Dawn's Away Again

I took Dawn to the airport yesterday (Friday Jan 2nd) for her next business adventure. They have her in Perth, Australia this time. Sooo - her flight left at 7pm Friday night, she just landed and its 9am Sunday morning! Think about it ... she skipped all of Saturday! Dawn likes to refer to airplanes as Time Capsules! Once your on board and they close the door, time kinda slows down, there is nothing you can do other than sleep, listen to music or watch a poorly edited movie! Oh well - at least she is in Australia, right? Its in the 90's ... and its summer!

So - what did I do last night??? Well, I was up until 4:30am fighting off wave after wave of locusts and grinders and boomers in a new game I got last month, Gears Of War 2! It is such an epic game - very fun to play and even better with friends. Lindley and I try to play together at least once a week ... since he is West Coast time, I gotta wait until around midnight my time for us to get going, but its the price I gotta pay!

Tyler and Bryan were down here for 8 incredibly fast days! This trip we pretty much just hung out, did alot of talking, dinners, shopping. We had a great time ... and the BEST part of the whole trip was when more than one friend of ours (Dawn and I) told us how amazing the boys are and how mature they behave and how polite they are to people. Those boys are awesome! I am so proud of them ... and the fact that they have been able to show us they are responsible by bringing their grades up!

Tyler was able to get his drivers license and is now legally allowed to drive - HUH??? Yeah, that one snuck up on me too! ha ha

Well ... just wanted to make a quick update, not much going on over the next 6 days. However, next Friday I am flying to Nashville to catch a Predators hockey game. That should be fun! Its all part of my goal to visit every hockey arena in the NHL once for a game. Not sure how long that is going to take ... but it will be accomplished!

Hope you all are well ...

Tyler and Bryan - heading home again

Sitting in Tampa waiting for their plane to leave the gate. I snapped this picture quickly before they revolted! We had such a great 8 days ... Lots of good talks, hanging out and spending time with each other.

What awesome young men these kids are turning into. I had quite a few friends tell me how amazing they are ... So polite, so sweet, so pleasant to be around. I am very proud of Tyler and Bryan ... I can not wait for the day when they can live with Dawn and I.

Q&A With Tyler And Bryan

I finally got these two boys sitting still long enough - the other day I asked them to answer the following three questions ... nothing earth shattering, I just wanted them to put their thoughts down so I could post it up here! If you have questions for Tyler and Bryan, leave a comment and I'll have them answer it.

Tell me about your most memorable Christmas:

Bryan – My memorable Christmas is flying on an airplane and seeing my dad and my step mom. It was the first time I saw Ms. Dawn.

Tyler – My most memorable Christmas was when I was about five or six. I visited the doctor about three or four times that week due to the fact that my parents had put angel hair on the tree and it severely screwed up my asthma. It was awful and I was miserable. That was my most memorable Christmas.

Tell me about the best present you gave someone:

Bryan - The best present I got someone was a watch for my mom. The watch has silver bars crossing each other.

Tyler – The best present I ever gave someone was my mom and it was a shrinky dink in the shape of a dog. The dog was green, red, burgundy, black, and brown with a purple head. My mom still has it and I complain to her to throw it away cause it’s cracked and chipped and has been thrown everywhere. That was the best present I gave someone.

What do you love the most about visiting your Dad?


Bryan - We do a lot of fun things. For example we went to Disney World, MGM, and Universal studios.

Tyler – What I love about visiting my dad is that when we come down we always do different things; like going to Universal, Disney World and Downtown Disney. I also love visiting their friends because they give me good advice just in case dad and Dawns’ lecturing doesn’t do the job. That’s why I love visiting my dad.

Caroling in Celebration!

Every year we (24 or so of our closest friends) all have dinner @ Cafe
D'Antonio's and then we break out the Christmas Carol books and sing
songs while the people visiting Celebration walk by looking at us funny!

Here is Tyler and Dawn doing their best at holding a tune!

Tyler and Bryan can actually share!

We stopped in Tampa to grab some sustinance before our hour long trek
home.

Here they are showing me how well they share ... Ha ha

Tyler And Bryan Arrive Today

We are getting ready to have Tyler and Bryan come chill for the next 8 days. Dawn just got back home from a quick trip to Kentucky and I just landed a 4 week job helping a local marketing agency on the social media side of a campaign for one of their clients. Its really exciting, because my plan is to show them what I can do on this project and hopefully they will ask me to help them out on future projects.

So ... stay tuned for updates this week. I'll be posting pictures, stories and such. Maybe I'll give Tyler and Bryan a writing project to post here on the blog. Hmmmmmmmm

Anyway - hope you all are well ... more to come later.

Politics And The Game

Well - my first election has come to a close. Not even close, I had my ass handed to me by an arrogant, self serving opponent who played the game better than I. I walk away with my head held high, my integrity intact and my pride a tad bit bruised.

That said - what I also walk away with is the knowledge of who is actually in my corner and who is on the fence, I walk away knowing who I can turn to and who I should avoid and the greatest lesson I learned was who I know to be my true supporters are actually and honestly behind me 100% of the way!

