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Deb's East Coast Tour

Kemp and I traveled to sunny Orlando last month. We left Houston on February 12 to attend the Largest Trade Show on Earth, The International Builders Show. Holy aching feet that was a huge event. Really cool stuff going on in the industry from international vendors.

I took advantage of the close proximity to visit with my Aunt Weebie for a few days. We had a great time and as always, she filled my heart with warmth.

Back to the show for more walking and a party for the participants at Epcot Center on Friday night. More Builders Show on Saturday. Sunday; a whirwind visit to Universal Studios and off the catch my flight at 4:00 p.m.

Kemp left Florida and came home to Houston and the puppies.

I left Florida and went to Virginia for 2 weeks. I was so excited and had so many plans to do, see and visit. Alas, my plans were dashed by what turned out to be a pretty serious sinus infection. I spent 5 days on June's sofa watching the golf channel because I didn't have the energy or ambition to change the channel.

I was lucky enough to get to see a few more folks that warm my heart; you know who you are. Got to see all my kids. Charlie and his friend, Sam, came over from Fredericksburg. It was nice to finally meet her. And, Sven made it back from (believe it or not) Texas in time for me to see him for a few days. I was also able to get some more stuff packed up.

June and I left Charlottesville at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 2 and taking turns driving and sleeping, made it into New Orleans by 10:oo p.m. We did the Bourbon Street Stroll and took off at 4:30 a.m. to arrive in Houston at 10:30 a.m. on March 3.

Now Entering.....

Tenessee

Alabama (No, she hadnt't moved)

Mississippi

Texas

Of course I kept in touch with Kemp during the entire drive but allowed him to believe that we would not be arriving in TX until early evening. When he came home for lunch to walk the dogs, June and I jumped out and surprised him at the door. HE WAS PUNKED, but good!

Kemp left Houston on the 3rd to attend a conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and returned on Friday, the 7th. June flew back to Virginia on Saturday, March 8. I promplty fell asleep and woke up around the 11th. Just in time to see Martina McBride at the Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show. WOW, what an event. Quintessetial Americana. Kemp and I had such a good time that we are going back next Wednesday to see Fergie! Kemp's not entirely sure who she is but I am stoked. (Yeah, she's hot but he will NOT be going solo!)

Holiday in Houston

Charlie arrived on December 19 to what he later described as a wiggling, giggling, crying and, figeting Mom. OK, so I was happy to see him. For two days, I had Charlie all to myself. We did some shopping, some cooking and, Charlie got to catch up on some much needed sleep. Between helping 2 friends move, moving himself and, holding down 2 jobs, he was ready for a break!

June and Dustin got in on December 21, again, to a wiggling, etc. Mom. June was quite ready to kick back too.

That evening, the kids each got digital cameras for christmas. We're glad they got them early so that they could record their trip!

We celebrated Junes birthday on the 22nd and the 23rd by swimming and the customery Chef-Boy-R-Dee Pizza.

On the 24th, Sven arrived and once again, Mom wiggled.....

June's How Old?

Junes life-long wish has been to go swimming for her birthday. Well, this year, her dream came true!

Kemp, Deb, Charlie, June and, Dustin headed for Galveston to celebrate Junes birthdaty at a waterpark and we got stuck on the beach.

We all had a great time sharing Junes Day on the Gulf of Mexico. The next day, we actually made it to the Schlitterbaun, an indoor waterpark in Galveston, TX.

On the way home we stopped by the development where Kemp and I hope to build sometime next year, Grand Cay Harbor in Texas City, TX. Not much there to see yet except the view!

Our Trip to Sunny California

As Kemp mentioned, until we landed in San Francisco, I had literally stepped one foot in California. We had fabulous weather, got to see an old (he's not really that old) friend, and had a great time sightseeing and enjoying the area.

Boys Behaving Badly - San Francisco

Kemp and Andy on a street corner!





Kemp found a really cool hotel right on the beach in Pacifica where we spent our first 2 nights. Awesome. This is the view from our hotel.

I really enjoyed California and REALLY enjoyed getting away with Kemp (even if he did have to work part of the time).

On the flight back , I realized that I was going home. I was headed home to Houston for the first time. Weird. But cool.

California Here We Come

Tomorrow, we're headed to San Francisco. I have a conference to attend in San Jose, and Deb's going to be hanging out in the California sunshine drinking caffeinated beverages. This is The Deb's first trip to California, unless you count the time we drove over the state line that time we went to Vegas and stopped the car long enough for her to open the door and step in the Golden State. I've been there several times, but this is the first time with Deb so that makes it a new adventure for both of us.

We won't have much time to lolly gag or even sightsee, as the conference will keep me pretty occupied (I guess that means I won't have much time to lolly gag or sight see!). And while the conference ends Wednesday evening, I have to be at work very early Thursday morning to make a presentation to a large group of my company's executives and managers. That means I'll be loading up on my own caffeinated beverages. But I don't mind - I'm very grateful to work for a company that totally appreciates the value of education to stay in front of the curve.

We'll post if time and wireless connections allow!

Blue Man Group

These guys do some serious entertaining.

Create Your Own Video

Friday Update

Well, we're moved-in and now unpacking and getting settled. Cable is turned on (though amazingly we have the only cable company in America with neither DVRs or any HD programming - Comcast pretty much owns the market here, but some apartments have deals with really small providers). Deb is getting her bearings and has taken a few hard-earned days to recover from the move, and Maggie is meeting new friends like crazy. Everybody in our apartment complex knows my name, which is "Maggie's Dad."

