A win thanks to 237

As Super Bowl XLIII was winding down, I could not help but wonder where the Steelers defense had gone. Larry Fitzgerald wondered that too as he ran straight down the center of the field for a touchdown, giving the Cardinals the lead.

Ah, but when the Cardinals took the lead, there were two minutes and 37 seconds left on the clock. That's 2:37. For those who know me well, a lucky number of mine is 237. I sat on the couch just thinking, this is it - the Steelers are going to come back and win this thing.

For the love of The Ohio State University (Santonio Holmes) and Miami Ohio (Ben Roethlisberger), the Steelers drove down the field, scored a touchdown and captured their sixth Super Bowl championship.

Big thanks to 237!

Son and nephew

I had the pleasure of taking Rigby and my nephew, Connor, to the Mocs vs. Georgia Southern basketball game tonight. Connor was visiting Chattanooga for the weekend - he lives in Knoxville.

Upon picking Connor up, I turned off the radio and listened to the conversation in the back seat. They talked about movies, games and friends at school. I did not think much of it and just drove on to the arena.

We got to the arena just in time for tip-off. Those two boys practically sat in their seats the entire game, except for going to get 32-ounce cokes and a tub of popcorn, as well as trips to the restroom.

As a big Mocs fan, I take much pride in how Rigby is starting to grasp basketball and cheer on the Mocs. He was yelling for plays to be made, cheering when we scored, attentively watched the scoreboard and pumped his fist just like his daddy does.

Connor followed right along, following Rigby's lead and danced to almost every Mocs pep band song. Throughout the game, they urged for the Big River blimp to fly over them and drop the coupons - it never made it over us.

The second half was full of action on the court. At the beginning of the half, I placed my trust in the boys and went to the concourse to get them ice cream. As I made it back my section, they were in their seats, cheering on the Mocs - it was a good feeling to take a little risk and know they were okay, but noting that I had some friends watching over in the row behind.

The Mocs scored 100 points and the boys were very excited about our win. After the game, I took them down to the court and they ran around playing a game involving throwing their hats in the air and swinging at each other - no harm no foul I guess.

We made the leisurely walk back to the car and then headed back to the Oglesby Ranch in East Ridge, where pizza and family awaited.

The radio was still off, and that is when I realized what I did not think about when I was driving to the game - how special that moment was. Here were two little boys in the back seat, talking about their favorite movies, talking about favorite movie quotes and scenes, barely getting a breath in between. One of these boys I helped make, the other one I held in my arms soon after he was born. I have known both of these boys since their life on earth began and have watched them grow into smart, energetic and caring beings.

For a thoughtful moment I pictured them 70 years later, talking about who knows what. What a great day.

~ ~ ~

P.S. Here it is midnight. I am finishing this entry at the keys of my MacBook Pro and Rigby is sitting by my side, blowing torches out on the Indiana Jones Lego game for the Nintendo DS.

Santa knows

Christmas is almost upon us and, oh, what a time we will have!

We spent the weekend in White Pine and enjoyed time with family for some pre-Christmas gift opening and stomach stuffing of great food.

The time-honored tradition of watching the Dandridge Christmas Parade was also in full effect on Saturday afternoon. Erik spent Saturday morning with 1989 classmates at Sevier County High School, touring the halls and telling stories.

So Rigby and Lucy have told us what they want for Christmas. Rigby told Santa the other day that he wants a remote control dinosaur, namely "Spike," the ultra dinosaur. Santa looked at me and then asked Rigby, do you want anything else? Rigby, said "Nope, that's it."

Lucy was a little easier. She wants anything pink - purse, Barbie, Barbie car, etc.

So later I asked Rigby what if Santa could not find it. Rigby said, "Santa does not have to look for it, his elves make it."

Rigby later told Stacy that he wanted a space station as well. When we asked Rigby what kind of space station, Rigby said, "Santa knows." Guess he will have to figure that one out.

So off I went to Target tonight, with Santa. I swear a tornado of shopping went through that place and there was no Spike, much less anything else.

But there were about eight Spikes at Toys R Us! While Santa was there, a Disney Princess kitchen set happened to make it into Santa's shopping cart as well.

The economy is not hurting in Chattanooga! The lady at Toys R Us told me that they got 144 Wii's on Friday night and that the last one sold Sunday evening. There were more than six Toys R Us employees roaming the aisles stocking items. The place was quite full of people after 10 p.m. and they are open until Midnight until Christmas eve.

Fun times.

Merry Christmas to all! Hope you enjoy your friends, family and the reason for the season!

A Great December Weekend

The GrayStation family had such a great weekend - MAINx24, The Chattanooga Market, Inhabit, good eats around town and spending fun times with family and friends.

We arrived on Main Street Saturday morning just in time for the Main Street parade. Rigby had already started the morning earlier at TAG Gym practicing his gymnastic skills.

It was great to see so many people on Main Street enjoying a neighborhood parade in cloudy, windy, 35 degree weather. After the parade concluded, we followed Santa in his horse and carriage down Main Street. We ran into friends along the way and then crossed the street over to Bluegrass Grill. If you haven't been, get there.

After finishing a great brunch, we strolled on down Main Street to Green/Spaces and then on to Niedlov's Breadworks. They have some of the best bread in town, and our bag of cheddar pepper sourdough and a holiday Stollen proves it. And a big full-of-blueberries muffin for Lucy.

After enjoying ourselves visiting various stops along Main Street, we made our way on down the Southside to the Chattanooga Market to see Ivey Handcrafted and other folks.

After the Market, we toured some open houses in Jefferson Heights and enjoyed the Take Root tree-planting scene at the J.H. Park.

We made it home in the afternoon for a quick catnap before we took the kids to Nana and Papa's for the evening.

And so the night began. We had an awesome evening and dinner at St. John's Restaurant with the Hamakers, Stricklands and Fernandezes, not to mention some other nearby political figures and prominent citizens.

The late evening led us to Loose Cannon Studios on Rossville Ave off Main Street for a great Inhabit party, enjoying beer+wine+liquor+food+music+shenanigans. The place was flat-out packed, so much that the street outside was closed off and the loading dock area out back was loaded with fire pits to keep the 500+ people warm on a clear, chilly evening.

We met up with many friends we had not seen in a long time and others who we see and enjoy regularly. What a great time.

We made it back to a sleeping location at the Oglesby Ranch in the wee hours and then woke around sunrise. We loaded up the kids and, on the way home, we drove down Main Street surveying the post-event scene and realizing how lucky we are to live in such a great city. One last stop before we got home, Hardee's breakfast!

Sunday was great as well. We enjoyed family time and then went for an afternoon drive. We went back out to the Chattanooga Market to buy some Christmas gifts and found a great new salsa maker from Atlanta. Wow!

We had dinner back down on our local haunt, Frazier Avenue, and enjoyed a tasty new spot, Good Dog. The various hot dogs, fries and "condiment gallery" were awesome. Dessert consisted of what else? Clumpies.

We finished the day driving around North Chattanooga looking at Christmas lights and then filled up on $1.43 a gallon gas.

Fall Break

We recently had a great Fall Break with the kids. It was Rigby's first break from kindergarten, which he is thriving in.

We spent the week doing a little shopping, house cleaning, eating at our favorite restaurants, hiking on part of the Cumberland Trail on Signal Mountain, visiting the Creative Discovery Museum, playing at the Pumpkin Patch playground, resting and just enjoying our time together.

We spent the last weekend of our Fall Break in Atlanta. On Friday, we made our first stop at The Varsity, of course, and then visited the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. What a fun museum - the kids really liked it. We later shopped in Perimeter Mall - always nice to visit the Apple Store!

On Saturday, we visited Imagine - Atlanta Children's Museum, ate at Fritti, a very Italian restaurant in Virginia Highlands and then ended up in Little Five Points for the infamous Halloween Parade. What a time we had! The main streets were closed for the festivities. We saw everything from zombies, to princesses, to nuclear victims, to vampires, to elves, to kids in teddy bear outfits, to a woman dressed as Sarah Palin carrying a baby and a gun. The parade last more than an hour!

