I found more posts on an old drive. They are from the 1st quarter of 2009. These may be the last of the old posts as I started using Facebook around this time and posted there instead of on my homemade blog page.
A couple of notes that might help make more sense of these posts: The primary audience was my mother. She was living in Arizona and this was before she was on Facebook. My sister Deb or Mom’s neighbors would print the posts for her to read.
Also, note that none of the links from the original posts are active.
2009 (1ST QUARTER) BLOG ARCHIVES
02Jan2009 On New Year’s Day we went to Mike and Linda’s and had a potluck with two other couples: Mike and Carol Burdette and Sam and Judy Pugh. Chris was back from Florida and he helped make some of the food. David called us to pick him an offer we can’t refuse. So we took David to Culver’s for a grilled cheese sandwich, fries and a Coke and then to Menard’s.
New Year’s Eve we went with Mike and Linda to the Marriot Courtyard in Ankeny for dinner and a dance. The meal was great and so was the band, Flipside.
Sad news that our friend Harry Cunningham lost his battle with cancer on New Years’ Day. The funeral is next Friday.
06Jan2009 I attended the first official board meeting of Hope Village. This is a big dream to establish a large self-contained ICF/MR village in Des Moines for an adult MR/DD population. The board is made up of very impressive members. The process of defining our mission and vision statement was a case study in how to collaborate. It was respectful and purposeful discourse with a result that reflected each person’s input.
07Jan2009 On the evening of the 7th we went to a visitation in Johnston. Our friend Marilyn Paul’s father died at the nursing home. He was 93, afflicted with Alzheimer’s, blind and lost his wife (Marilyn’s mother) in the previous year so his passing was not much of a surprise. We ran into an old friend, Howard Scott at the visitation. Howard once worked at GuideOne in auto underwriting and as a marketing rep. When he left to run his agency I took over his territory (IA and MO) in 1980.
08Jan2009 Harry’s funeral was today following the visitation last night. We went to the visitation as well and it was a quiet and somber affair. The funeral was sad as is typical when somebody so young (44) dies leaving behind a young family. At the luncheon, after the service, I visited with Kimber Davis for quite a while. It was great to catch up and to find her doing well.
A good old cash game at Dan’s was just what the doctor ordered. I was on fire the first couple of hours and up about $150 but managed to give it all back by the end of the night. Deron had a good night and was up over $100 when the game ended. Debbie, Mikki, and Aimee went to a movie. I don’t know which movie, but looking at movie guide, there isn’t anything that looks interesting to me. Besides, the new flat screen and the up-converter has us watching our favorite old movies again.
14Jan2009 Debbie and I volunteered to be small group leaders at the current Financial Peace University (FPU) at Hope. This is a record size class with over a 100 people in it.
Bill and Fay are doing okay in Germany. Fay is having “minor” surgery at the end of the month to help her breath easier. (The only “minor” surgery is surgery performed on somebody else!) They got a new car to replace an unreliable clunker and plan to move into base housing in February.
My flight lessons continue to be canceled due to the weather. Wind, snow, low clouds and now sub-zero highs have grounded the fleet.
25Jan2009 Tipping point alert: we are now Facebook mavens. We set up Facebook accounts. Okay –Aimee actually set them up since with her flying fingers she can breeze through screens like a hummingbird’s wings. I am sure she could do over 100 words per minute in pure tying but just as impressive is how she can navigate a website.
27Jan 2009 We have been table hosts at two sessions of FPU. There are three young couples at our table and a couple of friends from work that we are encouraging on their journey to financial peace. (I made an FPU page with links to resources – it is the Financial Peace link to the left.) This is getting us more involved at Hope along with me being on the board for Hope Village.
08Feb2009 Finally back in the sky! I need some instrument time, i.e., “under the hood”. To get this a pilot wears a view-limiting device like a hood or special glasses so they can only see the instrument panel and thus get no points of reference from outside the plane. I was pleased that the pre-flight process and ATC communication procedures were very easy to recall and I performed them well. As soon as we were off the ground and turned over to departure I put on the sight limiting glasses. For the next hour and half my instructor gave me altitude, speed, and heading changes while instructing me on how to use a few instruments to accomplish same. I felt like I learned a lot from this lesson and only have 1.5 hours required before I can test for my private certification. The Beatles wrote a song that is apropos to my flight training called, “The Long and Winding Road”.
