A Weekend in Blue Ridge

I've recently become a member of a group of friends who have an investment club and each month we meet at a different place, have drinks, dinner, and conversation, and, oh yes, talk about the investments we make as an incorporated group. This past weekend, we met at the Blue Ridge mountain home of friends and had a blast.

I drove up on Friday with a friend who is also a member of the group and we stayed in our host's home. Other members either have mountain cabins near by or stayed with friends who had mountain cabins.

The weekend was bliss: beautiful weather, great foot, fun conversations, laughter and friends. S&B's home is gorgeous and has a beautiful two level deck overlooking a small mountain stream. The weather was just warm enough to enjoy, and other than the pollen count which was very high, it was perfect.

The group values fun as much as profits from the group investments, so next month, it's a visit to the Lady Di exhibition in Atlanta, followed by dinner in a restaurant and a short business meeting and in June a trip in a rental van to Columbus for the Miss Georgia pageant. And, already, even though it's a half a year away, a discussion of where our annual meeting will be. Top contenders include Destin, Savannah, or Memphis.

And, did I mention, we discuss our investments, too.

iPATience

Anticipation is making me wait! (and making me crazy). When the iPad was announced, I knew I wanted one and placed my order for an iPad 3G on the first day. That seemed logical (and still does), but since WIFI iPads have been available since Saturday and there is still no shipping date for the 3G (sometime in "late April" according to the Apple web site), I'm reliving some of the same feelings I had as I anticipated Christmas as a child.

And to complicate matters, I made the mistake of stopping by the Apple Store today and actually "touching" and "using" an iPad. They almost had to snatch it out of my cold little fingers. And Apple sent the iPad case to me early and so I have an empty case for a few more days/weeks!

Just from my brief involvement with the iPad, I can tell it's great. I've been an Apple customer since 1984 when I worked at the Ringling School of Art and Design and set up the admissions program on a Lisa/Mac and networked other original Macs to the first model LaserWriter. Throughout the years, I've had nothing but Mac computers for my personal use, and even managed to incorporate Macs at the state job as well.

The simplicity of use, the elegance of design, the lack of ongoing problems -- all of these things have made me a big fan. But I don't think I've ever been as excited (or anticipated so much) the iPad. "Anticipation...anticipation is making me wait, is keeping me waiting!"

Santaland Diaries

Harold Leaver as Crumpet in Horizon Theatre's version of David Sedaris' "Santaland Diaries" gets better each year. It's totally amazing how the script is refocused each year to provide a familiar, yet different view into Sedaris' experience as an elf in Macy's Santaland. The script, though basically the same for each of the 8 years I've gone to the annual production, seems new each year because of small changes the cast makes. The set is entirely different each year and that calls new and innovative staging. The two supporting members of the cast are outstanding as they appear from every part of the theatre and become countless different characters during the hour and a half production. It just wouldn't seem like the holiday season without a trip to Santaland.

Normally Callie, Harold's sister, arranges for a group of friends to go to the production, but this year, with her deployment right after the holiday, I offered to coordinate the ticket sales for her. So, 19 people journeyed on Wednesday night to see Santaland. I had worked with Harold to be sure to plan something special for Callie (not only is she leaving, but her birthday is Friday) and special it was. A large card signed by the cast, a Santa hat, being called center stage for recognition and a standing ovation provided a show of love and support that the embarrassed Callie never would have wanted, but, in fact, appreciated. The photo shows the group (minus Brett who took the photo) with Crumpet after the show.

Godspeed, Callie. You and your platoon? will be in my thoughts and prayers until the 400 days from now when you return to Cheryl, Kate, and the rest of us who love you.

Christmas Gifts - A Joy or an Obligation!

Found the following on another blog today and thought it was interesting...

But what do you think of Christmas gifts? Do you get a joy out of giving them or do you find it an obligation? If it is an obligation, then why give? I think your receipient would not like being an obligation, and for all you know, they may be happier not having to receive and give anything at all!

Do you remember the Christmas song, 'Little Drummer Boy'? The little drummer boy sings that he has no gifts to bring that's fit to bring before a king, and in the end what he gives are himself and his drum. Likewise, in the Bible Jesus says that the widow who gave 2 little pennies, which constituted all that she had, has given more than the rich man, who gave a lot, but gave out of his excess.

Therefore, if you want to give, don't just give anything you can grab that's within your budget because you have to. Give of yourself; spend time to think what your friend or loved one might like and you may just find that Christmas gifts may not be such a chore after all.

quoted from http://cats-and-us.blogspot.com/2007/12/christmas-presents-joy-or-obligation.html

Where did Christmas Go?

My Grandmother once told me when I was a young teenager that time passed more quickly as you get older. At the time, I thought that was a ludicrous statement. After all 60 minutes is always 60 minutes! But, as with most things she said, she was "spot on" with this one, too. It is so hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone and it'll soon be 2008!

For some reason, I found it a bit difficult to fully get into the Christmas spirit this, but did have fun shopping for special gifts for special people. My staff is always a problem, so took them to lunch and purchased a "Flock of Hope" (chickens, ducklings, and goslings) from Heifer International in their honor, and they seemed quite pleased with that. Went in with others to get gift cards for our two supervisors so that became a no-brainer. Other gifts seemed to fall into place on my several shopping ventures.

There were several downers during the season, something I've come to expect as a normal part of life, at least of my life. A couple of them were expected; a couple hit me with some surprise, but nonetheless, they're all real and mark some more important changes in my life.

There were many positive highlights during the season as well: dinner at Shaun's as the guest of my supervisor, the Christmas carol service at church, time with family and friends, and last, but not least, the Christmas Eve service at church. I almost didn’t go. My son called and said he was too tired from his recent trip to NY to stay up that late and somehow I didn't want to go alone. I sat around all evening by the tree (all my presents were already wrapped--Yea! That's a first) and then finally at 10:00 decided to go. Rather than just wearing jeans, which was my first thought, I decided to "dress up" and enjoy. Got there about 10:35 and the church was rapidly filling up; delivered a bag of gifts to friends, found a seat (had to step over someone sitting in the end seat) and just as I sat down, saw CC&K and stepped back over this person to deliver a photo to them. Stepped back over him once again as I sat down. About this time, as the church was filling up, he slid over and sat next to me, introduced himself and we had a great short conversation before the service began. And the service was beautifully done! "Lessons in Carols" done better than it has ever been done there before. John and I shared a hymnbook and carried on a conversation as we walked out of church together. The combination of the beautiful service and meeting a new friend helped make the evening most special and truly got me into the Christmas spirit!

Beauty of a Water Balloon

Even a water balloon bursting can be beautiful in slow motion.

Fall is Here

It definitely turned to fall today in Atlanta!!! For the first time, the temperatures dipped into the mid forties and it was quite noticeable as I walked Braden early this morning.

Obviously the mountainous areas were even colder; I noticed it has gotten to 35 in Clayton, for example. This will mean that leaf color in the North Georgia mountains will occur rather quickly now. I missed the color last fall and thought I was going to this fall as well, but got to see a bit of early color on my trip to Asheville last weekend.

Cool (but not yet cold), brisk, sunny fall days are among my favorites. Living in the city, I particularly notice the change by the color of the sky and the absence of pollution in the air. It seems that the temperature inversion allows all those trapped pollutants normally held captive over the city to escape and we have gloriously cool and clear days and nights. I'm actually able to open my doors and enjoy fresh Atlanta air, something I'm not always able to do.