I arrived this afternoon, which beats my previous 7:00a arrival times.  I’m staying at the beautiful the runnymede-on-thames and made it in time to check in and have some afternoon tea while reading.  Funny story… While enjoying my tea, I was asked by a neighboring table if I were American.  I confirmed and said yes, to their excitement.  Oddly enough, they were doing a crossword puzzle in The Mirror and needed a work for Gumbo Ingredient that was – - r -.  Luckily for me, I made a mash-up impression with Okra.

Pictures of the grounds, and more stories to come, as I meet up with friends here locally.

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I do have some pics to post that will show up in the coming days.  Till then, here’s a brief recap on the non-office travels.

Wednesday of last week (I told you I was behind), I met my boss and a few other executives with our company and our partner at an amazing resteraunt called Hakkasan.  It’s located in Soho and apparently is one of the places to go in London – so much that if you don’t order within a short while of arriving for your reservation, they ask you to leave.   We had lots of amazing food, including scallops, duck, beef and fish.  Every dish was like something off Top Chef.  Sitting there talking work, it was funny to stop and think about how my boss and I were thousands of miles from the office, and happened to be in London (unplanned) at the same time.  After dinner it was off to a nice lounge for drinks before heading back out to Heathrow.

Friday, Jeff’s cousin Ritchie who lives in the UK came in and picked me up to head out to his town of Whistable, which is in the neighboring county of Kent, about an hour and a half from London.  We made it out his place around 2a and stayed up till just past 6a having a few beers and doing a lot of catching up. (Brief back story – I first met Ritchie and his family over the summer when they came to the States and spent a weekend in Austin floating the river and having  a blast.) 

After a quick nap, we were up and crashing the town of Canterbury with his girlfriend Lucy, about 20 minutes away.  From shopping, to sights, to protesting Santa’s, Ritchie showed me the local side of the UK – outside the hustle and bustle of the business London.  A stop at a local pub and a few beers and rounds of pool later, I was ready for a nap to regroup.

That night, we went and hit up a local pub before heading to Chill for lots of dancing and drinks.  The music was awesome, the dancing was fun and the company was the best – Ritchie, Lucy and their friend Sarah.  After burning off all the calories I was about to eat, we grabbed a takeout kabob from down the road.  Here’s the fun fact – they can deliver beer, but they can’t sell it to you in the restaurant to go.  Ever ask for a delivery with the address being “across the street”?  We did.  All the while I was getting lots of love from Jeff and the Fab Five via text, who were at the annual Christmas party celebrating sobriety and baking cookies

Come 4:30a we all were set to crash and sleep in the next morning.  We had big lunch plans – we were headed to the carver for, as Ritchie calls, a proper roast lunch.  Straight off the carving station, it was roast beef, ham and turkey – so good after a night out.  Later that afternoon, I caught the train back into town and prepared for the week – which is where you find me now.  Many thanks to Ritchie, Lucy, Sarah and Mr & Mrs Taylor for their hospitality and for the awesome adventure.

Tomorrow afternoon wraps up my last day in the office.  Thursday holds a 90 minute morning meeting, then a 9 hour flight back home.

Chance of snow tomorrow… We’ll see!

Pictures on the way – stay tuned.

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Being the lucky bastard I am, while bumming around the train station, I found a camera supply store that sold one for dirt cheap! So, thanks to luck, here’s some pics from my hotel

Auberge du Pêcheur – Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium16 pictures
Sint-Martens-Latem, BelgiumFeb 21, 2009

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Last night I went with some colleagues into Gent for dinner and drinks.  We went to this really trendy pub and I had Duvet, one of the more popular Belgium beers.  Despite all the consolidation in the beer industry here, Duvet is still independent, and strong!  It was really good – and this coming from someone who’s not big into beers.

From there it was dinner at this quaint little italian place – quaint being tiny!  It seated no more than 30 and was very authentic with their Italian owner running around hosting and serving.

Tonight is dinner with my regional VP then off to the train tomorrow to London.

Don’t forget – my Hill Country Ride for AIDS account is still there with just $40.00 (thanks Brooke and Holly!).  Anything you can do to help me out on this ride would be great!  Donate here!

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The flight over was nice, and didn’t feel like 8 hours, even though it was. Are you ready for this?  I read an entire book from start to finish – something I haven’t done in years.  Jeff gave me a book for my trip and from the time I read the first page, I couldn’t put it down until I finished it.  Chelsea Handler’s “My Horizontal Life: A collection of one night stands” was one of the most entertaining and flat out hilarious things I have ever read.  Within four hours, I had gone from cover to cover and laughed more and more.  For the first time, I can say I can’t wait to pick up another.

After trying to doze some and get some rest, we landed in Brussels Tuesday morning at 7:30a.  This time, I got all my bags at one time! I was so excited to see them come off the belt.  Remember, last time it was 36 hours later before my bag showed. Remember again, when I was driving a sporty rental?  Not this time. I am rolling in a Ford Galaxy – aka a MINI VAN.  Yeah, tell me about it.