Yesterday we met a reporter at the Des Moines Airport. They were given my name as somebody from West Des Moines with an unusual hobby. I guess you could consider flying unusual but it has been around for over 100 years. The reporter was nice and she took a lot of pictures of Debbie and me around the airplane. The article is to be published in March. If is good I will link it to the blog otherwise you will never hear about again.
10Feb2009 One of the couples we are helping with Financial Peace University came to our house so Debbie could help them put together a budget. I moved a TV to the end of the dining room table and hooked a laptop to it. (I first saw this use of a TV at the Hope Village board meetings at JD’s home.) It was fun and inspiring to us to watch this couple work through their income and expense for March and make rational decisions on how they would spend each dollar. This went so well Debbie was able to go back and budget the rest of February and started April with them. The whole group is working on it and making progress. I see a pattern of them moving from denial to a state of anxiety trigged perhaps by guilt, shame and fear (been there, done that and got the t-shirt) and on to hope. Each couple is pushing through and making hard decisions together. I am convinced that good family money management first and foremost requires a healthy relationship, i.e. the couple must be on the same page and at the same level of commitment for it to work. But working the Financial Peace program can be the “raison d’être” for a relationship strained by years of financial turmoil and the future will take care of itself.
15Feb2009 The February Family Birthday Party was held at our house with the Rivas clan, The Johnson clan (minus Nate), Mike and Donna, Aimee, Debbie and me. We had pizza and a triple chocolate cake from Costco. Later we went to pick up David and took him out to eat then ran a few errands with him.
20Feb2009 Debbie figured out the best way for us to travel to Washington, DC and on to Detroit in March. Our original plan was to drive to DC and back with a lot of sight-seeing along the way. Katie and the kids made plans to be in Detroit over spring break and my brother Bill and his wife Toni will be there too. How could we not go!? This trip had to work around Debbie’s financials and other duties so we had no choice but to fly to get to both destinations in the time available. She found a deal where we have round-trip tickets, including the layover in Detroit, for less than $500 each – not too bad.
Debbie has spent a few days watching Hunter as Mikki goes back to work. The idea is to help him transition into the new setting. She enjoys doing it and Hunter just lights up whenever he sees her face.
I attended a three-day seminar on agency management in West Des Moines by the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Insurance for the Certified Insurance Counselors (CIC) program. The seminar was great, especially the day led by Steve Anderson, the guru of agency automation. Steve is coming back to Iowa in May for the IIAA Tech Symposium and we plan to get together while he is here to go flying. Steve is a pilot and just got current again after a few years of not flying.
24Feb2009 I passed my FAA required physical so I should be good for two more years of flying. You would think we would all take care of ourselves for our own sake but it seems that requires a degree of discipline that is often hard to muster. Knowing that I will have to go through this every two years is an additional push in the right direction. Debbie and I did join a 24-hour fitness club two blocks from our home. We drive to it and then get on the equipment- go figure.
Yesterday Debbie and Aimee went to see the stage play of “Legally Blonde” at the Des Moines Civic Center while I covered the Financial Peace class. They really enjoyed the show and I didn’t mess up the class.
27Feb2009 Chris, Katie, and the kids arrived in Des Moines on Friday. As usual it took Allison an hour or two to warm up to us but of course, she did. It was great to see them again – I really missed them at the last few family events. The big event was getting a “grandchildren” picture taken. Saturday morning we went to Portrait Innovations at Jordan Creek Town Center and with the exception of it being very busy, the experience was good. The photographer was talented and great both with the kids and in her managing of the meddling adults. The pictures came out great and some were posted on Facebook by Debbie, Katie, Aimee, Mikki and me. We went to Applebee’s for lunch – not my favorite place but generic enough that everyone can find a favorite food. Chris and Katie ran some errands while the rest of us went to the mall. No sign of recession here as it was as packed with people. I noticed later that the state girl’s basketball tournament starts Monday so some teams may already be in town.
