Connie Morgan (White)

Have a wonderfully happy birthday Don!!!!!!!!

Everyone have a good week.  I hope we can get together when it is cooler in the Fall!

Gary Grice

Greetings and salutations one and all!!! Happy Monday and a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Don,  who is NOW, OFFICIALLY - old.  I hope you have a VERY BLESSED day filled with celebrating.  Well another weekend is history.  Had a "birthday celebration" for Sherron's father Saturday evening and watched "Fried Green Tomatos" yesterday afternoon.  Othewise, not much going on.  UGA classes start next week which means - RUSH!!!! and Milledge Avenue traffic comes to a halt as all of us old guys turn the place into a parking lot.  Gosh, I love my life!  Jim, you should take off a couple of days and come up for some "little black dress" gawking.  Well now on to something more serious - no really.  Our "leaders" have shirked their duty and our nation's credit rating is downgraded.   What does that mean?  Probably further and deeper recession.   I know it is difficult to understand exactly what "they" were thinking as they attempted to get us out of the financial hole by those stimulus programs, but never fear!  I ran across this cartoon that explains it perfectly.  Connie, you are right!  We need to pick a day for a fall get together.  Dick and Diane and other non-locals, when will you be in the neighborhood?  I pray you each have a very blessed day and week.  Later!

Diane Harris (Moore)

Gary Grice

Greetings and salutations and a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Pee Wee!  I hope you have a blessed day filled with much celebration.  Unlike us hairy legged boys who just get old, a beautiful woman is like fine wine, she just gets better with age.  So have a Happy Birthday and go pop a cork!  Yes, Diane we visited Royal Gorge.  It is scary, especially on the bridge when a car rumbles across it!  I hope you rode the trolley to the bottom of the gorge.  That is where it was so beautiful to me.  That is the only place I have ever been where you could literally pet deer in the wild.  Also the humming birds were everywhere and you could almost touch them. They seemed to have a curiosity about us humans as they would fly within a foot or two and appear to study us. I guess you can decypher that I really enjoyed my visit.  Sherron, because of the heights and shaking bridge, not so much.  Well I read a quote today by Mark Twain that I would like to share.  If what he says is true, I'm half way to success - I got the Ignorance part down!  I hope you all have a wonderful day.  Later.

To succeed in life, you need two things: Ignorance and Confidence.

Donald Chandler

Good Morning, Mates!

Thank you all for the wonderful birthday greetings!  BTW, Gary, I will not confess to being "old"... just "older".  I had a wonderful 61st birthday and a very busy social weekend in which I ate entirely too much.  It all started on Friday when we attended a Retirement Luncheon for a friend of ours.  And then on Saturday, we attended a Birthday Dinner Party, not for me, but for a longtime friend (our attorney) who celebrated his 70th birthday.  And then after church on Sunday, Liz and I went out to a Sunday Brunch Buffet at one of our favorite Mexican Restaurants.  And finally on my birthday yesterday, Liz spoiled me with gifts and then treated me to a Birthday Lunch at Provino's Italian Restaurant in Kennesaw.  I had a wonderful seafood/pasta meal of shrimp, scallops, and baby clams with herbs and rosatella sauce over pasta... complete with a salad bowl, baked garlic rolls, and ice cream for dessert.  Magnifico!  Them was some fine vittles for a country boy like me.  I guess it is not the greatest timing in the world that I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow morning to check my weight and cholesterol. 

And the Braves even won last night, just for my birthday!

But my birthday is gone, and it's Pee Wee's turn.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PEE WEE!!!  Hope you have a fantastic day doing the things you love with the ones you love.  God bless you, Pee Wee.

Sounds like you are having a great visit with the family, Diane.  Royal Gorge sounds like my kind of place... a great view, with friendly deer and hummingbirds.  Liz and I plan to hit the road to Louisville on Friday and spend next week in Bluegrass Country.

And finally... I was out early this morning in traffic and saw a bumper sticker that read "Reagan for President".  :-)   Those were the days, my friend.  When are these bleeding heart liberals going to learn the simple fact that you can't spend more money than you take in?  They are too busy "buying votes" to really care.  I hope that none of you lost money yesterday.  We took our money out of the stock market over three years ago.  I missed Obama's "speech" yesterday but I figured he would only say that it's "all George Bush's fault".  I saw a video clip of him and he looked like a bobble head doll, with his head swinging back and forth reading the teleprompter as usual.  The market really took a dive when he was done.  I heard a radio commentator say that the stock market would have risen 500 points if he had only made this brief statement, "I will NOT seek re-election to the office of President of the United States."

