Monopoly

I must say that I don't think I've ever played Monopoly until last night. I'm at the beach with part of the fam, so my parents, Chris, Julianna, & me set out to play Monopoly last night. I now understand why people say you need all night to play the game. Of course, I was the first one to go bankrupt, and the game still went on until around 2 AM this morning. Fun, fun, fun...

Georgie

Scott & Georgie are at home this week without me. Scott's sister and her family were gracious enough to keep Georgie last week while we were on vacation, so I'm sure Georgie was glad to see Scott today. I miss them very much!

Family Vacation

Before I started the craziness of grad school this summer, we enjoyed a week with the Sullivan family at Folly Beach. Here are a few pics from our trip to the beach.
The weather was beautiful!

We enjoyed many walks to the pier and on the pier.



We enjoyed a day in downtown Charleston and ate dinner at the Charleston Crab House.

Last Day of School!!!

Hardly seems like it was just six weeks ago that Joy headed off for her first day of school. Now, 50 days, 24 trips to Athens, too many tests to count, a couple of papers a project and an oral exam covering more information than any person should be forced to learn, the last day of school has arrived! I think you can tell by the smile on her face that today is a great day.

The hardest part, her oral exam, is already over. She passed it yesterday with flying colors. One more final exam today and she will be DONE. Well, sort of. In an ironic twist of fate, because Joy was not an undergraduate education major and despite her three years of teaching she does not have her teacher's certification. So, even though with her graduate work complete (which is actually a higher level of certification), she has to complete a couple of minor things this fall to get her basic teacher's certification before she can receive her degree. Seems stupid to me, because it is like passing all of the tests to get a driver's license but not being able to do it because you didn't have a learner's permit. But that's just the way it is. It actually works out better for Joy, because now she gets to have two celebrations!

I have been very proud of Joy this summer. She has worked her butt off and sacrificed a lot in order to complete her school work. She's studied longer and harder than I ever would have thought possible, and it has paid off. I'd be remiss not to thank our great friend Wes, who was also completing his graduate work this summer. Wes and Joy have carpooled all summer (saving a little gas money), and studied together every week. Congratulations are in order for both of them!

Way to go babe...I am so proud of you!

Why We Do What We Do...

As Joy finishes up her summer of grad school and we prepare to head to the beach for a little R&R, I thought it would be a great time to share one of my all time favorite comic strips. I actually put this in a frame and gave it to Joy for Christmas a couple of years ago. She displays it proudly on her desk at school!

Click on it for the full size version!

New Links Over There...

In case you haven't noticed, Joy has added some new links to the little "Friends and Family Blogs" widget over there on the right hand side of the blog------>.

These include:

Medcalf Corner
Brad and Carri Medcalf (Brad is my cousin)

Cooler Corner
Abbey and Adam Cooler (Abbey is my cousin/Brad's sister)

The Hensons
Lisa and Brent Henson (Lisa is my cousin)

Cannida Lane
Jennifer and Bobby Cannida (Jennifer is Joy's cousin)

Go check 'em all out, and tell 'em who sent ya!

The Jedi Gym

Since there are so many things about the gym that bug me, I started to give some thought to finding a new one. Doing a little research I found this one that seemed pretty goood...

Maybe not...