New Kitchen, finished Bush book

Everyone really enjoyed Miles' choir performance.  Thanks for the comments!

Some really nice tile going up in the kitchen this morning, it looks like a completely new kitchen. Tricia is going to love it!  Can't wait for her to see it. Mr. Tucker the Tile man is doing a great job. I wouldn't even know where to start with the tile.  We are planning to work with a friend from our life group and work on the bathroom as a DIY project.  Didn't want to take that chance for the kitchen work.  He's been doing this for about 40 years and it shows.  

Cold and wet today here in Blue Ridge.  Glad my grass seed is going to get a good soaking this week. Keller did chew up my water hose I left in the yard, so good thing it's raining!  That puppy was just helping me clean up what I left out in the yard, right?  

I finished the book Bush Tragedy last night.  An interesting and frustrating read.  If I have to use the dictionary more than 5 times for 1 book, I get a little annoyed.  Just use English for Pete's sake! But, I did like the way the author parallels Bush's life and politics "adventures" with Shakespeare's Henry V.  The passages about Karl Rove and Dick Chenney were very informative and made my blood pressure go up at times; but, also confirmed what I suspected all along, that Chenney was running the show.  Good information about Bush's grandparents (both sides of the family) and how they influenced his views and work ethics.  Did I learn anything new?  I guess I liked the history and comparisons to past administrations and Shakespearean characters; but, this was more an affirmation from someone who evidently shares the same views as me.  Good read at times, a little fluffy at times.  On to the next book.  Maybe a trip to the library with the boys.  They always love that!  We have to find childcare for tongiht's Life Group (the last in our series before the Christmas social next week).  Ok, gotta get back to work. 

See ya!

Check out this free sampler from Amazon.com mp3 downloads:  Jazz Sampler

Christmas Jam this weekend:  Guide to Christmas Jam 2008

Frosty the Elvis Snowman

Miles worked very hard on his solo for the Christmas choir performance at school.  The rhythm got off a little but I think he did a super job!  Check it out for yo'self!

Frosty the Elvis Snowman

Oh yeah

My recap of today would not be complete without some mention of us trying to get a family picture for our holiday cards. Don't plan on it for the ones we took today. The goofy factor was high and I think we may just work on a year in review collage or something. Why is it so hard to get 2 boys, a cat, a dog and 2 parents together for 1 picture? Here's a sample...

Sunday download

We had a great time yesterday cheering for the SHS Gamecocks. Although we didn't stop the Lattimore express (Jr. from Byrnes ran for over 300 yards) we gave them a good run and the final was 31-20. I think this is Byrnes' 8th state championship in the last 10 years. It's a great program over there. We got to hang with our friends from Alice Drive Baptist church and I got to see some Sumter High folks from the class of 1988 that I hadn't seen in a long time, folks who didn't make the reunion. We had a mini-reunion during half time. It was great to see Tony Hinnant, Dexter Davis, Patrick Johnson (lives in Greer) and Steve Price. Steve was my roommate at Clemson, freshman year.

Today after church (great praise music and message today and Jake even busted out the mandolin for the first time in a long time, the band sounded great and Cliff talked about checking your heart and getting it cleaned and pure for the work to be done, great message Cliff) and a nice nap on the couch, I finished the front porch Christmas lights display and then got to work on the driveway with my new pressure washer. There is something mysteriously cathartic about spending a few hours spraying away clay and dirt from cement with cold, wet toes. The driveway looks great and it was easy, glad I got the electric pressure washer instead of the gas, just couldn't stand that noise for so long. While I was working on the driveway, Amy took all of the boys down to the trail. Miles and Dylan rode their bikes and Keller and Drew tagged along. They had a great time but Dylan was just about pushed to his limits, pushing the bike back up the hill from the trail across the street. They had a great time this weekend with cousin Drew and Aunt Amy. We will see them next weekend in Sumter for my Mom's Christmas party. That's the day after the Christmas Jam on Friday night. That will be the utmost highlight of the week!

