She was a damn good dog.

(note: If you've never loved an animal please don't read any further just go somewhere else -- for the rest of you, I'm pretty sad so just bear with me)
Rosie (bobo) was Cammie and my first purchase together. We got her before we even got married. She went missing on Saturday and our neighbor found her today. She died within 50 yards of our house, and we had called and called for her, and looked all around. We feel pretty sure that someone, (possibly the mean neighbors in the back) poisoned her. She had been fenced in, but when her underground fence wire was cut she didn't seem to notice, and when she did last week, I made an appointment with Cammie to fix it... I guess it wasn't soon enough.

I can't say enough about what a really good dog she was. She didn't beg for food, didn't chew everything in sight. She was great with Kate (who doesn't even know). I'd love to have another like her. I just don't ever see having enough time to spend with her to train her as well, and she'll never be replaced in my heart. We had lots of great memories, her getting "the bird" and hunting with me, playing with Kate. Even the times she got really sick and created gross memories seem fond now.

Rosie, we'll miss you. There won't ever be another like you. Maybe one day Kate will get a granddog of your 20 offspring and raise and train her. You were a faithful partner Bobo, you never let me down. You always admitted when you did wrong. Often before we knew what you did, we knew you did something by that guilty look. You ate Cammie's Nativity scene when we were in Starkville, I'll never forget the laugh we shared after that. I though it was funny, Cammie thought it was a one of a kind heirloom. I'd let you eat anything in the house if you could come back for another 6 years (well anything except Kate). Farewell Bobo, you'll be missed.

29

I was watching a sitcom the other night, and the subject of age came up. One of the characters said "look age is just a number" the other retorted "yeah, a pretty important number!!!"
Important or not, my age is 365 days away from 30, and it does lend itself to some thinking about the past, and that my 20's are almost a thing of the past. I haven't made the million dollars that I was going to make by 30, so I guess I have a pretty busy year lined up too. ;) But I do have the sweetest child, and a great wife and lots to be thankful for. I was out of town (actually still am) last night and Cam sent me photo's of Kate who looked like she was dressed up like Tina Turner. That made my day. I got to have dinner with Cleatus (aka Christy) last night and that was really special. She's been a great little sis as long as I can remember. But since I'm getting so old, I guess my memory could be failing some. I also saw a few old friends while I was traveling around the countryside, and I'm amazed at how fast Starkville is changing. The downtown has really come alive, it was dead when I was there. Parking which every community complains about wasn't great, but it was closer than from the back of the wal-mart parking lot, to sporting goods on aisle 19.
I'm glad to see Starkville coming alive a little more. That's great. College kids seem so young these days, I don't remember them being that young looking in the past.
I also got to see my old Marketing Prof, Dr. Rob Moore, who gave me a pop quiz on his internet marketing class from the day. I was happy to know that I passed with flying colors. It was fun to get to share my success with him as he's encouraged me a ton over the years, and given me sound advice, and even tossed some good opportunities my way.

Enough reminiscing, even a birthday boy has to work to pay the bills!

Live in overdrive

Things are really crazy sometimes, life comes at you pretty fast. It's a mess sometimes, but it's also fun. How is it, the same day my daughter vomits in the bed with me right there, that she also is the funniest and cutest she's ever been later in the same day. She's been hilarious recently, and she is so funny when music plays, she starts dancing, and insisting that mommy and daddy get in on the action too.

Work. Wow, I've never had more fun working in my life. Cammie has been so helpful working with me in the business, we've had some personnel issues and moving / changing bookkeepers, banks and more has made it a little more messy to do business. But it has been great. I've been doing business coaching, and we've been working on some great businesses, and great projects that will change businesses direction for the better. I'm excited about several projects that are underway, and I'll post something about some of that news when it gets finalized.

Life. This week has been one of the best weather weeks that I can remember. It has been incredible here on the coast. Perfect shorts / jeans whichever you choose wear. It has been beautiful at night, the moon tonight looked incredible as I took dinner off the grill. I haven't had enough time to spend with my friends, but I'm hoping as hunting season nears, to try and remedy that situation a little better. I talked to my friend Ryan last night, and he told me he killed a doe, it made me somewhat jealous. I can't wait to hunt, and maybe I'll get back out to Texas soon. I hope that several ducks meet their maker sometime this winter in a duck hole that I can visit. (any offers delta readers?)

