A Halloween Story
When my niece
Heather posted this photo of me and her dad (my brother Bratley)
on my Facebook
page last night I'm pretty sure she had no idea how spooky her
timing was. This photo was taken exactly 47 years ago tomorrow
and was one of the most memorable days of my life. More
I
want to smooch on this guy Oct
18, 2008 In
case you don't recognize the guy in this photo, it's our beloved
Patrick. I stumbled into him on one of the internet
social networks and when I saw this photo it made me stop dead
in my tracks--not only because I couldn't believe my eyes
that he's so grown up, but also because he looks like such a
cool dude, the kind of kid I wanted to hang out with when I
was his age.
He
reminds me a LOT of John Davis, my dearest and best friend
through junior high and high school. John and I had our own cool
group--of which we were the only members--and we spent endless
hours talking about things like the weird gravity on Mercury
and worm holes and other stuff that fascinated us but most other
kids cared nothing about. (Unfortunately John was killed by a drunk
driver but if he was still around I bet we would pick up the
conversation right where we left off in 1979.) For all I
know Patrick was talking about losing his keys in the
parking lot, but this photo instantly transported me back to
those sweet days of sitting in the sun with John and talking
about the universe.
I read
through Patrick's information and all the interesting and creative
subjects he talks about and the cool groups he belongs to, and
then I immediately sent a request for him to add me to his
social network so I could hang out with the cool kids too. And
as soon as he added me to his network, I posted a cute baby
picture of him on his website and said I wanted to smooch on
him.
Doing
uncool stuff like that is probably why the cool kids never
wanted to hang out with me when I was his age.
...and they lived happily ever
after
Morley and I got hitched in September--more info and photos on
my blog
We Saw Her Bottom Yesterday
July
11, 2008 Yesterday we finally got the new boat pulled
from the water so we could inspect the bottom. I've seen
lots of boats pulled from/put into the water before, but never
one that I was personally attached to, so of course I took lots
of photos and filmed it, too. See
some of the photos here.
Steve and Morley Polish the
Butt Ugly Boat
Monday, June 23
We're back from the boat where Morley recovered from his hernia
surgery. On Sunday he was feeling almost normal again so he and
our buddy Steve gathered up an assortment of polishing compounds
to do a test polish on the butt ugly boat. Whichever compound
works best, we'll need a couple of 50 gallon drums full of
it. More here
Family Afloat
Monday, June 9
Not only did we have an actual
whole weekend off work, but we got to spend it with a boat full
of our favorite people. Matt was here all week to watch
Morley be an engineer so he stayed for the weekend and hung out
with us on the boat. Plus Michelle, Tony and Kory came from Louisville
to stay a few days,
and Heather was there too. The weather was hot and the water felt great, and a good time
was had by all. More
pix are here.
You Are
Not Gonna Believe
this...We bought a boat this week--a big, butt ugly
boat with dark blue carpet and icky flowered bedspreads inside. I love it. I'm in a rush this morning so I can't tell you
the whole story right now but head over to my Blog
to read what I posted about it there and I'll give you more details and photos
soon.
Willow kept me company while I stayed up late working.
Actually she wasn't much company
at all, she just snoozed in the chair by my desk but it was the
thought that counted.
May 29th (just
barely) 2008:
Less Busy is a Good Thing. After being consumed for
two week in getting ready for a conference and then
being away for four days to actually do the conference, I
was deep, deep, d-e-e-e-p in the weeds when this week started
out. Happily I'm slowly digging my way out, thanks in part to
the really slow telephones at the office today (honestly, the
phone was so quiet that I actually picked it up several
times to make sure our T1 line wasn't out of service). All
that time off from talking to pesky clients and vendors gave me
a whole day to whip through the mountain of paperwork on my
desk, and so I was a workin', producin' machine all day. By
the time I left the office I could actually tell what color
the top of my desk is. It's beige. Who knew?
And being out of the weeds is an especially good thing because
my nephew Mildew Matthew is coming down next
week to hang out with us and watch Morley do some engineering,
and we really, really want to enjoy every single minute of the
week we have with him. So being caught up is good.
And not looking like a bag lady
is good too, so after I left work I headed straight to the nail
salon for a much needed and long overdue tune-up on my hands and
feet, and when I got home at 7:45, Morley had dinner waiting for
me. All in all, today was a great day and even though I'm
posting this at 12:24 AM (I'm going to bed right after this I
swear) I feel like I'm getting on top of thi
ngs.
