Happy Thanksgiving and a few thoughts that start with 'F'

Happy Thanksgiving! Sharing a sweet card from Margaret, Stew, and Nell Fuller, leading me towards a few 'thankful thoughts' that start with the letter 'F'.

Fullers: I always think of the Fullers on Thanksgiving and the many good times we have shared together. Our life is 'fuller' because of all of you!

Family: Thankful for my sisters and their families. Thankful for my Uncles and Cousins and their families. Thankful for Cathy's family, her brother, sisters, and all!

Faith: 'If God is for you . . . who can be against you.' I am thankful for a belief in something bigger than myself and this little earth we call home. It's a complex system, but it is home for now and I strive to make the most of the journey each and every day.

Friends: Thankful for my UNC Buds and our text thread. (Go Heels today vs. Michigan!) Thankful for my Rudy's 360 men's 'Bible Study' and so many other men who have shaped my life. To mention a few whom I hope to connect with over the holidays this year: Coach Paul Rogers, Moyer Smith, Todd Parker, Jack Schwartz, John Laskowski, and Curt Langford. Thankful for my high school friends! Thankful for all of our dear friends here in ATX and other cities where we have lived: Aspen, Williamsburg, Nashville, West Chester. Thankful for my golfing buddies and the good walk spoiled we are so lucky to endure together. Fore!

Fort Herndon: Thankful for Mikey and Jim and all of our great neighbors through the years. Thanks, Jim, for your service and to all who have served!

Fitness: Traditional morning 'family walk' here in Austin heading down to the lake on Rockcliff Road. Maybe a little chipping and putting with T! Thankful for Train 4 (Four) the Game and all the great trainers who keep us moving in all 'planes' of life: Sagittal, Frontal, Transverse!

Finances: Thankful for Autodesk, as well as my clients at Google and EA. Celebrating eight years of fruitful work.

Football: Go Chaps on the 'Road to State' vs Westlaco East on Friday night! Here's to the Empty Nester Tailgators! Rivalry week: Go Dawgs vs Ga Tech. Go Heels vs NC State. Go Aggies vs LSU. Go Longhorns vs Texas Tech. Congrats Yale - Ivy Champ!

Fun: Game night on Saturday with the Hopkes!

Food: Thankful for turkey and all the fixings with Rodge, Tracy, and the Andersons and Rapiers. Left - Right - Center!

Congrats Westlake, Yale, and UGA - Make it a great Monday

Hey family,

Yale wins Ivy League title, and the 'other' Bulldogs (aka UGA) keep rolling along with a hard-fought win over the Aggies. Westlake advances into Regional Semi-Finals, and plays in San Antonio Friday night at 7PM vs Westlaco East.

Mom is off to Georgia for few days to be with Beth Castellaw (whose mom passed-away) and Beth's family and friends in Macon. She will visit Ms. Hogan (Cole's mom) while there. Prayers for Beth and for mom's trip. Lucy gets home for Thanksgiving break tonight and can take over Bailey care! (Bailey doing great by the way.) Kyle and Emily in upstate NY with Kyle's family, return to Austin late Friday evening. Sally and T arrive on Wednesday afternoon.

Happy Thanksgiving week and be sure to Make it a Great Monday!

Love,

Dad

P.S. Two truths jumping out at me today from Ryan Holiday's Stillness is the Key:

Don't feed insecurity. Don't feed delusions of grandeur. Both are obstacles to stillness. Be confident. 

Confident people are open, reflective, and able to see themselves without blinders. All of this makes room for stillness, by removing unnecessary conflict and uncertainty and resentment!

Think about both of those statements and all of the things we tend to get worked up about that just simply do not matter. Those 'things' get in our own way and often cause us not to move towards the good, the easy, the fun, and the light! Easy to say, not easy to do. It takes a lot of self-awareness, but learn to ask yourself, 'does this really matter?' Or, 'why am I so worked up about this or that?'