No NFL (Not For Long as in how long I stay awake watching) tonight but the Panthers are on Monday night football tomorrow, so I will watch after we get home from Miles' Christmas choir performance at Crestview. Look for a Youtube upload soon. Can you believe we only have 2 weeks from this Thursday until Christmas. Terminal velocity has us moving rapidly to 2009! Hold on!

See ya!

Early Christmas, Go SHS Gamecocks!

Christmas came early, December 5th, for me. First, I got my new bass pedal from Musician's Friend along with some other not to be named birthday present for a boy who will be 11 in January. It's not the place where you eat pancakes...IHOP; but, close :-). The bass pedal allows me to use 80 different "voices" and effects for my bass and has a built in tuner and volume pedal. I was all geeked out on it yesterday and so was Miles. Even has a built-in drum machine to keep the beat. Very cool! Can't wait to spend some more time "playing" around with that toy! My fingers have blisters today since I haven't played that much bass in a while.

Then, to top it all, Tricia and I went to Lowe's for some project stuff. We are giving each other a back splash in the kitchen as Christmas. We had a deal for some no payment/no interest at Lowe's, so we went to get the tile for the backsplash there. We also picked up the rest of the stain we needed for the fence, a much needed power spray washer and an electric chainsaw. Throw in some seed for the yard and seeding soil and you can imagine the price. Good thing I have 12 months to pay it all! I had to park on the street and load it up the driveway. Oh yeah, throw in 16 stepping stones for a path from the garage door to the back deck. It was a lot of work unloading, I promise you that! So, I have plenty of projects to work on for the next few weekends. Much needed improvements. We have already received an estimate from the man who is going to do the backsplash, we just need to schedule that for now, should be soon. What more could a man ask for in 1 day when he gets a bass pedal, a pressure washer and an electric chainsaw? I'm happy.

Just so you know, that trip to Lowe's was preceded with a trip to Starbucks with Tricia. We had some coffee and just hung out together, almost like a real date. I guess if you throw in the baby sitter we had at the house with Miles and Dylan, it was! Tricia even updated her status on Facebook to say we were going on a date to Lowe's and Starbucks. That makes it official, right? The gingersnap latte had real ginger bits on the whip cream, very tasty. So was the no sugar added banana nut bread. Tricia and I also got some good couple time walking with Keller on the trail after they got home from school yesterday. A nice cool December afternoon in the woods is always a treat for us.

Today, my sister and nephew are coming up to go to the game with me and Miles in Clemson. Amy is stopping in Columbia and getting Drew for the night. Tricia and Dylan are going to hang out here and enjoy their Saturday. I am really excited to be heading over to cheer for my high school. A late suspension yesterday of 3 players from the opposing team (the Upstate champs, Byrnes) for smoking pot and skipping school may or may not have any effect on the game. It will be fun to see our friends from Sumter and cheer on the Sumter High Gamecocks!

Well, I think I have some holiday decorating or project work that is calling me. See ya! Go SHS!
Today

Gator Bowl Bound

It looks like Clemson is heading to a New Year's day bowl, The Gator Bowl! I can't wait to watch that with my inlaws :-) They will be down here for a visit on New Year's Eve through the 4th of January. It will be a fun party!

Keller was a playing the spoiled brat today. I let him in the office like I have been lately in the afternoons to hang with me while I work. When it was time to go back outside, he protested and pretended to hide his face. I literally had to pull him out of the office. It was funny and frustrating at the same time. We will continue to work on that! He is still enjoying his bed in the garage at nights too, no problem there.

Watching the Clemson basketball team play a tough Illinois team in the ACC/Big Ten challenge. Right now, Clemson is down and it's a fast paced game tonight, their biggest challenge so far this year. We have tickets for the 1/10/2009 game at Clemson when they play NC State. Speaking of Clemson, did I mention that we get to head to Clemson this Saturday to watch my high school play for the football state championship? It's gonna be a fun time, can't wait!

We are slowly decorating for the holidays around the home. Still working on the outside displays but have the traditional Johnson family fiber optic tree on the porch up and running with the timer. That's a must-have for our holidays! It was one of very first family trees and has hung in there for more years than I expected! Still looks great.