Have a great week, mates... and thanks again for the birthday wishes. 

Gary Grice

Don, maybe this will add to you birthday celebration.  It was sent to me by a fellow classmate that I won't impliment unless Jim wants to take credit.  I couldn't get the picture of the bumper sticker to paste and I won't give you the "rest of the story".  You'll have to look it up yourself. Later.

 My wife and I were in slow-moving traffic the other day and we were stopped behind a car that had an unusual Obama bumper sticker on it.

Connie Morgan (White)

Have a WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY PeeWee!!!!!!!!   Loving thoughts being sent to you.

Don, it sounds like you had a great birthday celebration.   I'm glad!

Gary, you sure have a way with words ---   I like you description of women getting older.  By the way, I read Psalms 109:8 :)

Diane, I know you are enjoying every second with your precious family.   Those of us who get to see family more often should never take it for granted!

Some of you are on Facebook.   I hope you have had a chance to see the video that Kathy and Rabun posted about "coupons".    Very cute.

Love all you guys.   Take care.

Gary Grice

Greetings and salutations one and all!  Nothing much going on today but wanted to drop in and share this picture.  I'm not a "cat person" but this just made me feel good and I hope it will brighten another's day as well.  I hope everyone is having a very blessed week.  Later.

Donald Chandler

Good Morning, Mates...

Liz and I will be off to Bluegrass Country tomorrow morning, and if all goes as planned, we should be having dinner tomorrow night with some of Liz's cousins at Old Talbott Tavern in Bardstown, Kentucky.  It's on the National Register of Historic Places and has provided food, drink, and lodging for weary travelers since 1779.  It has hosted such famous guests as President Abraham Lincoln, President Andrew Jackson, Daniel Boone, and General George Rogers Clark.  It is reported that Jesse James once got drunk at Talbott Tavern and started shooting at imaginary butterflies!  The bullet holes are still in some of the beautiful wall murals to this day.  If any bullets start flying tomorrow night, I will duck under the nearest table.

See ya down the road, mates.  Have a good weekend and a great week. 

Gary Grice

Greetings and salutations one and all.  Don, I hope you and Liz have a great road trip.  It sounds like a real thrill going to a tavern where all those famous people have been served.  I can just imagine all their autographed pictures hanging on the walls ......  what a treat!   (I'm kidding Diane - before she calls me on that and has Sherron thump me upside the head again.)  Speaking of which, if you check in, I hope you and Dick are enjoying your return trip as well.  I would imagine Dick would appreciate a little conversaton crossing the plains where there's nothing but miles and miles of miles and miles!  And while the "rest of us" get to work and work and work....  I can't even take a staycation! I found this chart that explains the stages of life.  I discovered that I can identify with each .... no energy, no time and no money.  Hope everyone is having a great week.  Those of you traveling, be safe.  Later.

Jimmy Willis

GOOD MORNING MATES!,

    DID YOU FEEL IT WHEN YOU STEPPED OUT DOORS THIS MORNING? IT'S

THERE AGAIN! EXCITEMENT! WONDERMENT! BULLDOG FOOTBALL! IT'S

JUST 22 DAYS, 12 HRS AND SOME 15 MINUTES UNTIL KICK OFF! SORRY

LADIES BUT IT'S LIKE TAKING A DOSE OF SPRING ELIXIR (OR WAS THAT

MOONSHINE) THAT MADE ME FEEL LIKE THIS! ANYWAY, IT'S HERE BABY

AND I'M READY!

    SO HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND MATES!

LATER

Diane Harris (Moore)

Connie Morgan (White)

Happy birthday wishes to you Gail!   Have a wonderful week-end of celebration.

Jim, I join you in the excitement for the Bulldog season!!    I read with sadness that someone stole the Burr Rabbit statue from the Uncle Remus museum.   Hope they catch the scallawags!(I'm quite sure I've mispelled several things.)

Diane, I hope y'all are continuing to have a safe trip.  I know you enjoyed the time with your children, but it is sad to leave them...  Will y'all be pointing that car South sometime in the next few months???   I hope we can have a class Sunday afternoon get-together sometime when it gets cooler.   It would be great to see you and Dick too!

Don and Liz, have a great w/e!  

 Love y'all "old" friends.

Connie Morgan (White)

I read in the paper this a.m. that Mr. Clyas Crenshaw (the husband of Marguerite Chenshaw - our teacher @ OCHS) died.     If you remember, they came to our 40th. reunion.  Lets remember that dear, sweet lady in our prayers.