Earlier in the day on Friday, I went to Ames at the invitation of an agency owner I met in the CIC seminar last week. I had a great time meeting the staff and getting a behind the scenes look at a well-run agency using Applied’s TAM in an operation that is nearly paperless. We visited a lot about marketing and how “Web 2.0” is changing the landscape. I plan to keep in touch with them and see what happens as they start using these new technologies.
28Feb2009 I noted with sadness the death of Paul Harvey, the famous radio news commentator with the voice made for radio. I met him in 1993 when he came to Des Moines for a fundraiser sponsored by Des Moines Christian schools. I did a little radio when I was younger and to meet Paul Harvey would be equivalent to a serious bicyclist meeting Lance Armstrong. The event was held at the Polk County Convention Center. My job was to help direct him to the car after the speech and then ride in the car to the airport. His speech was well rehearsed and flawlessly delivered, a tribute both to his talent and the fact that he had a canned speech to fit all occasions. When his speech was over I got the high sign to go. I was a “wingman” and covered his back as he went down an aisle and then into a back room that led to a car parked in an alley. I clearly remember dozens of wait staff and security people lined up in the back room on both sides of our path, applauding as Paul Harvey walked by them. All of them had looks of genuine admiration on their faces. I didn’t see him put it on, but before we went outside into the cold, he already had a scarf around his neck. He explained he had to protect his most valuable asset – his voice. It was only a 15-minute ride to the airport and the small talk was about his typical day. He did express some regret that he wasn’t better briefed on the event as he could have personalized the speech to the event. We arrived at the airport and drove up to Signature Flying Service where a private jet owned by ABC Radio was waiting for him. I retrieved his luggage from the trunk, carried it out on the tarmac and handed it to one of the flight crew members. Paul Harvey turned to me and said, “Thanks, young man and Good…Day” Wow! I received a personal “Good…Day” from Paul Harvey. Paul, Godspeed, and thanks for sharing your remarkable gift with the world.
06Mar2009 I had lunch today with Russ Lettington, Syd Vanderlinden, and Jack Martinez. Ron Wilson was out of town. We had a great time catching up and chewing over old times.
Thursday afternoon was a social activity for work. About 20 of us in IT went bowling at Val Lanes. I get a rush of emotions going in there as it brings back memories of being on the Preferred Risk bowling team for almost 20 years. To make the memories more intense we were assigned to the same lanes I bowled on for the league.
The couples in the Financial Peace University class are all on target with their budgets. I was feeling a little odd since I had been to the dentist for a crown prep that afternoon and was still a little numb.
10Mar2009 Dr. A got me in to place the permanent crown on my molar before the trip to Washington DC and Detroit.
Last Saturday was the WPT. I did a lot better but still went out before my time. I am in 10th place for the year.
15Mar2009 We just wrapped up a few days in Washington DC for the AMSUG annual meeting. (AMSUG is the users' group for the software used to manage insurance agencies.) The meeting was at the huge Gaylord Convention Center at National Harbor about 25 miles south of the capital mall. We had a lot of meetings and events with the conference so we did not get much sightseeing done.
We did get to a couple of the Smithsonian Museums including the Air and Space Museum. It was incredible to be to stand just a few feet from the Wright Brother’s first powered airplane, the Apollo 11 command module and the “Spirit of America”, the airplane Charles Lindbergh used to cross the Atlantic
19Mar2009 Three days in Detroit and what a great time we had! We stayed and Ray and Deb’s while Bill and Toni and Katie and the kids stayed at Dan and Bonnie’s. We all got together at the Krasicky’s Monday evening. Lori Simon came over from Windsor. Tuesday we had dinner at Dan and Bonnie’s. Bonnie invited her family and the Zervas’. We meet Meri and Hayden at this party. Wednesday was back to the Krasicky’s for Buddy’s Pizza. Larry McCain, his daughter Jennifer and her two daughters came over from Windsor. Her youngest, Madison and Allison were like twins both physically and in their behaviors. All of the kids got along very well. Dan Krasicky took them fishing at a large pond just a block from the house where they caught dozens of fish.
