Gone Fishin'

I'm out of pocket for the next 8 days.

We leave for our second annual Mets Kick 'Stros Hiney game in Houston. From there, I leave for my arctic adventure in Alaska. I will take tons of photos and hopefully have amazing stories when I return.

See you in a week.

SL

What Was I Thinking?

Sometimes I act before I think. Sue me, I'm a guy and that's how I roll.

Often it gets me in trouble and the last couple of weeks has been no different. What has been different is that this has effected my professional life, where most of the time I'm screwing up my personal life. Need proof? Just ask Angie.

Although I've always thought about my career and where I'm headed, I've started acting on those thoughts. In many ways it is because I've landed at a great company that rewards success, because I work for a boss and my boss's boss who both are genuinely interested in the advancement of their people, and because I truly have a mentor off of whom I can bounce ideas. (That mentor is also the gentleman that I am going to Alaska with next week - stay tuned for adventure stories and pictures).

So, a couple of weeks ago I had a skip level meeting with my boss's boss (our SVP who is an OUTSTANDING LEADER - check his blog here). I told him that I thought I could add additional value in his organization and I gave him ideas on how I could do that. He agreed, and before the end of that day, he was sending an e-mail out to his staff informing them of a presentation I was going to give proposing a new function. I gave that presentation this week and it was well received. The net for me - more work, but a great opportunity.

During that skip-level meeting, I also asked for his guidance on potentially doing some speaking or publishing - you know, getting my name out in the field kind of stuff. There happened to be a conference coming up and I thought I might be able to speak there. He agreed with the idea and said he would make some phone calls. Within the next couple of days I was being contacted for my bio, publicity photo and abstract of my presentation. I'll be speaking at the Service Strategies Industry Summit in Las Vegas in October. I'm already nervous.

All I know is that it is great to work for people that aren't only interested in what they can get out of you. When I shared that with our SVP, he said that he much rather be discussing my advancement than doing all the other work he had on his plate.

I believed him.

SL

You Gotta Love a Woman...

...who likes to go to Bass Pro.

After church tonight, we decided to run to Bass Pro Shops. I needed to provision for my fishing trip to Alaska in a week, so we thought we'd run to the greatest dude playground on earth, buy some clothes, some rain gear, and just mess around.

Angie likes to go and so does Cassie...so there were no complaints to my idea.

A couple of weird things occurred while we were there, though. First, Angie found that she loves all of the antiques that are used to decorate around the store. I think she could do without the trophies all over the place, but she loves the old trunks, globes, and other junk used to decorate around the camo, fishing and hunting gear. She saw an old gas stove and fell in love with it...

Second, Cassie gets jazzed while we are there. She acted like it was the first time out of the house - ever! She was out of control...jumping on the boats, climbing in the little river, looking at the 5-foot alligator gar in the big fish tank. She just about drove us nuts tonight.

Thirdly, I realized that I needed every hunting aid in the store. Mojo dove decoy....need it! Static poseable dove decoys...must have them! More ammo...yes! Targets, clays, new sights....thank you! I could literally spend $30,000.00 there in an instant.

That takes us to our final point. Angie and I have been dying to get a boat. A sport-fishing boat that I can fish on, that the kids can tube/knee board/ski on, and one in which we can entertain on. That type of boat that can do all three is hard to find - AND NOT CHEAP. We think we found one, and we almost bought it. Can you imagine? I went into Bass Pro to buy a couple of pairs of jeans and rain gear, and I left with a boat.

Actually, we didn't as cooler heads prevailed - this time.

I don't think we'll be as smart the next as we get closer each time.

SL

Mets vs. Yankees

A day after them NY Mets have taken sole possesion of first place in the National League East, I couldn't have said it any better...

Shea Stadium vs. Yankee Stadium

The homes to these teams are both being replaced, but the memories enjoyed will never be.

Let's Go Mets!

SL

Sorry, But I Hate You...

...State of California.

I realize that I was taught that it was wrong to hate (I should "strong dislike" instead), but I really do hate California. I'm not entirely sure why, either - especially because two of my favorite cities are San Diego and San Francisco. As for the rest of the state, I'm waiting for the big one to plunge it into the Pacific Ocean.

I think it is because California reminds me of Europe so much. That's not to say that I don't really love Europe. In fact, I love Europe and hate California. So, I'm not sure how that works, but if you haven't clicked off this page by now, allow me to try to work through this.

