As we shed 2008 like an old skin I want to take a moment to reflect on my personal progress and accomplishments of the year. First off, I must note that this blog, in it's current state, is exactly one year old today. I started this blog on December 31, 2007 with great intentions of writing every day in 2008. However, I have to applaud my effort anyway. I wrote often in 2008 and my goal will be to keep the blog a little more active in 2009 with at least weekly posts if not more often.
It has also been almost a year since Chris and I first started playing disc golf. We have both improved immensely but even with all that improvement I still sort of suck at it. The thing about disc golf, though, is that for me it's not really a sport or a competition - I like to play. It's fun. It gets me off my ass and outdoors walking along some really beautiful courses for a couple of hours with Chris or whomever we are playing with. For me it's like a thing to do to be social and have fun. That said, it does feel so nice when I hear those chains and my frisbee sinks into the basket. I'm really looking forward to playing this weekend sometime.
The long and glorious road to electing Barak Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America began early this year for Chris and I. We caucused for him in March and became elected Delegates for the Senate Convention which was held later that month. We posted signs and got involved this year with BAND - Bay Area New Democrats. We voted, Chelsea voted for the first time, and we elected Obama. He's my hero and because of Barak Obama the world is a different place, a changed place, a better place. I have such high hopes for his presidency and for my country, now that it is in his hands.
Chris and I moved into the rent house at the end of May and have been "officially" living together for 7 months now but we were pretty much all living in the apartment at the Waterfront for about 8 months prior to that so moving here was like spreading our arms wide. I still love the amount of space we have and still can't wait to move into a more permanent home - one we buy. Chris's house that he owns in Seabrook continues to sit un-lived-in and relatively un-cared-for. For a couple of years now I've attempted to encourage Chris and offer to help him to do something about this house that isn't doing anything for anyone but I feel like I just sounded like a nag so I've given up. It isn't appealing to know that there is this massive hole in the picture of responsibility and put-together-ness that comes with my boyfriend as a package deal but you can't make people do things they don't want to do.
A few new babies were born this year - Julie & Matt's baby Caleb, Penny & Steven's second son Neil, Dawn & Jim adopted again - James' little sister Bailey, Jay & Joanne had their second daughter Jill just this month.
Hurricane Ike, September 13th, 2008. There's been enough said about the damages inflicted to this area from Ike already. Suffice to say that the hurricane was the catalyst for a multitude of things including but not limited to: my change in jobs in late November to the University of Houston which I absolutely LOVE; me hiring Kimberly at UH; many businesses being closed for good now; the island not being a great vacation spot anymore; change of plans for the annual beach house crew in April since every beach house we've ever stayed in no longer exists and there aren't any for rent on Bolivar; my brother Brian and sister-in-law Sheryl seeing wild success in their restoration business such that they have now employed my other brother Kevin and his wife Sophia who, incidentally, also graduated this year with her Bachelors from Sam Houston State University.
My dad's knee surgeries have affected us all since the staph infection and the modification needed to his life. He's not working and he hates that a lot. Between my siblings and I, we don't feel that my dad will ever get back to work so we have been having a lot of discussions about what to do and how to proceed with taking care of my parents as they age and become more frail. It's more difficult than I thought it would be and I know I'll be dealing with this more in the new year. Please send positive thoughts my way and may God grant me the strength that I will need in the trials that lie ahead in having to take more care of my parents.
Chelsea turned 18 this year and is now a legal adult. She wants to get a tattoo tomorrow. I am against tattoos as a general rule but I'm not getting one myself so my opinion is rather moot. At least she has a great idea for a tattoo and it's small - a yin yang symbol on her shoulder blade. I like the yin yang and the idea of an interconnectedness between male and female, light and dark etc. On one hand I'm excited for her. On the other just nervous that she's doing something permanent that she might not like down the road.
So there you have it - we all turned another year older; Chris and I both changed jobs this year, we moved in together for the most part, I've paid off 4 credit cards this year and am now down to only 2 credit cards and less than $4,000 in credit card debt - which is absolutely awesome and amazing to me! Chris and I are very happy and I love him as much as ever. I feel like we're stronger now than we were last year - we've been through some ups and downs and stood together through them. We survived another NaNoWriMo as the MLs last month and wrote another novel each. I'd say we're doing okay.
Looking ahead into the new year I see a lot of promise. Having to take care of my parents more this year will bring about a level of chaos unprecedented in our family from which we will emerge bonded even closer; I want to enter 2010 debt free so I'll get rid of my remaining debt; Chris and I are looking to buy a house; I'm finally going to get rid of my PC and become a mac-head; I plan to write more and blog more; get more fit; and I think I will get involved with a cause. I really liked being actively involved in the campaign but I haven't done anything for my community or the world since the election so I'll be on the lookout for something philanthropic to do.
Until next year - all my LOVE.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Holiday Cheer
Where to begin?
Well we had our holiday party with friends at our place and it was a lot of fun! I over-indulged in food and drink since it was my house and I didn't plan to get into a car at any point during the night. Chris and Lisa brought a friend with them - Noura and her little brother. She stole the party. Noura had a very intense personality and had apparently just returned from Saudi Arabia or somewhere from a marriage gone bad in the Middle East. So we were happy to have her party with us for Christmas. At our White Elephant Gift Exchange I opened a gift that contained an Electronic Yodeling Pickle. Yes, that's right - an electronic yodeling pickle and that's what it is - it looks like a pickle in every way except that it's plastic and has a place you can press it and a little speaker area where the yodeling can be heard. Once you press the button it doesn't shut up yodeling for about a minute. The gift I wrapped was a castle toy for a child aged 3+ that I was going to give to James at one point in his life but now he's too old for it so it's literally been sitting in our garage all this time. I thought this was a good time to get rid of it. Noura got stuck with it so I hope she knows a child aged 3+ to regift to.
I got paid for 246 hours of vacation and 72 hours of holiday time from my old job on Galveston Island and that has assisted me in paying off 3 whole credit cards, be the giver at Christmas, pay the balance on Chelsea's class ring that she now has, get her year book, purchase Apple Care on my new laptop computer, and left me with enough for new tires for my car, and a tune up. After this I hope to still be able to afford stuff for New Year's Eve and National Chelsea's Day. When I get my income tax refund check I'm going to pay off one more credit card and then I'll be down to one credit card! Whooo Hoooo! YAY! I can't wait to be debt free!
We did Christmas Eve with my family a day early which was Rhonda's birthday. I promised her I would take her shopping for her gift - which I haven't done yet. We should do that tomorrow! My dad came to my house for Christmas and he was in a lot of pain still. He developed a staph infection after his knee replacement surgery about a month ago and is still fighting it. He was just released from the hospital last Saturday so he probably shouldn't have been out and about on Tuesday night for Christmas Eve but he was. It was so nice getting to have everyone over here for the gift opening. My mom's house is a little crowded for that. I must say that my favorite gift from that night came from Kevin and Sophia - Thank you guys so much!!!
The next day was actual Christmas Eve - Chelsea and I shopped at the mall for the greater part of the day and then we (Chelsea, Chris & I) met Carmen and Kevin at Berryhill Taco for lunch/dinner / drinks. It was about 3pm and we didn't start out hungry due to late lunch. It was so awesome to see them again. It's been far too long. Houston and I both need Carmen and Kevin in town. ~ sigh... Oh we also ran into Waleed an old friend of Teffanie and Travis' whom I had not seen in probably 10 years. So that was kinda cool.
Christmas day we finalized our gift wrapping and waited for Colin to arrive. He gets exchanged at noon on Christmas day. In the past they've been able to work out solutions to this ridiculous rule in mutually agreeable ways but this year his mother decided that she wanted to drop him off at our house at noon with no discussion as to how that affected our plans. In the end it did not matter much but it does make things slightly difficult with Chris having an ex. I don't have that problem with Chelsea's father so I can't imagine having to put up with bullshit from another adult involved in my child's life. I'm sure it's just as difficult for her as it is for Chris. So we left our house at noon for Peter & Frances' house where Christmas dinner awaited us in style!
They had cooked roasted turkey with two kinds of stuffing - one in each end of the bird - bread sauce, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, peas, green bean casserole, broccoli, corn bread muffins, and wine. I was so full! Then we opened gifts! OMG! I felt like we didn't give half as much as we got. I was floored and overwhelmed with the quantity and quality of gifting we received and I'm so greatful! I got a couple of bottles of wine, a new wine opener that stands up and you just push this lever down and pull it back up and the wine is uncorked, a George Forman grill with removable plates that can be put into the dishwasher - it's also huge so we can cook for the whole family at once instead of two at a time, bath & body works products and a salt rub and lotion from somewhere else, a new cookbook - a huge one!, a chopper for onions or garlic or whatever, an herb mincer, money from Chris' Granny in England, a beautiful tray from Chris' Aunt Lindsay in England with a lemon print on it, a silicone pot holder - pot grabber, a set of candles, and a tote bag with an M applique stitched to it made by Penny. We had a lot of fun.
On the way home we stopped at my parents house to visit with my dad for a bit but Colin was asleep in the car - totally worn out - so we only stayed for about 30 mintues. We gave Dave his last gift that hadn't arrived in the mail until the 24th so it wasn't available during the gift exchange on the 23rd, and Chris got his first issue of Rolling Stone magazine that Dave got him a subscription to. Then we headed home.
At home we had our own little family gift exchange with the kids. That was so incredibly awesome. From Chelsea I got the Ped Egg which I've been wanting for ages - plus a box of replacement cartridges, from Colin I got some stationery, from Chris I got some really awesome gifts!!! an iPod beamer for my car that will charge and play any iPod through the speakers in my car, a chair massager that sits in a chair and has rollers that massage your back - you can try these out at places like Bed Bath & Beyond, or Sharper Image and I now own one! I also got Dance Dance Revolution for the Wii but haven't had a chance to play it yet because Chelsea got Guitar Hero for the Wii and has been rocking out in the living room ever since. She also got the entire collection of the series Roswell on DVD from me and the movie The 10th Kingdom which we love, she also got about $80 worth of iTunes gift cards from various people. Colin now has an entire arsenal of nerf weaponry - about 25 different guns. For his birthday he gets to have a sleep over and he and his friends will have a nerf battle to end all nerf battles. I have almost 2 months to boys-with-nerf-guns-proof my house. Chris got Wii disc golf/beach games, a new strap for his disc golf bag, a new wallet that we need to exchange, a new sunglasses holder for his car viser, and some little stuff. I didn't get him a huge gift this Christmas because I didn't have time to shop before Christmas.
Boxing Day, Dec 26th, has also become part of the Christmas tradition of late. On this day, the MacGregor's all get together and go out to dinner. This year (yesterday) we went to Cullen's upscale grill on Space Center blvd. The company was wonderful and the place is quite lovely, the service was definitely upscale and the bathrooms were awesome. However, the food left something to be desired. For the price I expected my tastebuds to be amazed but it was just so-so on the food. We all had a great time though. Then everyone came over here to our messy, just-had-3-parties looking house but we played guitar hero and blongo ball - Oh that's two other things I got that I forgot about - Penny sent us a Blongo Ball set - a game where you throw these balls on ropes at this goal, and a mini disc golf set from Chris. So anyway, we played games yesterday and generally sat around full from lunch.
Today we're going to see Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler in about an hour and a half and we are all in separate areas enjoying time off and our Christmas gifts. So far it's been a highly enjoyable holiday!
Merry Merry Merry
Well we had our holiday party with friends at our place and it was a lot of fun! I over-indulged in food and drink since it was my house and I didn't plan to get into a car at any point during the night. Chris and Lisa brought a friend with them - Noura and her little brother. She stole the party. Noura had a very intense personality and had apparently just returned from Saudi Arabia or somewhere from a marriage gone bad in the Middle East. So we were happy to have her party with us for Christmas. At our White Elephant Gift Exchange I opened a gift that contained an Electronic Yodeling Pickle. Yes, that's right - an electronic yodeling pickle and that's what it is - it looks like a pickle in every way except that it's plastic and has a place you can press it and a little speaker area where the yodeling can be heard. Once you press the button it doesn't shut up yodeling for about a minute. The gift I wrapped was a castle toy for a child aged 3+ that I was going to give to James at one point in his life but now he's too old for it so it's literally been sitting in our garage all this time. I thought this was a good time to get rid of it. Noura got stuck with it so I hope she knows a child aged 3+ to regift to.
I got paid for 246 hours of vacation and 72 hours of holiday time from my old job on Galveston Island and that has assisted me in paying off 3 whole credit cards, be the giver at Christmas, pay the balance on Chelsea's class ring that she now has, get her year book, purchase Apple Care on my new laptop computer, and left me with enough for new tires for my car, and a tune up. After this I hope to still be able to afford stuff for New Year's Eve and National Chelsea's Day. When I get my income tax refund check I'm going to pay off one more credit card and then I'll be down to one credit card! Whooo Hoooo! YAY! I can't wait to be debt free!
We did Christmas Eve with my family a day early which was Rhonda's birthday. I promised her I would take her shopping for her gift - which I haven't done yet. We should do that tomorrow! My dad came to my house for Christmas and he was in a lot of pain still. He developed a staph infection after his knee replacement surgery about a month ago and is still fighting it. He was just released from the hospital last Saturday so he probably shouldn't have been out and about on Tuesday night for Christmas Eve but he was. It was so nice getting to have everyone over here for the gift opening. My mom's house is a little crowded for that. I must say that my favorite gift from that night came from Kevin and Sophia - Thank you guys so much!!!
The next day was actual Christmas Eve - Chelsea and I shopped at the mall for the greater part of the day and then we (Chelsea, Chris & I) met Carmen and Kevin at Berryhill Taco for lunch/dinner / drinks. It was about 3pm and we didn't start out hungry due to late lunch. It was so awesome to see them again. It's been far too long. Houston and I both need Carmen and Kevin in town. ~ sigh... Oh we also ran into Waleed an old friend of Teffanie and Travis' whom I had not seen in probably 10 years. So that was kinda cool.