19Mar2009 We went out to Mike and Linda’s to see Chris. He was visiting for a few days and heading back to Florida on the weekend. The move to Florida was good for him and he has plans for school in the near future. I read some of his latest articles that have been published and he is a great writer.
20Mar2009 Time for another poker game. Pat N at work has a regular game. I crashed and burned in the first game but I came in second in the second tournament.
29Mar2009 Debbie and I spent half a day at the office to close out a past financial year on her agency management system. We worked with a few people last week to get the system prepared for this process. Later we picked up David. A trip to Southridge Mall and Culvers for dinner was a perfect day for David.
02Apr2009 I went out to lunch with my lunch gang. Why would anyone pay for a lunch when they get one free at work? Our excuse was “Breakfast for Lunch Day” and, without a lot of distasteful detail, it is not very good unless you like reconstituted eggs, greasy sausage, and a French toast-like product. I drove and we ended up at On the Border by Jordan Creek Town Center. They seated us in the bar at a tall table with similar chairs. I don’t remember ever eating in the bar side of these type of restaurants so I looked at it as a continuation of my project to understand “Guy Stuff” and to be less like Sheldon or Leonard from “The Big Bang Theory” It was a disappointing lunch. The restaurant was loud and personal conversations were difficult and limited in distance. Worse there were TVs in every direction and the guys were distracted, almost Zombie-like, watching sports news. At least the fajitas were delicious.
A dry run for the “Vision Revealed” was held at GuideOne Thursday evening. We had a pretty good turnout; the key players were there and engaged. It was a productive and creative session so the final product will be good. I will be happier after the strategic planning session is done and the tasks are aligned with a plan.
On Tuesday our group at Financial Peace University seemed a little down but nobody owned up to it in the small group discussion. It is just hard work to go through the program which is why there will be no shortage of broke people.
04Apr2009 Mike and I went to see a movie, Watchman. (I recommend it). Linda, Aimee, Mikki and Hunter stayed at the house with Debbie and they watched “The Notebook”.
A couple of notes that might help make more sense of these posts: The primary audience was my mother. She was living in Arizona and this was before she was on Facebook. My sister Deb or Mom’s neighbors would print the posts for her to read.
Also, note that none of the links from the original posts are active.
02Jan2009 On New Year’s Day we went to Mike and Linda’s and had a potluck with two other couples: Mike and Carol Burdette and Sam and Judy Pugh. Chris was back from Florida and he helped make some of the food. David called us to pick him an offer we can’t refuse. So we took David to Culver’s for a grilled cheese sandwich, fries and a Coke and then to Menard’s.
New Year’s Eve we went with Mike and Linda to the Marriot Courtyard in Ankeny for dinner and a dance. The meal was great and so was the band, Flipside.
Sad news that our friend Harry Cunningham lost his battle with cancer on New Years’ Day. The funeral is next Friday.
06Jan2009 I attended the first official board meeting of Hope Village. This is a big dream to establish a large self-contained ICF/MR village in Des Moines for an adult MR/DD population. The board is made up of very impressive members. The process of defining our mission and vision statement was a case study in how to collaborate. It was respectful and purposeful discourse with a result that reflected each person’s input.
07Jan2009 On the evening of the 7th we went to a visitation in Johnston. Our friend Marilyn Paul’s father died at the nursing home. He was 93, afflicted with Alzheimer’s, blind and lost his wife (Marilyn’s mother) in the previous year so his passing was not much of a surprise. We ran into an old friend, Howard Scott at the visitation. Howard once worked at GuideOne in auto underwriting and as a marketing rep. When he left to run his agency I took over his territory (IA and MO) in 1980.
08Jan2009 Harry’s funeral was today following the visitation last night. We went to the visitation as well and it was a quiet and somber affair. The funeral was sad as is typical when somebody so young (44) dies leaving behind a young family. At the luncheon, after the service, I visited with Kimber Davis for quite a while. It was great to catch up and to find her doing well.
