Last weekend, we had a ball at the Claude Akins scramble. Check out the pics! Our Saturday team included Ed, Mac, Dad, Uncle Bill, and Jeff & Michael Tillett. We missed Sam, who was unable to attend because of Evansville golf practice. However, Mac did a wonderful job in his place and earned a permanent place on the team. Speaking of Sam, his picture and bio are available on the Evansville Golf web site. We are proud of you, Sammy! In other news, I hope everyone enjoyed 09/09/09! At BMS, we "dressed to the nines." This coming week is Spirit Week at BMS, so I'm excited to see more creativity from my students. But first, I have a gig at the Ross Country Jamboree tonight, and Ed and I are attending the Lilly Endowment - Teacher Creativity dinner tomorrow in Nashville where I will report on the success of the marathon and our trip to Kona. I hope I can do it without crying.

Happy Labor Day weekend! Though we've had some cool days this week, it looks like we're going to have temps in the mid-80°s for the Claude Akins Tournament. Last weekend, I took some pics of Abbi being a shade-seeker. Now I know why this time of year is called "The Dog Days of Summer."

JoKai CobbWebs is proud to unveil a brand new site, PeteDiPrimio.com! Pete is an award winning author of several books and articles. Check out his site to read some of his excellent work. After that, get outside and enjoy some of this nice cool, sunny weather!

The first week of school was a lot of work, but a lot of fun, too. I have 108 new students, and getting to know them has been delightful. Many of them tell me they've already been enjoying some of the fun links at my classroom web site. This week was also Sam's week to leave us and move into his dorm at the University of Evansville. While I'm very happy for him and thrilled with all the opportunities on the horizon for him, I am incredibly sad not to have him in the house. He'll be home periodically, though, and we can always Skype! This weekend was Lisa's debut at the Corydon Jamboree. She did a fabulous job, and we all had such fun watching her. I made a slideshow of pics from the night to share the fun! Also, I posted another video from Bardstown. This one is of me singing a song called "The Climb." About enjoying one's journey, it was especially relevant for me with my recent training for and running of the Kona Marathon.

It's been a "gig-filled" couple of weeks! Last weekend, I enjoyed performing at the Little Nashville Opry on Friday night, and at the Ross Country Jamboree on Saturday night. Lisa joined me at RCJ, and we had a ball. The audience couldn't stop talking about her! (She'll be in Corydon next Saturday, and back in Scottsburg the following Saturday.) Last night, Mom and I drove to Bardstown, Kentucky, for the Harold Hutchins Show. I always love performing there, but don't get to do so often due to the distance. Check out the video Mom took of "The Auctioneer" to see how great the band is. Mom and I had fun on our little roadtrip, even when she tried to take us to Tennessee, and even when we were stuck in deadlocked traffic on I65. Tonight, I'll be performing at the Corydon Jamboree. That will conclude my stretch of double-gig weekends. Now, I get three weekends of singing-vacation, just in time for the start of school! School begins on Monday morning, and I've never been so ready. I think the Hawaii trip and marathon did the trick when it came to rejuvenating me. I can't wait to share my experiences with my new students.

We've been having some unusual weather in the Midwest this summer. Indiana experienced its coldest July on record, with an average temperature of about 70°. It was also an unusually wet July; the grass here is still green! I'm thankful for the mild temperatures and low humidity, which make for nice outdoor days. We had a huge storm on Tuesday that produced some of the scariest clouds I've ever seen. Luckily, I was able to snap a few pictures before the storm. Our basement stayed dry, which was a small miracle. In other news, I have gigs at the Little Nashville Opry and the Ross Country Jamboree this weekend. Next weekend, I'll be at the Corydon Jamboree. Y'all come!

Happy August! Monday morning, while working on preparing my classroom for the new school year, I fell off a ladder onto my face. I broke my right index finger and banged up my face and thigh. Because I was singing the Anthem at Victory Field that night, I was left with the task of attempting to cover a swollen purple face. When make-up didn't work well, I opted for a gigantic pair of sunglasses. You can check out the pics in this slideshow. Today, the swelling is significantly reduced. It doesn't hurt as badly as it looks, luckily!

Last weekend was one of the busiest weekends we've enjoyed in Bedford in a long time. We had the City Tournament; our Forever Gold show, Listen to the Music; the Limestone 5K; and a boat party at Lake Monroe. Both Ed and Sam played in the City Tournament, and Mac caddied for Sam. Both Ed and Sam posted their best scores to date in a City Tournament. We also had a great time with the show, which was nearly sold out both nights. I posted some pictures both at ForeverGold.us and on the JoKai.net Slideshows page. I also have an account of the Limestone 5K with pictures and stats available at Gotta Run.... I didn't run my best race, but I still had a great time on a cool summer day and earned third place in my division. Finally, the Forever Gold gang had an awesome boat party hosted by Captain Jay aboard his vessel, Backstage Pass. Ed and I even tried some tubing! Be sure to check out the party pics to see which one of us wiped out!

Since we've been home from Hawaii, we've had lots of exciting, good times! Our return signaled the coming of my favorite holiday, Independence Day. Though it was a rainy day, we still had a blast, and enjoyed the postponed fireworks on July 5. I made a slideshow in the holiday tab on my slideshows page. I've also enjoyed singing at a couple gigs with the Ross Country Jamboree folks, and meeting with friends and family to catch up on what I missed while I was gone. Our most exciting news, however, is that Sam is tied for the lead in the Men's City Tournament at Otis Park! We are so proud of him. He shot a 3-under 69 in the first round and a 1-under 71 in the second round. His final two rounds are tomorrow and Sunday. In addition to that, Ed and I have a Forever Gold show called Listen to the Music performing at LTB tonight and tomorrow. Also, I'm running the Limestone 5K tomorrow morning. Busy weekend!