I'm in California this week for work and will be back next week for some more work. My hotel (one I've never stayed at before and one in which I am very comfortable) has these signs up all over the place. This sign is a real symbol of why I hate California. Why would the state legislate the fact that these signs need to be posted every five feet where people are smoking? My problem is, this sign is up in the elevator, so I'm wondering if there is some kind of steel dust from the elevator cable that is slowly turning my lung tissue into a malignant ball of tumor.

All joking aside, does the state government (and ultimately the people they represent) really believe that we are so stupid that we need signs posted to tell us that smoking is occurring? Can't I just smell the cigarette smoke and make that determination for myself? Do I really need that level of protection from the state? I don't know why this pisses me off so much, but it raises my hackles. It would seem that the state has much bigger fish to fry like incessant traffic, out of control prices, and the Governator fixing "dis and dat".

Whenever I get the impression that government thinks we are dumb asses, I get really pissed. European governments are really good at this, too. Let us make our choices, even poor choices - and hold us accountable for the results. Don't try to protect us from ourselves...

...it's not what governments are supposed to do. Even in the state of Cal-EE-forn-EE-ah.

SL

Sin Cities

Justin and I flew in from our weekend in Las Vegas yesterday, and boy are my arms tired.


In fact, EVERYTHING is tired. It may have someone to do with our 8:10AM flight, or it may have something to do with the fact that sleeping, like eating, is a secondary body function and is optional while in Vegas.


I've been to Vegas many times and it strikes me as amazing that it is ALWAYS fun - and the city is always growing. Justin picked LV as his summer weekend trip and that was fine with me; it's been a couple of years since I've been and I was definitely ready for some blackjack.


Justin and I arrived Friday morning, checked into the California and proceeded to the buffet at Main Street Station. After brunch, we headed straight for Freemont Steet to see what was going on. We walked the entire length and then some ending (starting) at the El Cortez. The El Cortez may be the scummiest of casinos downtown, but I think it has a type of charm, like an old guy smoking through his stoma kind of charm...but charm nonetheless. We ended up buying into a poker game for $25 each. I ended up playing for about an hour before losing on a half bluff with a pair of 10's. We then walked back through Freemont, looking for a cheap poker tournament for Justin. We found one at Fitzgerald's and knew where Justin was gonna be the next day. We gambled and lost some more and then headed for our show - Blue Man Group at the Venetian. I had seen the show a couple of years earlier, but I knew that Justin would love it, so I got us tickets. They rocked, and I was right, Justin LOVED it.


The next day, Justin started his poker tourney, and I started my quest. After losing a bit at Fitzgerald's, I headed over to 4 Queens. I've always enjoyed 4 Queens, so I was looking to continue that love. I wasn't disappointed. After winning some at blackjack, I headed to the craps table. I rolled very well, as did some other players and quickly won $100 in about two hours. Justin texted me that he was second in chips with five players left. I was done with the queen, so I walked over to Golden Nugget. I was about to sit down at a table when I got the page, he was done. He ended up getting knocked out and ended up in fifth place...not in the money, but not bad for a tournament in Vegas with sixteen players.


We headed over to Binion's and quickly lost a bunch from a dealer with attitude. Although she took my money, she entertained so the sting didn't seem so harsh.


We headed over to Treasure Island for dinner and for our second show, Cirque du Soleil's Mystere. It was AWESOME, especially the two "clowns" who stole the show. Several times during the acts we looked at each other and agreed we couldn't believe we were seeing people do what they were doing.


After the show, we headed over to the Mirage, as Justin wanted to see what the deal was the the Beatles stuff. We tried to get tickets for that Cirque du Soleil show, "Love", but they were sold out. We headed over the the Beatles themed club, "Revolution", but it was closed for a private party.


We headed over to Freemont Street and watched the light show.


We then headed off to an early bed time, having lost enough money and preparing for getting up at 4:30 for an early flight.



I think Justin had a great time - I know he wants to get back to check out that Beatles show and I had a great time hanging out with him.

Fortunately, I go back in October for a speaking engagement and most likely Angie will come with. We get to stay and the brand spanking new Palazzo and I think we'll take in another Cirque du Soleil show.

SL

Day 4 - Not Worth The Wait

One thing I forgot from last night (Day 3)...we stopped at Arnaud's Remoulade for a very late dinner. Arnaud's is on Bourbon St. and is one of the more famous restaurants in the French Quarter. We ate at the bar and restaurant, which is next door to the formal dining room.

