Running with doggy

We are once again dog sitting this time with Waters a 2yr old black lab owned by a friend of ours named Val. In high school I used to run with our dog and then again after college with my own dogs Havoc and Griffin.

So I thought I would give it a try with Waters even though I wasn't sure he had done any running with Val or anyone else (we are the first to dog sit Waters). After letting him "do his business" before the run (which was quite convenient) I started off at a medium pace. Waters was a bit confused and seemed to be thinking that surely I was going to stop somewhere at some point and kept hanging back at leash length waiting. I was hoping it wasn't going to stay this way because he was pulling back slowing us down and I was starting to regret bringing him with me.

We worked our way over to the levy near our house and we continued on the 3.5 mile loop I had planned for the day. Eventually either because I finally started to slow down or he figured out we weren't stopping Waters closed the gap between us and ran at my side.

Ultimately he did a great job and I know he liked it because the very next time I went out for a run he went and got his leash and dropped it at my feet when I was putting my shoes on. Of course with this kind of proactive effort I brought him out again and this time he ran by my side the entire time.

I'll have to tell Val how much he likes running, maybe she will take him out too.

Whole lotta nothing...

Today was a day where we did nothing, nothing and more nothing. Because I have been on the road as previously mentioned we just sat around today and everyone stayed in their Jammie's until 4:30 when we made a quick trip up to the video store.

Nice!

Sometimes it just works out

I've been on quite the tear of business travel lately and all of it was to the east coast and beyond, ugh. Travel is usually not glamorous with long flights, cab rides and time alone in the hotel. Every now and then it works out though as it did earlier this year when I was able to go see a Boston Red Sox no-hitter.

During this most recent trip to New York City it turns out I was equally lucky and was able to catch a Broadway play during the trip. We we having a Mark Logic event at the Westin times square in NYC and our new VP of marketing decided she would like to catch a show after the event. Since we were spending probably $60k at the hotel we asked the concierge what they could do. Well the did a lot and comp'd us 3 seats to "In the Heights" which is a 2008 Tony award winner for best musical. The show was awesome and we had fantastic 7th row seats!

You can see a little bit of what it was like by looking at a video of the performance they gave during the Tony awards this year.

The weather prediction for the country - purple

Lately our kids have become obsessed with looking at the weather page in the morning paper. They like to look at the local forecast and they like to look at the weather for wherever I happen to be traveling that week. Nicolas likes to call out the color of various areas which of course normally predict temperature.

This morning there was a happy accident when Nicolas predicted that the temperature of the country would be "purple" today which seemed fitting given the historic event of last night with a candidate who unified more of the country by capturing a solid majority of the popular vote.

Some Halloween Pictures

Just a quick post with some pictures from Halloween this year. We went out Trick or Treating with the Wilde's and so their 3 kids are included in some of these pictures.

Julia was a gypsy and Lea was Bat girl.

Nicolas did change costumes during the day - starting off as Elmo and ending the day as Darth Vadar although he did not wear the mask much.

Enjoy!!

Train(ing) Day

I just got back from a really fun train related afternoon with Nicolas. We started at the Santa Cal train station where we saw a couple of trains coming in and out of the station which he really loved. We followed that up by going to an open house in the old warehouse where they have a large and very elaborate model train exhibit. Nicolas loved looking at all of the rolling stock they had, the trains going through the model towns, towering mountains, rail yards etc. They had a really great display and we spent some time there.

After that, and complete on a whim, we decided to buy some northbound train tickets and head out for a ride. We road up for about 25 minutes looking outside and seeing the sights. We now had to get off at a station and chose a rather barren San Antonio station. It turns out there was little to walk around to and see and we had to wait 40 minutes for the next southbound train. That was the only small glitch in a rather very fun afternoon! Nicolas continually thanked me during the afternoon telling me how much fun he was having. What fun!

The future - weddings

We had a rare opportunity to go to a wedding yesterday for the daughter of the senior pastor at our church. It was a lovely ceremony with about 450 in attendance. We had a seat near the back right on the isle which meant that we had a great view as the 12 (yes 12) brides maids filed in.

As the excitement built for the arrival of the bride I found myself getting a little choked up. I think the trouble started when I looked down at my own two daughters and started to think of the day that I would be the proud father and this would be their wedding. When the very lovely bride entered I was actually having to hold back tears as I projected forward to their day.

Then, I started thinking of the cost of it all and that brought me back to reality and I was glad that this was a day that was many (many if you are reading this Julia and Lea) years a way.

When it happens I am sure it will be wonderful just like the wedding yesterday.