In the spirit of full disclosure I have a history knowing/liking one of the owners of Backyard Pizza and I am friends with the family of the other owner.  On the flip side the guy running Pub and Oven (the place next door to Backyard) has done somethings before the pizza business that have really impressed me and I respect him.

Ok, with that out of the way I'm going to compare and contrast the two joints.  It's enivitable considering they are literally right next door, both are pizza places, and both seem to be focusing on the idea of pizza and beer.  This won't be a comprehensive comparison becuase I have only had one pizza at the Pub and Oven and I've not seen their beer selection yet.

Atmosphere

Backyard Pizza is a dark place with shoddy air conditioning.  The furniture, wall decorations, and lighting are all pretty cool and the whole vibe, minus the air conditioning, is pretty cool.  I especially dig the lights which are pretty creative.  I also like that they feature local art on their walls (and that the art is for sale).  The use of birch trees to segment the space is something I particularly like.  Finally the bar is really cool looking and it is easy to see the beer taps from almost any seat in the main dining area.  Along with the bad air conditioning the smoke from the oven is a real deterrant as I don't really like smelling of smoke when I leave the place.

Pub and Oven on the flip side is very wide open bright and airy.  It has a very polished and professional feel but is lacking the intamcy of Backyard Pizza.  The colors are all bright without being garish.  Even though the space is very open and tall it avoids feeling like you are in the middle of a cafeteria because of the colors, the relatively small size of the actual room, and the pillars that sprout around the dining area.  The air conditioner is working perfectly and there is no smokiness to the restaurant.  I definitely prefer the ambiance of Backyard but mostly because it is different without being tacky.

Pizza

This is where it's really at - I mean, what's a comparision without taking about their respective pizzas.  So far, based on my limited exposure to Pub and Oven, I vastly prefer the pizza I've had at Backyard.

I've had a variety of Pizza's at backyard.  I've had the jamacian jerk chicken, the memphis bbq, the sunspot, the pepperoni, and the tuscany.  They were all pretty good pizza's and I especially liked the sunspot.  Here is a pdf of their menu so you can get a description of each of the pizza's I've mentioned.  The crust is thin but not quite NY thin and the flavor balances on each pizza has been pretty darn spot on.  Backyard isn't my favorite pizza ever but it certainly gives Huntington a step in the right direction towards tasty pizza (La Famigla is also pretty good).

At the Pub and Oven I've just had their Chipotle Chicken pizza and, quite frankly, it was a let down.  As I told the manager (owner?) today I thought it would be better with red onions instead of white, it could use a little less garlic (or at least have the garlic spread out more and not just clumps of cloves), and it could probably use a tangier sauce.  The chicken itself was mostly flavorless and the white onions were mostly just gooey.  The only really prominent flavor on the pizza was the garlic.

My friend John had the Hawaiin pizza (applewood smoked bacon and pinapple) and he said it was very good.  One other patron also raved about the Hawaiian while another friend had the Italian Mafia and said it was nothing he couldn't have just made at home.  

Service

Service at both is decent.  I think they will both be OK though I think that Pub and Oven gets the nod here; not because their service is better but becasue they aren't having to fight with thier point of sale (POS) system.  Backyard is using some kind of iPhone/iPad dongle and it just hasn't been consistently reliable.  Pub and Oven is using a standard POS terminal and they had no problem processing our order. 

Both are a little slow - but it's hard to complain about that considering they are making a pizza fresh to order for you and they are both very new.  I imagine they will both improve at their speed in the future.

Price

Well, Backyard wins this hands down only becuase they have more variety of ways to get their pizza at various price points.  Every pizza at Pub and Oven could only be ordered in either a 10" or 16" size and the prices were typically about $12 for the ten inch and $22 for the 16 inch.  Basically, after a soda and a 10" pizza I had a $15 lunch tab.  That's tough to justify.

Backyard also has fairly expensive pizza and their large is only a 14".  However, they also sell some pizza's by the slice at $2.50/slice which means you can get a decent lunch of two slices and a soda for about $7.50.  That's half the price.  I only ate half of my pizza at Pub and Oven (took the other half with me) but I only wanted half a pizza worth (10").  I don't really have a lot of use for half a pizza that I didn't particularly like. 

Summary

At the moment I am definitely a bigger fan of Backyard pizza.  I do wish they would fix their AC and maybe install some better ventilation so I don't end up smelling like smoke after a meal.  But for both lunch and dinner I like their pizza, and their serving sizes, better.  