A good old cash game at Dan’s was just what the doctor ordered. I was on fire the first couple of hours and up about $150 but managed to give it all back by the end of the night. Deron had a good night and was up over $100 when the game ended. Debbie, Mikki, and Aimee went to a movie. I don’t know which movie, but looking at movie guide, there isn’t anything that looks interesting to me. Besides, the new flat screen and the up-converter has us watching our favorite old movies again.
14Jan2009 Debbie and I volunteered to be small group leaders at the current Financial Peace University (FPU) at Hope. This is a record size class with over a 100 people in it.
Bill and Fay are doing okay in Germany. Fay is having “minor” surgery at the end of the month to help her breath easier. (The only “minor” surgery is surgery performed on somebody else!) They got a new car to replace an unreliable clunker and plan to move into base housing in February.
My flight lessons continue to be canceled due to the weather. Wind, snow, low clouds and now sub-zero highs have grounded the fleet.
25Jan2009 Tipping point alert: we are now Facebook mavens. We set up Facebook accounts. Okay –Aimee actually set them up since with her flying fingers she can breeze through screens like a hummingbird’s wings. I am sure she could do over 100 words per minute in pure tying but just as impressive is how she can navigate a website.
27Jan 2009 We have been table hosts at two sessions of FPU. There are three young couples at our table and a couple of friends from work that we are encouraging on their journey to financial peace. (I made an FPU page with links to resources – it is the Financial Peace link to the left.) This is getting us more involved at Hope along with me being on the board for Hope Village.
08Feb2009 Finally back in the sky! I need some instrument time, i.e., “under the hood”. To get this a pilot wears a view-limiting device like a hood or special glasses so they can only see the instrument panel and thus get no points of reference from outside the plane. I was pleased that the pre-flight process and ATC communication procedures were very easy to recall and I performed them well. As soon as we were off the ground and turned over to departure I put on the sight limiting glasses. For the next hour and half my instructor gave me altitude, speed, and heading changes while instructing me on how to use a few instruments to accomplish same. I felt like I learned a lot from this lesson and only have 1.5 hours required before I can test for my private certification. The Beatles wrote a song that is apropos to my flight training called, “The Long and Winding Road”.
Yesterday we met a reporter at the Des Moines Airport. They were given my name as somebody from West Des Moines with an unusual hobby. I guess you could consider flying unusual but it has been around for over 100 years. The reporter was nice and she took a lot of pictures of Debbie and me around the airplane. The article is to be published in March. If is good I will link it to the blog otherwise you will never hear about again.
10Feb2009 One of the couples we are helping with Financial Peace University came to our house so Debbie could help them put together a budget. I moved a TV to the end of the dining room table and hooked a laptop to it. (I first saw this use of a TV at the Hope Village board meetings at JD’s home.) It was fun and inspiring to us to watch this couple work through their income and expense for March and make rational decisions on how they would spend each dollar. This went so well Debbie was able to go back and budget the rest of February and started April with them. The whole group is working on it and making progress. I see a pattern of them moving from denial to a state of anxiety trigged perhaps by guilt, shame and fear (been there, done that and got the t-shirt) and on to hope. Each couple is pushing through and making hard decisions together. I am convinced that good family money management first and foremost requires a healthy relationship, i.e. the couple must be on the same page and at the same level of commitment for it to work. But working the Financial Peace program can be the “raison d’être” for a relationship strained by years of financial turmoil and the future will take care of itself.
15Feb2009 The February Family Birthday Party was held at our house with the Rivas clan, The Johnson clan (minus Nate), Mike and Donna, Aimee, Debbie and me. We had pizza and a triple chocolate cake from Costco. Later we went to pick up David and took him out to eat then ran a few errands with him.
20Feb2009 Debbie figured out the best way for us to travel to Washington, DC and on to Detroit in March. Our original plan was to drive to DC and back with a lot of sight-seeing along the way. Katie and the kids made plans to be in Detroit over spring break and my brother Bill and his wife Toni will be there too. How could we not go!? This trip had to work around Debbie’s financials and other duties so we had no choice but to fly to get to both destinations in the time available. She found a deal where we have round-trip tickets, including the layover in Detroit, for less than $500 each – not too bad.