Did you see Jupiter and Venus beside the moon last night and tonight? Wow! It caught my eye last night and I looked on Earth and Sky and found what the planets were that were so brightly shining in the sky to the southeast of the crescent moon. I tried to take a few shots, see below.

Well, that's all for today. Hope you are enjoying this cold weather as much as I am, my walks in the morning are cold but very enjoyable. Keller is still getting in the creek, even with ice patches in the water. It's usually at the end of the run, not the beginning like in the summer. So, he does feel the coldness, I'm sure!

See ya!

Cold and Wet

It's a cold, windy and wet Monday morning here in Blue Ridge, South Carolina. I am going to start saying we live in Blue Ridge because it actually comes up on the map in Google and it's a much closer approximation to our house since the Greer post office is a long ways away from here. Greer city limits is almost 5 miles. It makes me feel better, how about you?

It was a slow moving start for the Crestview gang this morning, hard to get going after the long weekend and holiday. We enjoyed our visit from Nana, Pete and Aunt Amy over the weekend. We really had a blast watching Clemson dismantle the swagger of the USC Gamecocks. I am really proud of how our team got together and made something out of the season despite all the setbacks and coaching drama. It was a great way to bring it all together for the Seniors. I am excited today to see if we get the announcement for Dabo to be the new head coach. I have some concerns about how some of the fans may set their expectations on his performance but I know his heart and soul has been poured into those boys and I think we could do a lot worse. It will be a hard road for any coach but Dabo has sure proved he can handle it, even under the worse conditions. Now, we wait for our bowl game! Go Tigers!

My high school, Sumter High, will actually be playing in Clemson next Saturday for the State football championship. We are going to the game, which starts at 3pm on Saturday. What's really cool is SHS won the state when I was a senior so this would make a great 20th year gift for our class! Can't wait to cheer those Gamecocks! Yes, my high school mascot is Gamecocks but we have an authentic claim to the Gamecock mascot since General Thomas Sumter was nicknamed "The Fighting Gamecock" during the Revolutionary War. So, there!

As promised, I wanted to write a little about the fun Miles and I had in Charlotte on Friday night. I got tickets during the presale for the McGholon Theatre show (Spirit Square) way back in the summer. This venue is just about perfect for the Derek Trucks Band. It's actually the old sanctuary for 1st Baptist Church of Charlotte. The stained glass is still there as are the big wooden church doors. The venue has received some recent sound system updates and it showed. The sound was top notch and my recording really shines. Miles and I stayed at the Hampton a few blocks away (thanks to the free room from work travel) and enjoyed the services of the shuttle bus to and from the show! Very nice! We had dinner at the Rock Bottom brewery/pub with our good friends from Greensboro, NC, Greg and Meredith Cohoon. Miles and I got a latte and mocha treat after the meal to get ready for the show. That hit the spot! We then met up with Yonrico, the drummer, and gave him some peach bread and cider for the band to enjoy (actually we gave that to Todd the bass player and Count M'butu, the percussionist). I also delivered the percussion shakers I got in Botswana for Yonrico's birthday! He was very appreciative and Miles got to say hello by the bus as well. It was a treat. We didn't get the chance to speak to Derek, Mike or Todd's wife, Brooke (with both kids in tow) but we spoke with Kofi (keyboard and flute). It's always fun to let them know how much we appreciate the music and that we are looking forward to the new album in January.

As for the show, I think the recording speaks for itself. "My Favorite Things" clocked in at 18 minutes and was a highlight as was the "For My Brother" encore. The band was in a great form and played a lot of the new CD. The crowd was relaxed and seated for the most part with dancers seen in the corners during the sets. Miles and I went up in the balcony during the 2nd set and he really enjoyed the view from up above, speaking of... "Up Above My Head" to end the 2nd set was funky! Check out the pictures here: dTb 11-28-08

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Well, it's time for my Monday to get started! Have a great week and Happy December to you!!!

See ya!