2011 - Day Three Hundred Forty One; Wednesday...

If you are interested in what the well dressed blogger will be wearing for the New Year, you can check out this photo and you still won't know. Anna at the Board gave me these glasses this afternoon. It is pretty scary that she knows the kind of kitschy things I would like.

Five different functions today, beginning and ending at the Board. That does not mean I spent the entire day at the Board, but I at least started and ended my day there.

Only three functions tomorrow, and one or two on Friday. Then the weekend, and it should wind down pretty well next week. We shall see.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, KITSCH, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Three Hundred Forty; Tuesday...

IT'S A BOY! No doubt about it, definitely a boy. No question, for sure a boy. Sorry Jenny Lou, it is not a girl. Without question the new calf is a boy. GUARANTEED. Positively. He's a BOY! Now it is time to decide on a name...

Good day today, worked and then worked some more. Getting things all tied up for the end of the year. Just about three more weeks and it will all be over. Finito!

A couple meetings this afternoon, one in person and the other by telephone while I was in my car. I attended the last one just in time for the meeting to be over.

Tomorrow is a FULL day from beginning to end.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, HE'S A HE!, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Three Hundred Thirty Nine; Monday...

Well, I have been freezing all day long and I am not sure exactly why. The high temperature did not go past the middle 40's again today, and that is not really that cold, but I have not been able to get over my chilliness. It was a wet, windy, overcast and cloudy chill in the air, and I never could get warm. Now I am at home sitting on the couch in front of the wood stove in my underwear, and I am perfectly comfortable. Go figure...

I was in the office most of the day today, and made good progress with the stuff on my desk. I feel like (however) that I am losing the e-mail battle. I like to keep a very clean in-box (and my desk-top is pretty clean as well), but I am just getting further and further behind. HELP ME!

This photo (it was obviously a slow day for photos) was taken accidentally when I was taking the camera out of my pocket. I was getting into Chris's car, and somehow turned the camera on at this photo was taken. Kind of a neat abstract.

I went out (after I got home from work) and put the chickens to bed and went to turn the water off in the pastures. I slopped through mud in the corral to get to the barn, and would not have been surprised if I had ended up on my ass in the mud. BUT I made it into the barn, all the cattle were accounted for and the newest little calf is (seemingly) doing just fine. Like I said, cattle do not really care much about when they birth their young, they just do it, and most of them survive.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, RANDOM SHOTS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Three Hundred Thirty Eight; Sunday...

A wonderful day was had by all...

Slept pretty late this morning, and get up and did the ordinary chores. Made an egg pile for me and Jody for breakfast, and then came into he office at home to catch up on e-mails and see if I could get ahead of the game for the coming week. Kept the fire going in the stove in the living room, so that is good. It will go for at least three or four days before I need to clean out the ash.

I was a little bit suspicious of Lady Bug yesterday when I was out feeding the cattle, she looked like she was up to something (in a cow kind of way), and I saw some suspicious activity out in the pasture this morning.

When Jody and I were on our way to Dairy Queen this afternoon, I told him about it, and when we got back I went out into the pasture to check things out. There indeed was a new calf, most likely born yesterday (since the suspicion I saw this morning was the calf following Lady Bug into the barn). SO, I believe it (I kind of agree with Jenny Lou that it looks like a heifer) but you never know for sure at this age until you see them pee. So I will wait til later to make an official call.

She is a pretty baby, but I tell you the truth, cows pick some of the damnedest (SP?) weather to have their calves. It is rainy and windy and cold, and there is lots of shivering going on out in those pastures and the barn.

I also spent about an hour broadcasting wild flower seeds out around the storm shelter and the other tank that we had filled in earlier this year. I hope the seeds will germinate and not just wash away. We have had about an inch-and-a-half of rain in the last couple days, and more is expected. It has (so far) been a nice drizzly rain, nothing too extreme, but a good soaker!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, NEW CALVES AND GOOD RAINS, kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Three Hundred Thirty Seven; Saturday...

What could be better for my birthday wish-for than rain? AND, rain we are getting. We have actually had a couple days of rain, and more on the way. The totals have not been particularly impressive (so far just about a half inch) but being soggy is a good thing here in the land of the parched.

Yep, today is my birthday, and it has been great. After the installation last night, I rose this morning (eyes kind of bloodshot) and went downstairs for breakfast, where I was joined by several of my colleagues and friends in the Hotel Dining Room. The facility at Lost Pines is very nice. That was the first time I had stayed there, but a really beautiful facility. It is difficult to imagine that the whole place was carved out of thousands of acres of scrub. The drive alone, from Highway 71 to the main part of the facility is a couple miles. Very impressive.

Jody and I did make it to Dairy Queen this afternoon, and we both enjoyed Hot Fudge Sundaes. My very best friend of all time (Mikey) called from Del Rey Beach, so that is always a treat. Who could ask for anything more?

I am a really lucky man!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, ANOTHER TRIP AROUND THE SUN, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Three Hundred Thirty Six; Friday...

Yep, today is Friday, and among other things, it is grey and rainy outside. What could be better than that?

Well, okay, I will tell you. Tomorrow is my birthday, so there have been lots of good wishes sent my way. There was a wonderful luncheon held in my honor, with lots of friends and colleagues (one in the same) from one area or another. It has been a wonderful day.

AND, tonight I am at the Hyatt Lost Pines for the Austin Board of REALTORS Installation for the 2012 Board Officers. It is going to be a great night. I am writing part of this entry in advance, so I have a head-start before I have too much wine.

I will be back later with more...

Okay, it is officially 32 minutes past my birthday, but I wanted to share this photo with you. This is a photo of me and Gay Puckett, a major Investor with TREPAC Gay works with JB Goodwin, REALTORS, and I appreciate her Investment In TREPAC. It was great to see her this evening.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, TREPAC, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Three Hundred Thirty Five; Thursday...

Sometimes I do not even have a clue. I was not aware enough today to take a photo for the journal, and so when that happens, I will go on the Internet to find interesting photos. SO, I searched 'December First' and found nothing really interesting, so then I searched '12/01/2011' and this was one of the images that came up. I have no reason what the correlation is between the date and this photo, but I like it, so I am using it for this journal entry. That's my story and I am sticking to it!

I started out the morning at a breakfast meeting for the Platinum Top 50 REALTORS in Austin. It was a very nice event, and the group is really deserving. Very nice to see so many of our colleagues in one place, and a nice start to the Holiday Party Season. It has begun!

After that, we had a Property Management meeting in the office, then a few minutes for lunch, and then I met with some of our agents to plan a strategy for success in the New Year. Lots and LOTS of good energy surrounding us for the New Year, and now it is just up to us to carry through! We will do it, and we will all be happy and prosperous in the New Year. We are all happy and prosperous now, just want to kick it up a notch!

I stopped by Buck Moore's on the way home tonight and got the girls fifty pounds of organic feed. They are all doing nicely, and they seem to be happy.

Tomorrow nights entry will be from the Hyatt at Lost Pines, where the Austin Board of REALTORS will be holding their annual Installation. Congratulations to Leonard Guerrero as incoming Chairman, and congratulations to Judith Bundschuh for a great job this past year at Chairman. We have accomplished a lot!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, COWS (whatever), Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!