KyleBits

When Beckie and I got engaged, we said our plan was to sneak off and get married w/o telling anyone until we got back. That’s pretty much what we did…

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Actually, I guess it was technically “I will”.

Yes, it’s true, Beckie and I did a sneaky private wedding this weekend. On Saturday, March 8, we were married in a great Bed & Breakfast in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The story of the weekend is coming … stay tuned.

Just left the pre-construction meeting with the builder. We were starting to feel like nothing was happening, since it’s been 5 weeks since we signed the contract and 3 1/2 weeks since we finished up the design center work.

The meeting was to understand where all the phone/cable/network jacks go, extra switches, lighting, all that jazz. The builder was very cool, making suggestions on what works and what doesn’t, and even saved me $480 on something I had bought that doesn’t need to be there.

They’re scheduled to drop materials on the 4th, so we should start seeing some real progress then.

Now back to the other news I alluded to earlier…

For those that haven’t heard yet, Beckie and I are engaged! We haven’t made a big deal out of it, because we don’t have any plans for when we’re getting married… so stop asking   All we know at this point is that we’ll do it some day, and when we do, we’ll do it in a sneaky way, alone, and when we come back, we’ll tell people we did it. We won’t be having a big production.

We have also signed a contract on a house… now we just need to wait for them to build it! They tell us they’re taking about 6 months “from contract to keys”, so hopefully, we’re looking at a July move-in.  They haven’t broken ground on the lot yet, but once they do, I’ll start posting pictures of the construction process.

I just want to say thank you to everyone that has sent cards or email, or left me a voicemail, expressing sympathy over my father.  My family and I appreciate it very much.

While I was in North Carolina, we had a memorial service for Dad, held in Thalian Hall, Wilmington. Thalian Hall has a performing arts center on the bottom floor, and the 2nd floor is where the city council meets.  Over 600 people crowded into the first floor to watch a slide show of pictures from Dad’s life, followed by 10 speakers that got up to share funny stories, and lessons they’re taking away from watching how Dad lived his life.  You can watch the memorial, including the slideshow, here.

After the service, there was a reception upstairs in the city council meeting room, and after that, several people met in the bar area of a local restaurant to celebrate Dad.  I met a lot of great people that day, heard some great stories, and came away a little overwhelmed with all the support. I think Dad would be surprised to know just how many people feel he touched their lives in some way.  He didn’t do the great things he did to ensure a large and emotional memorial; He did it because that’s the kind of guy he was.

So long dad. Your friends and family, and nearly the entire town of Wilmington, it seems, will miss you.  If you’re one of those people, and are interested in donating to one of dad’s charities, you can do that through this page.

Boy. It’s been a long time since I had anything to write on this page, and when I noticed the other day that it was blank, I realized I needed to bring everyone up to date on my engagement and that Beckie and I are building a house together. But, that update will have to wait for another day. Before I got a chance to write about those good things, I was hit with some bad.
On Saturday, January 12, 2008, my father Karl was out with a large group of people for a scenic ride on his motorcycle, when he lost control and was thrown from the bike. He died as a result of the injuries. He was 59.
My sister Heather and I are in his North Carolina home right now, spending time with his wife Kathleen Baylies. It’s amazing to see the tremendous amount of love and support coming from the Wilmington community, where he made his home for the last 8 years. He loved, and was loved by, this town. He had an attachment to this place unlike any other where he lived, including his hometown of Albany, NY.
I’ll have more to write, eventually. In the meantime, you can read what others have to say.
Karl Davis is Remembered (video) (WECT.com)
WECT General Manager, Karl Davis Passed Away (WECT.com)
WECT’s Davis, 59, killed in motorcycle accident (starnewsonline.com)
In Memory of WECT General Manager Karl Davis (WECT.com)
Consider This Archive (WECT.com)

FYI, there are a lot of new pictures up on the website if you haven’t visited in a while. Astute readers will notice I’m not wearing glasses in anything recent. That’s because I got LASIK in July. So, this picture is the last one you’ll see with me wearing glasses… at least until I get old enough that I need them to read.

Microsoft just released a program called "Windows Live Writer" that allows posting to various hosted blogs, including MovableType, which is what I use for blogging here on KyleBits.  I’m just testing it out.

So, I’ve been lead to believe, both by what I’ve been told, and by my now 6 years of experience living in Texas, that July and August are “drought season”. We sit here sweltering, begging for rain to rejuvenate our yellow lawns. It goes along with the saying “there are 3 seasons in Texas: summer, July and August.” Not so this year! It has rained pretty much every day for the last month here in Houston. My lawn is a swamp! There’s just nowhere for the water to go … and no end in sight.

The house is coming along nicely. I still haven’t set up the office fully … but that’s always the hardest part for me. I’m hoping to tackle it some more tomorrow. The kitchen is done, the living room is 95% done, and the bedroom is done except for hanging artwork. The guest room and the dining room are still just storage for stuff I haven’t figured out what to do with yet. By next weekend, I’ll have most of that stuff dealt with, and I will have cleaned out the guest room so I can prepare it for furniture … which I will buy just as soon as someone tells me they’re visiting. So, c’mon down!

Well, yesterday was the big move. It was actually the most unprofessional move I’ve ever had, and I’ve now used 5 different moving companies over the last 15 years. This one was Progressive Moving, who have a presence in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. My rep is Jimmy Wright, and I’m waiting to hear from him. Read on for the story…

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