Anyhow, I guess Sean is holding you all hostage while helping his friends at the same time. He has this uncanny knack for knowing what’s best for me without my really knowing it. There are two people who have this skill, and I married the other one.

My wife and I started down many new paths this summer. It’s been four months since we got married, three months since we moved to Alabama, and 2 1/2 months since she started her job and I started looking for a new one. One of my favorite sayings is ‘get out of the box,’ meaning to break out of old habits/ruts and find new, creative ways of learning or doing things. I always say I like it in my little box. It’s cozy, all my stuff is in here, and there’s always a rerun of Bull Durham on the TV.

But these life changes pretty much forced me out of the box. For 7 1/2 years, I had a stable job with decent pay, doing a lot of what I wanted to do at a radio station in Kansas. Now I’m starting over in Tuscaloosa, which is nice in a way, since it lets me reinvent the wheel and go in a completely different path if I want to. I’ve done the exercises in Bolles’ “What Color is your Parachute” job-hunting book, and I’ve learned a lot about who I am and the things I like to do. I’m using this information to plan my next job. The challenge here is how to best use the information. Job ideas pretty much run the gamut, and many of them I’d never dreamed of or considered. Like teaching. The people I consider my inner circle all think I’d be a great teacher. I’d never imagined myself doing that. Going back to school? I’m a broadcaster, I don’t need any more schooling… But since I’m outside the box, nothing is off limits.

I’ve even accepted a part-time job running the control board at the sports talk station here in town. Basically doing the same thing I did in Lubbock in 1995 when I first started– Texas Rangers baseball, Houston Rockets basketball, Dallas Cowboys football, etc. Entry-level stuff. But it’s a foot in the door, it’s a start. I did good work in Kansas, and two people I worked for have kindly lent their names as references. But nobody in Alabama knows them, so we have to get back in on the ground floor. You never know where these things will take you.

Wife Ann and I are pretty much settled, and we’re getting used to life in the South. Still much swirling around us. Many questions for her and for me. Maybe when we get these things figured out, we can relax. But then there’ll be other stuff to figure out… and then, well… who knows?

There will always be something to learn/do/figure out. There is no destination. Only a journey. We continue to grow, to learn, to get a little better every day. And we do the best we can.

The coastal areas are a mess.  Galveston is beat up pretty badly, but Crystal Beach and other areas on Bolivar peninsula are GONE!  Wipe clean.  Only foundation slabs remain.  You cannot believe the debris piled up along roads and coastline and streets.  I have yet to see any pictures that accurately show the conditions here.  I have been around tornadoes, snow storms, and even a minor earthquake that shook my bed.  I was flooded in and had to spent the night at work when Allison hit Houston in 2001.  Now I have a hurricane under my belt.  I will tell you in all seriousness, the flood aftermath and the debris/hurricane aftermath are the most surreal experiences I have ever had.  You come out and nothing seems real.  Think back to the few days after 9/11 and there were no airplanes in the sky.  Several people I talked too thought that was just a wierd feeling.  It is the same way with these storms.  There was no traffic in Houston.  Not a car on the road.  There were building that looked like a can opener had been used on it.  There were trees that looked like Paul Bunyan had walked through the neighborhood.  Huge trees lay uprooted taking huge chunks of earth with them, some of the holes you could have put a car into and buried.  It was like being in an altered state.  Everything was peaceful and quiet, but wrong.

My house sustained some roof damage and I have water damage in some areas, but make no mistake, we consider ourselves lucky.  I got out and looked around and the damage amazed me.  I would never have expected that level of damage that far inland.  The majority of the damage was the result of those same big trees that people loved to live next too.  For those looking for advise on building a house, remove the trees right next to your house.  If a tree falls on your house, you house will lose.  The houses that I saw that had trees fall on them looked like they had been guillotiened.  I thought I was in the French Revolution.  I don’t have pictures, but they are all over the net.  I saw one of those huge metal billboard sign frames ripped from its mooring and slammed down on top of a 3 story apartment complex.  I lost one tree.  It was about 10 feet tall and 4 inches across.  We live in a new neighborhood with very few old growth trees around the houses.  You can imagine what the coast looked like, but the Spring, Woodlands, Conroe, and even as far as Huntsville saw extreme damage by this storm.  For those of you not blessed by God to live and know the state of Texas, Huntsville is nearly 100 miles from the coast.

