Make it a Great Monday Lucy May - home stretch for semester

Cool pic hot off the press from College Station. Good luck Lucy on exams and get home safe tomorrow! Kyle and I had a big-time with the Hopke men out at Austin Golf Club yesterday. We shook Ben Crenshaw's hand at lunch!

Emily working a Chapter Goods pop-up. Mom 're-stiffening' MeMa's snowflakes! Sally and T seem good and busy as well. Chaps in semis and we are looking to tailgate in Waco on Saturday before 2:30PM kickoff.

These snowflakes have made it through 31 Christmas trees at the Singletarys! MeMa (my dad's mom) gave them to us when we were first married. Here's the process Mom used to restore them yesterday: 

If you decide to re-stiffen your snowflakes prepare for a job that takes many hours. Mine were getting limp and a little yellowed. (the girls favorite holiday treat was to suck them before hanging them on the tree.) I did research the sugar, starch and glue method. The sugar can cause ants that eventually destroy the snowflake and starch will cause it to yellow, so I decided on the glue method. No method is easy and the glue is super messy. To wash the snowflakes wash in warm water with gentle detergent and oxiclean. Make a glue mixture of 2/3 Elmers glue and 1/3 water. Stir well with a fork. One by one put snowflakes into glue-saturate well and lay on a box covered with Saran Wrap. Have lots of straight pins nearby- straighten snowflake and pin center first. Then pull edges tight. Continue with each snow flake. You can see that some need more pins than others. I used 1 1/2 bottles of Elmers for this project. It took 3 hours. 

How's your MIAGM? Pictures from the Thanksgiving weekend . . .

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!