Category Archives: WTH?!

Why?

Party Like It’s 1999

We have stayed busy this week.

We had a fun ornament exchange party at a friend’s house on Tuesday. A great time and a lot of fun singing since Doug is an incredible pianist.

Then we went to New Orleans to spend Friday night. I would never want to live in New Orleans, but visiting for a couple of days is always fun. We have season tickets to the musicals at the historic Saenger Theater — less historic now than it was prior to Hurricane Katrina, but much nicer now than it was then! — and we usually try to spend the night nearby when we come to town. We have a particular favorite hotel on Canal Street that is close to all the things we are here to do.

Several of the hotels do a tremendous job of decorating for Christmas, so this is always a fun time of year to visit. We ate at the Palace Café on Friday night and visited the Ritz, then we ended up at the Bourbon House for lunch on Saturday. Our tickets for “Jersey Boys” were at 2:00 pm, so we hung out in NOLA until showtime and then drove back to Baton Rouge after the play to get ready for the Christmas celebration at our church on Sunday morning.

Sunday was an absolute blast. I was a guest singer with the church quartet because one of the guys was sick. The Christmas at Istrouma was a great morning of worship and celebration. I even wore a suit to church (let’s just say it’s been a while).

We came home and had a fantastic dinner that was the perfect ending to a wonderful weekend.

Now the countdown begins.

The bloodletting begins in thirty-six hours. I’ll let you know how it goes…

Fun times at the ornament swap party
Great time at the Bourbon House before the play
Photo op with not the real Senator John Kennedy. You can tell it’s not him because I am taller than he is…

Day of Reckoning

Who knew how hard it would be to pick a date for surgery?

As soon as the doctor said “two weeks with the ankle elevated above the level of the heart and four weeks totally non-weight-bearing” the calendar watch began. Who has four weeks to spare?!

So, the office Christmas Party is Friday, December 9 and I have to sing at “Christmas at Istrouma 2016” on Sunday, December 18. I am not willing to miss either of those events. Besides, Christmas and New Years kind of provides a natural two-week lull for the “elevated” portion of the adventure. So…

December 20 is the day that will live in infamy.

The good news is I have plenty of vacation/sick time at work. The bad news is, the reason I have plenty of vacation/sick time because I am not very good at being still. Two weeks with my leg elevated does not sound like a good time. I believe we can at least get that done in a reclining chair, so hopefully I do not have to be in bed for two weeks.

December 20. There’s a lot going on between now and then, and I will probably add some more stuff just to make sure we don’t miss out on anything.

I’m sure Peggy is really looking forward to it, too.

Nome, Alaska

Since I started my blog I have received a couple of questions about Nome, Alaska…

To be clear, I am not, nor have I ever been, from Nome, Alaska.

I was in a great band as a teenager. Really good. Played three or four nights a week all around Louisiana and East Texas. Every night the members of the band were introduced to the audience.

One night my brother introduced me as being from Nome, Alaska. It was funny to those of us who knew better. And it stuck.

It has become a kind of talisman for good luck during a performance. A “break a leg,” of sorts.

When I had not created a “Who am I?” page for the blog my wife took it into her own hands and created the page. I have not changed it and I have no plans to do so.

I was born in New Orleans, have lived in Baton Rouge, LA; Jackson, MS; Slidell, LA; Garland, TX; Waco, TX; Plano, TX; San Antonio, TX; Katy, TX; Austin, TX and back to Baton Rouge, LA. Nowhere north of the Dallas area — and nowhere close to Nome, Alaska.

But I am still Jeffrey Skaggs from Nome, Alaska.

Reaping

Peggy likes Halloween.

When she was a kid her family used to decorate the house and scare the trick-or-treaters when they came to the door. All in good fun, of course.

My family never really did Halloween. My mother would answer the door and hand out candy, but we didn’t decorate. As I became an adult I tried to make it a point not to be home on Halloween. When we lived in Katy it became a moot point — we were the last house on the street and virtually no one ever came all the way down to our house.

