Author: John

Posted on by John

Christine sent this email out this morning:

From: Christine Engler
Date: Tue, Nov 16, 2004 10:43 AM
Priority: Normal

Good morning everyone!

John and I went to the doctor this morning. Things are progressing! I am 80% effaced and 1 cm dilated. Over the last three weeks I have shown steady progression, so the doctor feels that this thing will probably happen on its own within the next week or so. We meet with him again on Tuesday of next week (if I make it that long) at which point he will put me on the schedule for induction either late next week or early the week after. Today my first blood pressure reading was border line, so they took a second reading at the end of my appointment and it had come down quite a bit. He is not too concerned over the blood pressure, but the nurse told me to get plenty of rest. He said that if I needed to continue working I could, but also said it may be a good time to stop if I want to. I had thought that last Friday would be my last day, so I think I am going to finish some things up today and then stop working as of tomorrow.

I guess now we wait. We’re so excited!!!
Love,
Christine

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Posted on by John

This comic was in the paper last weekend:

Pooch Cafe

That’s soooo Wesley!

I put some recent pictures of the spoiled dog online, wouldn’t you agree he’s a “Poo Poo the Male Bichon Frise”?

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 296 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

Christine and I dressed up for Halloween again this year. The party was a blast, and we enjoyed seeing all of our friends…

Josh posted photos from before the party and during. Glad I’m not Catholic.

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Posted on by John

The last time Christine and I went to Bellville to visit Ella, she was standing up in her crib, and was too cute. She reminded me of the phrase “Kilroy was here” so we snapped a picture:

ella_kilroy.jpg

Isn’t she adorable?

Looks just like the grafitti doesn’t she:

kroy-small.gif

Anyways, as I was writing this, I wondered where that phrase comes from, and found this website to help answer that question. If you’re interested, read more at KilroyWasHere.org.

There are a couple more pictures of her and Wesley playing here.

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 182 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

It’s November 8th, and Christine is due on November 18th. We’re officially 10 days away from the big day (though that big day could actually happen any time between now and Thanksgiving). So we’re ‘in the red zone’ … don’t know if we’ll pass, run or kick, but we’ll be going for it, rest assured.

I can’t accurately describe how I feel about the fact that I’ll soon be a father, other than to say I’m extremely excited (jubilant would be a good adjective, I think) and looking forward to welcoming our baby into this world (there are about 5, 000, 000 feelings running through me at any given time, and I’m not the one that has all the extra hormones running through my body). I feel blessed at this point that Christine’s pregnancy has been relatively trouble-free.

She’s been a trooper and I’m really proud of her and thankful that she’s been able to go through all of this so far. The best is yet to come for her, and I hope I can be strong enough to help her through the last few days of this ordeal.

I’ll post news to this website as soon as I can when we have the baby…

In the mean-time, I’ve posted a couple of photo galleries that hadn’t been posted before:

  • Setting up the Baby Room is from when Christine and her mom set up the baby’s room while Frank and Mary visited (and we had a couple of other visitors that weekend too).
  • Friend and Animals is from when Josh, Elise, and Michelle (with her new car) came over in September. The cat is the neighbors playful kitty.

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Posted on by John

Last weekend, Michelle Evans and Patsy Meriwether, two of our dearest friends here in Austin, threw Christine a baby shower.

Lots of our old friends and new friends, as well as some family, attended. Christine brought home lots of gifts, but she really said she enjoyed spending time with her friends and family in such a fun way more than anything. Patsy and Michelle really put together a fun shower, and had all of the girls that attended create a special keepsake gift that each one of them contributed to.

Thanks to everyone for the gifts, and for making Christine feel so loved.

Photos from the shower are here.

(Oh, and David and Evan and I had a good time on the golf course while the girls were all at the shower!)

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 264 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

Two weeks ago I started my new job at 24/7 Real Media.

Two weeks ago, I flew to New York for a week of training and to attend my first quarterly sales conference. I met the New York office, the CEO, President, and the rest of the executive team, a couple of the developers, the media sales division, the tech sales division, and all of the support folks. Talk about Great People!

I remember calling Christine on Wednesday at lunch time and telling her “I just feel good being around these people. They’re all smarter than me and enjoy their jobs so much, it’s invigorating.” It’s been a long time since I could say that about all of my co-workers (I could say it about a couple of handfuls of people at my last two jobs). All of the folks at 24/7 Real Media are top notch folks… I talked to my old boss, Andy, from Bestfares, and he said “John, it sounds like you really feel alive there” — he hit the nail on the head with that statement. I do.

So, on Thursday night in New York, I attended the launch party for 212 (the interactive marketing association of New York). Wow! What a blast. The party was held at The Deep, a club in Manhattan, and we had a great time at the party. I met old friends and made new ones.

