Joel Frey

Joyful bundles

On March 23, our dear cousin Karena and her husband Jeff welcomed twins, Ida and Max to their family in Appleton, WI. On March 31, Karena's brother Chris and his wife Jamie welcomed twins, Ethan and Andrew to their family in Detroit. For those of you scoring at home, that's four new grandbabies for our Aunt Sue and Uncle Lance in the span of eight days. How about that for some cuh-razy family fun?!

Brother and sister

And the two brothers

Heather, Megan and I will get to meet these two in May. Chris and Jamie asked Heather and I to be sponsors for the boys and we, of course, graciously accepted.

Our family is humbled by God's continued blessings. We pray that He keep a watchful eye over these little ones and their sleep-deprived Moms and Dads.

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!

 

 

 

 

 

Gloomsweek

The first few days of January need a moniker.  A designation along the lines of "The National Week of Suck" seemingly would suffice. Kidding aside, is there another week more unpleasant/gloomy to slog through? I can't think of one.

Thankfully, I've had the memories of Christmas vacation in Memphis and Lansing, MI to help get me through the first couple of days back at HQ. Enclosed are a few of ours that I bet are similar to your own. 

• Upgrades and Bloody Marys
• Mom sharing her knowledge of springerle
• Soul burgers at E&H with old friends
• Sizzling steaks at Folks Folly with Mom and Dad
• Graceland, adorned in festive lights
• Silent Night on Christmas Eve
• Joy to the World on Christmas Day
• Spotting Meg at O'Hare
• Cramming our luggage into a venerable Oldsmobile Alero (Thanks for the ride Cuz!)
• Watching the kids - Ava and Brady - rip open presents with glee
• Uncle Lance and Aunt Sue's downhome hospitality
• Aunt Margy, merely content that we were all together
• TinTin in 3-D
• Snow in Lansing
• Dual baby showers for Karena and Jamie, each of whom are expecting twins this Spring
• Teaching cousin Chris to go "null" during spades
• Endless plates of summer sausage, mild cheddar and cocktail rye
• A visit to Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland
• Lunch at Berger's in Bay City
• Staying up past our bedtime with cousin Stephanie on our last night (Thanks for dinner Ted!)
• A picture perfect landing in El Paso

 Happy New Year everyone! Heather and I hope 2012 treats you like a rock star.

 

 

#WFH

Today is my last day to work from home in El Paso. Over the next 10 days Heather and I will celebrate Christmas with loved ones, toast our 4th anniversary and ring in the New Year. After all that fun has been exhausted, I'll head east to rejoin the Travelocity team at HQ on a daily basis. Once our house here sells, we'll pack up and move to Big D. It's a bittersweet time, but we are excited about the future and, as an added bonus, we will be much closer to Megan in College Station.

As we look forward to leisurely winding down 2011 and ahead to the challenges that await in 2012, I'll leave you with the Top 10 things I'll miss the most about working from home. Blessings to all of you this Christmas season!

10. Shaving occasionally

9. Showering by Noon (note: this deadline was strictly enforced by my better half)

8. Getting Heather's coffee ready as she heads out the door

7. Shooting the breeze with the yard guy, the bug guy, the package delivery guy and the handyman

6. Keeping the laundry pile in check

5. A quiet office (Hello cubeville!)

4. The 60 second commute

3. Asking Cinder, our keeshond, "Are you hungry?" around 5:00 everyday and watching her go nuts

2. Having a glass of wine and dinner ready for Heather when she gets home

1. Catch breaks with Schuster

Missing the news cycle

As a PR professional, my cohorts and I are constantly assessing the "news cycle." As it ebbs and flows from important and not-s0-important happenings and events, it factors into our discussions and planning everyday. Weather, politics, war, terrorism, and the economy are just a few of the topics that we compete against in our never-ending efforts to get journalists, news producers, bloggers and social media mavens to consider Travelocity for inclusion in a story, segment, post or Tweet.