Christmas day we finalized our gift wrapping and waited for Colin to arrive. He gets exchanged at noon on Christmas day. In the past they've been able to work out solutions to this ridiculous rule in mutually agreeable ways but this year his mother decided that she wanted to drop him off at our house at noon with no discussion as to how that affected our plans. In the end it did not matter much but it does make things slightly difficult with Chris having an ex. I don't have that problem with Chelsea's father so I can't imagine having to put up with bullshit from another adult involved in my child's life. I'm sure it's just as difficult for her as it is for Chris. So we left our house at noon for Peter & Frances' house where Christmas dinner awaited us in style!
They had cooked roasted turkey with two kinds of stuffing - one in each end of the bird - bread sauce, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, peas, green bean casserole, broccoli, corn bread muffins, and wine. I was so full! Then we opened gifts! OMG! I felt like we didn't give half as much as we got. I was floored and overwhelmed with the quantity and quality of gifting we received and I'm so greatful! I got a couple of bottles of wine, a new wine opener that stands up and you just push this lever down and pull it back up and the wine is uncorked, a George Forman grill with removable plates that can be put into the dishwasher - it's also huge so we can cook for the whole family at once instead of two at a time, bath & body works products and a salt rub and lotion from somewhere else, a new cookbook - a huge one!, a chopper for onions or garlic or whatever, an herb mincer, money from Chris' Granny in England, a beautiful tray from Chris' Aunt Lindsay in England with a lemon print on it, a silicone pot holder - pot grabber, a set of candles, and a tote bag with an M applique stitched to it made by Penny. We had a lot of fun.
On the way home we stopped at my parents house to visit with my dad for a bit but Colin was asleep in the car - totally worn out - so we only stayed for about 30 mintues. We gave Dave his last gift that hadn't arrived in the mail until the 24th so it wasn't available during the gift exchange on the 23rd, and Chris got his first issue of Rolling Stone magazine that Dave got him a subscription to. Then we headed home.
At home we had our own little family gift exchange with the kids. That was so incredibly awesome. From Chelsea I got the Ped Egg which I've been wanting for ages - plus a box of replacement cartridges, from Colin I got some stationery, from Chris I got some really awesome gifts!!! an iPod beamer for my car that will charge and play any iPod through the speakers in my car, a chair massager that sits in a chair and has rollers that massage your back - you can try these out at places like Bed Bath & Beyond, or Sharper Image and I now own one! I also got Dance Dance Revolution for the Wii but haven't had a chance to play it yet because Chelsea got Guitar Hero for the Wii and has been rocking out in the living room ever since. She also got the entire collection of the series Roswell on DVD from me and the movie The 10th Kingdom which we love, she also got about $80 worth of iTunes gift cards from various people. Colin now has an entire arsenal of nerf weaponry - about 25 different guns. For his birthday he gets to have a sleep over and he and his friends will have a nerf battle to end all nerf battles. I have almost 2 months to boys-with-nerf-guns-proof my house. Chris got Wii disc golf/beach games, a new strap for his disc golf bag, a new wallet that we need to exchange, a new sunglasses holder for his car viser, and some little stuff. I didn't get him a huge gift this Christmas because I didn't have time to shop before Christmas.
Boxing Day, Dec 26th, has also become part of the Christmas tradition of late. On this day, the MacGregor's all get together and go out to dinner. This year (yesterday) we went to Cullen's upscale grill on Space Center blvd. The company was wonderful and the place is quite lovely, the service was definitely upscale and the bathrooms were awesome. However, the food left something to be desired. For the price I expected my tastebuds to be amazed but it was just so-so on the food. We all had a great time though. Then everyone came over here to our messy, just-had-3-parties looking house but we played guitar hero and blongo ball - Oh that's two other things I got that I forgot about - Penny sent us a Blongo Ball set - a game where you throw these balls on ropes at this goal, and a mini disc golf set from Chris. So anyway, we played games yesterday and generally sat around full from lunch.
Today we're going to see Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler in about an hour and a half and we are all in separate areas enjoying time off and our Christmas gifts. So far it's been a highly enjoyable holiday!
Merry Merry Merry
Saturday, December 13, 2008
The Day it Snowed in Houston in 2008
It was December 10th, 2008 and it snowed. I drove home in it. Like having your wind shield wipers going to wipe off the snow flakes that fell as heavy and thick as rain. At first it was distracting and I just wanted to watch the magic in wonderment while I realized that I should keep my eyes and mind on the road before me. Once I got home though we played in it. We built a tiny snowman. Chris made a snow angel. We got about 3 inches in our area. Though Rhonda says it didn't snow at all at her house. Odd.
I must say it was beautiful. Here is a link to some photos Chris took. The ones that look like it's daytime were shot with super long exposure times at about midnight.
So far I adore my new job! I love being back at UH. This is where I belong. I feel really comfortable with the people and the atmosphere and the location and the drive and I get to be with several of my friends who I no longer got to see on a regular basis for living and working so far from downtown Houston. Not to diminish the new friends I've made with UTMB though. And I still have them.
Last weekend was the Austin trip. What a lot of fun. I can't even tell you! The Austin NaNoWriMo party was awesome as ever. Chris read a portion of his book from his iPod, I won a raffle that Chris bought for me, we went to Disc Nation - a disc golf store with the largest selection of frisbees in the nation where I over-purchased but we played a great game of golf at Zilker Park and then bought more discs on the way home. I also purchased some praliene pecans at a store with great advertising. Anyway, we had a great time.
It's back to normal Houston, Texas winter for us with days in the 70's and nights in the 40's.
Our Christmas tree is up and absolutely gorgeous! I love Christmas trees!
LOVE
I must say it was beautiful. Here is a link to some photos Chris took. The ones that look like it's daytime were shot with super long exposure times at about midnight.
So far I adore my new job! I love being back at UH. This is where I belong. I feel really comfortable with the people and the atmosphere and the location and the drive and I get to be with several of my friends who I no longer got to see on a regular basis for living and working so far from downtown Houston. Not to diminish the new friends I've made with UTMB though. And I still have them.
Last weekend was the Austin trip. What a lot of fun. I can't even tell you! The Austin NaNoWriMo party was awesome as ever. Chris read a portion of his book from his iPod, I won a raffle that Chris bought for me, we went to Disc Nation - a disc golf store with the largest selection of frisbees in the nation where I over-purchased but we played a great game of golf at Zilker Park and then bought more discs on the way home. I also purchased some praliene pecans at a store with great advertising. Anyway, we had a great time.
It's back to normal Houston, Texas winter for us with days in the 70's and nights in the 40's.
Our Christmas tree is up and absolutely gorgeous! I love Christmas trees!
LOVE
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The Holidays
The Holidays. Such an interesting time of year. I see decorations all over the place and it actually does cause me to be of good cheer. I like wreaths and bows and pine cones and Christmas trees and stockings and I really do believe in Santa Clause.
I know what you're thinking... she likes "pine cones"??? But yes, I do. I have a basket that I keep them in and every year I collect a new batch of just 'perfect' pine cones from when I'm out walking Honey or just walking. Gotta admit that I don't walk Honey much anymore. Now that we have 3 dogs it's such a big ordeal but I digress... Last time I collected a basket full of perfect pine cones I only had the one.
Anyway, so Thanksgiving was wonderful! We had a really great day starting with Houston's HEB Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was a spectacular show this year with lots of new and exciting things. First time I've seen the Nemo float, but Chris said it was actually Marlin because Nemo had a gimp fin. Who remembers Marlin's name tho? They had a rather large group of miniature horses being walked or drawing little carriages for full size humans but they were just adorable. Of course, as usually they had some old favorites - the big sun of Sunny 99.1, the giant turkey whose tail feathers turn on a spindle, and my personal favorite - Pancho Clause and his low-rider brigade making their cars hop through the parade. I loved it. I did, however, forget to bring my camera. So I have no pictures. Chris has some and I'll get them from him soon enough. Chris's brother Rob has actually been to the Thanksgiving Day Parade every year of his entire life.
After the parade we went to Chris's parents house for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. On the way there we saw a terrible accident involving a black pick up truck and a white car and a dog that was riding in the back of the pick up truck. It jumped out and the white car smashed into the black pick up truck but not before running over the dog then several people plowed through the dog before it became a huge back up of traffic. It was really sad to see a guy having to give his insurance information to someone right beside his pulverized "best friend" sloppy in the street in front of him.
And now to talk about the dinner.
I know. Poor taste but whatever this is my blog. I'll start with the pies because I made them and they were the most beautiful, most delicious, most wonderful pies ever - one pumpkin and one apple. I do have pics of those:
Don't they just look so beautiful? They tasted even better! I promise.
The meal was delicious! Roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green peas, carrots, bread sauce, and gravy! With liberal helpings of red wine. Oh my gosh I was so stuffed. I had to then, of course, take my annual Thanksgiving Day snooze because I sat down and became trapped under my belly.
Oh and I wrote a book - well it's not finished but it was more than 50,000 words and that's what really counts for right now. I mean that in November I also helped to elect a new president, voted and got others to vote, turned in my 2 weeks notice, went thru a layoff, started a new job, and managed Thanksgiving.
So, now that NaNoWriMo is behind us and Thanksgiving in the past it seems the question posed most often to me is, "What do you want for Christmas?"
Is this a trick question? I know it is. There are wrong answers, there are non-answers, there are safe answers, and there are lies. The truth is that it depends on the giver I suppose. From Chelsea I will love and adore anything she gets for me - it could be a painted macaroni necklace or a card that says I love you and it's the perfect thing. But do I "want" a painted macaroni necklace? Not really. From my parents - nothing. My mom, I have to say, is one of the most generous and giving and wonderful people ever born. Having said that, she also gives gifts that not many people have much use for usually from items available in the catalogs of stuff she sells from her store.
We're drawing names in our family - we're just too many now so Christmas is for the kids and we just exchange one gift now - for whoever draws my name I just want bath products from Bath & Body Works. Chris is a good gift giver so I know I'll like whatever he picks. From him I just like to feel like he was thinking about ME and what I like in a gift and its usually perfect. But if I were to answer the question honestly it would ruin the surprise. In his family they tell each other what they want and then the all get just what they asked for. So it's not really as "thoughtful" or something if they don't have to figure it out.
Then there are things I want - but not really for Christmas. You know? I mean sure, I need a new set of tires but it's hardly wrappable or Christmassy. I'd like to get a new windshield and tinted windows. I'd like a kick ass hair moisturizer and some make up from Bare Essentials - but these are things I want to pick out and purchase on my own. I want a treadmill and something to keep necklaces organized but I would have to like it aesthetically and it would have to be perfect or I'm happy to wait for the perfect one while keeping my necklaces in a jumbled heap on top of the dresser. I want a new belt for the vacuum and I want a maid to come help me clean house at least once a month, and I want a new fence and a garden and a plan about where we'll move after the lease here is up and a facial care system from Arbonne. But that's not what people want to hear when they ask "What do you want for Christmas?"
What I really truly want for Christmas more than anything else in the whole wide world, is to have some good ideas about what to get for others and enough resources to get them those things. I want to see the light in their eyes when they open a gift from me and they think it's the perfect thing. I want to be the giver. I want to spend time with people I love and share good food and thank the people who have done so much for me this year. Peace on earth. Good will towards others.
Oh and I want to hang out with Carmen!
LOVE
I know what you're thinking... she likes "pine cones"??? But yes, I do. I have a basket that I keep them in and every year I collect a new batch of just 'perfect' pine cones from when I'm out walking Honey or just walking. Gotta admit that I don't walk Honey much anymore. Now that we have 3 dogs it's such a big ordeal but I digress... Last time I collected a basket full of perfect pine cones I only had the one.
Anyway, so Thanksgiving was wonderful! We had a really great day starting with Houston's HEB Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was a spectacular show this year with lots of new and exciting things. First time I've seen the Nemo float, but Chris said it was actually Marlin because Nemo had a gimp fin. Who remembers Marlin's name tho? They had a rather large group of miniature horses being walked or drawing little carriages for full size humans but they were just adorable. Of course, as usually they had some old favorites - the big sun of Sunny 99.1, the giant turkey whose tail feathers turn on a spindle, and my personal favorite - Pancho Clause and his low-rider brigade making their cars hop through the parade. I loved it. I did, however, forget to bring my camera. So I have no pictures. Chris has some and I'll get them from him soon enough. Chris's brother Rob has actually been to the Thanksgiving Day Parade every year of his entire life.
After the parade we went to Chris's parents house for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. On the way there we saw a terrible accident involving a black pick up truck and a white car and a dog that was riding in the back of the pick up truck. It jumped out and the white car smashed into the black pick up truck but not before running over the dog then several people plowed through the dog before it became a huge back up of traffic. It was really sad to see a guy having to give his insurance information to someone right beside his pulverized "best friend" sloppy in the street in front of him.
And now to talk about the dinner.
I know. Poor taste but whatever this is my blog. I'll start with the pies because I made them and they were the most beautiful, most delicious, most wonderful pies ever - one pumpkin and one apple. I do have pics of those:
Don't they just look so beautiful? They tasted even better! I promise.
The meal was delicious! Roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green peas, carrots, bread sauce, and gravy! With liberal helpings of red wine. Oh my gosh I was so stuffed. I had to then, of course, take my annual Thanksgiving Day snooze because I sat down and became trapped under my belly.
Oh and I wrote a book - well it's not finished but it was more than 50,000 words and that's what really counts for right now. I mean that in November I also helped to elect a new president, voted and got others to vote, turned in my 2 weeks notice, went thru a layoff, started a new job, and managed Thanksgiving.
So, now that NaNoWriMo is behind us and Thanksgiving in the past it seems the question posed most often to me is, "What do you want for Christmas?"
Is this a trick question? I know it is. There are wrong answers, there are non-answers, there are safe answers, and there are lies. The truth is that it depends on the giver I suppose. From Chelsea I will love and adore anything she gets for me - it could be a painted macaroni necklace or a card that says I love you and it's the perfect thing. But do I "want" a painted macaroni necklace? Not really. From my parents - nothing. My mom, I have to say, is one of the most generous and giving and wonderful people ever born. Having said that, she also gives gifts that not many people have much use for usually from items available in the catalogs of stuff she sells from her store.