Then I came home to Austin for a few days, before heading to San Francisco this past Thursday to meet a few folks from the SF office, before heading to the launch party for BIG, San Francisco’s Bay area Interactive Group. 24/7 Real Media is a big sponsor of BIG, so we wanted to have a decent prescence at the opening party, and our Senior VP of Sales, my boss, the VP of Media, and a few of us sales people attended the party. It was a blast. Again, met old friends and made new ones.

Then I flew back home yesterday and took it easy…

Two big parties in two weeks. I can already tell, I’m gonna love this job.

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Posted on by John

Here’s the official announcement on my new job:

John Engler has been named Director of Technology Sales at 24/7 Real Media.
In this role, he will be calling on publishers to talk to them about 24/7 Real Media’s award winning ad-serving solution Open AdStream, analytics technology Insight XE, and Insight ACT, 24/7 Real Media’s new behavioral targeting solution for publishers. John begins his role with 24/7 Real Media on September 27th, and will be responsible for the central region of the US.
Prior to joining 24/7 Real Media, John held the position of Online Sales Manager at the Austin American-Statesman for two years, where he laid the foundation for a strong online advertising sales force and team for statesman.com.

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Posted on by John

Forgot to write about this, but I was going through our photos earlier today, and I realized that I forgot to post the ones I have from Labor Day weekend.

This past Labor Day, Evan, Shadel, Ella, Christine and I, met Debbie and Raymond out at the lake house in Lakeway on Friday night. Raymond cooked out, and we enjoyed chatting outside on the patio.

On Saturday, The boys went out in the backyard and tore up the weeds and ivy that were infesting the flower beds, while the girls shopped, and then we all took a break in the pool. We took a nap or two sometime during the day.

We played poker that evening, before retiring to bed.

Then on Sunday, Ella took a bath, and Greg, Cheri, Paige, Patrick and Matthew came up for the day. We took another nap or two sometime during the day.

We all played and had a good time before cooking out again. On Monday we got up and all headed back to our respective homes.

The photos are online here, and there are some great shots of the kids mixed in. Click the big photo to advance.

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Posted on by John

Stuff from the weekend:

    Friday:

  • Accepted a job offer from 24/7 Real Media.
  • I gave my boss 2-week notice that I’m taking a new job at 24/7 Real Media starting on September 27th (that was tough to do… loved the old job and the old boss)
  • Christine took me to dinner at Moonshine in downtown (great dinner).
    Saturday:

  • Mowed the Lawn.
  • Painted the first coat on the walls in the master bedroom.
  • Caulked the guest bathroom.
  • Attended a very fun baby shower that Erin, Debra, Cindy, and Elise threw for us. (see photos) (see josh’s photos also)
  • Fell asleep (exhausted) on the guest bed.
    Sunday:

  • Woke up at 7:30 am, due to the fact that I fell out of the too small guest bed.
  • Bought donuts for the wife and myself.
  • Watered the dying grass in the front yard (our sprinkler system broke, and it took me a few weeks to notice).
  • Painted the final coat in the master bedroom.
  • Christine oiled the antiques my mom gave us. (Thanks so much mom — they’re gorgeous!)
  • Set up the antiques in the guest bedroom (they look good).
  • Watered the back yard.
  • Ripped a copy of GlenGarry GlenRoss for Josh.
  • Bought a crib and mattress for the baby.
  • Came home and did nothing until we went to bed.

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Posted on by John

Last Thursday Christine and I had an ultrasound done. And we got pictures!

The doctors said everything was going fine: two arms, two legs, two hands, two feet, one head, spinal cord looks fine, kindeys, liver, heart, head… it all looked good to them.

We turned our heads when they checked the privates of the baby, so we still don’t know what sex the baby is: we’re waiting for the surprise.

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Posted on by John

Last weekend, Frank (Christine’s Dad) came down from Dallas, and Michael, her brother, stopped in Austin on his way from Houston to Dallas.

Michael brought some furniture up from my Mom’s house that we’re going to use for a while… great antique furniture pieces… thanks Mom! He also took the green monster couch that Christine and I have lugged all across the country for the past 6 years. Christine’s grandfather built that couch a long time ago, and it weighs about 5, 000 pounds. Love the couch, but we just didn’t have room in the house for it anymore.

Frank came down to help us fix up the house, and finish getting it in shape, so that the house is decorated and ready for a baby that’s coming in November.

So, starting last week and ending today, we painted the ceilings in the remaining rooms in the house (7 rooms) and the walls in 5 rooms. Michael did some heavy lifting when it comes to painting, and filling holes, and the like. Every room in the house has been painted now, except the master bedroom (but at least the ceiling is done in there).

Michael went home last weekend, but Frank stayed the whole week, and boy did we get a lot of work done with him here.