The address I have for her is:  Marguerite Crenshaw

        565 Forest Heights Dr.,        Athens, Ga.  30606

I'm assuming they haven't moved since the reunion.

On another (less sad) teacher update - Mrs. Sonja Armor and her husband have opened a Bed and Breakfast at their home in Crawford.   It is called "The Chicken Coop"...   There is a website if anyone is interested in looking.

Take care all...

connie 

Gary Grice

Greetings and salutations one and all and a very happy Monday!  And Happy (Belated) Birthday to Gail.  I would like to express my condolences as well to Mrs. Crenshaw in the loss of her husband.  (Clyas Crehshaw) I guess we are just getting to that age where there aren't too many days when the obituaries don't list someone we know.  Last week was not my best week on several levels but had a restful weekend and then this morning ...... got up at my normal 5:00 and Sherron was already up, as usual.  Stumbled to the kitchen to take my medicine that has to be taken a half-hour before I eat and couldn't find Sherron.  Then I spotted the candle flickering on the patio.  Got my coffee and joined my beautiful bride outside.  Full moon, on a cool morning, with a beautiful woman and a fresh brewed cup of coffee ...... Life IS Good!!!  But to quote Robert Frost, " I have many promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep ..... " so had to get ready for work.  But all was not lost .... top down and an almost chilly ride (the long way, of course) to work.  I LOVE my Mini!!I may have to change its name from Q (James Bond series) to Winnie (The Wonder Years).  I had toyed with DB (the skyjacker) be not sure that portrays a positive image.  What do you think?  What should I name my Mini Cooper?  Connie, I looked up "The Chicken Coop Bed 'n Breakfast" and created a link for any interested.  Looks like a real fun place.  I hope they do well.  I wonder if Don will check in today or if he is hanging his head in shame!  The Braves BLEW one yesterday.  I don't watch much baseball but yesterday's game filled the gaps between my napping.  Not sure how I ended up with a Cubs cap but I started to post my picture with it on, just for Don.  But then again, he could be trying to recover from chasing the bar maids if the "tavern" was as Diane suggested.  By the way Diane, how is it that you know about honky tonks?  Oh, Dick told you about them.  I see. Well I guess I should play like I'm doing some work before I leave.  Dentist appointment this morning and then meeting with an attorney the afternoon.  I hope you ALL have a very BLESSED week.  Later.

Gary Grice

Greetings and salutations and a happy Tuesday one and all.  Nice visit with the dentist yesterday.  An attractive lady - she wants to see me again "real soon".  Seems I'm going to be a king.  She said I needed ANOTHER crown!  What happened to the good ole' days when they just pulled all of your teeth when you got old(er) and then you got dentures?  I guess I shouldn't complain.  I've had good teeth for 60 years, I guess its time they start wearing out!  And that I guess is my segway into today informative post.  Many posts ago, someone mentioned having a hardtime keeping up with all of the abbreviations used in our new electronic exchanges.  So I would like to share with you The Senior Texting Codes.  I hope everyone is having a very blessed week.  Later.

Senior Texting Code

Gary Grice

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else..
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed …

‘Now,’ said the professor as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things—your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car..
The sand is everything else—the small stuff.

‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Spend time with your children.
Spend time with your parents.
Visit with grandparents.
Take your spouse out to dinner.
Play another 18.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter.
Set your priorities.
The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.
The professor smiled and said, ‘I’m glad you asked.’
The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.

Later .... Friends.

Gary Grice

Happy Birthday Vicki!  May your day be filled with much joyous celebration with friends and family.  Later.

Donald Chandler

Greetings, Mates!...  I'm back from the Honky Tonk, the Horse Track, Music & Dance, and other sinful things...

We had a great week in Bluegrass Country!  Our first stop, Bardstown, Kentucky, proudly declares itself the "Bourbon Capital of the World".  I enjoyed Talbott Tavern, even though I did not sample their bourbon or chase any barmaids.  I learned that two of my American heroes, Lewis and Clark, also visited the tavern in its early days, and I would loved to have been a fly on the wall when they were partaking of the local food and drink.  After a fine dinner, we joined Liz's cousins for an evening at My Old Kentucky Home State Park, enjoying the musical theater presentation of "The Stephen Foster Story" under the stars  in a wonderful outdoor amphitheater.  Even the weather cooled down and cooperated.