I'll go back to Pub and Oven and try a different pizza (I wish they had their menu online) but I'll probably do so for dinner where I can share a pizza becuase I can't afford to eat there for lunch on even an occassional basis. 

Shannon, my eldest daughter, tried out for "The Little Mermaind Jr." with First Stage Theatre Company.  It is the first play/musical thing she has ever auditioned for and she got a part.

80 kids tried out and only 50 or so got parts so it wasn't a total lock to get one.  It is a small part, she is one of many seagulls, but I'm still stoked for her.  She has never acted before so I'm glad it's a small part so she can get her feet wet and get a feel for how things work and see if she really likes it.

If she does then this will be a great beginning for her ands he can learn and grow as a singer and actor.  I'm proud of her for even trying out in the first place.  I've always wanted to be in a play but I've never tried out.  Earlier this year, when she told me she was going to try out, she inspired me to find something to try for so we shall see.  She had thought there was a group forming called "Second Stage" which is sort of like first stage but for adults but it sounds like it is for adult alumni of First Stage so I'll have to find something else. 

Anyway, I'm really happy for her and I can't wait to see the show. I'm not sure when the show will be performed but I'll update folks with that info when I have it.

Most of the people who read my blog, I think, aren't as technically geeky as I am.  This blog post is mostly directed to those of you who don't think about computers, or online security at all (or not much), but who still use the internet for a lot of stuff - like online bill paying and email. 

This post is about something called "Two Factor Authentication." Now, before your eyes glaze over and you just close the browser window in dismay becuase I'm getting all geeky please give me a minute of your time.  This really is important and it could save you a lot of grief in the future.

Take a second and think about the password you use on your email account.  How secure do you think it is?  Do you use it on any other account anywhere?  I'll bet good money that your password isn't as secure as you think it is and, more than likely, you've used it somewhere else at some point in the past.  Maybe even on some site you don't even remember signing up for.  That, my friends, is a recipie for disaster.

If you forget your password to any other site how do you normally recover it?  Normally you cick on a link and enter your email address and that site sends you a new password or a link to reset your password with.  Your bank probably does something along the lines of the second option.  So, really, the only password anyone ever needs of yours, in order to access ALL of your online identy including your bank account is your email password.

That's a single point of failure and that's bad - really, really bad.

Yeah, I'm fear mongering.  But that's ok because this is really important.  You need to make sure your email account is as secure as possible becuase your email account is, for all intents and purposes, YOU on the internet.  This is where "Two Factor Authentication" comes into play.  Basically, two factor authentication means that when you login to your email address you provide two secret valuesinstead of just one (your password).  The first factor of two factor authentication is your password and the second is a special value or code that is generated on the fly right when you go to login.

There are a couple ways this second value can be generated.  You might have an app on your smart phone (google authenticator for example) or you might get the code sent to you, on demand, via text message, or you might have a special little key fob that generates a new code every minute that you carry around with you.  I'm going to talk about how you use two factor authentication with a Google account today - but I know Microsoft offers two factor authentication (hotmail).  I don't know if Yahoo does but, if they don't, you should change email providers to one that does today.  Seriously, go do it right now becuase this really is the most important thing you might do online.  Ever.

Because the second value is sent to you via your phone the odds are good that nobody else (except perhaps a family member) will be able to hijack your account since other, more malicious hackers, won't have access to both your password and your phone.

Okay, from here on out I'll be discussing the particulars of setting up two factor (or two-step) authentication on Google.  All you need is a google account and a phone number (it doesn't have to be able to accept text messages).

1. Go to the googe 2-step verification settings page
2. Sign in!
3. From the drop-down menu, select the country where your phone is registered, and enter your phone number in the box.
4. Choose whether you’d like to receive your codes by text or by voice call. You can always change this later.
5. Enter your phone number, then click Send verification code to receive a code on your phone. We recommend you use a mobile phone number as opposed to a landline or Google Voice number.
6. Enter the code from the text or voice message into the box, then click Verify.
7. Next you’ll be asked whether you want to remember the computer you are using. If you check the box, you won’t need to enter a code to sign on with this computer for the next 30 days. Don’t check this box if you are using a public computer or a device that you don’t regularly use to sign in.
8. Click Turn on 2-step verification to finish the process! You’ll be automatically taken to your account settings page

At this point you can just stop.  You've set it up and you can start using 2-step verification on your google account.  However, there are a couple other things I've done to help make sure I can login to my account even if I don't have access to my cell phone (the number I used).