We ended the Saturday with a trip to Philips Arena to cheer on the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team, who beat the Buffalo Sabres through overtime and into a shootout. It was a great first game for the kids. Rigby really got into it. Lucy liked the ladies who cleaned up the ice during timeouts - so did Erik.

On Sunday, we went to the new World of Coca-Cola. It is a very manageable journey through Coke history and it ended with flavor stations through the World of Coca-Cola. There are more than 60 varieties of drinks from around the world. Lucy and Rigby tried almost everything, some of it was quite untasty. Needless to say, we were all fairly wired on the drinks.

So a great time had by the GrayStation and then it was back to school and work.

Our Boy is Five

Five years ago, Stacy and I awaited the birth of our son Rigby. Stacy championed through more than a day of labor. It was very fitting that he arrived on Labor Day.

And today, we followed and watched our little boy climb a mile-long trail with an elevation change of almost 500 feet at the Little River Canyon National Preserve in Alabama.

Oh, how time flies.

We shared a wonderful weekend with friends and family, celebrating Rigby's fifth birthday.

We had a Friday night party at our house with his friends and a black Spider-Man cake. We then had a Saturday afternoon party at our house with family and a red Spider-Man cake. We are so very fortunate to have such a loved little man.

Robert Fulgham said 20 years ago and this is a great quote that fits Rigby, "Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life--learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some."

We love you, Rigby. You live your life already with character, responsibility and compassion for others.

Summer Road Trip - Day 6 & 7

Sunday was our last day in Chicago and we were going to make the most of it.

Rigby's allergies started acting up and he had a nice little cough. Luckily we had his medicine with us. As Erik got it out and was preparing it, the kids were on the couch watching TV. All of a sudden, Lucy started coughing. We turned to look at Lucy and she had her hand over her mouth preparing a great acting job. We all started to chuckle, but Lucy kept going. Rigby exclaimed that Lucy was tricking us. We all knew it, but Lucy was trying so hard to convince us - she wanted to be just like brother. It was a great moment.

After packing up the car, we checked out of the hotel and went into the city. We parked in South Chicago and rode the orange line train to the Loop. We emerged at the base of the Sears Tower, the tallest building in the US and in the Top 5 in the world depending on what is measured (occupied floor or to the top of antennas), although about 5 other buildings are being constructed in India, China, South Korea and the Chicago Spire that will kick the Sears Tower out of the Top 10.

The view from the 103rd floor is still awesome. We took a minute elevator ride to the top. It was a clear sunny day and we made a trip to each side of the building studying the scenery below and beyond. Rigby was amazed and played “I Spy” on the streets below with Stacy.

The restrooms on the 103rd floor sky deck, 1,353 feet above street level are the highest in the world. We made sure to leave our mark.

After a good time in the Sears Tower, we made our way over to the Magnificent Mile, shopping and eating mecca.

We went to the Original Uno Pizzeria and enjoyed a mid-afternoon lunch of tasty deep-dish pepperoni pizza.

Later, we did a little shopping at the Lego Store, Lucky Brand, Hello Kitty and Sephora. We loaded up on some Lego gifts and Lucy got a purse at Hello Kitty.

So that was it, we took the train back to our car and left the city heading for home. We drove through Indianapolis and into Greensburg, Indiana, where we stayed at a brand new Hampton Inn and Suites for the night. Greensburg is home to a new Honda auto manufacturing plant. We stayed in town all of about 9 hours, most of that sleeping.

On Monday, we drove a little out of our way and went to I-75 and made about an hour stop in Cincinnati for some Busken cookies and some new Xavier Musketeers gear.

We had a great trip. It was fun enough for Rigby that he declared he was okay with moving to Chicago if we had to.

We got back by 5 p.m., just in time to get to Rigby's school for a kindergarten parents meeting.

Summer Road Trip - Day 5

After our standard wakening and eating of the free breakfast, we loaded up early and drove to South Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry.

This is the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere.

The museum features a vast array of awesome exhibits, and these are all indoors so you get an idea of how big the place is:

- a German submarine (U-505) captured during World War II
- a 3,500 square foot model railroad that has a scale model Chicago skyline, mountain range and then a scale model Seattle on the other side
- the first diesel-powered streamlined stainless-steel passenger train (Pioneer Zephyr)
- a NASA space capsule used on the Apollo 8 mission.
- a Boeing 727 hanging from the ceiling
- an Omnimax theater
- a steam locomotive
- a working toy assembly line
- a genetics lab
- a chicken hatchery (yes, we saw chicks hatched)
- a mock-up of a Chicago street from the early 1900s
- and so on . . .


The building was initially built as The Palace of Fine Arts for 1893 World's Columbian Exposition (better known as the Chicago World's Fair), then it housed the Field Museum and has been the science museum for 75 years. The building itself is a museum piece with its massive halls and beautiful rotunda entrance.

We stayed there for five hours and did not see everything. That is pretty good though with two kids! We played in the great lawn out front and enjoyed the clear blue sky before departing the grounds.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the city by car, using our GPS to visit certain areas we wanted to see. We stopped at Wrigley Field and took Rigby's picture underneath the famous Cubs sign as well as with the Ernie Banks "Mr Cub" statue.

Our meal of the evening consisted of some great Thai food at Siam Pasta in North Chicago. We ordered lots of items. Rigby ate a plate of fried Tofu and soy sauce - he said it tastes like chicken. Lucy sort of picked through stuff, but she ate at the hotel later.

We got back to the hotel early to prepare for our last day in the Windy City.

Summer Road Trip - Day 4

Today (Friday) after breakfast, we decided to drive downtown today instead of taking the train. On our way, we stopped at the Sigma Chi International Headquarters. Erik met with the Executive Director, Mike Dunn, who has become a great friend since their first days together at one of Sigma Chi's Leadership Workshops several years ago.

After a quick tour of the headquarters building and the fraternity history museum, we headed down the Lake Michigan shoreline to the city.

We parked in a parking garage under Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears.

Our goal for the day, visit the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium. What a day!

The Field Museum was amazing. Of course the centerpiece was "Sue," the largest and most complete T. Rex skeleton in the world. We saw hundreds of mammals and birds along our journey, all real, but stuffed with sawdust and metal. The exhibition halls in this place were massive. We could have spent an entire day in there as adults, but with kids we sort of raced through to see what was around every corner. One of the best was the massive hall of dinosaur skeletons, brontosaurus, triceratops, stegosaurus, etc.

At the Shedd, a 75-year-old Greek and Roman style architecture building, we visited many tanks and saw all types of fish from all over the world. We got very close to sharks in the new exhibit, Wild Reef. Lucy really enjoyed the penguins.

The attached 15-year-old oceanarium featured a 3 million gallon salt water tank. The surroundings had a spruce and cedar rain forest on the water’s edge. We watched a dolphin show where they leaped and splashed. Sea lions and otters played in other nearby coves. Another favorite was seeing the beluga whales.

We later walked all through Grant Park to the famous Buckingham Fountain. The sun was setting and the mist from the geyser-like fountain was cool against the summer sun.

We then walked through Millennium Park to the Cloud Gate, or "The Bean" as it is called. The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is made of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city's skyline and the clouds above. It looks like a blob of liquid mercury and measurers 66-feet long by 33-feet high.

Next was the Crown Fountain, which consists of two 50-foot glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. The towers project video images of a 1,000 Chicago citizens, and when they open their mouths, water flows out. Awesome!

As darkness fell, we walked to the Red Line and took a train to the closest station to the Field. We walked back across a park to the parking garage under a full moon and beautiful night skyline.

We drove back towards the hotel and stopped in Evanston to enjoy a late night dinner at Dave's Italian Kitchen. The restaurant was in a basement and was all Italian. We started out with loaves of bread and olive oil. The kids loved that! Our dinner soon came out and featured an awesome whole wheat pepperoni pizza and a baked spaghetti, mozzerella and meat sauce. We had more than enough to take back to the hotel - thank goodness we have a fridge!

Summer Road Trip - Day 3

Day 3 was a monumental day! We went to see Ken Griffey, Jr and his new team, the Chicago White Sox.

First, of course, we woke up for free breakfast in the lobby. Rigby was amazed at the delicious doughnuts. "This breakfast is better than I thought it would be," he exclaimed.

