Some accomplishments are so important.

Catching up on some kid photos here and in previous entries, and adding shots of Zack's 3rd birthday (Feb 14, '07). Julia made an amazing Lightening McQueen cake from scratch.

 

I've been working long hours and realized I haven't put any shots of the kids up for 6 months. Wow, time is flying.

Here are some shots of a weekend trip to the zoo. We've got a world-class zoo within walking distance of our home. Very cool.

 

Also have some shots of what Julia does with the kids when I'm not around. Hmm, is that a gold purse in Zack's hand? :)

We're working on the outside of the house, fixing the siding and landscaping. We figured we'd probably be told to improve the 'curb appeal' of the house if we ever want to sell it, so might as well do it now and enjoy it ourselves for a while. Julia is doing a great job as the general contractor.

 

Also put in some shots of Oliver and Natalia, Tina and Leo's kids from next door.

I spent the last week on the White Rim near Moab, UT with 12 guys for Josh's bachelor party. We biked 40 miles the first day to White Crack campsite, which is a narrow peninsula jutting out into the vast canyonlands. The softly molded white stone shapes, red-dust washes, flowering cacti, and steep drop offs into the canyons below gave the feeling of living in a world that has lost its' ocean. It was just different than anywhere else I've ever been, and caused much reflection about life and the daily struggles that seem so important outside the Rim but there felt sort of silly. Despite the occassional philopsophcal discourse, we spent most of the time drinking light beer, tequila sunrises, and bourbon while playing nuts, a game similar to bocce or horseshoes but with two golfballs attached to ropes. It was a grand week, with good friends.

 

Also in attendance:

Johnny Thee, Brooke Stabbert, Skip Conners, Brian Magee, Dave Free, Tim Freeth, Sam, Jack, Paco Suro, Dave Holmstrom

UPDATE: I have left Microsoft, but we did set up customer support. If you are having issues , please feel free to contact them here: http://club.live.com/Customer_Support.aspx

 

We launched our search loyalty program this weekend. Marketing search can often be a little dry, like trying to get someone excited about their dictionary, so we've decided to find ways to make it more fun. We've created several games that pose challenges and let you use search to help solve them. When you get an answer correct you get a little reward, often as a cool image search or instant answers. Even better, each time you complete a full game we give you tickets that you can redeem for small stuff like an mp3 download or save up for something bigger like an Xbox. This is really unique - usually you only get a chance to win a prize. In our program you win tickets everytime you play. This is why our slogan is "Changing the Game so Everybody Wins."

 

Take a look at Live Search Club (club.live.com) and see what you think. For me this has been one of the coolest things I've done in 5 years at Microsoft.