So I made my way out to the little community where I am working till Saturday and checked into my room.  It is way cute – they’re little villa type buildings each with 4-5 rooms in each.  After traveling for 24 hours, all I wanted was a hot bath, and I didn’t know if I was going to get it… my last trip to Belgium left me in a room with only a shower.  Much to my surprise, I have a huge bath tub in my gorgeous little room.

After getting settled in, I made my way across to the hotel grounds to get some lunch.  The hotel and restaurant have a very solid French influence – it is after all Auberge du Pecheur.  So for lunch, it was time to jump into local cuisine.  The starter was an oyster with garlic, followed by eel on cucumber jelly and an ice fish and apple chutney mix, which was awesome.  Lunch was delicious – truffle ravioli with potatoes and mushrooms.  So. Damn. Good.

From there it was nap time – I was totally jet lagged from the trip, and the dreary rainy weather made it all that much harder to stay awake.

Being a way from town, and in the suburb of a small community, there’s not much going on – so this week is going to be catch up and lounge night at the hotel.

I have a few pics I’ll put up, and hopefully tomorrow will be a little dryer so I can get more.

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After a great weekend of GQB, Valentines Day, packing and TXRD Derby, it was off to the airport at 5:50a this morning.  I hopped a ride with Jeff, who gave up his uninterrupted sleep on his day off to take me to the airport.

For the first time, my clothes at the airport presented a problem for me. Not for setting off the metal detector, but for being “too baggy”.  The agent wanted me to take my sweatshirt off, apparently to see my ripped abs (ha!) but I didn’t have anything on underneath it.  Instead, she offered to have me patted down – joy.  But the supervisor told her I was fine and sent me on my way.

After a quick stop for Round Rock Donuts, I made my way to the gate to find it practically empty – YES!  Getting all comfy and skimming my book, at a totally empty gate mind you, this old guy and his wife decide to sit right next to me.  Don’t mind the 5 other empty seats on this row… nah.  Sit right up on my lap please.

We board the plane, and I am row 31 of 32 – but it’s bulkhead so I sprawl all out in the space and take a 3 hour nap.

I’m sitting here in O’Hare with a 5.5 hour layover waiting for my plane to Brussels.  I arrive local time Tuesday morning at 7:30a.  Don’t you know I’ll be a happy camper!

I found the place I am staying at is about 45mins outside the city, so I have a little drive ahead of me when I land.  I’ll update when I get there – pending they have Internet!

Don’t forget – there is still plenty of time to support me in my Hill Country Ride for AIDS going on in April.  Check out the page at http://www.hillcountryride.org/goto/matheny for all the details.  We got our jerseys this past week and I am going bike shopping when I get back – watch for pics coming soon!

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Ainsley Turns 7!

Ainsley had her birthday, and this year I was able to be there for the party!  As you can imagine, it’s tough having a birthday on Dec 27 and having a party with all your friends from school there.  This year, my mom and I flew up to Charlotte on the 18th and surprised Ainsley at her Yellow Belt Graduation Ceremony.  Ainsley is now an Orange belt and is well on her way to learning self defense – which is good since she’s not 50 pounds soaking wet yet!

While there, I was proud to be the Mystery Reader for her class and surprised everyone by showing up with two books to read before lunch.  Ainsley was so excited, she had no idea I was coming into school.  From there, we had lunch in the cafeteria, and boy have things changed!  You now have a PIN number for your lunch card and can pick from vegan options, a salad bar and more – all in elementary school!

That weekend, we went out to a small ranch and took Ains and 5 of her closest girls horseback riding.  Now I know what you’re thinking, but this was far from walking a horse in a circle.  Everyone had their own horse and things got interesting as Ainsley’s horse decided to JUMP a puddle of mud, and my horse was spooked by something and thought he’d see if I could hold on for eight seconds.  Both incidents ended with us keeping control of our horse and me hoping no one was thrown on a 7 year old birthday party trail ride!

Ainsley’s 7th Birthday58 pictures
Charlotte, NCDec 20, 2008

We wrapped things up with an early Christmas and watching Ains eagerly open her gifts from Texas.  We had a great stay with her mom and step-dad, and got to see her new little sister in person.

Christmas with Ainsley in Charlotte44 picturesDec 21, 2008

New Years

Continuing my tradition, I had my annual New Years party, which was quite successful.  Ending up asleep in my closet at 5:00a New Years Day should be enough to highlight how much fun we had.  Many thanks to the best friends I could ask for – Roy and Natalie – for all their help in setting up and keeping my OCD in check.  Thanks to Roy, Natalie, Jeff, Jason (grr), Sean, Joe, Brandon, Ryan, Andrew, Sheerin, Brooke, Libby, Maggie and everyone else for starting the New Year off with me!

