Trip to Atlanta - June 2-7, 2012

I left for the Omaha Airport at 4:30 am on Saturday morning for my non-stop flight to Atlanta to attend the 2012 WindPower show. Fortunately the flight was on time and thanks to a hefty tail wind, the 2hr 15min flight was reduced to 1hr 35min so I arrived in Atlanta before 11:00. Once I checked in to the Omni Hotel, I went to the convention center to set up my booth. When I arrived at my booth there was no carpet and several large crates that didn't belong in my booth. After a couple hour delay I was able to set up my booth by around 4:00.  Dinner that evening was at Max's Coal Fired Pizzaria - gooood stuff!  I was able to get my run in around Olympic Park across the street from the hotel. Four laps around the park was just over 3 miles. On Sunday I found out my boss, Doug, was not going to be able to join me due to some illness in his family so I handled most of the show alone.  Sunday night I ate dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse with the guys from PWP.  Monday evening I met my friend Ray and his associate Paul from LES and we ate at Legal Seafoods - very good fresh fish and seafood.  Tuesday evening I ate with Tim & John with PowerSales at STATS, a huge sports bar near the hotel. Very good barbecue there. My last night in Atlanta was spent dining alone back at Ruth's Chris where I had a salad and a plate of petit filets topped with grilled cajun shrimp. YUM.  After a slightly delayed flight out of Atlanta on Thursday, I finally ended up back home to Sharon around 1:30 - it was soooo nice to be back home after six days on the road.

Memorial Day Weekend 2012

The weekend was great weather for all the local memorial day festivities.  Sharon and I went to the farmer's market on Saturday morning and had a wonderful time as usual.  On Sunday morning we went for a long bike ride and rode through the cemeteries in town - it is always inspirational to see all the flags flying in honor of the heroic citizens who have served in our armed forces.  On Memorial day we went on another long bike ride then drove to Garland to see Sharon's family plots (the Kettenburg graves). We then jumped back on our bikes and rode to the Seward Cemetery to attend the memorial service.  The Firehouse Five band played with one of the VFW commanders giving the address and Mel Bolte playing taps at the end. It was a good service.  Ben and his friend Kevin came out in the afternoon to swim.  My Aunt Ruby  and cousin Joleen from Colorado stopped by for supper on their way back from Iowa.  We all ate burgers and beans - yum! Hannah returned from her 3 weekk trip to Germany on Memorial day so she, Annie and Derek stopped by on Tuesday since I had the day off. Hannah and Annie modeled some of the new shirts I have designed, the "Nebraska Black Skirts" which are for female Husker fans.

May 2012

Historic Weigh-In  May 3, 2012

After four months of exercise and diet adjustments, I finally saw less than 200lbs on the scale!!  First time in 7 years!!  Nine more pounds to achieve my goal of losing 45lbs.  Good news is that Dr. Ketner cut my blood pressure meds by half and says I may be able to go off of them after I hit 190!

Mother's Day  May 13, 2012

Sharon got to choose what we did on Mother's day and she chose to have a simple, quiet, relaxing day doing whatever we wanted.  The day started with a 10 mile bike ride that ended riding out to the country club.  Seeing the green grass and beautiful morning, she then decided that we should golf!  My league partner Cory was kind enough to let us borrow his cart and we pretty much had the course to ourselves.  After golf we set the patio table with an alfresco lunch comprised of all the wonderful things we had purchased at the farmer's market the day before. Fresh baguettes, goat cheese spread, radishes, salsa & chips!  Later in the afternoon Ben joined us for steaks and grilled artichokes. It was a great day.

Orlando  May 8-10, 2012

I attended the IEEE show in Orlando again this year.  It is the biggest trade show for the electric utility industry with over 800 exhibitors and 12,000 plus attendees.  Had fun golfing on Monday with some business associates from Canada, Luke and Stephan.  The show was a success and I took one of our young engineers, Brian, out to dinner at Emeril's on the City Walk at Universal.  I had his awesome gumbo and then his over the top pan-seared scallops. Yum yum.

