
Go Burruss Beavers!

On the DL

Kellie played and lettered in three sports at Sandy Creek HS, and also played collegiate soccer for two years. Softball was not one of those three sports, but she has been playing in church, industrial and KSU intramural leagues over the past four months. She has done quite well, for never really playing much softball before. She has played at catcher, first base, second base, and right field.
This past Thursday evening was very interesting, though. Her team played a doubleheader, winning the first game after coming back from a three run deficit. The next game, however, proved to be quite challenging!
Tim Hudson, star pitcher of the Atlanta Braves, and his wife play on the Blitz Krieg team in Peachtree City. They played Kellie's Hoshizaki team in the second game of the doubleheader. Tim played shortstop, and he crashed two home runs over the leftfield fence (not a bad swing for a pitcher!). In the 5th inning, a Blitz Krieger sent a ball sailing at Kellie in right field. She back pedalled a bit, then decided to turn and track down the ball. Unfortunately, her right foot decided to go in another direction!
Well, after two hours at the Fayette Hospital emergency room, it was determined not to be a break! With her foot 'splinted' and wrapped, we headed back up to Kennesaw State University in the wee hours of the morning. Looks like Kellie will be on the disabled list for next week's game.
One consolation is that she got a high-five from Tim Hudson after the game!

Christmas Concert

These days, you haven't even finished your last hot dog on Labor Day before folks are making plans for the holidays! We were driving the other day, and Jamie asked when the concert date was for the Atlanta Boy Choir at the Monastery. I made a comment about it being in early December, and she reminded me that the holidays will be here before we know it.
We have been going to the Atlanta Boy Choir concert at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit for the past several years. It's really a very enjoyable concert. This year it will be held on Saturday evening, December 8th, starting at 6:30 PM. I would recommend it to anyone who has never attended. Ticket info is on the internet.

Annyong Haseyo

I've worked for foreign-owned companies since I finished college thirty years ago. The first two were British (ICI, the DuPont of the UK, and Tensar/Netlon, not quite as large). Communication wasn't too bad within those companies, as the languages of each country are similar (there are a lot of differences, though!).
I've worked for a Korean company, SKC, for the past nine years. SK Group is the third largest conglomerate in South Korea. I've been over there twice (great country to visit, but the plane ride is way, way, way too long). Communication is not as easy, though. My Korean coworkers have made great strides in learning our language, but I can't say that we (lazy) Americans have made much of an effort to learn their language. I can sound out most of their alphabet/letters, but I really have mastered only three phrases. Annyong haseyo (hello, good afternoon, etc.) and kamsa hamnida (thank you). The third was an easy one: mekchu (served cold, in a tall glass, with a head on it!). So much for Korean, as a second language.

Go Calvin!

Anybody who has watched Calvin Johnson play football, either at Sandy Creek HS or at Georgia Tech, knows that he is one of the most exciting players anywhere! After missing a couple games with a sore back, he was back on Sunday to help the Lions to their 4th victory of this young season (note: the Lions only won three games all of last season). He scored a TD, but it wasn't on a pass play. He rushed for a score, stiff-arming and dragging defenders along the way. Unbelievable! Makes you want to move to Detroit to become a Lions fan (I don't really mean that - I've been to Detroit once before!). Go Calvin!

A Sea of Red

We attend St. Matthew's Church in Tyrone. As part of their Stewardship effort, they distributed $16,000 among the families of the parish last October. (We were not yet members of the parish, so we did not get a chance to participate). The envelopes handed out contained either $20, $30, or $40. The parish families were then told to use the money, as they saw fit, to do good works or to use it as seed money to raise additional monies for the church. Many families sold food items or crafts during the year. Others raffled off items such as dinners, vacations, afghans, etc.
This past Sunday was the end of the one-year Adventures in Stewardship program. To celebrate, parish families attended a special mass (with dancers, full choir, special songs, etc.), enjoyed a cook-out lunch, and wrapped up the day with a thanksgiving prayer service.
Everyone was encouraged to wear red, the color of St. Matthew. The sight was unbelievable! Red shirts, red blouses, red skirts, red shoes, etc. Deacon Bill thought he was in Athens, and expected to hear bulldog chants. Father Vic reminded him that he was, instead, in Tyrone. A very enjoyable day!
Oh, by the way. The total monies returned was about $45,000. A very successful endeavor!

Go Patriots!

Kellie graduated from Sandy Creek HS in 2003. We have been going to their football games for about ten years now. This season started off on a sour note, with a loss to McIntosh (how the heck did that happen!) and a close loss to Whitewater (a good team). Thought for a while that this may be a dismal season. However, they have bounced back! Last Friday they had a great win against 3rd ranked Carrolton, 28-14. We are currently tied for the division lead. Watch out !!

The Nextel Cup

Yes, we have our tickets for next Sunday's race! We usually sit at the start/finish line, but I waited too long to get tickets. We're a little closer to turn 1 this time.
Kellie is a big Earnhardt Jr. fan, but too bad he's not in the chase. Ken doesn't have one favorite, but he usually pulls for Jimmie Johnson. Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, and Dale Jarret are favorites, too. I can root for Gordon, too, but that doesn't sit too well with Kellie, though!

College Football Favorites

It seems that every Saturday we have about a dozen teams that we want to win (and about the same number that we want to lose!). The local favorites are Georgia and Tech, of course. Kellie pulls for Kentucky (always liked the horse country, and had a few friends who went there), Texas (I don't know why), Michigan (Jason S is from up there) and Tennessee (JB graduated from there). Jamie pulls for Ohio State (her family lives up there), Akron (her brother played football there), and Kent State (she attended their satellite campus in New Philly). Ken likes Rutgers (Jersey boy), Penn State (Go Joe Pa), Hawaii (he met June Jones in an airport once), U of Penn (a niece plays basketball there), and Notre Dame (cradle Catholic). Least favorites are west coast teams, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Boise State (a blue field ain't right), and most teams from Florida! Upsets are always fun, too.

Blog Startup

This is our first attempt at a blog, so bear with us!