Snow in Charlotte? It happens

Each year about this same time, we get a taste of winter weather. This particular storm brought us about an inch of snow, followed by a little rain and ice. It's an excuse to close schools for a day, take care of a few things around the house and let the kids have some fun. Here's a shot, courtesy of The Charlotte Observer online:
The snow gives me an opportunity to make a few calls, work on a few new projects (one with a new client) and spend a little time with my dog. Marley loves the snow.

. . . I'd rather be in Florida.

I'll drive ... No, you drive.

Let's both drive! Went to our favorite Sunday night restaurant, the Roasting Company, and saw this car/truck/thing. Couldn't resist snapping a photo.

Closing out 2007

2007 was a building year for Beth and me ... Let's review:

1/12/07 - Sold our condo in DC and rolled down I-95 to our new home (and temporary apartment), Charlotte, NC.


1/13/07 - Bought Beth a car


1/14/07 - Beth went back to DC continuing her job with ACE


1/15/07 - I opened up my office in Charlotte, moved in furniture and set up the phone system


2/1/07 - Beth moved down and started working from our apartment


3/15/07 - After a hectic few days and a lot of hard work from our friends at Passport Express, we went to Vero & Ryan's wedding in Cartegena, Colombia.


3/22/07 (around 9p) - Return to Charlotte, specifically commenting in the car ride home that we were going to make more of an effort to have a little more relaxation in our lives.


3/22/07 (around 9:15p) - Open our apartment door to find a sea of humidity, black mold and water stains everywhere. Notice our shower is on. It appears our shower caddie fell off the wall, turned on the shower and turned our 600 sq ft apartment into an Amazonian rain forest.


3/22/07 - 4/6/07 - Stay at my sister's, Beth's parents and mine.


4/4/07 - Pack up the Tahoe and drive to Sanibel, FL. ~14 hours. Next two weeks were probably the most relaxing and productive of the year. May becomes the most profitable month in Abistar Group's short history.


5/1/07 - Close on 5456 Topping Place ... our new house! Pretty damn excited about that.

June - December were actually pretty good months. From a few house improvements, a trip to Kiawah with my family and several UNC football and basketball games ... we find ourselves suddenly staring down 2008.

Fast forward to New Year's Eve ... Our good friends Andrew & Becca Nesbitt recently joined the historic Biltmore Country Club in Asheville, NC and hosted us, John Windham and his girlfriend Gina for dinner, drinking and golf. Here are a few shots of the group, the third hole (notice the gloves) and the clubhouse off the 11th green:

John and Gina

Andrew and Becca

Charlie and Mooch

Beth and I

And a few of the golf course, a Donald Ross design:

This just in ...

Just got my pictures from the Ouray climbing trip. You can check them out here:

Ouray, CO

Ouray, Part II

What a great trip. Even though the ice park was closed, we still got in a solid 36 hours of vertical ice climbing and my climbing partner, Drue Deberry, had all the high tech tools to record the event. And I thought I was a gear junkie! With his FLIP digital video recorder, we captured about a dozen full length videos of our climbing prowess. Probably the best video is Drue climbing "Slippery When Wet," a multi-pitch climb up a portion of a frozen waterfall ... featured here:



We ended the trip with a quick stop in South Park, CO - home of Cartman, Kyle and the rest of the South Park crew (including Mr. Hanky, pictured below) and a night at Joyful Journey, a blip on the Colorado state map but a natural hot spring oasis for the seasoned traveler. Here's a shot of me after a 9am soak in the lithium-infused (natural, mind you) 107 degree hot spring:



And me with Mr. Hanky:




Good times ...