Roane Puett: Austin CC Legendary Golf Member and Friend

Great fun at Austin CC yesterday with the above group of golf buds, plus dinner in Harvey's with spouses. Left to right: Brian Utley, Roane Puett, Michael Costello, Ed Healy, gPage Singletary, Chris Ellis, Jim Hopke, George Hillhouse, and Trey Thompson. We drew for 3-man teams over breakfast in the Penick Room and had a beautiful day for golf.

Team Hopke (photo above) took home the main bet with a net-best two-ball score of minus 2. Trey Thompson in the middle is a big Tar Heel fan, as he married Porter, a UNC grad. Trey is a Princeton grad (played some Ivy League hoops) and UT business school. Always fun to spend time with Trey.

Roane Puett, on the left, is a legend. His wife, Barbara Puett, is teaching Cathy how to play golf. We sat next to Barbara and Roane at dinner last night and had a ball hearing Harvey Penick stories. Roane has eagled every hole at ACC except number 18, and he has 21 hole-in-ones. He humbly says he has played a lot of golf, so others could do the same if their careers were as long as his. We all know it is not that easy! He played for Harvey at UT and later served as Assistant Coach/Mentor to the team when he returned to Austin after military service. 

The first time Roane (who grew up in Midland) ever hit golf shots for Harvey was when he went out for the team. Harvey watched him for five or so shots and simply said, "I reckon with a grip like that, you can 'probably' play. You are on the team!" Read more about Roane here.

Michael Costello, Chris Ellis, George Hillhouse made up 3-ball team two. It was a bit chilly in the morning but warmed up as the day progressed.

Brian Utley in the badass hoodie plays to a 2 index and has one of the best short games you will ever see. He also enjoys helping others and is just a wealth of golf knowledge. Ed Healy on my left is always fun. His game is trending up, and he is your go-to on any golf rules questions.

Go Mattie - Fit as a Fiddle!

Looks like Mattie is hitting the gym hard on Fit as a Fiddle Friday . . .

Big game this weekend! = UGA vs A&M

House divided! Saturday @ 2:30PM CT

Chaps in round two tonight in San Marcus. They are heavy favorites to keep going on the Road to State.

I had a great Vegas trip and the best Autodesk University ever. Check out this post on LinkedIn.

Bailey - thanks Emily, we will do our best!

Woman Power - Dr. Elizabeth Hausler

Lucy: The above jumped out at me as I started day three at Autodesk University. More on wisdom (and understanding) in a future Nugget.

Yesterday, the keynote was quite remarkable. One of the featured speakers was Dr. Elizabeth Hausler, who founded a global non-profit, Build Change. I had a chance to visit with our CEO, Andrew Anagnost for a few minutes after the keynote. I plan to introduce Andrew and Elizabeth to our neighbor, Sean Dobson, at Amherst Holdings. They have similar challenges in the housing market, though Build Change is a non-profit and Amherst is obviously a for-profit business. 

[REST OF STORY HERE: Starting Pitcher and Incubation at Autodesk (Postscript noted in bold under chart)]

Elizabeth's goal: "Empower 10 million people in emerging nations to live and learn in safer homes and schools in the next 10 years."

Learn more about Dr. Elizabeth Hausler by watching the video below.

Woman Power Wednesday!

Stay Whole Peeps: Dr. Scott Peck and The Road Less Traveled

Good morning from day two Autodesk University - Las Vegas. Stumbled into this draft of a letter I tucked in Lucy's suitcase when she left this past summer for Surfing the Nations. 

Quoting from my letter:

"You already are self-aware, and have a great sense of these key themes taught by Dr. Peck (The Road Less Traveled):

-Self-discipline and delayed gratification
-Accept responsibility
-Balance
-Love is not a feeling, but rather an action
-Spiritual growth through expanding your world view
-Finding grace in the ordinary

Love you all,

Dad

Make it a Great Monday - Hello from AU

Good Make it a Great Monday morning from Autodesk University in Las Vegas. I'm gearing up to host 20 plus Googlers this week and looking forward to it.

This was my favorite foursome from the weekend: Cathy, Tracy, Tom, and Harvey. These two ladies are really getting after their golf games and I am excited to have my spouse join me on some great courses around the US and around the world.

Chaps advanced through round one of the playoffs on Friday night at home.  We watched on TV. Next week versus Brennan, I believe at a neutral site.

