Happy Birthday Allison!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’d like to wish a VERY HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY to my oldest niece Allison!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know it’s a little cliché, but I really can’t believe she’s 18 years old. I can still remember making the drive from Rock Hill to visit her. I’m not sure how many times I visited, but I can tell you I drove a different way there every time. It got to the point that even the “wrong way” looked familiar. It’s been fun watching her grow up… I hope the next 18 years are just as fun.

I have a bunch of various pictures I want to share on here, but I haven’t had time to get them from my phone to my computer. I’ll try to do that soon.

If you haven’t seen the Joe Biden memes going around, you need to check them out. Just search “Joe Biden memes” and you’ll find them. Prepare to spend a lot of time reading them. A LOT of time.

If you’re looking for my thoughts on the recent election… I don’t have many. I wasn’t happy when I woke up to find out who won the Presidential race (I didn’t vote for him), but I can honestly say had the person I voted for won, I wouldn’t have been happy then either. I hope I have better options to pick from next time.

FYI… South Carolina won’t let you write-in a vote for President… so I was unable to write-in my Labor Day Aunt Janie for President (and, of course, my good friend and brother Jeremy for VP).

Having said that, I hope I’m wrong and he ends up being the greatest US President ever.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!

I, of course, am thankful for all of you.

I'm also thankful for another year with my family and friends.

I'm thankful that Gertrude (our outside cat who now refuses to go outside) found us... I never thought I'd find a cat that acted so much like a dog.

I'm thankful that Maverick is still with us.  His breath died 5 years ago, but his body is still with us.

It goes without saying, but I'm thankful for the Cubs World Series Championship this year.

I'm thankful that there's a new Star Wars movie every year now.  I would have killed for that as a child.

I'm thankful nobody has tried to re-make The Godfather or Jaws... some things are great the first time around.

I'm thankful to be from James Island.  How much worse would my life be now if my parents had decided to live in Goose Creek or North Charleston or... gasp... Ladson?

I'm thankful that our house/the new I'm just sayin... office is being built.  The only place other than James Island that I'd want to live is Knightsville... and we're less than a year away from that happening.

I'm thankful for the time I get to spend with my family... which is why I have to cut this short.  I'll try to post again later this week.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday J. Michael!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just wanted to swing by this morning to wish my good buddy J. Michael a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I trust Adrian and the boys will make it a great one!

Happy Birthday Leigh-Ann!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would like to take a minute today to wish my friend Leigh-Ann a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I trust KC and the kids will make it a great day.


So, as you know, I hate the Coastal Carolina Fair. The traffic is usually terrible and the place is usually packed. Plus, it is a huge drain on my bank account. All for what? So The Wife and Kids can ride some un-safe rides (in my opinion) or we can spend $100 to “win” a stuffed animal that will be lost within a month at the latest? No thanks. Not interested.

Friday night The Wife says to me, “How would you like to go to the Fair tomorrow with Rebecca and the boys?” I, of course, say “No”. Then she takes the low road and says, “Well Jeremy can’t go so Rebecca will probably need help with Ethan”. So Saturday a little after noon, we head out to the Fair. It’s not like there was anything on TV on a Saturday in November that would interest me (like, say, college football). I won’t say it was the worst day ever, because I got to spend a lot of time with Susie and Ethan while the other kids were riding all of the various rides… but it wasn’t an easy day. God, though, must have been smiling down on me because I did get to see (and say “Hey” to) former Clemson football Coach Danny Ford. He was there from 12-3 signing autographs and taking pictures and all that. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize he was there and just happened to walk into the area he was at after 3:00… so I just saw him on his way out. But, being the polite man that he is, he did say, “Hey, how ya doing?”… to which, being the child of the ‘80s who grew up watching/going to Clemson football games that I am, screamed, “HOLY SH!T SUSIE! LOOK, IT’S DANNY F’ING FORD!” I then pushed her out of the way because I didn’t want her distracting me from Coach Ford. At least, that’s what happened in my head. In real life I just smiled and said, “Hey Coach”. I would guess that had I stopped to talk to him, he would have stopped and talked to me. From what I hear, that’s the kind of guy he is. But I didn’t want to take up his time and, frankly, I was worried about what I might say. It would have probably been a bunch of “Do you remember that game when…?” or “My favorite Clemson players are _____, who are yours?”… stuff like that. Still, seeing him made me happy. So happy that I was able to make it the rest of the day without complaining one bit. We ended up leaving late that night (after 7pm). In “Dad-time”, we spent a good 17 hours at the Fair and that is time I am never going to get back. But I do have some pictures to share…

CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! HOLY COW… CUBS WIN!!!!!!!!

By now, you may be aware that the Chicago Cubs won the 2016 World Series. The Wife has said that she thinks that I feel that the day the Cubs won was the “greatest day of my life”. I, of course, said that January 21, 1979 (the date of my birth) was, in fact, the greatest day of my life. But this Cubs World Series Championship ranks very high up on the list. Probably, if I’m being honest here (and I usually am), it ranks higher than it should. I can't help it, though. I remember growing up watching the Cubs play day games on WGN… Harry Caray and Steve Stone... Sandberg, Sutcliffe, Dawson, Grace, Dunston and Maddux (but not Sammy Sosa… I hated that sonofabitch)… I was still a wee little lad in ’84, but I remember the stories… I do remember ’89 and how close they came to winning the NL. At that point, I figured it was just a matter of time until they won the NL and made it to the World Series. I figured wrong. There were some good years here and there, but none (in my opinion) were as good as the ’89 team. Until last year. Last year I saw a team that was fun to watch. They were young and they had a manager that looked like he was fun to play for. Then in the off-season they went and got some free agents to complete the team. I knew things were looking good when word got out that at least some of these free agents passed up more money from other teams to sign with the Cubs. Then this season came along and I watched them win and win and win all while fearing the “other shoe” would drop and they would lose. But they didn’t (well, they lost some games, but not many). Through it all, I had this strange feeling of “this is the year” mixed with “I may very well live my whole life and never see them make it to the World Series (much less win it)”. Well, as of yesterday morning, I don’t ever have to worry about the negative part of that feeling. If they never win another game, I’ll still have 2016.