UNC vs Kentucky

Hi everyone,

We were lucky to be able go to the UNC/Kentucky game and sit lower level. Some friends of ours have season tickets. The seats were great, they were right behind John & Elizabeth Edwards on the lower level beside the tunnel where the players come out. We could see everything. It was a great experience. It was a Tuesday night game that was being shown on ESPN. They were also doing their College Gameday show from the Dean Dome. We saw all of the commentators. We also saw Ashley Judd. She promised if NC voted Democratic for the president, she would sit in the student section of this game. She kept her word and we saw her during the second half of the game. Lucky for us, Carolina won, but unfortunately Zeller was hurt with about a minute to go in the game. He was fouled hard by a Kentucky player. We saw everything and you could tell he was in pain. I knew it wasn't good as we watched him walk to the locker room. Over all it was a fun night and we are lucky our friends let us have their tickets for this game.

The City Of Oaks Half Marathon

Hi everyone,

Well I did it! I actually finished the City of Oaks Half Marathon. About half way into it, I had some doubts. I started feeling weak. I ate a couple of shot blocks and got my blood sugar back up and I was able to finish. I did it in 2:26. I was hoping to finish about 2:30, so I was very happy. The AE Finley YMCA water table really got me energized toward the end of the race. It was great to see their smiling, cheering faces. I wore my UNC gear and ran through the heart of NC State territory. I got a lot of "Go Heels" cheers, which was encouraging. It was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect. I want to thank my training partners, Bill, Maria, Brenda, Vicky, Tina, and my great husband Tom. Without their encouragement, I would never have attempted this. Thanks to Maria for convincing me to sign up. I wasn't first, but I was not last either. I got my medal and now I can get a 13.1 sticker for our cars. I also want to thank my trainer Lee, if it wasn't for him whipping me into shape, I would never have done this. He and my friend Debbie came by to congratulate me. Debbie brought me flowers, which was very nice. She is a great friend. I am so lucky to have this wonderful group of friends.

Live with Butch Davis

Hi everyone,

Last night Tom and I went to Chapel Hill to watch the Butch Davis radio show live from Top of the Hill Grill. For those of you who don't know, Butch Davis is the head coach of the Tarheels Football team. Every week during football season, he does a raido show with the voice of the Tarheels, Woody Durham. People call in with questions for the coach. We were invited to go with our friends Alysen and Mary Charles. They invited us to sit with them and some friends who go every week. We had great seats. During the commerical breaks, Coach Davis signs autographs. I went up and spoke to him. He was a very nice man. I think he was in a good mood because Carolina had a great game against Boston College. His player guest this week was Ryan Taylor. He seemed to be a very nice young man. Hopefully, we will get to go again. We are talking about going to see Roy Williams, when he starts his show from Spice Street restaurant. Stay tuned.

Tarheel Weekend

Hello everyone,

What a busy fun weekend we had. Our nephew Zach came down from Virginia and we went to Late Night with Roy, the UNC-Boston College football game and the 1st annual Wake Forest Beer festival. Late Night with Roy is a chance to get a peak at the UNC men and women's basketball teams. You need to get there early for a good seat. We got there about 3:30 and were able to sit on the lower level. We watched the women's volleyball game. The UNC women beat Clemson three straight games. At 7:00, Late Night started. The women's team came out and they did a skit about the Next Top Hatchell and then a Blue-White scrimmage game. Then it was the men's turn. They did skits with freshman, juniors and seniors. It was very funny. They also had some video shot on the video screens making fun of Roy's complaining about players slipping on the NCAA logo. We have never been to Late Night and it was a lot of fun.

Saturday we went to the football game. UNC beat Boston Colleged 45-24. We had good seats. The game started out shaky with us trailing 10-0, but the team turned it around and won big. Our defense played well. Our friend Scherri went with us to her first game. She had a great time. The weather could have been better, but it wasn't too bad. We had a couple of showers and some mist, but during the 2nd half of the game, the sun came out. UNC is now bowl eligible, we shall see what happens. It is nice to be winning again.

Sunday morning Tom and I had ran 12 miles with our friends Maria, Vicki and Tina. This was our last tune up for next weekend's half marathon.
The rest of the day we just relaxed and watched football and the World Series.
Go Phillies!!!!!!!