1. Install the Google Authenticator App it exists for Android, iPhone, iPad, and Blackbery devices.
2. Print out the small ist of one time use codes that are on the 2-step verification settings page and put them in your purse or wallet.  Scratch them out after you use them - but only use them if you have no other way to get a code on the fly from Google.
3. Add some backup phones if possible.

Please note that if you use Google services with other applications like Outlook that don't support 2-step verification you can generate single use "application-specific passwords" that you never have to remember but which will let your client login and start working with Googles service.

If you have any questions or you run into problems setting up the service just leave a comment or refer to the Google Help on the subject.

Yesterday I was able to find a custom ROM for Android 4.1.1 aka "Jelly Bean" so I upgraded my phone.  Along with Jelly Bean you get Google Now which is sort of like Googles answer to Apple's Siri virtual assistent.  In reality Google Now seems like it is a bit more than just "voice commands" and today I encountered one of those extended features.

Before I describe what happened it is important to note that this feature only works if you have search history turned on within google.  Some people have privacy concerns with using search history so your milage with Google Now may vary.  I had not had search history turned on until yesterday so my Google Now experience is limited more than it might be for others who've had search history turned on for a long time.

Today I was talking to some friends, via facebook about Cabelas and Bass stores (these are mega-sized hunting/fishing/camping stores).  A new Cabelas opened not far from where I live recently and is now in direct competition with a Gander Mountain store that has been in the same shopping area for a while.  I was curious about if Gander Mountain was also a national chain so I did a google search for "Gander Mountain" on my desktop.

After the search was completed I noticed a new notification on my phone - Google Now was providing me with directions from my current location to Gander Mountain as well as traffic conditions along the way.  While I'm not trying to get to Gander Mountain the "card" that Google Now showed me was pretty neat and would be really useful if I were trying to get to the store.

Here is a screenshot of the Google Now Card:

I've been using Runkeeper for a while now.  I'm not terribly active but it's kind of neat keeping track of my rare spurts of exercise.  I've always been pretty happy with the android app and never really thought I'd need or want to switch to a competitor.

However, recently, I've been using a custom version of Android on my phone (Cyanogenmod 9) and runkeeper has stopped working properly.  Typically, as I submit my "workout" the app crashes and the workout isn't submitted.  Or, even worse, the workout is recorded as 0 minuts and 0 miles travelled.  Sometimes, if I relaunch the app, and go back to that workout it fixes itself and the workout is submitted but not always.  It's really getting annoying.  I suspect the problem is in my custom Android and not runkeeper but it's still causing me some minor grief.

Thus, yesterday I decided to give endomondo a try.  In both cases I'm using the free version.  I actually installed endomondo a few weeks ago but after starting it up once I didn't bother trying to use it.  I think there might have been a welcome screen or something that didn't seem immediately intuititive so I just forgot about it. However, when I launched the app yesterday the screen was very easy to understand with the exception of a small circle with the number 10 in it that made sense as soon as I clicked on it - it starts a countdown before the app starts monitoring my workout.  That is a cool feature and runkeeper should copy it.  The rush to get started as soon as I hit go always bothered me in runkeeper.

The problem I have with endomondo, and I again I bet this is related to my custom version of Android, is that it too crashes all the time.  Endomondo crashes whenever I go to the main workout screen.  Thus, if I change activity type it crashes.  If I minimize the app and then go back to it it crashes.  If I switch to answer a phone call and then end the call and return to the app it crashes.  If someone calls me and I answer it, you guessed it, it crashes.   It's very annoying.  Thus, I keep getting these little abbreviated workouts recorded.  It's not a big deal but it is frustrating.

At the moment I think I'm going to stick with endomondo - I like the fact that it at least saves my workouts even if they are all broken up into smaller segments due to the crashes; at least I'm not losing data (so long as I remember to restart the app after a crash).  I also really like the delayed start button, honestly, if both apps worked I'd probably switch to endomondo just for that feature.

I also like the look of the endomodno app a little better and I really prefer it's post workout report screen over the runkeeper equivalent.  Finally, I also prefer the workout history reports in the free endomondo website over the runkeeper equivalents.

So far my endomondo facebook integration which would share my workouts on facebook hasn't worked - but I don't really care.  I'm not sure if anyone wants to see that stuff anyway.

If you are using endomondo or runkeeper I suggest you give the other a try and see which you like. They both track the same basic stuff but in a significantly different way that you might find you prefer the competitors approach over your current choice.

