Snow in the Southeast

I thought by leaving Denver I had left the snow behind. I've heard they only have had 1 inch in the Denver metro area this fall. What?!? Charlotte got 4-5 inches.

Xmas in Charlotte

Dean decided this is what you were supposed to do when a pillow is lying on the ground. We believe he learned this by watching Aunt Shelley and mom sit on pillows or lie down on pillows whenever we went into the playroom. Love the reindeer jammies.

Dean "turtle" in his new turtle shirt from Aunt Suzanne.

GT SAA event

As a GT mentor, I attended the GT SAA event. The topic for the evening was networking and the speaker, Nadia Bilchik. I've heard speakers on the topic before, but Nadia was definitely more entertaining then others since she spoke from interesting experience from her broadcasting background at CNN.

Rumi's Kitchen

To celebrate completion of budget season, my boss treated our team to lunch at Rumi's Kitchen. It's persian food; I tried the lamb kabob. I'd recommend it.

Stomp and Chomp

We checked out Stomp and Chomp in Cabbagetown today. Some awesome chili at last year's winner, Grind House.

Apprentice

Met up with Suzanne and Anand at Hudson Grill for an Apprentice viewing party.

My New Car!

I've traded in the Mazda and bought a new Acura TSX. The hardest part of the purchase was picking the color. I ended up going with silver.

Greek Alumni Council Breakfast Panel

I participated in a breakfast/panel discussion event sponsored by the GT Greek Alumni Council this morning. The panel consisted of 2 other greek alumni that work at non-profit organizations. We shared our experiences with current GT students. It was an early morning and I think many students were enticed to come partially for the Waffle House breakfast. It is nice being back in Atlanta and available to participate at GT events on campus.

A weekend with Dean

I had fun babysitting Dean this weekend and got to see his first little shuffles/steps early Sunday morning. Later we took a walk and Dean fell asleep on the way. I didn't want to wake him, so I just laid the seat in the stroller back and let him have a little nap outside. It was a beautiful fall day.

Corn Maze

I went to my first corn maze at Cagles Family Farm in Canton, GA. It was complete with a hayride and smores over a bonfire. The corn maze was not quite as exciting as when I went to an outdoor haunted 'house' and a guy was chasing me through a corn field with a chain saw. Actually, the latter was not so much scary as it was pretty funny.

Turtle's visit

I enjoyed hanging out with the turtle. It's fascinating to watch him play and discover new things.

GT Homecoming

AXO Alum Happy Hour

Eileen and I went to The Livingston at the Georgia Terrace for the AXO Alum Happy Hour.

GT Football

I haven't been to a GT football game since 2005. The campus has changed quite a bit. It was ridiculously hot and the game was at noon. I lasted one quarter in the stands, then moved to a place of shade for the 2nd quarter. The first picture is the view from my seat. The second picture from a place I found to watch in the shade.

US Open

I spent Labor Day weekend in NYC visiting Suzanne. We went to the US Open and saw John Isner play Mikhail Youzhny. Tennis spectators remind me of golf spectators; it's very quiet. I enjoyed going to the night session. It was nice and cool.

Ocean Isle Beach

I enjoyed a little r&r with Shawn's family at Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina. Dean was fascinated with turning pages in the paperback I was reading. Whenever he would start getting restless, putting the book in front of him would entertain him for at least 15 minutes.

Middle Sister

I was browsing the wine at Kroger and came across this label that was very unique and quite fitting. They have a variety to types and each are a different "Middle Sister".

The sun has set in the Rockies.

It has been a busy last couple of months. I decided to move back to Atlanta and take a job at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. I start in a week. This blog was titled "Sunset in the Rockies" chronicling my whereabouts in Denver. With the move, I think I'm going to take a blog break. Perhaps in a bit I'll pick it back up again under a new name.

Easter

As usual, we did our egg decorating for Easter. The new addition this year was glitter!

Ellen and Joan were pulling for Eileen's favor in winning by making 'Dean' themed eggs. Ellen made the turtle and Joan went with the simple "Dean" written on an egg.

I did the patch-eye pirate with inspiration from Jack Sparrow.

Tigger had his own egg and enjoyed some salmon from our brunch.

