Jane’s Grandchildren, TV Stardom, and Other Stories from Texas . . .

I have been so busy . . . and I am so far behind.  In the past few weeks, I have been to Texas and back . . . have put nearly 200 new items from CHA on our website . . . have planned another Grand Canyon hike with Dad and Blake for September . . . have held Ryan’s hand as the closing on his condo purchase was delayed (again) . . . and I’m probably missing a lot.  Now I’m getting ready for a show in Detroit this weekend . . . the Stamping Gala in the store next week . . . Stampaway in Cincinnati next weekend . . . a show in Collinsville (St. Louis) the week after that.  My brain is spinning.

So where do I start?  Since I need to dump pictures off my cell phone, let’s head to the Lone Star State . . .

I have made this trip enough that the truck pretty much knows the way by itself.  But once in a while, I see something different.  This qualifies as “something different”.  I am not a “car guy” but I love the look of classic cars.  And there was something ironic about seeing this one on a car carrier with other cars from a much later era – it was like a fish out of water.

During setup in Grapevine, we had lots of quality help.  Left to right – Jane’s granddaughters Ginny and Devon, Suzanne’s son Sean, Jane’s grandson Trey, and Ann’s grandson Morgan.  And for a short time we put all of them in one area and they had to be very quiet . . .

Because we were on TV!  Good Morning Texas did a live shot from the convention center on Friday morning and the hustle and bustle in our booth was the background for the tease for the piece during the show open at 9:00.  So we may or may not have been visible – that part of the program wasn’t archived on their website.

But this was – so feel free to watch Dave Carlson from Heirloom Productions become a TV star, along with Mechele Rudd from The Stamp Doctor.

And of course I snuck a couple of pictures while they were shooting the piece.

We finished with setup early, and I went golf course hunting – wanted to try something new.  This one was great – Texas Star Golf Course in Euless – one of the nicest I have ever played.

Later in the evening, I got a text from my brother – Blake and Lisa spent Friday flying to San Francisco to spend a week exploring NoCal.  They texted me the pic at left at lunch near Berkeley – the pic at right was my return text a few hours later from my post-golf banquet near my hotel.

 

Saturday was a busy day.  Jane and Ginny were demoing Envelope Punch Boards, and Suzanne was demoing Faber-Castell’s new Gelato Kits.  I love the stage area at the Grapevine Convention Center – we have lots of room for demos and even more room for the customers to move about in our booth.

This was my Double Take of the Day – I had this nice lady pose so I could take pictures from both angles.  The pic at left is what I saw when she got to the front of the line at the cash register – and I loved it!  I was actually a little disappointed when she turned and I saw the “S” I had missed . . .

Kept myself occupied during the very rare times that I could glance at the British Open or the Reds game on my Slingbox.  If you travel, Slingbox is the greatest invention of all time – you can watch your home TV anywhere.  And sometimes you get a weather report – the Reds game was about to be delayed by strong thunderstorms, so I looked at the radar on my phone and the area around my house was a sea of red.  I got to clean the branches and such out of my yard when I got home.

Pat Larson the Stealth Photographer got shots of our booth during the day and the giveaway an hour before the show ended.

Ginny was a hard worker – spent most of the day at the demo table.  But even she found a few minutes to retire to the playground in the Toomuchfun booth . . .

Once the show was over, it was time for the semi-annual high school reunion.  This time, I met Becki and Devela and their husbands at Fred’s Texas Cafe in Fort Worth – famous from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network.  Fun times – and I so enjoy catching up with them.  True friendship is the ability to just pick up where you left off, even if it has been a long time since you were last together.

I took several large items back to Ohio with me – Jane’s son and daughter-in-law are missionaries for Athletes in Action and now live about two miles from our mail center.  So Natalie and Lucia came to the mail center last Friday to pick everything up.  Lucia was last seen on this blog two years ago – she was only a few weeks old and spent setup day in a carrier on the floor in our booth.  Some of you will be insanely jealous – she got to meet Zoe.  I didn’t think to take any pictures while they were visiting inside, but when we were headed to the car and Lucia realized that Zoe was watching her through the window, it was just too good to pass up – so I got shots from both perspectives.

Later on Friday, I got this picture in a text from Blake and Lisa – it has nothing to do with the Texas show but is still a neat story.  They spent Friday in San Francisco before taking the redeye home, and I suggested that they stop by Jasper’s Corner Tap – four times a year Jasper’s gets Brown Bag Paper from us for their menus, and of course we like to support those who support us!  I told them to give my regards to Matt the general manager, and found out that in the three weeks since he and I had last e-mailed back and forth he was promoted within the company that manages several restaurants in various cities.  Sabrina is the new GM – she and I had e-mailed just the day before but I had missed the new title under the signature on her e-mail.  So I sent Sabrina a note and the picture yesterday and got a nice reply from both Sabrina and Matt overnight.

And this was last night in my kitchen – this is my niece Mary (her family is visiting from Maryland) making ginger snaps.  I called it “Bakery 101” – it was her first effort at baking by herself.  All I did was supervise while baking the snickerdoodles I had already mixed before I went to get her.  She chose ginger snaps because in her school’s marching band, her nickname is “Ginger Snap” (apparently it has something to do with the hair color).  She did a great job and the cookies turned out wonderfully, I’m told (I don’t eat them) – but I wish I’d had a camera ready when she took the first bite of her new creations – she hated them.  I think it was quite a letdown after going through the whole process – we’ll try something else next time.

