Seminar 2009

Well, we got back yesterday from our week away for Chick-fil-A Seminar. We went out to Long Beach, CA for the conference, and stayed for a couple of extra days. We got to see my brother, Rick, sister-in-law, Bert, and my nephew, Kevin. 

The speakers at Seminar were pretty great. Jim Collins, a famous writer of business books, spoke. Also, Kirk Cameron was there to talk about the success of the movie Fireproof. We got a picture with him.

We also heard Rick Warren speak -- you know the pastor who gave the benediction at Obama's inauguration. Yeah, him. I took Chris' picture with him but I chopped off their heads. Here it is anyway...

The weather wasn't all that cooperative while we were in Long Beach. So, we only got to really get out out one afternoon. I took a really great nap the other afternoon we had free time.:) Anyway, when we did get out we took a catamaran over to Catalina Island. It's about 26 miles off the shore of CA.  We took a little tour of the city of Avalon, which is basically the only inhabited part of the island. We are glad we went, but probably won't ever return... Just not that much to do there.

After Seminar we spent a day in Santa Monica shopping around and visiting the Pier, and the 3rd Street Promenade.  I really liked Santa Monica. Chris also found the place where the E-Glide electric skateboard is manufactured. After giving one a test ride, he decided to have one shipped to Daniel Island. Add that to his list of toys. It is really cool, though. I think he will have a blast on it. And maybe me too-- if I don't break my neck.

We window shopped on Rodeo Drive, but didn't buy anything. We did see a 1,000,000,000 diamond necklace in Tiffany's, though. We didn't even get to touch it, though. I am about 99% sure that I saw the blonde Mormon guy from this season's Real World Brooklyn cast while we were in the Lacoste store. We also saw lots of Bentley's, Maybach's, and Rolls Royce's.

We had gotten tickets to the Jimmy Kimmel Live Show for Thursday, but after spending 2 and 1/2 hours trying to drive the 13 miles to get there, we were late and missed the taping . We were so sad that we just kind of stood outside of the building trying to figure out what to do next. One of the producers from the show came up and asked us if we wanted to be in the show. We, of course, said yes, and then got be in the background of a promotion they filmed for Subway. They wanted to compensate us for our time with Subway gift cards, but we asked them to get us into the show for the next night, and he did. The only time we were in the shot during that taping,  they edited it out. It was still a lot of fun, and Chris made friends with one of the Security guys who said that anytime we are back out there he will get us into the green room. So, I think Chris is already trying to figure out when he can go back. The guy, Dev Patel, from Slumdog Millionaire was a guest the night we got to see the show, and that was pretty neat to see.

So, I guess we had a pretty busy time while we were away. It was a nice break from life before the opening of the store in April. I amglad to be home. I missed the boys so much. The house is still standing, and everyone is all in one piece. I know they ate well while we were gone because did all of the cooking. Sorry I missed that.

Tomorrow is Nosey's 6th birthday!! I can't believe it still. He is getting so big, and actually has a loose tooth. That's my boy...

Where do I even start?!?

Well, I have put this off long enough. My computer has been a little screwy, so I haven't been able to upload any pictures to it. As  result, I have no new pictures to post. Let's just go ahead and get that straight. That's really the main reason that I haven't posted in so long. I figured nobody would really want to read what I had to say nearly as much as they would want to see the cute pics of the kids that I usually post. SORRY! I am trying...

Anyway, we had a great holiday season. The boys had a really fun break from school. It was very relaxing. Now, however, it is full steam ahead. The grand opening for the store is set for April 9th. Chris is extremely busy at work getting ready for the big day and the many busy days to follow. It was nice to have good quality time over the holidays, though.

Next week is Seminar. We head out to Long Beach, California on Saturday for a week. We had scheduled a trip to Hawaii on the front end of the trip and a trip to Lake Tahoe for snowboarding on the backside. Chris felt like he needed to cancel the trip, though, because the opening date of the store kept getting moved closer and closer. He just really wants to be ready for things. I am sad, but I get it. We will reschedule soon hopefully...

Just plugging along. Tater Tot is talking more and more, and you can even understand him sometimes now. He starts swimming lessons next week in order that he might learn some water safety skills before the summer. No-no is working very hard at school and really enjoying it. Although, at times I have felt differently about this, I really believe that he is well on his way to learning to drink from a straw. He is the happiest child, and I really feel lucky to be his mommy. And Cookie... let's see, he played his best basketball game ever last Saturday. He can now drop in on the skateboard ramp he got for Christmas - all by himself! 

So, that's it in a nutshell. I think we are caught up enough now so that I no longer need to feel guilty. YAY!