After breakfast, we moved over to the indoor pool. Rigby trusts his arm floats now and swims all over the pool. Lucy was not as sure, but she liked the big yellow ball, the foam floats and the hot tub.

A refreshing morning at the pool got us prepared for a big day in South Chicago.

We drove to the Howard Red Line park and ride station and took the red line train through town and to the Sox-35th Station.

We got to the stadium about an hour before game time. Big tip is to buy on Ticketmaster, because there is a Ticketmaster station at the stadium to pick up your tickets and you do not have to wait in line at will call.

We had great seats on the club level, complete with an indoor concourse, an in-seat menu and servers that took our order and brought our food out to us.

Before the National Anthem, the Navy Seals' Leap Frogs parachuted in to the stadium with a Sox flag and an American flag. That was very cool. Throughout the game, the Blue Angels were flying around the city and over the stadium preparing for the weekend's 50th Annual Air & Water Show.

We saw Griffey hit 1 of 2 with a run and 2 walks. It was great to hear Rigby and Lucy yell for Griffey when he was up to bat. This is the guy, one of the best to play, that people will talk about for decades to come, and my kids saw him play!

The game blew up in the 6th inning when the White Sox hit four home runs in a row, a first for the White Sox in their long history.

When the game concluded and the Sox won 9-2, we rode the train to Grand Station and walked east to Navy Pier. Oh, the day was getting rolling now!

As we arrived to the Navy Pier, we saw the biggest McDonalds we had ever seen. Good Lord at the commerce and fattiness in that place!

Our purpose for visiting the Pier was to go to the Chicago Children's Museum. This place was great. We saw a dinosaur, a massive Lego Sears Tower replica, rope climbing area, a log cabin, a transportation exhibit, Lucy picking veggies, an outdoor patio overlooking the city, a large water play room, a big back yard exhibit where we were the small creatures and a great interactive room with screens where computerized butterflies landed on our bodies. That was just the tip of the iceberg. We all really enjoyed our visit.

As the sun set, Rigby and Erik took a ride on the 150-feet tall ferris wheel. Rigby could not stop saying how awesome it was.

As night fell, we took a bus to the Magnificent Mile. As we looked around for our red line station, we happened upon Chicago Fire Station 98. The firemen invited us in and we got to sit in a fire engine and looked at old pictures dating back to 1900. Big thanks to those guys for making us feel welcome.

So we finally hopped on another bus and to the red line station.

What a long day - our kids (4 and 2 years old!) walked everywhere with us. Lucy did get carried a good bit, but she is a great trooper. We got back to the hotel room after 11 p.m. We finished the day watching USA win gold and silver in gymnastics.

Summer Road Trip - Day 2

We awoke from our slumber, enjoyed a nice free breakfast and hit the road headed for Chicago.

We stopped in Indianapolis, hoping to see the NCAA Hall of Champions. When we arrived we learned it was temporarily closed for renovation to repair recent damage from an isolated fire. Too bad, oh well.

So we drove through the city and enjoyed the sights. The new Colts football facilty, Lucas Oil Stadium, opens this year. It is massive and seems to dwarf the exisiting RCA Dome.

We stopped for lunch at Penn Station in honor of Uncle Corey - he loves those sandwiches and there is not one near Chattanooga.

We arrived to Chicago in the mid-afternoon and checked in our Hampton Hotels room in the northern suburb of Skokie. We got a corner suite with a full kitchen, living room and master bedroom. Rigby exclaimed, "this rocks!"

After a brief rest, we hopped on the Skokie yellow transit line, then the red line and exited right in the middle of downtown. It was raining a little, but we walked among the skyscrapers and took shelter where we could. We walked past Millennium Park looking for a fun place to eat, but there were really only chain restaurants and we did not want that!

We walked a portion of Michigan Ave, across the State Street Bridge as well as the Wabash Bridge as the sun set. The water was beautiful, as Rigby and Lucy said. We saw the massive new and still under construction, 80-story Trump Tower. Wow!

We walked around a little more and then jumped back on the train. The kids fell asleep on the way back. We ended the day eating take out food in the room and watching Food Network. Now on to the next fun day in town!

Summer Road Trip - Day 1

Let the end of summer road trip begin! Destination - Chicago!

But first, we started the day with a monumental occasion. Today was Rigby's first phase-in day of kindergarten at Battle Academy. Rigby was hesitant at first, but he warmed up soon after his parents left and let him do his thing. He later told us that he was a little shy and that he did not know all the people that were there. He said he is ready to go back now.

So after the first big day was over, we picked up Lucy and Rigby and took off up I-24 to Nashville and north on I-65. A pit stop at a Jack In The Box restaurant was made to get out of the 5 p.m. Nashvegas traffic and we were on our way.

We made it past Louisville tonight and are staying in a Hampton Hotels Suite just south of Indianapolis. The pool welcomed a late night swim from Rigby and Erik. Stacy finished the night reading a book and Lucy had her warm milk.

Now on to sleep and ready for the last several hours north!

Rigby's remark of the month

So the GrayStation visited AT&T Field to see the Chattanooga Lookouts play on Thursday night. Erik was joining his fellow managers in the Unum skybox, a place our kids have grown accustomed to. Quite frankly, we need to get them in the general seats once and a while to get them used to "real baseball watching."

The point of this post is that the IHOP Discover America Pancakes tour was at the game. A very large RV was out front and IHOP employees were handing out stuff to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Also in attendance was the Most Valuable Pancake mascot, a human-sized, walking pancake. Well, of course Rigby and Lucy had to get a hug from a big pancake. Upon completing the hug, Rigby proceeded to the entrance, but turned around briefly only to exclaim to the walking pancake, "I love you...with syrup."

Bless his funny heart.

Maine - Day 5

Well, the end of the vacation is upon us. We got up early Monday morning and with gear already packed the night before, we loaded up and headed south down State Route 1.

We chose to drive down State Route 1 instead of I-95 so we could see the great small towns along the coast. We visited towns such as Scarborough, Saco, Biddeford, Kennebunkport, Wells, Ogunquit, Cape Neddick, York and Kittery.

Having not eaten at the hotel, we chose to find the first small town restaurant that caught our eyes and taste buds. The Golden Rooster in Saco was that spot. The place had been there for 40 years on this small town's main street. We enjoyed an awesome breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon. The service was great and friendly. In fact, when we walked in, a customer at the bar turned to us and said, "you all just take a seat where you like." They must have known we were not from around here.

After breakfast and just down the road on the town edge was a wind turbine, standing tall over the city. That was really cool to see.


We did take long enough to get gas in Wells and take a picture of Wells House of Pizza and Roast Beef, where they only take cash. What a combination!

We traveled State Route 1 all the way to the state line, crossing over into New Hampshire and then onto I-95. One of the first signs that welcomed us into the State was a State sign that read, "NH Alcohol Store, Lottery Tickets" high above the interstate, just like one of those big directional signs. Now that is classy.

We drove straight through NH and made way to Boston, home of our departing flight. Our flight did not leave until 5:45 p.m. so we had a little time in Boston.


We stopped in Cambridge and walked through some of Harvard University. The kids ran around and played in one of the expansive green spaces. We also made a quick stop into the bookstore to absorb some knowledge. Didn't work.

On our way to the airport, we drove along Memorial Drive next to the Charles River to Charlestown, home of the Bunker Hill Monument, the site of the first major conflict between British and Patriot forces in the Revolutionary War on June 17, 1775. Although we did not climb the 294 steps to the top, Lucy and Rigby did touch the monument and got a drink of water in the visitors center next door. The water was needed as it was 95 degrees outside.

After a quick visit on Bunker Hill, we headed for Boston Logan International Airport. To get there we had to go through the Ted Williams Tunnel a 1.6 mile tunnel that sits under water on the Boston Harbor floor.

Side notes on checking into the airport
1. Always have your credit card, six-digit confirmation number or skymiles number to get your boarding pass at the self-serve kiosk - it is much quicker than standing in line.
2. Never stand in line behind a bafoon who is literally checking his email while his laptop is sitting in the xray tray - ridiculous!
3. For some reason it is okay to let a flight attendant to just jump line, especially right in front of a family of four. Hey, she should have arrived early to the airport like everyone else.
4. The Wendy's in the Delta terminal has tasty Strawberry Frosties!

