Coolness!

Rus and I went to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in 1996, and it was just the coolest thing ever. We watched the mass ascension of 600+ balloons, we took a balloon ride at 6 a.m. one morning and we even crash-landed in the field behind a Captain Crunch plant. Good times.

This weekend there's a local balloon festival going on, so we decided to head that way and check it out. Last night was a balloon glow, and this morning was jam-packed with balloon rides, pancake breakfasts, boat regattas and bungee jumping. If you're interested, see all 55 photos here:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0QbOHLFozbMXgw&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5

DC, My Kinda Town

So earlier this week I was in Washington, DC, for an annual media visit. The folks we meet with are just to die for: some of the smartest, nicest, most fun people to be with in the world. My businsess partner and I were talking on the plane ride home about how blessed we feel to be able to a)do something we truly love for a living, and b)get to work with such fantastic people. Here's three of us at dinner Monday night: that's Julie my biz partner on the left, Steph the editor in the middle, and me on the right. Our dear friend Katy got out of the photo op by offering to be the photog, ahem. We'll get her next time.

Proof!

My friend Liticia sent this photo of me dressed as Jim Cantore several Halloweens ago! You can't see the entire outfit: black T-shirt, khaki cargo shorts and my Storm Tracker hat. Thank you, Liticia!!!

This gentleman with me is our family friend Kyle Horton. His 40th birthday party is this evening up in Atlanta, and the Drew family is sad to not be there. We'd much rather be noshing on tacos with the Hortons than dodging tornadoes from Fay.

So a big HB! to Mr. Birds. He's da bomb.

(Full disclosure: Kyle's not a UGA fan. He's wearing the tattoo on his face because UGA beat UT that year and he was honoring his end of our bet. He should probably get ready to wear another Bulldog tattoo this year. You know, since UGA is ranked #1 in the country. Boo ya.)

Before she was here ... she was there.

Here are two shots my Dad took from the Village on St. Simons Island. This was about 2 p.m. yesterday, 1.5 hours before high tide. Usually the ocean is about 2-3 feet below the top of the sea wall at high tide.
This is the pier. Wonder why there's no one on it ...?

And this is one of the beach access points just down from their pier.
My parents told me that right after they took these photos, they caught some gnarly waves, dude.

TS Fay is here to play and it's gonna rain all day! Hey hey hey!

The tropical storm is here, folks, and it's going to rain for the rest of our lives! Not that we're complaining - we desperately need this rain. There's no thunder or lightning, just very gusty winds and lots and lots and lots of water. If you're missing a cat or dog, they're probably in our backyard.

Here's Ryan's take on the weather from about 2:30 p.m. Eastern this afternoon:

Auntie Em! Auntie Em!

OK, so if you know anything about me at all, you know I'm a certified weather geek. Ask my Lawrenceville friends about the Halloween I dressed up as Jim Cantore. He so totally rocks.

Tonight it rained for 30 minutes. So? It wasn't just any rain. It was rain from TS Fay. Seriously! I looked at the radar, and our rain was part of a band thrown off by Fay. It fell apart as it went across the state, but we still got some tropical rain, by gollee.

My parents, completely uninterested in the coolness that is the weather, went to the gym this evening. In the middle of the tropical storm. The best part? They came home to find their neighbor's water oak flat on the ground (no houses, people or pets were harmed - just a car or two). The worst part? The didn't take pictures for me. Sheesh.

Recently, I met two fellow weather hounds. Brian is the husband of a friend and client, and Mike is connected with the same client. Upon discovering a radar-checking fellow soul, we started talking about weather patterns, the zoom feature online, walking around the house carrying a wireless laptop waiting for it to rain, Storm Trackers, etc. Good times.

Mike turned me on to the coolest thing: it's a wireless weather station for your house. I must own one. Someone please share this with Rus.

http://www.davisnet.com/weather/products/stations.asp

It's raining again! Gotta go check the hour-by-hour.

I Wish They All Could Be California Girls ...

Professionally, I'm a very driven and competitive person. I love what I do for a living, and I want to do the best job possible for my clients. But it's too easy to get caught up in the situation at hand and lose sight of the right path. I've been struggling the past few weeks over ways to change my business to better benefit both my clients and my business.

My friend Leslie stepped up to the plate for me this afternoon, providing clear, concise insight on an issue. She's a talented marketing consultant and can identify with the unique challenges of the self-employed. She reached in and got right to the heart of the problem, then presented several solutions. Easy, breezy, simple and clear.

So here's a "WOOT! WOOT!" in Leslie's direction. Thanks for the help, my friend.

It's Official:

Superman wears Michael Phelps pajamas.

Go Team USA!!!

Back to school!

Behold, the fifth grader and the second grader! School started yesterday - much, much too early - and new clothes and new haircuts made their debut.

The report from the first day: AK was jazzed that fifth graders get to eat off the "adult" salad bar, including (gasp!) baked potatoes! Ry said his teacher is "the nicest teacher EVER" because she gave him a chocolate kiss yesterday. AK's still in love with her new "er" (not a locker: an "er", since there are no locks) and Ryan was really proud that he kept his shirt tucked in all day long.

It's the little things, people. The little things.

Someone got her hairs did!!!

For years, my precious bunny has wanted short hair. Daddy and I like her pretty long hair. This year, three days before school started, I decided to relent. It hasn't been this short since she was about three.

Don't tell her I said this, but I think it's really super-cute.