Easter Egg Hunt

New Denver Church put on a free Easter Egg hunt in Wash Park. Advertising for it got picked up everywhere; I believe Channel 9 was the camera guy in this picture. The turnout was unexpectingly huge and the eggs were all picked up in 30 seconds. I handed out candy to those who didn't make it in time for the hunt or didn't get an egg.

The Big 50

Aunt Ellen turned 50. Those candles said "Oh No The Big 50". Fred and Vicki were in town for their annual trip to Copper Mountain, so we spent the weekend up in the mountains.

Chicago

I went to Chicago for the ACHE (American College of Healthcare Executives) Congress. I had a little time to spare and was able to get away from the conference for a few hours on the nicest weather day. Here's the "Cloud Gate" which reminds me of the spacecraft in Flight of the Navigator.

I went to the Art Institute of Chicago; I wish I could have spent more time there but was able to see all the impressionism.


















The only hang-up of the trip was my flight back being cancelled due to "a bird hit the plane" - luckily I wasn't in it when this happened.

Tearah's Baby Shower

I held a baby shower for Tearah. I got the cake from a place called Cake Crumbs that matched the "King of the Jungle" theme. I found the bakery online; their store is in a neighborhood area and seems to be popular with the locals. I think they did a great job with the cake. The games included "What would mommy prefer" (choosing his/her traits), and matching people's names to the meanings using the names of the guests.

Banff Film Festival

I went to the Banff Film Festival at the Paramount theatre. The film festival is held internationally, each location shows various entries. Basically they are short videos highlighting anything having to do with the mountains - sports, culture, or environment.

I saw the following films:

The Ultimate Skiing Showdown (WATCH THIS ONE. 3 min video showing cross-country tricks on the Vancouver Olympic course - cool soundtrack)

Africa Revolutions Tour (kayakers in Africa including Madagascar - I think these guys are a bit crazy)

Deep/Shinsetsu (skiing, snowboarding and noboarding in Japan in waist deep powder through back-country - the noboarding was like surfing in snow)

Hunlen (ice-climbing on a partially frozen waterfall in Canada, not a good idea)

Revolution One (unicycler that goes on mountain biking trails and various other rugged landscape)

The longest film and winner of the festival was Finding Farley. This couple traveled across Canada by kayak with their 2 yr old son and dog to visit Farley Mowat. It also won the people's choice awards - I think because of the cute kid and dog. My favorite part was when after several MONTHS of kayaking they had to take a train across part of the country. The 2 yr old was trying to coax the dog into his carrier but the dog walked off. So the 2 yr old proceeded to get on his belly and shimmy himself back into the crate to demonstrate to the dog what to do. The dog watching this...then joins the 2 yr old in the crate. All you can see is fur then a hand reaches out to close the gate. Also, I couldn't help thinking when I was watching this adventure that the parents are a little nuts - they did end up going through some rapids and that seemed a little dangerous with a 2 yr old. Really? Camping for 4 months with a 2 yr old in diapers? That couldn't have been pleasant. Unfortunately the kid probably won't remember any of it - he did get to see some fantastic scenery. I guess he can always watch the video when he is older.

Keystone

Went up to Keystone with a co-worker. It was actually a pretty warm day for the end of February. The conditions were decent - a few icy patches.

Winter Park

I went up to Winter Park with a few co-workers. It's nice to go up to the mountains in the middle of the week with no traffic. It was a beautiful sunny day. I will say that Winter Park is not the place to snowboard unless you plan to be on the black slopes all day. The greens are nearly all flat. Even the blues go into flat greens.

Julia Child's Night

In August, Joan, Ellen and I saw the movie Julie & Julia. After seeing the wonderful dishes made in the movie, we decided to have a Julia Child's night. Joan made the infamous Boeuf Bourguignon which was delicious. I attempted to make the almond chocolate cake. At first I thought it didn't rise correctly, but after looking at pictures on the web, it's a pretty flat cake. Ellen decided to make bread although got the recipe online since there aren't any in the original cookbook. She ended up buying it after an attempt at making it ended up in the trash.

Pirate Latitudes

I haven't updated the blog in awhile and figured January deserved an entry. No new restaurants or events to speak of - so instead a book I recently read - in an afternoon. Michael Crichton is one of my favorite authors and Travels one of my favorite books. I'm sorry he's gone. They published this manuscript found on one of his PCs after his death. It is the type of book I would read on vacation since it only took a few hours and is very light reading. I believe it will be turned into a movie, and I expect it will be very entertaining.