We're drawing names in our family - we're just too many now so Christmas is for the kids and we just exchange one gift now - for whoever draws my name I just want bath products from Bath & Body Works. Chris is a good gift giver so I know I'll like whatever he picks. From him I just like to feel like he was thinking about ME and what I like in a gift and its usually perfect. But if I were to answer the question honestly it would ruin the surprise. In his family they tell each other what they want and then the all get just what they asked for. So it's not really as "thoughtful" or something if they don't have to figure it out.
Then there are things I want - but not really for Christmas. You know? I mean sure, I need a new set of tires but it's hardly wrappable or Christmassy. I'd like to get a new windshield and tinted windows. I'd like a kick ass hair moisturizer and some make up from Bare Essentials - but these are things I want to pick out and purchase on my own. I want a treadmill and something to keep necklaces organized but I would have to like it aesthetically and it would have to be perfect or I'm happy to wait for the perfect one while keeping my necklaces in a jumbled heap on top of the dresser. I want a new belt for the vacuum and I want a maid to come help me clean house at least once a month, and I want a new fence and a garden and a plan about where we'll move after the lease here is up and a facial care system from Arbonne. But that's not what people want to hear when they ask "What do you want for Christmas?"
What I really truly want for Christmas more than anything else in the whole wide world, is to have some good ideas about what to get for others and enough resources to get them those things. I want to see the light in their eyes when they open a gift from me and they think it's the perfect thing. I want to be the giver. I want to spend time with people I love and share good food and thank the people who have done so much for me this year. Peace on earth. Good will towards others.
Oh and I want to hang out with Carmen!
LOVE
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Cuddle a Panda today
Chels & I are at a coffee shop and I ran across this article that has us cracking up laughing:
LINK
A 20-year old student visiting the zoo jumped into a panda bear's cage to hug him and was attacked. Apparently this panda bear is so cute that this is actually the third time this has happened - if you read thru to the end of the article it tells that this same panda, Yang Yang, was in the news previously when someone got into his cage to hug him in 2006.
Chelsea and I both confessed to each other that this panda bear really IS just too cute. We want to hug him too. But he needs to be drugged first, and de-clawed and already full. Then we want to hug him and cuddle him and call him Yang Yang.
LINK
A 20-year old student visiting the zoo jumped into a panda bear's cage to hug him and was attacked. Apparently this panda bear is so cute that this is actually the third time this has happened - if you read thru to the end of the article it tells that this same panda, Yang Yang, was in the news previously when someone got into his cage to hug him in 2006.
Chelsea and I both confessed to each other that this panda bear really IS just too cute. We want to hug him too. But he needs to be drugged first, and de-clawed and already full. Then we want to hug him and cuddle him and call him Yang Yang.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Chiny-Mini
Several months ago Chelsea started a game of punch buggy, also known in other circles as 'slug bug, no punch backs' and other names. In this game, if you are driving along and you see a Volkswagon Beetle you have to be the first one to call out the color of the car and punch the person next to you.
There are other subtle rules that you learn as you continue playing punch bug. For instance if it is a yellow car you can hit the person twice. If it is a convertible bug you can hit the person twice. If it is a classic beetle and not the new style you can punch the person twice. If it is a combination of these you also get additional hits. For example, a convertible yellow VW bug is 3 punches and a classic convertible is 3 punches and the highest point value car is the Yellow convertible classic VW bug.
Well shortly after this Colin, tired of not being the first to see the VWs, invented "hot car." In this game you get to hit the person next to you if you see a "hot" car. This game grew tiring very quickly because, as with beauty, "hot" is in the eye of the beholder and soon, Colin would call "hot car" for just about anything that had recently been washed. My idea of a hot car might not be the same as Colin's or Chris's or Chelsea's.
The game then evolved into Chiny-Mini. I'm not sure how this one began but if you see a Mini Cooper you get to give the person next to you a little rub on the front of their chin and say Chiny-Mini. This game is sort of more fun for me and I have no idea why. I guess because there are no additional rules or point systems you have to keep in mind. Though the one caveat is that if you call chiny-mini on a car from a distance and as it approaches it's not really a mini at all then the person gets to rub your chin back. Chris often likes to include some type of maniacal laugh with his rubs on my chin but that just seems like over-kill to me.
The thing is that neither of these games are any fun if you are alone. There I am listening to my book on my iPod on the way to work in the morning and I pass VW after VW after VW and I'm followed by mini after mini after mini. If I'm alone, they are everywhere! If I'm with Chris he usually has the upper hand because normally, if we're together, he's the driver and has the advantage of the mirrors and he normally gets me in both punch buggy and chiny-mini 3 to 1.
So this week I upped the ante. I took pictures with my iPhone of every mini I could catch while driving - this isn't all of them because sometimes I'm on the phone or just not quick enough on the draw but I've snapped photos of about six of them. Then I got him at home when I showed him the pictures on my phone. Ha! sucka!
Anyway, this led me to a brilliant idea for a game to play. I want to host a photo scavenger hunt. I'm going to make a list of pictures people have to take in a certain time frame and the first person to post the photos will win. There's not a prize other than bragging rights but I think it would be fun. So for instance the list might include snapping photos of yourself with a UPS driver, on the alter of a church, with a man in a bow-tie, etc. Like in a scavenger hunt where you have to collect items and be the first one back, this would be like collecting a set of photos to post. Everyone could play, even the out of town people I know. I'm putting together the list for the photo-scavenger hunt now if you want to play.
LOVE
There are other subtle rules that you learn as you continue playing punch bug. For instance if it is a yellow car you can hit the person twice. If it is a convertible bug you can hit the person twice. If it is a classic beetle and not the new style you can punch the person twice. If it is a combination of these you also get additional hits. For example, a convertible yellow VW bug is 3 punches and a classic convertible is 3 punches and the highest point value car is the Yellow convertible classic VW bug.
Well shortly after this Colin, tired of not being the first to see the VWs, invented "hot car." In this game you get to hit the person next to you if you see a "hot" car. This game grew tiring very quickly because, as with beauty, "hot" is in the eye of the beholder and soon, Colin would call "hot car" for just about anything that had recently been washed. My idea of a hot car might not be the same as Colin's or Chris's or Chelsea's.
The game then evolved into Chiny-Mini. I'm not sure how this one began but if you see a Mini Cooper you get to give the person next to you a little rub on the front of their chin and say Chiny-Mini. This game is sort of more fun for me and I have no idea why. I guess because there are no additional rules or point systems you have to keep in mind. Though the one caveat is that if you call chiny-mini on a car from a distance and as it approaches it's not really a mini at all then the person gets to rub your chin back. Chris often likes to include some type of maniacal laugh with his rubs on my chin but that just seems like over-kill to me.
The thing is that neither of these games are any fun if you are alone. There I am listening to my book on my iPod on the way to work in the morning and I pass VW after VW after VW and I'm followed by mini after mini after mini. If I'm alone, they are everywhere! If I'm with Chris he usually has the upper hand because normally, if we're together, he's the driver and has the advantage of the mirrors and he normally gets me in both punch buggy and chiny-mini 3 to 1.
So this week I upped the ante. I took pictures with my iPhone of every mini I could catch while driving - this isn't all of them because sometimes I'm on the phone or just not quick enough on the draw but I've snapped photos of about six of them. Then I got him at home when I showed him the pictures on my phone. Ha! sucka!
Anyway, this led me to a brilliant idea for a game to play. I want to host a photo scavenger hunt. I'm going to make a list of pictures people have to take in a certain time frame and the first person to post the photos will win. There's not a prize other than bragging rights but I think it would be fun. So for instance the list might include snapping photos of yourself with a UPS driver, on the alter of a church, with a man in a bow-tie, etc. Like in a scavenger hunt where you have to collect items and be the first one back, this would be like collecting a set of photos to post. Everyone could play, even the out of town people I know. I'm putting together the list for the photo-scavenger hunt now if you want to play.
LOVE
Monday, November 10, 2008
It's Official
My novel is slowly plugging along. Too slowly. But I'm getting into the main problem now so hopefully it will pick back up again this week. Fortunately I have a holiday tomorrow and I plan to write practically the whole day save for noon when I'll be at the chiropractor. Today a challenge was issued from the ML of Corpus Christi and we accepted. So hopefully that will spur my word count to greater heights. I've also been doing a lot of research on weather manipulation for my book. Fascinating subject should you happen to be bored or a conspiracy theorist - like my main character.
Most importantly for this post, I just wanted to say that it's official about my new job. I turned in my 2 weeks notice today and in a short period of time will be headed back to the university from whence I came and where I belong. No disrespect at all to the island which has been great but with the instability brought on by Ike, I had to go and this job fell into place due to perfect timing. I'm SO excited about it though and I can't wait to get started.
The family dinner for my dad's birthday went well yesterday and he liked his gift of a bottle of Crowne Royal with two glasses. Several members of my family want me to do Thanksgiving this year but we're going to Chris's parents again this year because it's a Colin year. We are, however, having a Christmas party on December 19th with friends so that should be fun. It will have to remain unplanned for the most part until after NaNoWriMo.
It's raining tonight so you know I'm in a great mood!
LOVE
Most importantly for this post, I just wanted to say that it's official about my new job. I turned in my 2 weeks notice today and in a short period of time will be headed back to the university from whence I came and where I belong. No disrespect at all to the island which has been great but with the instability brought on by Ike, I had to go and this job fell into place due to perfect timing. I'm SO excited about it though and I can't wait to get started.
The family dinner for my dad's birthday went well yesterday and he liked his gift of a bottle of Crowne Royal with two glasses. Several members of my family want me to do Thanksgiving this year but we're going to Chris's parents again this year because it's a Colin year. We are, however, having a Christmas party on December 19th with friends so that should be fun. It will have to remain unplanned for the most part until after NaNoWriMo.
It's raining tonight so you know I'm in a great mood!
LOVE
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Yes We ARE!
I'm in post-election bliss like you can't imagine! Yesterday the world changed. I'm so happy and so proud.
My 18 year old daughter voted
yesterday for the first time in her life. She voted for a man who promises a greater tomorrow. She voted so that when she gets out of high school she'll immediately have access to health care and won't have to take the first job with insurance that comes along so she's covered. She voted so that she can afford college for herself. She voted for a greener tomorrow so that when she has to buy a car it might be more energy efficient. She voted because she's young and just starting out in life and wants her political party to hear her voice too and not just the voices of special interest groups. She voted because she is an American and, like all Americans, gets to participate in the democratic process and is responsible for the government. She voted to change the reputation of America so that when she goes to visit Carmen in Paris next year she won't have to pretend she's Canadian. She voted for the same man I voted for: President-Elect Barack Obama.
Last night Chris and I went to an election party at Chris & Lisa's place. When Obama took the stage to speak for the first time as the President-Elect I cried. I hope that this election helps America to Wake Up like Kucinich said in his speech during the primaries. We all have to take an active roll in this country. It's OUR country and we're taking it back! It does not belong to the government, a ruler, a dictator, the Congress, or any special interest group. We have allowed our country to be sold into debt to pay for wars we have no business fighting. These are not our causes. We have enough causes right here at home to worry about. I feel proud of my country for electing Obama as our president and hope that he leads our country out of the quagmire it has become. I have hope for tomorrow, for my country, for our future, for my children and I haven't been able to stop grinning all day.
Last night after the polls closed and Obama had spoken we heard a great noise in the street and an impromptu parade was headed down the road complete with drums, people waving Obama signs, t-shirts, or just shouting and happy. People everywhere actually took to the streets like Scottish hooligans after winning a soccer cup because of one man who can change the world.
In other Election Day news - Chris's sister Penny had her baby November 4th - Neil Hampton gave his debut performance weighing in at 9lbs 5ozs. Mommy and family are doing fine.
Here are some crazy pictures from the Halloween party we went to at the Avant Garden in Houston. Chris and I were love children of the 60's. Chelsea was a fallen angel. My sister is the witch; sister in law Sophie is the vampire who just fed, and Kevin is the dude with horns.
I just got my new computer! It is beautiful! I LOVE it! I can't tell you how much I love it. I will write my whole novel this month on my new mac.
NaNoWriMo is going well - except for yesterday because of the election and today because of yesterday.
Still no word on the new job but I did call today to find out if there were any snags. Apparently no but it seems to take a while for the security clearance process to come from HR.
My 18 year old daughter voted
yesterday for the first time in her life. She voted for a man who promises a greater tomorrow. She voted so that when she gets out of high school she'll immediately have access to health care and won't have to take the first job with insurance that comes along so she's covered. She voted so that she can afford college for herself. She voted for a greener tomorrow so that when she has to buy a car it might be more energy efficient. She voted because she's young and just starting out in life and wants her political party to hear her voice too and not just the voices of special interest groups. She voted because she is an American and, like all Americans, gets to participate in the democratic process and is responsible for the government. She voted to change the reputation of America so that when she goes to visit Carmen in Paris next year she won't have to pretend she's Canadian. She voted for the same man I voted for: President-Elect Barack Obama.Last night Chris and I went to an election party at Chris & Lisa's place. When Obama took the stage to speak for the first time as the President-Elect I cried. I hope that this election helps America to Wake Up like Kucinich said in his speech during the primaries. We all have to take an active roll in this country. It's OUR country and we're taking it back! It does not belong to the government, a ruler, a dictator, the Congress, or any special interest group. We have allowed our country to be sold into debt to pay for wars we have no business fighting. These are not our causes. We have enough causes right here at home to worry about. I feel proud of my country for electing Obama as our president and hope that he leads our country out of the quagmire it has become. I have hope for tomorrow, for my country, for our future, for my children and I haven't been able to stop grinning all day.
Last night after the polls closed and Obama had spoken we heard a great noise in the street and an impromptu parade was headed down the road complete with drums, people waving Obama signs, t-shirts, or just shouting and happy. People everywhere actually took to the streets like Scottish hooligans after winning a soccer cup because of one man who can change the world.
In other Election Day news - Chris's sister Penny had her baby November 4th - Neil Hampton gave his debut performance weighing in at 9lbs 5ozs. Mommy and family are doing fine.
Here are some crazy pictures from the Halloween party we went to at the Avant Garden in Houston. Chris and I were love children of the 60's. Chelsea was a fallen angel. My sister is the witch; sister in law Sophie is the vampire who just fed, and Kevin is the dude with horns.
