Deja vu all over again..

So I learned something amazing and new last night at the wedding without the wedding. Jennifer and I are friends with a group of folks from Crowe Chizek, an accounting/consulting firm that Jennifer used to work for.

Included in that group is Kathy Koehler who was there last night. As we made our move to the finger-food table which included one of the oddest items I have ever tried (more on that later) we had a discussion about the fact that Kathy was on vacation and leaving Monday I believe for a vacation on the New England coast.

Upon learning this I mused that while I was born in Massachusetts, I had unfortunately spent no time there since my birth. Kathy looked at me amused and said, I was born in Massachusetts too. Where? Shirley, Mass at the Fort Devens Army Hospital.

At this point Jenn's face and I'm sure mine as well, were showing a "you're screwing with me right?" look. I was born in that same hospital in September of 1971. Kathy in October of 1971. Her father spent a short time in the Army and they moved to Germany shortly after her birth. My father was in the Air Force for 21 years and we hopped all over the place before he retired in 1976. I think the link above is the right hospital, I found two names, Lovell and Cutler, but either way, the hospital at Ft. Devens was closed in 1996 as part of the military's down-sizing.

My take is that after 25 years of trying they couldn't come close to duplicating their successful deliveries of Kathy and I in the fall of 1971.

Anyways, I was completely amazed that despite knowing Kathy for about 6 years and spending a pretty significant amount of time over a bar table and some drinks we never figured this out.

As for the odd finger food? How about this...candied crabs... Yes, entire crabs about the size of a dime. The cook said they were candy...ok, I'll bite. So I try them, they taste like fish, as you would expected and nothing like the candy I like, say Butterfinger, Reese's Cup or Snickers. Oh well. Can't complain too much considering the lack of the service.

Finger Foods and beverages

Jen and I have the pleasure of going to a wedding tonight...oh wait, we aren't going to a wedding, we are only going to the reception. Now before you start getting judgemental about how we are crashing someone's wedding reception to get finger foods and a couple drinks, we know these people and they asked us to.

How great is that. They had a personal family only small wedding service this morning at the Botanical Gardens in Indy. Tonight they invited everyone to get their party on in celebration. Perfect!

We get the finger foods and the drinks and we don't have to suffer through a bad rendition of the Wedding Song or Butterfly Kisses. Someone please slap my hand for that one.

Anyways, I feel a bit like Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn tonight! Loving every minute of it though.

Superman wears Mark Richt PJs!

I'm sure all of you saw ESPN Gameday yesterday morning where the Alabama fans in preparation of thier thrashing of my Bulldogs had signs of all shapes and fashion in support of their Crimson Tide and head coach Nick "$32 Million" Saban and bashing possibly equally, Georgia and Auburn.

I felt two particular signs should be edited morning following the Bulldogs' dramatic 26-23 win in Overtime. Here are the new wordings.

"Superman wears Mark Richt PJs"

and

"Chuck Norris tells Mark Richt jokes"

I guess Alabama and Nick Saban aren't quite back to the days of Bear Bryant yet.

Making an Impact

Many of you know that I work for the Finish Line. We have an employee newsletter that included the letter below to our home office from a customer. For me, it is really exciting to see that something we did as a company had a much broader impact that perhaps increasing sales or profit margins. It isn't often that a company can say we changed or improved someone's life, but apparently in this one we and more specifically the manager at this store did so. A little background is needed here. We recently launched a Finish Line Brand campaign called Be Heard. (Check out the link as it shows some of the marketing materials that fill in the blanks a little bit). It included tv advertising, in-store marketing displays and employee t-shirts that were all black with the block letters BE HEARD across the chest. The idea here is that your shoes, clothes and attitude tell alot about you and your personality as well as what you stand for without speaking. So on to the letter. I don't know if this is open game or not, so I changed the names that were in it.

Sir or Madam

My name is Samantha, and I was in your store about two weeks ago. I need to tell you what an impact you made on my son's life. My son is 12 years old and a deaf child who cannot speak very well. He has always been a quiet type, never wanting to be noticed. He always wore grays and blacks.

We were in your store looking for school shoes, and I think the young lady's name who helped us was Melissa. While she was getting our shoes, a young gentleman who introduced himself as George asked how we were doing and I told him we were being helped. He told me that was fine and explained about a backpack sale you had going on and socks that were on sale. Before he walked away, my son asked him what "BE HEARD" meant. He told my son that it was an advertisement campaign by the Finish Line that meant through you are, what you wear, and the attitude you have, you could be heard without saying anything. He said like Forest Gump said, you can tell a lot about a person from their shoes.

We ended up purchasing some shoes, a backpack and a few sale shirts they had and left. We had a lot more shopping to do that day, and for the first time, my son was looking at shirts that I never thought he would ever pick out. He was going for the bright colors, and he even picked out a dress shirt that was blue, orange and white. When we got home, and we were putting away his clothes, he turned to me and said, "Mom, I'm ready to be heard." I cried that night for a long time because of the impact that young man had on my son. He is ready to start the school year and is not afraid of what others will think of him.

