Steel City Weekend

On Wednesday, November 14 - we headed north to Pittsburgh.  The trip was two fold.  The first, was to see Bruce Springsteen in concert on his Magic tour.  The second, was to visit Cammie's Uncle Randy and Aunt Jane.

Mom hitched a ride with us from Charlotte.  We arrived in Pittsburgh around 3pm on Wednesday.  It was great to see Randy, Jane and Lee.  We spent the afternoon catching up before the big show that night.  We eventually headed down to Mellon Arena and arrived at 7:30pm.  We were joined by Mom and Aunt Diane as well.

Bruce and the E Street Band hit the stage around 8:15pm, and for the next 2+ hours I was in my element.  Bruce and the band were in great form and gave us incredible set list including:

• She's the One
• Reason to Believe
• Code of Silence
• The Promised Land
• Night
• The Ties That Bind
• Gypsy Biker
• Badlands

Check out the entire setlist.

We spent the next three days with Randy and Jane.  Highlights include gourmet meals by Master Chef Randy, The Incline, The Strip, lunch at Primanti Bros., Four-Wheeling, Deer spotting, the first snow fall of the year, touring Randy's work, and stopping at the New River Bridge.

Randy, Jane and Lee - thank you for your hospitality.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and we will be sure to visit again in the summer.  Hopefully the other slacker family members will get up there!

Grizzly Dude turns 60

Uncle Larry turned the big 6-0 on November 4th and was treated to a weekend of fun in Orlando. UL, Mom, Aunt Diane, Mike and I converged on Orlando to spend three days of fun in the land of Magic.  Here are the highlights of our trip:

• Mom's tuck and roll into a nest of chiggers.  A CLASSIC!
• Mom on the Duelling Dragons roller coaster
• Great burgers at Cheeseburger in Paradise
• Joey, Nike and Grizzly Dude's WET ride on Dudley Do-Right
• The Mummy Coaster
• Grizzly Dude's futuristic cell phone ring
• Grizzly Dude staring into the sun
• Summit Plummet

  

Paintin' the Weekend Away

We spent this past weekend painting our master bedroom and bathroom. A huge thank you to Erin, Chris, Wendy, Jaclyn and Sarah for all their help. Without it, there is no way we would have completed this big task. Thank you!

We also had our first dinner party on Friday night, as we prepared a meal for the work force. On the menu prepared by Chef Joey-Son, we had Cornell Chicken, Fingerling Potatoes, Spaghetti Squash and a Field Greens Salad. We were joined by the Steeds, Wendy, Taylor, Kristin, Olivia and Jaclyn. It turned out to be a success and everyone decided that Chef Joey-Son would be able to cook again.

Watch this space as we will post pictures of the completed project. We just have a few minor touch ups in the bathroom.

California Dreamin'

We spent the week of Sept 23rd in sunny California, visiting both Los Angeles and San Diego.

Our California vacation started in Los Angeles where we spent the first night at the Luxe Sunset. Monday morning brought a trip on the Pacific Coast Highway with stops in Santa Monica and Malibu.  After a quick business meeting, we headed down the 5 to San Diego where we spent Monday evening with our friend Melissa and her husband, Brandon, and baby Liam.  It was great to see them and Melissa cooked us a tasty meal.

We arrived at our La Jolla hotel, La Valencia, Monday night.  It is a great ocean-side property with beautiful spanish architecture.  My friends at Preferred Hotel Group set us up with a great room.  It was absolutely gorgeous.

Tuesday was an animal filled day.  In the morning, we walked down to the Children's Pool which is inhabited by seals.  Cammie loved them and we spent close to an hour just watching them lay around and play in the water.  We then met Melissa and baby Liam at the San Diego Zoo.  

  

Good-bye Five Cedars, Hello Shining Rock

This post is 10 days late - life has been crazy so you will have to excuse my tardiness.

On Friday, August 31st, Cammie and I did some real estate swapping - selling our old house on Five Cedars and purchasing our new house on Shining Rock Court. An exciting day for both of us - including Jersey and Tillman.

Five Cedars will be missed as we had many great memories. It was a great starter home, but after 4.5 years it was time for something new.

