Rock on, son!

My son Daniel asked me after church yesterday if I would get down his toy guitar (see picture below from Christmas morning 2005 when he first got the guitar ... note how he's already expertly bending the notes) so he could play with it. My wife and I were pretty tired and wanting a little quiet and relaxtion, so we told him no. We said he could play with his other toys and play with his guitar some other time.


Daniel appealed and said, "but I need my guitar so I can rock!"

That's my boy.


Daniel improvising a drum set from a toy ironing board

Martin girls got game!

I work with a really cool, nice guy named Fonzell Martin, and his daughters all have some pretty mad hoop skills. His youngest, Kaylan, who plays for the Pflugerville Panthers, was featured in an article today in the Austin American Statesman, link to story here.

Photo credit: Brian K. Diggs. From left, sisters Bianca Sauls, Cierra Martin, and Kaylan Martin played basketball together at Pflugerville. Kaylan, the youngest, is now in her senior season and again aiming for state.

Thankful in 2008

2008 was generally a pretty tough year overall. Some of the challenges this year I have mentioned previously such as:

• Kevin Aymat's tragic death (this blog was started partly in homage to him).
• Trying to sell house in early 2008, no buyers (not even close).
• Higher than normal number of illnesses in our family.
• Economy / my 401k tanking / high gas prices / risk of layoffs at my company / mandatory time off unpaid required in 2009.
• No conservative candidate running for President, slightly more liberal of the two candidates winning election.
• Oklahoma playing in BCS title game instead of Texas.
• Tiger Woods out for 2nd half of golf season (poor me, I know...)
• Rather stressful short notice car search over the Christmas / NY holidays.

However, I think I should take time to call out things that I appreciate and am thankful for in 2008. This helps me feel better and focus on the good things I have and am blessed with. So, I am very thankful for the following in 2008:

• I have a wonderful family that is healthy and loves me very much. While we did have lots of irritating illnesses in 2008, I am thankful they were all short-term / virus type things and nothing chronic / serious.
• Gas prices did not stay near $4/gallon.
• NOT being able to sell the house may have been a financial blessing. Had we sold for our asking price and moved closer in to work / church, we'd likely have a larger mortgage+gas expense than we do at our current house. With the unpaid time I have to take, having this lower budget is good.
• Lauren turned 4 and finally completed potty training. No More Diapers!
• I was NOT laid off and still have a great job with good benefits.
• Our unpaid time required is ONLY two weeks. Many companies have had more severe pay cuts or unpaid time off required.
• I have a nice gym on site so I can stay healthy and exercise on a tight schedule. I was able to work out 200+ times for my 7th year in a row (we log in at the gym so they track that).
• Our car search resulted in a very nice, low-mileage car that will reduce our gas expenses and is better for the longer / interstate driving I do in my commute.
• Natasha is enjoying her doula work (see her web site here), and is getting more clients and able to charge more because of her increasing experience.
• I was able to play golf with my uncle Barton and cousin Billy at Texas A&M Traditions Club, see photo below.
• Natasha and I had a great stay-home vacation last summer while the kids went with Winston and Becky to Mesquite for a week. We ate at some great places (Uchi, Eddie Vs, Fogo de Chao).
• Tiger Woods gave me one of my greatest sports memories ever with his incredible US Open win with a torn ACL (see previous post).
• Tiger Woods returns for this season with his knee healthy. Can't wait for the Masters!
• I have great friends in our church / band that I live close to and can visit / have parties with frequently. We had several really fun parties last year.
• I am enjoying our church band a lot. Things that had stressed me out about it in the past no longer do. I'm having a great time with it.
• While Texas didn't get to play in the BCS title game, any time we can beat Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Ohio State in the same year, that does not suck.

I'm looking forward to making this list again in Jan 2010 ...

from left: the author, Billy Day, and Barton Day on first tee at Texas A&M Traditions Club in College Station, TX

More bumper sticker ideas

I live in the Austin, TX area, a very liberal town. Needless to say, I see a lot of anti-Bush bumper stickers around, such as "I don't have to like Bush to love my country,", or "Yee-Ha is not a foreign policy". So now that Obama is president, I want a few of my own, such as:

-- I don't have to like Obama to love my country
-- Question Obama
-- Kumbaya is not a foreign policy
-- 01.21.2012

Jackson Meat Party, Steelers-Ravens

My friends Wes/Corey Jackson threw a party Sunday night to bid farewell to Corey having any free time to throw parties, as she's starting back to school spring semester soon. She blogs about her experiences as an older student (older than typical college-age students, anyway) here. Also, they had lots of meat (steaks!) on hand, so they decided to have a little steak-inventory-reducing party for the Kyle folks in the band. Hey, Jackson Meat Party -- that's not a bad band name! It also sounds like a political 3rd party I could get behind.

So we had some steaks, potatoes, and some bacon-wrapped-stuffed jalapenos, red wine, and Dos Equis. We alternated between watching the Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game and a Delirious concert DVD (Live at Willow Creek). See below for one of the better songs from that concert that our band wants to learn, Miracle Maker (great guitar solo):



We had a great time, although I was a bit concerned that I'd just watched someone die on TV near the end of the Steelers/Ravens game. Video highlights here. Down 24-13 near the end of the game, Ravens QB Joe Flacco threw a short pass over the middle to running back Willis McGahee, who was leveled by Steelers safety Ryan Clark on a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit. McGahee was knocked out cold and dropped the ball, basically ending the game when the Steelers recovered. He was carted off the field in full neck brace. I thought the guy was dead when I saw the hit. Fortunately he is expected to recover fully and have no lasting damage. It certainly makes me rethink whether I'll let Daniel play football, though -- jeez.

And so the Steelers will play the, let me see if I have this right, the ARIZONA CARDINALS in the Super Bowl? The same Cardinals who finished the regular season 8-8 and were being called one of the "worst teams ever to make the playoffs"? The same Cardinals who lost to the Philadelphia Eagles by over 30 points near the end of the regular season beat the same Eagles in the NFC championship game? Yep. It is seeming more and more like the regular season W-L record doesn't matter in determining who will win the championship. As long as your team makes the playoffs, they have a legitimate shot to win it all, esp if all the key players are healthy.

Daniel playing with Christmas toys

Daniel, at Stephen and Tami's house for Christmas 2008, doing his best impression of the Borg from Star Trek. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile!

Eric the Plumber?

I was walking down to our company gym yesterday for my lunchtime workout. In addition to being a pretty nice little gym, it's also, sadly, the best place lately to find out which groups are having layoffs by talking to your coworkers from various organizations. Anyway, on the way, a lady stopped me and said, "had anyone ever told you that you look JUST like Joe the Plumber?"

Joe the Plumber, Joe Wurzelbacher, is the guy who achieved a measure of fame when he asked Barack Obama in the presidential campaign about him raising taxes, and Obama responded with a comment that included something about "spreading the wealth around."

Anyway, I know he has a shaved head, but I don't think I look THAT much like him. Do I?


Other folks with shaved heads ... Peter Furler, lead singer of the Australian Christian rock/pop band Newsboys:


Or Howie Mandel, former game show host of NBC's "Deal or No Deal":