I just got my new computer! It is beautiful! I LOVE it! I can't tell you how much I love it. I will write my whole novel this month on my new mac.NaNoWriMo is going well - except for yesterday because of the election and today because of yesterday.
Still no word on the new job but I did call today to find out if there were any snags. Apparently no but it seems to take a while for the security clearance process to come from HR.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
After the Kick-Off
The 2008 NaNoWriMo Kick-Off Event was yesterday and it went beautifully! I was so happy with every single part of it. The space we reserved was more than ideal! We want to use the space for our TGIO party at the end of November. We kicked it off at the Havens Community Center which is right next door to the Chocolate Bar on Alabama. It has at least 4 separate sections plus a little kitchen area and bathrooms. It has tables and chairs, couches and is centrally located. I absolutely LOVE it! However, the perfectness of the space aside, the kick-off itself went really well. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many wonderful new participants and there are so many others, the old crew, who are just dear to my heart that I see far too rarely.
For the Swag Bags this year, Chris made an awesome CD of writing music which includes such songs as Every Day I Write the Book by Elvis Costello, Writer's Minor Holiday by Calexico, My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors, by Moxy Friivous, Paperback Writer, by The Beatles and several others. I hope everyone loves the music. We also made door hangers and put in bouncy balls and candy and stickers. We got powerstrips for the Area Liaisons which they seemed to enjoy. It was a lot of fun.
Afterwards, a group of us went for pizza at Star which maintains a status as one of the highlights of my weekend. It's been forever since I've had a chance to eat Star Pizza and it was fun to talk with everyone I hadn't seen in ages. I got some excellent ideas to include in my book in November.
This morning Chris, Colin and I went to play disc golf but it was really hot and we didn't make it through all 18 holes. It was fun none-the-less. Then I met Soluna and PataLeBon at Coffee Oasis for a Got Plot? Brainstorming Session. This was originally scheduled to be at Chelsea Coffee House but they were closed so we re-grouped at C.O. I have to say that the best ideas for my novel there actually came from Colin who was on a roll and giving everyone creative writing ideas. Then we went to pick up Chelsea from Brian's and she was happy cuz she had gone shopping and had her eyebrows done for picture day tomorrow. So that was awesome.
In other news, I've been back at work for exactly 2 weeks and it's really like a roller coaster. Rumors abound about the impending layoff which has been announced to happen right after the election for political reasons. Everyone there is looking for a job and I've spoken to people who have mentioned by title some of the exact same positions I'm looking at. That's a little scary. I had an interview at UH last Thursday and they said I should hear from them by Monday - tomorrow. I hope it's good news! Please keep your fingers crossed for me. I would like to get off the island anyway. I think it's toxic. The trees and bushes are brown and dead from the salt water and sludge that flooded everything. The first week we were back everyone got sick. It was pretty awful.
I got to speak to a class of kids at Westside High School about NaNoWriMo which was a lot of fun. I handed out stickers and heard some plot ideas that sounded really promising. These kids sounded like they really could do it. I also got the grand tour of Westside from the teacher - Chris's brother Rob - and this school actually has an Outback Steakhouse in it for their Hotel & Restaurant Management classes! The kids can eat cocanut shrimp for lunch every day if they want to!
Also, Rob and Noelle are new parents-to-be expecting the newest little MacGregor in May! So Congratulations Rob & Noelle! I should be crocheting blankets but I have documentation to finish, a novel to write, a region to wrangle, a new job to find, and that's just the extras - I still have my family and a strewn-apart job to go to on the ghost-town island as part of my daily chores.
That's about it for an update. Oh we're gonna early vote. We saw a voting line at the library yesterday that wrapped around the building in two lines! I can't even imagine what November 4th will look like! I hope Chelsea's voter's registration card comes soon.
Much Love ~
For the Swag Bags this year, Chris made an awesome CD of writing music which includes such songs as Every Day I Write the Book by Elvis Costello, Writer's Minor Holiday by Calexico, My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors, by Moxy Friivous, Paperback Writer, by The Beatles and several others. I hope everyone loves the music. We also made door hangers and put in bouncy balls and candy and stickers. We got powerstrips for the Area Liaisons which they seemed to enjoy. It was a lot of fun.
Afterwards, a group of us went for pizza at Star which maintains a status as one of the highlights of my weekend. It's been forever since I've had a chance to eat Star Pizza and it was fun to talk with everyone I hadn't seen in ages. I got some excellent ideas to include in my book in November.
This morning Chris, Colin and I went to play disc golf but it was really hot and we didn't make it through all 18 holes. It was fun none-the-less. Then I met Soluna and PataLeBon at Coffee Oasis for a Got Plot? Brainstorming Session. This was originally scheduled to be at Chelsea Coffee House but they were closed so we re-grouped at C.O. I have to say that the best ideas for my novel there actually came from Colin who was on a roll and giving everyone creative writing ideas. Then we went to pick up Chelsea from Brian's and she was happy cuz she had gone shopping and had her eyebrows done for picture day tomorrow. So that was awesome.
In other news, I've been back at work for exactly 2 weeks and it's really like a roller coaster. Rumors abound about the impending layoff which has been announced to happen right after the election for political reasons. Everyone there is looking for a job and I've spoken to people who have mentioned by title some of the exact same positions I'm looking at. That's a little scary. I had an interview at UH last Thursday and they said I should hear from them by Monday - tomorrow. I hope it's good news! Please keep your fingers crossed for me. I would like to get off the island anyway. I think it's toxic. The trees and bushes are brown and dead from the salt water and sludge that flooded everything. The first week we were back everyone got sick. It was pretty awful.
I got to speak to a class of kids at Westside High School about NaNoWriMo which was a lot of fun. I handed out stickers and heard some plot ideas that sounded really promising. These kids sounded like they really could do it. I also got the grand tour of Westside from the teacher - Chris's brother Rob - and this school actually has an Outback Steakhouse in it for their Hotel & Restaurant Management classes! The kids can eat cocanut shrimp for lunch every day if they want to!
Also, Rob and Noelle are new parents-to-be expecting the newest little MacGregor in May! So Congratulations Rob & Noelle! I should be crocheting blankets but I have documentation to finish, a novel to write, a region to wrangle, a new job to find, and that's just the extras - I still have my family and a strewn-apart job to go to on the ghost-town island as part of my daily chores.
That's about it for an update. Oh we're gonna early vote. We saw a voting line at the library yesterday that wrapped around the building in two lines! I can't even imagine what November 4th will look like! I hope Chelsea's voter's registration card comes soon.
Much Love ~
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
A Blog Post
So we got the word that we may be returning to work on Monday. I have cognitive dissonance regarding this news. On the one hand I'm like, Thank God! and on the other I'm groaning and saying '5 more minutes mom.' I've been off of work now since September 10th but I've been working from home, setting up the clinics and assisting where I can. It's been getting tougher though so today I drove out to the island with a fellow worker to turn on our computers so we could access them from home. Here are some pix of the island. However, at this point I'm really truly wishing I had taken more photos of the campus! I don't know why I didn't. I guess I was too focused at that point on getting to my office and getting off the island. They wouldn't let us in until after 1pm for "Look and Leave" and I was meant to pick the kids up from school around 2:30. Guards met us in the lobby of my building where there were supplies stacked up everywhere. We had to sign in and (thankfully) 1 elevator was working - otherwise it would have been a 16 flight climb. There was no air conditioning and being there for only half an hour was miserable. My plant was almost dead. :( I watered both my plants and if the one comes back I decided to name her Crispy. The main thing is that I unbagged and turned on my computer and now I can access it from home. However, when I got home there was the announcement that we may return to work on Monday. I don't see how! There's a tent propped up for food services and sanitation issues. We'll see. They're meant to post a list of buildings that are still uninhabitable by tomorrow so I still don't yet know.
In other news, Sarah Palin continues to amuse me. I think she's so hilarious. The scary part is that some people actually like her and hope she becomes VP. I can't wait for tomorrow's debate. I just feel like this race has become so much richer with fodder for hilarity with her around. I mean really? c'mon! She couldn't name a single newspaper she has ever read so she said she reads "all of them." That is so funny! She also couldn't name a policy of McCains where he went against his party, or a policy of McCain's, or a Supreme Court case other than Roe v. Wade. Katie Couric has been slaughtering her in interviews and she keeps coming back for more. Doesn't she know people are laughing at her? Its too funny.
I'm so happy that my 18 year old just registered to vote! YAY!!! One more vote for Obama. It makes me proud. I just want to put her voter's registration card on the fridge under a magnet!
NaNoWriMo is in the active planning stages for the Houston area. We secured a location for our kick-off event for the low low cost of $20.00! Now we need to get goodie bags together and I would love to have a fund raiser but am lacking in ideas. I do, however, have an idea for my novel this year. I'm really excited about it actually. If I wasn't so busy with writing documentation and working from home I would do some snowflaking but that will have to wait till mid October. Oh! and I'm getting a brand new computer! Yay! mid October I'm picking out a new MacBook or MacBook Pro for my noveling adventure this year.
So that's about it for me.
LOVE
In other news, Sarah Palin continues to amuse me. I think she's so hilarious. The scary part is that some people actually like her and hope she becomes VP. I can't wait for tomorrow's debate. I just feel like this race has become so much richer with fodder for hilarity with her around. I mean really? c'mon! She couldn't name a single newspaper she has ever read so she said she reads "all of them." That is so funny! She also couldn't name a policy of McCains where he went against his party, or a policy of McCain's, or a Supreme Court case other than Roe v. Wade. Katie Couric has been slaughtering her in interviews and she keeps coming back for more. Doesn't she know people are laughing at her? Its too funny.
I'm so happy that my 18 year old just registered to vote! YAY!!! One more vote for Obama. It makes me proud. I just want to put her voter's registration card on the fridge under a magnet!
NaNoWriMo is in the active planning stages for the Houston area. We secured a location for our kick-off event for the low low cost of $20.00! Now we need to get goodie bags together and I would love to have a fund raiser but am lacking in ideas. I do, however, have an idea for my novel this year. I'm really excited about it actually. If I wasn't so busy with writing documentation and working from home I would do some snowflaking but that will have to wait till mid October. Oh! and I'm getting a brand new computer! Yay! mid October I'm picking out a new MacBook or MacBook Pro for my noveling adventure this year.
So that's about it for me.
LOVE
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Hurricane Ike
Well Houston is still in the recovery process from the disaster that hit our shores this past weekend but all told, we made it through with very little inconvenience. Others were not so lucky. I know a guy from work who had chest deep water in his house; another, my boss in fact, who lost his house in Kemah and everything in it. We drove down Nasa Rd 1 and saw several boats crashed on streets. We saw businesses along the marina floating under water. Debris is everywhere and there is no gas to be found. I have really spotty phone service and have been most successful with text messages to and from people. But several people have no power still and they're saying it could be weeks. As you know I work on Galveston Island and cannot return to work for an indefinite period of time. I am hoping that that really means not till Monday but we'll see. The kids are out of school for the remainder of this week also. But that's good because we'll need their help in cleaning up the yards of both the rent house and Chris's house. Both houses survived the storm with no damage. Chris lost several large branches on his big oaks in the front of the house and we have a lot of limb debris to clean up. However, on the bright side we won't need to buy firewood for a couple of years. We don't do a lot of fires... Neither of the houses took on water so there is no flood damage. The rent house lost two sections of fence, the top of one of the palm trees in the back and a rather large branch from one of the trees out back. Our neighbor lent us a limb trimmer that helped us to strip it down to a trunk but the trunk will need to be hacked into pieces with a chain saw and we don't know anyone with a chain saw yet. We're gonna share the cost of a new fence with the other neighbor but for now cannot let the dogs outside into the back yard without supervision. Also, we've added a third dog to our number, Remi, Chris's old dog.
Chris, Chelsea, and I evacuated to Chris's parents' house in Spring, far north of Houston. The trip there was a breeze! I couldn't believe it because I sat in Rita-Evacuation traffic for about 8 hours and expected this trip to be just as bad. In fact, on Thursday morning, first thing I did was get my gas tank filled and have an oil change, which was due anyway, but I assumed I would be sitting in traffic all the way north. Not so. We got there in about 45 minutes. No traffic on the roads. The news was super-sensationalizing the traffic situation. Peter & Frances have 3 extra bedrooms - one for Chelsea, one for Colin, and one for Chris and I with a bathroom attached - all upstairs. We were actually quite comfortable. We brought all our food and had also gone grocery shopping before going there so we ate well the whole time. Thursday night Chris grilled turkey burgers on the Foreman Grill because we still had power. Delicious! Friday we got dunkin donuts for breakfast and Frances and I made 3 quiches - ham & cheese, bacon and spinach -for breakfasts. We never ran out of quiche. That day I made a shrimp risotto and then the storm blew in. We were watching it on the news more than anything else.
Here's me in front of a downed tree on Peter & Frances' street.
It was raining and windy when I went to bed and still raining and still windy when I woke up on Saturday morning but for the most part, I slept right through it. I feel like I missed something. Chris and I took a walk Saturday morning in the rain and took pictures of the destruction. I've never seen so many downed trees. Huge trees just fallen over. We didn't have power, of course.
Here's a picture of Chris on Ronny's old street standing in front of another downed tree.
Saturday was really surreal and I've lost most of the day but we mostly just sat there in shock from so much destruction and loss of the ability to plug in. It's the little things you don't think of when you lose power - like you can still grill things outdoors but if you trim veggies into the sink the disposal won't work. We had a candle light dinner that night of grilled chicken, roasted corn on the cob and roasted new potatoes. Delicious! Oh and we invented the "barbeque" directions for the package of pilsbury iced cinnamon rolls. Dessert turned out nicely too. We played cards by candle light. Chris and I took a walk through his neighborhood in the eerie darkness of no power for miles. It was actually a perfect view of the full moon and quite lovely.