The flight to Cincinnati was great - kids just used crayons to color the time away. Our short stop in the Cincinnati Airport allowed for a Starbucks pit stop.

We passed around a major thunderstorm on our way to Chattanooga. The storm was on our side of the plane and you could see the top and the bottom of the clouds and the lightning show inside. It was awesome!


Rigby caught the eye of the flight attendant on our Cincy to Chatt flight. She asked him to assist with handing out the snacks. Rigby accepted the offer and started from the front of the plane and delivered snacks to each row on the plane. How many people get to do that!? He was quite excited.

We arrived home in the Noog around 11 p.m. but less about a 100 pounds; our luggage was left in Cincinnati. But we got it the next morning - delivered to us!

So that is our trip. What a grand old time. A very rewarding trip and highly recommended.

Maine - Day 4

We got going early Sunday morning and made our way to a local breakfast hangout, Becky's Diner on Hobson's Wharf. This place really brings in the people and serves up the food fast. The kids had pancakes and bacon and Stacy and Erik had Maine blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. Becky's was so family friendly that they had a men's restroom, women's restroom and a toddler restroom, complete with a small toilet and sink.

After a hearty breakfast, we drove north to Wolfe's Neck State Park for some Casco Bay hiking. We hiked for a couple hours along rocky and tree-covered shoreline. Lucy hiked much of it on her own feet! Nice for daddy's empty backpack. We saw an island with nesting ospreys, guarding their young. Of course, we threw rocks in the Ochen (kid for ocean) and picked of shee shells. This was probably the best family hike we have had.

We left the park for Bath, just north of Portland. Bath is home to the Maine Maritime Museum. This place had very professional and informative exhibits filled with art and artifacts. There were contemporary, interactive areas for all ages, an historic shipyard with five of the original 19th century buildings and a life-size sculptural representation of the largest wooden sailing vessel ever built, The Wyoming, built in 1909 at a length of 329 feet!

Bath Iron Works, just down the river, has built more than 240 ships for the U.S. Navy. It built more than a quarter of the destroyers for WWII, 82 of them, totaling more than the entire Japanese Empire. This is history we never realized!

After an hour or so touring the grounds, as well as a now warm 80 degrees, we went to take a quick lunch at a local chain restaurant, Amato's. We chowed down on cheese pizza, an Italian sub and steak and cheese on foccacia and then hurried back to Portland to take our final trip!

We got back to Portland at 5:30 p.m. and boarded the Casco Bay Ferry for a sunset cruise through the bay. It was a nice 80 degrees on the shore, but as we got toward the Atlantic Ocean, it was a windy 50 degrees at least! We made stops at various islands dropping off and picking up locals and visitors. That was such a neat way to look at local life.

Between stops, we made a rare sighting, as one of the locals on the ferry told us. We saw two seals swimming along catching fish. Rigby and Lucy were so excited!

Making our way back to Portland, we saw a couple old U.S. forts that had been built for the Civil War, but were never used. It was interesting that Portland helped preserve them. They are only accessible by private boats- no commercial or park tours are given.

We had a great 2.5 hour ferry ride and saw a great sunset over the city. What a great way to end our last full day in Maine. So now we are packing and getting ready for tomorrow when we will drive down state route 1 to Boston to catch a plane to Chattanooga!

Maine - Day 3

We awoke at 6:30 a.m., got dressed and had breakfast in the hotel dining area. From there, we prepared for a 170 mile drive north to Mt. Desert Island, home to Acadia National Park, Maine's only national park. What a day!

We had to take some stops along the way, of course. First, gas was still under $4, at $3.99. We took a quick stop in Augusta to see the State Capitol Building. The grounds around the building were quite scenic. Next, we stopped in Waterville at Colby College, birthplace of Sigma Kappa, Stacy's sorority.

Driving past Bangor and no Stephen King in sight, we left interstate and onto State Route 3 to our destination, Acadia!

We made it on to Mt. Desert Island, which has 108 square miles, so it is quite large. Oh, but wait, we had to stop in Bar Harbor. Bar Harbor is a famous summer colony in the "Down East" region of Maine. It looked like there was something for everyone. There are tree-lined streets with restaurants and shops, a great main street park, a town pier, whale watching, kayaking and so on. Even the ocean liner Queen Mary visits there.

We walked Main Street for a brief while and had lunch at Rupununi. We had Maine lobster and clams.

It was finally on to Acadia National Park. Now in Bar Harbor it was sunny and 65. When we got to the Atlantic Ocean side of the island, it was 55, windy and foggy. What a difference! The main attraction for most is the 20+ mile one-way loop through the park, taking us to the most sought after points.

Upon entering the National Park we were welcomed by the famous Thunder Hole. Thunder Hole is a small inlet, naturally carved out of the rocks, where the waves roll into. At the end of this inlet is a small cavern where, when the rush of the wave arrives, air and water is forced out like a clap of distant thunder. Water can spout as high as 40 feet, but the tide was out and we saw only small splashes and gurgles. Still the scenery and rock formations were awesome, even in the dense fog.

Next was Otter Point, It was simply breathtaking. The Point comes after the ocean cliffs. The surf crashing against the huge boulders was awesome, and we did not get to see it at its fullest. Since the tide was out we did get to explore the massive granite boulders. The family climbed and sat on the boulders and listen to the ocean speak to us.

Later, Stacy, Rigby and Lucy took a little nap in a parking lot while Erik took a quick 3/4 mile hike to Bubble Rock. Going up the steep gap between South Bubble and North Bubble (rounded mountains), the trail gave me a short route to Bubble Rock, which is perched high above the Park Loop Road on the summit of the South Bubble. The fog enveloped me as I made it to the top, some 700 feet above sea level.

The final stop of our brief tour of Acadia was Cadillac Mountain. Even after being sheared off by the glaciers many, many years ago, it remains the highest point along the North Atlantic Seaboard at 1,532 feet above sea level. It usually provides spectacular panoramic views of the island and ocean, however, today a heavy fog took over. Driving to the top, we could barely see the road in front of us. What a unique experience. The wind was biting and cold. Erik hiked the perimeter of the summit. One cool fact is that Cadillac is the first place to view sunrise in the United States during the winter months.

Upon leaving the park, and all too soon, we decided to stop in Bangor for dinner and a quick tour. We stopped in the town square area, where a concert and festival were going on. It was neat to see so many locals out on a Saturday night enjoying music, beer and the 65 degree weather. We ate just across the street at Thai Siam, getting our fix of some tasty Asian food.

We drove back to Portland under a beautiful starry sky, once again thankul that Maine does not allow billboards - no distracting lights!! We stopped on a ramp at one point for a pit stop. Looking up to the sky, we saw the most brilliant view of the Big Dipper we have ever seen. The stars just popped out of the sky. What a sight!

We got back to Portland just after 11 p.m. For the day, we traveled 414 miles and were gone for 15 hours.

What a day. (pictures on GrayStation.com coming soon)

Maine - Day 2

Day 2 started off with what a lot of Portland folks like to do in the morning, go to Dunkin Donuts!. We polished off a half dozen of sprinkle and icing covered cake donut goodness. It is not hard to find one of these as there are 22 in a 10 mile radius of Portland and 38 within 20 miles. Yes, we checked the location guide.

The day was chilly and drizzley so we opted to stay indoors for most part of the day. We made a quick stop to the local Target to buy some diapers, wipes and other needed items.

We drove downtown and visited the Children's Museum of Maine. This place was great - four floors of interactive fun.



One of the cool centerpiece exhibits is the camera obscura, a room-size "camera" on the top floor. We gathered around a large white table in a dark room, where we saw projected images from outside that included buildings, cars driving on streets and seagulls flapping by. Rigby controled the camera obscura, which sat on top of the building. Lucy and Rigby loved the water play area in L.L. Bear Cove, the treehouse and lumber yard, supermarket checkout counter and firetruck and firehouse pole that Rigby slid down over and over. We retreated to the bottom floor for Rigby, Lucy and friends' puppet show and dress-up play. Rigby served as a dragon, pirate, wolf and vampire in a purple robe.

