Brian's birthday party in Austin

This past Friday I surprised a friend who now lives in Austin, TX, and as near as I can tell - he had no idea. As you may recall, I visited this couple back in October. I wrote about that trip and included some photos in my entry, Weekend in Austin.

The birthday weekend was filled with a lot of laughing, eating, drinking (and crashing from either too much eating or simple exhaustion).  Laura and Brian certainly pulled out all the stops, and I shudder to think how many empty beer and wine bottles are sitting at this moment in their recycle bin on the sidewalk.  No doubt the neighbors must be seriously considering an intervention.  However in their defense - there were a lot of us at the house. I've included a group photo from Saturday night after we gorged ourselves at a smokehouse / BBQ called the Salt Lick.

Brian, I'd like to wish you a year of good health and happiness, and Laura thank you for all your hard work - it was fantastic, despite some bone-chilling temperatures (check out the photo below to see what cities were actually warmer than Austin on Brian's birthday).  Lastly to the friends from San Francisco, Houston and elsewhere it was a pleasure to meet you and I hope to see you again soon.