Sunday Chris and I attempted to venture out into the world to see our house and obtain ice and Peter and Frances went to church. The more successful trip was Peter's & Frances'. Chris and I found police blockades on the freeway and floods in the road where we could have taken another way. So rather than using up our precious gasoline reserve we decided to focus on getting ice but quickly learned that everyone else in the city was also on that mission and there was none to be had. The only businesses we saw open were a McDonalds with a line of cars wrapped around the block; a Home Depot; and a gas station with another huge line. However, Peter & Frances found their church to have power so they charged up their cell phones, and found a friend who had power and lent them their generator as well as 20 gallons of gas to run the generator! So we really only went about 30 hours or so without power. That day we ran the refridgerator, fans, lights and appliances as needed. It was also so beautiful and cool as the front had come in. Chris and I finished a jigsaw puzzle that Chelsea and Frances had started. We had a great day and ate grilled turkey burgers that night. Monday Chris and I again drove out south and that time made it all the way home. We had power at the rent house! Yay!!! In fact, our little subdivision is the only section of this area that happens to have power and in fact, never lost power. Some of our neighbors stayed here to ride out the storm and let us know that the worst thing was tree damage. We were very lucky!
We drove back to Peter & Frances's place and prepared one last meal - turkey chili made on a camp stove on the front porch. Then we packed up our stuff and left. They are doing fine with the generator but still have no power. We slept in our own beds last night and tonight it's so cool out that we haven't been running the AC anyway. Today we took a trip to the grocery store to replenish our supplies and it was weird. There was nothing refridgerated at all. The shelves were bare - no milk, cheese, eggs, butter, meat, salads, frozen foods, etc. They had certain isles blocked off. It will be another 48 hours before they will be able to sell perishables. Thus, we bought a basket-full of things we could use for the next few days for 4 people in the hopes that we'll be able to buy milk and meat, etc. in a few days. We're doing fine though. We can cook vegetarian meals no problem! Also, Peter & Frances bought us a gallon of milk on the north side before we left so we have most of that and we had 2 tubes of turkey meat left over, one of which we ate tonight. We also have plenty of beer and there's no working so we've been partaking.
Not all the damage was caused by Hurricane Ike, as you can see from this picture The Kool-Aid Man visited the apartment complex next to the one I used to live in.
Oh Yeah!
In other circumstances it would be so awesome to have this much time off of work. But I like to plan these things. We can't really go anywhere because there's not much gas and we need to reserve what we have for making it to grocery stores or what-have-you. We can't go play disc golf or anything like that. We can't go out at night because we're on curfew from 9PM - 6AM.
Here's a picture of a boat crashed up on Nasa Rd 1. We wanted to get pictures of Kemah but the roads are still blocked and those on the east side of Hwy 146 are not allowed to return to their homes yet.
We do have two yards to clear of brush and we got one mostly done today. Tomorrow we'll go to Chris's house and clear that away. That one will be a lot more work. I already have a blister on my left thumb from raking brush. We also have a huge pile of limbs in front of the house. Tomorrow they're meant to resume trash pick up but they won't take the hurricane debris. I have to say again how lucky we are to be here with power, running water, food supplies, a working fridge, plenty of ice, the internet etc. We've been looking at pictures of the damage especially on Crystal Beach and are shocked and awed at how awful it is. Kahlich did some research and found out that every beach house we've ever stayed in as a group (the April Beach house group) is GONE. We may not even do a beach house next year because there will hardly be any beach houses to be had on Bolivar any more.
So that's it for my update, how the hurricane affected me, the evacuation, the aftermath. Let's hope for a speedy recovery for the rest of the affected.
LOVE
Chris, Chelsea, and I evacuated to Chris's parents' house in Spring, far north of Houston. The trip there was a breeze! I couldn't believe it because I sat in Rita-Evacuation traffic for about 8 hours and expected this trip to be just as bad. In fact, on Thursday morning, first thing I did was get my gas tank filled and have an oil change, which was due anyway, but I assumed I would be sitting in traffic all the way north. Not so. We got there in about 45 minutes. No traffic on the roads. The news was super-sensationalizing the traffic situation. Peter & Frances have 3 extra bedrooms - one for Chelsea, one for Colin, and one for Chris and I with a bathroom attached - all upstairs. We were actually quite comfortable. We brought all our food and had also gone grocery shopping before going there so we ate well the whole time. Thursday night Chris grilled turkey burgers on the Foreman Grill because we still had power. Delicious! Friday we got dunkin donuts for breakfast and Frances and I made 3 quiches - ham & cheese, bacon and spinach -for breakfasts. We never ran out of quiche. That day I made a shrimp risotto and then the storm blew in. We were watching it on the news more than anything else.
Here's me in front of a downed tree on Peter & Frances' street.
It was raining and windy when I went to bed and still raining and still windy when I woke up on Saturday morning but for the most part, I slept right through it. I feel like I missed something. Chris and I took a walk Saturday morning in the rain and took pictures of the destruction. I've never seen so many downed trees. Huge trees just fallen over. We didn't have power, of course.
Here's a picture of Chris on Ronny's old street standing in front of another downed tree.Saturday was really surreal and I've lost most of the day but we mostly just sat there in shock from so much destruction and loss of the ability to plug in. It's the little things you don't think of when you lose power - like you can still grill things outdoors but if you trim veggies into the sink the disposal won't work. We had a candle light dinner that night of grilled chicken, roasted corn on the cob and roasted new potatoes. Delicious! Oh and we invented the "barbeque" directions for the package of pilsbury iced cinnamon rolls. Dessert turned out nicely too. We played cards by candle light. Chris and I took a walk through his neighborhood in the eerie darkness of no power for miles. It was actually a perfect view of the full moon and quite lovely.
Sunday Chris and I attempted to venture out into the world to see our house and obtain ice and Peter and Frances went to church. The more successful trip was Peter's & Frances'. Chris and I found police blockades on the freeway and floods in the road where we could have taken another way. So rather than using up our precious gasoline reserve we decided to focus on getting ice but quickly learned that everyone else in the city was also on that mission and there was none to be had. The only businesses we saw open were a McDonalds with a line of cars wrapped around the block; a Home Depot; and a gas station with another huge line. However, Peter & Frances found their church to have power so they charged up their cell phones, and found a friend who had power and lent them their generator as well as 20 gallons of gas to run the generator! So we really only went about 30 hours or so without power. That day we ran the refridgerator, fans, lights and appliances as needed. It was also so beautiful and cool as the front had come in. Chris and I finished a jigsaw puzzle that Chelsea and Frances had started. We had a great day and ate grilled turkey burgers that night. Monday Chris and I again drove out south and that time made it all the way home. We had power at the rent house! Yay!!! In fact, our little subdivision is the only section of this area that happens to have power and in fact, never lost power. Some of our neighbors stayed here to ride out the storm and let us know that the worst thing was tree damage. We were very lucky!
We drove back to Peter & Frances's place and prepared one last meal - turkey chili made on a camp stove on the front porch. Then we packed up our stuff and left. They are doing fine with the generator but still have no power. We slept in our own beds last night and tonight it's so cool out that we haven't been running the AC anyway. Today we took a trip to the grocery store to replenish our supplies and it was weird. There was nothing refridgerated at all. The shelves were bare - no milk, cheese, eggs, butter, meat, salads, frozen foods, etc. They had certain isles blocked off. It will be another 48 hours before they will be able to sell perishables. Thus, we bought a basket-full of things we could use for the next few days for 4 people in the hopes that we'll be able to buy milk and meat, etc. in a few days. We're doing fine though. We can cook vegetarian meals no problem! Also, Peter & Frances bought us a gallon of milk on the north side before we left so we have most of that and we had 2 tubes of turkey meat left over, one of which we ate tonight. We also have plenty of beer and there's no working so we've been partaking.
Not all the damage was caused by Hurricane Ike, as you can see from this picture The Kool-Aid Man visited the apartment complex next to the one I used to live in.
Oh Yeah!
In other circumstances it would be so awesome to have this much time off of work. But I like to plan these things. We can't really go anywhere because there's not much gas and we need to reserve what we have for making it to grocery stores or what-have-you. We can't go play disc golf or anything like that. We can't go out at night because we're on curfew from 9PM - 6AM.
Here's a picture of a boat crashed up on Nasa Rd 1. We wanted to get pictures of Kemah but the roads are still blocked and those on the east side of Hwy 146 are not allowed to return to their homes yet.
We do have two yards to clear of brush and we got one mostly done today. Tomorrow we'll go to Chris's house and clear that away. That one will be a lot more work. I already have a blister on my left thumb from raking brush. We also have a huge pile of limbs in front of the house. Tomorrow they're meant to resume trash pick up but they won't take the hurricane debris. I have to say again how lucky we are to be here with power, running water, food supplies, a working fridge, plenty of ice, the internet etc. We've been looking at pictures of the damage especially on Crystal Beach and are shocked and awed at how awful it is. Kahlich did some research and found out that every beach house we've ever stayed in as a group (the April Beach house group) is GONE. We may not even do a beach house next year because there will hardly be any beach houses to be had on Bolivar any more.
So that's it for my update, how the hurricane affected me, the evacuation, the aftermath. Let's hope for a speedy recovery for the rest of the affected.
LOVE
Monday, September 8, 2008
It's been...... 1 month since I posted last; 2 days since the pix were shot
the title is a tip of the hat to Bare naked Ladies "One Week" song. In case you didn't get that.
So it really has been a month since my last post. All sorts of happenings are going on.
We took a trip to ride down the Guadelupe river with some friends. Chelsea was with us so it was really super fun. Chris and I took the bottle of left over sangria from the 4th of July party that had been frozen in our freezer all this time with us. As it melted into a slushy we just passed the gallon jug around and all had some. It was delicious! and Potent! During the river trip the skies decided to pour on us but it did not effect our spirits and we continued on even when we were the ONLY group left on the river. The whole trip was a complete blast. I fell out of my tube at one point going down the chute but only scraped up my knees. Otherwise, it was a completely awesome trip.
What else? School started. Chelsea is a Junior in High School and Colin is in 3rd grade. He thinks his teacher is cute which is terribly cute! I took a day off to hang out with Chelsea and take her shopping for school clothes and it happened to be tax free weekend so we got some deals but I was happy that we had finished with our shopping early in the day to avoid the crowds. We both got new school year hair-cuts too - I got about 4 inches cut off of my hair and Chelsea just got a cute trim. It was an awesome day.
Julie had her baby! Here's a link to her Picasa album. Her baby boy is named Caleb and he was born on August 30th. We saw him only hours after he was born and even got to witness his first bath ever. He was 8lbs 3ozs. We dont' expect to see much of Matt and Julie now that they have the baby but we're hoping to get to visit soon. Maybe if the hurricane (Ike) continues in it's path towards us we'll swing by on our way to Chris's parents' house since they both live in the north.
We watch Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC on a live feed from the BAND headquarters in our area. BAND is the Bay Area New Democrats and they have become a HUGE force during this election. I've never seen so many Democrats in the state of Texas. My dream is to turn Texas into a Blue State during election time. Can you imagine how powerful a statement that would be? Amazing! Chelsea just turned 18 so she can vote now. She has a lot of mixed feelings about it. For one, shes in school and SO many kids at this school have parents who are voting for McCain. Which I can see since we live in a fairly affluent part of Texas which has a lot of Republicans and Conservatives. But I asked Chelsea to take a Political Compass Test - she took this one and this one and both times turned up as one of those god-forsaken liberals! Thank goodness!!!! Anyway, so if the issues she truly believes in had come out that she really was all for McCain I wouldn't have minded really. I just would have thought well at least she's discussing how she feels about the issues and that's how she feels, ah well. But I really am happy that her views sort of mirror the values I've tried to impress upon her. It was a great exercise.
This past weekend I went on a date w/ Chris to beach. He was just coming in from a conference in Denver and it was TIME for us to have some fun. I've been in a really bad mood/state lately so it was great to go OUT with Chris again since it's been a while, and have some fun. We drove out to East Beach on Saturday night when it was clear and beautiful. Our original plan was to star-gaze but Chris also brought his camera and tripod with him. We played around with light grafitti and HERE are the results of our labors. It was SO much fun that we didn't leave the beach until about 2 AM and didn't get home till about 3AM. Read the photo captions on these - it tells about our thought processes.
Next weekend is the Eichler family reunion and we're not going to be able to make it. It's possible that the hurricane will prevent the whole thing anyway but we've already made plans not to attend. There are just so many other things going on right now and gas prices are so expensive that we opted out.
NaNoWriMo is coming up and I've decided to ML for one more year. This year Chris is my Co-ML which is nice. He's going to be the tech guy. He did that last year too but this year he'll have access to the ML Area on NaNoWriMo. I have no idea what I'm going to write a novel about this year. Currently, I'm focused on securing a location for several of our events rather than what I'm going to write but I'm sure it will come to me.
I just found out tonight that Carmen and Kevin are coming to Houston for Christmas! I am SO excited! It's he best news ever. I haven't seen them in about a year. I hope they can stay here with us for a little while.
That's it for an update.
LOVE
So it really has been a month since my last post. All sorts of happenings are going on.
We took a trip to ride down the Guadelupe river with some friends. Chelsea was with us so it was really super fun. Chris and I took the bottle of left over sangria from the 4th of July party that had been frozen in our freezer all this time with us. As it melted into a slushy we just passed the gallon jug around and all had some. It was delicious! and Potent! During the river trip the skies decided to pour on us but it did not effect our spirits and we continued on even when we were the ONLY group left on the river. The whole trip was a complete blast. I fell out of my tube at one point going down the chute but only scraped up my knees. Otherwise, it was a completely awesome trip.
What else? School started. Chelsea is a Junior in High School and Colin is in 3rd grade. He thinks his teacher is cute which is terribly cute! I took a day off to hang out with Chelsea and take her shopping for school clothes and it happened to be tax free weekend so we got some deals but I was happy that we had finished with our shopping early in the day to avoid the crowds. We both got new school year hair-cuts too - I got about 4 inches cut off of my hair and Chelsea just got a cute trim. It was an awesome day.
Julie had her baby! Here's a link to her Picasa album. Her baby boy is named Caleb and he was born on August 30th. We saw him only hours after he was born and even got to witness his first bath ever. He was 8lbs 3ozs. We dont' expect to see much of Matt and Julie now that they have the baby but we're hoping to get to visit soon. Maybe if the hurricane (Ike) continues in it's path towards us we'll swing by on our way to Chris's parents' house since they both live in the north.