The meal was OUTSTANDING. I got the Oyster Arnaud, a sampler appetizer that had 6 oysters, each prepared a different way. One was a Rockefeller, and one was a Bienville. The others I don't recall, but they were ALL good. I also had a Louisiana Taster. With it came a bowl of turtle soup. I asked if it was real turtle, or mock turtle (beef, pork or something else) and was assured it was the real McCoy. It was amazing! Even Angie thought it was awesome. Also included was a meat pie which was delicious and some crawfish etouffee. Angie got a cheeseburger, but I think she would have preferred my meal. It was really fabulous AND it was authentic.

So, back to Sunday - get away day. By now, Angie and I had done and seen everything that we wanted, save one...the beignet at Cafe du Monde. Since we were slow to get started and were up against our flight home, we took a cab to Cafe du Monde. However, it seemed like everyone in New Orleans had the same idea, and the wait was prohibitive. We decided to walk across the street to Cafe Beignet. There are a couple of them throughout the quarter and it was packed, so we thought we'd be OK. Besides, there was a line, but it wasn't too long.

So, we waited and waited and waited, and waited some more. I swear that each order took about five minutes to place, and since there was six or seven people in front of us, we must have waited 30 minutes plus to place our order. The cafe had one person who took the order and fixed the drinks, another two in the kitchen, one of which brought the food out. I ordered a breakfast sandwich, an order of beignets and an iced cafe au lait. During the process I came to the realization that the order taker was just living life to a difference cadence than my own. It was surreal.

Breakfast, however, was excellent. I prefer a Boston Cream over a beignet any day, but the breakfast really hit the spot. Afterwards, Angie and I finished up our souvenir shopping (like a Bobble Head Jesus for a friend) and proceeded to walk back to the hotel to checkout and leave for the airport. On the way, however, Angie asked to stop at some tarot card readers in Jackson Square and get her cards read. It was a fifteen minute endeavour in stupidity, but she was entertained by it, so it was worth it. The reader did mention the different pace of the south due to the heat and humidity - and it dawned on me...the service has been so bad because they all move just a little slower here. Once we had that mystery figured out, we laughed about her reading all the way home.

Thanks for traveling to NOLA with us. We had a great trip in an interesting city, but I don't see myself going back - not by choice anyway. It's one of those places that you go, you see, and you cross it off your list. That being said, if I have to go back, that's OK too. I already miss the food.

And the Hurricanes.

SL

Day 3 - We Traveled To New Orleans To Do WHAT?!?!

I said to Angie, "What is it about women that they can browse through stuff even if they have no desire to own any of it?"

I then added, "If they put plates of dog shit out, you'd probably still be browsing through here!"

The last comment didn't win me any friends when I said it, but understand the circumstances. We were in New Orleans and Angie is rummaging through a Flea Market. What's the deal with that? A Flea Market?!?!

Angie saw the market on Thursday evening and since it was closed, she made a mental note that she wanted to revisit. So, after sleeping in a little bit, Angie and I set out on foot for the French Market / Flea Market. I knew the only way I was going to deal with this was with the help of Hurricanes, so I made sure we walked up Bourbon St. first and I got fueled for the day.

We stopped in just about EVERY shop in the French Quarter, and Angie was in heaven. It is what she likes to do, so when I get the chance to make her happy, I know my role. Walk with her, don't talk too much, tell her I like everything, say 'YES' to whatever she wants, and don't mention that she saw the same crap on the previous table. In fact, when she mentioned to me that I needed to stop complaining, I knew I was in trouble and had ceased fulfilling my role (accompanying Angie to little shops is my role when we travel). I never said another negative word after that, and instead turned my focus to more Hurricanes.

We then had perhaps the only really negative experience of the week. We ended up at the River's Edge Cafe on Decatur. We waited a while to be greeted and shown to our table. Service is different in New Orleans and we had learned that already, so we didn't really note HOW long it actually took. That was until Angie asked the waitress to come back in a minute as she didn't know what she wanted. Twenty minutes later, and we still hadn't ordered. OK, so we didn't get the best waitress - her name was Esther and if you see her, run like hell. Besides, she's so slow, she won't be able to catch you. After we ordered (crab cakes and a crawfish boudin po-boy for me, cheese sticks and spaghetti and meatballs for Angie) we waited and waited and waited. During our wait, we noticed that much of the plates that were being cleared off tables still had food on them. A lot of food on them. We received our appetizers and although not terrible, they weren't very good. We then waited some more, and they brought out our food - but Angie's meal was the wrong thing. And, mine just about was the worst looking and not much better tasting food I have ever been served. I commented that I wouldn't serve it to our dogs, let alone eat it. They came back to the table and told us they were out of meatballs, at that point we cancelled Angie's order. She complained about the service and the food, but they still made us pay for my entree. Thirty dollars was a small price to pay to get the hell out of there are this point, so we were gone. On our way, we informed a party of three not to bother waiting, so in the end we hopefully cost them as much as they should have let us go for.

