Longhorn in Paradise

Can you believe that another month has ended? I swear it feels like this year has flown by. I just started writing 2006 on my checks! Well, if I wrote checks. Which I don't. I mean, who needs checks? Does anyone write checks anymore? Besides the lady in front of me in line at the grocery store? I have actually gotten to the point where I will scope out the lines and choose the line where there is a 40 year old or younger man with a basketful of groceries before I will get in back of an older woman with half as much stuff...because you just KNOW that she is not only going to be writing a check, but she will be filling out her little check register as well. "now, let's see...that is a $14.36 check and take that from the balance, to get...." Jeez Louise! Get an ATM card already!

Man, that was a tangent...here I was wanting to talk about how fast the year was going by and what I had to be thankful for in 2006 and next thing ya know...

So, I am certain that all of us are thankful for something...some of us were probably cajoled into sharing this information at a Thanksgiving dinner somewhere..."now, let's go around the table and have everyone share what they are thankful for this year". How sweet. Nothing like putting people on the spot in front of relatives they hardly know and see only once a year...do you think that the percentage of people that say "I'm thankful for a loving family" is like 95% or higher? Well, that is the easy answer...I am here to share with you absolutely EVERYTHING I am thankful for in 2006...the good, the bad and the ugly.

1. I am thankful for my loving family -- I know. I just dissed this thanks, but dangit, its true! Many of you probably are not surprised at this as you have read their comments on this blog...and, quite frankly, you have to be a pretty loving family just to keep up with this crap. :-) They are truly the most caring, loving people you would ever want to know. To have so many of them take time out of their busy lives to come visit us out here on the coast, really means a lot to me.

2. I am thankful for great friends -- Again, you have seen some of my best friends post on this blog...and there are others who refuse to read it, but that's ok. It is nice to have great friends live so close...Greg, in particular, gave me the shove I needed to get a drum set and start playing the instrument that I always loved, but was reticent to get into...Patrick and Brady have made trips out here to basically just hang out and see what our life was like out here. Groy has been here 9 or 10 times and we have seen him for about an hour, but that's ok too. We take whatever we can get...we chose to move out here and knew that would make it difficult to see friends and we appreciate any time we have to see them. I know others have come out, but I am purposefully making this list non-exhaustive...too stressful re. forgetting names. :-)

3. I am thankful for the birth of my son -- May 11, 2006 will always be a special day for me as Hagen joined our world and he has been letting us know he is there ever since...man, is that kid loud! Seriously, every day he becomes more and more bareable and one day will be a real joy to be around. ;-)

4. I am thankful for professional connections -- It is good to be able to switch jobs without interviewing...I am interviewing candidates for the position I am vacating and it is a really crappy process. I have not been interviewed for a job since I went to work for SourceNet in 1999. 4 jobs ago. I am the poster child for it is not what you know, it is who you know...I hope to join the "what you know" crowd in the not-too-distant future.

5. I am thankful for my beautiful daughter -- now, you may be saying "didn't you give thanks for your whole family? doesn't your son and daughter get covered under that?" Well, for those of you asking that question, why don't you do your own damn blog? Who are you to question what I write on this blog? sheesh. Seriously, I want to reiterate a couple things. 1) this thanking is done in no particular order...I am certainly more thankful for my daughter than my son, yet she appears two slots lower than him. 2) When I said family, I meant, mom, sister, brother, aunts, cousins, etc. 3) Any negative comment I make about Hagen is in jest. The kid is unbelievable in his personality, looks and charm. He has become a rather amazing little boy. It is just fun to make negative comments at his expense that he can read later and spend years in therapy about. :-) Now, back to my daughter. What else can you say about this little girl that I haven't already said on this blog? She is freakishly intelligent (latest record is brand new 24 piece puzzle in less than 15 minutes), unbelievably charming ("what'd I just do?"), nearly as funny as her dad ("do your ears hang low, do they wobble too and fro, can you tie them in a knot, can you tie them in an ELEPHANT!), and incredibly beautiful (see any of the pics on this blog). She lights me up every night when I come home (as does her brother).

6. I am thankful for my beautiful wife -- She puts up with me...nuff said. Truly, those of you who know me know that I am stubborn and opinionated and I fart an awful lot. I am like a 5 year old that has to be reminded to put on my seatbelt and to wash my hands after going potty and to brush my teeth before I go to bed. I forget things all the time...she is constantly having to load up the kids and drive my wallet/watch/computer/jacket///// down to me at work because I forgot it in the mornings. I take the wrong route almost everywhere we go...I like to "discover" shortcuts (did I mention she gets carsick?). I sit on my butt every Saturday in the fall drinking beer and watching football..screaming at the tv...oh wait, she is doing that with me. Man, that is something to be thankful for...SHE WAKES ME UP FOR COLLEGE GAME DAY! I can't say enough about that girl. Did I mention she is a great cook?

