Since the weather has started to turn to fall (in the mornings, at least), I've been able to take the kids out walking on the Silver Comet Trail. For those of you not in the know, the Comet is a railroad-cum-paved-trail for non-motorized vehicle use. So there are plenty of joggers, walkers, bikers, bladers, dog-walkers, and yes, strollers out there when the weather is good. I imagine there are some folks with hardened cores out there when the weather is bad too :) At any rate, I like to take the kids out Sunday mornings after breakfast for a good 4 mile power walk, which we get done in about an hour, which means we get home just in time for their morning naps. In the above picture, Maya is riding up front as we cross the bridge over Cooper's Lake Road.

In case you're interested, we usually get on the Comet around Fontaine Road, and head west to mile marker 3.2, which is between Concord and Floyd roads, then do a u-turn and head back. Today we went east to the Comet trail hail, which is technically Mavell road - but it wasn't far enough so we continued on the SCT Connector, which is basically a wide concrete sidewalk that runs from Mavell all the way up to South Cobb Drive. It's not nearly as scenic as it runs nearly roadside and serves to connect a bunch of townhomes and communities to the SCT by way of path. So, perhaps next time we'll stick with Fontain and westward, or maybe park up at Mavell and go west from there, since there are restroom facilities too.

When the Heroes series originally started airing on NBC last year, I was really pumped to watch it. I saw the pilot while visiting at my parents' house and immediately set my DVR to grab the shows as they aired. Then, of course, life happens and I turn around 4 months later and have 10 unwatched episodes, staring back at me everytime I look at my playlist. I think when you're that far behind in something, a mental block occurs and you end up saying to yourself, "there's no way I can watch all of these." And there was, in fact, no way. Same thing when you have all 3 DVDs out from Netflix - I can't watch all of these, so I'll mail them back in.

Well, last month I ordered the Heroes Season 1 DVD set on Amazon before it became available, and I received them this week. If that's not something to say, "watch me, or you just lost $40" then I don't know what will. So I sat, or rather stood, this weekend and watched the first 3 episodes. I'm totally hooked.

Coincidentally, this weekend also marked a watershed event in Steph's school career. Well, maybe not watershed, maybe a rain barrel, or perhaps a 5-gallon bucket out back which has rain and mosquito larvae. Anyway, she's completely caught up on her schoolwork (she started a week and a half behind), and felt good as she got out of Dodge for the weekend. She and some girlfriends went to visit a recently-wed friend up in western North Carolina (I think near Franklin or Dillsboro, she couldn't tell me for certain). So they hauled up out of here, leaving me with the youngins for the 3 day fun fest.

It wasn't that bad, once you get used to the routine - just don't plan on getting much done that you can't finish in 1.5 hour sprints. Friday was a bit of a mess since I was sort-of working while tending to the kids. Saturday wasn't too bad, as Karyn came over around 3pm so I could take off to go see Dave Matthews Band and Allman Brothers Band double billing at the Piedmont Park Conservation Benefit. It was a great show and marked the end of a 30+ year hiatus since the last time ABB played Piedmont Park.

Sunday we got up, had breakfast and went out for a 4-mile jog on the Silver Comet Trail. The weather has finally gotten tolerable for outdoor activities in the morning and it's mostly shady along the stretch out here. The kids really enjoyed it up until the last half-mile, which was pushing close to nap time. And speaking of naptime, that's how I managed to get some vaccuuming, laundry and kitchen cleaning done as well as watching Heroes :)

So back to my main point about Heroes. If anything, watching that show should make one think about the everyday heroes in your own life. No, not those heroes on the 5 o'clock local news shows - those folks are heroes of a different sort - military, national guard, firefighters, police, etc. I'm talking about your every-day heroes who don't get a lot of air time: say for instance your stay-at-home mother of twins who keeps it all together at the home while trying to make her own life better by going back to school. Nobody really mentions those heroes very often, but we'd all be a lot better off if we acknowledged the fact that folks like this are what really make the world a better place to live in. So consider it mentioned now, and take note. Who are the heroes in your own life that you need to pause and recognize? And I mean recognize on a day that is not a "holiday" invented by the greeting-card, florist and chocolate-heart manufacturer's lobby.

Why not make it easy and recognize your personal heroes on days ending in "-y"?

I managed to get a couple of quick videos of Devin and Maya in playtime today - including Devin walking!

It's fun stuff:
Video Numero Uno:



Video Numero Dos:

I just realized I haven't posted anything in about two weeks. Sorry about that - things have been quite busy. Steph has been busy at school (she's doing quite well by the way, and working very hard at it).

The kids are doing swimmingly well. Devin has started walking on a more regular basis. It's still not his primary mode of transportation - yet. Maya is just a walking, running ball of energy who doesn't hardly stop to eat. The dogs are hanging in there too. :) I'll post some pictures soon.

As for myself... I'm doing well. Work has been pretty fun, and I haven't had to travel very much at all. And, we've started gigging again! The return of Hard Livin' was back in full effect this past Saturday, and it was a lot of fun. We have another gig on October 6th, and it will be awesome-r.

My cousins Alan and Valerie completed their move down to Atlanta, and we've been hanging out quite a bit. They are a lot of fun and we are happy to have them around. Speaking of, they are currently on vacation in Asia - probably in Tokyo now, and will be running around around in China soon. They'll be staying around with us while they close on their loft when they return. It'll be a busy week.