We watch Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC on a live feed from the BAND headquarters in our area. BAND is the Bay Area New Democrats and they have become a HUGE force during this election. I've never seen so many Democrats in the state of Texas. My dream is to turn Texas into a Blue State during election time. Can you imagine how powerful a statement that would be? Amazing! Chelsea just turned 18 so she can vote now. She has a lot of mixed feelings about it. For one, shes in school and SO many kids at this school have parents who are voting for McCain. Which I can see since we live in a fairly affluent part of Texas which has a lot of Republicans and Conservatives. But I asked Chelsea to take a Political Compass Test - she took this one and this one and both times turned up as one of those god-forsaken liberals! Thank goodness!!!! Anyway, so if the issues she truly believes in had come out that she really was all for McCain I wouldn't have minded really. I just would have thought well at least she's discussing how she feels about the issues and that's how she feels, ah well. But I really am happy that her views sort of mirror the values I've tried to impress upon her. It was a great exercise.
This past weekend I went on a date w/ Chris to beach. He was just coming in from a conference in Denver and it was TIME for us to have some fun. I've been in a really bad mood/state lately so it was great to go OUT with Chris again since it's been a while, and have some fun. We drove out to East Beach on Saturday night when it was clear and beautiful. Our original plan was to star-gaze but Chris also brought his camera and tripod with him. We played around with light grafitti and HERE are the results of our labors. It was SO much fun that we didn't leave the beach until about 2 AM and didn't get home till about 3AM. Read the photo captions on these - it tells about our thought processes.
Next weekend is the Eichler family reunion and we're not going to be able to make it. It's possible that the hurricane will prevent the whole thing anyway but we've already made plans not to attend. There are just so many other things going on right now and gas prices are so expensive that we opted out.
NaNoWriMo is coming up and I've decided to ML for one more year. This year Chris is my Co-ML which is nice. He's going to be the tech guy. He did that last year too but this year he'll have access to the ML Area on NaNoWriMo. I have no idea what I'm going to write a novel about this year. Currently, I'm focused on securing a location for several of our events rather than what I'm going to write but I'm sure it will come to me.
I just found out tonight that Carmen and Kevin are coming to Houston for Christmas! I am SO excited! It's he best news ever. I haven't seen them in about a year. I hope they can stay here with us for a little while.
That's it for an update.
LOVE
Monday, August 11, 2008
Mother of an Adult Babydoll
Today is the 18th birthday of my only daughter, my only child for all intents and purposes. It's so strange to think of Chelsea as an adult because to me she seems like such a child. She still argues with an 8 year old, doesn't drive, is in high school, can't spell to save her life poor child, and, in general, still needs me in so many ways. But in reality Chelsea is a very smart, vibrant, and thinking young woman who often makes surprisingly mature decisions for herself. She's an excellent problem solver, thinks things through, can see options and follow them through in her head to their logical conclusions before acting, is a voracious reader and an excellent writer. She has her whole future ahead of her.
Some of my thinking that Chelsea still needs me is, obviously, my own need to be needed. I think I'll feel empty or useless once Chelsea stops needing me for so many things. To a large extent, being a single mom has been my whole life and purpose for almost half of my entire life and more than half of the part of my life that I can remember. For the last EIGHTEEN YEARS it's really been all about Chelsea. So many choices about where we live and the type of job I've always had are a direct result of being a single mom, needing to stay within a certain school district, or carrying insurance on my child. Now, for the record, none of that is changing because Chelsea is still in school and I'll carry insurance on her for as long as I legally can. However, as we cross this milestone into legal adulthood I feel a little bit of the need for that slipping past.
The reasons my daughter has needed me in the past won't really apply much longer and the truth is that she'll need me in other ways. Ways I hope to be able to handle with the same finesse and success as I handled having a baby or a school aged child or a teenager. You grow as a parent along with the child you raise. I have such strong desires for Chelsea's future success in what ever ways she chooses to measure her success. I want her to be happy and finish high school and college, I want her to be happy in love and successful in business enterprises and long term friendships. I want her to keep in touch with me as she makes her way in life and I want us to be best friends always.
Last night Chris and I were talking about having a baby. There are positives and negatives to weigh about the whole idea so it was an inconclusive discussion. But this issue has been at the forefront of my mind for a while now. It's impossible not to think of it with so many pregnant people around us. Chris's sister, Penny is pregnant right now and she's a year older than I am and doing fine. She, along with Chris's whole family, was over on Saturday for Chelsea's birthday and we got to play with little William - her 1 year old son. He is simply precious and you can't help but smile and want to keep that feeling of having a little baby when around one.
So coupling the baby handling and siege of pregnant women we know right now with the fact that my daughter is now "grown" I can't tell if my desire to have another baby is situational or stems from an innate truth.
I think Chris and I would make pretty awesome parents and that a child between the two of us would be a beautiful human. Together we could raise a smart, liberal, free spirited, thinking individual child and be rewarded of our parenting skills every day in the little ways that having a child is rewarding. At the same time, I think that, without having more children, Chris and I have a perfect sort of rhythm to our lives with parenting his son who is with us only 60% of the time. The 40% of the time it's just Chelsea at home we can live like free adults and the other 60% we get to be awesome parents and provide enriching experiences for Colin and Chelsea alike. In another 10 years we could be empty nesters in our late 40s and be able to travel and write and enjoy retirement. (I can retire from the State of Texas at the age of 52 with full benefits.) Both scenarios have so much potential! It's quite fortunate that I don't have to make such a decision right now at all because I wouldn't be able to tell which part of my heart desires which potential more.
Speaking of babies, Dawn & Jim were chosen by another birthmother for adoptive parents several months ago and the birthmother, Sarah, had the baby on July 21st so James now has a baby sister named Bailey. Dawn is on maternity leave now.
So, after all my wailing over to bare or not to bare children, the impossible what if's and limitless possibilities, here is what you've really been trying to get to: PICTURES of Chelsea's 18th Birthday Weekend. I am a lucky and happy woman with this life right now, right here.
Gotta end with LOVE
Some of my thinking that Chelsea still needs me is, obviously, my own need to be needed. I think I'll feel empty or useless once Chelsea stops needing me for so many things. To a large extent, being a single mom has been my whole life and purpose for almost half of my entire life and more than half of the part of my life that I can remember. For the last EIGHTEEN YEARS it's really been all about Chelsea. So many choices about where we live and the type of job I've always had are a direct result of being a single mom, needing to stay within a certain school district, or carrying insurance on my child. Now, for the record, none of that is changing because Chelsea is still in school and I'll carry insurance on her for as long as I legally can. However, as we cross this milestone into legal adulthood I feel a little bit of the need for that slipping past.
The reasons my daughter has needed me in the past won't really apply much longer and the truth is that she'll need me in other ways. Ways I hope to be able to handle with the same finesse and success as I handled having a baby or a school aged child or a teenager. You grow as a parent along with the child you raise. I have such strong desires for Chelsea's future success in what ever ways she chooses to measure her success. I want her to be happy and finish high school and college, I want her to be happy in love and successful in business enterprises and long term friendships. I want her to keep in touch with me as she makes her way in life and I want us to be best friends always.
Last night Chris and I were talking about having a baby. There are positives and negatives to weigh about the whole idea so it was an inconclusive discussion. But this issue has been at the forefront of my mind for a while now. It's impossible not to think of it with so many pregnant people around us. Chris's sister, Penny is pregnant right now and she's a year older than I am and doing fine. She, along with Chris's whole family, was over on Saturday for Chelsea's birthday and we got to play with little William - her 1 year old son. He is simply precious and you can't help but smile and want to keep that feeling of having a little baby when around one.So coupling the baby handling and siege of pregnant women we know right now with the fact that my daughter is now "grown" I can't tell if my desire to have another baby is situational or stems from an innate truth.
I think Chris and I would make pretty awesome parents and that a child between the two of us would be a beautiful human. Together we could raise a smart, liberal, free spirited, thinking individual child and be rewarded of our parenting skills every day in the little ways that having a child is rewarding. At the same time, I think that, without having more children, Chris and I have a perfect sort of rhythm to our lives with parenting his son who is with us only 60% of the time. The 40% of the time it's just Chelsea at home we can live like free adults and the other 60% we get to be awesome parents and provide enriching experiences for Colin and Chelsea alike. In another 10 years we could be empty nesters in our late 40s and be able to travel and write and enjoy retirement. (I can retire from the State of Texas at the age of 52 with full benefits.) Both scenarios have so much potential! It's quite fortunate that I don't have to make such a decision right now at all because I wouldn't be able to tell which part of my heart desires which potential more.
Speaking of babies, Dawn & Jim were chosen by another birthmother for adoptive parents several months ago and the birthmother, Sarah, had the baby on July 21st so James now has a baby sister named Bailey. Dawn is on maternity leave now.
So, after all my wailing over to bare or not to bare children, the impossible what if's and limitless possibilities, here is what you've really been trying to get to: PICTURES of Chelsea's 18th Birthday Weekend. I am a lucky and happy woman with this life right now, right here.
Gotta end with LOVE
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
A Brief Update
Long time no post...
So that weird thing going on at work - well a major administrative shake up - our director stepped down or was asked to step down - we've heard conflicting reports - either way, he's no longer the director and the chairman put himself into place as interim but told everyone he would be relying on the assistant director for everything administrative. This is the woman who, for whatever bizarre reason, hates me. Two days after she re-assumed her power-trip she told me to stop making decisions for the division, that I was not in charge, that I was not qualified for my job, that I was not a manager, and to stop making trouble for her because they have 'plans' in place. That was on Friday, June 27th. Today I started my new job. For her information, I'm actually overqualified for my job. I was sick of it. I took this problem to the chairman's office and he happened to be trying to decide what to do for a new director in another division who wasn't happy with his administrator. He asked me if I was interested in a transfer. I was. He set up an interview the following Monday. It was relief at first sight! The Director was impressed with me, I was impressed with him. It was decided but I couldn't announce to my staff that I was leaving until they were all gathered together and people were on vacation. So the announcement was made on Tuesday (yesterday) and then I moved my stuff. Today was my first day of the new job. I have been on information overload all day - meeting new people, unpacking my boxes, walking all over the place, familiarizing myself with a new group of people, a new place to park, etc. It's been a little stressful the last couple of weeks but I'm managing. I couldn't be more pleased actually. I talked with a friend from my old division this evening who said that everyone thinks I was moved out of there without any choice in the matter. I hope that's not the legacy that is left behind but, honestly, I couldn't care less what they think. I feel sorry for the whole division with that woman running it. She bases her decisions from her insecurities and personal grudges and is unfortunately socially inept. And that's all I'm going to say on the matter.
Our 4th of July barbecue was a smashing success! Everyone who came enjoyed the hell out of it. All were impressed with the new place. It's almost as if it's not "new" anymore to me but the 4th was the first time most people were here. We never did go swimming, play disc golf, or leave to watch the fireworks over Clear Lake. That was mainly because, early into the party, when we were meant to be swimming or playing disc golf in the back yard, cooking and food prep was underway and by the time it was 9pm for fireworks the only person sober enough to drive us to the lake was Julie - and only because she is pregnant.
Preparations continue for Julie's baby shower which is going to be on the 26th of July. The party planners - 4 of us - are all planning to wear something polka dotted and I have nothing polka dotted to wear. They are all much more into this than I am. I haven't been one much for baby showers in the last 5 years or so. I think in 2003 when my office threw a baby shower for me while I was pregnant with James was the one that did me in. They meant well. It wasn't their fault. It was so nice of everyone to throw me a baby shower and I hadn't exactly advertised that I had made an adoption plan. A few key people knew and they said they informed the shower-thrower who assured them all the gifts would be of the "new mommy" variety - belly cream and scented candles. Well who doesn't like scented candles? I thought I had the strength. All the gifts were not for me, I got bibs and rattles, onesies and cards. It was the cards with their sentiments on the arrivals of babies that eventually caused me to run from the room throwing up and crying in hysterics. Not a good scene for work. Since then I've attended only a very few other baby showers - let's see - there was the one Dawn invited me to that same year for her in honor of my birthson - also not fun, also left early and quickly - tires screeching, Dawn wondering if I still planned to go through with it all. Then there was the one where a work friend was having a baby with her boyfriend who was actually going to help parent the kid to whom I gave the baby blanket that I had crocheted for James while pregnant with him that, when it came down to it, I didn't want to give it to him after all - they were getting enough from me. Then there was Cori's - same situation but this time I had no gift. I had attempted to crochet another baby blanket but didn't finish it in time for the shower and couldn't bring myself to buy something after all that effort. So, in a way, I'm sort of too jilted to enjoy baby showers a whole lot. The wonderful thing about Cori's was that there were mimosas to be had and that helped a hell of a lot. I know I have a lot of issues of bitterness towards this whole issue but unfortunately I don't give a damn. Anyway, so I have to attend and help to host this baby shower in about a week and a half and I haven't shopped for a gift and I don't have anything with polka dots. And perhaps this post is already too honest and I should sleep on it before publishing for the world to read but I have to go on to say that although I like Julie very much and am excited for her and Matt that they'll get to be parents and she seems like a very nice woman, I really honestly don't know her all that well. I don't talk to her on the phone or hang out with her outside of Chris's group of friends. I know she's a great cook, prefers alcohol over beer, is really pretty, was an Aggie, used to blog, met Chris on the internet, likes to travel, enjoys the beach, is in a Bunko group. I don't know why I agreed to help with the baby shower. I was being friendly and excited for her happy news. I need to find that again. And maybe I should just frikin call Julie myself. Maybe we're not great friends because I'm not trying. Maybe I'll make it through the baby shower without having a break down this time. Maybe I'll take Chelsea with me.
It's late. I have to be at work bright and early for my new job tomorrow. My staff from the old place is throwing me a goodbye breakfast at 8:15 tomorrow. They were shocked to see me leave so quickly and said they need closure. I'm sure it will be very nice and I really appreciate all of them.
I'm just under a lot of stress this week. It's probably not the best time to publicly discuss my feelings about baby showers and Julie. I have to say that I honestly really do like Julie a lot and I wish I knew her better. I wish I knew her well enough to know what was the perfect thing that she would just love to get for her baby shower. So all my bitterness probably stems from feeling inadequately prepared. What do you give a brand new mom-to-be? What does she not have that would be that special thing? I'll have to investigate and find out.