Just so we are clear, if you are in NOLA, stay away from the River's Edge Restaurant on 801 Decatur. Their phone number is 504.525.4478. They are horrible and you have been warned - too bad, too - their location is amazing, right on Jackson Square and Decatur St.

So, we continued around the market seeing the same stuff over any over...Mardi Gras stuff, African stuff, silver, leather, souvenirs, gator heads, repeat, repeat. Angie had a great time and really enjoyed Sterling Silvia's on French Market Place. We ended up buying a beautiful cross with Fleur De Lis on them for her cross wall. We also found the Louisiana Pizza Kitchen and were entertained with great pizza AND excellent service.

We continued to stroll down Decatur to return to a store we saw earlier in the day, and ended up at the ticket booth to the paddle wheeled steamship, Natchez. Angie thought it would be fun to take a two hour cruise down the Mississippi and see New Orleans from a different vantage point, so we bought two tickets and boarded (they have a dinner cruise, too, but we were still stuff from our pizza). We boarded, listened to some live jazz, enjoyed the breeze and had a couple of Hurricanes. The captain regaled us with information about the port, shipping, the Battle of New Orleans, the ship and other interesting facts on our South-bound journey and then we enjoyed more Jazz (and, yes, Hurricanes) on the North-bound portion.

We arrived back at the dock and were pretty much done with our long day. We walked back to the hotel, again cutting through Bourbon Street for more Hurricanes and a cigar. We saw some pretty and not so pretty women earn their beads (I guess you have to experience that while there) and called it a night.

Tomorrow: Day 4 - Not Worth The Wait

Day 2 - Tour Day

Angie and I ran into Cajun Encounters on Decatur during Day 1 and thought a day spent seeing the Louisiana sights might be fun.

The tours offered were, City Tour, Swamp Tour, Plantation Tour, and Fright Tour. In addition to these, Katrina Tours and Recovery Tours were all the rage. We each picked what we wanted to do and they had a combo where we could do one in the morning and one in the afternoon. A full day of touring.

I selected the Swamp Tour and it was suggested that we do the tour in the morning where the wildlife would be more active as the heat of the day would not yet be reached. Since I hate the heat, it sounded like a grand idea.

The tour would pick us up at hour hotel at 7:15 to get our day started. We were picked up and whisked away to the bayou and swamps north of New Orleans. We drove over Lake Pontchartrain and saw some of the devastation from Katrina. The abandoned homes were numerous, some still having the rescuers markings on them stating that they had been searched. It was erie.

We got to Honey Island Swamp and started out tour. We boarded the boat of Captain Ted, a real Cajun, and for the next two hours he drove us around the swamp and bayou giving us the skinny on the swamps, the ecosystem, Katrina, Nutria, gators, why the swamps are needed, etc.

After the tour, we were returned to Decatur for lunch. We found Central Grocery, and their speciality, the Muffuletta. The Muffuletta is an Italian hero on a Focacia bread and covered in "Olive Salad". We ordered a whole, which is about 12 inches in diameter, and began to feast. Angie promptly proceeded to remove the Olive Salad ("the best part") and I put it on mine. They were delicious.

Upon being well fed, we embarked on our plantation tour, Angie's selection. We were bused about an hour and 10 minutes West of New Orleans to the Oak Alley Plantation. The grounds of the plantation date back to 1700 when a row of 28 Live Oak Trees were planted giving the plantation its name. The house was built later that century and has a interesting history as home, plantation residence, etc. The grounds did not have the slave quarters anymore, but the history of the 113 slaves on the grounds was recorded. It was very interesting.

We were returned to our hotel and we promptly went to the pool to cool off. If memory serves, we brought a couple of Hurricanes with us.

After refreshing from our hot day, we got dressed up and went down to the hotel restaurant...Dickie Brennan's Bourbon House Seafood. Angie has an awesome seafood platter with Fried Oysters, Soft shell Crab Claws, Shrimp and Catfish. I had a Filet and a dozen raw oysters. We had an AWESOME meal and a great ending to a fun day.

Tomorrow: Day 3 - We traveled to New Orleans to do WHAT?!?!

