Holly and the kids are in California

This is Rich. I'm not much for blogs, unless they deal with boring legal ethics issues, or possibly fantasy sports. But since Holly is in California with the kids, I didn't want anybody wondering what was going on. Even though the kids won't talk to me (I'll remember that when they want cars when they get older), Holly's been giving me regular updates.

Everyone should know that I'm pretty addicted to Settlers of Catan. Holly's pretty into it as well, but she's not as good as I am (its not arrogance if I state a fact, is it? I have issues with humility, my profession frowns upon it). We've been playing Cities and Knights pretty regularly, and Hunter is absolutely fascinated by it. He always wants to play, but since I always want to win, he gets nothing but non-committal grunts about "when you're older" from me. Still, he complains enough that usually I let him pull up a chair and watch, and he must be picking up bits and pieces, which leads to today's story. Holly gave the kids some hexagon-shaped wheat thins as a snack, and apparently Hunter immediately associated the shape with the game. So he asked Holly's brother (Terry or Jeff, I can't remember which), if he ever "plays this game" as he holds up the wheat thins. Holly's brother was perplexed by the question (Hunter gets that a lot), until Hunter started laying out a Settlers board using the hexagon-shaped wheat thins as tiles. I really got a kick out of that. I guess I'll have to teach him how to play, but I won't let him win. You've got to earn your victory when you play me. The sooner that boy learns that, the better. I'm fairly certain I'll not be nominated for Parent of the Year this year, but I'll survive.

I see that Holly hasn't mentioned it in any of her posts, but let me tell you that Texas is HOT. Its been over a hundred degrees the last couple of days, and we're supposed to hit 106 for the next two days (can't wait to put on a suit in that heat). It was 63 degrees in Oakland when I flew back to Texas last Sunday, but it was 105 in Austin when I landed. That heat will hit you like a ton of bricks when you're not used to it. I am no longer fond of lawn work due to this heat.

One other thing that I should tell y'all about (I'm becoming a local. I pepper my speech with "y'all" and "fixin'" ta"). They don't wear boots and hats in Dallas. I consider that false advertising, and perhaps a breech of contract. One of the reasons I took this job was so I could wear boots and a Stetson with my suit at work. They don't go for that in Dallas. Maybe Houston, certainly the sticks of West Texas, and most assuredly in Oklahoma, but not Dallas. I guess we're too civilized here. Whatever. Give me another year of building a stellar reputation at the firm, and I'll be sporting some American gator skin boots to the office. And yes, in case y'all are wondering, my neck is beet-red.