Our Busy Weekend

Hi everyone,

We had a very busy weekend. Saturday morning we ran. Since I am training for the 1/2 marathon, I had to get a long run in. So Saturday morning we got up and met our friends for our weekly run. We went to Shelley Lake. It is a 2 mile loop and I actually did it 5 times. Tom was able to do 6 miles before his feet gave out. There was a nice guy going the opposite of me so everytime I saw him, he smiled and encouraged me. It seems like I am a member of a special club now. About 3 1/2 times around, Fruitcakes by Jimmy Buffett came on my MP3 player and I thought this was the right song for what I was doing. I was a little sore, but not too bad. I think I will be able to do the 1/2 marathon after all.

Saturday afternoon, Tom and I went to the BikeFest downtwon. We walked around and looked at all the bikes that were parked and on display. It was fun even though it seems there were not as many bikes this year as last year. We saw Dee, a lady from the Y. It was nice to see her. She is a very nice lady who always has a smile on her face. That night, I had a girls night out. Tara and I went to see Nights in Rodanthe and then we went to the Ale House and had some nachos and a glass of wine. It was nice to spend some time with her. We hope to catch more chick flicks in the future. It is hard for her to get out with the little ones.

Sunday, we went to the Carrboro music festival. The town of Carrboro is right outside Chapel Hill. It is a very liberal town, so there were lots of Obama supporters. I even took a picture of Mamas for Obama, who were having a bake sale. We met Don and Scherri over there. We had lunch and then walked around and listened to the music. The town had stages set up all over. It was nice to walk around from stage to stage and listen to the music. It was a beautiful day. I love Fall, because the weather is so nice, but after Fall comes Winter which I am not that thrilled with.

Brewgrass Festival 2008

Hi everyone,

We had a great time this weekend. Tom, myself, Melissa and Josh went to the Brewgrass Festival in Asheville, NC. Asheville is a nice town about 3 and 1/2 hrs west of us. It is home of the Biltmore House. Each year they have their Brewgrass Festival. It is a chance to drink some good beer and listen to some good Bluegrass Music. As you can see from the pictures, we had a good time. Asheville has some good brewers, such as Highland and French Broad. It was a beautiful day with the temps in the 70s. We like it better than the International Beer festival in Durham because it is smaller and 7 hrs. It was nice to be able to walk around and talk to the brewers. The Durham festival is 4 hrs. and very crowded. Hopefully we will ge to go again next year.

Am I crazy or what?

Hi everyone,

On Sunday I did something crazy. I signed up for the 1/2 Marathon here in Raleigh. Tom and I ran 7 miles with some friends on Sunday morning. I have never run that far. The 7 miles were challenging, but we both did it. I did better than I thought and I actually enjoyed it. Someone told me that the endorphins kick in at 5 miles. I believe them. I figured if I could do 1/2 of a 1/2 Marathon, I can do the 13.1. I am little concerned about training. I have not been feeling well this week because of sinuses and work has kept me busy. Wish me luck!

This Sunday we are running the Hurricanes 5k or as we like to call it the Pancake run. It is a 5k around the RBC center then they make you pancakes. You can also win prizes and autographed items from the Carolina Hurricanes Hockey team. It should be fun, we had a blast last year.

We are the champions!

Hi,

This weekend I was privileged to take part in a very special event. It started as a casual comment by my friend Lisa. She mentioned that the she wanted to do the Charlottesville 4 miler. I told her if she was serious and trained I would do it with her. Lisa took me up on the offer. She trained diligently, by getting up at 5 in the morning to run. Well all that hard work paid off. On August 30th, our 11th Wedding anniversary, Lisa and I set out with 2,998 other women. The event was inspiring. There were women of every age, shape and size. People were running or walking for the UVA Breast Cancer Center. It was very humbling to see all the signs for those who were walking for their grandmothers, mothers, sisters, etc.. who were stricken with this cancer. Lisa was a trooper. Words can't descirbe how proud I am of her. She pushed through her fatigue and finished the race. We finished at 55:25, which was 10 minutes better than her training time. I cheerleaded her on. I reminded her how proud her family would be when she finished. I was right! Her kids gave us the biggest hugs and let us know how proud they were of us. We held hands at the end, because her daughter asked us to. Lisa did great and we are looking forward to doing it again next year.

