San Diego Thursday and part of Friday:

Thursday: On the way to lunch - Something for CUMC to aspire to........or not ;)Lunch at the:On the roof.....With a view of the Pacific Ocean.......We had fish tacos and were thy ever yummy.....

Then we, my sister and I, went for a walk on the boardwalk, ooops, make that the concrete:
With a view of the ocean:
A trip to Mesa College, where my sister works!!
Some San Diego traffic:and a view of the Southern California drought..........

And here is where we ate breakfast on Friday with my sister and her son and family from Oregon...... This is La Jolla....
Here we are walking around a park below the restaurant and above the ocean... The water below is called the divers pool. It is a natural pool where the waters are calm and divers and snorkelers and surf kiakers go to view the marine life..... The couple in one of the pictures is my sisters grand son and his girl friend....

Later this evening my sisters family will meet, after dinner, for desert (which starts with "d" and not "c" in case you are worried) and then the adults will head out in search of an adult beverage.... More postings of this excellent adventure will follow.... Keep your head up and your powder dry.... I didn't make that up and it is not pertinent to this blog, but I wanted to say it. Cheers, john

Here I am from San Diego California....My flight was wonderful....slight delay at the TRI, but made the connection and had smooth sailing, (so to speak) all the way here!!! Sandy is at home entertaining her sister who had already planned her yearly visit before the party for my sister was planned....

Was discussing beers with one of my nephews..... likes Fat Tire and I told him about 1556... now he is looking for it... we are all going in search of it on Friday evening!!!! More later...

The weather here is outstanding... They are transiting to fall... toward the end of October they will enter their hot season.... While the seasons are not as noticeable here as they are in East Tennessee, the locals can really tell the difference!!! Proving once more that where you are is where you are and you should get used to it!!!

I will post pics later, when I take some, and keep you well informed... Although my sister and the surrounding area does not have wireless, she has DSL and it is easy to plug-and-play!!!!!

Remember, take good care of yourself and try not to be the next pin cushion!!!! love, john

1554 Enlightened Black Ale

Born of a flood and centuries-old Belgian text, 1554 Enlightened Black Ale uses a light lager yeast strain and dark chocolaty malts to redefine what dark beer can be. In 1997, a Fort Collins flood destroyed the original recipe our researcher, Phil Benstein, found in the library. So Phil and brewmaster, Peter Bouckaert, traveled to Belgium to retrieve this unique style lost to the ages. Their first challenge was deciphering antiquated script and outdated units of measurement, but trial and error (and many months of in-house sampling) culminated in 1554, a highly quaffable dark beer with a moderate body and mouthfeel.

GIANT!!

`The Twist' is top song

of Billboard Hot 100 era

See the whole article at:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080911/ap_en_ot/music_billboard_top_song

What's your top song???????

See the lyrics and get the ringtone at:

http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/heartsinatlantis/thetwist.htm

Have a great day, john

Praise Band concert opens WNL..... Our Praise Band opened the activities for our Wednesday night programs at church... it was a wonderful out door concert and fun was had by many, many people!!! Some pictures will follow.... but first a couple of things I should have blogged about and didn't....

A few weeks ago, I awoke and looked outside and said, Oh MY GOD!!! Sandy said what is wrong? I said you have to come see this!!!!
During the night, our neighbor's (across the street) yard had been rolled..... it was everywhere!!!! Once again I was thankful that the teenage years have passed by at out house!!!

Usually the news is understandable by me, there is war here and a war there, someone shot someone else, stocks are down, and the price of everything is up.... not to hard to understand until the other day, the news was way above my head......
it was delivered to my rooftop instead of my doorstep!!!

Now here are pictures of the Praise Band, the real reason for this blog.....
First the band!!!!



The Sound Guys!!!!!
The crowd..... all ages!!!



Our Pastor Michelle!!!
We truly had a wonderful time.... The band was AWESOME!!! Thank you PRAISE BAND!!

I just read my friends blogs and realized that I have not posted in almost a month - haven't had much to say, but have been very busy, like Michael, getting ready for and starting the new semester..... I don't have much to say today... but I wanted all of you to know that I have been thinking about you and reading your posts.... Thanks, John

Happy news about Matthew....

This is a copy of an e-mail from Matthew's mother:

Great News Today!

The chemo meds that Matthew has been taking in June and July are working! Not only did the meds stop the "growth momentum" of the cancer but there has been some reduction! We are praising God for His blessings and miracle in Matthew's body.

Matthew begins his next round of treatment on Monday, August 4th (5 days worth). Not sure when the next scan will be. We'll figure that out later. Right now, we are just very happy!