I was just taught a very valuable lesson today - one that someone has to walk through to learn. Its not something that can be told and understood, its not something that you can read in a book and practice it. Its the lesson of great loss. I am not talking a loss of a hockey game, or a loss of a poker hand ... its not a loss of a "sure thing" wager where the underdog pulls a miracle out of nowhere in the last seconds and wins it by one point. This is the pain of true failure - an epic loss by 60+% ... one where you look back and say ... even if I did try a little harder, I would have still failed.

So - right now, I am raw ... not really enjoying this feeling, but knowing I have to make it through, I have no choice - this is not the end. Its just another lesson that I needed to learn ... something that has forged my character to become even sharper, clearer, stronger. This is not a stumbling block, this is not an obstacle - this is only a learning experience - this is ONLY what makes me stronger.

Politic Is Synonymous With Pander

As I run for our local community development district (CDD) seat I am finding it a learning experience every time I turn around. I was looking up words online last night for another post I did regarding the NHL and I ran across the synonyms for "Pander" and there it was "politic" ... it gave me a chuckle.

Does it strike anyone else as humorous that these two words can be associated with eachother? The more I walk around town, talking to residents of Celebration, asking for their vote - I am realizing there are quite a few distinct types of people here.

1. Those who dont really know what a CDD is or does
2. Those who do know, and really WANT something done
3. Those who do not know what a CDD does, yet still want something done
4. Those who do know, and want something done that the CDD has no control over

I do not know which type of person I am going to come across until I am allready knee deep into the conversation ... this might seem fun at first, but lemme tell ya!!! I really enjoy talking to those who do know what a CDD is yet want something done that the CDD has no control over. It gives me a new found respect for elected officals.

As I sit and watch the barrage of presidential commercials on TV ... and the more and more vague these two candidates are in their messages I realize they have to talk this way in order to survive. Everyone has heard the saying "you cant please everyone, all the time" ... I would like to reword it by saying "you cant please everyone ... EVER!"

It is pretty awesome running for office ... I am crossing my fingers and really want to be elected. I think that in the end, it is every politicians desire to contribute to our foundation as a country, to be part of the solution and do good. I will always look back on this experience as an incredible lesson.

Salem Cemetary

This place has one of the original Mayflower passengers. There are
also other historical people buried here ... Along with a bunch of
people convicted of witchcraft.

This trip has been really interesting today ... I did not think I
would enjoy Salem as much as I have.

Dawn is dragging me on a walking tour of "haunted" Salem tonight ...
Hopefully I don't scream to loud! Ha ha

From Sam Adams to Cheers!

We started off the afternoon doing a brewery tour of Sam Adams!
Finished the afternoon @ Cheers for a quick bite ... And NO ... They
did not know my name!!!

Looking for a jumpin breakfast joint

Ran across this delicious dive ...

The View From Our Seats!

So - here is the view from our seats when we go watch the Lightning play. I am sooooo very excited about this ... not only do I get to watch the BEST sport in the world, but I get to watch it from nice comfy leather chairs, right behind the goalie, and Dawn will be with me!!!

So - stay tuned this year for my mobile updates during the games. Oh yea - did I mention that these seats come with free food and drinks??? *smile*

THATS how I roll!

**Click on the picture for a better look.

Heading Home

What an awesome weekend ... The concert was a hit - my boys like Swing
music now! I am surprised how fast this weekend went. In just a
couple months the will be here for Christmas .. For a whole week!

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

This has to be one of the BEST bands to see live!!! I looooooove this
group.

On our way out of the park

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy was a hit - we had such a great time with the
boys - Dawns mom and sister joined us in the evening and shared dinner
with us and the boys! Kinda sad for it to be almost over ... But MAN
am I tired!!!!!! Overall ... it was a wonderful weekend and I would not trade anything in the world for the past 48 hours.

Wasabi Pea Eating Contest!!!

Dawn and Bryan are going toe to toe seeing who will give up first. My
money is on Bryan at this point ... He can still talk! Ha ha

Epcot - just got here, at least they are smiling! Heading to England for a beer then off to explore the wonderful countries and their different foods!

The Arrival Of The Boys!!!

That's right, Tyler and Bryan are heading down to Orlando this weekend. I get so excited every time they come to visit ... and I am doubly excited this time because we are going to Epcot! Not only is it cool taking my boys to Epcot, watching them run around, pulling Dawn and I here and there ... they laughing, the fun, the "magic" ... this weekend is also the kick off to the International Food and Wine Festival in Epcot. This even runs every year for about 8 weeks and every country puts out a little booth and serves samplings of food from their country, along with a beer and wine *smile*. So not only do we get to have fun with the boys, take them on the rides, laugh, play and skip (OK, maybe not skip) ... but we also get to force foreign food down their throat and watch the different faces they make when we tell them they just ate a duck liver, or a snail, or even worse ... A VEGETABLE!!!

