Greenwood flowers

Spring has sprung at 400 Greenwood.  Flowering trees ...

and bushes reward the senses.

Happy Spring.

Crow Brewing Company

In the spirit of keeping life interesting, Dad bought me a Mr. Beer ... a home brew beer making kit.

Dad mailed an identical Mr. Beer to SACII where rumor has it that he has already made (and bottled ?) his home brew.  I enlisted the services of two Old Crows to launch the Crow Brewing Company.  We gathered at company headquarters on St. Patrick's Day where we boiled the boost, blended the wort and mixed the yeast.  Our Pale Ale is now fermenting in the 100% plastic Mr. Beer keg.

In a couple of weeks ... on April Fool's Day ... we plan to bottle it and on April 15th (a/k/a Revenuer's Day) we plan to drink it.  Maybe SACII will join us.

California paradise

Last week we decided to visit Samantha and Jake in Paradise, er ... Menlo Park.  No special reason except that parents just need to hug their children.

While there, we got to join the power lunch attended by the founders of Task Hatch, Zillabyte and Smoopa for a tasty lunch at Chipotle.

We also got to tour the new corporate headquarters for Zillabyte in Palo Alto ...

and attend the Smoopa launch party for their new iPhone app.

We even got to hug Beth.

Hugs are necessary for the soul.

Mega thanks to Jake and Samantha for understanding.

Check from Google

Some of you may have seen my June 2011 post about my You Tube video named "Cat Protects Old Dog" and how it had been viewed by over 100,000 people.   Well, now it has been viewed by over a quarter of a million people.  Since I monetized the video, You Tube (Google) makes money  when people click on the adjacent ads.  When they make money, I make money.   A couple of weeks ago, I received a check from Google.

Do you suppose this payment jeopardizes my amateur videographer status?  Regardless, I'm sure that Mr. and Mrs. Cat Owner will be claiming their share soon.

Helen Crow and Kirk & Cobb

At an awards ceremony last month, Helen Crow received the Kirk & Cobb top sales awards for the last 3 years.  Yep, Helen was the top salesperson at Kirk & Cobb REALTORS for 2009, 2010 and 2011.  In her 38 years in business, and with significant help from her amazing assistant Sheree, Helen has won the top sales award over 30 times! Congratulations Helen.

The awards ceremony also coincided with recognizing Steve Kirk's 45 years in business.  Congratulations to Steve as well.  Here is the current Kirk & Cobb team ...

Steve is in the red tie.  Helen is in the red glasses.

Valentine gifts, feet and pillows

Our Valentine's Day included nice Valentine gifts ....

a nice visit with Oma and a pair of Valentine feet ....

and some nice Valentine pillows.

Sweet.

SRQ talks about women in technology

Iridescent invites Samantha to the Mountain View Googleplex to speak at their Technovation Challenge so she can share her experiences and inspire young women about career opportunities in technology.

Good job Samantha!

64th Wedding Anniversary

On January 30, 2012, my parents celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary.  Yep ... 64 years of marriage.  Here is their wedding photo from 1948:

They met at Union Station in Kansas City.

To help them celebrate, Helen and I took them to Kansas City for a couple of days.  Luckily, SACII and Nancy were able to join us. We all enjoyed visiting the now refurbished Union Station and dining at Pierponts, the fancy restaurant inside:

We also watched as Dad reenacted their first conversation at the train station

and his offer to drive Mother home to Topeka.  But first, they stopped for dinner at the (now closed) Terrace Grill

(old photo courtesy of Card Cow.com)

inside the Muehlebach Hotel (now a Marriott Hotel) followed by Dad's now famous claim that he couldn't remember where he parked the car.  Sure, Dad.  Whatever.  To this day, Mother refers to herself as a "Train Station Pick-Up."

Thanks Dad and Mother for getting married.  Mega thanks for having 2 sons.  Thanks also for being such great parents and role models.

Love you.

Happy 64th Anniversary.

AFS weekend

Last weekend the Topeka AFS Chapter hosted high school exchange students from all around Kansas for a weekend retreat.  We got to host 3 students that are currently living in Wichita.  Portugal, Italy and Germany were all represented.   With our dear friend from South Korea who is here for her second exchange year at Topeka High School, we lined them all up for a photo.

Saturday night we gathered more exchange students, some local students and some weekend host parents for a casual pizza dinner.

Brazil, Ukraine and Chile were also represented.  It was very international.  The yummy frozen yogurt dessert was very American.

New Topekans

Helen's job allows her an opportunity to meet all kinds of interesting people as they move to Topeka.  She loves it.  Last weekend Helen organized a dinner party for people who had moved to Topeka in 2011.  The New Topekans' Dinner Party included people from Florida, New York, Colorado, Iowa and Arizona.  It was fun.

Welcome to Topeka.