From there we spent a couple of days at Liz's cousin's lake house on Lake Nolin south of Louisville.  Saturday they took us out on the lake in their pontoon boat which was a real treat... and they even trusted me to steer the boat for a while... "Captain Don" at your service.  Their lake house is really out in the boondocks, and I was without cell phone service and internet connection the entire time there... it was GREAT!  There are a lot of Amish and Mennonite farms in the area too, and we stopped by one of them to buy some of the most delicious fresh tomatoes, corn, and cantaloupe you could ever taste!  Saturday night we grilled out on their lake house deck, at the same time that a very nasty storm swept through Louisville, blowing over trees and power lines and leaving thousands there without power.

We made it to Louisville on Sunday afternoon and have had a great week visiting with Liz's family... oodles of cousins.  They all escaped serious storm damage.  Monday we visited Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum.  We first visited it over 25 years ago when it was a small one room museum, but Churchill Downs and the Museum were renovated and expanded a few years ago and are very, very nice.  We even took a walking tour of the paddock area and the track itself.  I seem to remember that Gary visited the museum once upon a time.  One of Liz's cousins took us to downtown Louisville by the Ohio River where his son is renovating a wonderful 125-year old building into a contemporary restaurant and gallery in an up and coming part of town in an effort to rejuvenate the downtown tourist district.

We drove back home to Marietta yesterday, and stopped at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo and bought two moon pies.  :-)  Our trip was fantastic, but it is always nice to be back home.  Liz had about as much as her back and new knee could handle for now.

I see that Diane and Dick had a great trip visiting their family in Chicago and Colorado.  And thanks, Connie for keeping us informed on Mrs. Crenshaw's husband and Mrs. Armour's B&B.  And thanks as always to Gary for his wit and wisdom.  And Jim... I loved your Brer Rabbit post and you did a great job taking care of our Braves while I was out of town!  Hope to see all of you again at Connie's house in the Fall.

Reporting live from Home Sweet Home in Marietta... this is Honky Tonkin' Captain Don.

Diane Harris (Moore)

 It's always so good to go back and read all the entries. By the time I get through them, especially when I've not been keeping up, I can't remember them all. They are amusing, and I do laugh a lot. Sometimes they are sad, like when I read about Mrs. Crenshaw's husband. I loved her, and I'm so sorry for this loss. Vicki, I missed your birthday, but I do hope it was especially happy.

Don, I'm glad you are home safely. Of course we will never really know the extent to which you partied in KY -- the land of horse tracks and bourbon. However, I do trust Liz to have kept you on the straight and narrow. Seriously, it sounds like you had a grand time. So glad.

Dick came home a little early and just jumped on the mower. It's been a week of getting back to normal after two weeks of being away. You know the "Doughtery Gang" (didn't spell that right, I know) who they caught in CO? Well, turns out we were in the REI store at the same time they were in there buying camping equipment. That's where someone first spotted them. Dick says he noticed 2 guys and a gal asking about water filtration stuff, but he didn't know about them at the time. So that was our brush with infamy for that day.

Better go. Hope everybody has a good weekend. Gary, I saw a mini cooper the other day, and of course I thought of you. Glad you are loving it so much. It should be really fun to drive it around Athens later on this fall. Love that fresh air.

Missing all of you. Hope all the rest of the class of '68 are well. You're a special bunch to me.

Gary Grice

Greetings and salutations and happy Monday, one and all!  Don, Diane and Dick, glad your travels were blessed and you are now back home safe and sound.  As much as we all enjoy those getaways, Dorothy was correct, "There's no place like home."  Yes Don, I visited Churchill Down sometime during the last century and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I'm sure it has changed a great deal but also sure Kentucky is a beautiful as I remember.  Sherron and I put the top down on the Mini Friday night as the sun was setting and after a brief stop at the local DQ, took a night time ride through the country.  It was WONDERFUL!  Worked too hard Saturday in the yard and paid the price yesterday and last night.  Had to resort to a little chemical comfort and I still feel looped this A.M., so I'm not responsible for anything I type!  An extra cup of coffee should help clear the fog.  I watched some Braves BB over the weekend along with a few innings of the Little League playoffs.  Good stuff!  I guess Don and Jim are still cheering.  And that's my segway into today's trivia posting.  Who was Edward Carl Gaedel and why was his name ordered stricken from the baseball record books?  Enjoy the read.  I hope everyone has a very blessed week.  Later.

