Choosing a Career

The youngest Atkins boy finished the last prerequisite for earning his degree in criminal justice this summer. He interned at the Lilburn Police Department where he spent four weeks experiencing the daily life of a police officer. He rode along with a detective, traffic patrol, day patrol and night patrol and loved every minute.

Lilburn is a sleepy little town compared to many of Atlanta's suburbs although it has become less sleepy within the fifteen plus years we've lived here. A career as a police officer is not something any of us envisioned for Greg but it seems to be his heart's desire and, if that is to be so, then Lilburn is much safer than many other places - especially in the Atlanta area.

All of us are proud that Greg finished his internship with the highest evaluation possible and recommendations that he consider applying for a job in Lilburn after graduation. Stay tuned for further developments.

Lots of Fish!

Once each summer, Greg goes to the beach with his mom's extended family - Grandma, Grandpa, those of their seven children who can make it, their spouses, and the associated grandchildren ranging in age from about two to their late twenties. This year they went to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Since everyone came, it took two big houses to hold everyone.

Greg's highlight of the trip was going deep-sea fishing with his adult male cousins. Come to think of it, he has no female cousins - adult or otherwise.

Deep-sea fishing with his five cousins was quite an adventure because the six of them caught 400 pounds of tuna and mahi-mahi. This very large catch brought them plenty of attention when they docked. Shall we say tourists took lots of pictures of six very handsome available young men? Well, all of them were available except Andrew who was only ten. I'm sure the fish were handsome too in their own way.

Greg's share of the dressed and frozen fish added up to sixty pounds. Tuna and mahi-mahi are now stashed in several freezers all across Lilburn. Having never cooked either fresh tuna or mahi-mahi, the female of the family consulted the best cookbook available these days, the Internet, only to discover that tuna is supposed to be eaten rare or medium rare. Now the Atkins boys were not raised to eat rare fish so this news was met with a bit of skepticism. Nevertheless, Carl bravely waded in and pronounced it delicious. There is no tuna remaining in our particular freezer. Greg will need to deliver more in order to sample tuna cooked in the Atkins kitchen.

The mahi-mahi had its turn at dinner last night. Here you see pictures of all three Atkins boys happily devouring Baked Mahi-Mahi with Garlic Rosemary Potatoes. It was every bit as good as the tuna (and it was well done). One of Carl's favorite desserts, key lime pie, finished this week's traditional Atkins Family Sunday Dinner. It was a perfect ending to a perfect meal. Bring more, Greg!

Life's Milestones

Life has many major milestones – first grade, graduation and marriage, children, etc.

There are other important milestones that sometimes slip past with little recognition. The youngest Atkins boy recently experienced one of these – making his first major adult purchase. This also meant creating his first debt.

Gregory Michael Atkins has purchased a Dodge Ram truck and what a truck it is! Like new, looks great, low mileage, and after trading in his graduation gift, a loan he can handle. What's more, he got his dad's advice before making the big leap. Smart move.

Perhaps the most important part of this transaction is that the youngest Atkins boy seems to have learned a very important Atkins lesson: Never buy anything you can't afford to pay for.

So, with careful thought, an employee discount, and a two-year loan, he bought a great truck from Akins Ford, the dealership where he's working while finishing up his degree.

Good choice, Greg!