Tonight, just about everybody in my company who works in Houston is going to the Astros-Braves game. We have two or three sections reserved for us, along with plenty of catered munchies. It's the last weekend of the season, and Craig Biggio's last three games (he's retiring after a Hall of Fame-worthy career), so the place is completely sold out. This may make it difficult to obtain parking for 25 cents, but we'll damn sure try.

Charlie and his buddy Will flew back to Virginia on Wednesday. It was great having their help - we picked a rather hot weekend to move in (of course, any weekend from April through October probably qualifies as hot in Houston), and the ragweed count is off the charts right now.

Stay tuned: photos coming ASAP.

TA-DA - Today is the day!

The Deb and The Maggie are between New Orleans and Houston, driving on a newly-plugged tire. Charlie and Will are close behind. I'm headed out to meet them downtown, and to pick up a housewarming gift for The Deb.

Traffic in Houston

Is an issue.

The Deb is Coming! The Deb is Coming!

...and she's bringing The Maggie with her! ETA in Houston is sometime on Friday, September 21. We move in to our new apartment on Saturday. We've created a Google Map to share our adventures. Accompanying her will be Charlie, driving a big honking truck, and his buddy Will. We'll save a little bit of money this way, but once you add in feeding two hungry young men for a week and flying them back to Virginia it's a wash. The advantage is The Deb will not be traveling alone.

There will be much to report, many photos, and all kinds of fun.

To bring everybody up to speed, since late May Kemp has been in Houston working at his new job (which he totally loves). He's been living in a modest "suite" near his office. He's been back to Charlottesville once, and The Deb has been down to Houston once. This is the longest we've been apart by far, and we don't much like it. At all. The Deb has had to do too much on her own to get ready for the move, so she's been promised an extensive recovery period of pampered relaxation once she gets to Texas (or, as we like to call it, "home").

We found an apartment in a killer location - an easy commute for Kemp, right on the border of one of the nicest shopping areas in the country. We're walking distance from George Bush 41's home in Houston (of course he doesn't live there - do you think I'd post directions to his house so all the evil-doers can find him?), and just down the road from the Millie Bush Memorial Dog Park (which The Maggie will love!) - one of several really nice dog parks in and around Houston.

So stay tuned - good times just around the corner!

At last: an update!

Finally, some PC time at a local FedExKinkos. Spent the morning taking care of dry cleaning and checking out a swell apartment just south of the City. Got a few photos to share quickly (Kinko's charges by teh minute now!). First is the front door to my office. That's the last thing I see before getting to work. What a way to start the day!

This is the courtyard at our office. Very serene and gorgeous. There are tables for eating and meetings, and there's also an indoor bistro with a couple dozen tables of various sizes. People lunch there and hold small meetings.

Houston has baseball, but what's more, Houston has indoor baseball. Way cool - especially when it's way hot outside! The ballpark is fabulous, lacking none of the best creature comforts. I'm not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me if the beer cups were engineered to not spill. I got lucky and grabbed a killer parking space for my first game, literally across the street from the park.

More to come soon - keep checking back!

Hello from Houston!

I'm here - but awaiting a laptop to make blogging more practical. Plenty of photos to come - lots of stories to share, so please stand by!

The Adventure Begins

Yesterday was Kemp's last day of work at Crutchfield, where he has been for almost 15 years. So officially, for a couple of weeks Deb and Kemp are both unemployed.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Talk about living without a net - we're trying hard to keep our hands and feet inside the car at all times.

Now it's time to finish painting the house, finish the heavy lifting required for the kitchen remodel, and of course take care of a couple of essential rounds of golf and two final radio shows at WTJU (where you can listen online)-

• May 25 from 9-11 Kemp covers his final "Nothing But The Blues" show for Peter Welch


• May 26 from noon-2 he hosts his final Sunshine Daydream - which will feature the world broadcast premiere of Crutchfield's corporate band, MixOMatic, which recently made it through to the regional competition of the Fortune Magazine/Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Battle of the Corporate Bands

Deb & Kemp leaving Charlottesville? No way!

Yes way, Ted! After many years calling Charlottesville home, Deb and Kemp finally listened to Horace Greeley and are headed west. Houston is our destination. Houston - home of NASA, the Astros, and Texans (including Virginia alums Matt Schaub and Wali Lundy), the Galleria, David Weekely Homes, and soon us. Kemp is headed that way later this month, and Deb will follow as soon as the house is prepped for sale (inquire about the special Friends and Family Discount).

Kemp & Deb's Excellent Adventure: The Blog is our attempt to keep those who are interested up to date on our travels and share the discoveries we make along the way. It is likely to lean toward the irreverent and not rely too much on scholarly pursuits - probably not surprising for anybody who knows us. There will be photos, restaurant reviews, traffic updates, and whatever else we're inspired to post.

For those of you not familiar with the blogosphere, a few tips:

• Don't leave your email address in a comment. That's a sure way to get on EVERY spammer's mailing list. For obvious reasons, don't leave your phone number in a comment.
  
• We probably won't be checking this as frequently as we check email, so if you need us to get in touch with you in a hurry, call or email one of us (We'll soon have a dedicated email address that we can publish without worrying about spam)
  
• If there's something you want to share, but don't want everybody on the planet to be able to read, you may not want to leave it as a comment. Just trust us on this one.