Catching Up

Well, I know I'm as much to blame as anyone, but I really miss the good old days of frequent blogging. Facebook doesn't cut it for me and Twitter makes it too had to be either clever or sincere in 140 characters or less. Therefore, I'm recommitting myself to this blog. Here's what's been going on for me over the past few months:

We sold our house and moved out in August. After only a couple of months of trying FSBO we were about to give up and get an agent when, Lo and Behold we got a contract. We're currently living with my parents and hope to start building on our lot, at Summer Lake, soon.

Cub Scouts has started back. Grant is a Webelos II and I'm back as a Webelos Den Leader. Grant and Jennifer got to go Scuba Diving with the Boy Scouts at the Lexington Country Club pool, a couple of weekends ago. We also went on a Pack mountain biking trip at Harbison State Park for IMBA's "Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day" last weekend. It's going to be a great year for scouting.

The kids and Jennifer are Home Schooling again. It's a little tougher to do without a home. All three are taking Tennis classes on Fridays.

Blythe is taking a Hip Hop class with her new friend, Harper.

Of course, we're still hyperactive in church, with Praise Band, children's ministries, concert committee, Upward Basketball , and Upward Cheer leading. We're also now leading a Wednesday night Small Group discussing the Nooma videos, by Rob Bell. We also had Steve Fee and band in concert last month and it ROCKED!

My work has been crazy busy, with new business proposals, security audits, a HUGE project underway, and other insanity. We're starting to get serious about using Social Networking as a communications media, which is really exciting.

Last week I was in Baltimore for work and ate approximately 20 pounds of crab in 3 days.

Last night we went to see "Walking with Dinosaurs" at Colonial Life Arena. It was excellent and the dinos were very realistic.

So life is good. Still busy, but I'm really blessed. I'm hoping to reconnect with some old blogger pals (and some non-bloggers) and spend more time with my family.

Web Designers are Cool!

I want to work in THIS office...


Auto Tuning from Casey Donahue on Vimeo.

A Busy Bee!

Admittedly, I've been slack in my blogging lately. I've been reading everyone elses' posts, and y'all ain't necessarily rocking the blogs either.

Here's some of the stuff I've been up to:

Last weekend I went mountain biking at the Tsali Recreational Area near Bryson City, NC, with my buddy Alan and some of his work homies. (Here's Alan's recap.) It was very cold, but we had a fun rustic cabin and really enjoyed ourselves. The AMC channel was showing the Godfather trilogy so we watched the Godfather the first night and Part II the second night. None of us had ever actually seen either once in it's entirety so we felt like this was an accomplishment or right of passage. Good times.

Work has been very busy. After over a year of searching and interviewing I finally hired a new Web Development Manager. Additionally, I got an excellent contractor to finally agree to convert to Full-Time. So things at work are looking up. We're aggressively pitching a new web project to the government and that's looking very promising. Also, we're awaiting the results of several contract awards that would make life very busy but also very secure for the next few years.

I did not have to play in the praise band this weekend, since it was Youth Sunday. Instead I spent my Saturday in the woods on the very back of my lot cutting down trees and such in an effort to fend off encroaching Kudzu. I learned why you should always wear jeans while using a chain saw. No injuries, but I do have some new cut-off shorts now.

I finished a book I was reading, but I'll save the details for another blog post.

Today, after church, I took the family to see Bolt in Disney 3D. It was excellent. I am still amazed at how good 3D has gotten. That technology is so much better than the old red and blue stuff. Good story and excellent voices too. There is some excellent glass reflection rendering that I have never seen (or been impressed by) in animations before. Very impressive. I recommend you see it in 3D while you can.

Well, that about sums it up for now. The holidays will be busy... and sad for many of us. I'll try to post more frequently.

My New Nerd Phone

The lease on my work phone was up, so I just got an upgrade. It's not quite as hip as Rick's cool iPhone, but it's still pretty cool. I can now check email, blog, and surf web while driving. Coolness.

