Cordial Churchman Bow Ties have arrived!

Awhile back (around 8 months ago), we had a very exciting day around the Casa de Sudduth...Daniel and I received our Father/Son bow ties from the Cordial Churchman!  Please see original post about the bow ties on 6/17/11.  First the disappointing news - the tie that I had sent in to have made into 2 bow ties for Daniel and me did not have enough material for the total job.  So Daniel and I had to choose matching ties from their pre-made offering.  I let Daniel do the choosing and he opted for us to have matching red/white striped seersucker bows - perfect for Summer Church Season!

Our new Father/Son Bows!

An old tie with a new life...

Heavy D modeling my old tie...pre-bow configuration

They arrived in very nice packaging complete with a personal note from the owner Ellie LaVeer.  Daniel thinks they are just great and I couldn't agree more.  And I also received my bow tie made from one of my old neckties that had achieved retirement status after many, many years of devoted service.  Now my old tie has a new life as a bow tie...a little like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.

The nice personal notes from Ellie - our kind Bow Tie maker

So if you're looking for something fun to do with your old ties, and you enjoy wearing a bow tie, give these kind folks a try.  Check them out by clicking here.  You can also email Ellie at ellielaveer@gmail.com.

Black Tie Style at JFC Gala...

Jen and I took in the Justice for Children Gala last month at the Hotel ZaZa.  Another wonderful event for a very good cause!  Here's a few action shots!  Doesn't my beautiful wife look stunning!

Ready to go...

Niiiiiice!

Jen with our good friend Robin Day

With our dear friends Will & Sherri Sakson

Yours Truly hangin' with Mr. Cool - Stephen Day

Sudduth Lagoon - Part 2...

So, I thought I'd provide a quick update on the Sudduth Pool Project.  We're making nice progress, even with a few slight rain delays.  The coping and tile is completed and now we're on to the new deck.

Roadside Grab...

So today I was downtown making a shirt delivery and happened upon a very interesting advertisement for a new shop in one of our more historic downtown Houston buildings.  It looks to be a nice future coffee shop or something similar.  Upon a closer look at the window treatment, I noticed an odd representation amongst the folks pictured...a gentleman has decided to casually rest his left hand prominently upon his partner's posterior region.  For those of you somewhat challenged by big big words...he was grabbing her ass!

This is just wallpaper advertisement!

Now I'm as much a fan of grabbing some spousal backside as the next guy, but I'm just not sure I would make this a permanent advertisement on a busy downtown street.  Of course, I did take a second look so maybe the advertising firm was on to something!  Anyway, just thought you might get a quick giggle.

Update:  I was informed last evening that I was not clear about what you are viewing.  These are not real people.  This is wallpaper affixed to glass to show a store coming soon.  That's why this is funny!

Sudduth Lagoon is going in...

So as many of you know, the Sudduth posse is putting in a real live swimming pool, unlike the sub-par above ground pools of the last two summers that basically just killed the grass and created a nice mosquito breeding ground.  That's right, a beautiful body of water with which to cool one's person during the dreadful depths of Houston's summer.  And complete with a hot tub to boot, for the cool winter evenings!

Everything has gone extremely well and much quicker than I expected.  We broke ground on Wednesday, May 23rd and we are expecting to start tiling and coping next Monday.  July 4th is the first swim party date! Only a couple of problems thus far - within 20 minutes of starting to dig, we found our main gas line running straight across the backyard.  So we had to have the gas line re-routed.  And of course while re-routing the gas line, the guys accidentally sliced the electricity going to the garage, knocking out my refrigerator full of venison and other frozen goodies.  We re-located all the good stuff to our neighbor's freezer and moved on fervently.

This was the starting point!

The first dig...

Starting to take shape...

And then we found the gas line!

So much for keeping some of the grass!

Progress!

End of day 1 - the digging is done!

Day 2:  The re-bar guys get to work...

2 hours later, the re-bar is done!

End of day 2:  stub out is complete for plumbing

Day 3:  Gunnite time!

End of Day 3:  We have a gunnite pool!

This was yesterday...ready to keep moving forward!

So there's the photo re-cap.  Between the end of day 3 and yesterday, we've had much activity.  Electricians and plumbers have been in and out...along with plenty of city permit approval personnel.  All the equipment is in and there is more conduit and other stuff buried in my yard than I ever imagined!  All the while over the past 2 weeks, I've had to water the pool 3 times daily to help the gunnite cure properly.  Who knew that I would have homework whilst installing a pool! 

As you can see, we have a wonderfully designed tanning shelf complete with a hole for an umbrella in the pool!  I think that may be my favorite thing.  Yesterday Jen and I went to the rock quarry (no I didn't see Fred Flintstone!) and chose our flagstone for the coping (edge of the pool deck).  Still to come is the plaster, decking and of course landscaping.  I'll keep you posted on our progress.  And yes, there will be a sign up sheet for visitors.  The Sudduth Lagoon will be a family friendly environment with adult beverages a plenty!  I'll be starting a donation fund for my new Kegirator project if anyone would like to contribute.