I hope everyone has a great week! Check out video below . . .

Love,

Dad

Digging deeper - A Psalm of Life and the importance of living in the present

Ryan Holiday (Austin, TX writer) has a new book out called Stillness is the Key. Look for it under a Christmas tree at 3901A Belmont Park Drive soon. That's right, it is almost time for the annual chop down the (biggest) tree at Home Depot and search out the box and bricks and such to make it even taller! Are you ready Kyle and T?

I want all my peeps to read this book if you so choose. One of the first chapters is called 'Become Present'. It is all about learning to live in the present . . .

Thus, the verse from the famous A Psalm of Life (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) poem I referenced in yesterday's Woman Power Wednesday post - 'Lunch with LuLu'.

Trust no future, howe'er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act, - act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Here's the whole poem. When you have 10 minutes, keep this post nearby and watch this high school teacher, Tim McGee lecturing to his class about this poem. I so wanted to be Tim McGee! (Warning, the video ends abruptly when the bell rings if you make it to the end. I dare you to at least make it to the stanza above. I love everything about his teaching style and delivery.)

A Psalm of Life

BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

   Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

   And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

   And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

   Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

   Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

   Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

   And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

   Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle,

   In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

   Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!

   Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act,— act in the living Present!

   Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us

   We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

   Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,

   Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

   Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

   With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

   Learn to labor and to wait.

Longfellow

Lunch with LuLu - Woman Power Wednesday

So fun grabbing a late 'Lunch with LuLu' - one of my favorite Chi Omegas, in College Station yesterday. Lucy had spent the morning and noon hour at her high school (Young Life), where a girl who graduated last year sadly passed away the night prior - 'Ziggy'. She asked me to pray for Ziggy and her family. Ziggy was diabetic and was not taking very good care of herself.

Lucy seems great. She is so happy and confident. She has a fantastic attitude about what is ahead this summer, as she waits for things to play out between Young Life Camp, Laity Lodge, and possibly some travel abroad.

Lucy - We can't wait to have you home for the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks!

Here's a stanza I love from the famous Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, A Psalm of Life, that speaks to the importance of living in the present:

Trust no future, howe'er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act, - act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Did 'erybody' Make it a Great Veterans Day Monday?

I hope so . . .

Always a great day to think about 'Pop'. Thank you Sally for the sweet message and reminder yesterday. Here's a post I made back in 2011 that kicks you over to 'The Churn' - my attempt to become a blogging sensation. (-: I was on a roll back then and 'The Churn' served me well as it helped me land the best job ever at Autodesk.

Here's my 'Remembering Pop' tribute I wrote when he passed away in July of 2012. One of my favorite pieces of writing for sure. I get emotional when I re-read it, but it also pulls me closer to Pop.

Wouldn't he have loved this past baseball season with the Braves doing so well? And I know he is proud of his Georgia Bulldogs as they make a third or fourth straight run at a National Title. 

Go Dawgs . . . Go Pop!

Fit as a Fiddle - T and his granddaddy!

I love this picture! Brings me back to this Nugget from T last October. I hope everyone had a productive week. I've been in flow, as they say, out West chasing Google business. Enjoying breaking down some things with Kyle and Taylor from this Podcast: Whoop Podcast No. 46: Steve Weatherford, Super Bowl Champ, Entrepreneur, Fitness Expert. This guy was an NFL punter and has a lot of interesting stuff to say. He talks a lot about the four 'F's' - Faith, Family, Fitness, and Finances and how it is nice when all four of those things can work well in one's life. I think he is spot on . . .

Catching up on some Nuggets - Woman Power

Good times with these gals in ATX last weekend - Sterling, Chase, Vic, and LuLu! I loved the chance to 'get-to-know' Lucy's peeps better and to connect on LinkedIn!

Lucy and Amy heading to spiff up Kyle Field to raise money for Young Life

Fit as a Fiddle Friday - get your foam roll on

Saturday games:

• Columbia vs Yale @ 11:00AM
• UTSA @ Texas A&M @ 11:00AM
• Georgia Florida @ 2:30PM
• Heels vs Hoos @ 6:00PM