After more than two hours, we made way to the harbor and had mid-afternoon lunch at Gilbert's Chowderhouse. The local Shipyard Summer brew was tasty on draft. Stacy and Erik had seafood chowder and clam cakes, while the kids had kid food.

The day dried up a little and we went to the Portland Head Light, an 80-feet tall lighthouse located in Cape Elizabeth. It was constructed in 1787 at the directive of George Washington, and was completed on January 10, 1791. It has been called the "Most photographed lighthouse in North America."



The wind was biting cold coming off the ocean and Mommy and Lucy did not make it long outside. Erik and Rigby took off down a cliff-side path looking to get closer to the large ocean rocks.

Rigby and Erik found a sandy embankment and literally slid down to what Rigby called, "the tumbly rocks." After slipping on some slick rocks, we made it to the water's edge to see waves crashing against the rocks. We got some good rock tossing in and then climbed back up the cliff side to the trail. Rigby wanted to go down in the first place, but later said, "I was not sure we were going to make it back up!"



Upon reuniting with Mommy and Lucy, we went in to the Fort Williams Park area and found the old Goddard Mansion, built in the 1850s. The mansion was bought by the federal government in 1900 and was used by enlisted married men and their families. The mansion is nothing more than rock walls now and is off limits to visitors. There are no floors or roof.

Fort Williams was used during WWI and WWII and the entire fort area was closed by the government in 1962. The town of Cape Elizabeth bought the area in 1964 to help preserve it.

Behind the mansion and toward the cliff edges was the remains of Battery Keyes, built in 1906 and once housed two 3-inch mine defense guns to protect the mines that were laid down during war time. You could still see the footings for the guns as well as the old searchlight foundation. There were two large magazine chambers below that had heavy graffiti inside. It was sad to see a lot of vandalism had taken place on what was left.



After our fort adventures, we went to a sandy beach area and got wet and gritty from throwing rocks and and building sand mounds. The water was very cold!!

We got back to the hotel and all got in the hot tub to warm up.

As a nightcap, we left the hotel room in pajamas for some night-time ice cream. We did not settle on a chain operation, so we let google.com show us something local. Just 5 miles from us was a Red's Dairy Freeze, a Portland tradition since 1952. There were two walk-up windows and I do not think I've seen faster service of ice cream. Since it was about 55 degrees outside most people sat in their cars after getting their soft serve or milkshakes. Mommy had a banana milkshake, Lucy had vanilla dish of soft serve, Rigby had peppermint dish of soft serve and Daddy had chocolate. What a great treat!

So now it is early to bed so we can arise early for a Northern adventure up the coast.

Maine - Day 1

Our first day in Portland, Maine started just before lunchtime. We woke mid-morning and made our way to the Old Port section of Portland. The entire day had overcast skies and a brisk 60 degrees. It was odd to see people wearing jackets in June.

We parked next to Casco Bay and went to lunch at Flatbreads, a completely organic pizza place. It was quite good seeing that Rigby and Lucy ate a small pepperoni flatbread and Erik and Stacy finished off a whole sausage, onion, mushroom and sundried tomato, which had no tomato sauce.

After lunch, we began our walking tour of the Old Port. We found a great toy store, Treehouse Toys, and the kids loved it! We left with a three-headed red dragon puppet that Rigby played with all day long (and still is at the time this is being written, 11:45 p.m.). We checked out a well-known gallery, Abacus, and actually bought a Christmas gift or two.

After a couple hours walking the cobblestone streets and brick sidewalks and visiting and passing by shop after shop, we chose to venture out of Portland and drove 60 miles north to Boothbay Harbor. We drove through small towns (Bath, Wiscasset) along State Route 1. One thing we noticed and loved was that there were no billboards!! We could enjoy nothing but great scenery.



Boothbay was a very quaint little seaside town. There were dozens of lobster boats in the harbor, as well as kayakers strolling along. It was what you think of when you think of Maine. It was great walking through the curvey streets and boardwalks of the harbor.



After leaving Boothbay heading back south, we found Fort Edgecomb, a U.S. installment from the early 1800s. It was used as a prisoner of war camp during the War of 1812. It was never used after the Civil War.

The tummies growled for food and we visited Gritty McDuffs Pub in Freeport, just north of Portland. We enjoyed some tasty local seafood and pub fare, as well as brewed-on-site beer. The Black Fly Stout was chocolatey, coffee-type, black as night brew. Tasty! Lucy and Rigby enjoyed pink lemonade, which had Lucy declare that Erik was having black lemonade. After dinner we went into the "Brewtique" and purchased some Gritty gear.

Of course, Freeport is known for L.L. Bean. It was 10 p.m. but no fear, the L.L. Bean store is open 24 hours, 365 days. What a mecca that was. We walked through most of the place and only purchased a pink and purple jacket for Lucy - a small victory for our wallet!

So Day 1 has ended. Baths have been taken. And now the Lakers Celtics game one is coming to an end.

Harvey Korman

A comedic genius passed away last Thursday.

Harvey Korman, who became famous for his role on The Carol Burnett Show, passed at age 81. He performed in more than 1,000 skits in 10 years on the show.

One of the more memorable skits between Korman and his best friend of 45 years, Tim Conway, was one he had nary a line in, but his face and mannerisms trying to hide his laughter is pure classic.

In the skit, The Dentist, Tim Conway plays a dentist on his first day and Korman the willing patient in the chair. The story goes that Conway changed his lines and direction about 15 seconds into the skit in order to catch Korman off guard.



Korman was also famous for starring in Blazing Saddles and as the Great Gazoo on The Flintstones.

Comedic mastermind Mel Brooks said Thursday, "A world without Harvey Korman — it's a more serious world. It was very dangerous for me to work with him because if our eyes met we'd crash to floor in comic ecstasy. It was comedy heaven to make Harvey Korman laugh."

There will never be another second banana like Harvey Korman. RIP.

Now a Pledge to Hedley Lamar . . . .

Lakers vs. Celtics - a 21-year wait!

NBA Finals.
Lakers. Celtics.
Magic. Bird.
I was a sophomore in high school the last time it happened.

The 1987 NBA Finals took place between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. The Lakers won 4-2. I remember Magic Johnson's junior sky hook in Game 4. It was the tenth time that the Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA Finals and now, 21 years later, the greatest matchup in NBA history happens again. Finally, a new generation will experience the tradition.

The Lakers will be appearing in the Finals for a record 29th time overall. The Celtics will be appearing in the Finals for second best 20th time overall. The Celtics have won the most championships all-time with 16, the Lakers are second with 14.

1987 had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, James Worthy, Bill Walton

2008 has Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Derek Fisher, Pau Gasol.

The names may not be as marquee to me or most people, but seeing the purple and gold vs. the green and white is good enough for me!

Memorial Day Weekend

First and foremost on this Memorial Day Weekend, we remember and honor those who are serving, those who have served and those who have given their lives for our great country.

We had a great weekend.

On Saturday, Erik and Rigby went to see Speed Racer, Stacy, Lucy and Nana went shopping and then we all gathered back at the Oglesby Ranch. Erik and Stacy ended the evening with a viewing of the movie, The Mist - Stephen King is a master. That movie was good, but the ending just tore us up.

On Sunday, we started out with breakfast at MudPie and then spent a good part of the afternoon at Who-Fest [08] in Renaissance Park. There were more than 60 folk artists there. Sister Tobi had a spot at the Art Show and was selling her wares like crazy! We bought a great, new piece from Asheville artist Deona Fish.

Rigby and Erik did some major cardboard sledding down the park's big hill. The family took a walk through the park and got some good rock-throwing accomplished. The Tennessee River has several new rocks.

We finished the day at the Swaynes and with Tobi and Corey. We munched down on burgers, dawgs, chips, tasty beans and beers. We got some good Mario Kart Wii in as well.

On Monday, we had lunch at Subway in North Chatt and then made our way over to the City side to catch a ride on the water taxi.

Upon boarding, we traveled to Maclellan Island, in the middle of the Tennessee River. Our visit to the island would be a first for us and we were very excited. There is a 1.5 mile trail that follows the perimeter of the island. Besides having fun, one of our main tasks was avoiding poison ivy. The trails are well-kept, though.

