"Potpourri for $800 please, Alex"

Since it has been a while since my last post, I thought I would take take you through a journey of the last couple of weeks. It's actually been pretty crazy, I racked up about 5,000 miles in travel for work, and we had several visitors stop by the homestead.

It all started with a business trip to the Beehive State. While I was there I decided to visit with some old friends and take in a Jazz playoff game.

I met up with Sarah and Cindy at the Red Iguana in Salt Lake. Cindy did a fine job of describing the interesting wait-staff and the evening. It was great seeing them again and the food was mighty tasty. But, to be honest, I think I prefer the Blue Iguana downtown better. I also have to admit that when we decided to go to the Red Iguana, I thought we were going to the other one. Luckily it didn't disappoint. I hadn't seen either of them since last summer before we drove to Florida.
Despite the fact that I am not the biggest Jazz fan out there, I got invited to Game 3 against the Houston Rockets. WbW is a corporate sponsor, so I was in the company seats. We also recognized one of our major prize drawing winners during halftime - so I was actually working.

Rich, Justin, and Lee - coworkers. Unfortunately Rich and Justin are not only huge Jazz fans - they are also big Ute fans as well. I guess I should probably feel sorry for them.

As I mentioned earlier - we made a halftime presentation at mid-court.

This is our winner - I can't remember her name. She won the choice of $50,000 or 2 brand new cars. She chose the cars. No one ever chooses the cars. One of the tasks my department performs is we do all of our Major Prize Drawings. Earlier that day back up in Seattle we were doing out annual drawing - a chance at a million dollars. So, if you ever wonder if we actually give away the prizes we promote - we sure do. And more than likely I am "witness" in the selection of the winner.

Game 3 did not have the outcome the Jazz fans were hoping for. And despite missing the first return episode of LOST - I had a great time watching the Jazz lose.

I got home on Friday, and on Sunday, I was back on the road - this time on my way to DC. WVO (employer) is a member of the American Teleservices Association and every year they hold their annual Washington Legislative Summit. While my most people would find telemarketers discussing the latest in dialer safe-harbor laws, Political Action Committees, and self-regulation pretty boring, the ATA did a really good job and it was a lot of fun. I was able to meet Paul Begala from CNN and several sympathetic members of Congress who are deeply concerned about the plight of teleservices in the US - we are a dying breed that positively impacts the US economy.

While in DC I met up with Jay Sternberg and his then fiance Stacey - they are now married. We went to a fantastic Mexican Tapas restaurant downtown - Oyamel. By the way - my fish tacos are better. Oyamel makes the guacamole fresh in front of you.

Jay and Stacey. Jay and I went to Northwestern together. I tried finding some old photos of Jay and I at Medill, but my other computer is down right now. Jay works for Blackboard and Stacey is a researcher at Georgetown University. I was great seeing them and enjoying an excellent meal.

After the conference I stayed in DC for one more day to visit the city. It had been several years since the last time I was there. I checked out the National Gallery. I had been there before, but I really like museums and I couldn't resist their collections. The East Gallery has an exhibition on paintings and photographs featuring the forest at Fontainbleau. While I was in France I made several trips to the chateau at Fontainebleau. During Napoleon's reign Fontainebleau was a worthy alternative to Versailles.

I lost my notes - I think this one is like The Jolly Longboat Dancer or something like that.

Monet's Japanese Footbridge.

Van Gogh.

more Monet.

check out dude's mug - again, can't find my notes.

I really hope it was P-Day.

Washington Monument.

Since my last visit to DC, the WWII Memorial is a new addition to the Mall.

It's pretty moving. As you enter the memorial from the Washington Monument, the sides are adorned with reliefs depicting scenes from the war.

The detail of each panel is extremely life-like.

Each column represents either a State or a US Territory.

After I got home Ray and Frankie showed up on our doorstep looking for a handout. Actually, Lisa's parents were in town to look at their new house they bought on the coast. We are really excited to have family nearby. They are going to be bicoastal, spending winter here in Central Florida. It was nice to have them in town. I was also able to spend Mothers Day this year with them. Lisa was out of town for work, so it was up to me to celebrate the day for Frankie. I made a great dinner and Frankie was able to choose her favorite ice cream for dessert - she chose Cookies and Cream.

Our third time on the Winter Park boat tour.

Ray and Frankie. I had to sneak this one.

Nautical humor.

This is a stark reminder that we live in a region of the country that produces hurricanes. I was in the kitchen and heard this large crash and looked outside to see our BBQ on the ground. It had been extemely windy that day and I think a gust caught the cover and pushed it over and it fell off the patio. It must have been a pretty powerful gust, because it wasn't that easy to pick it back up and back on the patio.

Old Man Shepherd. I was checking out the Shepherd family blog last weekend and noticed they referenced a trip to Orlando. I shot Bryan an email to confirm the dates and over the weekend I spent some time with them at SeaWorld. Bryan and I were roommates back in Seattle about 7 years ago. Since then, he finished his PhD at UW, got married, and had three kids! He now is a professor at Vanderbilt in their BioStatistics Dept.

By the way, Lisa is back in Tanzania for ITECH. She gets back in a 8 days (not that I am counting)!! Boo and I miss her something awful.