Life with The Swell Guy!

Tuesday Night is Hammer Time

I've had a good time traveling to Greenville on Tuesday nights with riding buddies Brad, Eric and meeting Eric's friend Tom to bike race at Donaldson Center.  Things get a lot more interesting than this photo when the group pulls out on the road and it is far to intense to snap photos.  There's quite a scene going on with hundreds of riders spread out for all the categories.  I've been riding "B" group which is now about 50 to 60 riders or more.  Some of the riders in the group are sponsored or ride for college teams.  This blogger does a pretty good job explaining what happens on the ride.

Try Harder

Sometime last fall I placed this post-it note on the wall close by my office desk.  It is not pretty.  It is not artistic.  I put it there as a reminder to myself. 

I wrote it on a specific day that I felt my personal & professional efforts could be better and I needed make note of it.  Fairly often I glance at that note and I find it remarkable how often I appreciate the reminder.  Seldom a day passes that I can not try harder in some area of life.

As a Christ-follower, I believe we are responsible to give our best effort in all we do or say.  It's a powerful reminder about how I speak to my wife, kids, co-workers, customers, friends, and others.  Even more so, I am reminded that my actions speak volumes.  I am not yet even as close as I want to be.  So for now, I will keep the note on the wall.

I've got a Secret

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that Secret and Sure stick antiperspirant/deodorants are the same white color and look very similar?  No?  I guess it is just me.  I figured this out shortly after I noticed how fresh and cheery I smelled this morning shortly after my shower.

Gospel Singing Barn

Here's one last photo from vacation.  I guess this is an option when the trailer park stops using the "community center".... Yes, the building down the hill does say "Gospel Singing Barn" on it (except I don't have a font that shows a backwards "n" character).  No, this is not where we stayed.  Sigh.  At least it's not a "snake handling barn".

Home Safe

It was great to go away on vacation.  We had a super time with Tom and Sonja.  We had plenty of R&R along with some real good fun.  And it was great to come home yesterday afternoon.  We are recharged and ready to go again.

This morning's worship service at New Covenant was excellent and we enjoyed reconnecting with our friends after it was over.  Then we hurried home to motor up the lake to check on our little home construction project.  The roof is almost complete so it is starting to look like a real house.

We placed a photo album on the blog for friends and family who want to keep track of our progress.  You can scroll down the left hand side of the blog and choose the "Our Lake House" link or you can click here now to check it out.    

Eureka!

Thursday brought a wonderful afternoon of discovery.  We dropped by downtown Blue Ridge to knock around the shops and found a place called Bull Frog Music.  They specialize in hard to find CDs and LPs.  Their music selection is focused on Bluegrass/Country, Blues, and Classic Rock. 

On the walls were some vintage concert posters and LP jackets.  The owner told us some great stories after I asked permission to take a few photos.  Some of the album covers reminded me of this recently popular post.  I did not find Cody Materson, but I did see some other cool stuff.  I think I could have spent hours browsing.  Eventually I bought a classic Allman Brothers "Eat a Peach" t-shirt and moved on down the street.

A night at The Swan

Last night we went to The Swan Drive-In.  We saw "The Dark Knight".  I'd give the movie a "6".  I'd give sitting out under the stars watching a movie with snacks a "10".  We all had a good time remembering our childhood drive-in experiences.  We wish there were more around.  The lone disappointment was there was no dancing ice cream cone or hot dog cartoons to plug the concession stand. 

Good Times

We've been having a great time in the mountains this week.  Tom and I have had epic bike rides the last two mornings.  Today we stopped at Cooper's Junction General Store and asked the "Harley Moma" running the place if there was a turn down the road that would loop us back home.  She promptly informed that the only way to go was back up the mountain that we has just crossed.  It was not quite the answer we wanted.

Now, off for an afternoon hike with the girls.....

Our friends at MACC

Last September  when we moved south Denine and I left a church plant that we loved.  We loved the people and the message.  It felt like we were what the church should be in how we loved each other and how we were working to love our community.  It's good to see our friends at MACC have continued on with those things.  This photo shows some of the community putting up a fence for a single mom.  I'm sure the fence is less important than the love they showed to this young family.  Well done, friends....

On the way yesterday

We stopped at this place yesterday because the sign hooked me.  How can you say no to "Man Suff"?  I believe they had mostly man stuff, but we both enjoyed looking around...