7. I am thankful for The Browns -- Now, I know I already mentioned friends, but dammit, I meant it when I said stop questioning me or go do your own blog. Just think to yourself for a second about the following...young family with a toddler move to a city they are unfamiliar with...know noone...bought a house they could barely afford...how scary is all that? Truly. It was petrifying. Now, think about how good it would make you feel if someone came down to welcome you to the street before you even really got started unpacking...offered to help you out...had a young toddler of their own and the sweetest 8 year old daughter you could hope to meet. Now, you may be saying...well, shoot, that is just common courtesy...well, we lived in Austin for 2 years and had no clue what our next door neighbor's name was...I could barely pick them out in a lineup if I had to. Anyway, they soon started inviting us over for drinks...dinner...chipping golf balls in the back yard...we basically ate together 3 or 4 times a week that first summer. Then the pushing me to get into drumming...Denise and Kat shopping together on Mondays...jam sessions on Friday nights....introducing us to the wonderful Mongers, Charlie, Rene, et al. They really took us in as family and we will always be thankful for that. Kat and I always say how lucky we were to pick the particular street on which we now live...and the Brown's played a huge role in that feeling.

I am most thankful for the aggregate of all these things...being alive...having healthy kids...a roof over our heads...a steady job...great friends....loving family...wainscoting. I could go on and on (and for those of you who made it this far, you know that I basically already have). To all that read this blog and comment, thank you too. This is a great release for me made even better by the fact that it keeps me connected to all of you.

I think my friends in Queens of the Stone Age say it best....

"I want something good to die for, to make it beautiful to live"

Much love to all,

jak

I know this is sort of a tease, but it is the only picture I had quick access to and it is pretty freakin' cute. It is a month old, but the kids look basically the same today. You can actually see the exact same picture at my beautiful wife's new blog at hkkittyincalifornia.blogspot.com. Check it out!

I was thinking on the drive home today about what constitutes a really good friend. I guess, in reality, the ingredients of a good friend are probably different for each of us. But, I do think that there are some basic traits across the board that we can all agree on. Unfortunately, they seem to contrast each other....

First off, I think everyone would agree that the perfect friend be nice. Very basic...just be nice. Not mean.

Second, they should be giving. Not self-centered, but giving of themselves, their time, their beer. (or other valued things).

Third, they should be loving...different than just being nice, they should be capable of giving love to others and as importantly, to themselves.

Fourth, they should be "fun". Not necessarily funny, but fun to be around. If that means they are humorous or intellectually stimulating or clownish, that is fine if you consider it fun.

Now, I know this person is sounding like Ned Flanders and, really, who likes Ned Flanders. Which leads me to the fifth and final characteristic of a perfect friend...that they NOT be perfect. They need to have flaws...they need to rile you up....they need to do things that make you scratch your head...they need to do things that make you wonder why they are your friends. They need to make you temporarily lose sanity every once in a while. None of us is perfect, why would we want to hang out with someone who is??

Not everyone has such good friends that meet these strict criteria. I am lucky that I do. I have some of the best friends that a person could ever hope for. Some from childhood...some from college....some from my professional life....and many right in my own family.

I truly believe that one person that epitomizes all these traits is a guy that I have been talking a lot about lately...my brother Brian. For those of you that know him, go back and read each of the five traits and I would guess that he was one of the first people you thought about for each one. He is genuinely nice. He wouldn't hurt a flea and I don't think he has ever done anything in his life to intenionally hurt another....he is giving....man is he giving. Whenever Brian would get paid (and he always worked), he would come back with a bag full of my favorite candy or baseball cards. He would take me up to the store to play video games...he would also give a few dollars to those starving kids in Africa that you would always see in those commercials and wonder who adopted those kids...Brian did...Loving doesn't begin to describe Brian's capacity to care for others. I know that he loves all those he has crossed paths with and he is quick to give of this emotion when meeting new people as well...Fun? Brian is ALL about fun. He has told more jokes in his life than Jerry Seinfeld....most are really REALLY bad, but he alway seems to have some new ones. He is quick to laugh and always trying to make sure that everyone is having fun when in his presence. Lastly, Brian is certanly imperfect. He has made those decisions that make you say "what in the world??"...he has done some things that make you want to choke him...but, no matter what he does, you still have to love him.

He is Brian.

That's it...

He is Brian.

And for those of us who have known him so long...that means something. WE all love him very much...I just wanted to make sure that I introduced him to those of you who didn't know him...I figured if I am going to ask you to send your prayers or white light or whatever you believe in, I should give you some insight into the man.

He is Brian.

And we love him.

