Stay Whole Tuesday

Lucy looking sharp on a rainy morning in Austin

Good day Sal Pal. How is your week? A rainy morning here, but anticipate sunny skies by the afternoon. Lucy was cute this morning in her blue palette and prepared for high waters. Emily had a good day at Lost Creek yesterday, with a round of 78 and a third place finish. She also took the longest drive contest, making Ricky May say to me, "She can't be your kid?" We are excited you are coming home for Easter. Grandpa is coming in from North Carolina as well. Love and miss you. Stay whole. Dad

Emily with a nice third place finish and longest drive trophy at Lost Creek

Make it a Great Monday

Emily's Graduation Party Invite!

Fit as a Fiddle Friday

New glasses for dad

Back yard bathing beauties

New glasses for mom

Great picture of Mattie

Gay gave us this picture when I was home for Grandpa's 80th and I have it on my desk. I scanned it and wanted to share it with you. Love - Dad

Freedom, space, and independence

Sally,

Your mom and I kept dating each other after that birthday picnic in Mendocino. I moved to Aspen and she was living with her parents in Macon. I traveled extensively for my work and it was easy for us to see each other on weekends and holidays. We spent time in amazing places, like Crested Butte, Taos, Hilton Head, Lake Tahoe, Sanibel Island and others. The more we were together, the more I knew that she was the girl of my dreams.

In July of 1987 she came to Aspen for an extended stay. She was going to take 5 weeks to see how she felt about our relationship. We had a great time, but during her visit she decided to take an open ended backpacking trip to Europe with my friend Sara Beth Jones. I was happy that she was going to get to take a once in a lifetime trip, but I felt it was best if we ended our relationship. She came to Aspen to see if we should be together, and it seemed (at least to me) that she was not able to answer that question. So we broke up.

It was during the time that mom was in Europe that she decided she wanted to spend the rest of her life with me. She had no idea whether or not I would still be available, but she knew she wanted me back. I am sharing this story because I believe that (sometimes) the only way you can know what you want in a relationship, is to not be in a relationship.

We were seven years older (at that time) then you are now, so in some ways things were different for us. We had each dated several other people and even been in fairly serious relationships. We also had spent quite a bit of time dating many different people and not being in a serious relationship. These experiences contributed to who we were, by the time fate put us together.

I am not trying to sound like some kind of 'wise old father' speaking to his precious daughter, but I do hope to impart on all of my girls the importance of two things: (1) 'freedom' and 'space' in relationships; and (2) the importance of independence and spending time alone, not in a serious relationship. 

And by-the-way, I know you already understand this and I am very proud of you!

Love,

Dad

Staying whole - a story continued

Hey Sally,

You may remember I recently posted a story about my first Valentines with your mom. There was a picture of a card that I gave to her 25 Valentines ago.

I ended the post with this . . .

Shortly after that, she came to visit me in California and we went on a trip up the Pacific Coast. We had a picnic in a field near Mendocino, CA and I gave her a very special birthday present in a brown envelope. I have never told my children about that birthday present . . . stay tuned . . . stay whole.

In the brown envelope was a letter that I wrote and read to your mom on the picnic. It starts like this:

March 29, 2040. The early morning sun sparkles into the Pacific Ocean surf. A calm steady breeze brings life to wind chimes dangling from a beach front balcony. A seagull swoops down as if to peer into the room . . .

Page: Good morning sweetie and Happy Birthday. You look beautiful. How does it feel to be 80 years old?

Cathy: I feel great!

Page: You look great. Get dressed. I've got a surprise for you.

The dialog goes on for many pages. After I read it to her that day, we put it away and agreed that we would not read it again until March 29, 2040. Now a lot happened in our relationship between that day and when we eventually got married. I want to discuss one particular element of our 'courtship' a bit more over the next few days, as I think you will really relate to it.

Stay tuned . . . stay whole,

Dad

Staying fit in Austin

Contorted Goose

Hey Sally,

You would be so proud of Lucy and her continued passion for dance. She has been working super hard at her studio, and her flexibility and muscle tone are really improving. She has a series of core exercises that she does every day that are amazing!

