Tribute to H, trend setter

Back before this whole "green" initiative became popular, H was leading the way. He didn't do it because it was the "cool" or "trendy" thing to do... because it definitely wasn't. H was practicing green out of habits he had learned early on in life. Back then, it was called thrifty and not green.

Let's take a look at some of H's green initiatives:

1. H always followed us as kids (and even as adults) from room to room turning out the lights. I could always count on hearing something about conserving lights and power under his breath as he went about flipping switches.

2. As demonstrated in this picture, H has been wearing many of the same clothes for many years. He's not a big believer in buying new outfits or shoes. I recall many times my mom asking H to get some new clothes. At times he would get "new" clothes but only as a hand-me-down from me or my brothers. H is a big believer in reduce, reuse, & recycle (Jack Johnson, the 3 Rs).

3. Until 1991 H drove an old white Toyota pickup truck. I think it was from 1978. As the paint chipped off of the old truck, H would use touch-up paint to keep it looking fresh. Unfortunately, the touch-up paint looked like white-out and didn't completely match the original truck color. As kids, we were embarrassed of being seen in this truck and would often duck on our way to school or elsewhere. The truck soon received the name of the "duck truck" (we also went duck hunting in it, which in a way is a form of self-sufficiency and reducing our reliance on the supermarkets to provide us with food).

4. Electric lawn mower - I think this speaks for itself... H reduced his reliance on gasoline and emissions. As a kid, I was always afraid of running over the cord and electrocuting myself.

I'm sure there are many more examples of H's green initiatives but I'll let those that know H chime in and relive those moments too.

Thank you H for being the trend setter that you are. I now find myself chasing the kids from room to room turning off the lights grumbling the same thing. I hope you have a good birthday weekend. I love you.

Dora comes in handy

"Come on vamanos, everybody let's go..."

You all know the song. It's from Dora the Explorer (for those that haven't been around children in the past decade). Dora is bilingual and helps teach kids bits and pieces of Spanish. I am grateful to Dora. I'm confident her teachings have not been in vain and will come in handy on our next journey...

For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, I've been offered a 1-year rotation in our Spain office in Madrid. We're still waiting on the details, but feel this is an opportunity we cannot pass up.

Here I am...

I'm here... still... beneath that pile of rubble called work. Why do I do it? Need to do something new. What other skills do I have? Definitely not singing. Maybe dancing. Too tall and gangly to go anywhere with that though. Wouldn't look good in dance gear. Alright, back to work...

Tax season thoughts

You know it's tax season when you see the local cash advance store and car dealership advertising "free" tax preparation services. I think the only place that actually does free tax preparation these days is the local chapter of V.I.T.A. (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance). Even then, you get what you pay for (I should know as I volunteered at V.I.T.A. when I was a 1st year accounting student). I know it's tax season due to the lack of sleep, an increase in phone calls from friends and family I wouldn't otherwise hear from, and learning more about my children and their activities through the family blog. At times, I wonder why I chose this path. Soon, tax season will be over and I'll forget about the long hours and stressful moments. Until then, I'll be eating in most nights at the office, not exercising and reading about my family's life, experienced without me (for the moment).

The question becomes, what is Brian Couch doing at this moment?

Coming Clean

I'm an accountant. I'm a CPA. I once worked 75 hours in under 4 days to meet a tax deadline (lack of planning on my part). I'm thirty-two years old. I am a fan of an occasional Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddle and Dr. Pepper in the morning. I also like donuts. And last but not least, I'm a fan of vampire books written for teenage girls.

Yes, it's true. I'm not ashamed. My mom sent my wife the vampire books last summer. At first, I hesitated because I'm not a big reader (unless it's the Internal Revenue Code), I was in tax season and these were books about a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire. So how did it happen?

I'd like to blame it on my boss, my mom, my wife and every other woman who reported to my wife or her friends that they couldn't put these books down once they started.

While delayed for several hours in the airport with my boss, we proceeded to find the nearest book store. I came across the vampire books in the young adult section (at least it wasn't the romance section) and recognized them instantly. I told my boss of the recommendations from my mom and wife and he decided to buy. He was a fan (but he's also a fan of Gilmore Girls and Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Once back from the trip, I decided to try out the first vampire book. Well, 3 weeks and 1800 pages later I finished all 3 books in the series. The books were good. I found myself going through withdrawals in the weeks that followed. I also found myself getting more sleep (I was also out of tax season).

During a call last week with my brother Go-Go I decided to come clean and tell him about the teen vampire books. He laughed but I doubt he was surprised since at the time of the call, I was watching One Tree Hill (we also used to watch Dawson's Creek together during our UT days).

Brian Couch is alive...

Based on the overwhelming responses (2), I wanted to let everyone know that Brian Couch (the guy in the upper right-hand side of the Howies Unite picture) is alive (see comments from the Moreau's and Brent ("H") on the "Memories..." post). Everyone can rest easy and get on with life now. I'm glad that's resolved.

In addition to getting the word out about Couch, I also wanted to let everyone know that it is tax season. Yes, those documents you have received in the mail the past couple of weeks are, you guessed it, most likely, 1099s. And, since it's 1099 time, it means less sleep, less family and less fun. So, for any of you readers that have kids thinking about joining the elite group of tax accountants, you may want to have them talk to my wife first. Alright, back to taxes...

Perception is everything...

Do you ever wonder what your children think you actually do for a living?

While the other kids' parents are making something or working at work, I, apparently, am either playing golf or playing soccer. Life is good...