Boone has this toy duck named Winston.

Correction, Boone HAD this toy duck named Winston.

We got him a week ago. For the first few days Boone carried Winston around in his mouth like a security blanket. Wherever Boone went, he had Winston in his mouth. Wherever Boone laid to rest, there was Winston resting, too. The duck even had a quacker so that every few minutes we would hear "quack, quack!!" as Boone was squeezing the toy in his mouth. Then we came home from the doctor yesterday morning to find that Boone had been playing a little bit rough with Winston. His poor little body had been ripped apart, and his insides (cotton, go figure) were strewn all about the living room. Boone even did the service of dismembering the quacker from Winston's throat - he had set it nicely next to the shreds of fabric that used to be Winston's left wing. Poor, poor Winston.

Another $10 racked up on Boone's bill of destructive behavior.

How do you spell anniversary? This year it's F - O - X.

July 12 will mark our wedding anniversary, and to celebrate we're going to see the Phantom of the Opera at the Fox in Atlanta this weekend! They're advertising it as the last tour. Whether that's true or not, it was enough to sell me on the idea. I enjoy a good show, and Sarah loves Broadway, so this should be special. So glad I married that girl! 2 years and counting!

It's difficult to grow things when you live in the woods. That's ironic considering all the natural growth springing up around us. There is one spot around our house that you would say receives "adequate" sunlight. That spot is our back porch. More specifically, that spot is the back, left corner of our porch. So last winter we bought a few pots, some soil, and several packages of seeds. After the first green sprouts broke through, we were optimistic about the garden we had created. What we've come to learn, however, is that you may do everything by the book and your work will yield results of varying success. The first picture here is a shot of our beautiful cucumber plants. They flowered in early June and are producing small cucumbers.





These are our tomato plants. No chance they'll produce tomatoes this year, and in all likelihood they will die before we ever have a plot sufficient enough for them to produce fruit. Nonetheless they make for a nice decorative piece on the deck.








This is our spinach crop.

Yeah, it sucks.

Can't wait for that spinach salad we'll be eating in 2012 . . . maybe.






I suppose that means we're 1 for 3. That's not bad if we're talking batting average. We'll look to improve on our results next year. For the time being, get excited about cucumber salad!!!

We spent the holiday weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio with my family. No Klayman reunion would be complete without food, golf, ping-pong, Mafia (game), fireworks, and lots and lots of music. Here are the pics.



Sarah & my mom in their golf cart.




Our host & hostess.




The Jazz Ensemble graced the evenings from the foyer.



My brother tearing up the guitar for some James Brown.



Sarah playing cornhole.

They think they're in control. They think you need them to watch the road for you; that it's their responsibility to alert you of any danger. I'm talking about the back-seat driver. We all deal with them at one time or another. Mine just happens to be a dog. Meet Boone, my back-seat copilot.




On our way to Ohio for the 4th!