Joel Frey

Giraffes, Mickey, Fabulous 40

I hate it when I absent-mindedly check my blog and realize that it's been months since I've posted. In my last missive, I incorrectly predicted a Saints victory over the 49ers in the divisional round of the play-offs. Since then, the Saints have been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Smart people like Sean Payton, Mickey Loomis, and Gregg Williams should know that bounties have no place in sports. As a Saints fan, Payton's one year suspension is a punch in the gut, but from what I've read, he and his aforementioned colleagues were asking for it - big time. They are lucky, actually. How many of us could lie to the CEO and not be immediately shown the door?

Another reason I'm disappointed with my output is that I've had plenty of topics not related to the Saints to tee up: our pending move to DFW, multiple sets of twins joining our extended family and Meg's ongoing adventures at Texas A&M.

I'll touch on each of those sometime soon, but I'll start with the most momentous occasion of 2012 thus far: toasting Heather's Big 4-0. The celebration came in phases beginning in Orlando in mid-February. We spent an extended weekend at Disney World and, really, where better to begin your forties than the Happiest Place on Earth?

The highlight of the trip was the Wanyama Safari at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We joined a few other guests and one of the resort's zookeepers and drove through the four savannas where more than 30 species native to Africa spend their days and nights. If an up-close view of a giraffe, zebra, impala, antelope and/or okapi is on your bucket list and you don't want to take an ultra long flight across the globe for the experience, than this tour will be right up your alley. Afterward, we headed to Jiko for a scrumptious four course dinner featuring "traditional African dips, breads and appetizers," along with "oak roasted filet of beef with mac & cheese and chermoula roasted chicken." Heather and I both agree that it was one of the best meals we've ever eaten.

Other Disney stops included Soarin' at Epcot, the all-new Star Tours at Hollywood Studios and, of course, It's a Small World at Magic Kingdom all of which we gave a thumbs up. If you're contemplating a Disney vacation, mid-February is a good time to consider. You'll enjoy shoulder season prices, manageable crowds, decent weather and we didn't waste too much time waiting in line though Fast Pass came in handy for Star Tours, but at no extra cost.

The other discovery of this Disney trip was PhotoPass. We received a card from the photographer at the safari and whenever we encountered one of her cohorts the rest of the trip, we simply handed him/her the card, it was scanned, the shots were taken and, upon return, we had a bunch of high-quality shots to scan through. It's  quick, easy and convenient and a must-do! Below is one of those shots from the safari. Happy Spring everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

Meg

Tomorrow morning, Meg attends her first classes as a member of the fightin' Texas Aggie class of 2015. On Tuesday, she turns 18. Three days later, Heather, Grandma Lu and I will catch a flight to Houston, pick up a rental car and drive an hour north to Aggieland to spend the long weekend with her and eat some birthday cake. We'll be among the 80,000 Aggie fans at Kyle Field on Sunday evening when the football team opens its season versus old Southwestern Conference rival SMU. Heather and I are determined to learn the War Hymn between now and kick-0ff.

As we look ahead to creating those and many other Aggie memories over the next several years, I thought I'd share a few from last weekend when we made the 700 mile drive from El Paso to College Station and moved Meg into her new home-away-from-home. How about a Top 10?

10. The group hug the three of us shared in Meg's room the night before we hit the road. "There's no crying in baseball!" Heather exclaimed, giving us a much needed chuckle as we finished packing her up.

9. Waiving good-bye to Grandma Lu after dropping the pups, Cinder and Schuster, off with her to spend the weekend.

8. Lunch at Taco Bell in Fort Stockton, TX: As we were eating, I checked Facebook and noticed Heather had posted that she was reciting Philippians 4:13 to herself. "Philippians 4:13?" I inquired, not knowing the passage from memory. She did, but needed to text it to me at that moment.

7. Sunday morning worship at Beautiful Savior Lutheran followed by lunch with a few of the fellow Aggies from Dallas who had strongly encouraged me to bring Meg to TAMU for a visit over burritos on one of my business trips to Big D. the summer before she began her senior year.

6. A couple of hours later the lunch gang - Jim, Phil, and Frese (the Dallas Aggies) plus Jim Sr. and sister Kim - transformed into the moving crew. After bringing the first load into Meg's room, Jim the engineering major quickly sized up the situation and suggested a layout similar to his when he had been a dorm resident his freshman year. Twenty minutes later, the beds were lofted, the desk furniture neatly tucked underneath with plenty of room for a futon if Meg and her roommate so desire. With the heavy lifting completed, the eight of us returned to the parking garage and gathered the rest of Meg's belongings in one load.  "I love the Calvary boys," Heather said, referring to the church in Dallas where we all met many years ago.

5. Not too long after we started unpacking Meg's stuff, her roommate Jenny from Austin arrived with her parents. This was the first time the girls had met, but they did text and Facebook over the summer. Jenny's original plan was to check-in to the dorm on Tuesday, but when she found out that Meg was arriving on Sunday, she moved up her plans so Meg wouldn't have to spend the first couple of nights in the dorm. How sweet is that?!