One unique feature on the island is a "rain-shadow desert" that lies beneath the Veterans Bridge, which travels across the middle of the island. Hardly any rain or sun hits beneath the bridge, leaving a lot of dirt and areas for picnic tables and a nice campfire setup.

There were a couple camping areas on the island and even a nice concrete block shelter. We discovered an old piece of farm equipment, which had to of been more than 50 years old, as farming on the island ceased in 1954.

We stayed on the island for almost two hours before hopping aboard the "Fat Cat" boat to carry us back to the mainland. We did not want our day to end, so we went to visit our fish friends at the Aquarium.

Now it is back to work, albeit a four-day work week!

Smokies

The GrayStation family traveled up I-75 to see Erik's parental units at the Foothills Craft Guild show at Pellissippi State in West Knoxville over the weekend. Stacy's parents came along as well for the afternoon.

After spending the afternoon at Pellissippi, we traveled up Highway 321 into Townsend and the gateway to the Smokies. We took the kids to an old swimming hole favorite, the Townsend "Wye." It's the meeting point of the middle and west prongs of the Little Pigeon River, which is seven miles east of Cades Cove. We spent about an hour braving the cold water and throwing rocks.



We had dinner at Cowboy's on Douglas Lake and spent the night in White Pine, enjoying a nice quick stay.

On Sunday, we traveled back into Erik's old stomping grounds of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. It was rainy, but we did get into some tourist areas. We did some outlet mall shopping, had lunch at TGI Friday's, went on a Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride and played video games, Skee Ball and air hockey in an arcade.



We decided to go to Cades Cove around 6 p.m. on Sunday. It was a cool 50 degrees. We took a quick hike to one of the old cabins and saw many deer, wild turkeys and two black bears. We did not get home until after 11 p.m. We certainly packed it in this weekend.

Happy Mother's Day

Proverbs 31:10-12 and 25-31

A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.

She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:

"Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.



Happy Mother's Day to Dolores Wells, Rhonda Oglesby, Stacy Gray, Mary Sue "Muggy" Oglesby and Aileen Gray, some of the best mothers in the world.

GrayStation Concert Tour

Well the Spring GrayStation Concert Tour is complete.

Friday, April 25
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Philips Arena in Atlanta. What more can be said about one of the best American rockers ever? He played two-and-a-half hours and never left the stage. Not bad for a 58-year-old. We realized there is a lot of Boss music we do not know. We have much to learn.

Wednesday, April 30
Bon Jovi at Philips Arena in Atlanta. Daughtry opened the first 45 minutes. Bon Jovi took over the next two hours and entertained like he was rockin' the 80s. A great moment was screaming "Oh, we're half way there. Oh, Oh! Livin' on a Prayer" at the top of your lungs with 20,000 other people, some with mullets from 1989.

To make me sound old, I first saw Bon Jovi in 1988 at Thompson-Boling Arena. Yes, 20 years ago. Stacy had to sit this one out as she was in Portland, Maine on business travel.

Sunday, May 4
Kanye West with Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D. (Pharell Williams) and Rihanna at the Gwinnett Center in Atlanta. Started at 7:30, ended at midnight. What a show!

Lupe Fiasco was surprisingly good. He had a good stage show.

NERD just rocked the stage. Pharell is not the best singer/rapper, but his style of rock/skater punk/rap music is unique. Special ATL appearances by Chris Brown and Bow Wow on the stage dancing up a storm to one of NERD's jams.

Rihanna was disappointing. Now she did have a nice one-piece leather outfit on, but she seemed bored, even during "Umbrella" ella....ella....ella....

Just before the Kanye show, we spotted Quincy Jones on the floor meeting with some of the sound crew. That was a cool surprise - one of the legends of music.

Kanye came out for almost two hours and put on a theatrical Vegas show. His stage was built to look like an alien planet with a spaceship on it. He was the only one on stage, and his band was in a pit in front of the stage. His show was scripted and his songs told the story. He played it all and the crowd never sat down, instead opting for bouncing and throwing hands in the sky the whole night. He is going to be awesome at Bonaroo.

Whew. Time for a rest until we find the next block of shows.

Our Big Deck

Spring has sprung, and so has our awesome big new deck.

http://bigdeck2008.blogspot.com/

It took almost a month to build and now it is ready for some nice outdoor living. We are excited about the new space we have for our home. Now we have to focus on the ground area around the deck to give us some more function and better scenery.

Rock on!!

The end of an era

Durty Nelly's, we bid thee farewell.

For many Fridays and other days, we congregated at the Grand Ole Irish Pub on North Market Street in Chattanooga.

There were many an evening we sat at the bar with old friends, dear friends who have now left Chattanooga.

There was that time during The Blizzard of '93. The ole pub was open for St. Patrick's Day even if there was two feet of snow and three feet and more of snow drifts. Who still has a t-shirt from there that says, "I survived!"

There were the Irish folk songs - sing along, I know you can.

There were many a Friday that the Sigma Chis sat in one corner, the Sigma Kappas sat in another corner and the beer flowed like wine. No fake IDs there.

There were the people who threw their peanuts on the floor and at people, heck, even the hired singers.

There was the drinking glove - I still have it - 15 years later.

There was our old friend Clancy, who is no longer with us. I drank one last more for you, my brother.

There were the times we gathered with family. Ole Sideboard loved the place.

There was the Onion Orgy. The Durty Burger. The Nacho Colosso. Fish & Chips. The Shannon Salad. Oh, and the Bread Pudding.

There was the Purple Snake (port wine and Guiness)


And so it ends. On February 29, 2008, a day that only happens once every four years, Durty Nelly's closed its doors for good.

We had to drink our dinner since there was no food being served. Guiness and Killian's in a clear plastic cup and the Styrofoam when the fine plastic was gone.

Some of the last food eaten at the ole pub was an Irish favorite, Pizza Hut, delivered hot and fresh to our table, via ordering delivery.

Some old faces and new friends made their way in the doors one last time. We closed the place down one last time. Pour out a little liquor for the homies.



One more time, for old times sake . . .

There was green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born
The loveliest of all was the unicorn!

Scrappy, where are you!?

Big News for Stacy

Stacy has accepted the role of Assistant Vice President, Simply Unum Program. A great big step on her career path!


From: Glidden, Charlene
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 3:36 PM
Subject: Organization Announcement


As many of you know when we formed the UUS Program Office a short time ago we announced that Cissy Grebowski, VP Simply Unum Program had accepted a new role as head of the Customer Contact Centers reporting to Tom Thompson. We also announced that Cissy would continue in a dual role for a period of time and have since defined that timeframe taking us through the National Rollout of Simply Unum.


Since then I've been searching for a candidate to fill the SU Program Manager position after Cissy's transition. I've been partnering with Cissy, Tom Thompson, Andrea Gordon and others on further defining the skills and requirements for the SU Program Manager role going forward. I'm sure it's no surprise to many of you that there is still a great deal of work to be accomplished for Simply Unum 1.0 such as Completion of the Model, incorporation of Marketplace feedback and adjustments, implementation of state approvals, completion of the VB Conversion effort and finally the Group Migration strategy and execution. In addition, Andrea Gordon has been leading a team focused on Simply Unum 2.0 strategy and design which will help determine other segment opportunities to ensure we fully achieve the UUS Growth Strategy on this platform. Both of these efforts will continue to need a highly effective cross-functional Program Manager for years to come to ensure we continue with the kind of success that we've seen to date under Cissy's leadership working with so many areas across the company.


To support this critical program going forward, I'm extremely pleased to announce that Stacy Gray has accepted the role of Assistant Vice President, Simply Unum Program reporting to me in the UUS Program Office. Stacy has served as the Assistant Vice President of Voluntary Marketing Communications for Unum US since May 2006. Her ten+ years of experience with the company also include employee communications, community relations, public relations and advertising. Stacy has also been actively engaged in our Voluntary Practice and that experience will serve her well in this new role.


Stacy received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and her Masters in Public Relations from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Her current community interests including developing a local chapter of the American Marketing Association and serving as an active alumnae of her local university. Stacy lives in Chattanooga with her husband Erik (also a Unum employee), son Rigby (age 4) and daughter Lucy (age 2). Stacy enjoys spending time with her family, reading, traveling, cooking, gardening and appreciating all forms of music (including that of the Beatles, as evidenced by her choice of names for her children).