New Years Eve30 pictures
Pflugerville, TXDec 31, 2008

I met WonderWoman…

A dear friend of mine, Kathie, showed me in 2009 the definition of strength, determination and love.  January 6th, at 6:30p she lost her best friend and husband to an uphill battle of cancer.  Steve and Kathie are the couple you want to “grow up” to be like, with their two adorable daughters – Delaney and Alby.  In the midsts of caring for Steve, raising her daughters and running a house, Kathie was quite possibly the strongest person I’ve seen in a long time – and even managed to carry out every one of Steve’s wishes despite some less than ideal in-laws who gave her hell from 1400 miles away every day.  If 2009 is good to anyone this year, Kathie better be on the top of the list.

89 is not just another year…

My great-grandmother, Violet, hit the “one year away” mark this month, as she turned another year more fabulous and celebrated 89 years.  My grandparents, Nana and Dada, along with my Dad, threw an awesome lunch for MeMaw in Kerrville, with grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren in attendance, along with one of two living siblings.  At 89, MeMaw is the oldest of her siblings and enjoys her days with other residents of her senior community and a nice cold Dr. Pepper.

Do you hear what I hear?

No, not Christmas bells, but the pitter patter of little feet.  My Step-Brother Jason and his adorable wife Cecilia are getting ready to welcome a little boy to the world this spring/summer.  With all the excitement, it makes me wish my brother Allen were here to raise his little one (Allen Evan) and see these two friends who grew up together raise their boys together.  Another reason to cherish every day you have with someone – you never want to have to wish you would have called one more time just to say hi.

Home is where my head rests…

After a wonderful week and a half off from work over the holidays, I started back on 5Jan and hit the ground running.  I’ve spent most of my time since then traveling and visiting marriotts from Houston to Manhattan.  It’s exciting and rewarding to be part of such an envigorating company with an unbeatable product offering, outstanding team and confidence in what we do.  In todays economic times, everyone is thankful for their career… If the economy were at the top of its game, I’d be just as thankful for all the opportunities I have every day.

If you’re still reading…

You deserve some sort of award.  I told you a lot has happened… and well, when you put your homepage on your Christmas cards, and have some friends that keep track of you through this and Facebook, you kind of need to download everything, even if it is mundane.

While I don’t resolve to do anything other than the best I can this year, there are a few things that I’d like to see happen.  I won’t bore you with the list, and some of it is just cheesy, but I will say keeping in touch with you more is on the list.  So help me out, drop me a line or pick up the phone, and I’ll try more to do the same. 

With everything this life gives you, it’s the people in your life that fill your days with the joy and fulfillment that make the journey a memorable one. Thanks for being part of the ride.

• Belgium Politie (Police) just arrested terrorists from Pakistan, here in Brussles, who were plotting to blow something up. No, really, I just found that out at dinner!
• Brussels is the capital of both Belgium, and the European Union. (They stole the EU Capital from Strasberg , France!)
• “Please” is often translated as “Thank you” here…
• French, while one of the offical languages, is not always the one they’re speaking. Try Dutch or German as well.
• Once again, Diet Coke is taboo – it’s called Coke Light.
• Pedestrians *always* have the right away in a cross walk, and will prove it!
• Everyone drives a standard, so get out of that automatic and learn something new!
• Bathtubs are not guarantees – break the creature comfort.
• You can live two full weeks with no TV - I just did.
• Le Madeline prepared me for French Cuisine – Croque Monsiure ce vou plait
• Contact FM, Q-Music and BEL RTL are not “cool” radio stations, so don’t brag that you listen to them.
• Don’t order Steak Tartar, unless your up for some raw hamburger meat.
• McDonalds does not serve “all white meat chicken” outside the US.
• GPS is a gift from GOD!
• Visa – it’s not *everyhwere* you want to be – but the Euro is!
• The alumininum in soda cans in EU is much more sturdy than in the US.
• Greek resteraunts are *everywhere* in Belgium – enjoy a pita!
• Learn a subway system – any system – before traveling abroad… trust me
• Try it – you’ll probably like it.

And finally – things I’ll miss (albeit some of them dorky)…

• The little chocolate things the client had in the breakroom.
• The cold weather.
• Nora Jones blaring outside my hotel window from the Christmas market EVERY NIGHT.
• The awesome lights on the historic buildings celebrating Christmas.
• The way I pretended to know French with my Bonsiur and Au revior.
• Not understanding a damn thing said on the radio except Katy Perry, Coldplay and Pink.
• Agressive driving.
• The fascination from others into what “we”, my company, does.
• Being lost in a world and feeling so comfortable at the same time.

Traveling abroad is one of the many things I am so thankful for in my career and with my company.  My next trip is back to one, maybe two, places in Europe in early 2009, and I am ready for more experiences.

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If you think driving in NYC is bad, you have no idea what bad is.  It took me almost an hour just to get to the hotel, where the parking garage was blocked by Christmas markets.  I had to park down the street in a public garage… which actually works out better.  Parking at the hotel is 27€, but parking in the public garage was only 14€ – so I think it was in my favor.

I tried looking for a different hotel, but I couldn’t find one that was in the suburb, even though I drove around a while… It may be best if I stay here and just commute, but we’ll see how that commute goes tomorrow.

I’m taking to ains on the computer right now, and she’s getting SO big.  She’s counting down the days till I go visit her, and waiting for her European surprises

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