My friends Leanne & John are putting are putting on a Go Green Gratefulness Tour event at the SMU campus here in Dallas on October 3rd.  John will be speaking on living with more passion & energy, health & wellness... basically priorotizing your life.  There will also be live music, giveaways, and some fantastic free food.  Leanne makes amazing cakes (she made ours for our engagement party/shower), so the dessert will be off the hook, no doubt.  Best of all, the money raised from this event is benefitting Education Is Freedom, a non-profit organization here in town helping kids in Dallas Public Schools to 1) stay in school, 2) graduate high school and 3) get their college education paid for  The EIF website is still being finished, but you can go there now and find out more information about this organization. A little more info from Leanne: "Just 36% of Dallas Public School kids graduate high school and then go on to college!  Very scary if you think about it.  The kids that participate in the Education is Freedom program are graduating and going on to college at an 87% rate!  It doesn't cost the kids or schools anything; the kids just have to maintain a B average, and they get tons of support to do that.  The program teaches life skills, offers mentoring, essay writing jam sessions, college and scholarship counseling, and much more.  It helps the kids believe that even if no one in their family graduated high school or attended college, they can.  Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert is a big supporter; he donated all 4 years of salary to the internship program that is part of Education Is Freedom." If you live in or near Dallas, this is an opportunity for you benefit a fantastic organization while also learning how to prioritize what's most important to you to experience a deeper sense of fulfillment.  A win-win for sure! Here's the 411: Date:  Saturday, October 3rd 2009 Time:  1pm, 2pm or 3pm What:  Motivational talk benefitting Education is Freedom Cost:  Tickets just $25 You can order tickets online at www.gogreengratefulness.com or you can call Leanne at 214-491-9064

Kylie's been watching a lot of CSI/Bones/Law and Order/[insert any crime scene drama here] lately, and it's paying off.  Our tomoato plant has been dying a slow ugly death recently, and Kylie put on her detective hat and found the culprits.  For the record I came in at the 11th hour to find 3 more suspects to garnish some of the glory as well, albeit it well after Mrs. Nicolosi broke this case open.  10 suspects in all were apprehended, and we administered our own renegade justice (guilty until proven innocent) with the perpetrators receiving the maximum penalty... death by sauna.  Yep, I put them in the outside trash can which I'm guessing heats up to a balmy 130-140 during the day. The irony is that I felt a little guilty about their fate.  I didn't want to kill them, but I didn't want to put them somewhere they could make their way back to the tomato plant.  So, in the end, I probably gave them a more cruel fate by putting them in the trashcan without killing them.  I went back and checked a couple times to see if they were still kickin', adn they were which made me feel worse about their punishment.  I shoulda just waxed 'em right off the bat and been done with it rather than making them suffer.  I'm such a panzy.

Kylie received the news that her grandfather had passed away last Wednesday, so we made last minute plans to fly up to Indiana for the weekend to be with her family for the services.  Her "Grandpa Shine" (everyone called him 'Shine') was a character, someone that had this infectious sense of mischievous humor that just made him fun to be around.  One example - the hospital staff that took care of him for the last several years took the time to write out lots of memory cards with some of their memorable moments with Shine.  I didn't get a chance to read them, but I heard this one read aloud..."Everytime we got a new nurse, Shine would fake a heart attack when she came in."  Is that not priceless?  I only got to spend just a little time with him during a couple visits to Princeton, but he left a lasting impression on me about the kind of attitude and sense of humor I want to have when - God willing - I'm 85.  This image below is from our wedding back in January when Kylie and I stopped up at the hospital to see him in between the ceremony and reception.  I expected nothing less than the tuxedo t-shirt.  (image courtesy of our wedding photographers, Vincent and Elizabeth)

Here's a few images from the rest of the weekend.  I had a hard time telling some of the crops from weeds, but Kylie's dad set me straight most of the weekend.  Soybeans and corn where e-ver-y-where (and for the record, I was able to pick out soy beans and corn on my own, thank you very much).  The harvest season had just started, so all the farmers up there were gettin' ready to reap the rewards of their hard work.

