Inspiring Excellence

Blogfather in the News

My friends, Randy Elrod and his wife Chris Elrod (a favorite Bob Parks agent), got quite the treatment from The Tennessean this past Friday before they hosted one of the tour of homes sites.

A discussion in the article about what you might find inside the homes on the tour:  "But is she talking about the homes or the people who live in them? Honestly, the answer could be either, especially when talking about La Maison du Reve and its owners, Randy and Chris Elrod.The couple bought their New Orleans-style home at 808 West Main St. eight months ago. The home built in 1986 is not historic; instead, it's deemed an infill home."

Knowing Randy and Chris, I know the jewel is not the house, but the family that resides there!  You can read the entire article and see some more great pics here.

More Graduation Pics

One of the special parts of graduation is the recitations.  Each child shares.  Since most of us never were exposed to much great poetry in our schooling, let me share a couple here:

The Village Blacksmith by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as quoted by Blake George:

Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing-floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice,
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his haul, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling,--rejoicing,--sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night's repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.

The Swing

by Robert Louis Stevenson

as quoted by Logan George

How do you like to go up in a swing?
Up in the air so blue
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside-

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown,
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

A Proud Dad

My 10 year old is a creative....artist, musician, thinker, and author.  I'm sure I enjoy his work a little more than someone that is not his parent, but I thought this one worth sharing.  I found it on the counter stapled to a piece of construction paper with two orange, web-looking feet dangling from the bottom:

A Day with Ocean Feet by Logan George.“Beep, Beep…..Bang” is how it all started.  That noise was created by my alarm going off and me shutting it off.  I put my clothes on and…whoa…I was off.  My feet pulled me down and I couldn’t stop them.  So there I am on the ground being dragged down the stairs where I was finally able to gain control over my feet.  “Don’t you want breakfast, honey?” questioned my mom.  “Toss me a snack bar” I yelled back.  “Caught it,” I said in relief after I was barely able to catch it as my feet yanked me first toward the garage and then over to my mom’s car.   I guess I need to open the door, I thought, as I reached for the handle and opened it.  My feet then pulled me into the driver’s seat.  Then one forced my knee to steer and the other one pushed the pedals.  A deep sigh from me and I was back asleep.  The next thing I knew is that I was in Florida pulling in at the scuba diving reef…already in scuba diving gear!!!!  Then my feet pulled me out of the car and “splash” in the ocean.  “Wow, it’s beautiful down here” I said as I went under.  I stayed under swimming around for about an hour.  Then my feet pulled me out of the water and into the car.  The next thing that I knew is that I was at home pulling into the garage in my normal clothes and it was 8:00 p.m.  My feet pulled me upstairs and it was then that I heard the beeping noise on my feet.  I looked down saw two computer chips attached to my feet.  As I reached down and took them off my feet, my mom walked in and said, “Do you know why the seat in my car is wet?”  The End

Coming soon...Logan's blog. 

Weekend Arts Event

My friend, Julie Fischer is a real estate agent in our company,  Bob Parks Realty.  More importantly, Julie is a potter.  If you need help locating the perfect home in downtown Murfreesboro, TN, she would love to help you buy or sell real estate. 

If you love the arts and want to see some great local artists, check out the 36th Annual TACA Tennessee Craft Fair at Centennial Park this weekend:

36th TACA Tennessee Craft Fair/Nashville - May 4, 5 & 6, 2007
Friday & Saturday, 10am-6pm Sunday, 10am-5pm

Stop by and see Julie's great work!