Over the course of the past four years we have had the opportunity to witness the most savy sneaky political move in memory; the problem is nobody seems to realize it has happened so it isn't getting the attention it deserves. The Republican leadership were just handed the individual mandate, on a platter, and Obama will get to be their goat when everyone realizes they've been duped. Plus, the Republicans already have an excellent plank in their platform to help them take over congress and the executive branch in the 2012 election. President Obama has been snookered by people with far more political savy.
Up until 2008, when Obama took office, the Republican party had fought to get an individual mandate included in any health care reform package. Romney used it in Massachusettes, not because he is a great politician, but becuase he was toeing the party line. At the same time democrats, and notably, Barack Obama were opposed to the mandate he was even famously quoted as saying, "...if a mandate was the solution, we can try that to solve homelessness by mandating everybody to buy a house." However, during the same time period Obama was talking about hope and change and bipartisan cooperation. It was then that the Republican's began to formulate their plan for getting exactly what they wanted should McCain lose as he eventually did.
Everyone knew that health care reform was the primary plank in Obama's platform and he wanted to provide a government option. The last thing he wanted was an individual mandate but it quickly became apparant that if Obama didn't conceed the mandate then there would be no chance that any of the bill would become reality. So, Obama compromised and that's when he signed the dotted line to be the scapegoat for what's going to happen whent he Republican's have control.
Currently, the GOP insists that the first thing they will do when they take over is to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) aka Obamacare. They are lying. They definitely want to repeal big chunks of it but the individual mandate is here to stay. The majority of Democrats who actually like the mandate are either playing along with the Republicans are they are just clueless to how the game is going to play out. The ACA will be dismantled but none of the provisions removed are going to benefit normal American citizens - they will, however, benefit insurance companies, other coorporations, the exceptionally wealthy that have substantial stock in those companies, and the party members currently serving in congress. Here's how it will go down.

1. The ACA states that families that make between 133 and 400% of the poverty line will get a sliding scale tax credit to help them pay for their insurance. This will most likely be repealed under the guise of a cost cutting measure. These families will still have to buy insurance, under the mandate, but they won't get any help from the government.
2. Families making less than 400% of the poverty line will have capped premiums so that they won't have to pay more than x% of their income. Here is a calculator to help you figure out how much you can be expected to pay as a maximum. Don't bother using it because this limitation will undoubtedly be one of the first parts of the law that is repealed. Insurance premiums are going to skyrocket and we will be left with a huge bill.
3. When the individual mandate is active those who can afford insurance (meaning premiums are no more than 8% of annual income) but they refuse to buy it they will have to pay a penalty/tax of $695 or 2.5% whichever is higher. This won't be repealed but it will be increased. I imagine it will go to closer to $2500 or 8% whichever is higher. By making it more expensive to pay the fines than it is to buy insurance they will get more people into the insurance market.
4. There are tax credits for small businesses up to those that have 50 employees. This will expand to "small" businesses with up to 500 employees as that is the traditional governmental definition of a small business.
5. Insurance companies can't discriminate on pre-existing conditions. I think this one will stay intact.
6. Insurance companies can discriminate on age up to a 3-1 ratio. I imagine this is going to go up to a 10-1 ratio.
7. Starting in 2018 the law imposes a 35% tax, on employer provided health care plans that exceed $10,200 for individual coverage or $27,500 for family coverage. Supposedly this will get companies to shop around and thus force insurance companies to reduce premiums. This will be repealed in its entirety.
8. The law, already in place, requires insurance companies to spend between 80-85 percent of premiums on actual medical care as opposed to overhead. They have to pay a rebate to the customers if they spend too much on overhead. This year insurance companies are expected to pay out $1.1 Billion - this will be repealed; probably before anything else on the list.