Emily is also working out with a trainer, trying to strengthen her lower body and become more flexible. Mom continues her early morning boot camp series with Pam Browning and they are threatening to join a running club. Even 'ole dad has found his way back to the gym, training with Clay Arendes and some other guys over at the High School three mornings a week at 6 a.m. I  still get to the yoga studio 2-3 days a week as well for an hour of stretching and collecting my thoughts.

I know you are staying fit and eating healthy as well. That makes us proud. We are happy you are at Pop and BeBe's for the weekend. Give everybody our love!

We miss you,

Dad

Flying squirrel

Valentines Fairy - Stay Whole Tuesday

Happy Valentines Day!

Good morning Sally. It looks like the V-tines Fairy made a stop on Easy Street. She also may have visited you in a virtual kind of way. We love you! - Mom and Dad

Make it a great Monday evening

Hello Sally,

It has been a good Monday here, with rain most of the day but now sunny and warming up. Emily is out with mom, applying for summer jobs. Lucy is hanging at the house before dance class tonight. Here is a couple of pictures of baby Perry you will enjoy. He's been asked to do some cereal commercials. Great looking kid!

Love,

Dad
 

 

Heartbreak and Sally's project

Dook 85 UNC 84 - nuff said.

Here's Sally's storyboard project and her explanation:

I had to make two concept boards. (the sentence that goes from one to the other is my concept) It is probably hard to understand them with out hearing the whole presentation but I like how I designed them and they took like 6 hours each.

Game Day - Carolina v. Duke!

The Duke-North Carolina series has gone through its share of blowouts and nail-biters, meaningful buckets and memorable shutdowns. But how tight is this rivalry historically? One point over the last 75 meetings, according to the ACC office. Duke leads 5,858-5,857. The Tar Heels will take the lead tonight! Hope you like the photos of the Goose decked out for 'Game Day'. And be sure to check out this special rap song, sure to grow your passion even more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO8f7JSOnRo

I will pick up my Valentines story tomorrow . . . this is love and hate of a different sort and it deserves our full attention each February as well!

25 Valentines ago

A Valentines Story . . .

In September of 1986, I went on a blind date with your mom when we both lived in Lexington, KY. By February of 1987, approximately five months later, I had fallen madly in love. I had moved to California and then to Colorado. Mom had moved home, to Macon, GA. The card in the picture is the first Valentines card I ever gave your mom! It came with a white rose, a pink rose, a yellow rose, and a red rose.

Shortly after that, she came to visit me in California and we went on a trip up the Pacific Coast. We had a picnic in a field near Mendocino, CA and I gave her a very special birthday present in a brown envelope. I have never told my children about that birthday present . . . stay tuned . . . stay whole.

Damn Yankees

Trey Slack with Lucy and Abigail Downing

Hey Sally,

We had a great Super Bowl Weekend, highlighted by Trey Slack's starring role in the musical Damned Yankees. As usual, the performance was amazing and the talent level simply off-the-charts. Trey has a beautiful voice and talking to him after the show in PAC lobby reminded me of your last Hyline Performance. You were such a beautiful dancer and I miss those days!

I had fun yesterday making some good progress on the photo project (organizing for digital conversion.) I stumbled into a bunch of pictures, cards and letters from when I was dating your mom. Next week will be our 25th Valentines together and it has me really thinking about the meaning of 'true love'. How do you know when you have found the one for you?

More to follow on that subject throughout the Valentines Season.

Make it a great Monday,

Dad

Have a jazzy time at your formal!

Emily all styled up to go to Eddie V's for a party and Lucy sporting her new duds from Aunt ShuShu. I hope you have a great time at your formal and remember to . . . stay fit!

Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy

MIMI

Sally,

Here is something new from Autodesk that you will like. So will your talented sisters and mom.

It is called MIMI and it is a meeting place for people who love style and design. The url is www.mimistudio.com

Let me know what you think?

Love,

Dad

Women Power Wednesday

Hey Sally,

How's your week? I transferred your February spending money last night. We are enjoying  beautiful weather and the house is standing tall after our cleaners were in yesterday. I am waiting on a drainage specialist this morning, who will hopefully help us figure out what to do to avoid another flood.

I hear your week has been interesting?

Women have the power,

Dad