Wedding Anniversary in Omaha - On the Job 

A last minute marketing opportunity required my participation in Omaha over our 28th Wedding anniversary weekend.  Fortunately I was able to take Sharon with me or I really would have been mad. We were able to stay at the Omaha Hilton so that was nice.  We had dinner at the 801 Chophouse on our anniversary with one of the founders of our company, Bob, and he was kind enough to buy :).  Sunday I golfed in a fundraising tournament at Quarry Oaks golf course which is nestled among the hills and banks of the Platte river - very beautiful.  Our foursome won!  Monday Sharon and I were able to spend some time walking around the Old Market area where we saw the Pioneer sculptures.  Incredible artistry and very moving experience. After that we went for a 10 mile bike ride over into Iowa along and over the Missouri river.  It was very enjoyable. On our way home we stopped by Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma and bought some cool stuff.

Annie's Special Day

BIG Surprise for Annie's 21st Birthday

Saturday, April 14 all the kids came out for Annie's 21st birthday dinner, one night prior to her actual birthday on the 15th.  We made Thai lettuce wraps and cheesecake per Annie's request.  Hannah bought her a touring bike and Ben bought her the riding accessories she will need to ride in style.  The boyfriends, Jason and Derek, also enjoyed dinner with us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WILL YOU MARRY ME? - HUSKER STYLE!

For months Annie's boyfriend, Jason, has been planning to surprise Annie on her birthday by proposing to her.  Of course he had previously done the respectable thing and asked us for her hand in marriage and we eventually said YES!  Annie & Jason met while on the UNL band squad a couple of years ago and would always meet on the "N" at the center of the field after the games.

In a nutshell Jason's plan was to have Annie picked up in a limo, brought to the north stadium, escorted by Sharon and I through the tunnel walk and onto the field where he was waiting on the "N".  Even though it was quite windy everything went off without a hitch.  Jason was a bit nervous on the previous day when the Huskers spring game was cancelled and almost rescheduled for the 15th!

While Jason was proposing, about 25 of their friends were climbing in the limo where they were waiting for them upon exiting the north stadium.  We all met up later at Grisanti's restaurant later for a wonderful dinner with family and friends.  We love Jason and are looking forward to having him a part of our family!

Tunnel walk.

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Jason touches the famous luck horseshoe!

Husker Locker Room

Husker safety PJ Smith is Jason's friend and helped pull the whole thing off!

Here she comes!!!!

Sharon inspects the ring!

The BIG question - She said YES!!!!

April 1-13, 2012

Trip to Spokane

The 2012 Northwest Public Power Association conference and trade show was held this year in Spokane, WA at the Riverfront Doubletree Hotel.  The snow melt flow in the river was thunderous and beautiful.  Every morning I ran 3 to 4 miles along Centennial Trail that is a 70+ mile path that follows the Spokane River and passes right through the city.  Riverfront Park was located just behind the hotel and provided awesome views of the dam, falls and power plant spillway.  Two kayakers went missing the week I was there.

I enjoyed some amazing fresh caught salmon and halibut while there and also was able to golf at two courses with business associates.  The first course was called Hangman Valley and was very hilly with lots of pine trees.  It even had a couple of 600+ yard par 5 holes!

February 2012

February started out with a heavy, wet 10 inches of snow on Saturday the 4th.  Not wanting to miss our exercise, Sharon and I suited up with our boots and parkas and went for a 1-1/2 hour walk around town. The wet snow caused many branches and trees to break. Fortunately we didn't lose any from our two hack berry trees.

The week of February 6 was spent moving all the furniture and file cabinets out of our south office into our north office to make room for new paint, carpet and tile flooring. I had to move into one of our small empty cubicles for two weeks, which was very challenging.

Every weekend was spent working on the ongoing remodeling project in the basement and by February 26 the ceiling and lights were done and the entertainment was very close as well.

On February 19 we celebrated Hannah's achievement of making the Dean's list at UNL! She and Derek joined us for lunch and we made three kinds of Indian curry chicken over rice. Way to go Hannah!

Entertainment center getting closer.

Ceiling and lights done!

Working on the ceiling.

Thai yellow curry, Thai red curry and Kashmir curry sauces.

Hannah celebrating her Dean's list achievement.

Office empty and ready for remodel.

Feb 4 snow

Indoor track at Concordia where we have been running.