Updated
November 7, 2001
Wow -- it's been
over a month since the last update! No, nothing bad happened to me
-- it's just been quite busy around the Ed this time of year.
Of course a few
weeks back we made the trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL with
me, Katie and Jackson. Porter is still a tad too young to have any
fun at all, and we wanted to make sure that if we did something, it
was fun for everyone. So we vacationed with the Mouse and he vacationed
with Nana!
We had a really
good time, too. Katie and I had scheduled as many 'character dining'
times as possible, so we saw almost all of the popular Disney friends:
Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip n Dale, Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eyeore,
plus a whole bunch more. One night we went to Mickey's Not So Scary
Halloween Party and we got totally soaked in the rain. Part of the
admission included a 'family photo' that we got in the mail last week,
and we look like Houston rats on vacation. As for the rest of the
pics, I'll post the photos as soon as I can get them off the CD and
you can see it all for yourself!
One night of
the week, Katie and I arranged for a sitter (Fairy Godmother) for
Jackson while we went to Downtown Disney for the evening. We ate at
the House of Blues and walked around the shopping and entertainment
district. We had walked in the parks all day, so we actually were
really tired. Unfortunately, I suggested we walk to the Giradelli
chocolate Soda Fountain for a treat -- about a half mile walk down
the way!! We didn't realize that we were so tired until 90% of the
way there -- and then we had to walk all the way back to the car!
It was fun, regardless -- and the ice cream was a nice reward.
Anyway, the trip
was a blast -- I'd do it every day if I could! Maybe a yearly trip
is in order . . . we'll see.
Other than that,
we also had Halloween here. Jackson and Porter had their school party
a few days before and everyone dressed up in their costumes and played
games. Jackson and I won a cake at the cake walk and he got to pick
it out himself -- chocolate, of course! On Halloween afternoon, I
flew back home and made chili that night for us and a few friends.
Nana came over
for the early part of the evening and she said she'd pass out candy
at the house while we trick-or-treated the block with the kinds. Well,
she passed out, all right -- as soon as I closed the door, she fell
asleep! We got back to the house and knocked on the door to trick-or-treat
our house last, and no one answered!! We walked in and found her asleep
in the rocking chair in front of the TV -- "No one came by"
she said! But we had seen several groups of kids go up to the house,
so we knew otherwise! Oh, well, at least no one egged or papered our
house for that . . .
So what's up
now? Just hanging here in T-Town for my last few days -- most of the
project is rolling off since we've delivered phase one and done the
infrastructure upgrade. Williams seems to think that since they're
taking TIBCO training this week that next week they'll be able to
be Us. Good for them -- it's always nice to have dreams -- Mine is
a beach house along the south Texas coast . . . Ian will stay for
a bit as a liferaft, just in case.
Anyway, things
are pretty good otherwise. Katie's glad that I'll be back in town
for a little while (even as she knows it looks like more travel until
our Houston biz dev guys get things under control). Sounds like some
Livelink opportunities may spring up in Houston and Tim wants me to
go into one, do some Biz Analysis and get a grasp on what it takes
to put together a strong project team and pull off a successful gig.
It doesn't sound too terribly hard --
We went to the
lake last weekend, so we'll be generally hanging around Houston this
week. I think we're getting Katie's mom to sit for us on Sat night
and we'll either go to dinner or run catch Monsters, Inc.
We're also in
full planning mode for the holidays -- getting some ideas together
for Thanksgiving menus and planning time for all the family. I've
even done a bit of shopping online, so I don't feel too behind. But
then again, gifts for myself don't really count, I guess!
My flight back
is Friday afternoon -- It will be good to be home.