SL

Day 1 - Shock And Awe

While we flew towards New Orleans, Angie admitted to me a small amount of trepidation around our trip. She shared that she was somewhat concerned about security in the city since Katrina, and that perhaps the city had not recovered enough for us to be safe during our weekend. The airport losing complete power upon our arrival did nothing to allay her fears.

However, upon our arrival to our hotel, I think she started getting more comfortable. The hotel we beautiful and was well located on the corners of Canal and Bourbon Streets in the French Quarter.

We had no real plans for our weekend, so we thought we would just walk and get some ideas. We started down Bourbon Street. The bars, restaurants, and small shops were expected and enjoyed...the sex shops, sex clubs and strip bars were somewhat of a surprise. I felt like I was walking through Amsterdam, and that was unfortunate...I'm not a huge fan of the sleaze.

Along the way, Angie and I ordered our first Hurricane - a cacophony of Light Rum, Dark Rum, Grenadine, Orange and Cranberry Juice. Basically, Hawaiian Punch and Jet Fuel. Yummy.

We continued to walk the Quarter and enjoyed some quiet time at the St. Louis Cathedral, where we proceeded to make fun of a street magician who made my disappearing napkin trick look polished. When he dropped his fake thumb, we were rolling.

We continued up the Quarter. Angie immensely enjoyed the architecture and I immensely enjoyed another Hurricane.

We ended up on Decatur, which is the end of the French Quarter along the Mississippi River. Angie saw the Flea Market / French Market and knew what she wanted to do before we went home. Me, I saw some restaurants and new what I wanted to do right away. We ended up at the French Market Restaurant and Bar. We had a GREAT meal of boiled shrimp, raw oysters, jambalaya, shrimp etouffee, red beans and rice, filet mignon, and....Hurricanes.

After dinner, we continued to walk around the French Quarter, and ended up at Harrah's Casino. If I was expecting a well run casino in the Las Vegas tradition, and I was, I was apt to be disappointed. There were only a couple of blackjack tables open and no available seats (although there were tons of other blackjack tables with dealers, but they were all standing around waiting for cards?!?!?). We played roulette for a little while, lost $45 and decided that our NOLA casino experience was satiated.

We walked back to the hotel, Hurricane and cigar in hand, and called it a night.

All in all, a great start to our long weekend holiday.

Tomorrow - Tour Day.

SL

Hurricane Season in New Orleans

This evening, Angie and I returned from our long weekend in New Orleans. Our weekend was categorized by awesome food, good sites, some learning opportunities, many hurricanes, a couple of poor choices, a couple more hurricanes, more good food, lots of laughs, even more hurricanes and a very healthy appreciation for each other.

We had an excellent time, but are happy to be home. Like Las Vegas, it seems to me that there is definitely a finite amount of New Orleans that one can take. Angie and I reached that point today and were happy to be coming home.

I have lots of pictures to post and lots of stories to tell. Because there is so much detail, I will start tomorrow with separate posts, one for each day.

For now, enjoy a picture of St. Louis Cathedral from the French Quarter.

SL

It's The Little Things

Before you read the post below, click here and read this one. When you are done, click BACK on your browser and come back here. Then, accept my apologies...

Cassie and I decided to spend a couple of hours together tonight. She's been hanging with mom for long durations for the last several days (Angie has a friend in from Mexico with whom she's been spending lots of time). And, since Angie and I leave for our summer weekend vacation tomorrow, I thought it would be good to have her hang with the DaDa.

So, we decided to go to Chick-Fil-A. It's her favorite fast food restaurant and I don't mind.

It's amazing how you can have a real conversation with a six year old. Now, yes, I truly believe she is exceptional, but we can really talk, laugh, whatever. We ate, we did magic (terrible magic, but magic nonetheless - you should see me do the disappearing napkin trick. David Copperfield need not fear).

However, when I grabbed the little table advert and used it as a pair of binoculars, things got very funny. I put them up to my eyes, and panned back and forth. As I did so, I said, "I'm scanning the horizon."

She grabbed the "binoculars" and repeated my motion, but she said, "Hi, VERIZON." I laughed so hard my diet coke came out of my nose. I swear that everyone in the place thought there was something seriously wrong with me. How does she know Verizon? Yes, they provide our triple play services, but she shouldn't really know that stuff.

After explaining to her what the horizon was, I told her I was gonna blog about it. She asked me not to, but obviously, I didn't listen. I'm glad I was listening at dinner, though.