Let's bombard the heavens with prayers of thanksgiving to God for His mighty works thus far. We thank you in advance for continuing your precious prayers of healing - as Matthew certainly has a long road to go.

God bless each of you and thank you for sharing this journey with us.
Love, Nancy

I am sure she will post something on her blog.... but what great news this is...

Praise God!!!

Peace, John

65th Birthday

Wish me many more
Health and wealth and
Friends by the score
Cut the cake and lets eat some more
Happy Birthday to me!!!
verse altered from the song Cut the Cake by John McCutcheon

The week of July 12 through 19 Sandy and I orchestrated a gathering of the Quigley clan to celebrate my 65th birthday.... We came together at a place called the Tanasi Lodge on a ridge top overlooking the Wares Valley near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee....
There is the lodge with its 11 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, and two kitchens..... a great place... All of my children and grandchildren were present with the exception of David, Lindsey and Addie....Addie had been born the month earlier and the trip from their home was not possible... Our gathering also included my sister, Margaret, and our friends, Dennis and Marie....
Here we are on Sunday afternoon, the one day we were all together.....
In the front row from left to right are Amy, Catherine, Maddie, Sarah, Libby, John, Katie, Sam, Emily, Margaret, Marie, and me.
In the back row we have Raven, Jason, Sandy, Ian, Mark, John, Jasyn, and Dennis.

Now you know the cast of characters so we can move forward in our unscripted series of events that was certainly one of the happiest weeks of my life!!!!

Sunday was a day of rest since we all traveled on Saturday - some from as far away as CT.

We did many wonderful things during the week.....but what we did not attempt was taking the whole crew out to dinner (supper). Rather, we had each family take responsibility for one evening meal. Sandy and I had Sunday; Marie and Dennis, Monday; Amy and Mark, Tuesday; Emily and Jasyn, Wednesday; Katie and John, Thursday (my birthday feast), and leftovers on Friday!!! Each meal was excellent and without planning, there was something different every night.......

Fast forward to Thursday..... the day!!
That is me in my birthday hat (more on that later) with my grandchildren getting ready to have birthday cake - many layered red velvet cake with wonderful icing, hand made by Katie!!! A great moment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also on my birthday the grandchildren put on a play for me....

the stars take a bow!!We ate dinner......
Overlooking the valley....
It was a wonderful day.......

I really appreciate everything that was done with me and for me during this week. I appreciate everybody taking time from busy schedules, pre-season football practice, moving, and other lifes events to share with me - you all have given me more joy than you can imagine..

Thank you, love, John/Dad/Grandpa/Gramps, etc.............

Okay, you might be getting bored of this topic.... but here is another video of me Zorbing!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE-BCCzT_D4

What is it?

Hello everyone.... there is new news about Matthew at the following site:

http://www.mattfay.blogspot.com/

Please continue to pray for Matt, Blessings to all...john

Hey,

You'll never guess who's wearing a Braves uniform now!

Click here to check it out:
http://mlb.xm.varitalk.com/bobble/index.php?i=dT0xNiZnPW0maT1ib2JibGVfRjZBQjM2NzBENUM2MEM2MjA0MjhEMDI5QzA5N0UyMkQuanBnJml4PTAmaXk9MCZpcj0wJmlzPTEwMCZpdD0xMi44OTA2MjUmYT0yJnc9bXMmaz1GNkFCMzY3MEQ1QzYwQzYyMDQyOEQwMjlDMDk3RTIyRA

Enjoy!

P.S. Turn up the volume!

Make your own with your favorite team at:

http://www.xmbaseball.com/

Have a great day, john

Tale of the speaker stands - part two of two.......

Here is the HD TV and the front speakers!!!!

Hiding behind the TV stand is the sub-woofer
and at the other end of the room are the rear speakers
and there's that Jill dog again!!!!

I am waiting for the last few exams to be turned in and this is all I can think to do....

Take good care of yourselves and have a wonderful holiday weekend.. Cheers, John

speaker stands

When we moved, I wanted to continue to have surround sound with my TV and I did not want to hang speakers from the wall - so I decided to get speaker stands for the little guys - the speaker stands came yesterday and today I put them together and placed them in the room and recalibrated the surround sound!!! here is a picture of the stand and the connection of the speaker to the stand.... there are four front left and right and rear left and right.......

Everybody (Sandy) is happy with this solution....me too!! Yesterday I hung blinds in the laundry room and she liked that too.... I am really racking up the points this week..... next I'll be getting a haircut!!!!

I hope your day was productive too....

Take good care of yourself so you can take good care of another and say a prayer for Matt and his family.... Peace, john

Hello everyone - There is an update about Matt at http://www.mattfay.blogspot.com/

Please continue to pray for Matt and his family, Peace, John