Frank’s biggest job was replacing our old linoleum floor in the Kitchen. Frank ripped out the floor and subflooring, and then leveled the original linoleum and plank flooring before laying down some individual linoleum tiles that Christine picked out at Lowe’s. I think the floor job took the better part of 3 days to complete, spread out over about a week, and boy does it look great now!

Along with replacing the old Kitchen floor, Frank also fixed both screen doors be completely refurbishing them, installed a door on a closet in one of the bedrooms, and installed two doors on the baby’s bedroom.

I think Frank replaced just about every light switch and electrical outlet in the house (most of them at least) as well as two new light fixtures in the main bathroom of the house. He also helped us uninstall every piece of window dressing hardware that was in the house (we hated most of the stuff on our windows)… He also hung a ceiling fan in the baby’s bedroom.

I’m sure there are a few million other small things Frank did to our house while Christine and I were at work this week (a house built in 1949 presents plenty of little things that need to get fixed if you just look a little) and for all of his help, we are extremely greatful.

Oh yeah, and Frank also cooked most dinners this week… We ate two really good smoked chickens, a garlic chicken, some waldorf salad, chicken soup, and it was all gooooood.

Debbie and Raymond stopped by on Sunday afternoon to drop off some furniture we bought and help install some window treatments Debbie had made for us. We assembled the furniture, installed the window treatments and ate a late lunch from Freebirds.

So, the house is almost done. We’ll have a house-warming party in the coming month now that we can decorate and organize properly… nothing like waiting 4 months to get your shit together.

Thanks Frank, Michael, Josh and Elise, Mom, Mary (for letting Frank come help), and Debbie and Raymond for the help getting our house to where it is. Give us a couple more weeks and we’ll post a few pictures of the interior (still a little cleanup and decorating to do).

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Posted on by John

Alexandra and Abner brought Victoria Elizabeth Soto-Teaff into the world recently:

From Alex’s email to my mom:

“Victoria Elizabeth Soto-Teaff was born August 2nd, 2004 at 7:43 am. She weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches long. She is doing really well and being very patient with her mom and dad as we learn the ropes of parenthood.”

Congratulations Alex and Abner, you have a beautiful baby, and we’re all very happy about having another cousin. We love you.

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Posted on by John

Saturday night, Christine and I went over to Stafford’s new house. Christine works with Stafford, and his older sister is one of her best friends from a past life. Stafford just bought his first home, and threw a little party to celebrate becoming a home owner.

We got there around 5 (after priming a room that we’re painting in our house) and immediately joined the group in teh backyard. We played dominos, ate some bar-b-que, and enjoyed the conversation long into the night. I took a few pitcures throughout the night.

Towards the end of the night, Stafford showed some real class, and offered to let me borrow a few golf clubs, since I’m just taking up the game. He said there’s no reason to buy any clubs yet, if I can borrow enough to start off. So, I’m now the proud care-taker of a 5 iron, 3 iron, a wood and a putter. Good clubs too. Now I just need a bag and a glove, and I’ll be set for a while.

On Sunday, I painted. I primed the ceilings of three rooms, the dining room, and the kitchen. I then proceeded to paint the dining room (two coats) and all three ceilings. I was done, and tired. I’d been painting for 5 hours or so.

Christine came home after spending the day shopping to decide that she didn’t like the color in the dining room, so she went out to Home Depot, bought a gallon of paint, and we painted the dining room again. Sound familiar? It should, we did the same thing a few years back in Fort Worth.

Next weekend? More painting, but that should be it. Should be done after that… unless ‘we’ decide on a different color.

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Posted on by John

This past weekend, my Aunt Peggy brought Payton up to visit Austin.

They arrived on Thursday night, around 10:00, and we stayed up chatting for a little while. On Friday, Christine and I went to work, while they tootled around Austin visiting a few tourist stops, and doing a little shopping (Payton goes back to school this week).

Friday night, we took them to see Spiderman 2 at the Alamo Draft House — Good movie, great venue.

On Saturday, we got up and Payton really helped us out by helping me get the yard in shape. Payton weedeated and edged while I mowed the yard. We watered the flowers and then got ready for a full day.

Around 2:00 or so, we went to Freebirds, picked up lunch, and headed out to Mt. Bonnell for a little site-seeing and picnic, overlooking Lake Austin. It was very nice out there…

Then we drove around Austin a bit, stopping at Austin Found before heading over to Amy’s Ice Cream on Lamar for a quick snack, then home for a quick nap.

Later that evening, we went to the Congress Street Bridge to watch the bats come out. Wow! Christine and I’d never seen them so close, and it was pretty awesome to see them, and to just spend that time with Peggy and Payton.

We ended the night with a late dinner at the Shavy Grove, and then headed home to go to sleep.

On Sunday morning, Payton and I played with iTunes for the better part of the morning before Peggy and Payton headed home.

All-in-all, a fantastic weekend… I’ll have pictures from the weekend up later this week…

update: I’ve posted the photos, including a few of the bats.

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