Halloween 2005 - UneeeeCorn

Our neighborhood doesn't really have a lot of kids in it, so I like to take Olivia over to Knightbridge in Fort Mill, SC at Chris Quinn's house. Chris a business partner of mine. We have gone over every year.

This year Kris stayed at home, but Olivia and I braved the cold and went in search of candied treasure. This was the first year that she was able to walk up to the steps and say "Trick or Treat". It took some practice, including saying "Thank you", but she got it after 5 or 6 houses.

Olivia has a thing for lollipops. She loves them. As soon as she received her first one, she was on it and trying to open it and eat it. I had to stop her. She pitched a fit. A couple of more houses, she received another lollipop and, again, pitched a fit when I said she could not eat it now. I finally told her that if she didn't play nice, we were going to head back to the house.

Well, about 6 more houses went by, no lollipops. Then she walked up the sidewalk to a house and there it was. A lollipop. She looked back at me, took the lollipop, walked back to me while feverishly licking the outside wrapper of the lollipop and then threw the lollipop in the bag and said "THERE!". She moved on to the next house.

It was hilarious.

Kiawah Weekend in Charlotte

This is our sixth year of gathering around the time that Kris and I were married six years ago in Kiawah. This year had its own set of circumstances - primarily that Kristin had started her new job and could not get the time off.

The weekend was a blast. We had a campfire Thursday and Friday nights combined with lots of catching up. Friday night was beer can chicken. Pat, Ron and I golfed both Friday and Saturday. We spent Saturday afternoon touring Uwharrie Vineyards. We had dinner at the Greek Isles and headed to uptown Charlotte for a peek at the Halloween celebrations. All in all, another great time spent with friends we dearly love.

My favorite picture from Friday night...


The "Cotton Ball" Field Incident


The Greek Isles


The Kiawah Group at Uwharrie Vineyards

Uwharrie Vineyards Private Tasting

Chad Andrews and his wife Anne started Uwharrie Vineyards 5 years ago with a dream of creating a quality wine from grapes grown right here in North Carolina. This year they started the long road to building and promoting their own vineyard and winery facilities. After 5 years of growing grapes, they are finally out on their own.

Uwharrie came to us to build their web site in time for their new opening. We have since developed a good working relationship and a great new friendship. Chad invited our Kiawah crew out for a private tasting. I have to say I was surprised at the quality of the wines and ordered a few bottles for myself.

Thanks Chad and the folks at Uwharrie for making it a great day. You can find this NC winery online at www.uwharrievineyards.com

Keep Charlotte Beautiful Committee

I was appointed to the Keep Charlotte Beautiful committee today by Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory and the City Council. Thanks to Mike Spinelli, Chairman of the committee for encouraging me to participate. Also thanks to Don Lochman, my district Councilman for presenting my nomination to the City Council on October 10. I look forward to many years of working with local government to help keep Charlotte a great place to live!

Charlotte Museum Volunteering

I had my first afternoon of volunteering at the Charlotte Museum of History today. John Noblitt is the head curator for the museum and I am working with him on various tasks for exhibits and such. This first outing entailed installed two benches custom built for the fire pit area outside of the kitchen at the Hezekiah Alexander house. In the process of digging the holes for the supports, we found an old culvert - after we broke it of course. John hurried off to get the repair items and I continued digging. I found a handful of old porcelain shards. Three of them married up to form the edge of a plate.

When John returned, he repaired the culvert and we finished setting the benches. We then moved the stepping stone out from the kitchen door to prevent anymore rot to the sill plate in the entry way. After we were done, we took the shards up to the museum where John is going to turn them in to collections to see if they are of any interest. If I can get a picture of them, I will post.

It was a great way to spend the afternoon. I met some new people and got "hand-on" in Charlotte history. The museum is bursting with projects like this that they simply don't have the resources to address. I was happy to help.

Fall has arrived

Look what we found nestled in the mums at the pumpkin patch!

Fall is finally here in Charlotte and we look forward to the leaves changing and the weather cooling.