So now the travelogue is complete and I have room for more pictures on my cell phone.  I know there are some of you out there who would prefer that I spend more time on the new items and the Stamping Gala and such, and that will come over the next few days.

Scenes from a Rainy Saturday at Marco’s . . .

Just got back from the store, where Zoe and I went to shoot pictures for a great class that Donna Weibel will be teaching on August 9 during the Stamping Gala.  It’s a gatefold card featuring iris folding, with an envelope made with the Envelope Punch Board and a bonus gift bag.  Here’s a peek . . .

 

Want to see more?  Click Here to go to the class page on our website.

Meanwhile, it was pouring outside.  I know you folks out west would love to have some of our moisture – and we would love to share it with you.  Customers were stuck inside the store … attendance at the Make & Take was down … and umbrellas were at a premium.

These pictures from the back door toward my car just don’t do it justice . . .

. . . but maybe these from behind the building will help.  Seemed like everywhere I turned in the parking lot, there was another sight that required rolling down the window to take another picture – and then grabbing a couple of napkins to wipe the moisture off the armrest.

Not today, thanks – Mother Nature is washing mine . . .

When we got back to the mail center, it was no better.  I haven’t seen Marco Lake in a long time – the drainage was redone a long time ago.  And Zoe didn’t know what to do when we went behind the building – that lake between our building and the restaurant behind us is usually the grassy area where she goes to do her business.  She eventually figured it out . . .

It’s Raining Again . . .

I spent the weekend in Florida at this year’s StampFest Orlando.  After years of drought, I think I can say with certainty that the days of the Five O’Clock Thunderstorm (and lots of other hours of the day) have returned.  I left home on Wednesday, got home on Tuesday – and Tuesday was the only day that I was gone that the windshield wipers were never turned on.

Of course, that was only an issue during setup and teardown – and any extracurricular activities that I had planned.

This was my view practically all day on Saturday.  This was not the crowd inside our booth. This was the line to check out -- it stretched all the way to that door at times during the morning. Thankfully, the customers were patient and I moved fast -- and they got to watch two great demos from Anna and Andrea on the way to the register.

Even after a full weekend, Anna and Andrea still looked energetic.  Thanks to Andrea for the picture (she has mastered the art of sticking her cell phone out at arm's length and taking a good picture -- I have not).

Here’s something you’ll rarely see – buggy racing up the main aisle.  OK, not really -- but it sure looked like it and all three of them got a kick out of it when I started doing color commentary!  Also saw a motor vehicle accident later in the day when one buggy backed into another while turning around.

Brush with greatness – the lady at left is a LONG way from home but found some familiar images in our booth.  Her name is Jane Allen and she is here on holiday from Great Britain -- and her artwork is featured in the two most recent Copic Coloring Guides (Level 3: People and the brand new Level 4: Fine Details).  The nice lady at right is the customer who brought this to my attention.

When the show ended, we dodged raindrops for a couple of hours while we tore down the booth and loaded the truck.  Usually, as soon as the back door rolls down I’m on the road.  But this time, a little golf vacation was planned on the way home . . .

Christine Yoder arranged a morning at Disney’s Osprey Ridge Golf Course – and even though the radar indicated otherwise, we only saw a few drops of rain.  I had a great time with Christine, Rich, and Paul and got to play a course that a month from now will be way out of my price range . . .

A new Four Seasons Hotel is under construction in the middle of what used to be the 18th fairway at Osprey Ridge.  The course is closing in early August, and when the hotel opens Osprey Ridge will be its private course.

I have never seen pictures of me with a golf club in my hand – Christine shot several while we were playing and e-mailed the best ones to me.

Thankfully, she got a shot of the osprey that give the course its name – I saw the perch but didn’t see the occupants.

I took these with my cell phone.  I suspect that Floridians get tired of the Spanish Moss that hangs down from lots of trees, but when you don’t see it often it’s fascinating.  And this was my first clue that I was playing on a much better golf course than I was accustomed to – a large screen GPS in each golf cart that not only told me how far it was to the hole, but how far it was to different hazards and markers ahead of me.

When we finished, I headed north – drove through rain for several hours, of course – and stopped in Tennessee so I could play golf again yesterday with some of my friends from our semi-annual golf trips.  When the Reds’ game started last night I was just north of Lexington, so I drove past Great American Ball Park in the early innings and got home and settled in time to watch the last few innings of Homer Bailey’s no-hitter.

In short, it was a great trip home . . .

Milestones . . .

Last Friday was my parents’ 56th wedding anniversary.  I have always appreciated being able to do the math easily – take whatever age I’m going to be that year, add one, and that’s how many years they have been married.

Here are two pics from their wedding reception.  It was held at Preston’s Party House – I remember it well, because I grew up playing baseball in Mrs. Preston’s vacant lot next door.  And I remember that suitcase – we used the whole luggage set for a long time.

And 25 years ago today my life changed forever.  Nothing truly prepared me for fatherhood -- it's a "learn as you go" endeavor.  Sometimes I learned from my father, sometimes from my grandfathers, sometimes from my friends, sometimes from something I saw or read, and sometimes I just made it up as I went along.  And along the way we reached the point in our relationship where sometimes I learned from my son.  I would not always recommend the path we took to get where we are, but I am very proud of the man he has become.  Happy Birthday, Ryan.