Miscellaneous

Kolby is home.  All is right with my world again.  This was his last trip to Seattle (for grad school); now it's downhill until graduation in August!  Here are some pictures that a friend of his took of their time there.

Where Kolby stayed:

 A joke that's totally lost on me:

 Kolby having a conversation with Mark Jarman, who was a guest lecturer and also happens to be one of Kolby's absolute favorite writers and the main reason Kolby got interested in writing poetry in the first place:

 My happy camper:

 One of Kolby's best friends in the program:

What they really did the whole time:

While Kolby was gone I told a friend that “We are loading up and heading to the ranch this evening” and then got a little embarrassed when she asked who was going with me and I had to admit that I had used “we” with reference to me and Maya.  What can I say, she’s good company.

A few Saturdays ago was family work day down at the ranch.  I sit and work at a computer for over 8 hours a day 5 days a week, and sometimes I just really need to get away to a place that looks like this:Even if it means riding a tractor until the sun burned my shoulders to a crisp.

Eight years ago, my dad and I bought a boat.  OK, my contribution was limited, but I still lay claim to it.  Last weekend, my dad and I sold said boat.  [Cue the gasps from my friends--- I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.  There just was no easy way to say it in person, so I’m hiding behind the internet. :)]  It was just time.  We got a ton of use out of that boat through high school and college and beyond, but it just wasn’t getting used as much anymore.  When we took it to the boat shop the guy was very impressed with how many engine hours it had on it (that’s the comparable statistic to mileage for a car).  I guess a lot of people buy boats and then just don’t end up using them that much.  Our family (and friends) used the heck out of that boat.  It was perfect for us and I have a ton of fun memories of spending summer days out on the lake.  Here is our beautiful boat on the day of our final farewell:

And just for fun, here are some pics of my friends at the lake sometime forever ago (late high school or early college) that I found in a folder on my desktop last week:

 We had our final Life Group of the winter season a couple weeks ago.  Now we have some time off before the next round starts again.  Also, our church is getting really close to moving to a more permanent location, which is really exciting. 

Kolby preached at church last Sunday.  He filled in at the last minute when our pastor got really sick a few months ago, and I guess he did a good enough job to be asked back.  This time no sick pastor, just an invitation to preach.  Encore!  He did a phenomenal job, if you ask me.  :)

Have I mentioned here that Kolby’s parents gave him half season tickets for the Rangers as an early graduation gift?  Yep, we have 2 tickets to every-other home game this year.  Any guesses how many games that is?  41.  41!  We're already 3 games into it and it's a lot of fun already.  Ask me again when it's over 100 degrees outside and it may be a different story, but for now it is really fun.

At work this past week I was assigned a speaking engagement in Austin on June 28.  This is very, very unfortunate.  Being the keynote speaker at a an annual conference of 250+ people?  No problemo.  Giving a talk that lasts a full hour?  Easy peasy.  Leaving town 3 days before my nephew's due date?  NOT COOL.  I booked my flights in as narrow window possible so that I'll only be gone for about 8 hours, but if the baby decides to make his debut in that time frame I will absolutely die.  Tucker, if you are reading this--- don't even think about it, buddy!

Speaking of babies, we threw a precious (if I do say so myself) baby shower for Alayne and baby Collin today.  Now it's just a waiting game until the day we get to see his sweet face!

That's all for now. :)