We got Jesse and Lorie all married up!

It was a great FAMILY time in Austin. We had some great food, good drink, great conversation, played a little golf, and celebrated the wedding of Jesse and Lorie. The weekend went fast and it seems like a blur, but we packed an awful lot into a short time span and we are really glad we went. The only change I'd have made, is that I would have planned to fly in on Saturday and fly back on Tuesday.

Most of my readers were actually at the wedding so it would be superfluous to recite in detail the wedding and the trip, but these are my thoughts and recollections, so I will give you my impressions of the weekend. One of the things that touched my heart the most this weekend was the ladies getting together and throwing Jennifer a little impromptu baby shower. It was huge for me to see the love that you all so easily showered (no pun) on Jennifer and her excitement in being loved so much by all of you. Thank you Shirley, Cheryl, Janelle, Laura and Cake. We are truly blessed to have each of you in our family.

The wedding venue was very interesting and very auspicious. The grounds were beautiful and the weather turned out to be marvelous. The ceremony was just the right length and the party afterward was tremendous. I especially enjoyed the ribbing of "Roy" Brodigan and being able to celebrate their 56 years of marriage at the wedding of his grandson. The drive up to the grounds was a bit bumpy and reminded me of Mexico. I expected some roosters and a burro to come walking along on the road leading to the estate. The decision to bus the crowd up to the estate was a good one as that winding, dirt road was a drunk driving test in action. We had to wait a bit long for the bus when we were ready to leave, but it was a mild inconvenience.

We drove back to the airport La Quinta and Jennifer decided that she needed to get another bag for her trip as her bag was over-weight when she left Vegas and she had a bunch of baby gifts to transport. Her suitcase was so full and heavy that the latch was popping open. They let her get by with it in Vegas, but a tattooed pregnant lady is not so unusual in Vegas. She didn't want to push her luck in Austin, Texas. We found a 24 hour Wal Mart and found a small case that she could pack some things into. The souls that inhabit Wal Mart at 11:30 on a Sunday night are not a crowd that I generally run with. In fact it took us almost twenty minutes in line as the checker was handling food stamps and WIC certificates. We could have gotten through the line faster If I had announced that I was an INS officer and needed to get back to work. The place would have cleared out in a heartbeat.

I was able to get the gals dropped off at the hotel, return the car gassed up to Avis and get back by shuttle to the hotel within about 20 minutes and was in bed shortly after midnight. The girls were chatty and talking about the wedding and other things. I asked for quiet and was rewarded with a stream of water from Jennifer's water bottle for my trouble. Nice.

The office hung in very nicely while I was out and we finished September up in earned premium 124.4% over the September of 2006. We were also up 138% in written premium over the same month in 2006. The office is humming and it is a good time for me to be heading to Detroit for the Managers meeting. I leave on the 17th. We have our Sacramento Big I Day next Tuesday and I'm bringing the entire office out this year for the lunch and to tour the exhibits. I think it is important for the staff to see what an I Day entails and to see how we set up our exhibit. Also, the California State Insurance Commissioner is the keynote speaker for us this year.

It has been fantastic visiting with Jennifer the last few days. She heads over to her Mom's tonight and I plan to have lunch with her on Thursday. I have to go in and have my tooth fixed tomorrow ( I cracked a molar on the trip to Texas). Jennifer's shower is Saturday and I have golf both Saturday and Sunday morning. It is our annual invitational and I have Pete from work playing with me this year. Thank you, Darryl and Cheryl, for your hospitality and it was simply fantastic visiting with the family over the weekend. I hope all are well and in lockstep with the LORD. I will add some pictures from the visit to the blog tonight. Ciao.