Debbie has spent a few days watching Hunter as Mikki goes back to work. The idea is to help him transition into the new setting. She enjoys doing it and Hunter just lights up whenever he sees her face.
I attended a three-day seminar on agency management in West Des Moines by the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Insurance for the Certified Insurance Counselors (CIC) program. The seminar was great, especially the day led by Steve Anderson, the guru of agency automation. Steve is coming back to Iowa in May for the IIAA Tech Symposium and we plan to get together while he is here to go flying. Steve is a pilot and just got current again after a few years of not flying.
24Feb2009 I passed my FAA required physical so I should be good for two more years of flying. You would think we would all take care of ourselves for our own sake but it seems that requires a degree of discipline that is often hard to muster. Knowing that I will have to go through this every two years is an additional push in the right direction. Debbie and I did join a 24-hour fitness club two blocks from our home. We drive to it and then get on the equipment- go figure.
Yesterday Debbie and Aimee went to see the stage play of “Legally Blonde” at the Des Moines Civic Center while I covered the Financial Peace class. They really enjoyed the show and I didn’t mess up the class.
27Feb2009 Chris, Katie, and the kids arrived in Des Moines on Friday. As usual it took Allison an hour or two to warm up to us but of course, she did. It was great to see them again – I really missed them at the last few family events. The big event was getting a “grandchildren” picture taken. Saturday morning we went to Portrait Innovations at Jordan Creek Town Center and with the exception of it being very busy, the experience was good. The photographer was talented and great both with the kids and in her managing of the meddling adults. The pictures came out great and some were posted on Facebook by Debbie, Katie, Aimee, Mikki and me. We went to Applebee’s for lunch – not my favorite place but generic enough that everyone can find a favorite food. Chris and Katie ran some errands while the rest of us went to the mall. No sign of recession here as it was as packed with people. I noticed later that the state girl’s basketball tournament starts Monday so some teams may already be in town.
Earlier in the day on Friday, I went to Ames at the invitation of an agency owner I met in the CIC seminar last week. I had a great time meeting the staff and getting a behind the scenes look at a well-run agency using Applied’s TAM in an operation that is nearly paperless. We visited a lot about marketing and how “Web 2.0” is changing the landscape. I plan to keep in touch with them and see what happens as they start using these new technologies.
28Feb2009 I noted with sadness the death of Paul Harvey, the famous radio news commentator with the voice made for radio. I met him in 1993 when he came to Des Moines for a fundraiser sponsored by Des Moines Christian schools. I did a little radio when I was younger and to meet Paul Harvey would be equivalent to a serious bicyclist meeting Lance Armstrong. The event was held at the Polk County Convention Center. My job was to help direct him to the car after the speech and then ride in the car to the airport. His speech was well rehearsed and flawlessly delivered, a tribute both to his talent and the fact that he had a canned speech to fit all occasions. When his speech was over I got the high sign to go. I was a “wingman” and covered his back as he went down an aisle and then into a back room that led to a car parked in an alley. I clearly remember dozens of wait staff and security people lined up in the back room on both sides of our path, applauding as Paul Harvey walked by them. All of them had looks of genuine admiration on their faces. I didn’t see him put it on, but before we went outside into the cold, he already had a scarf around his neck. He explained he had to protect his most valuable asset – his voice. It was only a 15-minute ride to the airport and the small talk was about his typical day. He did express some regret that he wasn’t better briefed on the event as he could have personalized the speech to the event. We arrived at the airport and drove up to Signature Flying Service where a private jet owned by ABC Radio was waiting for him. I retrieved his luggage from the trunk, carried it out on the tarmac and handed it to one of the flight crew members. Paul Harvey turned to me and said, “Thanks, young man and Good…Day” Wow! I received a personal “Good…Day” from Paul Harvey. Paul, Godspeed, and thanks for sharing your remarkable gift with the world.
