It Was The Day After Christmas.............

And all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for Dad who had to get up bright and early and head for the office. It will be a quiet week since much of the business community in Atlanta are operating with skeleton crews. We have a total of 7 associates in the office today including myself, which makes for a very quiet day allowing me to catch-up on emails and the backlog of work that sits on my desk. It is also a great time to get organized for the New Year. Much to do in 2008and so little time left to get prepared.

So, how was Christmas for everyone? We had a relatively quiet affair although the days leading up to Christmas were rather busy. Last Friday morning I was out of bed at 5:30 a.m. and by 7'ish we were off to North Carolina. It was originally scheduled to be a solo trip, but Joe and Ellie decided on Thursday evening that they also wanted to visit Uncle Joe and while I don't really know if Uncle Joe was fully prepared for the Company, we had a great time and really regretted having to leave on Monday morning. Joe and Ellie were mostly well behaved (as much as you can expect from an 11 old lad and his 9 year old sister) and really enjoyed spending time with their Uncle Joe. Joe is of course my brother's namesake and has a strong bond with my brother. I came out of the bedroom on Monday morning just before we headed back to Atlanta and the two of them were sitting on the couch having an in-depth discussion about my brother's health. Joe had overheard my brother and I discussing his health and he decided to make a few inquiries of his own to make certain he understood what was happening with his Uncle Joe.

The trip back to Atlanta was uncomplicated, with relatively light traffic until about 35 miles outside of Atlanta and then we hit both construction and wall-to-wall traffic. It took us just over an hour to travel that last 35 miles while the rest of the journey took around five hours. The total journey is roughly 390 miles, give or take 10 miles, which means that I drove 355 miles at an average speed of 71 miles per hour before hitting the wall just outside of Atlanta. I put the cruise control on 75 miles an hour and just sat back and guided the car home. We stopped a couple of times, but speed was the priority and so we kept our breaks as brief as possible.

Once we arrived back at the house we had about three hours to rest before heading for the Christmas Vigil Mass at Holy Spirit. It was the children's mass and both Joe and Ellie were participating in the service. Ellie led the congregation in song throughout the Mass and Joe was asked to carry the wine and water to the altar just prior to the communion service. Joe looked quite proper in his new sports coat and did an admirable job considering the number of folks sitting on chairs in the middle of the aisle (the church was packed, as it almost always is for this Mass each year). Ellie was quite articulate with the exception of the word "Liturgy", which she just could not pronounce to save her life. Mom and Dad were of course most proud, as were her Grandparents, who are visiting us from the UK.

Christmas morning arrived far too quickly. I was out of bed relatively early to put on the Turkey and start the prep work for the big meal. We had a very traditional dinner with all the trimmings. I did most of the cooking and even helped with the washing-up afterwards. Everyone seemed to be content with their presents, especially Ellie's Dad, who got an Apple iTouch, which he wanted very much. Yea!

So now we are moving through the rest of the week looking forward to the weekend and the New Year. I think 2008 is going to be outstanding and I'm really looking forward to accomplishing a lot next year. A new job with a great company....a wonderful wife and kids.........and we we sold our house to a developer......can't ask for much more.

Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year. I'll post some Christmas pictures next time around, but meantime a shot from a recent Hawks game. We are 3 games over 500 and ranked 4th in the Eastern Conference. This year is shaping up to be an exciting time for loyal Hawks fans.

Meanwhile, 50 days later........

Yea, I know. I promised not to drop off the face of the earth and then I quit posting for nearly two months. All I can say in my defense is that I've been busier than a one-armed paper hanger and that is absolutely the truth! Just take a look at this lovely photograph. Do you know where that was taken? Herzelia, that's where......and where is Herzelia? Israel.......and how long does it take to get to Israel from Atlanta? Too long if you ask me, especially since I was the guy sitting in the economy seat on Delta. Did I have a wonderful time? Well, yes, but it was work, at least it was when I wasn't swimming in the Mediterranean.

On another front, we just finished the Quality Leadership Executive Southeast Awards this week and that was a rather satisfying event. I was privileged to do the opening remarks and Richard Warner (Think Georgia Business and other PBS Shows)was the Master of Ceremonies. Tescom is a co-founding sponsor for the event and both TAG and the Atlanta Quality Assurance Association were engaged as well. The whole thing was put together by the Executive Alliance, which is led by Marci McCarthy, the CEO and Mary Lou Heastings, their President. The venue was the JW Marriott at Lenox Mall and it was a most delightful day and evening. Some really neat folks attended..........it was a smaller event with about 140 registered guests expected, but that was pretty good given I know there were at least five other events that were happening the same evening. Most of them were Christmas Parties of course. Or should I call them holiday parties? Hmmmmmmm! Do I really want to take up that discussion today? No, I'll pass. I reckon folks can call them whatever they want, but for me it will always be the Christmas Season and I'll be celebrating the birth of Christ until the day I die. Sorry. Blame it on the Christian in me!

Speaking of Christmas, hope everyone has finished their shopping and have their gifts wrapped and ready for the Christmas Tree......there we go again....what else would we call it? The Holiday Tree? Anyway, did you notice that the Christmas/Holiday decorations starting going up the day after Thanksgiving? What was that about? How can a store start putting up decorations for the next holiday when the turkey from the previous one is still sitting in the frig? It just seems that we start this season earlier and earlier and although I know it is an old and somewhat worn gripe, I think we have lost the meaning of Christmas and the holiday season. There. I said it! I feel better and now we can move on more interesting conversation.

The Hawks are still struggling with getting to .500, but I don't suppose that comes as a surprise to anyone. They have been struggling to break-even for years now and I'm beginning to think that isn't going to change this season unless they get rid of the coach and find some less selfish players. Josh Smith is a pratt and needs to go to another team while we can still have some say in the trade. Anthony Johnson is too old to run with the team and he needs to go as well. Trade Sheldon Williams and Salim Stoudamire for a more experience point guard that can act as a true mentor to Acie Law, and find a real center......please!!!!!

Okay, I'll post more soon, but in the meantime, everyone drive safely as the traffic this evening is really wicked!