Puttering in the Study

Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre - 2010 Annual Meeting & Investiture

The last week and a half has been a busy one, since Jamie and I were out from Wednesday evening through Tuesday noon - and then I left against Thursday morning through late last night.  From Wednesday through Friday afternoon we were in Plano for the Eastern District of Texas' 14th annual bench/bar conference, then we headed to Albuquerque for the 2010 annual meeting and investiture of the Southwestern Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, where we were inducted as members of the order.

The Order was founded in 1099 by Godfrey de Bouillon, and was confirmed by Pope Paschal II in 1113, and is a worldwide Catholic organization, and currently works to help Christians in the Holy Land, through assisting schools, orphanages, churches, and other activities.  Members are nominated by their priests and bishops, and invested with their insignia by the Grand Prior (in our case Cadinal DiNardo from Houston) at a memorable Mass on Sunday afternoon.

We got in too late Friday to do anything other than catch a great dinner at a Mediterranean resturant around the corner from our hotel in Alb., but Sunday was busy, busy, with a orientation meeting for new members that morning, followed by a bus trip to Santa Fe for Mass in the cathedral there, where members of the order received various promotions.  We then came back to Alb., and changed into black tie (which is actually casual dress for this outfit) for dinner, and had a nice dinner with other people from Marshall and their families.

Sunday is the big day, which started with the annual meeting, followed by a quick lunch because we had to be back at 12:30 for rehearsal in white tie.  We were then bused over to St. Joseph's on the Rio Grande for the 2pm afternoon Mass at which we would be invested.  Knights carry their white cape and beret during the investiture (as you can see in the picture, and after receiving our insignia from the Cardinal we were robed by other knights.  The white cape with cross of Jerusalem, incidentally, comes from a directive by Godfrey's brother, Baldwin in 1103, so I'm not thinking they'll be changing the color anytime soon.  I'm not yet enthusiatic about the black velvet beret with insignia, but on the bright side, it makes the admiral's hat chapeaux I wear for Knights of Columbus 4th degree look really good.

The ladies of the order wore their black lace mantillas, black long-sleeved dresses and black gloves, and carried their robes and were likewise robed after their investiture.  Just your basic two and a half hour Mass.  We then went back for dinner - here's a picture of our four investees and one promotee (Father Denzil) from St. Joseph's.

It goes without saying that it was a religious experience, but it was a great experience for both of us, and we are looking forward to our work in the Order and to next year's meeting.  Father D was so excited that he's ordered us to show up at Mass tomorrow morning in our full dress.  The boys are going to be so excited...

 

Waco trip with the boys

I am almost two months late posting this, but I need a few minutes at the right computer with the right files to get it up properly.

Jamie and I celebrated Labor Day by heading up to Dallas to watch the Cowboys' final preseason game, and then to Waco, where she enjoying her annual spa weekend with her friends, this year in Waco.  That meant Friday afternoon, all day Saturday and Sunday plus Monday morning for me and the boys in a Waco hotel room.  (Did I mention I had work to do as well?)

We started out the weekend at the Strecker Museum, where they had the giant Lego exhibit, including castles, knights, and lots of other fun stuff.  It was hard but I pried them away from the Lego exhibit to take them through the museum, which had terrific exhibits on everything from natural history to s cience - from a kid's perspective.  They absolutely loved it, and most of all (even more than the Legos) the water exhibits where they argued and fought over redirecting the water flow to float rubber duckies and boats.  We went to see dad's brick at Baylor Law School (running into my Con Law professor David Guinn on the way), then the Baylor Bears at the bear pit on campus, then had dinner at Cricket's Grill and walked home along the river (including a walk across the historic suspension bridge) to watch the second half of Titanic, which they really seemed to enjoy.

Saturday morning we were up semi-early for breakfast at Whataburger and a morning at the Dr. Pepper Museum, including the Free Enterprise museum , which is a really good kid-friendly exhibit on how money works.  Then it was off to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame where we had a great time looking at the Dallas Cowboys exhibits and a GREAT time playing on the game screen.  Then we hit the Baylor bookstore, where we got several kids' books for reading that night (we may be the only people who go to the bookstore and actually buy ... books).  After that it was dinner at the Elite, and then off to see the rerelease of Avatar in 3-D (which everyone thought was great).