As you read the rest of this, note that I've decidedly missed the news cycle on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. My plan was to follow the status quo and share my observations on that Sunday, but other priorities at work, home and church won out. Now, 10 days later,  the seasons are set to change and we have moved on to more pressing matters: taxing millionaires, airshow safety, the 2012 election, conference realignment and the latest iteration of everyone's favorite social network, to name a few. Though in the grand scheme, we likely won't reflect upon any of these topics 10 years from now.

As Sept. 11, 2011 came and went, I was surprised by own memories that surfaced. For example,  I vividly recalled the tennis match I played the evening before the tragedy. It was a long three setter against a guy named Sam who I had never beaten. We played to a third set tiebreak and I had a match point, but couldn't cash it in. When I woke up on 9/11/01, my defeat was the first thought that popped into my head.

I remembered the fall boots my colleague Judy Haveson wore to work and how she paced nervously up and down the hallway as the tragedy unfolded, anxiety covering her face. She was only days away from moving from Texas to New York and, suddenly, all of her plans were in doubt. But a month later, as the nation healed, Judy was in the stands at Yankee Stadium cheering on the Bronx Bombers as they valiantly tried to win the World Series. Today, she's still a proud New Yorker and mother to Jack, her own little Yankee fan.

I thought about Pastor John Koelpin and the special service I attended at Calvary Lutheran Church. For a few weeks after the towers collapsed, worship and prayer were in vogue. Then, predictably, our post modern sensibilites awoke from their slumber and carried on as before.  Today I live in El Paso, a married man. On the 10th anniversary, Heather and I sat in a pew at Trinity Lutheran Lutheran Church while Pastor Koelpin still preached from the pulpit of Calvary. His oldest son, Philip and our daughter Megan are now classmates at Texas A&M. In the fall of 2001, they were innocent kids, probably wondering what their parents were so worried about.

I remembered the first flight I took post 9/11, an hourlong hop from Dallas to Memphis on American Airlines. Not only was I nervous, I found myself sizing up my fellow passengers before we boarded.  After safely arriving to my hometown and having breakfast with my parents, I drove to Oxford, MS and cheered on Middle Tennessee State, my alma mater, as they took the field against the University of Mississippi, led by their All-American quarterback, Eli Manning. Fast forward to the present and he is the quarterback for the New York Giants and commercial airlines have taken me to countless places near and far, including LaGuardia, Newark and JFK.

Thanks for indulging my utter disregard for the 9/11 news cycle. I look forward to writing about more subjects that were yesterday's news as soon as the opportunity presents itself. If you have any thoughts, please share.  Cheers, ya'll.

 

 

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!

 

 

 

Basketball for Breakfast

One of El Paso's lesser known oddities is that it is the only slice of Texas located in the Mountain Time Zone.  Generally, this factoid has no impact on how El Pasoans conduct their business, but now and then the rest of the country is reminded of this wrinkle. For instance, last Saturday the Conference USA championship game tipped off at 9:35 a.m. local time. The CBS commentators mentioned the early start several times and how it felt strange for a big game to be tipping off during the breakfast hour.

Heather and I woke up a few minutes before tip-off, brewed a pot of coffee and tuned in, pleasantly surprised to see a packed Don Haskins Center. During the early rounds of the tourney, I had tweeted several times about the plethora of empty seats. "Looks like crickets can be heard chirping," I said in one. But that wasn't the case on Saturday. More than 11,000 of the UTEP faithful had woken up early and were ready to rumble.

The game, pitting a senior-laden UTEP team versus an upstart Tiger squad, featured all of the elements of a classic. With an NCAA bid at stake, there was desperation hanging with every shot and constant shifts in momentum. Late in the second half, after a three-pointer put the Miners up by 12, I thought they had finally put away the young Tigers.

By then, I was on my way to play tennis, listening to the game on the radio. By the time I parked, the Miner lead had been whittled down to five. After checking in, I found a TV in the clubhouse. A Tiger three pointer had just tied the game. My thoughts shifted. "What a heartbreaker this would be for the Miners," I said to myself.