Gary Grice

Greetings and salutations from the Classic City!  The sun is hot but I can begin to feel Fall in the air.  I survived yesterday, somehow.  Got home, ate dinner and then took a nap before I got up and went to bed at 9:00.   I was more out of it than I thought.  Anyway, life is much clearer today.  Just got back from a tour of the kingdom (walk down town) and I'm still amazed at the lack of students.  There appears to be fewer downtown than there was during the Summer.  Maybe they are all sleeping in - their presence is certainly felt at 5:00 each afternoon.  Great, cool ride in this morning, though I do feel a bit foolish wearing a jacket, but necessary for these old bones.  Today's artist selection was Louis Armstrong and "What a Wonderful World".  Very fitting, don't you think?  Not much else going on so I'll say adieu and leave you with today's funny.  Hope everyone is having a very blessed week.  Later.

A photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire. Smoke at the scene was too thick to get any good shots, so he frantically called his home office to hire a plane.

"It will be waiting for you at the airport!" he was assured by his editor.

As soon as he got to the small, rural airport, sure enough, a plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, "Let's go! Let's go!" The pilot swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air.

"Fly over the north side of the fire," said the photographer, "and make three or four low level passes."

"Why?" asked the pilot.

"Because I'm going to take pictures! I'm a photographer, and photographers take pictures!" said the photographer with great exasperation.

After a long pause the pilot said, "You mean you're not the instructor?" 

Gary Grice

Greetings and salutations.  Another work week is almost passed and I can finally get some REAL work done.  Started prep work to paint a bedliner on my pick-up last evening so that's number one on my to do list this weekend.  We are going to have some construction work done on the back side of the house soon, so hopefully I can begin some preparatory work as well.  Great mornings for sitting out enjoying the coffee and riding with the top down.  I'll enjoy while I can and make plans to enjoy the same in the evenings before long.  In an effort to contribute to the knowledge of all, I'm including a link about 5 Reasons to be Skeptical of Charities.  I trust it will enlighten some.  I hope everyone has a very blessed weekend.  Later.

Gary Grice

Too good to wait til Monday.   Later.

Donald Chandler

Sunday afternoon greetings, Mates...

It has been a quiet weekend here in Marietta and has settled down a bit after our Kentucky trip.  Our Friday night date was dinner, or should I say "supper", at Judy's Country Buffet, and shopping at Walmart.  I went to church this morning without Liz... she's not feeling well, suffering with a low iron blood count since our return. 

The weather here has been nice, but we could use some rain, unlike folks up the East Coast.  TV has been wall to wall coverage of Hurricane Irene this weekend.  If any of you have family or friends in the path of the storm, I pray that they are safe and sound.  I have a cousin in Jamesville on the North Carolina coast (very near the eye of the storm) that I communicate with on Facebook, and haven't heard from her since late Friday night.  She may be without power.  Irene seemed to sit there and spin on the NC coast all day yesterday, and I'm sure they got pounded with wind and too much rain. Liz's brother lives in the New York City suburbs and most of his seven sons have families up and down the east coast in the path of the storm.  The northeast already had a heavy rain less than two weeks ago, and this storm on top of it is very bad news.  And add the East Coast Earthquake to all of that.  Did any of you feel the quake?  I've talked to friends around Marietta, and some of them said that they did indeed feel it.  I DID NOT, but I may have been blowing my nose at that exact moment and missed it.  BTW... I heard that Obama issued a statement saying that the earthquake was caused by a very obscure geological fault-line called "George Bush's Fault."  :-)

Diane and Dick... I enjoyed reading of your close encounter with the notorious Dougherty Gang.  And  Gary... I thought of you last week when Liz and I were watching the movie "The Italian Job" on cable TV... the 2003 version starring Mark Wahlberg.  It's a pretty good movie, and the real "stars" of the movie are three Mini-Coopers used in a very exciting car chase scene near the end of the movie.  Maybe you've seen the movie yourself.  And speaking of great car chase scenes... how many of you remember the car chase in the movie "Bullitt" from 1968, our senior year, starring Steve McQueen driving a 1968 Ford Mustang chasing a 1968 Dodge Charger.  That is still one of the great chase scenes in movie history.  When we were at Walmart the other night, I bought a $5.00 DVD of "Bullitt" and Liz and I watched it Friday night at home... still a great movie after all these years. 

Well, Hurricane Irene wrecked the weekend for us Braves fans too.  Atlanta's schedule had them playing the Mets in New York City this weekend.  They did play Friday night but the Saturday and Sunday games were postponed.  I had to settle for a bit of Little League World Series Baseball.  Our Atlanta BOYS OF SUMMER are doing pretty well right now... and it's almost time for the Georgia BOYS OF FALL!...

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

Have a great week, mates.  GO BRAVES! & GO DAWGS! 

BTW, Gary... I am unable to import images into the forum response page now.  It has changed, and all I get when I click the "image" button is a blank box that doesn't work.  What's goin' on?