Old storage containers in an old barn.  Looks a lot like a pre-cursor to the Dewey Decimel System if you ask me.

Got a screw loose?  We've got a replacement for ya.

Kylie's dad, Garry, lookin' all dapper in red.  Seems nice enough, right?...

... ahhh, here's Garry again, this time fondly recalling the phone call I made to him when I asked for his permission to marry his daughter.

...and speaking of his beautiful daughter, here she is in high heels... in a barn.

"Kylie, quick, strike a pose!"  As always, she obliged.

There's a few things I can always count on when I go to Princeton... a more relaxed pace of life, cherry tunrovers for breakfast on Sunday, and this rusted red Chevy truck always parked in the same spot on this side street.  Love this beautiful light just as the storm was rolling in and the rain started to come down.

This was actually the door to the women's restroom outside at a gas station, but I spruced it up a tad in Photochop. Step into my office.

I love back county roads with big skies.

Here's an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image of a barn we stumbled on during a Sunday drive through the county with Garry and Kylie's brother, Bryce.  To see how I create my HDR images, click here.

One of my absolute favorite things about small towns is the local restaurants, and if it's a pizzeria, even more betterness.  Yes, betterness.  There's just something about the relaxed atmosphere in these places that you don't find in big city chain restaurants.  (Think Sweet Home Alabama).  This was Sandy's Pizza in Fort Branch, IN.  We obviously were dining in the "Coke Room" with all the original Coca-Cola paraphernalia.  +5 points for authenticity.  -7 points for not actually serving any Coke products in the whole joint.  3 bonus points if you can find me in the image below.

We got a gargantuan pizza on our last night there (and actually the night before from a different joint).  Kylie's dad and he Aunt Connie are lookin' pretty pleased with the the grease quotient that comes with this bad boy.

Kylie and I made a last minute, unplanned trip up to Princeton, Indiana over the weekend.  I'll talk more about that and post more images tomorrow or Wednesday.  It's late, and I've got an early start tomorrow, but here's a quick one...

I'm sittin' at my computer workin' away earlier this morning after letting the dog in, and all the sudden I here Mia in the living room soundin' like she's either high on crack or having her own WWF wrestling match.  I walk into the living room to see her in the fireplace (sans fire, of course) lookin' for something behind the gas logs.  I knew at that point she had brought in a playmate from outside; the only mystery left was whether it was a lizard, a bird, or a little bunny.  I grabbed my flashlight, tip-toed over to the fireplace like I was all stealth or something, and shined the flashlight under the logs as I bent down to see what was in there.  [inserting Friday the 13th music here makes this story more intense]  It was at that point I jumped outta my shoes and probably screamed like a school girl when this bird - who I might add also screamed - flew outta the logs and buzzed my left ear lobe in his flight for freedom.  HIs journey was a short one, though... about 23 feet to be exact; he proceeded to take a direct flight from the fireplace (which, btw, don't think it didn't cross my mind for a second to turn on the gas and light it up) straight into the wall clock at the opposite end of the room.  He went down briefly, got his bearings and then flew into window, a more logical choice than the clock, but the same result.  This time he dropped down in between the window and the blinds and was basically stuck. At this point, I did what any clear-thinking boyscout woulda done... I got on Facebook and asked for suggestions to get him out.  Within minutes I had several responses - some of them good, and some of them, well, bird-brained.  My favorite was Brandon's; "Open both doors and flap your arms while running out of the house".  I'm pretty sure the neighbor lady was dialing 911 after I tried that. Long story short, I did open the front door and back door and after several failed attempts (see video below), I finally chased him through the house - and sometimes he chased me - until he found his freedom escape through the back door.  All-in-all, it was about a 45 minute debacle that completely railroaded my plans for the morning. Here's a little video from my iPhone.  Not sure why I sound like such a knob in the video... I'm blaming it on bad iPhone audio quality.