Monday, June 20, 2005

Excellent Father's Day

I had a great Father's Day weekend -- we spent time at the lake with Mom/Row and Myra/Kenneth/Trace. Myra had a baby a few weeks ago, and this was his first road trip, and our first time to see him. He's cute -- and it brings back memories of how we were with both our boys. Lots of work taking care of little ones...

Saturday we took the pirogue that we all built out for its maiden voyage -- Row really did a fantastic job finishing it up -- truly a top notch boat!! I can't believe how nice it looks -- it's red (top outside), white (inside sides and bottom outside) and blue (inside bottom), with a nice natural varnish on the side rails that gives it a sophisticated look.

I took it out for its inagural run and paddled around the cove. It was a bit 'tippy' -- like a canoe -- but once you get the hang of it, it was really a nice ride. With the flat bottom, it cuts through the water and picks up speed nicely. Row took it out after that and once he got the hang of it, we took turns taking the boys out. They loved it! They were hesitant at first, but pretty soon they were asking to take the paddle themselves.

Saturday we also BBQ'd, which is something I love to do -- we did ribs and chicken, plus half a pork butt and a small brisket. Tons of food -- enough that we all brought some home. [Katie did smoked chicken enchiladas last night for dinner -- mmmmmm.]

The boys each made me a card and they made cactus gardens for Papaw and I. They even painted the pots, too. I'll try to keep mine alive.

All in all, it's just the weekend that I wanted -- glad to have spent such good time with Katie and the boys, and with the rest of the family.

Travels around TOLA

Long week this week -- spent some time today in Dallas visiting with an investment company discussing email compliance strategies / needs / issues. We'll put together a roadmap and send it to them next week or so for consideration. After that I hopped a plane to Tulsa for a few days. I'll run over to OKC for a meeting in the morning, then back to Tulsa for a presentation around mid day. Wednesday is a road trip to Arkansas for a second meeting with a company over near Fayetteville about records management tools and technology.

Then back home -- for a night. Thursday I head to Austin to give a lunch talk / exec briefing on compliance issues.

Long week ahead and I'll sure be glad to have it behind me once the weekend comes, but it's the type of week I love -- lots of opportunities, lots of hands-on meetings working with folks. Lots of chances to make an impact.