Stacy will be working closely with Cissy over the next several months to learn all the components of the Program Manager role and to ensure an effective smooth transition. Please join me in congratulating Stacy on this new role and welcoming her to the UUS Program Office.


Charlene Glidden
VP, Unum US Program Office

Loss of a childhood friend

Pigeon Forge Police chief's son dies in jail

Sevier County Sheriff Ron Seals has announced the death of a prisoner at the jail by apparent suicide.

Bradley Baldwin, 36, was being held at the jail on theft charges. He was the son of Pigeon Forge Police Chief Jack Baldwin.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating his death. No foul play is suspected.


That is so sad. Brad was one of my childhood friends growing up in Pigeon Forge. I can vividly remember playing at his house often. Making chili pies with a whole pack of crackers. Him singing Elvis. Destroying his room full of toys.

It is so odd about the choices he made. His dad has been police chief for more than 25 years. I remember his mom and dad to be very kind. My heart goes out to them today.

Augusta

The weekend saw our travel to Augusta, Ga. for Bob's (step-dad) 70th birthday surprise party. We stayed at cousins Pat & Sam's. We got to see their kids, who are our age, and their four grandkids, who are Rigby and Lucy's age.

Tobi, Corey and Nellie were there, as were my step-sister Susan and her husband, Walter.

We also got to spend time with Great Uncle Lonnie Wilder (87-years-young), the last of the Wilders that we named Rigby after. He still goes deer hunting. We talked about WWII and his experiences in Augusta, where he has lived since 1943.

We left on Saturday and returned on Sunday. Although it was a quick trip, it felt like several days because we really made it count. We stayed up late catching up.

We had good Augusta bar-be-que and hash. Beer was available as we watched the NFL wild-card playoff games.

Rigby and Lucy had a blast with their newfound cousins. They ran and played all over the back yard and inside the house.

We left on Sunday afternoon back across I-20 towards Atlanta. We stopped in the small town of Social Circle, located 45 minutes east of Atl. Stacy's maternal grandparents lived there. We saw the house her grandparents lived in as well as the nearby famous Blue Willow Inn, a tasty southern restaurant.

We had a great weekend to kick off 2008!

Sweet Dreams 2007, Happy New Year 2008

We leave a great 2007 year behind us and welcome the new 2008 parcel of our lives.

All the best to friends, family, coworkers and acquaintances.

May you be healthy and prosperous in the year ahead.

Lights out!

We experienced at least a dozen, quick power outages on Sunday. While it did interrupt our lazy day of watching football and putting up Christmas decorations, it got a little funny at night.

We had candles lit through the house waiting for the power to go off as the sun had set.

Around 8 p.m. the lights cut off and Stacy and I were on the other side of the house from the kids. Surprisingly, the kids just kind of went on playing and called for us. They did not freak out like I used to when I was a kid.

One time later in the evening, Rigby, Stacy and I were in the kitchen and the power went off. I had a flashlight in my pocket and went to look for Lucy, because she was thinking it was hide and go seek time apparently.

As I turned on the flashlight and headed to the living room, my light caught a small girl face just as she let out a yelp and started to laugh. It scared me a little, sort of like those creatures on the movie "Descent." Lucy thought it was hilarious and just laughed.

The power soon came back on and we enjoyed the rest of the evening. Such random day events that I had to record.

Bill Curry

I spent the majority of my day in a Unum Service Operations leadership meeting at The Chattanoogan today. We covered many great topics, but our session after lunch was special. Our guest speaker was Bill Curry.

Now I always remember Bill Curry as the three-year coach of Alabama and an ESPN football analyst/commentator for ESPN for the past 10 years.

But, wow, I did not realize that he played pro football from 1965 to 1974 with the Green Bay Packers (under the legendary Vince Lombardi), Houston Oilers, Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams, and was an all-pro center with the Colts in 1971 and 1972. Curry was the starting offensive line center for the Packers in Super Bowl I and the Colts in Super Bowl V. He was also the ACC coach of the year in 1985 and the SEC coach of the year in 1989.

After his hour-long, moving speech about leadership development and supporting football metaphors, I had the opportunity to briefly meet him. My time was spent holding his Super Bowl I championship ring, similar to the one in the picture.

Some stats from the game:

Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10
Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles, California
January 15, 1967
Attendance: 61,946
MVP: Bart Starr, QB, Green Bay (Curry was the center!)

Volvo Milestone

Our 1998 Volvo S70 reached 100,000 miles on Thursday! She's been a great car and is still going strong.

Mocs Homecoming

The power of a great day. UTC brought us together all those years ago, and UTC keeps us together even today.

The day started with a cool morning, beautiful blue skies and participation in the 2007 American Heart Association Heart Walk. We walked through the city with friends from work.

After a big burrito lunch at Mojo, we took it to the house for some siestas.

We arrived at First Tennessee Pavilion at Finely Stadium during the mid-afternoon and what a great turnout of students and alumni for UTC Homecoming.

There seemed to be a couple hundred Sigma Chis in full force. It was great to see so many brothers and pledges. If there is one day each year that we really get to celebrate, it is this day. There were many alumni in attendance, but there were also many we missed and wish had been there.

Rigby and Madison Cope took it to the big inflatable playgound and never seemed to wear out. They kept the energy going all the way through the football game. It was great.

In addition to a packed pavilion, there were several alumni I had not seen in many many years. Two in particular were Levert Threats and Larry Stewart, two of my best Mocs basketball friends from back in the day (15 years ago). Other Mocs ballers there were Tim Brooks, Gary Robb, Damon Woods and Ed "Lover" Snead. (Shane Neal was there, but he is my local boy!).

I spent a good bit of time with Larry and Levert and we enjoyed talking about days of old. It was such a good feeling to see them and pick up where we left off last time. After big hugs and promises of sincere friendship, we went on our way to see the Mocs play.

The Cope clan and GrayStation spent the game time in the Coca-Cola skybox. The Coke folks are great hosts, as always. Thanks to them and drink Coke!!

We all enjoyed a Mocs 39-21 win over Western Carolina. We made it home around 9:30, and settled in for some DVR'ed television shows from the past week. Wow, we are getting old - normally, I would be liver-deep in beer at this time.

GO MOCS

Road Trip Day 7

Washington, PA. We awoke naturally with no alarm around 8:30. Erik packed the car, Stacy bathed the kids and then we dined on free breakfast at the hotel.

Our last day on the road began at 10 a.m. Our trip home was going to be I-70 to Columbus, I-71 to Cincinnati and then I-75 to Chattanooga. This was different than on Day 1 as we took I-81 through Virginia and into West Virginia.

We hit our first rain of the road trip in Columbus, which was around kickoff of the Ohio State football game. We stopped to get gas just outside Wheeling, WV and Erik grabbed a 12-pack of Iron City beer for home usage.

We landed in Cincinnati around 2 p.m. and made our way to Busken Bakery for four 12-packs of Halloween and Bengals print cookies. The Buskens are the best ever.

After cookie pickup, we drove by Xavier and past University of Cincinnati to Ludlow Avenue. Our stop took us to Skyline Chili. As we walked in, the first words from Rigby's mouth were, "ahhhh, it smells good in here." After wiping the tears of joy from his face, Erik ordered. Chili-cheese coneys and 3-ways were the orders of choice for the family.

After a hearty dining experience, we drove through our second home city reliving the past.

Our final destination was The Party Source in Newport, Ky, just across the river from Cincy. This place has the largest beer cooler ever. They have rows and rows of wines and spirits and almost every type of beer you can imagine, except for Yuengling and Hudy Delight in a can.

We dropped a Benjamin and more, boxed up the goods and loaded the car with tasty treats for future references.

Our journey was nearing an end. We traveled through the 190-mile stretch of Kentucky and welcomed the dark. Erik listened to the Vols-Southern Miss game, since that was about the only thing the radio would pick up. The other choices were deep-woods country and the Kentucky football game.

We took a pit stop outside of Knoxville and then breezed down I-75 to Chattaboogie. We opted to turn off the radio and tell sppoky stories. Rigby told a 30 minute story about every monster he could think of. Seriously, 30 minutes.

We arrived at our home at 11 p.m.