4. The unavoidable trip to Target: On Monday afternoon, following lunch at Panda Express - one of Meg's faves - we joined dozens of other Aggies and their parents at the retail mecca to stock up on essentials and a few other items, like an area rug. Thankfully, we still had a few gift cards left over from graduation easing the pain at the cash register - somewhat. Note to parents with children who will want to go to college someday: start saving your pennies immediately!

3. Dinner on Monday evening at Fuego: Jim, Phil and Frese met us again along with two more Dallas Aggies - Aaron and Blake - Aaron's roommate Austin and one of Meg's friends from Fish Camp, Jake. The energy at the table - old friends getting reacquainted while passing down sage words of wisdom to new Aggies Meg and Jake - was fantastic. We also discussed potential tailgating opportunities this weekend for the SMU game.

2. The great search for Meg's car: On Tuesday morning before we reversed course to West Texas, we dropped by the parking garage housing Meg's car to pick up a couple of items that needed to come back with us. I dropped them off and waited...and waited...and waited. A few minutes after realizing they weren't exactly sure of the car's whereabouts Meg started clicking the alarm. The good news was that they heard the beep. The bad news was that the echo in the garage was making it difficult to pin down the exact location. Eventually, they tracked Meg's ride down and we had a good laugh on our way to Starbucks.

1. Saying "see you soon" to Meg. As we pulled up to the dorm to part ways the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band was practicing the aforementioned War Hymn in an open area near the residence hall. Heather quickly hit the record button on her iPhone and captured their rehearsal. When the band paused to catch its breath, I gave Meg a kiss on the cheek and then watched as she and Heather walked away arm-in-arm. They embraced only as a mother and daughter who have shared so much over the course of the latter's formative years are able to. Then, Meg headed left and Heather turned around. I met her halfway and held her hand back to the car. It was undoubtedly sad, but at the same time it was difficult not to be anything but excited for Meg as she faces this next chapter of her young life.

Gig'em!

 

 

 

Shamefully biased travel advice

As the PR Man for Travelocity, friends and family occasionally ask me for travel advice and, unsurprisingly, those questions usually revolve around scoring a deal.

My first semi-biased tip: use a site like Travelocity to bundle your flight + hotel + rental car together and book your trip as a vacation package. Recently, I walked a reporter from the New York Times through Travelocity's vacation package shopping engine and she used the information in an article that was published last week. It's a thorough review and I recommend checking it out if you're contemplating a spring or summer trip and want to save some bucks.

My second shamefully-biased tip:  sign up for the Travelocity Rewards American Express Card. Why? The dollars you spend turn into points that can be redeemed for cash back when you book on Travelocity. One example:  20,000 points = $400 dollars. Here's a recent post with more information on how the program works.

And, yes, I take my own advice. On Friday,  I used Travelocity to book a vacation package for Heather, Megan and myself from El Paso to College Station for Meg's new student orientation at Texas A&M this summer. Within minutes, I lined up flights on our preferred airline, four nights at our preferred hotel and a rental car. Near check-out, I indicated that I wanted to redeem points. The $400 will show as a credit on our statement and, unlike airline or hotel programs, we don't have to worry about blackout dates and other fine print. Plus, we'll still earn our frequent flyer miles with the airline. And the kicker? We earn triple points on all purchases made on Travelocity so they quickly build back up after redemption.

If you have any travel-related questions, please let me know!

One reason for the recent lag in posts is because I submitted my first article to the Yahoo Contributor Network last weekend. Had my story on the three baseballs I've caught in the stands not been published, I would've have cut-and-paste it into this space, but the Yahoo! editors decided it was worth $10 and put it online on Thursday. If you missed my Facebook post linking to it, check it out here.

On to Aggieland

In yesterday's post, I mentioned being an "affable step-father." While Megan would hopefully agree that we've had our fair share of warm moments since I moved to El Paso, she'd probably also point out that "affable/grumpy" would be a more fitting description. Just this afternoon she half-kiddingly said "you tire me" after we went through her current to-do list. So, like many of you, my futile quest for parenting perfection continues.

Lately, Meg's focus has been on checking off an increasing number of items related to her enrollment at Texas A&M University. She and I giddily opened her "congrats, you've been accepted" packet in mid-December in our kitchen (definitely a warm moment!) and since she surprised Heather and the rest of the family with the news on Christmas Eve, we've fully mobilized.  Our mission? Getting Meg to Aggieland next fall.

Over the last week, the task has been applying for housing. Like many campuses with humongous populations, dorms fill up quickly in College Station. "Don't wait too long," was the consistent piece of advice we were given during our visit in October. After consulting with several current students and a couple of online resources, Meg made her preferences known last night and completed the application. Today, we chose dates for summer orientation. Later, she'll need to sign up for Fish Camp. And then take a math assessment test. And then mail in her final transcripts. The "ands" will do nothing but mutate between now and 2015.

However, tedious, it's been so much fun for Heather and I to guide Meg through this time in her young life. We're already looking forward to spending a football weekend in College Station next fall and cheering on the Aggies!

Happy birthday to my Mom! Heather pointed out to me today, that  she shares a birthday with Lisa Marie Presley! Coincidentally, Lisa Marie's father and Heather's Mom were both born on January 8th!