The Republican leadership will explain that this is all cost savings for the public. They will say they offset any cost gains by removing the tax breaks and closing loopholes. The fact that the tax breaks being removed are against the individuals who most need them will be missed by the republican party as a whole becuase, while the Republican's have been setting Obama up as a goat they've also been working a masterful plan of propoganda that has been incredibly effective.
Lifelong republicans, for the most part, at this point in time don't trust the "liberal media." However, they do trust the fair and balanced reporting of Fox News and the gospel as doled out by various Talk Radio personalities. Our nation as a whole is incredibly uninformed but the republican party is even more so. That's why over 50% still wonder about Obama's birth certificate or still believe that there were Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. The republican propoganda machine is amazing in its ability to deliver a consistent message that is believed, in it's entirety, by those who trust it as their sole source of news coverage. Thus, when the republican party leadership starts to dismantle the ACA, directly having a negative effect on their average members lives, those very same members will continue to defend the actions saying it is being done in the name of "small government" and "Amercian Values." never once stopping to question if what is happening is actually good for America, themselves, or in line with "American Values."
Eventually, however, they will realize they are paying more for health insurance than ever before. They will see that insurance company CEO's are getting immense bonuses and they will realize that health care reform is more needed than ever before. They won't blame the neutering of ACA by their own party though. Instead, they will blame Obama for the individual mandate. He will be even more villified than ever before. He will be the poster child for how not to reform the health care industry and the Democratic party will have no footing at all to fight back. No amount of reasoning or facts will change the minds of those who suddenly realize they are putting upwards of 20% of their annual income into a governmentally mandated health insurance plan. They will just cling to the mandate as the core problem and demand it's repeal. The Republican's will, of course, say they tried and tried to get rid of it but the obstructionist Democrats wouldn't allow it and Fox News will have been repeating that story for years so, of course, it will be believed.
All the while the wealth disparity in our country will grow and the people who are being hurt by it the most will continue to defend it as part of the American Dream and that the truly poor are just lazy while the wealthy worked hard and thus deserve to be rewarded. They worked hard all right - they worked hard to pull the wool over America's eyes and to make sure the finger of blame can't be pointed their way.
Well played John Boehner and company. Well played.

This past weekend we went camping at Carter Caves in Kentucky.  It's a pretty nice state park and the campground is well run.  I'm still not entirely sold on using a camper but our site was nice and configured in a way that felt more private that most of the other RV spots.  It is our third time at that park and we've enjoyed it, in different ways, each time.  It's nice to have it as an option that is only about an hour away.

This time around we got off to a late start on Friday evening but we were setup in no time and we just kind of hung out and relaxed with some friends who were camping in the tent area nearby.  On Saturday I had planned on doing nothing but relaxing but those hopes were quickly dashed when we agreed to go to a short hike through a nearby canyon, then to wade through a creek in search for a crawfish along with a picnic lunch.  It was pretty hot out but the woods, caves, and creek all kept it feeling much cooler.  It was nice.

When we finally returned to the campground I was feeling exceptionally sleepy but then our other friend, Sarah, arrived and asked if anyone wanted go to for a hike.  I agreed and before I knew it we had begun a hike that was much longer than either of us had initially planned on - when all was said and done we hiked 15 miles.  The trial was in pretty good shape and, it turns out, it is a mountain biking trail too.  I think I will bring my bike next time because it was a pretty non-technical trail that I think I could actually handle based on my limited experience - sure, I'd have to push up a bunch of hills but the downhills seemed pretty reasonable.  I'm kind of looking forward to it.

Because we got out late I didn't get a chance to load up the canoe so I still haven't used it.  I will do so at some point this summer. I'm sick of it mocking me from the rafters of the garage.

On Sunday we came home and then I got ready for the first weekend of kickball.  Our team is pretty darn good.  It is very athletic; especially this one guy named Simon.  In our first game he kicked four home runs!  We actually scored 28 points (to zero) but we lost the game by forfeit because we didn't have enough girls show up.   Two of the absent women had a horrible but valid reason to not be there; they are a mother and daughter pair and the daughters sister was in the ICU at the local hospital.  Fortunately, she is recovering well but it sounded like it was touch and go for a bit.  While I normally don't like forfeiting I didn't really mind doing so this weekend (though it did count for 1/5 of the season).

The worst part of the kickball was the heat.  It was really really hot out.  I didn't notice it much while I was out there but afterwards I just felt exhausted.  I slept like a dead man last night and still felt tired when I woke this morning.  Maybe it was the 15 mile hike and not the kickball?  I know the hike kicked Ghost's butt because, at about mile 8, as we were walking he just laid down and refused to move further.  After a nice rest he got up and resumed but the, at about mile 13 he did it again.  I prodded him to get up but after about four steps he laid back down.  Needless to say we took another good rest.

Overall it was a good weekend.  We are really busy all summer long so I think these camping trips will be nice for the simple act of letting us "get away" even when we stay really close to home.