We lost power around 3am on Sept. 13th.   As of this writing, it has not returned.  I am however, increasingly hopeful that it will magically show up by this weekend.  One of my wife’s co-workers got power at her house last Sunday and offered to loan us her generator.  We now have a fan and TV, and the world is so much nicer.  We can’t wait to get back to normal, but luckily, food is being restocked, gas is easier to find, and both kids and my wife are all OK.  We have seen an ugly storm, ugly sides of humankind all greedy and mean.  We have seen government officials do a good job in trying to maintain order and help those who need it.  Hats off to FEMA, the National Guard, Coast Guard,(some often forgotten folks), the Army that rolled in on Wednesday the 17th to help secure Galveston Island.  Centerpoint linemen and all the other power company teams that came in get high marks, but the Centerpoint Energy managment team can bite me.

On behalf of my family, those that sent your thoughts and calls I appreciated them.  We will get back to normal, or as normal as my household gets.  I am moving through all of my rescheduled projects that need to be done.  I am also looking at the really important question, Can I have my vaction now?

Hurricane Ike did not sneak up on us.  Good lord, that thing was seen thousands of miles away, but it was born in an area of the Tropical Atlantic that has never produced a hurricane that has hit Texas.  We felt the odds were pretty good.  Ike was not a fast mover.  Ike was not a ninja.  Ike announced his presence loud and proud.  Everyone knew Ike was out there.  Around Sept. 5th, there were some stirring in weather rooms around Houston that Ike may make history.  I was planning a brief and very much needed vacation from work and had serious reservations about the weather conditions I would be experiencing.  As most of my friends can tell you, I am a weather nut.  I will chase tornadoes.  I will stand out in a lightning storm and watch.  I stood out in the middle of a tropical storm down here in 1998 and told the neighbors around me, “this ain’t so bad.”  I took Atmosheric Science at Texas Tech, (go Raiders,) and was the curve breaker.  In other words, you show me some data, and I can usually derive a forecast.  I told people at work on Sept. 7th that Ike could make things very interesting for us.  Some laughed, some asked me if I was serious.  I am not an expert by any means, and I don’t have access to the really good data, but I know weather.  I was farmer.  We have weather sense.

Ike hit.  Ike was huge.  Ike measured nearly 600 miles across.  If Ike was centered in Texas, it would have covered the entire state except for El Paso, which really isn’t Texas, Brownsville, which really isn’t Texas either, and the upper panhandle around Dumas and Dalhart which really isn’t Texas…you get the idea.  Ike was huge.  Ike was officially a Cat. 2 storm, but no one follows up with the fact that Ike was one good puff from Cat. 3.  Ike had a strong Cat. 3 storm surge.  Friday morning, before Ike was even near the coast, areas of the Texas coast were FLOODED and not a drop of rain had come down yet.  You see what we are dealing with here?  Ike was a storm that changed the rules about how to prepare for a storm.  By Friday morning people who had not evacuated but were planning to, could not leave.  They were trapped.  The National Guard managed to get some of them out, and the Coast Guard rescued a few more, but there were thousands stuck, because storm planning said that Friday would be a good evacuation day.

I’m 75 miles from all this calmly putting up some boards to protect some windows in my living room from potential flying debris.  I’m fine, except that my much needed, recharge the mental battery vacation is rapidly spiraling down hill, but little did I know that the worst was yet to come.

More to follow.