Missing Something?

This sign was on the door to the women's restroom at my office. Seriously, how could someone forget their teeth?

Tardy Pass

I'm cashing in a Tardy Pass for my delinquency in blogging for the past week. I've been very busy. But Steve has encouraged me to get back online and blog like the wind. Here's the play-by-play of my past week:
Saturday, Feb 9th
9AM - take my kids to Upward Basketball & Cheerleading.
Noon until Sunday Morning - Take my son to a Cub Scout Sports Day at USC (day camp, tour William's Brice, Basket Ball game against Vandy, Team Autographs, Tour Colonial Center, BBall Clinic, sleep-over.)
Sunday, Feb 10th
8AM - Pre-church service rehearsal
9AM - Play in Praise Band at Church
10:30AM - Attend beginning of Traditional Church service to see Grant lead everyone in the Cub Scout Oath on Scout Sunday.
10:45ish - Sneak in late to Small Group lesson (already in progress)
1:30PM - Head to Johnston, SC to attend a cousin's funeral.
5PM return home via Saluda/Hollywood with a stop off to check on my grandmother and my mom, who was staying with her. (Did I mention my grandfather was in the hospital?)
Monday, Feb 11th
take Blythe to school then go Work, work work.
6PM ish stop by Lex Med Center to check on Papa, who would be getting a Pacemaker the next day.
8:30PM - Praise Band Practice.
Tuesday, Feb 12
Blythe gets sick so I don't have take her to school (but I still have to go to work myself.)
Come home a get the kids homework finished and put them to bed, while Jennifer goes to a Jr. Women's Club meeting.
Wednesday, Feb 13
Work, work work.
Stay late and work some more, while Jennifer takes the kids to church.
Come home tired and wish I was at the Victor Wooten concert in Greenville.
Thursday, Feb 14th (Oh crap! It's Valentines Day already?)
Take Blythe to school then go Work, work work.
Come home to a romantic evening of parent/teacher conference, scout meeting, and then dinner for four (beer for one).
Friday, Feb 15
6:30AM - No school, so I go to work early (in hopes of going home early.)
Noon - Blogger's lunch with Rick and James)
7:45pm - Finally head home, after an after-hours website launch.
8PM - Arrive at home to discover that there is a little girl slumber party going on at my house. Oh, Joy. Begin drinking beer.
Saturday, Feb 16th
10AM Upward Basketball and Cheerleading
Noon - Head out to Saluda/Hollywood to check on the grandparents and the new pacemaker.
Tomorrow:
8AM rehearsal
9AM Praise Band
10:30AM Small group
Noonish head down to Charleston for another overnight cub scout outing (this time at the Charleston Aquarium).
Later this week:
Rehearse with Unto Him, for an upcoming gig; Annual awards dinner for work, prepare and deliver a presentation to my company's Executive Steering Committee, and drink alot more beer.

Gravy Fries

I had to go to Baltimore last week, for work. While at dinner one night, I tried the local fare...Gravy Fries. I know what you're thinking, but in fact they were not the most wonderful thing ever created. Not bad though.

Logo my Ego

Last week we unveiled our new logo at Palmetto GBA. This is a project I've been working on for over a year now, along with a couple of really talented graphics designers on my team, Chris and Ferris. Even though the website I'm responsible for gets hundreds of thousand of visits each month, it's really cool to see something you worked on get unrolled from the roof of your office building with the whole company looking on. Unfortunately, after a year to prepare for the roll-out, this project really only just got started.

The new look of Palmetto GBA

Left to Right: Chris, me, and Ferris (with the new logo in the background)

Another Busy Day

So much work, so little time...

Mugged at the Office

This mug was a Boss's Day gift (last month) form some of my employees. I hope they weren't trying to tell me something...

Crack!

I dropped my PDA on a tile floor at work recently and even though it was in it's "protective" case, the screen still cracked. It still works...sort of.