Wow, sometimes when you come up with an idea things start happening in light speed.  Our sudden decision to move is a prefect example.    About seven days ago Lisa came home from a rough day of work and informed me she wanted to move to the south side.  I wasn't entirely sure she was serious - we love our house and our neighbors - why would we, why should we, move?   She had a few reasons but the main one was the kids.  I'm not going to go deep into her rationale here but I agreed with her thinking so we decided to look around for a house.  Ideally one that would let us downsize, have a smaller (or no) mortgage, and where Lisa could, potentially, stop working (or find a job for a local organization or start our own business).  So we had, initially, two requirements; 

If you had the knowledge and skill to do the work yourself, along with the free time to do it, and $50,000 worth of tools I'd still tell you to run away from that house.

If you can afford this one either buy it or don't move.

For the past year, or so, I've been semi-officially on the Huntington Beautification Committee.  However, I've been on the committee in absentia - I never made it to any of the meetings, I had no real input in the plans, and I had no idea what they were really doing.  That changed, at least in a small way, last month when I attended my first meeting held in a cool little building nestled in Ritter Park.

During the meeting not much planning or real focus was attained.  However, I did hear about an opportunity where my family and I could get involved in the beautifation on a scale that we can fit into our generally hectic schedule; the welcome sign on Route 60 heading in to town needed a caretaker.  I spoke to Lisa about the idea after the meeting and she was as interested in doing it as I was so I emailed the committee and let them know we would take care of the sign and the flowerbox beneath it.

Basically, taking care of the sign means three things:

1. Mow the grass around it if it needs it.
2. Pick up Litter around it
3. Tend the flower box

So far I haven't had to mow, I think that maybe the highway department or someone else has done it.  I'm not sure who but I don't mind their help at all.  Litter isn't too bad, the sign is near a pretty busy and fast section of the route so the only litter that collects there is the kind that blows in with the wind (and doesn't blow back out).  The flower box, on the other hand, was looking pretty shabby.

Yesterday I swung by and removed the weeds but left the purple flowers that had managed to survive since last year.  I also went downtown and picked up some flowers that are provided by the city for this box; two flats of vinca's - purple and pink.  Today, Lisa and I went down during an extended lunch and planted the vincas and, if I do say so myself, I think it looks pretty good.

We still have to pick up some sweet potato vines and plant them but, I think, this is basically how the box will look.  I'm pretty happy with it so far.  Lisa was also thinking of adding some tall decorative grass near the ends.  Plus, we both think it will be cool to decorate it for the different major holiday's.  We'll see how that all plays out.

For now, I'm putting the photos of the sign and the surrounding area in an online album that you can view here. 

Today was Shannon's fifth grade graduation.  In contrast to when I went to elementary school she heads off to middle school for sixth grade.  Her school holds a pretty low key graduation celebration that is basically the fifth grade musical show.  Each grade in her school does their own show with a different theme.  The fifth grade theme was fifty years of broadway so they preformed a collection of songs that have been on broadway over time.

Each of the songs, with the exception of "For Good" from the musical "Wicked" was done in choral format.  However, in the first half of "For Good" one student had the opportunity to sing a solo.  There was a competition and six kids were selected as finalists but, in the end, Shannon was selected as the soloist.

Shannon has never sung publically before.  She just sings around the house and goofs off.  Lisa has always said she has good tone and pitch but I just always assumed that was parental bias.  I'm sure it is somewhat but there also has to be some truth to it considering she was selected as the soloist.

She has a pretty soft soprano voice so she doesn't really belt anything out but I still think she did a beautiful job of singing today at her graduation.  More amazingly to me was that she didn't seem to be nervous at all - she just stepped up and sang it like she's been singing in front of crowds forever.  It was really cool.  I cried and so did Lisa.

I actually knew Shannon would be singing today.  She told me a couple weeks ago that she had gotten the solo but she wanted to surprise Lisa.  There were a few times where I figured Shannon was going to ruin the surprise, she certainly dropped enough hints, but fortunately Lisa wasn't picking up on them.  So, today, when she started to sing, Lisa fell apart.  She was quiet about it but she started crying and didn't really hear much of the song.

Fortunately, I filmed it with my camera!  I know, moments like this deserve a better effort at preservation.  It's the best I could do.  Anyway, I'm glad I was able to film it and I'm super proud of her for doing such a good job.  

This was actually the first time I'd heard her sing it and I'm not ashamed that I cried with joy and pride.  After the ceremony a few different people came up to her and gushed over what a great job she did and one lady, who is a choir leader for her church, raved about how clearly she sang.  It was pretty damn cool.