The BIG Game

Super Bowl XLIII is tomorrow (in case you missed it...), and I am so excited! I don't have a favorite team to root for (the Texans and Niners didn't exactly make it this year), but it's The Superbowl! I mean, who doesn't like to watch the Superbowl? Even if you watch it just for the commercials, I'm ok with that. Really. Because honestly, I watch it for the commercials too. Especially now that I went to a great marketing conference and heard about some commercials that will be airing. I can't wait to see what these genius people come up with!

Anyway, the Superbowl. It's great. For so many reasons. And the Times Online came up with 43 reasons to watch the Superbowl, and they're pretty good. So enjoy! And have fun watching the game! I think the Steelers are going to win (after all, offense wins games, but defense wins championships... and Pittsburgh had a pretty damn good defense this year), but I'll probably be pulling for the underdog Cardinals. (Are you kidding me? Kurt Warner is like 80 years old - ok, he's really 37, but that's old for a football player - and playing in yet another Superbowl! Who doesn't love that kind of story??)

Have fun at your parties (if you're going to one). Yes, we'll be having a little shin-dig at our place, even if it is just Jay and I (if you don't have plans, call me, and you're more than welcome to come over!). We plan to cook up some good grub, and watch a great game!

Clever Marketing

I'm in Orlando this week at an American Marketing Association conference called MPlanet. Amazing doesn't even begin to describe this conference. I'm being a sponge and soaking it all in, because there is so much to learn, so many ideas to be crafted, and so many big, influential people in the marketing business to meet. For instance, this morning, I had breakfast with the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) for Mars Candy. Some of our session leaders included the President of Anheuser-Busch, the CEO for Xerox, the CMO for Sony and American Express... these people get marketing, and it's amazing to be able to tap into their knowledge.

So the last two days have got me thinking about clever marketing I've seen, specifically on TV. I could post funny commercials all day long, but I won't. Search You Tube to find out for yourself.

All of the commercials Peyton Manning does are so crafty. They guy is funny. Like the one below.



The luxury of having a brand that people know is that you get free marketing (and really, who can complain about free marketing?). The CMO for McDonald's spoke to us today and shared the video below with us. This was something these guys did and posted it on You Tube, and it turns out McDonald's turned their random You Tube video into a commercial. And used them as themselves.



Of course we all know Budweiser, and they're genius marketing. There are so many Bud Light commercials out there, I don't even know where to start. And who can forget the "Real Men of Genius" commercials ("Mr. Giant Taco Salad Inventor" for example). They still make me laugh to this day. The first ad below is pretty clever. The other is just a montage of "Real Men of Genius" commercials. Funny. (By the way, Bud Light has 4 1/2 minutes of commercials in this Sunday's SuperBowl. Any bets on who has the first 30 or 60 second spot???)





So this is just a snippet of the type of people I am meeting this week, and gaining so much valuable information from. I have to admit that I'll never, ever, ever look at marketing and advertising the same way again, but that's what makes this so fun. I like to see who is on the cutting edge of marketing because this day and age you have to be, as more and more people are holding on to their money. It takes some pretty clever marketing to get the consumer to bite.

House update (and some other stuff)

We met with the contractor this morning over breakfast, and finally have a pretty good idea of what this endeavor is going to cost us. My heart only stopped beating for a few seconds.

The good news is that he thinks we can get started as soon as we order the dumpster. So, Jay's priority for Monday is to find a dumpster and have it delivered. The sooner the dumpster gets there, the sooner demo starts. And yes, I plan to be there when demo starts, not to oversee the demo, but to see what is above the bedrooms. I'm dying to know. It's the little things these days...

Our contractor thinks it's going to take about 3 months ("but it could also take 4," he was sure to add), so I'll be praying for the 3, but will have to deal with however long it takes. At this rate it looks like we'll be celebrating being back in the house in conjunction with Jay's 40th birthday. Yes, there will be a PAR-TAY. Oh boy, it could get ugly...

The house is going to look cool. We're going to end up taking away a little of the reasons we fell in love with the place (the back room, for instance), but these are things that probably need to be done in the long run, and now is as good of time as any to do them. We'll be able to make it ours, and do it how we want, which I guess is the most important thing.

We do now have a storage shed in the back yard however. Very exciting. Again, it's the little things these days. As my good friend PB said, "You have to start somewhere!" So we'll now be able to store all of the lawn stuff, Christmas decor, etc., without having to pay for a storage unit. Sorry, mom and dad.