Love.
So that weird thing going on at work - well a major administrative shake up - our director stepped down or was asked to step down - we've heard conflicting reports - either way, he's no longer the director and the chairman put himself into place as interim but told everyone he would be relying on the assistant director for everything administrative. This is the woman who, for whatever bizarre reason, hates me. Two days after she re-assumed her power-trip she told me to stop making decisions for the division, that I was not in charge, that I was not qualified for my job, that I was not a manager, and to stop making trouble for her because they have 'plans' in place. That was on Friday, June 27th. Today I started my new job. For her information, I'm actually overqualified for my job. I was sick of it. I took this problem to the chairman's office and he happened to be trying to decide what to do for a new director in another division who wasn't happy with his administrator. He asked me if I was interested in a transfer. I was. He set up an interview the following Monday. It was relief at first sight! The Director was impressed with me, I was impressed with him. It was decided but I couldn't announce to my staff that I was leaving until they were all gathered together and people were on vacation. So the announcement was made on Tuesday (yesterday) and then I moved my stuff. Today was my first day of the new job. I have been on information overload all day - meeting new people, unpacking my boxes, walking all over the place, familiarizing myself with a new group of people, a new place to park, etc. It's been a little stressful the last couple of weeks but I'm managing. I couldn't be more pleased actually. I talked with a friend from my old division this evening who said that everyone thinks I was moved out of there without any choice in the matter. I hope that's not the legacy that is left behind but, honestly, I couldn't care less what they think. I feel sorry for the whole division with that woman running it. She bases her decisions from her insecurities and personal grudges and is unfortunately socially inept. And that's all I'm going to say on the matter.
Our 4th of July barbecue was a smashing success! Everyone who came enjoyed the hell out of it. All were impressed with the new place. It's almost as if it's not "new" anymore to me but the 4th was the first time most people were here. We never did go swimming, play disc golf, or leave to watch the fireworks over Clear Lake. That was mainly because, early into the party, when we were meant to be swimming or playing disc golf in the back yard, cooking and food prep was underway and by the time it was 9pm for fireworks the only person sober enough to drive us to the lake was Julie - and only because she is pregnant.
Preparations continue for Julie's baby shower which is going to be on the 26th of July. The party planners - 4 of us - are all planning to wear something polka dotted and I have nothing polka dotted to wear. They are all much more into this than I am. I haven't been one much for baby showers in the last 5 years or so. I think in 2003 when my office threw a baby shower for me while I was pregnant with James was the one that did me in. They meant well. It wasn't their fault. It was so nice of everyone to throw me a baby shower and I hadn't exactly advertised that I had made an adoption plan. A few key people knew and they said they informed the shower-thrower who assured them all the gifts would be of the "new mommy" variety - belly cream and scented candles. Well who doesn't like scented candles? I thought I had the strength. All the gifts were not for me, I got bibs and rattles, onesies and cards. It was the cards with their sentiments on the arrivals of babies that eventually caused me to run from the room throwing up and crying in hysterics. Not a good scene for work. Since then I've attended only a very few other baby showers - let's see - there was the one Dawn invited me to that same year for her in honor of my birthson - also not fun, also left early and quickly - tires screeching, Dawn wondering if I still planned to go through with it all. Then there was the one where a work friend was having a baby with her boyfriend who was actually going to help parent the kid to whom I gave the baby blanket that I had crocheted for James while pregnant with him that, when it came down to it, I didn't want to give it to him after all - they were getting enough from me. Then there was Cori's - same situation but this time I had no gift. I had attempted to crochet another baby blanket but didn't finish it in time for the shower and couldn't bring myself to buy something after all that effort. So, in a way, I'm sort of too jilted to enjoy baby showers a whole lot. The wonderful thing about Cori's was that there were mimosas to be had and that helped a hell of a lot. I know I have a lot of issues of bitterness towards this whole issue but unfortunately I don't give a damn. Anyway, so I have to attend and help to host this baby shower in about a week and a half and I haven't shopped for a gift and I don't have anything with polka dots. And perhaps this post is already too honest and I should sleep on it before publishing for the world to read but I have to go on to say that although I like Julie very much and am excited for her and Matt that they'll get to be parents and she seems like a very nice woman, I really honestly don't know her all that well. I don't talk to her on the phone or hang out with her outside of Chris's group of friends. I know she's a great cook, prefers alcohol over beer, is really pretty, was an Aggie, used to blog, met Chris on the internet, likes to travel, enjoys the beach, is in a Bunko group. I don't know why I agreed to help with the baby shower. I was being friendly and excited for her happy news. I need to find that again. And maybe I should just frikin call Julie myself. Maybe we're not great friends because I'm not trying. Maybe I'll make it through the baby shower without having a break down this time. Maybe I'll take Chelsea with me.
It's late. I have to be at work bright and early for my new job tomorrow. My staff from the old place is throwing me a goodbye breakfast at 8:15 tomorrow. They were shocked to see me leave so quickly and said they need closure. I'm sure it will be very nice and I really appreciate all of them.
I'm just under a lot of stress this week. It's probably not the best time to publicly discuss my feelings about baby showers and Julie. I have to say that I honestly really do like Julie a lot and I wish I knew her better. I wish I knew her well enough to know what was the perfect thing that she would just love to get for her baby shower. So all my bitterness probably stems from feeling inadequately prepared. What do you give a brand new mom-to-be? What does she not have that would be that special thing? I'll have to investigate and find out.
Love.
Friday, June 27, 2008
The Meta Post
I have to say, I enjoy blogging. I feel like I have to have something interesting to write in order to post and I can't really go on an on about all the people in my life the way you can in a private journal. I also have some taboos regarding writing about my intimate life and things that go on at work - which is always a big no no. But these are certainly things one might have read in a bedside journal of mine from the far past. My journal was where I bitched about life's problems and talked through my fears of inadequacy at being a mother, or the latest hot gossip at work that you can't tell anyone, or any number of strange private thoughts that flit to the surface when your pen is scratching across a tablet on your knees. That's where blogging draws the line. For me it has a filter and a grammar check. I know there are blogs all over the world where people spill their guts and most private secrets - but those people usually live to regret that decision. I have a teenage daughter who may read this and a boyfriend who subscribes to it and a job and a family and, well, generally, an appearance to keep up.
Besides the content there's also the part about how it gets me writing. I wish I had more time to blog but really I wish I had more time to write. I like organizing my thoughts into coherent sentences and deciding on whether or not to include a visual to help with what I'm describing. I like drafting and structuring what I'm trying to convey.
And of course, beyond the content and the structure, conveyance begs the question of "to whom?" So there is the 'reader.' The fact that your words are virtually published for the world at large. I post my theses to the door. My press release on life, gone to print, as it were. I've learned that you can keep in touch with people via blogging. If I read someone's blog I get an idea of what's going on with them, what they are working on, if anything. Not a lot of posting means either nothing is going on; or so much is going on that I can't write now and the reader will find out all about it later, maybe, if that's what I decide to write about. There's the third option that what ever is going on is of the taboo ilk.
[whisper]shhhhh non-postable.[/whisper]
So, yes. Keeping in touch via blogging. Once I was fortunate enough to participate in a survey Google sent out and I thought, Oh Perfect! I LOVE that they asked ME what I think because I'm Google's biggest fan! I couldn't wait to get through the seven pages or so of yes/no check boxes and drop down menus to the text box so I could really sing their praises. However, I remember one of the questions that was asked was something like:
I keep in touch with the majority of my circle of contacts by (number the following in order of 1=most often used and 6=least)
_ telephone
_ in person conversation
_ e-mail
_ chat
_ blogging
_ post service
Now, earlier they had asked the surveyed to define their circle of contacts in terms of how many people they communicated with in a given week including people at work, people at home, people you only know over the internet, etc. So I had to come up with a number and then offer a percentage breakdown of what category the contacts fell into. So anyway that made it an interesting question because of the work people. There are people I work with who I communicate with every given week who I have never even met but I e-mail back and forth to them because they are my contact for that particular thing. So I had to choose e-mail as the most frequently used method of communication. But at the time I took the survey I chose blogging as the least used and even privately snorted that "who 'keeps in touch with their friends' by BLOGGING? That's such a one-sided conversation." But I get it now. I understand that you can keep up with people by reading their blog. I subscribe to my friends' and family's blogs (if they keep them and I know about it) and if I'm posting about my life on my blog and you want to know what's going on, well, it's kind of your responsibility to read up on my life if I'm publishing it for all the world to read. Conversely, I really enjoy reading my friends' blogs to keep in touch with them. It resembles asynchronous learning, or the theory of Piaget's regarding the ability to learn when the learner actively seeks the knowledge rather than passively accepting whatever is being taught. It places the onus of responsibility on me to read the blogs of my circle. So I accept that responsibility and in turn publish my own for you.
So read on..
LOVE
Besides the content there's also the part about how it gets me writing. I wish I had more time to blog but really I wish I had more time to write. I like organizing my thoughts into coherent sentences and deciding on whether or not to include a visual to help with what I'm describing. I like drafting and structuring what I'm trying to convey.
And of course, beyond the content and the structure, conveyance begs the question of "to whom?" So there is the 'reader.' The fact that your words are virtually published for the world at large. I post my theses to the door. My press release on life, gone to print, as it were. I've learned that you can keep in touch with people via blogging. If I read someone's blog I get an idea of what's going on with them, what they are working on, if anything. Not a lot of posting means either nothing is going on; or so much is going on that I can't write now and the reader will find out all about it later, maybe, if that's what I decide to write about. There's the third option that what ever is going on is of the taboo ilk.
[whisper]shhhhh non-postable.[/whisper]
So, yes. Keeping in touch via blogging. Once I was fortunate enough to participate in a survey Google sent out and I thought, Oh Perfect! I LOVE that they asked ME what I think because I'm Google's biggest fan! I couldn't wait to get through the seven pages or so of yes/no check boxes and drop down menus to the text box so I could really sing their praises. However, I remember one of the questions that was asked was something like:
I keep in touch with the majority of my circle of contacts by (number the following in order of 1=most often used and 6=least)
_ telephone
_ in person conversation
_ e-mail
_ chat
_ blogging
_ post service
Now, earlier they had asked the surveyed to define their circle of contacts in terms of how many people they communicated with in a given week including people at work, people at home, people you only know over the internet, etc. So I had to come up with a number and then offer a percentage breakdown of what category the contacts fell into. So anyway that made it an interesting question because of the work people. There are people I work with who I communicate with every given week who I have never even met but I e-mail back and forth to them because they are my contact for that particular thing. So I had to choose e-mail as the most frequently used method of communication. But at the time I took the survey I chose blogging as the least used and even privately snorted that "who 'keeps in touch with their friends' by BLOGGING? That's such a one-sided conversation." But I get it now. I understand that you can keep up with people by reading their blog. I subscribe to my friends' and family's blogs (if they keep them and I know about it) and if I'm posting about my life on my blog and you want to know what's going on, well, it's kind of your responsibility to read up on my life if I'm publishing it for all the world to read. Conversely, I really enjoy reading my friends' blogs to keep in touch with them. It resembles asynchronous learning, or the theory of Piaget's regarding the ability to learn when the learner actively seeks the knowledge rather than passively accepting whatever is being taught. It places the onus of responsibility on me to read the blogs of my circle. So I accept that responsibility and in turn publish my own for you.
So read on..
LOVE
Sunday, June 22, 2008
This Crazy Life
Colin has come home from summer camp. After dropping him off last weekend, Chris and I were a little despondent from his absence and hopeful that he was having a wonderful time. We needn't have worried at all because within a day we could see photos of the campers and keep up with what activities they were involved in every day of the camp. Colin's smiling face showed up in every photo set and he had a blast. He wants to go back next year so that's the plan.
Something weird is going on at work and it's had me twisted up in knots all weekend. I don't really want to voice my fears as they are likely irrational and unfounded and I think I'll find out what it is that is going on on Wednesday because there's a special meeting on Wednesday that I have to announce tomorrow morning to everyone. I've been trying to not think about it so that all the gruesome possibilities that spring to mind will subside until I find out for sure what is happening in our division. I'll post again to follow up on that later this week.
Chris and I got the first light bill for the new rent house yesterday and were astonished and horrified. $349. That's more than my car payment. I had a feeling it would be bad like that with all the windows in this house. We plan to build frames for them and stretch some fabric around them to shade the windows for the remainder of the time we live here.
We also found out that our back yard turns into a 6-inch deep swamp when it rains. We hadn't experienced a big rain yet until this weekend and the yard was a huge disappointment. I certainly hope it doesn't rain for the 4th of July because that's the date of our big party. We are having a lot of people over - I believe about 18 people (not including those who live here.) The menu for that day includes frisbee golf for early arrivals, swimming for all in the community pool, grilling and Street View fajitas, watermelon, all the beer we can drink, sangria, and fireworks over Clear Lake. It should be fun.
On the way home from Trinity, TX after dropping Colin off at camp we decided to stop to see the scenic overlook of the Lake Livingston Dam. We were directed by this sign which pointed the way to the Dam Liquor Store. We found that the Dam Liquor Store was a tiny little hole in the wall place with a great name. Way to go Dam Liquor Store. And nice sign.
Here is the scenic overlook of the Livingston Dam. It was pretty. I expected to see something more lengthy and enormous sort of like the Hoover Dam that we would get to cross or something like that. But no. It was really just a beautiful day and a
view of the lake.
Also on the way home, once we got back to Houston, we passed this truck full of wrestlers on the freeway. They were more than happy to demonstrate their wrestling skills once they knew they were on camera but this is the best shot of all of them with their masks on. Que rico - as they say. It doesn't get richer than that.
Something weird is going on at work and it's had me twisted up in knots all weekend. I don't really want to voice my fears as they are likely irrational and unfounded and I think I'll find out what it is that is going on on Wednesday because there's a special meeting on Wednesday that I have to announce tomorrow morning to everyone. I've been trying to not think about it so that all the gruesome possibilities that spring to mind will subside until I find out for sure what is happening in our division. I'll post again to follow up on that later this week.