Here in Baton Rouge, though, we are right in the heart of things. Our neighborhood is old and quiet, so it is a safe place to take your kids. We get kids from all over town coming to trick-or-treat and each year a group brings a bunch of kids on a hayride to let them trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. Now Peggy has a reason to decorate. She also decorates me.

Each year I hide in a different place dressed as the Grim Reaper. The first year I was in the bushes next to the door. This year, with the recent ankle injury, I was inside the house in the window looking like a statue until a child would come close to the window. Then I would bang my scythe on the window and scare the living daylights out of them.

The best part was the parents who got scared. Then they would bring the kids back in front of me to make sure the kids got scared, too. Parenting 101.

It was a fun night. We had a ton of trick-or-treaters. And I had a good night of reaping.

Now I have to figure out where I am going to hide next year. 

Reaping is thirsty work

What a Trip

I’ve been too busy having fun on this “business” trip to write anything. There are few things more fun than hanging out with good folks and experiencing new things. Only one couple in the group has been here before, so all of us are seeing these sights for the first time together.

Yesterday we drove the Icefields Parkway and rode out onto the Athabasca Glacier in one of the giant Ice Explorer vehicles, then we went back to Banff and ate dinner at the top of a mountain (ski lift access only). We saw a mama bear with three cubs and a gigantic gray wolf. The wolf was next to a cycling path. Meals on wheels.

It was about 15 degrees. We didn’t stay out there for long.
A little warmer up here with the sunshine

Not surprisingly, it was cold both on the glacier and on top of the mountain. The scenery was astonishing. When we got off the ski lift they offered us champagne and mimosas. Our group of agents and spouses seemed to enjoy the day every bit as much as we did.

The Rockies are not as tall here as they are in Colorado, but they are much steeper. The plains and valleys near the mountains are at much lower elevation than in Colorado, so the mountains here are simply majestic.

We finished up the trip tonight with a cookout and shindig. I never thought of Canada as a place for barbecue, but the province of Alberta is basically the Texas of Canada. We had a live band playing for us tonight, and Peggy and I got to teach our Louisiana friends the “Cotton-eyed Joe” — once we got over the shock of discovering that not everyone in Louisiana knows how to do the Cotton-eyed Joe. Stepped in what?

We are going back to Louisiana tomorrow. We are not quite sure what we are going to find when we return because of the shootings that occurred there this week. But we are glad to be going home. And we are glad we were here!

Until next time, eh?

The only appropriate beer for our last evening

Fun at the Box

I was starting to think maybe I was bad luck.

My very first day working in Baton Rouge was June 2, 2014. LSU was playing Houston for the chance to advance to the Super Regionals in the NCAA Baseball tournament. After losing to Houston in extra innings on Sunday night, LSU still had the opportunity to win on Monday night to advance. Since it was my first day with the company we decided to go to the game that night and pull the Tigers to victory.

Not so fast, my friend…

After scoring the first two runs of the game in the first inning, LSU gave up the next twelve runs to lose the game and the Regional Championship to Houston.

The Tigers put my fears to rest last year by sweeping through both the Regional and the Super Regional to advance to the College World Series.

Last night, though, LSU had the chance to sweep Rice out of the Regional and gave up another lead to force a game today. I had been bad luck against Houston; was I bad luck against Rice, too (presumably because they are also from Houston)? These are the kinds of thoughts that go through your head when bad things are happening on a baseball field. I am not superstitious in other areas of life — it’s bad luck — but after spending so many years on a baseball field it is just a fact of life.

The Tigers put it to bed tonight, and we got to celebrate it with some of our great friends. There is no place like Alex Box Stadium to watch a college baseball game. The atmosphere was outstanding.

LSU won. I am not bad luck. I can live to watch another game.

Geaux Tigers!