Sunday morning I took the boys to Mass at St. Mary's downtown, then to lunch at Applebees, including a quick drive around my law school home at 4716 Edmond (they were not impressed, and didn't even pretend to be interested).  Then it was back to the hotel room for Dad to work on the laptop for the afternoon and, in something that's happened only once since we've had this herd, they sat quietly in the hotel room either playing on the Nintendos or watching videos on Grayson's phone.  We couldn't decide on anything different for dinner, so we hit Cricket's Grill again. 

My sister Emily came by late that evening and picked them up and they went to spend the night with their cousins, giving Dad a quiet evening in the hotel room with a one-glass bottle of merlot and a good book.  The next morning I picked Jamie up, then the herd and we headed home.  A long weekend away from home and the office ... but I enjoyed it anyway.  I had no idea Waco could be this much fun with kids!

 

Hub update - artwork lighting and exterior tile

Been a couple of busy days.  Yesterday I got the lighting for the artwork walls adjusted properly, so the two walls in the office dedicated to showcasing the work of local artists have light where it needs to be.  (As you can tell the show store photos are going up as well).

But in even more important news, today the exterior tile work got done, meaning the hexagonal white tile in the 113 side foyer, but more importantly, the 111 side got its black tile cladding.  We hope to have the awning up Monday - it's black and white striped but much smaller than the 113 side.  The new tile replicates in style if not in precise detail the black tile we found under the aluminum siding last November, shown here.

 

 

 

 

The Hub - then and now

I took this picture of the painter putting the first coat of black paint on the Hub and it reminded me of another picture taken back in what we think was about 1917. 

We consciously copied the awning pattern and restored the facade to the original brick.  The details of the awning's construction are different - the original started higher, hung lower, was retractable, and had a hood over it.  Ours is rigid and a bit smaller so as to both show off more brick and avoid brushing passersby heads.

The brickwork on the 111 side deserves a brief mention.  This was its appearance up (as "Neville's Place") until Louis Kariel Sr. moved the Hub to that side in 1928, at which time the facade was rebricked with buff-colored brick, albeit in the same pattern as the 113 side - with a row of clerestory windows over the store's display windows.  (I don't have a picture of this appearance, but have seen one over at Logan & Whaley)  The brick was then stuccoed sometime in the '40's or '50's I assume, and the clerestory windows were replaced with the same black tile that wrapped the lower facade - and a retractable fabric awning was installed.  That is the appearance we are restoring it to, and the "backer board" shown in these pictures should get its black tile facing sometime Saturday, I understand.  Awning will then go up sometime next week. Here's a picture from the day the aluminum facade came down showing the appearance we are working to return it to.

Typical Day at the Smith House - Grayson Enslaving His Brother

I had nothing to do with this.  I just noticed the other day that Collin was announcing that he was Grayson's servant, and then I see this in a frame on the kitchen table. 

I love the blanks where he fills in the names.

The Hub - one year anniversary

Friday, October 1 marked our one year anniversary with the Hub (appearance a year ago and again after the aluminum facade came off on the right) , and we celebrated with a visit from Audrey and Louis Kariel, who got a tour of the offices.  While they are not quite complete, they look a lot better than the last time we took a picture inside together last November, shown below!

One thing I can say already is that I really enjoy working here - not that this is necessarily a good thing, but I haven't left the office before 7pm this week - most evenings it is closer to 8 - and every minute here I enjoy.  Every time I walk into a different room I just enjoy it all over again because I remember when it looked a tad different a few weeks ago.  And if I get bored (and forget I need to get home to get the boys ready for bed) there's always that rowdy crowd down at Under the Texas Sun and a good steak waiting at OS2, or chips & hot sauce at Homeros.  Or Blue Frog Grill.  All less than a block from my desk.  Usually I just think happy thoughts and get another cup of coffee and go back to work...

Next week we think (I have given up actually expecting things, but this is what I'm told) a carpenter to resume work on the shelving on 111, a tile guy to start putting in the foyer tile on the 113 side, and start the black tile on the 111 exterior facade (approximating the tile you see in the picture above) and a sign painter to (finally) repaint the Hub and its post.  If the tile makes it up on schedule, we might have the new striped awning for 111 side up by the end of the week, but that's probably optimistic.  The blinds for the 111 front windows and conference room windows come in next week, helping us get that film noir look on the 111 side.  At least that's the plan.