Adventageous

Tis the season to begin our celebration of Advent. Sunday is the first day of Advent. We celebrate at home by reading from devotionals and the Bible and lighting the candles of the Advent Wreath.

This brings back many memories from childhood. I remember everyone gather around the coffee table in the livingroom to read the story and light the candles. The number always varied because by the time I really got to remembering things folks had started heading off to college. Anyway, we would gather in the livingroom with the lights off and the previous week's candles lit to read by.

My favorite part of the Advent celebrations was Dad reading the story. The book he read from was really cool. It is a good story and the pictures were awesome cut paper deals. I've now made a powerpoint slide show that I'll use next year with my little ones.

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Well, we had turkey, we had olives and dressing. That was a good day. We told the Holland brood about their cousin yesterday. We had Vanny come here to the blog and then enlarge the pictures. Then, I told them that the picture was of there cousin. They loved it. Kris and I got wish lists from a couple of the kids. It was really cold after all the warm we've been having. We got a lot of rain on Wed. We even got some good thunder. We should be getting a good bit more over the weekend and Monday.

Christmas List Time

Well, it is that time of year again. This is my wish list. I have it on good authority that we might get a ps2 from Santa.
Colin McRae Rally 2005
Rally Fusion Race of Champions
Paris Dakar Rally
GTC Africa
V-Rally 3
EA UEFA Champions League (soccer)
EA FIFA Soccer
an MLS game if there is one
Gorshkhov's Sea Power and the State. (In English.)
Bookshelves.
Gift Cards

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are the very first pictures of Baby Elkins. We went to the doctor today for the first visit. Because there was some question that there might be two babies the doctor suggested that we go ahead and do an ultra-sound. We heartily agreed. There is nothing like seeing the heart bumping on along. All that is visible at the moment are the head, the body, and arm buds. We are at week 10 and the projected due date is June 16. What a Father's Day present. This may scare some of you, but I'm going to be a Dad. It is so real now that we have pictures. Not that it wasn't. Man, you can see the little bugger. I can't wait. The excitement of the day is about to knock me out. I gotta go to bed so I can go teach tomorrow.

Oh, Good Lord In Heaven Be Praised

I have found heaven in Calhoun. Dub's BBQ rocks. They like to say that they are the only restaraunt in town that doesn't need a sign. It ain't bragging if it's true. I liked it that we finally went somewhere that K was recognised (and not as my wife) first. We walked in and K's cousins W and H work there.

The ribs were to die for. It's a good thing Slope's is so far away (no side by side comparisons will happen). I like Dub's sauce its got a nice tang to it. They have the best fried pickle spears in town (I know that's not saying alot). Stew stands up to anything I've had in a while. It's kind of on the same line as Dad's and Slope's. They have beef and beer. Next week or this week I will try the BBQ. First I think I will go for the pork. Then, I'll try the beef. Finally, I may or may not try the chicken.

The banana pudding... there are no words.

The interior is rough hewn pine with home made booths. There aren't any free standing tables but that is alright. The people are awesome (not to mention related to me). The hostess led us to our booth with a baby in her arms. Just getting there we had to look for a place to park.

We've arranged to take the folks out this week for Dub's and we'll think of an excuse for the week after. Yes, it is Thanksgiving but that don't matter. BBQ over all.

Well Its Wednesday

I don't really have a whole lot to say. Other than I'm bored to death. Only interesting thing at the moment is that I'm supervising detention at 8 in the morning. Got to go cover a class.

Two in a Row

I have now taken 2 Saturdays in a row off from the bike shop. I think that is a first since I started over there. We are having a family reunion at our place this weekend. It'll be fun to "relax" and catch up with everyone.

This has definitely been an interesting week. At school I had a nice surprise. The AP that will be observing me basically told me exactly what would get a good review. They don't usually do that. In theory I should know already, but different people see things different ways and have different Ideas about what is important and what is not. So, that was a very nice surprise.

Yesterday we bought a Christmas CD and listened to it. We listened just to make sure it had been worth buying. I can't wait for Advent to start. We need to find, get, make a wreath and candles this year.

Well, I'm on the verge of rambling so I'm going to go for now.

And Then The Rains Came

Man that was a nice break this week. Three days without a let up in the rain. It didn't do a whole lot for the drought but it was some rain. We have the Moore reunion this weekend. It's going to be at the club house in my neighborhood. I guess that means we are hosting it. That's kind of fun. Well, I don't have a lot to say so I'm going to take my leave for now.

BEST is First, but FIRST is Best...

I just wanted to say that. The Milton Robotics Team under the illustrious leadership of Suz competed well on Saturday, but extended rounds of competition just weren't in the cards. They made it to the wild card round to be the eighth team into the semi-finals and tied another team on points for the round. The other team made it out (over) of the gate first to take the eighth spot in the semi's. Oh, well.
Everybody was around at some point during the day we were in Roswell. Everyone but Jeannie. Jody, Becky, Suzy, and Myself were at the competition. Jody, Randy, Suzy, and Myself were at Slope's for dinner that evening. It was kind of cool. I missed Jeannie not being there. The last time we were all in the same place at the same time was my wedding. Well, everybody will probably be in the same place some time in June. I'm hoping.
It was neat getting to see Sam, Zoe, Zane also. 2/3 of the kids and 3/5 of the g-kids at any given point on Saturday. That was a nice mini reunion. Next week is the big thing for the Moore clan. We'll talk at y'all later.

We Got Us a Face Lift

If you haven't noticed yet there is something wrong with your perception. I changed the layout. The blog guts needed to be updated and I just took the opportunity to go with a new look.
I have been struck down by a stomach bug. There'll be more on that at Old Boy Cyclocross. We'll hopefully be down to Roswell all day on Saturday and most of the day on Sunday.
We actually have to teach for an entire week straight. Two and three weeks ago we had Fall Break. Last week we had a teacher work day. Next week the students leave early on Tuesday so we can talk to there parents.
I'm going to go now. Despite being ill all I can think about is the race on Sunday.