I see an almost empty parking lot that dreams of being full on a Texas Tech football game day. The smells of grilling meat, stale beer and anticipation hanging in the air. The sounds of rowdy Tech fans laughing and debating which player is going to be the star of the game. The sights of various tailgate parties with big screen TVs hooked up to a random satellite dish in the back of someone’s truck. Young children dressed in their favorite player’s jersey (custom made to fit a 4 year old aspiring quarterback) or the newest size 6 fashion in Tech cheerleader uniforms. College students dressed in what they feel is the most impressive piece of Tech gear they own. (and ladies, not all of us look attractive in the flour sack dress with the cowboy or UGG boots!) The parents and grandparents running herd on all of the kids, and drunk college students. Every person brought together for a common goal, to see Tech GO, FIGHT, WIN!!! And after the game, when all of the vehicles have left until the next game, the parking lot looks a bit bare. Like all of the life has been removed, but just so it could rest. But it still has the dream, as the leftover trash blows in the West Texas wind, that the next football game could be the one.

I see a field that has just been harvested. The crops have been cut and stored or shipped off. The field will now be plowed under to allow it to rest for the winter. Like everything else in life, it too needs a rest. Until the last frost, when it will begin to grow once more.

I see the West Texas sky, though dark at this very moment, held a beautiful sunset a few hours ago. The sun set in a sky which held hues of red, gold and orange, like fall leaves. It reminded me that no matter what happens in the day, ‘this too shall pass’, like the sunset. The night sky, which I love in Lubbock, far surpasses almost anywhere else I have ever lived. My parents have the advantage of living outside of town, and even though I can see the Milky Way from their house, it’s just not the same as the stars in West Texas. We can drive out 10 miles in almost any direction and face away from town and see all the stars we want.

These are just a few of the reasons that I really do LOVE Lubbock. It hasn’t always been my favorite place on Earth, and that has to do with the things that I didn’t mention, such as the allergies, but over the last 3 year, it has been really good to me. I have made friends here that will last me a lifetime. I know that no matter where we are in the world, as long as there’s a phone, I have my friends right there with me.

Lubbock wasn’t my “number one” choice for ‘life after graduation’, it was my number two. It was that, long before I realized that my reason for moving back to Austin had nothing to do with the fact that I wanted to go back to Austin, just that I had no reason to stay in Lubbock. There were no ties for me to stay in a great place, where I have been happy.

All but one of my friends had left the area, and I didn’t feel like I wanted to go to the ‘trouble’ of making new ones. Then I realized that I wouldn’t be happy here for the 9 months that I was going to be here ‘by myself’ if I didn’t at least make the effort to find a friend or two. My one friend from what we refer to as the ‘past’ tried to get me involved in Junior League and Young Professionals of Lubbock, and my excuse was ‘I’m leaving in December”. That’s been the excuse for as long as I can remember.

Enter Sean. Through him I have made at least 3 new friends in the last 3 weeks. And guess what, I already consider them good friends. They accepted me for who and what I am, and for that I am grateful. It will make staying in Lubbock even better.

I got even better news last week! Another friend  of mine is moving back to Lubbock, and one more might come back too!

So, all in all, even though staying in Lubbock had become my back-up plan…I think it was probably always my original plan. I had already looked into a job, which I got good news about yesterday.(yes, they are still hiring, and I should go ahead and apply, since I will be a Tech graduate, they will probably hold a job open for me to start after I graduate. And if I get my commission reactivated before I get hired, there are positions open at the airport immediately…can we say off at 2200?!) I had looked into buying a house, but now, I can be an answer to a friend’s prayer and help her with rent. (instead of paying $1000 a month in rent alone!) As far as my family is concerned, back when I had talked of the possibility of staying in LBK, my dad did a little research on returning to Lubbock when they retire. (My parents went to Tech, back in the day.) So, to all the nay-sayers, I will tell you a secret…I plan on staying in LUBBOCK!!!  =)

What can I tell you that most of you haven’t already been told? I’m originally from the Austin area, ok, to be more exact,  Fredericksburg, Texas. I am an only child, so yes, I have been spoiled in various ways all of my life, however I am no spoiled brat, and don’t tolerate those who are.

I will graduate from Texas Tech University with a degree in Public Relations on December 13th. I have a degree in Law Enforcement Technology already, and wanted to continue my education while my parents were willing to allow me to work part-time and go to school.

As for the question ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’, I have wanted to be a Public Information Officer for a law enforcement agency for about 10 years. Hopefully after I graduated, this will come to pass… eventually.