Again, my apologies.

SL

Cry Freedom

Some movies touch the soul...that's probably why I love to watch them. Yeah, I love shoot 'em ups and vampire movies more than anyone I know, but sometimes I want to watch a movie that makes me feel like a better person for having invested my time.

A couple of weeks ago, Angie and I watched Amazing Grace. I blogged about it at the time, and I remember being touched by the description of the conditions aboard the slave ship. I wanted to know more, and I realized I never saw the movie Amistad, so I put in into my queue and put it to the top of the heap.

Angie and I watched it last night and I don't know if I will ever forget the experience. In fact, I am tearing up as I type this post. The brutality and the inhumanity on the ship cannot be imagined. The movie recounts how the crew threw 50 people overboard because they realized they did not have enough rations. As you can imagine, Steven Spielberg portrays the brutality as realistically as possible and it is disturbing. The story is about the fate of the 44 surviving Africans aboard the ship who revolt against their captors.

The brutality is countered by the humanity shown by the lawyer and by John Quincy Adams who end up representing the Africans in court and ultimately in the US Supreme Court.

The movie is something special. I recommend watching it to see the worst, and best, of humanity.

SL

Marissa Begs!

Open Letter to anyone who cares about Marissa...

As you know, Marissa's love for all things David Wright runs deep. Her love for him will probably be exhausted by the time she's 13, but that doesn't mean that it is real and feels like forever now!

For this reason, she is BEGGING everyone she knows to vote for David Wright for the last spot on the NL All Star Team.

Her instructions are as follows:

1) Click on his beautiful face to the right (he's the dreamy dude in the bottom right corner)
2) Click on Vote Now
3) Enter your details, and click on David Wright to vote for him
4) Enter the goofy number thing and submit.
5) Rinse, Lather and Repeat as often as possible

You'll know where to find her when the all-star game is on.

Please don't let down this poor young girl, and she thanks you from the bottom of her heart (which she gave to David months ago). Tell your friends, so they can vote too!

We'll see you in Houston, Mr. David McKenzie!!!!

SL

We Are The Champions

Actually, Dylan is the champion...the District 8 Junior Little League Champions, that is.

Our Fourth of July was spent at the ballfield.

Dylan has made all stars every season he's played Little League. The all-stars consist of a several team, double elimination district tournament. Yesterday, his team (the Garner Little League Junior Division All-Stars) went into the finals of the tournament without a loss. That meant that they had to win either game of a double header to take the district.

Game one was an awesome fight, where they gave up a lead and then clawed back. Garner was down 1 run when Dylan came up with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and smoked a line drive to left center that scored the tying run. The team then self destructed in the eighth (extra innings for Little League) and they lost 13-6.

After a 45 minute break, game two started with Dylan on the mound. He quickly dispatched the North Garland batters and then had an RBI double to start the scoring. Dylan ended up pitching a fine five innings and left the game with a 6-2 lead. He had another RBI hit during the game, and all in all had an awesome double header.

It was 100 degrees out and Dylan caught the entire first game and pitched most of the second. His all white uniform looked orange by the end of the day from all the dirt and sweat.

Next Thursday starts the Sectionals. Should the advance past that, then State. It would be cool to play ball through August.

SL

She's So Nosey

I've been traveling a lot and nothing ever beats getting home. I love returning to my home, and more importantly, my family. Hugs and kisses and "DADDY'S HOME!" usually greet me at the door...and sometimes, a surprise or two.

This most recent trip is no exception. I returned from Salt Lake City yesterday afternoon and as I walked in the house, Cassie shrieked. She ran to the door, kissed me and told me she had to show me a surprise.

I put my bags away and walked into the kitchen where the kids and Angie were sitting. Also there were Justin and my mother-in-law as everyone was having lunch. I said hello to everyone, but I didn't see any surprise. I could tell something was wrong, though, as everyone was acting just a little "goofy". Angie, especially, had a weird little smirk on...

Then - BAM! I saw it. I noticed a small diamond sticking out of the side of her nose. She finally gathered the courage to get what she's been talking about. She got her nose pierced. She's been talking about it for months now (since her 40th birthday) and I was supportive of it all the way. (Truth be told, I think they are totally sexy). We'll she got it and the starter diamond is a little big for my taste but it looks very cool on her.

The only mistake I made is that I led with the fact that I thought it was too big...

...not the fact that I think it it makes her look even sexier than she already looked. I've been making up for that fact since.

And, now it means I can go get that tattoo that I've been wanting.

SL