Saturday consisted of:
-650 miles
-four pit stops
-three hours in Cincinnati
-13 hours total door (Pittsburgh) to door (Chattanooga)

Our seven-day journey was awesome. We traveled more than 1,800 miles during our adventure. What a great time.

The car is unpacked and the second load of laundry is already in the washer.

Road Trip Day 6

The cell phone alarm woke us at 7 a.m. in Erie so we could get on the road early back to Pittsburgh. A quick breakfast at Old McDonalds and we were off.

We stopped in Wale Mark (Wal Mart Rigby-style) to get an umbrella stroller. We planned for a trip to a "see" museum and not a "play" museum so Rigby would be sitting in the new stroller.

We arrived back in Pittsburgh before lunch time and went to the Allegheny Cemetery to see Daniel William Cooper's grave, one of the seven founders of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. The cemetery was very old and very expansive, but the grave site found Erik just like the other three he has seen before this one.



We traveled to and parked on the North Shore area to visit our final museum of the trip, the Andy Warhol Museum, seven-stories of Warhol in an old remodeled building. The museum was very contemporary, very Warhol. What a master he was. It was not your usual Marilyn Monroe pop what you would think of Warhol. It was so many different mediums he used throughout the years. The fifth floor held an archive of 600 boxes of memorabilia he had collected throughout the years.

After our museum experience, we ate at Atrias, which was built into the PNC Ball Park. The cheddar burger and reuben were awesome, as were the cold, Iron City beers we enjoyed (Lucy and Rigby had Sprite).

We breathed in the last daytime air of Pittsburgh and headed out to our hotel on the outskirts of the city.



But our day was not over! We freshened up and drove back to the city for our last big event - Pittsburgh Pirates baseball versus the Chicago Cubs. We parked in the city and walked across the Roberto Clemente Bridge, with thousands of other fans. Our seats were 20 rows behind home plate. The view of the Steel City in the outfield and the warm late summer breeze made for an awesome night.



The Pirates won 6-1. We left the ball park as the pirate raised the skull and cross bones in the outfield, signaling a win! Rigby and Lucy got foam pirate swords and swashbuckled their way out of the stadium.

We walked back across the Clemente Bridge looking over our shoulder at a great evening.

As we left the city, we wanted to see one more area of town on the South Side that we had not seen yet. Although it was 10:30 p.m., we drove through the Carson Street area and counted at least 30 bars and restaurants, alive and kicking. What a place for the adults and college students. We scoped that one out for future visits. During our 20 minute driving tour through the area, Rigby talked to Tobi-o-wan (Erik's sister) describing his week.

The night ended in Washington, PA, 30 miles outside of Pittsburgh. Stacy and Erik lugged two tired kids in the hotel (and a couple fountain drinks and apple pies from Old McDonalds).

What a great week. It's time to head back home. The road trip back home begins tomorrow.

Road Trip Day 5

Day 5. Erie, Pennsylvania. Went out to the car early morning and discovered the sun casting a shadow on a piece of tire on the passenger side. The tire was not flat, but it was injured. Luckily, the Avis store was about 3 miles away at the Erie International Airport.

Upon our arrival to the Avis counter, I informed the Avis representative that we had an injured tire. He questioned me why I had not noticed it early. Sorry, I thought, I am not vehicle inspection man. At first I thought he was not going to assist me, but he told me he could trade the car out if we felt it was unsafe. Of course I said yes.

So a 30-minute delay switching cars and kids and we were on our way to breakfast at a local establishment called Taki's. It was a good ole local establishment with omelets, hot cakes, bacon, sausage and coffee.

After breakfast we began our tour of Erie. We are not too sure what to make of the place. There is a nice area through town with tourist markers showing where the art museum, the maritime museum, the beaches, bayfront, etc. were, but it looked like this once bustling town of the 1900's was forgotten along the way. There are some awesome old churches and buildings and signs of prosperity from years past.

We went back to the hotel and changed into our beach gear for a trip to Presque Isle on Lake Erie. Upon our arrival to this serene state park, we drove to the end of the isle and beach 10.


The lake was nice and quiet - there were only about 10 other people in the area we were at. We dipped our feet and bums into the chilly water and collected cardboard-thin, smooth rocks, some of the best we have ever seen for skipping across the water. We soaked in the sun, walked along the shore and Rigby sat atop a lifeguard stand.




Sleepiness set in and we headed back for naps in the hotel. And then it was hungry time!

Stacy had read about this local restaurant downtown called the Pufferbelly Restaurant, housed in one of the oldest fire stations in Erie. The Pufferbelly recalls the nickname given to the steam pumpers and engines of the late 1800s.

The Erie Fire Department became an organization in 1816. Construction on the firehouse that is now the Pufferbelly Restaurant, was begun in 1907. It was built at a cost of $14,889.00 and was completed in 1908. Fire House No. 1 enjoyed a long history of fire protection and the department stopped using the station in 1979.

We enjoyed appetizers, dinner, dessert, drinks and really full bellies.

We ended our day at a city playground as the sun set and then in the hotel pool. The GrayStation soaked in the hot tub, Lucy floated around in an inflatable car and Rigby laid on his back in the pool dressed in a life jacket. Rigby even asked to go to the bathroom while he was in the ool. He has learned there is no "p" in it.

On to Day 6 - back to Pittsburgh for Pirates vs. Cubs at PNC Ball Park.

Road Trip Day 4

Hello from Western Pennsylvania. They do not sell beer in convenience or grocery stores. You have to buy from a package store, and if those are not open (most close at 10 p.m.) you have to buy from a bar. So Erik bought a six back of Yuengling from Rocco's Tavern in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Now on with the first of the day and what a fun-filled day it was.

We woke up bright and early on Wednesday morning to walk down to the market district. We had breakfast around 8 a.m. and then started on our trek. The market area is where all the fresh produce and meats are brought into the city. The area opens before dawn and closes by lunchtime. We went in and out of local shops enjoying and wishing we had the cheap prices at home.

After a couple hours in the market area, we went back to the hotel to take a mid-morning swim. Erik and Rigby dipped into the hot tub and Lucy latched onto Stacy in the pool.

After the swim we packed up and went across the street to the Heinz Pittsburgh History Center, a massive seven-story museum. We could have stayed there all day, but Lucy and Rigby were ready to go after two hours. Inside was a chronological history of the city, complete with a lifesize cabin, city street, and house. It was awesome.

Also housed in the center was the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. Housed on two floors, the area featured the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Steelers and Penguins pro teams as well as high school sports and Olympic sports.

Rigby even through a football to Steelers football players!

The interaction throughout the museum was great for young and old. We were as impressed with this museum as we have been with any other we have ever been in. Definitely worth the trip and for a revisit. Rigby, Lucy and Erik had their picture taken around the Three Rivers Stadium goal posts which stood from 1970-2000 and saw many championship Steelers teams.

After picking up some goods from the history store, we traveled across town to experience the Carnegie Science Center, a five level feast for the senses on the banks of the Ohio River and next to Heinz Field, home of the Steelers.

In the Science Center, Rigby and Lucy experienced their first planetarium show in a digital theater dome. We watched a 30-minute presentation on the Pittsburgh night sky. Lucy did great and Rigby really enjoyed peering at the 360 degree view of all the stars and constellations.

After a quick bite to eat in the cafe, Rigby and Erik went to the waterfront to hop aboard the USS Requiem, a cold-war era submarine. What a tight fit!

We finished up our visit seeing the other three floors of the museum, entering a wind tunnel, experiencing an earthquake, playing in water games and seeing the largest model train set display we have ever seen.

The center closed quicker than we wanted so we left and jumped into the car to go get some University of Pittsburgh Panthers gear on campus. Erik got a sweatshirt and Rigby got a Panthers cap. We then walked among the thousands of college students and had sushi at a small streetside shop.

Finally, to end the day, we loaded up the car and drove 126 miles to Erie, Pennsylvania, where we arrived around 9:30 p.m. We checked in at the Clarion Hotel, located just a half mile from Lake Erie. We plan to stay a day or so here and then go to where the road takes us.

See you tomorrow! Time for sleep - note below, this was right after midnight as Lucy FINALLY fell asleep. She was an evil hornet and having a good time staying up late.