Or at least I felt that way until
I glanced over to the corner of our home office and saw this:
The mountain of boxes filled with
stuff for the upcoming nuptials is growing by the minute, and my
list of things to do between now and September 6 is huge.
Well, heck.
May 17 2008
I've been busy. Really, really busy. Crazy busy. I'm sure
you've noticed that I've been a total slacker with this website
for the past few weeks but I have my reasons. Reason. I have a
reason and that is I have no time left over to play anymore.
It's been a few decades since I got married
and I had totally forgotten how much work goes into a
wedding. A LOT. It's the mother of all deliverables with a thousand and one mini-deliverables, each of
which is contingent upon the successful implementation of all
the others. The time investment alone is motivation to make the
marriage work. (Not that it's the only motivation of
course) (that didn't come out right, did it?)
I've also been getting ready for the
tradeshow we do every year on Memorial Day weekend. This is the
annual conference of our largest client group and it is
essential we make a good showing. Booths are totally sold out nearly a year in
advance and it's a Big Production Event in terms of making the
booth stand out from the competition. And while we're there, we
go a day early so we can do our annual planning/strategy meeting for
the company (Morley's partner Doug attends also) and I'm
responsible for putting together all the financials, analysis and
reports for that.
We used to grouse about having to spend our holiday
weekend at a trade show (even if it is on a beach), but this
year we've had our noses to the grindstone so long that we're
actually looking forward to it as a little break--we'll still
be working but at least we'll see the ocean from the convention center
windows. Same work, better scenery outside. How twisted is that?
Finally, there's the upcoming mission trip to Nicaragua which
happens two weeks before the wedding and for which I am the Group Leader responsible for all the planning and
coordinating the participants. I feel like I am really
behind the 8 Ball on it and haven't given it the attention and
time it needs. And what in the world I was thinking in
scheduling a mission trip and a wedding two weeks apart escapes
me.
Finally, there's my work. Business continues
to boom and we are spending 50+ hours a week there (Morley is
closer to 70 hours a week) and in my free time I squeeze in work
on other projects like the wedding, mission trip, laundry, grocery
store--you know, the usual.
I'm stressed here,
people. I am in the weeds.
Speaking of Nicaragua, I have been paying for a
little guy named Abel to go to school for the past year.
He writes me every now and again, and here's the letter I got
from him yesterday. It made me cry, but then his letters
always make me cry. And just thinking of
that little guy makes me sorry I sounded cranky and frazzled
when I started this post.
The Weddin: Cruise over to my other website which is
now all decked out
for the wedding. It has the info you need to make your
hotel reservations which you should make as soon as
possible. Plus you'll get a little hint about what we're
planning for you--it will be a fun day, promise. Wedding
Website
My Blog: I tend to update it
more often than I do this website because I can access it from
the office whereas this website requires software installed on
my home PC, plus the entries are quicker and easier to maintain. Read
My Blog
And now, it is 9 AM on Saturday morning and I'm
off to the office. Sadly enough, the only difference
between the weekday and the weekend is I go in later and the
dress code is more relaxed. (sigh)
More soon, promise!
So....what's new? Okay, okay, so I
haven't been the best at updating this site lately but not only
have we been working our arses off at the office and trying to
plan a wedding on the side, but it's getting a little frentic
trying to maintain too many websites and now a blog.
One of these days I'm going to have to pare things down to a
more manageable level (adding "pare down ridiculously long
list of sites being maintained" to list of things to do)
but until then, if it looks a little neglected here, bop on over
to the blog to see if there is anything new over there.
On a side note, even though I have been pathetic
in maintaining this particular website, it continues to get more
hits every month than the two commercial sites that I actually try
to draw traffic to. Candlespoured.com
and SpencerBristol.com
are doing A-OK in drawing in visitors, but this little site
continues to beat each of them by at least 6,000 hits a month.
Go figure.
Morley's
Tumor: His six month colonoscopy was yesterday. Details on
my blog here
About the Wedding: Jim G
says nobody ever tells him anything so in case nobody ever tells
you anything either, here are the details: Sat. Sept. 6 at 2 PM at the marina's chapel; reception immediately
following on a nearby island Save the date and
I'll mail you a real invitation very soon--even you,
Anonomous.
More wedding info
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