10 years ago...

My life was changed forever 10 years ago today. It was my first date with Jay, and who knew, 10 years later, this is where I would be? We've had our ups and downs (what couple doesn't), but I'm a better person for knowing him and having him in my life. He's opened my eyes to a lot of things, and I think I've done the same for him. He's always stood by my side, no matter what, and that's one of the many things I love about our relationship. He's always had my back, and I've had his.

On our first date he took me to Boondoggles, so that's where we went tonight. However, times have changed. 10 years ago, I ate his pizza crusts and drank A LOT of beer (I think I had eight that night... why I remember that I don't know). He kept saying to me, "I will buy you something to eat. You don't have to eat my pizza crusts." But I couldn't eat that night. I was so nervous. Tonight, however, not a problem... salad, four pieces of pizza, and a couple bites of his steak and potato.  :)

Thank you, honey, for an amazing 10 years. I love you more every day!

Everybody loves a parade!

Especially when it's a golf cart parade!! Every year, our little slice of paradise, has two golf cart parades - one for Mardi Gras, the other for July 4th. Seeing how this is the last weekend of Mardi Gras, guess what we did today?!?

We didn't go all out on our cart this year as we have in the past. Too much other stuff going on, and I didn't have the time to decorate it. In 2008 we won second place. This is what the cart looked like then:

Nice trophy, eh? And this is what our cart looked like today:

It was what we could do with what we had. The lights at night look pretty cool, though. We get lots of compliments on them.

Here are some pics from the golf cart parade today. This is one more reason why I love living in Clear Lake Shores. It brings the neighbors together to have a good time!

Yes, that is a trailer hooked up to a golf cart! They took third place.

Second place.

Winners!

Yep, that's a real chicken.

Even the puppies dressed up!

We even get our own police escort... this is our chief. Thanks, Chief!!

These were the winners! Congrats, guys!

Have a great week!

What a day!

Friday was one hell of a day. Let me backtrack... about a week before Winter break, we received a phone call from the Governor's Office. They wanted San Jacinto College to host a governor's small business forum. On Jan. 26. Did I mention this was about a week before Winter break, which started on Dec. 23? Right...

After my heart stopped for a short while, I went into event mode. Lucky for me, by the time Winter break actually came around, a date of Feb. 17 had been agreed upon for the event. Whew! That bought me a few extra weeks! The Governor's Business Forum is an opportunity for small business owners and entrepreneurs to get information from the Texas Workforce Commission on how to grow or start their small business. It's intended to be a one day event with workshops and information sessions related to small business. Great. Easy enough. Not a problem.

And then came the twist... this particular Governor's Business Forum would also have a component geared toward keeping jobs and money here in Houston, especially in the aerospace industry. The event would be held at NASA, CEOs (or C-levels) from a variety of different backgrounds (health, space, education, etc.) would be invited, and the Texas Secretary of State would offer the keynote. It was also going to be opened up to displaced workers in the area, particularly those who may have worked in the aerospace industry. The Secretary of State spoke about initiatives and funding that would be available to help keep work in Houston, and the C-levels got a tour of NASA.

OK... that was definitely a twist. It was like planning two events in one. Awesome.

Fast forward two months to yesterday. Event day. Actually, let's fast forward to Thursday, the day before the event. I was unusually calm, and I even posted on Facebook that I wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing that I was so calm. So Friday came around, and everything went so smooth. The event was great. We had about 275 people there (we planned for 300). It all went off without a hitch!

And I couldn't have done it without this crew:

My team really stepped up on Friday and took care of things - from registration, to room set up, to greeting people, to tearing down - they were amazing! My feet hurt like hell by the time I got home,and I was really really tired, but it was a great day. If you want to see pictures (humor me), click here.

Never in my wildest dreams

If you would have told me 10 years ago - heck, even five years ago - that in 2012 I would be considering a run for public office, I would have told you that you were nuts and should be admitted to the looney bin. But, that's exactly what is happening. I am considering a run at the Clear Lake Shores city council in the May elections. Crazy, huh? You can stop snickering now.

But that's what shitty decisions by the current city council will do to you. It will make you think about giving them a run for their money and taking their place on council. Ever since Jackie Fuller and Tami Perkins were elected to council two years ago (I still have a hard time digesting this fact), I have paid more attention than ever to the actions of city council, and have had it up to here (if you could see me now, my hand is above my head) with their inept abilities to do anything good for this city. They have done nothing but ruin the reputation of some good people, and set this city way back. It's going to take a couple years just to get it back to where it was before they took office.

My problem is this... I want to think that I can help change this city around. I really do. But it's going to be a challenge because of how far set back we are and how divided the citizens have become. But then I think, "well, it took these two yahoos to put us in this position, so why not believe that I can make a difference?" I always say that it only takes one, and that's exactly what has happened. So why not that one be me? (That was totally not the proper grammar, but I don't know how else to say it.)

I think I'm fair. I always listen to both sides of the story (thanks to being in management!). I try to think about what I'm going to say before I say it (although we all know that my big mouth sometimes gets the best of me!). I definitely understand what it means to be a steward of taxpayer money (something Jackie and Tami have no concept of)... I have to be that every day in my day job.

So, we'll see. I have until March 5 to file the papers, so I have a little time. I'll keep you posted.

Have a great week!