Down one with time winding down, Tiger guard Joe Jackson drew a foul in the lane and sunk two free throws. With 7.8 seconds left, Memphis had its first lead of the day, 67-66. The Miner fans who had gathered around the set looked anxious. A minute later after the potential game-winning shot came up short, their anxiety was replaced with dejection. The Tigers were on their way to the Big Dance and the Miners would most likely have to settle for an NIT bid.

And that's how it played out. The Tigers get Arizona later this week, while tonight the Miners battled New Mexico at the Pit in Albuquerque in the first round of the consolation bracket. Unfortunately, they lost and the team's season is officially over. But I think everyone in El Paso who had basketball for breakfast on Saturday knows deep down when it really drew to a close.

 

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.

Hotdish, Potluck, Smorgasbord

We're having potluck for today's 300 words. I hope it fills you up!

• Heather and I are slightly dumbfounded that Megan, whose great-grandparents have called the state of Wisconsin home for almost 90 years, rooted for the Steelers. It was almost as perplexing as when she painted a horseshoe on her cheek last year while we sported the fleur-de-lis during Super Bowl 44.
• Last year, we started a new Super Bowl tradition: jambalaya during halftime. Heather made a scrumptious batch on Sunday and I appreciated having a taste of the Crescent City during the game even if the Saints didn't make it back to the promised land.
• As a lifelong Star Wars fan, the VW commercial featuring a mini-Darth Vader futilely attempting to harness the Force cracked me up. On Facebook I wrote that it was "amazing that Star Wars is still relevant 30+ years after its debut," to which my friend and fellow Star Wars buff Shea replied, "Much like us."
• El Paso hasn't quite fully recovered from last week's plunge into the deep freeze.  Schools just reopened yesterday and the city finally confirmed this afternoon that it was okay to drink the water sans boiling.  Unbelievably, some homes and businesses are still without water.
• We submitted Meg's FAFSA application last night. For those of you unfamiliar with college application process that stands for "Free Application for Federal Student Aid." As I was writing this I asked Meg to recite the acronym and she rattled it off. A few seconds later she then passed the "What is your social security number?" quiz.

Like most Lutherans, I'm an ambassador of potlucks involving pots. We're having one at Trinity (3800 Hondo Pass) on Sunday. If you're on the Northeast side of town, stop by around 11:30 and fill up a plate. And should your soul need refreshing, the service starts at 10:15.

El Paso Feb. '07, Part III

On the final day of my first weekend in Sun City, I was Heather's guest at the small Lutheran church on the West side of town that she, Meg and her Mom had attended for many years. Heather introduced me to the young Pastor, his family and just about every other member of the congregation.  It didn't take long for the names and faces to blur.

"So are they all going to talk about us now?" I asked, as we headed to the car after the service.

"Oh yeah," Heather said, reassuringly.

For lunch, the lovely ladies took me to Village Inn and then we decided playing a round of miniature golf before I headed back to Dallas would be the perfect capper. It was slightly less competitive than bowling had been the night before. Heather thinks Megan won. We took the Roaming Gnome with us and he appeared in most of the pictures from the outing.

As we drove on I-10 on the way to the airport, we reviewed our brief time together.

(Note: Schmaltz alert!!! Schmaltz alert!!!)

"It exceeded my expectations," I announced.

"Me too," Heather said.

Heather and Meg escorted me inside and walked me to security. We embraced one last time before I stepped on the escalator. Once the TSA agent cleared me through, I stopped to fiddle with my backpack. I opened it and there was a giant Hershey Kiss with a sweet note right on top.

It was Super Bowl Sunday and the flight home was empty.  While the outcome of the Colts and Bears game briefly crossed my mind, other questions took precedence.  When would we see each other again? Could we make a long distance relationship work? Is she the one?

The reassuring part was that we both already knew the answers.