Too much to do

Man have I been away for a while. There is almost too much that has happened since my last post. Let me see if I can hit the highlights:

• Made a few trips…to Seattle for an Microsoft briefing, to Plano for an internal meeting. Nothing much to report there, but I did start to capture some podcast interviews with a few people using the new M-audio recorder I picked up.
• Still adjusting to the new T-mobile MDA. There are a few things I really like (Outlook integration can’t be beat, lots of apps – Voice Command is cool!) and a few things I don’t (no click to dial from appointments or tasks – major gap compared to blackberry!)
• Finally got got the new tractor for the farm (or recreational property as my father in law calls it ;-)). Ended up getting a John Deere 3120 with an LX5 rotary cutter. Have used it a couple of times already and have about 10 hours on it so far. It is a lot of fun and really quite capable. I can tell already that it is going to be an expensive “device” though – it can do anything with the right implement! Dig ditches, plow field, mix cement. Now I just need to figure out reasons why I need to do those things!
• Still looking for our second horse. We have had a few good leads, but so far this one seems much harder to find than our first one. Probably because it’s for our daughter.
• My son got a “rejection letter” from the Kindergarten we were planning on sending him to. We’re still working out the details on what the reasoning was so this one it not over…stay tuned. Just doesn’t add-up…he’s one of the smartest kids I know for his age. He knows were Lithuania is…I don’t know where Lithuania is!
• Oh..and one more thing…I celebrated a birthday a few days ago. The big double 3. For some reason I can’t remember much about my 22nd B-day, but my 33rd was great. My wife cooked a great meal and the weather was perfect. Just got to spend the time at home with my family and my Dad. The next day I took off from work (nothing bad happened to my surprise ;-)) and cut the grass and then took the family on a ride in my B-day present: a new canoe. It was really nice. I think I really like this new place. Lot’s of work, but lot’s of fun.
• This week I’m in Scottsdale for the Conference on the future of Engineering Software (COFES) so I will try to live blog a few of the events here. Missed the show last year, so I am looking forward to what happens this year.

That’s all for now. WIll be making a few posts soon about some big news we are planning on announcing with Microsoft.