How time flies - For those of you who were around for the beginning - you may be surprised that our son Brendan turns thirteen tomorrow. Thirteen on Friday the thirteenth of 2013. I'm thinking I should buy 13 lottery tickets. He's been growing like a weed. As a matter of fact when he outgrew a pair of sneakers earlier this year my wife tried them on and they fit her just fine. Talk about a wake up call.

His verbal skills are coming along but we still have a long way to go. I was concerned when we moved up north of Atlanta that the therapies and services available for autistic kids would be lacking but we've been very pleased with the quality of schools and teachers in our county. He still has a long road ahead of him but we're optimistic about his future. We'll just keep plugging along.

It's been a pretty good year for us. We've all been working on our health { I lost 35 pounds } and we've added a chiweenie rescue dog Buster to the family. He's a real character. The Mrs. is enjoying her job, and I'm enjoying being a stay at home dad.

I've got a band that I enjoy playing with - we just had a gig in Woodstock. Woodstock Georgia that is. And since it's December we'll be playing our usual string of nursing and retirement homes. I can't begin to tell you how much fun that is.

That's all for now but I figured several of you would appreciate the progress report. Brendan Smith - a teenager. Amazing.