Beautiful times at Alex Box

Cajun Mexico, Part Deux

Peggy and I like to get away for Mother’s Day. A couple of years ago we went to Mexico for a week of gluttony and debauchery. In other words, a perfect trip.

We have been trying to return for two years now. Last year we changed our plans because Peggy was uncomfortable being out of the country and out of reach from her mother. The intervening year has eased her discomfort since she travels to Dallas every other week and is very happy with the level of care her mother is receiving.

This year we have to be in Baton Rouge for a couple of days this week. We reserved a room in Lake Charles for the entire week and decided we could travel over to Baton Rouge and then come back for the rest of the vacation.

The visit to Baton Rouge went entirely as expected. I was a big hit, and Peggy was the star of the show. They had asked me to prepare a presentation on what I would like to do for the first ninety days. I’m sure they were interested in knowing, but mostly they wanted to see my presentation skills. Let’s just say they were, wittingly or unwittingly, playing to my strengths.

After the presentation, Peggy joined us and we all went to lunch. I sat Peggy next to the CEO for the lunch. Case closed.

The funniest part of the meeting was the previous night. Peggy and I went to dinner with the man I would be replacing and his wife. This guy is the friend of my former boss who initiated the original conversations. We had a great time at dinner with them as he explained some of the mundane duties we would be called upon to perform for the organization. Boring stuff like hosting clients in the club level at LSU football games or in the corporate suite at LSU baseball games. I have a pretty good poker face, so I kind of sighed and explained it was a sacrifice I would be willing to make.

Here’s the thing — nowhere on my resume’ is there any mention of Louisiana or LSU. While I attended LSU as an undergraduate, I left before I graduated to attend Law School. My actual degree is from the University of Texas at Dallas, and my entire career has been in Texas. In the interview process I have never mentioned anything about growing up in Louisiana or attending LSU, so they think they have to sell me on the state.

When we got back into the car after dinner, Peggy said, “Oh, my God! Did he just say we are going to have club seats for the LSU football games?! And a baseball suite?!” I’m just glad she held in the exclamations until we were alone, though I am not sure that Bill and Jackie couldn’t hear it from their car, too.

When we got back to Lake Charles there was already an offer waiting on us. I had told the recruiter what it would take for me to consider the move and the offer was more than that number. They want me there by the end of the month.

After discussion, Peggy and I decided to accept their offer. We spent a couple of days trying to relax before Peggy told me we need to go back to Austin. We have a lot to do in a short amount of time. I can’t believe we are going to be moving again, but I have to admit I am very excited about the prospects.

I am not so excited about telling my CEO that I am leaving, but that is part of the process.

With apologies to Whitesnake, here I go again…

Trying to relax, before she made us go home

Life is Funny

Peggy is in Dallas visiting her Mama. I am not.

I was in Baton Rouge today visiting my son and his fiancée.

Well, that is not the whole truth. I have actually been in Baton Rouge today meeting with a potential employer. On the way out of town I had dinner with Mike to make sure he was OK with Mama and Daddy potentially moving to Baton Rouge. He was not against the idea, so that excuse for not taking the job is gone.

They’re going to offer me the job. My conversations with the CEO were too specific for it to mean anything else. They even had me interview with the two vice presidents who would be reporting to me. Everything went really well.

I have to admit I was hoping not to like the people and not to like the company. I really love the company I work for. I mean, I really love the company I work for. I have a great relationship with the CEO, though I have to be careful to include my immediate boss in any communication with the CEO. But the company is one of the best in the world at what we do and one of the most financially sound insurance companies in the world.

So why did I take the meeting? Baton Rouge is certainly a large part of the reason. Other than my brother in San Antonio, every member of my family lives within a couple of hours of Baton Rouge. My father will be only ninety minutes away instead of eight hours, and at 81 that is something to consider. Mike lives there, and he will be getting married there in March. And financially speaking, this company might be one of the very few that is in a stronger capital position than my current employer.