Much love to all of you...my good friends.

jak

The day has finally arrived. My brother Brian is on a military plane headed for Kuwait as I type. He will be spending a few days (perhaps weeks) there prior to being sent into Iraq. Over the past couple weeks, his assignment has been changed and it could change again. For fear of pulling a Geraldo, I won't post where he will be, but at this point it appears he will be somewhere within the Sunni Triangle. I am today, as opposed to the last time I posted on this, much more at peace with this. I mean, I hate to see him doing it and I think it is the ultimate in foolish life decisions, but as far as feeling gloom and doom about him not coming back...I don't see it coming down like that. The more I think about it, the more I think that there are many things working in our favor...First, the odds. As much as it pains me that a single person had to die in this god forsaken adventure, the percentage of soldiers killed or maimed there is very small. Second, our family has already suffered great loss with the death of my cousin Tommy over there on Christmas Day 2003. Third, Brian is not a gung-ho hero commander type. I don't envision him putting himself in unecessary danger. I see him as going over there, doing his job and that's it. So, in conclusion, I feel very strongly that in a couple years, I will be sitting down with Brian and hearing stories about how hot it was and how boring his job was. :-)

All that said, I ask that everyone keep him in their thoughts. As my mom says, send him white light. Think of his two beautiful daughters and his new bride and step-son and all the rest of us who want him back here in one piece.

Much love to all!

jak

Like sands through the hour glass...so are..the days of our lives. Yes, yes. I know. It has been a while since I last posted. I had my favorite event agency person remind me in a subtle way that I need to keep the world posted on my life so that my faithful blog aids can somehow live vicariously through me. It is an amazing responsibility to keep you people entertained, yet, I chose to do this and I must live up to my end of the bargain. So, here goes....

I was thinking the other day...is there someplace on earth where a person eats chicken for the first time and says "hmmm...this tastes like Frog Legs"? I'm certain there is. I mean, it would be short-sighted for us to think that everyone else in the world used chicken as the gold standard for what other stuff tastes like. It is like the people who are so incredulous that not everyone on the planet speaks English...or that soccer is the most popular sport on the planet...or that christianity is the third most popular religion. I guess we as Americans are pretty insulated from birth and the propoganda would tend to drive us towards these feelings that everything we do is the "norm" and anything we don't do is "weird". Which reminds me...i before e except after c unless the word is weird or foreign. I made that up when I was a kid and thought I would share it with you....seemed pretty funny at the time.

So, the democrats have taken over the government and it could not have come at a better time. As most of you know, I am a staunch democrat as I actually care about people and have yet to make enough money for that concern to override my compassion. But, over time, I am hoping to be rich enough where I care more about keeping my taxes low and less about those rat bastard poor people. Those will be the days. In all seriousness, with my brother heading over to Iraq on the 20th of this month, it is good to have some level-minded doves driving the discussions re. Iraq now vs. the neoconservative Hawks pre-election. I propose a gradual withdrawal of troops starting with old guys named Brian. It is the only plan that makes any sense. I also propose breaking Iraq into three separate countries. They could do it similar to what they did with Germany...split it down the middle (or, in this case, thirds) and then split up the oil producing regions like they did with Berlin. That way, the Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites could all have their own land and not have to intermingle and they could still share the oil revenue. And the US could stay there and just man the borders to make sure that they don't break into a bunch of border wars. Just a thought....

So, the Knight family continues to stay busy...Hagen had his 6 month check up this morning and continues to head down the charts as far as percentile...he is 16lbs 4oz and 27.5 inches. Which, in comparison to Liska makes him a monster, but is only the 35th percentile vs. other kids. Liska continues to get smarter and more beautiful every day. She is now working on jigsaw puzzles and is mastering the 24 piecers...we are going to have to get her a 100 piece puzzle just so she doesn't finish them so quickly. I think from the time we open the box to completion is less than half an hour. Pretty crazy. But, with the Knight surname comes certain expectations for brilliance and she is living up to it. :-) I think the visit from her cousins pushed her to be the best she can be as they are all brilliant as well. Not that I am bias. :-)

We put our house on the market and the folks from Designed to Sell finished up and it looks fantastic! It ended up being the largest open house in Designed to Sell history. Peeps lined up down the block...over 100 in total. No offers though. I am fully expecting that we will still be in Cali when I start my new job....speaking of which, that job starts on January 2. I am staying at Nestle until then to help with transition. Noone really wants my job as we have not gotten any applications from the internal posting so we are looking for peeps outside the company. Should be interesting. I did learn that my new firm, EquaTerra, is going to be having their annual summit at the end of January and it is going to be held at the Ritz Carlton in Cancun, Mexico. A stark contrast to anything we do at Nestle...it will be nice to get back to a small company that treats their employees like Kings and Queens. haha

OK...enough writing for today...have to save some for tomorrow. I am going to try to get on more of a regular writing kick...I tend to not want to write at work, not because it is a bad use of company time, but because I have no pics on my computer to upload. But, when I get home I am too damn tired to do anything, so I end up not posting at all. So, suffer through no pics for awhile and just read my brilliant writing. Hopefully I will get back in the groove and write something worth reading in the not too distant future. :-)

Much love to all!

jak