It's been a good week to reflect, we have to take Kate to a ENT tomorrow, and along with that, taxes are due... Yuck. Not one of my favorite subjects, but we'll get it taken care of. Fun times on the coast. Come visit, it's beautiful.

Some Beach - Somewhere

Thanks JBC for taking this great shot... Me in a day at the office!

Week in review

So I haven't blogged much recently, some of you know I've been busy, others of you may just think I've been lazy, it's been a combination of both, so much to tell, but I'll try and hit the high points. I've been working a lot -- which might come as no surprise to many of you. I've taken a position as a Business Adviser / Marketing Coach / Analyst with Halo Business Advisors in Kosciusko, MS. No, I haven't moved, we just travel from time to time. (weekly often). I've been working on some exciting projects, including Taste Of Gourmet, in Indianola, MS and their re-branding and packaging project. My good friend Jonathan Shull from Propeller in Jackson, has been doing the design with Kyle, and I have to post this logo -- because it's so incredible. We've been working like crazy to get their marketing ramped up, and their new product line pricing and labeling ready to go, along with a new catalog and more...including the blog with the most personality on the internet. Evelyn's Blog. (www.evelynsblog.com)
She's Mississippi's own Paula Deen -- A woman that loves good food and well, I also found out last week that we share a similar taste in beverages.

We've also been cranking out some web site designs. One of my favorite designs ever is the Mockingbird Cafe in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. (oh we did the city site too this summer).
Kate just turned two, and she's still daddy's walkin' talkin' dream. She says so many words, and can say "hello" and "mommy" and "Dad" which is what i'll likely hear in the morning before our weekly pancake breakfast. Mumsy is in town tonight, and we'll get up and cook some breakfast and have a big time with KT in the morning. She loves her mornings, and we always laugh and play and sometimes I take her to "skool" where she loves playing with her friends. She is such a ham, she laughs and talks and tells even complete strangers "hello" and "goodbye." She's not afraid of anything, she loves "Elbow" her favorite Sesame street character (elmo). She loves to go to the beach, and she loves "bobo" her chocolate lab.
Cammie has had some bouts with medical stuff, but she's doing good. She's my new bookkeeper and husslah, at the company. She keeps me on track and has been a great helper. Her company stuff continues on. She's now doing "Dwell Well" and if you don't know how to do that, it's probably time you learn a little about organization and order in your life. Growing up the middle of 7 kids, I didn't ever have anything organized in my life, (except my baseball cards) but she's got me hanging up towels, and having my sock drawer organized (you can fit more in there that way). She's a great mom to Kate, and she's been doing a great job teaching her about life, I'm so proud of her, and all her hard work. She still is the Scheduling Coordinator at Lagniappe Church here in the Bay. She works very hard, and sometimes get a chance to come on work trips with me as well. I'm very proud of all that she's been able to do in the last few months. We've been working on this thing called 'marriage' and it's been a challenge. Two imperfect people living together, what could be easier right? We've learned a lot about communication, and I've learned about how little I know about communicating. (I guess I've gotten it honestly)

It's been a great few months of learning, and growing, and Kate has been a real trooper, been through some sickness recently, and I think she's getting better now. She had a hacking cough but she's been on some pretty strong meds, and she's doing great now.

I'm headed to Louisiana next week for the Destination Downtown conference in Nachodics (ok I can't spell it without googleing it). They are the oldest settlement in Louisiana and home of the movie "Steel Magnolias." Without going in to the whole story, we almost stayed in the house where it was filmed, but we'll be staying down the road. $200 bucks cheaper, speaks volumes. Thanks Cam, for putting up with me, and going on the trip. I'm looking forward to seeing all the folks from the Mississippi Main Street Association. It should be a good time to learn about some of the newest information about downtown revitalization, and more.