Catching Up on a Sunday Night

Happy Sunday!

I wanted to take a minute to post some news from us as we're hanging out on a Sunday night watching the Academy of Country Music Awards.

A couple posts ago I mentioned that Jen and I hiked to the top of Stone Mountain with my father. Well, since she's three weeks more pregnant today than that day, we decided to hike to the top of Kennesaw Mountain a few miles from our house. Kennesaw Mountain was the scene of an important battle during the war between the states.

Here's a "super-compressed" video of Jen hiking up the mountain just to prove she did it:




Topic number 2: I mention I was back in Austin a couple weeks ago for a meeting. I was having a drink with a friend around midnight when a celebrity walked in.

He's more famous for his hair and his ex-wife than he is for his music in some parts.

If you guessed Lyle Lovett, you're right.

Those of us there that evening resisted the urge to use camera phones to snap photos of him with his companion. One of our party did introduce herself and let him know that she enjoyed his music.

Topic number 3: Jen and I live 800 yards up the hill from the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta. Our backyard butts up against the national recreation area.

Last Wednesday night, Jen and I were sitting on the backporch, listening to some bluegrass music, and a deer wandered into view.

Here's another "compressed" video:



No other news about the twins as we're still debating names.

More news coming soon!

The Latest Baby Pictures and Texas Adventures

Here are the latest photos of the boys from latest week's visit with the specialist.

Everything is healthy and they're growing as scheduled - according to the doctor.

Enjoy the photos and read on for some exciting stories about air travel.

In other news, Jennifer had a great baby shower in Houston with friends. We're thankful for the gifts she received as she caught up with some old friends.

She also got to eat at two of her favorite restaurants in the world: El Rancho and Sushi Hana. I'm only a little jealous because Jen got to eat the best Mexican food this side of the Rio Grande. She also got to hang out with Tony, owner of Sushi Hana and the sushi bar's resident comedy act.

However, I did get to eat at two of my favorite places in Austin: Aussie's and El Arroyo. More on that in a minute.

The day she returned from Houston to the ATL, I was on my way to Austin for a conference. We had overlapping time in the airport and it was nice to see each other. So, Jen and I hung out at the E gates for a few minutes.

My flight to AUS was scheduled to leave from the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson. I'd never flown out of the international terminal in ATL and i got worried I missed some news about an uprising in my former state of residence.

However, as I was getting ready to board the plane to AUS, we received a call about an intrusion at our house.

Talk about un-nerving.

What should I do?

There really wasn't a choice.

So, I re-booked for a later flight and jumped the terminal train to go investigate with my wife.

Well, about three terminals away from my gate, we found out it was a false alarm at the house.

I jumped off the train, got on one going the other direction, and headed for the gate.

A credit to Delta Airlines as they put me on the last seat on the plane. So, I had two hours in the air to worry about whether it was really a false alarm or not. Turns out everything was fine and I made my way to The Four Seasons to check in before a dinner appointment.

Here's a picture from my room:

I would make it to Austin in time for dinner with our friend Michelle Diedrick at El Arroyo - a restaurant forever immortalized in a Pat Green song (Song lyric: We'll go down to El Arroyo have some tacos and beer and let ourselves go! Oh Yeah, Alright. Carry On!). Jen and I saw Pat Green at Rodeo Houston in 2007 - maybe the biggest party of my Rodeo Houston career.

The conference in Austin was great. In addition to the two restaurants I mentioned already, we also hit The Iron Cactus on Sixth Street and I showed off the Driskill Hotel to some colleagues from not familiar with the famous hotel that served at LBJ's residence when he was away from the White House.

The conference was great - my speaking part was strong, according to feedback I received following our presentation. I also met my new marketing hero George Wright. He's responsible for this fine work: Will It Blend?

My two favorites are the golf ball blending episode and the Coca-Cola Chicken. A $50 investment increased sales by a factor of 5.

I was also introduced to Blue Ocean Strategy - a great strategic concept that applies to every business - especially the emerging world of digital media.

Then the fun began - getting out of town.

Leaving Austin used to be easy. There were flights late into the evening. Now, as fuel prices soar and airline timetables have been sliced and diced - just like an iPhone from Will It Blend?

Now, five colleagues and I were on the last flight to Atlanta that Wednesday - the 6:10 Delta. We arrived at the airport with time to spare so I had a beer and a conference wrap-up chat with one of the consultants who works with Cox Radio.

Then were asked to board our Candadian Regional Jet airplane to make the 2-hour flight to ATL. I was seated next to a co-worked from Cox Enterprises. We were chatting away after take-off and after a 10 minutes in the air, I started to get light-headed. I looked at Kristen and said, "I only had one beer, right?" She laughed because she was feeling the same way.

At that point, the pilot issued an in-flight emergency and announced we'd be returning to the Austin airport. One of the engines was dead so we were going to land without any rear thrusters and that's why we were having light-headedness (word?). The pilot wasn't able to pressurize the cabin without the cooperation of all the engines.

The pilot was able to land the plane although we were surrounded by seven fire trucks on the runway. The experience was a little un-nerving. And since the plane was not air-worthy, we spent the night in Austin at this great hotel. The hotel is the former headquarters of the Strategic Air Command and when the Air Base in Austin was shut in the 90s, the building was saved and rehabbed into the hotel. The six of us who ended up travelling together had dinner and a couple drinks before retiring for the night.

I called Jen on my way to the room and joked about remembering how we always wanted to stay at the Austin Airport Hotel because of it's uniqueness? Well, I finally got the chance.

Some Baby Photos

Here are some photos on the boys.

These first two pics are almost 21 days old so we'll have new ones soon.



These are of the original ultrasound when they told us about the twins. Needless to say, we were a little shocked.