Must Be Time to Hit the Road Again . . .

I have been home for the past six weeks, which is a bit unusual for me during "show season". Usually, my family is ready for me to get out of town by now, but it has been nice -- got a lot of yardwork done, rebuilt the index on our website, and began my 30th season in the press box announcing high school football.

This past Sunday, my wife and I went to a birthday party for a one-year-old. Ava's grandpa is one of my oldest friends (my parents and his used to double-date back in the 50s -- and the fact that I am referring to him as "Ava's grandpa" is really giving me pause right now), and her mother was at my wedding 27 years ago (sort of -- her mother was eight months' pregnant with her at the time). It was fun -- reminded me a lot of my son Ryan's first birthday 20 years ago. We couldn't decide where to draw the line on the guest list, so we invited everyone, and ended up with about 70 people in our tiny backyard.

I had one last "event" on my schedule before heading out on the road again. This Saturday night, my high school will play Ryan's high school in football for the first time. I have been looking forward to this ever since it was scheduled. I volunteer for both teams -- I have been the announcer at Waynesville since 1980, and they were kind enough to allow me two years of "paternity leave" when Ryan very unexpectedly decided to play football at Dayton Christian his junior and senior years. Let's face it -- every announcer wants to have a microphone in his hand when his son is playing on the field. After Ryan graduated, I went back to Waynesville, but I still run the scoreboard at Dayton Christian home games when Waynesville is out of town. So some of the folks from Waynesville in the visitor stands would have been surprised to see me working in the press box Saturday night . . .

But then Karen had her stroke, and I had to rearrange my priorities. In the grand scheme of things, it's just a football game. Next year they'll play at Waynesville, and I'll get to announce that one. So this weekend, I'll be taking Karen's place at the CarolinaFirst Center in Greenville, South Carolina for Heirloom's Greenville Rubber Stamp & Paper Arts Festival (Saturday 10:00-5:00, Sunday 11:00-4:00). Come out and see us if you're in the area -- you can get more info on the promoter's website at http://www.heirloompro.com/

Next week was supposed to be the end of my summer vacation -- so let me remind you folks in Upstate New York and New England that the StampScrapArtTour folks have picked up the September 19-20 show at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, New York (Saturday 10:00-5:00, Sunday 10:00-3:00 -- more info at http://www.stampscraparttour.com/)

And here's a reason to come out and see our booth, or check out our website if you haven't for a while -- we have taken the plunge and added Core'dinations Color Core Cardstocks! So get out your sanding block and go to http://www.marcopaper.com/coredinations.htm and take a look!

Karen Update -- She continues to improve, but I'm a little concerned about her hearing. Her doctor told her that she was not allowed to go back to work until September 16, but she wandered in the front door yesterday morning and somehow managed to stick around all day!

And An Additional Prayer Request -- Most of the locals know Pat Adams, who comes all the way from Hillsboro to teach classes in our store (and she does amazing stuff). Pat called Karen yesterday -- her husband Roy is in the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The doctors have found masses in a number of places in Roy's body, and they fear it may be cancer. Pat would appreciate your prayers, and I suspect that notes of support would be appreciated as well (steelerpat2@aol.com). Thanks!