Thank you very much.

In appreciation,
Samantha

Wow...That is all I can say...I almost cried the first time I read it, the first time I told Jennifer and now again typing it for cyber space.

Priceless Vick Jury Selection Cartoon.

Feels like the 1990s all over again...

I generally dislike Tony Kornheiser as an announcer on Monday Night Football, but he said something Monday night I found amusing, albeit a quote from someone else...I can't remember his quote or the original source 100% but the gist of it was, the Cowboys, Packers and 49ers are all 2-0 and O.J. is back in jail. It feels like the 1990s all over again. That was awesome. For the uninformed, the Cowboys, Packers and 49ers have been moderately bad to terribly bad for the last 5-10 years each and well, you know about O.J. Cheers Mr. Kornheiser.

Why should she have all the fun?

So Oprah has this annual, semi-annual or somewhat regular show about her favorite things. Well, actually I don't know it might be once a decade, I don't know, I just know she has done it at least once, I got stuck watching one of those with Jenn. Anyways, I was thinking, why in the world should she have all the fun.

So here is my edition of My favorite things...some of them I have, some of them I want, but all of them, in my eyes are super cool.

I'll start with something that anyone can have, well provided you have an internet connection, and considering you are reading this, I would assume there is a check mark in that column.

First on my list is this web-page: MIT Open Course Ware. What is it you may ask? Well, consider yourself however many years ago that it was that you attempted to gain entry into the college or university of your choice...You there with me yet? Or did you kill those brain cells during said college or university years. Anyways, if you were anything like me, there were some schools you could get into (Georgia and many other fine public Universities) and some that I couldn't (well I didn't try, but I would put Harvard, MIT, Princeton etc. on that list).

Now, through the miracle of A. the internet and B. a huge wave of shared knowledge and broad based collaboration (i.e. Wikipedia,.......) You can do the reading, see the lectures, take the exams of any of the courses at MIT. For some of you, this may seem odd. Afterall, why would one want to take college classes when:

A. Your parents aren't making you.

B. You already have the sheepskin.

C. You already have a job.

Yeah, I wonder myself, but I have found myself in the last couple years trying to learn more and more. Maybe it started with graduate school at the University of Phoenix brick and mortar campus in Indianapolis for my MBA, or maybe it was the discovery that my PR degree from Georgia with a business minor wasn't terribly relevant in my current gig. I don't know but I dig this site. Check it out, peek around, maybe you will find something you like and take on the challenge.

Next on the list is this fine object to the left. Jennifer and I first saw this on Home and Garden TV last year sometime. Yeah, I know, Home and Garden TV, but it is about the only thing we can both agree to watch...she watchs Scrubs, the View and other miscellaneous drivel and I watch Law and Order, war movies and sports. Oh well, we are still a match made in heaven. Anyway, this is the coolest aquariam ever. First, it hangs on the wall. Second, the cat can't get to it because it hangs on the wall. Third, it looks like a picture frame. In fact at last year's Ramsey Family Christmas Party a couple people went through the night thinking it was a picture until they finally saw the fish moving within.

Of course some good things have a down side and this one is that with an aquarium this size (about 9 gallons I beleive) it is very hard to keep the water balanced for the little fishies. We lost a couple early on. a couple more later on, we will soon attempt round 3. 8-) Here is Jennifer's take on the death of one of our favorites.

Next on the list is a simple t-shirt. It is barely imaginative, given that it is stealing the well known "Got Milk" ad campaign. But as a Cowboys' fan I couldn't resist.

Yes, we are America's Team and yes we have five Super Bowl Rings. And yes, I can call us, us, I've been a fan that long. 8-).

Number 4 is a thing that I actually purchased last year, despite the ridiculous price tag, well for what it is, which is a 2 6-packs of Jones Soda.


Anyone who has had Jones, knows that it is first of all wonderful, but also typically has two identifying factors from many other Sodas, fruit drinks, etc. First and foremost they have interesting pictures that are contributed by their many drinkers across the country. Second they have a saying under the cap that is usually fun or inspirational.


At the link above you can actually turn in your own photo and have it put on a bottle for your personal enjoyment. I did this last year with the photo below of Jennifer and I. It was supposed to be for Valentine's Day, but first off it was late (the first shipment broke in transit, I assume a occupational hazard). Second off all I am a moron so I put Happy Anniversary. Anyways, fun all-around.

And finally, here is the long awaited Number 5 on my current list of my favorite things....my wife Jennifer! Here is a scene of her adorable little behind at the end of a long day of tailgating and football at my alma-mater University of Georgia last year. God love her, she had the jersey, the hat, the I'm Georgia towel and a smile.