Our new house is one that Cammie has loved since she first laid eyes on it. It has great curb appeal, a big yard, an ideal floor plan, and is the perfect place to start the next chapter in our lives. We couldn't be happier. Located in Ballantyne, we are directly across the street from Uncle Berny and Aunt Wendy (for now). We are close to all our favorite stores and restaurants - especially Qdoba. I foresee a lot of burritos being consumed.

A big thank you to all that helped with the move: Jim, Kathryn, Berny and Wendy for their help in the actual move and cleaning; Mom for her fantastic low country boil, Mike for being a great brother and spending his vacation helping us move, Becky for unpacking and dealing with Mike and I, and Uncle Larry and Barry for the laughs and free meals. The move and weekend wouldn't have been the same without you - Cammie and I truly appreciate your help and we love you.

If the move wasn't enough for one weekend, we capped it off with a trip down to Clemson on Labor Day to cheer on the Tigers as they put a whoopin' on the Seminoles. All was right in the world! It will surely be a weekend that will always be remembered.

Viva Las Vegas

For the second straight year I made the trip to Las Vegas to help my brother, Mike, with the Michael Jordan Sr Flight School. The camp is for men who think they can play basketball. As you can imagine, 90% of them can't. But I guess if you have $17.5k laying around - why not?

It was a great trip - spending time with Mike and Mom (making her first Vegas visit); seeing a couple shows - George Carlin and Danny Gans; eating countless meals at the Caribe Cafe with Mike, E, Ben, Frieder, and others; watching Jordan throw down $25k - $50k per blackjack hand; having the opportunity to meet Jordan; meeting the Packman; and everything else that went along with the weekend.

I always enjoy meeting and interacting with the college and NBA coaches. This year's staff included Dean Smith, John Thompson Jr and III, Hubie Brown, Mike Fratello, Billy Donovan, Roy Williams, Gary Williams, Lenny Wilkins, Doc Rivers, Bill Walton, Chuck Daly, Flip Saunders, Rick Pitino, PJ Carlisimo, Pat Riley - to name a few. It is great to see them in an environment like this as everyone is approachable and in good spirits.

But the best moment of the weekend and one of the coolest moments of my life was meeting Bob Knight. Coach Knight was there as a speaker - telling a number of basketball stories about Jordan and the Olympics, Coach K and the Army, Indiana Basketball, and life in general - a truly entertaining and insightful 60 minutes. But the best part of meeting him is when Mike and I, referred to by Coach Knight as "these boys", went to deliver Coach his gear for the weekend. We knocked on the door and could hear him whistling as he approached. When he opened the door, all he was wearing was a pair of red boxer shorts - CLASSIC. Not only was it surreal that we were meeting Coach Knight in a rare one on one moment, but he was only in his boxers! Mike and I couldn't stop talking about - a memory that will stay with my the rest of my life. He is a great guy and the perception of him is totally wrong. Thanks for the memories Coach Knight - I will be cheering for Texas Tech a little harder this year.

Check out the photos and video from the trip.

Joey's 28th Birthday

We spent my 28th birthday in Charleston, SC with my Mom, Ma Bell, J-Diddy, and our two beloved dogs - Jersey and Tillman. We had a great time eating fantastic food, visiting the sites of Charleston, melting in the scorching heat (115 heat index) and spending a lot of time with family. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday.

Here are some photos from the weekend.

Five Cedars - the end is near

I have hesitated to make this post for a few days now, but I think I can safely say that we have FINALLY come to an agreement to sell our house. The VA tried to stick it to us, but in the end the buyer and agents worked to get this deal done. We are grateful for their patience and flexibility.

Now we can turn our focus to our new house - Can't wait!

Let's give this a try...

Welcome to everyday.egan - an attempt to keep our family up to speed on everything going on in our lives. We will address topics such as:

• What's new?
  
• What's happening in our life?
  
• Is there something important everyone needs to know about?
  
• What do we want for our birthdays?
• Where are we traveling?

We may even allow Jersey and Tillman to make a post now and again. So whether you are in Oregon, New Jersey, South Carolina or North Carolina - read our blog. We are going to give it a try and see if it works!