Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Wine, Goatees, Horses and More

Howdy Ya'all!

Been a while since my last post. I shot a wedding last Sunday and have been spending every spare moment on editing those photo's.

Finally finished at about 1:30 this morning and now I'm flying out to Reno to spend 5 days shooting a big wedding at a Dude Ranch near Lake Tahoe. I've been very excited about this wedding and as far as I know it is my last for 2006.

Last week we had our General Manager's Meeting at Maryhill Winery (www.maryhillwinery.com). I had talked the owner and Vice President of the company into holding the meeting there so I was a bit nervous about it as I didn't know what the meeting facility would look like and how it would go. In a nutshell, if it wasn't good, I was in deep doo doo. My concerns were completely unfounded however as we were put into the beautiful residence of the owners Craig and Vicki. We had our best meeting ever and Vicki herself kept our coffee pots full. After the meeting she gave us a private tour of the winery and opened the wine bar to us. That is pretty dang generous too considering what a bunch of lushes Restaurant Managers can be :) They have around 24 different wines and I kid you not, there isn't a stinker in the bunch! They are all so good. If you are at the store and see a Maryhill Wine, buy it! You won't regret it. After the wine tasting, Vicki invited us all back to the residence for an incredible meal. Steve Turner the manager in Eugene and one of only 2 managers with the company longer than me just celebrated his 25 year anniversary with the company! As a gift they gave him a nice plaque and a full month off from work with pay! He was floored. The expression on his face was pretty funny as he didn't know what to think. As for the other great stuff at the meeting, after years and years of pushing the owner to allow goatees, he finally gave in and is allowing them! Just in time too as the hair on my head is about gone. I'd better get some on my face to make up for it. Also, our schedules at work loosened up a bit so I will be able to spend a lot more time at home with Lea and the Girls. All around good news for sure.

Well, I'm off to the dude ranch and will be sure to post some pics when I get back.

See you in the funny pages,

Mat

Friday, September 08, 2006

A new chapter in life





It's official...Savannah is in Kindergarten! She started yesterday and is having a great time with it. Her teacher Mr. Stevenson seems like a very nice man and according to Savannah is neat because he helped her tie her shoes today. Savannah was very excited to finally get to use her new Hello Kitty Backpack. Sophie was sad to see her go. Lea and I were feeling a bit choked up as well, but Savannah barely even looked back. The gate was open, she went in and within about 30 or 40 seconds she had already made a couple of new friends. Can you imagine being able to do that as an adult. "Hi, can we be friends?" "Sure" Then you're friends. Pretty cool. I'll try to keep you updated on any of her accomplishments in the days and weeks to come.