In other news around the island, our favorite place to eat Sunday morning breakfast, Skipper's, finally re-opened yesterday morning. I've eaten there twice (breakfast yesterday and today), and Jay has eaten there three times. He tried to make it four with dinner last night, but we got there too late. Again, it's the little things that make a difference in returning our lives to normal. We've been going to this place every Sunday morning since we moved to Clear Lake Shores, and it's one of those places where they know people by name, we have the same waitress every time (ok, two waitresses... Love you Krista and Robyn!), we share family stories, good and bad, we don't need a menu because they know what we want (me at least... Jay gets something different all the time), and you definitely know those who aren't local and are first-timers. So, we're glad the Skipper and Terry were able to re-open. We love the place!

Stay tuned for hopefully lots of construction pictures and stories!

Yes We Can!!!

I can't let this historic day pass without a quick post. It's been a long eight years, and today was an AWESOME day for our country. Awesome doesn't really totally describe it.

President Obama (oh how good that sounds to say that!) is going to do great things for our country. As I think back to the last two years and the campaign, it's amazing to see what he did. He made Americans once again excited about the President. He brought out voters young and old, black and white, from all different backgrounds. He inspired change and hope. He's really taken a step towards uniting our country, more so than others who have come before him. I know our country will never be totally united, but it has to get better than what it's been for the past eight years. It takes a special person to do that.

He's got a lot of pressure on him, because if he doesn't hold true to his words, people will hold him accountable (as we all should). But I think many will be pleasantly surprised. I am definitely looking forward to what the future holds. I am so proud to be an American. I love this country and what it stands for. I love this historic day. It is a day I will never forget!!

Ryan Seacrest high fives a blind guy

I missed this the other night on American Idol, but heard it was kinda funny. And it is, in a way. I have to admit, Seacrest found a way to cover for his stupidity, but I'm sure at the time he was thinking, "How in the heck do I get out of this one?"

Houston... we have a PERMIT!

Almost four months to the day after Hurricane Ike struck our little "slice of paradise," we have the permit from the city to remodel our house. You have no idea what a relief this is for us, as it was quite the battle to get it in the first place. As you'll see from the photos below, we hung it in the front window today (yes, that is blue painters tape... we forgot the regular tape and that was all we could find in the garage... I'll fix it this afternoon). We are so excited about this green piece of paper. It's not much to some people, but for us it's a step in getting our lives back. I literally had to hold back tears when Jay hung it in the window today, because even though it's only been four months, it feels like it's been four years.

We're meeting with the contractor tomorrow, and hopefully the next thing I'll be doing is ordering a dumpster for the back yard!

Returning to normal, kinda, sorta

I'm still not sure exactly what the term "normal" is or means, but things around here are beginning to look as they were pre-Ike. And that's another thing... who would have ever thought that we would refer to things and situations as pre- and post-Ike? Yet, that's what we do!

Anyway, as I mentioned in a previous post, several of our favoriate restaurants had re-opened or were close to re-opening a few short months after the storm hit (which, for those of you counting, or not counting, was September 13, 2008). T-Bone Tom's has been open since the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and the Hoagie Ranch just opened up right before Christmas. Those are places that are "normal" for us. It's nice to walk in to a place and have someone call you by name and know at least what your drink order is (I'm pretty predictible as far as my food order, but Jay varies from visit to visit). So that's good news. Skipper's is this close, and we can't wait for them to re-open. That's a staple in our weekend routine.

Not that I eat at Dairy Queen a whole heck of a lot (unless, of course, it's for a dip cone, right PB??), but I noticed on my way home tonight that the Dairy Queen on Highway 146 in Seabrook is open again. I'm not for sure, but I think they were pretty much completely under water. So again, good news for the area.

And, of course, there's the Kemah Boardwalk, most of which has re-opened. I think Landry's was the last of the big restaurants to re-open, and they did that on New Year's Eve. We haven't driven over there in awhile (a result of us not being at the house with easy access to the golf cart at the drop of a hat), so I don't know if the Starbucks has re-opened, nor do I know about many of the mom and pop shops and eateries. I do know that most of the bars in Kemah have re-opened. Again, good for the local economy.

So that's the restaurant update from the area. And that's about the extent of normalcy for us as well.

Most folks who had severe damage in our neighborhood are still in the same situation as us. The island, for the most part, is back to normal. It's just weird not being there. I feel "out of the loop," if that makes any sense. I have to go to the neighbors to find out what's been happening around the island. And what great neighbors we have. Whenever we go to the house, he fills us in on who's been there, and when. For example, our contractor has had several trades guys out to the house, and our neighbor knows the truck description, the day and time they were there, how long they were there, etc., which isn't a bad thing at all. We're lucky to have neighbors like that. In fact, they called last week to find out how Jay's surgery went, and I had to fill them in on the whole hospital situation. So, we're thankful and blessed to have neighbors like that. We know not everyone is as fortunate.

We are hoping that we'll get our building permit this week. Please say a prayer or two for us. I never knew how much a little piece of paper meant to me! Well, ok, I do know what a little piece of paper means, and this ranks second on the list of import pieces of paper!