When I came to Lubbock 3 years ago, I was a completely different person than I am today. I was drifitng in my life, and not sure where to put in to port. I have discovered myself here, in Lubbock. My friends have listened to me complain about living out here for 3 years, since I was away from them and my family… they are extremely surprised that I would consider staying here, much less escaping and then returning, but Lubbock has been good to me, even though I am allergic to it nine out of 12 months in the year.

My family and friends are a great support system to me, even if they are more than four hours away in different directions. Without them, I would still be lost in the drift. They make me laugh when all I want to do is cry, and make me realize that ‘this too shall pass’.

Most people ask me if I am afraid of what my future might hold, and to them I say no, absolutely not. I am not afraid of much (ok, Sean’s parents being the exception-they terrify me!), I am afraid of disappointing those I love. My family, friends and Sean. They all know I have my faults, and believe me they are numerous, but I am most afraid of doing something that will disappoint one of them.

And since he has already thrown me under the bus, I’ll go ahead and let this slip also… I fell in love with this great guy, he sees me for what and who I am…whether I want him to or not. He has this weird way of getting inside my head. I can honestly say that I fell in love with him for who and what he is. He makes me a better person than I ever thought possible! Sean, in case I haven’t told you in the last 5 miutes, I love you!

Sean walked into my room for the first time.  I don’t remember the circumstances behind his visit.  I sure it was somehow related to friend of a friend.  His roommate knew one of my friends from down the hall.  I do remember I was sitting in a hammock watching TV.  His first thought was cool a hammock in a dorm room.

So went the first meeting between us a long time ago, time that just doesn’t seem like that long.  Since then, we have had innumerable D&D sessions, countless football games, hours of video games, tons of beer, traded a bunch of Magic cards, and listened to hours of music.  I owe Sean as the source of my claim to have been published twice.  Not that that really means anything other than it feels good to say, but I did get to meet the original Peggy Sue from Buddy Holly’s song.  That is pretty cool.

I have an autographed photo of Jo Dee Messina courtesy of Sean.  Sean and I have enjoyed taunting each other with our rivalries throughout the years.  His Browns, my Texans, neither of us has have much reason to cheer until recently. 

Bottom line, Sean is one of ”those” friends that you can rely on if you really needed help, and one you would always be there for if he needed it.  I helped Sean get married, (I still wish I had gotten my picture taken with Johanna.)  Several years later, I took the call from him asking for advice on what to do about getting a divorce.  I was one of the later friends to get married, but I was the first one divorced.  You never want to be the expert on divorce.  When my father died, Sean was one of the first ones to call me.  When I was in the hospital back in 2003, Sean called to check on me.  I was in such bad shape, I honestly couldn’t tell you if I talked to him or not.  His grandmother tried to set me up with his sister.  That is acceptance folks.  My life and his has been entwined significantly. 

Like all others, we have had our disagreements, but in the long run, what do those matter.  Those people are long gone and we are still here.  There are only a small handful of people I would put my complete trust in.  All came from Murdough Hall.  All are people I have met in college.  Sean is among the most trusted.  If I ever ran for political office, he wants to be my campaign manager.  Keep alert Sean, the nation keeps going to hell in a handcart, I may just have throw my hat in the ring. 

I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, except that he has been like this for years.

Cheers Sean. 

I had a good time this afternoon watching the first half of wildcard weekend in the NFL.

I had Seattle and the Steelers today, the Redskins never had a chance, the Steelers should have won.

Them’s the breaks.

Tomorrow San Diego will crush the Titans. Take the points and count your money.

Cross your fingers, but for some unknown reason, I like the Giants tomorrow too. Call me crazy.

Also I start my new obsession tomorrow.

Over the next 10 weeks I will lose 20+ pounds and will develop a diet and exercise plan. The wife and I have joined a weight loss program with some friends. At the end of the program, we have a weigh in and compare notes. The couple that looses the most on a percentage basis wins a pot worth around $700.

Now there’s some motivation.

I may make another post tomorrow, but I’m running out of steam. Bet the Chargers and thank me later. Hugs and kisses.

————————————23skidoo