Sad, but Good Day!

A large group of some very excellent guys gathered today to honor our brother Shoun.  Although it was a sad day for all of us, it was really good that we could all share in this together.  These brothers really are the meaning of...

Not for an hour, a day or a college term only, but a Kappa Sigma is for life!!

I got to see some guys that I haven't seen in a long time, including my little brother Joe C and his beautiful family.  They were on their way home to Florida from a vacation in the North Carolina Mountains.  I have not seen him in almost 10 years. 

Almost 30 of Shoun's brothers made the trip today.  Most of them are seen in the picture above.  Thanks for being true brothers guys.  Let's get together in happier times real soon!

AEKDB

Luckie

Wacky Wednesday 2012 Soccer Camp!

Reid is in soccer camp this week!  This is his third year in the Challenger Sports British Soccer Program.  To say that he has improved because of this camp is an understatement.  This camp has taught him a lot about soccer that I could not possibly teach him.  I know little to nothing about the game.  He has been doing well this week and scored 6, yes 6, goals in one of his matches yesterday.  I am very proud of him.

The coaches make it very fun for the kids and Wednesday is "Wacky Wednesday".  The picture above was Reid's hair style last year.  He wanted the same "do" for this year, but we let his hair get a little too long for it to stand up, so we went with this....

Kind of looks like Gene Simmons on a bad hair day! 

Have fun son and don't get use to this hair style!!

Brothers!

I have written several times before about my fraternity days back at good ole' Georgia Southern.  Like many of you, I had a great time in college and made some excellent friends.  I still keep up with some of my fraternity brothers and talk to some of them when I get time to call, but I will be the first to admit that we do not talk often enough.  Life can get in the way of relationships with old college buddies.  You go in different directions, start a career, get married, chase kids, etc, etc, etc.  Sure you see each other at reunions every 5 years or the occasional homecoming game in Statesboro, but on days like today, that really just does not seem good enough.

I lost a brother today.  Shoun was a great guy, Kappa Sigma brother and friend.  I can easily say that he was one of my favorites.  He was coming into the fraternity as I was on my way out, but we had a good relationship and I tried to pass on what I knew about being a good Kappa Sigma brother.  He was always willing to listen.  He died today much too young.  A victim of a massive heart attack.  I haven't spoken to him in 3 years.  Now I wish I had.

Shoun in blue shirt directly behind me at our 40th reunion 3 years ago

Shoun is the third brother that we have lost out of a group of guys that joined the fraternity between 1990 and 1995.  All dead under the age of 40.  Life reminds us that it is too short.  We all need to slow down and make a phone call or two.  We need to make time to catch up with those friends in our lives who have had an impact or the friends in our lives that we love even though we do not get to see them very often.  I know that what has happened today will have an effect on me and I am going to try and spin it in a positive manner.  I am going to try and call my brothers more often or make an effort to see them.  I don't want to hear that another one of my brothers has left us and be sitting here wishing I had told him what he meant to me.  I called 6 of them today.  It's only a start.

Thorn- far left- RIP AEKDB

Hicks- far left- RIP AEKDB

To all my brothers in the Kappa Zeta Chapter of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity at Georgia Southern University,

 AEKDB!!    I love you guys!

Luckie

Baseball Camp!

My son Reid has continued to work hard on improving his baseball skills even though his season is over.  Part of this work included a week long baseball camp at ABAC college.  This is a great camp for kids between the ages of 7 and 13.  The head coach at ABAC does a great job with the kids and stresses fundamental baseball while keeping it fun.  They work on a different skill each day and then play a scrimmage game  where they keep score and learn valuable real time game skills at the end of each practice.

Reid loved it.  As I said before, the coach does a good job with the kids.  He keeps it light and fun for them.  He has a nick name for each player.  Reid's name was "Apollo Reid!"

It was a good week and one in which Reid improved.  He brought home some bling as well.  He finished 1st in base running skills, 2nd in hitting and 2nd in pitching.  I am very proud of him!

Let's keep working son!

Yep, I'm good!

Two tables completed and ready for shipping!  Someone is getting two VERY beautiful antiques!!

The New 725 Browning!

I love it when Browning comes out with new products.  Although I have no need for another over/under shotgun, I do so enjoy watching the commercials!  Here is the very cool new spot for the Browning 725 Citori.  Enjoy!

Browning- The Best There Is!

Some Days are Better Than Others!

Jackpot!!

My wife asked me what I wanted for Father's day.  I told her I wanted to go shopping!  Now before you go thinking I have lost my mind, my kind of shopping and hers are two totally different things.  I wanted to hit the antique and junk stores to look for treasures that are out there for the taking.  My wife goes with me to make me happy, but I don't think she really enjoys it as much as I do.

We decided to head south and made our way to Thomasville, GA.  Thomasville is a very nice town that has an unbelievable downtown area full of antique shops, variety stores, restaurants and even a high end gun shop.  We enjoyed walking around and visiting the shops, but we really didn't have much luck.  I almost pulled the trigger on a small table, but changed my mind at the last minute.  I'm glad I did.

We decided to head back towards home with the idea of stopping at my favorite antique store in Moultrie, GA.  Sid's Antiques is a place that has a little of everything and I have bought several pieces there over the years.  After searching the store and drooling over all of his tables I asked him if he had anything that needed a little work.  He pulled out the table that you see on the right in the picture above.  It is hard to tell, but the top has a couple of bad spots and it just needed some minor TLC to make it a show piece.  Notice the bottom shelf and the brass connectors.  Very hard to find.  I was shocked at the price he offered to me and I jumped before he could change his mind.  Before I could get out of the store, a total of three tables had been loaded in the truck.  Two Tiger Oaks and the smaller oak table that is in the background.  They are all beautiful tables and I think I may just have an interested buyer for at least one of them.

I called my Dad when I got home and he came over to have a look at what I scored.  He fell in love with the table on the right and we hashed out a little trade.  The flaws on the top of this table were not a problem for him because he uses a table similar to this in his office to hold his fax machine.  I was glad that I could make my Dad happy on Father's Day weekend, and I still ended up with two Tiger Oak tables and they are almost identical.

The table on the left came from my Dad



My Dad's table is really not in need of any refinishing.  It is perfect.  It has a cherry tint to it which might be a good thing for the right buyer.  I will strip it down however and change the color if a customer is willing to pay for the labor!!



This is the top.  See the Tiger stripes?



Another shot

I jumped right on the other Tiger table.  The first picture is a before shot of the top.  The next few shots are of the progress.

Very nice stripes in this one!!!

Treated with pre-stain

So as you can see, I had a pretty good day on my treasure hunt!  Now the fun must continue as I finish these two and start on the little on below.

Happy Father's Day!!