Since I've blogged last a lot has happened. We've lost a couple of special dogs, Lobo and Sweeney. We've bred puppies out of Rumor (an AKC GCh, FCh and ASFA FCh) and Everett (LCM 11 or 12), keeping both puppies (India and Marra).
Two of the kids have graduated and gone off to college. One decided that school wasn't for him right now, the other is finishing her Junior year at Kennesaw. Corey and his fiance' Hannah had a baby making me and R grandparents!!! He's a great baby and I just love it when I get to hang out with him. We love Hannah too and are glad that she's in the fam. The youngest kid is still in High School, finishing her Junior year this year.
I'm still working at Clayton, mostly doing VMware stuff, server administration, security and a little networking. I'm back in school and taking an intermediate networking class that is going to be quite demanding. We're going through our SACS review soon and part of the remediation from the last time is to provide "more seats" for students. Translated, the library is too small with too few places for kids to study. What does this mean for me? Well, for the first time in probably 15 years, I'm sharing an office with someone. This will be it's own topic later, believe me.
R went back to school and got her degree in Human Resources with a focus on Training and Development. She worked for Satair for a couple of years in the HR department, learned some really valuable stuff, made good friends and even got to travel a little bit. Her boss at Satair has become her best friend and she and her friends have really become very close to us. Back in December, R got an opportunity to work at Suntrust doing what she was really passionate about in college - Training and Development. So far, she is loving the job! She's in downtown now, so the commute is a little longer for her, but not too bad.
Since she's working downtown, we've been thinking that this is a good time for us to look for a place closer to town. Something a little smaller perhaps since we're downsizing on kids and not planning on gaining any more dogs. We both would like to get in the Tucker/Atlanta/Decatur area where we have friends living already and where I grew up.
We're not running dogs nearly as much as we did. I served a term as Regional Director for ASFA and came away more disillusioned and disappointed than when I went in. I think that ASFA is a dying organization the way it's operating right now and unless they have some serious new blood come in with drive, desire and energy, it won't be around too long. CHASE, our longtime club, has few working members. We're to the point where we're almost totally burned out on putting on trials. Not sure how many more years we'll be hosting trials. If I could find someone who wanted the equipment and would put in the effort, I'd pass it on.
One thing that I am doing more of now is running. I have run The Peachtree Road Race for the past four years. I've run other races here and there, most notably a 10k in 2011 in 53:44 and a 15k that year as well. I have my ups and downs, but for the most part I get quite a few miles in a week and am keeping myself relatively healthy.
Beer is still a passion, probably even more so than ever. I've found a few good brews that I like a lot and enjoy often. I plan on getting back into home brewing this year as well. I'm working on saving up the bottles now! :D
My gun hobby has developed quite a bit in the past few years. Me and the boys have begun to shoot sporting clays more often, necessitating (!) the purchase of an over-under shotgun for the sport. I bought a Yildiz 12ga three years ago and have shot it quite often. I enjoy shooting it and look forward to using it for a while to come. Joining my old standby Ruger in the pistol department is a Springfield XDs in .45 and a Smith and Wesson 642 in .38. They're light, easily concealable guns. I had the XDs first and realized how true the saying "Two is one and one is none" is when Springfield issued a recall for the gun in September. I was without it until the first week of January, prompting me to get the 642. I had gotten R one earlier in the year and enjoyed it so much I had to have one.
I did get some ink last year, but I'd have rather not have gotten it for the reason I did. I lost my dear Grandfather last February quite unexpectedly. In honor of him, I got the CBI patch tattooed on my calf.
I miss my Grandfather A LOT. I wish he was still here to give me the guidance I need.There's probably no one who remembers this thing, but hopefully I can make some interesting posts for anyone dropping by. I know I'll enjoy reading this stuff again in a few years! ::
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