What a Weekend

This was a great weekend. Ordinary Bicycles turned 25 this weekend and we had a great sale. We sold a butt load of bikes and got rid of some more patagonia and mountain hardware stuff.
During the sale Chris McHagge came by to check out how the sale was going. He runs the alternative paper in Rome the Unscene. We got to talking and he told me that he owns the Claremont House B&B here in Rome. I jokingly said that it'd be nice if they happened to have a room. He immediately shot back that someone had called in and canceled at the last minute that morning. Long story short he let us have it for the night.
I called Kristi and told her to pack some clothes for the night. She thought I meant that I had forgotten my clothes for Red Lobster (I did not even think about taking clothes). I said no I was going to come home, change, and take her out to eat. She needed to pack for herself for overnight. Then I told her about our last minute accomodations. The room was awesome. The house rocked. Take a look at the Claremont House. See y'all later.

Which Way Did He Go

Ken and Beck at Milton for the White Columns Invitational. They need to stop fertilizing that weed.

I started the day off by falling asleep at the kitchen counter instead of riding this morning (5am). Then I headed down to the shop to load up George's truck for the triathlon at Lake Weiss. I got loaded up and was ready to roll but no Mike. It turns out he was walking out the door early at the firehouse when a call came in. Someone left their windows open and the neighbors had burned leaves the night before. They woke up smelling smoke in the house. The firefighters came and closed the windows and said that ought to take care of the problem.

Next Mike and I scooted back to Rome. I went by the Church to say hey to the folks at the highland games (I'm doing that next year). Went home and showered and went south.

Got to Milton just in time to see Alpharetta Marching Raiders do their show. This weekend is the White Columns Invitational marching band competition Kennedy looks good in his uniform. He is a giant next to Beck. Got to see Suz as well. They have got their robot about ready for the competition coming up. I can't remember which is first, First or Best, but they are looking to have two weeks to work on fine tuning the driving technique before the competition.

Black Eyed Bandits

I was reminded tonight about the story of the weekend from last weekend's camping trip. Kristi woke at 4 o'clock in the morning Saturday and heard something outside the tent. She tapped me on the shoulder or somewhere, I don't remember... Honey...Honey! There is something out there. I put on my shoes and shorts and a shirt. When I unzip the tent flap and flash the light out at the picnic table we were treated to a scampering herd of Raccoons. Five of the little boogers (little being a relative term) hurried off leaving a sacrificial lamb stuck in the beam of the flashlight under the picnic table. It finally took off.

In the morning we discovered that the banditos only got a hold of the bread and hot dog buns but left the candy and hamburger buns alone. Needless to say we put the food in the truck Saturday night.

And the Ants Go Marching Down

We went camping this week end at Red Top Mountain. It was the first time I have gone camping like this. I really enjoyed it. We were serenaded with I'll Fly Away late on Friday night. Saturday night we got talkative pre-schoolers, but they were funny. Out of the mouths of babes was in full affect that night.

Kristi and I are going to try camping before as many races as possible. We are definitely camping at Yargo. Probably Conyers and Monroe. Hard Labor and/or Panola Mountain State Parks. Well, more later. By the way I am at 31% BF

BACK!! Back In The Saddle Again...

You should know your Aerosmith. I will once again turn the pedals in anger this fall. I have managed to get myself a state of the art ride. It won't belong to me. I will be riding a Scott Cyclocross this season. Not sure if it will be the Comp or Team yet. George has the final say. I'll know by the end of the month, though.

I still have a hefty amount of work to do on the engine before I get the machine. At the moment I'm carrying 67.5 pounds of fat around on my body. That is in addition to the 157.5 that the rest of me weighs. That all adds up to 225. My IDEAL weight would be 180 (as old as I am) but I will settle for 200 for this season.

The schedule looks like this right now:
10/21 Conyers
10/28 Winder
11/4 Monroe
11/11 Macon
11/18 Augusta
12/2 Blue Ridge
12/9 Dahlonega

TTFN (gotta finish supper)

Hatari

Great movie. We loved it. Val de Vargas was there and told stories about the making of the movie and how he was cast. We have passes to the rest of the weekend. We'll be seeing really good stuff I think. I'll let y'all know later.

Now, I'm off to build bikes before we start the Saturday round of Movies.

Whew!!!!!!!!

I love my nieces and nephews, but Good Lord, these kids are crazy. We had them over to swim with the folks and wound up having the kids to visit for the night. It was fun. Not again until I forget how crazy these overnights get. It was fun especially the movie watching, six of us piled into our bed watching a movie. We are now going into recovery mode.

August is in the Books

We've made it through another month and the world is still here. It's amazing how that keeps happening. School is ticking on along. The football season has gotten its start. Georgia won and I don't know about Rome yet. I hope they won. Kennedy marched in his first half time show on Friday with Alpharetta. I can't wait till we get a chance to go see him march. Well, it is time to eat and get ready for church. We'll talk at y'all later.

Oh, yeah!! If any of my family members are in need of ideas of what to get me at any point in the year. I would really like Gorshkov's Sea Power and the State. In english for any of you smarties out there.

And the Days Go By ...

The year is actually off to a good start. We've had some real wrinkles. One overpopulated class. That's been fixed. Got a challenging new student added to my caseload on Friday. An EBD kid that doesn't nicely fit into any service model we have at the school. Never fear I have already put together a plan to accomodate. Of course, we must now see if the plan works.

Well We Made It

One week down and 35 more to go.