06Mar2009 I had lunch today with Russ Lettington, Syd Vanderlinden, and Jack Martinez. Ron Wilson was out of town. We had a great time catching up and chewing over old times.
Thursday afternoon was a social activity for work. About 20 of us in IT went bowling at Val Lanes. I get a rush of emotions going in there as it brings back memories of being on the Preferred Risk bowling team for almost 20 years. To make the memories more intense we were assigned to the same lanes I bowled on for the league.
The couples in the Financial Peace University class are all on target with their budgets. I was feeling a little odd since I had been to the dentist for a crown prep that afternoon and was still a little numb.
10Mar2009 Dr. A got me in to place the permanent crown on my molar before the trip to Washington DC and Detroit.
Last Saturday was the WPT. I did a lot better but still went out before my time. I am in 10th place for the year.
15Mar2009 We just wrapped up a few days in Washington DC for the AMSUG annual meeting. (AMSUG is the users' group for the software used to manage insurance agencies.) The meeting was at the huge Gaylord Convention Center at National Harbor about 25 miles south of the capital mall. We had a lot of meetings and events with the conference so we did not get much sightseeing done.
We did get to a couple of the Smithsonian Museums including the Air and Space Museum. It was incredible to be to stand just a few feet from the Wright Brother’s first powered airplane, the Apollo 11 command module and the “Spirit of America”, the airplane Charles Lindbergh used to cross the Atlantic
19Mar2009 Three days in Detroit and what a great time we had! We stayed and Ray and Deb’s while Bill and Toni and Katie and the kids stayed at Dan and Bonnie’s. We all got together at the Krasicky’s Monday evening. Lori Simon came over from Windsor. Tuesday we had dinner at Dan and Bonnie’s. Bonnie invited her family and the Zervas’. We meet Meri and Hayden at this party. Wednesday was back to the Krasicky’s for Buddy’s Pizza. Larry McCain, his daughter Jennifer and her two daughters came over from Windsor. Her youngest, Madison and Allison were like twins both physically and in their behaviors. All of the kids got along very well. Dan Krasicky took them fishing at a large pond just a block from the house where they caught dozens of fish.
19Mar2009 We went out to Mike and Linda’s to see Chris. He was visiting for a few days and heading back to Florida on the weekend. The move to Florida was good for him and he has plans for school in the near future. I read some of his latest articles that have been published and he is a great writer.
20Mar2009 Time for another poker game. Pat N at work has a regular game. I crashed and burned in the first game but I came in second in the second tournament.
29Mar2009 Debbie and I spent half a day at the office to close out a past financial year on her agency management system. We worked with a few people last week to get the system prepared for this process. Later we picked up David. A trip to Southridge Mall and Culvers for dinner was a perfect day for David.
02Apr2009 I went out to lunch with my lunch gang. Why would anyone pay for a lunch when they get one free at work? Our excuse was “Breakfast for Lunch Day” and, without a lot of distasteful detail, it is not very good unless you like reconstituted eggs, greasy sausage, and a French toast-like product. I drove and we ended up at On the Border by Jordan Creek Town Center. They seated us in the bar at a tall table with similar chairs. I don’t remember ever eating in the bar side of these type of restaurants so I looked at it as a continuation of my project to understand “Guy Stuff” and to be less like Sheldon or Leonard from “The Big Bang Theory” It was a disappointing lunch. The restaurant was loud and personal conversations were difficult and limited in distance. Worse there were TVs in every direction and the guys were distracted, almost Zombie-like, watching sports news. At least the fajitas were delicious.
A dry run for the “Vision Revealed” was held at GuideOne Thursday evening. We had a pretty good turnout; the key players were there and engaged. It was a productive and creative session so the final product will be good. I will be happier after the strategic planning session is done and the tasks are aligned with a plan.
On Tuesday our group at Financial Peace University seemed a little down but nobody owned up to it in the small group discussion. It is just hard work to go through the program which is why there will be no shortage of broke people.
04Apr2009 Mike and I went to see a movie, Watchman. (I recommend it). Linda, Aimee, Mikki and Hunter stayed at the house with Debbie and they watched “The Notebook”.