It just warms my heart to prepare and think of all the torture I get to put my wonderful sons through this weekend ... *giggle* Now ... for the BIG news!!! My FAVORITE band is playing in Epcot tonight too. That's Right ... not only do I get to see my Bad Ass kids ... Take them to Epcot for hours of laughable fun ... threaten them with bodily harm if they don't eat snails *snicker* ... Enjoy the BEST food and wine festival in the world ... I also get to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy!!!!!!!! For a sampling of BBVD's smooth and tasty digs check out this little homemade video from one of their concerts last year *no - not mine!* - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_sH04aRcGk

Other than that ... its going to be a lighting fast weekend with the boys ... I am sure I'll be posting some pictures of the festivities here on the blog so keep checking (if you want to) - or you can just come back another day and catch up on all the fun we had! *grin*

Is Social Media Worth The Time?

Recently I have been engaged in a few heated discussions regarding the value of “Social Networks” and Social Media. It seems to me there is a rather large group of people in society that believe Social Networks (MySpace, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter) are for kids or single people looking to “hook up!” I also listen to their reasoning that some people use social media as a shield to hide behind in order to avoid actually meeting people in person. I personally believe social media has more pluses than minuses and can be used to not only improve your network of knowledge it can also help your business and your brand. There is a long list of benefits, for me, regarding social media ... here are a few that come to my mind:

Information Exchange : Social Media is the vehicle available to everyone for information. Depending on what information you are looking for will depend on the response you get from a social network. The trick is, to just start using social media and try out a social network before you tell me it’s full of perverts who just want to talk about sex.

Commonality : Using social networks you can find people or groups who share views, beliefs, or business ideas. These same people own businesses, manage people, work in a technology field, want to learn from you and your failures, just as you will learn from their lessons.

Familiarity : Once you begin to use social media and social networks and develop “relationships” with the people you talk to, Twitter with or post for, you will begin to learn about them as a person. View their pictures on Flickr, read their personal blog and learn about their families. It is what happens when you have a conversation with people on an ongoing basis. People I have never met and probably would never have had the opportunity to meet if not for social media have introduced themselves to me either after I’ve connected via Twitter, commented on one of their blog posts or referenced a post in one of mine.

Learn : Just as you are posting your thoughts, your business ideas, your opinions – you are also reading others … I learn something every day through a blog, a Tweet, an email. My social network teaches me something new about this medium 7 days a week.

Communicate : I belong to a few different groups – I use Twitter to get my message to many people at once when I need instant communication. Yet another benefit of social media.
I know there will be those skeptics out there when it comes to social media. My suggestion is, you need to try it in order to understand the value it can be to you and your business. If it doesn’t work for you, that’s OK - it may not be the right marketing activity, it may not be the right avenue for your success, but if you are considering social media as a marketing strategy, start with the basics - a blog, LinkedIn and a Facebook profile. Once you get these going, then add Twitter. After that, it’s up to you to determine which other tools may be beneficial to you based on your target market and how you want to reach them. Social Media is all about how you use it, keep in mind that it is a mindset and not a product!

How do you use Social Media in your business? How have you incorporated Social Networking into your business plan and how has it affected you and your company, department, product?

Happy Birthday Tyler - 16 years old!

16 Years ago TODAY I was introduced to my first son … August 22nd 1992 … William Tyler Samuel Brister was born. Weighing in at 5 pounds 6 ounces (or something like that) he was bound and determined to let us all know that we needed him more than he needed us. He didn’t like to be held, he preferred being wrapped in a blanket and left alone. If you tried to pick him up, he would scream and well … not much has changed in 16 years.

You should see the agility in this young man when I (or my Mom, Dad, Dawn, anyone) tries to give him a kiss. Evidently, these days its sooo not cool to let your dad hug and kiss you. I am glad I was not this difficult when I was 16 … its also refreshing to know that I had it so much more together than Tyler does now. *smile*

What an amazing 16 years this has been with Tyler. I am so proud of him as a young man, his maturity and his ability to carry on a conversation will take him far in life and his heart is soooo caring. Its been said before that Tyler and I are identical (although I would probably guess that most would say I was the better looking one) … I think I would have to say that I am proud to call Tyler my son … I am proud to introduce Tyler to my friends and I am never, ever concerned about what Tyler is going to do, say or how he will behave. Tyler is an AMAZING role model for his brother (however, his grades could use a little help) but who am I to talk about grades? All I can do is support him and guide him.

Another thing I am proud of is the relationship Tyler and Dawn have developed. From the first time they met Tyler greeted Dawn with open arms and a huge smile. Since then they have grown closer and have become pretty tight. Its pretty cool having so many people love and cherish your kids ... the coolest thing is Dawn's family and how they have included both Tyler and Bryan in their lives.

Here is where it all started ... the first time Tyler and Bryan and Dawn met. December 2004 ... Thank god they all liked each other (secret is I threatened them with bodily harm if they didn't like Dawn! *grin*)


















Here is a picture of Tyler @ Epcot during.























Another picture @ Epcot























Yea - Driving - I know - Dont remind me!























Tyler and Bryan @ the airport - heading home from a wonderful visit!

Its amazing to see how much they have changed in only 4 years ... I can not wait to see the next 4 and the 4 after that! I am VERY blessed.