We See Amos Lee this Saturday Night!

Laura is driving down on Friday evening, and my sister Betsy is coming Saturday with either my neice or her husband in tow to see Amos at the Granada theatre in Dallas. Gary and Phillip will be joining us for dinner and the concert, so it should be a blast!!!!

My Dad . . . Watching My Mom's Clown Act At The Old Settlers' Picnic . . .

Tina Tickets Have Been Purchased . . . You Lucky Boys and Girls!!!!

We have Tickets in Section 219  (yellow, second level) that are so much closer than the other tickets I could have bought (Ground Floor, but Section 114 or 115 . . . WAY much farther away)... So we ARE GOING TO SEE TINA!!!!!!  I Can't Wait!!!

Julia and I See The Eagles Tonight!

I took Julia, Taryn, and Caitlin to see The Eagles at American Airlines Center in Dallas this evening.  It might have been the best concert I've ever been to in my life.  They started a few minutes after 8:00, and they didn't stop until a quarter to midnight.

We got home around 1:00, and I'm going to bed as soon as I hit "publish" for this post.

They sang a lot of the new stuff from "Long Road Out Of Eden" and all the good old stuff as well.  The girls had a ball.  They wanted to eat at "Dick's Last Resort" which worked out great, because it was downtown right across from The House of Blues, so we could walk over to the AA Center after dinner.

It was definitely a night for the memory books, and well worth the money for the tickets.  It was really nice to do something extra special for Julia, and of course I loved every minute of it.

Although the highlight might have been every time Julia spotted some drunken middle aged man dancing his butt off to the music.  She spotted on man on the other side of the arena, who was wearing a bright red shirt and dancing right under a light, so he was very visible, and quite animated.  I heard Julia laughing (screaming) and couldn't figure out what it was.  The people next to her had to ask what she was laughing at, and once they say the guy, the started laughing too.  It was all very funny, and a great night all around.

Oh, well, Anankah is meowing downstairs for me to come to bed.  She's obviously feeling neglected with us running out on her all evening long.

I can't wait to get under the covers, but morning is going to come awfully early, I'm afraid.

 - Q

Our Houston Office Suffered Hurricane Ike Damage . . .

Our firm's largest office (with over 150 lawyers) is in Houston, and we received word today that their building suffered severe damage from Ike, and will likely remain closed for most of the coming week.  Thank goodness Ike drifted East of the DFW Metroplex.

All we got here was gentle, persistent rain yesterday, and today is sunny.  I might even take a quick nap in the pool later on.

We go to see the Eagles this evening.  Julia is taking Caitlin and Taryn along as well, so it should be fun, but it is going to be a long drive home this evening, as I don't imagine we'll be home much before midnight!

Betsy has emailed with an update from her area of Houston.  Her house suffered minor damage (broken fence . . . downed tree limbs) but her parents' house is reported to be nearly a total loss (more on that when she can get down there to see for herself).  Luckily, her parents had moved into an assisted living facility over the summer, so they were not there for Ike.

Julia is Cast in the Fall Musical . . .

Her character's name is "Dina" and in addition to a bunch of group and girl ensemble numbers, her solo is "Interjection!" and is the penultimate musical number in the show. She is so excited about everything to do with this. She has wanted this since she was a little girl, and turning off her lights last night and tucking her in (it was after midnight before I could calm her down enough to get her in bed), she said "Daddy, I'm just so happy."

Thank God for days like that in your child's life.

A Beautiful Spring-Like Autumn Begins at The Hotel Abandon . . .

Only at The Hotel Abandon, do the flowers think it's spring on the edge of Autumn.  The weather has been mild, the pool a delightful 82 degrees, and life is settling into what will soon be our "Junior Year" mode for Julia and I.  We begin week three of this penultimate high school year for her, and already it's beginning to feel less like an experiment and more of a routine.  She told me twice today, "Daddy, I love my life."  Wow, what a wonderful thing to hear from her lips after all the heartache she has been through the last five years.  It made my heart sing to hear it once, let alone twice in the same day.  I think she's finding her "stride" and it's a wonderful thing to watch, truly.

We were talking about the final Harry Potter movies over lunch the other day, and I said that with the delay, we'll at least have a movie every year for 2009, 2010, and 2011, and when the word "2011" came out, we both looked at each other with a shock, as we both realized that she'd be in college before Harry Potter finished his run at the multi-plex.  That didn't seem right, that my little girl could grow up before I finished taking her to all of the Harry Potter movies.  But time and life march on.

And I'm beginning to love my life again, as well.  Autumn cleaning is almost done, only two rooms and a garage to go (which will mercifully wait until next weekend) and I'm ready for the year, which is good because the holidays will be here before you know it.  Of course, the "holidays" start on October 1 at The Hotel Abandon, as that is the day we always put up the Halloween decorations.

Surely a Sign that the "End of Days" is Coming . . . .

My daughter got the highest grade in the class on her first physics test yesterday, a 90 that got curved up to a 95. My little princess set the curve! I was so proud! She's really taking Junior Year very seriously.

The I-Pod Breaks A New Record

I've been without a functional desktop to update my I-pod for almost a month, so today I had a lot of work to do getting recently acquired CD's loaded into the I-Library, and I just hit a new benchmark ---- 24,000 Songs and Counting!!!

I know . . . it's a sickness......

Labor Day At The Hotel Abandon Was Festive!!!

Labor Day At The Hotel Abandon. . . .

My friends left at noon today after a long, wonderful, relaxing weekend spent mostly by the pool at the newly landscaped "Q-Lagoon"  . . .  We celebrated 27 years of knowing each other yesterday, August 31, 2008 . . . and what a long strange trip it's been.

Laura made up several new words, shared her thoughts on her work with the Carter Administration during the Metric System push of the late 70's, and of course, moderated over another scintillating session of "Think Like Laura" - which Paul barely won, squeaking out over Shanna and Shaun who were second and third in what a point spread of -1 and -2, respectively.  Betsy has what I would deem to be "probable" incriminating photos, most of which were take by the aforementioned "Betsy" although we affectionately refer to her as "Aunt #%^&*#*#(!!" - - - and Paul shared some fascinating information about "Potential Spaces" - - - which definitely has NOTHING to do with home renovations . . . . . 

The only thing that was missing this weekend was the presence of our dear friends John and Don, Patrons of The Confused Castilian, who would have made the weekend complete.

I am so blessed to have all of these wonderful people in my life.......

 - Q