Now the real conversations start. Are they going to offer enough to make it worth considering? Is the job they want me to do something I can see myself doing for the next ten years? Do I really want to make Peggy move again when we have only been in Austin for six months?

I nailed it today, so now we have to actually start thinking about this stuff.

As I was in the airport waiting to board the plane, I received this picture:

Peggy and her Mama

I don’t think there was a message in the picture or in the timing, but it is certainly something else we have to consider. Moving closer to my father means moving farther away from Peggy’s mother. Who has Alzheimer’s. Peggy will still have to travel to Dallas a couple of times each month to visit and check on her. That will be a lot tougher from Baton Rouge.

We will both be home tonight. And the conversations can begin.

As my father always says, “It’s hell being popular.”

This is Winter?

Our first winter in Austin has been most unusual. We have had weeks where the temperature did not get above freezing followed by weeks where the temperature did not get below sixty degrees. The entire city has the same cold, probably caused by the drastic shifts in temperature.

Even though we live in Austin and are only about thirty minutes away from our Lake Travis condo, this weekend was the first time we have stayed out there. Every time we have thought about it has been when it was cold. Then it warms up enough that we are plenty happy at our apartment. We just bit the bullet and committed to this weekend and decided to take our chances on the weather.

It was a little cool this morning, but that is perfect walking weather. We took a good five-mile hike up and down the hills. After we grabbed a bite to eat we decided to come down and get in the hot tub. By mid-afternoon the temperature was easily in the upper sixties, and it was even comfortable when we got out of the hot tub. It seems almost impossible that just a couple of weeks ago the entire city was covered in ice for two days!

When we lived in Dallas we got used to the fact that winter actually visits Dallas. Dallas is at the bottom of the Great Plains, and when the winter wind is blowing it is as cold a place as anywhere I have been. Especially downtown between the tall buildings. I literally just shivered as I wrote that, just from thinking about it!

Since we left Dallas, though, we have lived in San Antonio and Houston, and both are far more temperate than Dallas. During our sixteen years in Houston we had winters where the temperature rarely dipped below freezing, and you could play golf almost the entire year. I guess I was expecting Austin’s winter to be more like Houston, but so far the cold has been more like Dallas. And then you get a weekend like this.

I’m not a big fan of cold weather, especially each morning when it is time to take the dog outside. For Christmas Peggy bought me some warm dog walking clothes, and I have gotten some serious use out of them. But not this weekend. This weekend it is shorts and flip flops, at least until dark.

I’m sure winter will be back soon. For now, though, we’ll just enjoy what we’ve got!

We were in the hot tub, but it was pretty enough to be by the pool. Just not in the pool…

 

Very Seventies

When I was a kid in the 70s it seemed like every television show was talking about couples going on separate vacations. It was the height of Women’s Liberation to go where you want to go for your vacation and not have to hang out with your boring husband or significant other. To be honest, I never got why it was supposed to be such a big deal, but I’m a dude. Clearly I was not meant to understand.

Every year about this time, Peggy and I relive the 70s and go on separate vacations. Actually, she goes on vacation and I stay home and take care of our pets.

Peggy is a Personal Trainer and she works with many of her clients at a gym that was built for the Recreation Ministry at our church. Every January, the Recreation Ministry takes a group on a ski trip, and Peggy is required to go as part of the ministry staff. At least that is the story I get…

I am always invited. I was a respectable athlete as a young man, and I spent quite a bit of time on skis. Behind a boat. In the water. When I had back surgery in 2005, the surgeon told me that unless I wanted to have the same surgery again I needed to give up long-distance running and snow skiing. Let’s just say that neither seemed like a giant sacrifice.

Peggy has so much fun on these trips, and I have fun receiving the pictures of her having fun. And I don’t have to get cold or wet. Win-win…

Seriously, since we don’t live in Katy anymore I don’t know that Peggy will be participating on future trips, so I really wanted her to go this year and have a great time. And it looks like she is.

Meanwhile, I am at home planning a trip we can take together. That’s just the kind of guy I am…