Our anniversary was great. We went to a seafood restaurant with Tom's parents and Lisa, Mike, Jordan and Drew. I can't believe we have been married this long. I feel blessed to have a great husband, who makes me laugh and has seen me through some tough times.

New Bern

10-Aug-2008
Hi everyone! This weekend we went to New Bern to visit the Johnson side of the family. My dad, brother and sister live there. New Bern is about 2 1/2 hours from our house. My niece had a soccer tournament near Maysville. We like to catch her games when we can. Her team has been together for a while and are having some success. They won the beast of the East tournament in Wilmington a couple of months ago. Her team was short handed this tournament and only had one extra player. They did ok and came in third. My niece scored two goals in their second game of the day on Saturday. The day was hot and a thunderstorm blew through which delayed things. Some people lost canopies that they had left up at the field. The rain came down so hard and heavy it bent the poles.

Kathy's dad seems to be doing ok. He had a pacemaker put in in early July and he seems to be feeling better. I think he looks pretty darn good for being 79 years old. Tom and I ran 4 miles this morning. I am getting ready for the Charlottesville 4 miler and she needs to make the family proud. It will be a lot of fun to run with my friend. I am proud of her for sticking with it and training for it.

Well, tomorrow is back to work. Both of us have been really busy. I am trying to lock a study on which I have been working on for two years. Lock time is always busy because you are working on finalizing everything.

Take care and talk to you soon!

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Today's meeting went pretty well. It was nice to meet people who I have worked with for a year and half. Everyone was nice and I believe the meetings were productive. Hopefully we can get these studies locked on time. The pressure is on!

We went to dinner in downtown Ann Arbor. It was nice to seem visit with everyone in a more relaxed atmosphere. I learned that they are under the same pressures we are. The college area looks about like other college towns. You have your amin drag near the University. We rode by the stadium. It is pretty big. I am ready to come home. I fly out tomorrow night around 5:20. Wish me luck that we don't get delayed. Airline flying hasn't been that great for me lately.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Well the fun never stops. The week of July 4th I found out that I had to go to Ann Arbor Michigan for more meetings. This is what happens when you have multiple clients. I probably won't get to see too much of the area. These meetings keep you pretty busy. Wish me luck that they don't grill me too hard. We are going out tomorrow night to a nice restaurant. It is nice to meet in a relaxed atmosphere.

We are home!

Hello everyone! We made it home. It was quite a trip back. Everything went fine over there, we should have known it was too good to be true. When we got to the airport in Sydney, we were told our flight had been canceled and that they had booked us on an earlier flight to Brisbane. They claimed they did not have any local numbers to call and tell us. I know they had my cell phone. They knew the flight had been canceled on June 27th. We had heard that there were canceled flights because of an engineer strike, but I was told it only affected domestic flights. We had met some ladies the day before who was also on the same flight and they did not know the flight had been canceled. Anyway, we were lucky and got on an United flight to LA. The bad thing was we had to sit apart. The United flight also did no have as many amenities as Qantas, but the seats were bigger. Tom had a good window seat with lots of leg room and my seat wasn't too bad either. I slept most of the way to LA. Then we got stuck in Customs at LA. It turns out that a Hong Kong flight and our flight arrived at the same time. Needless, to say we missed our connecting flights and had to be re-booked on later flights. We finally arrived at the house about 2:30 in the morning. The good news was that our luggage arrived with us. They were checked on the other flights. Someone realized we were re-routed and got our luggage with us.

It is good to be home. We slept pretty well today, so far the jet lag is not too bad. We shall see how we feel tonight and tomorrow.

Have a Happy July 4th!!!!!!

Last Day in Australia

Hello everyone! Today was our last day in Sydney. It is kind of sad that we have to leave. This is a wonderful city and our time here has been fun, however it is time now to get home.

We had another full day. We went to the Aquarium at Darling Harbour. It was a beautiful aquarium and we saw lots of fish that we have never seen before. We then did some exploring around the harbour. The area had lots of restaurants and some shops.