Happy 85th Birthday, Meem! Finishing the Kona Marathon was the biggest accomplishment of my life so far. The first few miles were dark or shaded due to a 5:45 A.M. sunrise and a mountain in the way. I stuck to my 9 min. run / 3 min. walk plan for nine miles. After that, I noticed that my hips weren't feeling strong. In order to be able to finish, I started walking more. I walked a lot more than I had originally planned to walk, but I FINISHED, and that's what's important! The heat wasn't as bothersome as you might imagine, and the gradual hills were almost unnoticeable. There was truly never a moment that I was miserable. If I was hurting, I walked and looked at the beautiful scenery around me. The best part of the marathon was my prayer band. I wore a band that listed a person's or group's name for each mile. Therefore, on each mile, I had a friend on which to focus. It made the miles go quickly and gave me an almost spiritual journey through my great family and friends. When I finished, I was very emotional. I was thinking of all the great people in my life, and of how far I've come since I was diagnosed with Crohn's. It was an unforgettable day. I plan to write a more detailed account of the marathon, and will link it here when I do. For now, you can check out marathon pictures in the Kona album, and race stats are at Gotta Run...

Many times, Ed and I chose not to insert ourselves into our photos, simply because the Hawaiian scenery was so mesmerizing. However, we jumped into the frame a few times. I made a little album of these pics. My favorite shot in the album is of us together in the active lava zone. The entire time we were watching the lava, I was having trouble believing that I was actually there, experiencing it live. It's a place unlike any other in the world. I think the composition of the lava photo really grasps the terrain of that area; in it, you can see 'a'a lava, pahoehoe lava, active lava, burned brush, etc. I wish all of my students could've seen that area. It was eerily gorgeous. My other favorite photo is of me with the stone Manatee. He was my little mile-marking friend.

While in Hawaii, Ed and I were lucky enough to be able to take a helicopter ride around the Big Island. The Big Island has 11 of the 13 world climate zones in its 4,028 mi². We flew between the two biggest volcanoes, saw active lava flows, and flew through valleys dotted with giant waterfalls. However, the best part of the tour was when the helicopter landed in an active lava zone. A guy who is the last human living in that area, Jack Thompson, took us on a tour. We saw some truly rare and strangely beautiful sites. His home sits in the former "Royal Gardens" subdivision, an area that's been continually incinerated with lava from Kilauea since the 1980s. However, Jack's house still stands, leading the natives to believe that he lives on the sacred land of Madame Pele, the Fire Goddess. Check out the photos.

Today's album features the natural beauty of Kona, Hawaii. The many climate zones of the Big Island create lots of great photo opportunities. We were able to see mountains, volcanoes, lava, palm trees, the Pacific Ocean, plant life, interesting people, and more—all right in Kailua-Kona. Makalei Golf Club provided some stunning views, as well. It is situated at 3,000 ft. on the Hualalai Volcano, overlooking the ocean. The plant life and wildlife there are amazing. It's almost like being on a safari in your golf cart! Ali'i Drive, the A1A of Kona, also provided some dazzling views with the blue, blue Pacific to the west and historic buildings to the east. However, my favorite photos are those of the spectacular sunsets. The sunset was my favorite event in West Hawaii. Enjoy the views!

Happy 07-08-09! To make up for my JoKai.net negligence while we were in Hawaii, I thought I would post one Hawaiian Photo Album a day for the next five days. That way, I can share all my photos without bombarding folks with them all at once. Today’s album is "Interesting Animals" and documents some of the beautiful creatures we saw in Hawaii. At the Makalei Golf Club, peacocks roamed the fairways. I was able to get lots of great pics of their vibrant colors. On one of our last days in Hawaii, Ed and I took a submarine tour, where we photographed tons of fishies. They were spectacular! We even saw two sunken ships. Finally, my favorite animals on the island were the sea turtles, or Honu. I spent hours watching them swim in Kona’s tide pools. Enjoy our Interesting Animals album! In other news, on July 17 and 18, Forever Gold will be playing two shows at the Little Theatre of Bedford. Email me if you'd like tickets. They're going fast!

Hawaii. Was. AWESOME! I apologize for not updating JoKai.net in well over two weeks, but the travel time didn't allow for much computer time. I chose to update put my running trip updates on Facebook because it was a lot quicker to do so. Now, I have so much to share with you! We took over 800 pics and shot tons of videos. I'll be gradually filling a page with our Hawaiian memories. Today, I added all 10 videos of the trip that I have edited. They show the tides, the sunset, the waves, the lava, a luau, a helicopter tour, a submarine tour, and more! As the week progresses, I will add our still pics, and shots of the marathon. By the way, the marathon was a life-changing event for me. I can't wait to share the details of my experience. I have to write a narrative of the marathon to satisfy the requirements of my fellowship. I'll post that narrative here when it's complete! For now, enjoy those videos! In web site news, I archived the Spring 2009 What's Up posts, and there is a link to them at the bottom of this page. Happy 07-08-09 tomorrow!