Finally, no more school...til Monday

This past spring semester seemed to go on forever. Maybe it was because I took 20 hours, or maybe it was because Mrs. McGoo and I stayed so stinking busy. Either way, I'm happy that it's over. I've had a week to relax and it has been nice. Before I get to what's ahead, here is a brief recap of what has been going on...

• Finished the spring semester and now have 60 hours under my belt. Not exactly what I wanted at this stage in time, as I would have much rather had more hours, but I'm exactly halfway finished. I would have had more hours, but I only took 12 and 12 my first two semesters. I think I was more concerned with my retention from 12 years off of school and that made me a little hesitant to commit to a ton of hours. Now that I know what I'm capable of, I'll be taking a lot of hours the rest of the way.
  

• Camping and getting school credit for it? Sounds like the best of both worlds now doesn't it. For the record, I absolutely love being outdoors. Whether it is camping, fishing, or traveling, there is something about being outside in nature that resonates with my soul. Sure, I love being indoors and enjoying my big screen like the next guy, but it always seems like I can never get enough of being outside.
  

• Nashville, Nashville, and Lexington. There was a three week period where Mrs. McGoo and I were out of town every weekend. We went to Nashville twice for weddings and then went to my hometown of Lexington to visit my Mom. I hadn't been in home in over a year, so it was a welcomed experience. That being said, we've discovered that because of our age difference, we're getting a double dose of weddings and babies. Whether they are showers or ceremonies, we've had a lot of them and that will continue into this summer and the fall. I'll say that we both feel honored to be invited to them all, but we've recently discovered that we have to say no some times. If we didn't, we'd have something every weekend and would never get anything accomplished. That being said, Heather is in a wedding in the fall and my sister is getting married in the fall as well. So there is certainly more on the way.

• Whiskey and Horse Racing. As I mentioned, we managed to make it back home for a long weekend and in doing so, I was able to show the Mrs. around a little bit. Each time we go back, I try and show her a little piece of where I'm from, and this visit was no different. This time around I took her to the Woodford Reserve Distillery and to Keeneland Race Track. Anyone that knows me, knows I love whiskey, so this was a special treat. I actually had a satisfy a "tour" for my Tourism class in school, so I got credit for this as well. It was fascinating to see how the whiskey is distilled and bottled. The aging process was really cool and the warehouse they store the barrels in smelled incredible. Mrs. McGoo loved every part except for the sample at the end. Keeneland was also fun, as I had not been there in years. It was a real treat to get to take the wife there. Keeneland, unlike many other horse races, goes on for a full month in April and October. It's like a huge tailgate party in the Grove at Ole Miss meets horse racing. Needless to say, it's a lot of fun and isn't limited to one day.
  

• Crawfish for a Cause - If you have kept up with my or Mrs. McGoo's blogs lately, you'll know that we are going on a mission trip to Ethiopia in June. In order to help raise money for the trip, we decided to have a crawfish boil. My brother and sister in law kicked in a ton of help. They allowed us to use their house for the party and even purchased the crawfish for the eating. All in all it was a blast and we had a great turnout. We raised a lot of money and it ended up helping us meet our goal of $6000 for the trip.

I am heading out of town for the weekend. I'm going to see the Reds play the Cardinals twice at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati on Saturday and Sunday. I grew up loving the Reds but these days, have become disillusioned with baseball. It is nearly impossible for a team that isn't in a large market to have success for more than a year or so. The Reds, like some other small market teams like say, the Royals, don't have the market and resources to compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers of the world. By the time their young players get to a point where they are good, the small market teams farm them off to the large market teams in order to turn a profit and try again. Needless to say, I grew up going to Riverfront Stadium and when I moved away, haven't been since. They tore Riverfront (Cinergy Field) Stadium down and built a new stadium a few years ago.

We'll leave Friday around 4pm and get back Sunday around midnight. Just in time to get up and start summer school. Sounds fun? Yeah...

Life in the fast lane