We had lunch at our Hotel and then got back out. We did some souvenir shopping and decided to take a Dinner Cruise. The cruise was a lot of fun and the food was very good. Now it is time to pack and get ready to go home. Tomorrow will be a long day. We leave at 1:20 in the afternoon and arrive at 10:20 at night on the same day. Hopefully the jet lag won't be too bad. We may not remember much about July 4th this year.

Day 6 Australia

Hello everyone! We had another great day! I can't believe how nice the weather has been. I was concerned because whenever I checked the weather from home, it was raining. We have had nothing but sunshine. We went across the Harbour Bridge. We didn't climb it, but walking across was fun. Then we went to the famous Bondi Beach. It was beautiful. The temp was around 70. I touched the water and it really was not all that cold. There were quite a few surfers out there. We walked the Coastal trailand it was great, then we went and had lunch at Nick's. We did some shopping and headed back to Sydney.

We went to Luna Park across the water. I couldn't find the hours listed anywhere. We got over there and it was closed. We were able to walk around and take pictures, but we could not ride anything. we headed back to Sydney and had dinner. We decided to try some Australian Pizza. it was good, but it sure was no Randy's.

Tomorrow we are off to the Aquarium, some shopping and probably a Harbour Cruise. It is hard to believe our time here is almost over, but it has been great!

Day 5 Australia

Hi everyone. We had a full day today. We were picked up at the hotel at 7:30 and took a ride out to the Blue Mountains. The weather was beautiful. We first went to a wildlife park where we got to get up close to some of Australia's most famous animals. We got to pet a Koala and a Kangaroo.
Next we were off to the mountains. We did some hiking and got the see the Three Sisters formation. We also rode two cable cars and the world's steepest railway. Then we did lunch at a country club and more mountain hiking.

The day ended with a ferry ride from near the Olympic Stadium to Circular Quay. Tomorrow, we are hoping to make it to Bondi Beach.

Day 4 Australia

Hello everyone. Today Tom and I moved from the Intercontinental to the Lord Nelson. We were pleasantly surprised. The Lord Nelson is nice. The room is nice and clean and the brewery is right downstairs. They only have 10 rooms and all are full this weekend.

We went to the zoo today. It was a lot of fun. We took a ferry to get over there and the weather was nice. We saw some pretty neat animals. After the zoo we went to tour the Opera House. The building is as pretty on the inside as it is on the outside. Tomorrow we do the Blue Mountains.

Day 3 Australia

Hello Everyone back in the states. Kathy is busy with her last presentation today so I had to venture out for myself again. I've done a lot of exploring in the last few days and my feet are killing me.

We move to our new hotel tomorrow morning. I can't wait! I really like the hotel that we're in now but it should be a bloody blast staying in a brewery.
I hope everyone is enjoying the photos.

Work is over! Now it is time to play. My presentations went well and I am relieved that it is over. I am ready to explore the beautiful city of Sydney.

Day 2 Australia

We are doing great. These have been the longest two days of my life. I have been busy with work so Tom has been exploring the city without me. Last night he almost blew up our hotel room! He brought his small fan from home and plugged it in. I guess it was not compatible, so it blew some fuses. We had no AC or TV. We had the hotel fix everything, of course we didn't tell them how we blew them.

I had two presentations to do today. My practice did not go well, so I was very nervous, but I nailed it. The CD that was I doing the training on went smoothly. My client and PM were very pleased. Somehow I ended up with the most presentations, so I guess I earned my trip. I have one more to do tomorrow and then my vacation can start. My new Australian friends have been telling where we need to visit.

The people here are great. I was told they pride themselves on being friendly to visitors. It has definitely been worth the long plane ride.

First Day in Australia

We finally made it. This was the longest day of our lives. The flight from L.A. to Sydney was 14 hours and all of it at night. We tried to sleep as much as possible. Qantas fed us pretty well. We got dinner at midnight and then breaksfast around 3:oo in the morning.

The Hotel is beautiful and overlooks the harbor. We are going to do some exploring before work and Tom will download some pictures.

Australia

Thursday, June 19th 2008

Kathy and I are getting ready for our trip to Australia this coming Monday.

We will be flying into Sydney and spending 10 days touring the city along with a day trip to the Blue Mountains.