Chris and I got the first light bill for the new rent house yesterday and were astonished and horrified. $349. That's more than my car payment. I had a feeling it would be bad like that with all the windows in this house. We plan to build frames for them and stretch some fabric around them to shade the windows for the remainder of the time we live here.
We also found out that our back yard turns into a 6-inch deep swamp when it rains. We hadn't experienced a big rain yet until this weekend and the yard was a huge disappointment. I certainly hope it doesn't rain for the 4th of July because that's the date of our big party. We are having a lot of people over - I believe about 18 people (not including those who live here.) The menu for that day includes frisbee golf for early arrivals, swimming for all in the community pool, grilling and Street View fajitas, watermelon, all the beer we can drink, sangria, and fireworks over Clear Lake. It should be fun.
On the way home from Trinity, TX after dropping Colin off at camp we decided to stop to see the scenic overlook of the Lake Livingston Dam. We were directed by this sign which pointed the way to the Dam Liquor Store. We found that the Dam Liquor Store was a tiny little hole in the wall place with a great name. Way to go Dam Liquor Store. And nice sign.
Here is the scenic overlook of the Livingston Dam. It was pretty. I expected to see something more lengthy and enormous sort of like the Hoover Dam that we would get to cross or something like that. But no. It was really just a beautiful day and a
view of the lake.Also on the way home, once we got back to Houston, we passed this truck full of wrestlers on the freeway. They were more than happy to demonstrate their wrestling skills once they knew they were on camera but this is the best shot of all of them with their masks on. Que rico - as they say. It doesn't get richer than that.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Shaken; not stirred.
When we went to the dinner theater to watch Zohan the other night they had martini's on sale for $5 in honor of the, also running, Sex in the City movie. So Chris and I took advantage. It has crossed our minds that a fraction of the entertainment of the Zohan movie may have been a direct result of the 3 delicious martini's we each had - dirty gin w/ 2 olives for Chris; sour apple w/ 2 cherries for me. But the thought was immediately dismissed. Anyway it put us in the mood for martini's and we've been wanting another ever since.
On Friday on my way home from work I stopped at both the liquor store (for vermouth & cherries) and the grocery store (for olives) so that I could make home made martinis. I had, of course, looked up on the internet the recipe for Chris's kind of martini - gin, which we had, vermouth, which I needed, olives, which I needed, and a twist of lime, skipped this step. We had apple flavored vodka so I assumed all I needed was cherries for mine. I measured everything into the glasses and served them up. YUCK!
So Chris said, "eeh. mmm. uuhh. this is almost good but it just needs two things." My first guess was right on the money - "It needs to be cold." Bingo. He said it also needed olive juice (cuz he likes it dirty!) Secondly it needed to be more mixed. So he brings the drinks into the kitchen and asked where was the shaker.
The shaker!! Duh! how was I supposed to know? "I didn't use a shaker." I replied in my most innocent voice.
But now, 1 day later, I have perfected the Dirty Gin Martini. And it is good!
Long ago, maybe 20 years ago or so, I was a freshman in college and we had a little party. Someone, and I have to say I believe it was Miwa, bought a bottle of Gin. None of us knew what to do with gin. What 18 year old does? At that young and dumb age, and back in the late 80's, we mixed barcardi with coca cola or drank strawberry wine. Well, let me tell you that gin doesn't mix well with coke and the first to go down was Miwa. I don't know if it had anything to do with Miwa getting sick or not but I got sick too. Sick like you wouldn't believe. Sick like I'm not going to describe for you at all. My stomach was so turned, in fact, that I have not touched gin since. Not ONCE. Until yesterday.
Yesterday, 20 years after the great-awful-gin-experience of 1989, I made dirty gin martini after dirty gin martini. One for Chris, one for me, one for Chris, one for me. They got better and better. Not because I was getting drunk but because I was actually getting better at it. Tonight I made two martini's for Chris and I and it is the most delicious martini I've ever had!
So as I sign out of this post I raise this martini glass to Carmen, who for the last 20 years or so has been trying to convince me to have a martini with her to which I have always flatly refused opting instead for beer or hell even water, anything other than gin, "I don't do gin"; who this week turned a new age to catch up to my own age; for all the missed olives of the past and looking forward to all the olives of the future; who always toasts every toast with every drink "To us"; to Carmen.
On Friday on my way home from work I stopped at both the liquor store (for vermouth & cherries) and the grocery store (for olives) so that I could make home made martinis. I had, of course, looked up on the internet the recipe for Chris's kind of martini - gin, which we had, vermouth, which I needed, olives, which I needed, and a twist of lime, skipped this step. We had apple flavored vodka so I assumed all I needed was cherries for mine. I measured everything into the glasses and served them up. YUCK!
So Chris said, "eeh. mmm. uuhh. this is almost good but it just needs two things." My first guess was right on the money - "It needs to be cold." Bingo. He said it also needed olive juice (cuz he likes it dirty!) Secondly it needed to be more mixed. So he brings the drinks into the kitchen and asked where was the shaker.
The shaker!! Duh! how was I supposed to know? "I didn't use a shaker." I replied in my most innocent voice.
But now, 1 day later, I have perfected the Dirty Gin Martini. And it is good!
Long ago, maybe 20 years ago or so, I was a freshman in college and we had a little party. Someone, and I have to say I believe it was Miwa, bought a bottle of Gin. None of us knew what to do with gin. What 18 year old does? At that young and dumb age, and back in the late 80's, we mixed barcardi with coca cola or drank strawberry wine. Well, let me tell you that gin doesn't mix well with coke and the first to go down was Miwa. I don't know if it had anything to do with Miwa getting sick or not but I got sick too. Sick like you wouldn't believe. Sick like I'm not going to describe for you at all. My stomach was so turned, in fact, that I have not touched gin since. Not ONCE. Until yesterday.
Yesterday, 20 years after the great-awful-gin-experience of 1989, I made dirty gin martini after dirty gin martini. One for Chris, one for me, one for Chris, one for me. They got better and better. Not because I was getting drunk but because I was actually getting better at it. Tonight I made two martini's for Chris and I and it is the most delicious martini I've ever had!
So as I sign out of this post I raise this martini glass to Carmen, who for the last 20 years or so has been trying to convince me to have a martini with her to which I have always flatly refused opting instead for beer or hell even water, anything other than gin, "I don't do gin"; who this week turned a new age to catch up to my own age; for all the missed olives of the past and looking forward to all the olives of the future; who always toasts every toast with every drink "To us"; to Carmen.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Mostly the Eddie Izzard Show
So much has gone on since my last posting it's hard to know where to begin. So I'll start at NOW and work my way backwards.
It is an absolutely GORGEOUS day here on the island. I'm looking at this day out my window and wishing I were anywhere other than at work. So I decided to blog - I'm having lunch now so it's my time anyways. Free lunch too - grilled chicken and veggies w/ salad and a chunk of garlic bread. Yummy!
Last night Chris and I joined Matt & Julie for the Eddie Izzard show. He was so funny that I wanted him to stop. It actually hurts to laugh non-stop for over an hour. I felt as if I couldn't go on laughing any longer. I loved that he threw in some politics and endorsed Barak Obama. He's Brittish and let us know that if we elected Obama we would be welcomed throughout the rest of the world. He assured us that when traveling abroad we would no longer have to pretend we're Canadian. Izzard's set reminded me a lot of Bill Bryson's book, A Brief History of Nearly Everything - and I believe he mentioned it at some point in his show too. Both the Izzard comedy set and the Bryson book attempt to focus perspective on how we got to this point in our evolutionary history and both were poignantly funny. I especially didn't know that all the ancient Egyptians were killed in a car crash. How tragic is that?
Also yesterday, my dearest and longest standing friend's birthday - Happy Birthday Carmen!! I WILL get your care package in the mail. Wish for all things Texas and they shall be in the box. Come back to Texas. Texas misses you. Rhode Islanders don't know what tortillas are!
So prior to Tuesday... Let's see, over the weekend on Sunday night we took Colin to his grandparents for a week long camping trip. We saw the movie You Don't Mess with the Zohan - comic gold! Think Mrs. Garrett from The Facts of Life getting it on with Adam Sandler playing an Israeli counter-terrorist turned hair-dresser who's nemesis is John Turturro, of The Big Lebowski; and who is being outed by Rob Schneider for stealing his favorite goat years before. We also watched Made of Honor - Chelsea's choice and a chick flick if there ever was one. Chris survived, thank God! On Sunday we also played a round of disc golf.
Oh Chris recently erected our disc golf goal in the back yard and we've been practicing. I seem to be getting no better what-so-ever while Chris is continually improving his short game. The other day I threw a frisbee and it landed in our back neighbor's yard. We walked the block over to knock on their door. A car was in the drive but no answer. As soon as we approached the door a light snapped on and we noticed a little camera eye on top of the door frame. It was very strange and gave both of us the creeps. We didn't get the frisbee back till the next day when in the daylight Chris went into the back yard because no one ever did answer the door. Weird. (Otherwise we LOVE all our neighbors! The people on OUR street are totally cool!)
It is an absolutely GORGEOUS day here on the island. I'm looking at this day out my window and wishing I were anywhere other than at work. So I decided to blog - I'm having lunch now so it's my time anyways. Free lunch too - grilled chicken and veggies w/ salad and a chunk of garlic bread. Yummy!
Last night Chris and I joined Matt & Julie for the Eddie Izzard show. He was so funny that I wanted him to stop. It actually hurts to laugh non-stop for over an hour. I felt as if I couldn't go on laughing any longer. I loved that he threw in some politics and endorsed Barak Obama. He's Brittish and let us know that if we elected Obama we would be welcomed throughout the rest of the world. He assured us that when traveling abroad we would no longer have to pretend we're Canadian. Izzard's set reminded me a lot of Bill Bryson's book, A Brief History of Nearly Everything - and I believe he mentioned it at some point in his show too. Both the Izzard comedy set and the Bryson book attempt to focus perspective on how we got to this point in our evolutionary history and both were poignantly funny. I especially didn't know that all the ancient Egyptians were killed in a car crash. How tragic is that?Also yesterday, my dearest and longest standing friend's birthday - Happy Birthday Carmen!! I WILL get your care package in the mail. Wish for all things Texas and they shall be in the box. Come back to Texas. Texas misses you. Rhode Islanders don't know what tortillas are!
So prior to Tuesday... Let's see, over the weekend on Sunday night we took Colin to his grandparents for a week long camping trip. We saw the movie You Don't Mess with the Zohan - comic gold! Think Mrs. Garrett from The Facts of Life getting it on with Adam Sandler playing an Israeli counter-terrorist turned hair-dresser who's nemesis is John Turturro, of The Big Lebowski; and who is being outed by Rob Schneider for stealing his favorite goat years before. We also watched Made of Honor - Chelsea's choice and a chick flick if there ever was one. Chris survived, thank God! On Sunday we also played a round of disc golf.
Oh Chris recently erected our disc golf goal in the back yard and we've been practicing. I seem to be getting no better what-so-ever while Chris is continually improving his short game. The other day I threw a frisbee and it landed in our back neighbor's yard. We walked the block over to knock on their door. A car was in the drive but no answer. As soon as we approached the door a light snapped on and we noticed a little camera eye on top of the door frame. It was very strange and gave both of us the creeps. We didn't get the frisbee back till the next day when in the daylight Chris went into the back yard because no one ever did answer the door. Weird. (Otherwise we LOVE all our neighbors! The people on OUR street are totally cool!)
Friday, May 30, 2008
The Great Merger
As you might know, Chris and I just moved in together. I have had a lot of time off work recently, which was needed in and of itself, but it's also helped to make the move go smoother. We still have to finish up cleaning out the old place to get the deposit back (hopefully) and we have until tomorrow. I should be over there right now but I'm too excited to a) have had the cable guy install internet here this morning, & b) actually have some internet TIME while not at work or on a schedule. :)
It's so interesting to merge two houses full of furniture and belongings together. I feel like I suddenly have a huge DVD library. Chris found several old photo albums of his that I got to look through and relive this little piece of him and his family that I had never seen. I showed Chris the first lock of Chelsea's hair that I cut off in her first hair cut and the red plastic welfare card I had 17 years ago when I first applied for AFDC with a new baby and no job or insurance on her. There are so many fractions of our lives held within the things in our closets and garages under that which we use more frequently
Part of me (the part who's mother is a pack rat of the worst kind - sorry mom but you know it's true) wants to purge everything! Simplify, simplify, simplify! That part wants to rid the house of all that is unnecessary. If it doesn't fall within the two categories of Form or Function then why keep it around?
I think on some level it's clinging to the past. Some of it is obligation. Maybe to foster a sense of personal history or to look back and remember. When I was cleaning out my closet there against the wall was a little white dress with long sashes and beaded smocking on the chest. It wouldn't fit anyone I know but it's not only a dress that was hand made by my aunt Becky for her daughter, it's the dress Chelsea received her first communion in. Do I toss it in the goodwill pile to satisfy my sense of order and simplicity? What am I keeping it for anyway? Why do I have a 12 year old lock of my daughter's hair, or and unfinished quilt that my grandmother was making for me before she died, or a heavy box full of crystals my family and I "mined" at the crystal mine in Hot Springs Arkansas during the family reunion in 2003. What would I run into a fire to save if the place was burning down? Nothing. It's all just stuff that I box up and move with me every time I move. And every once in a while I can show these things to someone who doesn't know their history or their value and get a little fraction of my past back for a second, just to share that part of myself, my belongings.
So our walls will be covered in pictures of our family to tell our stories. That and James Bond movie poster prints (which I secretly kinda love the idea of.) We'll have two tv's that we don't know what to do with, two cork screws and cutting boards and sets of dishes and tea kettles and spice racks and dresser drawers and desks and couches and old photos and dogs. (Fortunately Honey and Stretch love each other and get along well.) We'll have to sift through the stuff, the belongings, to decide what belongs and what does not. We have to determine the value of our things and explain the value to each other hopeful that they'll see the value too.
There will be a lot we can sell. Our beautiful empty new garage where we parked for about a day is already starting to fill up and only one car can park there now. And we have only scratched the surface of Chris's house. We've given ourselves the summer to have his house empty, decide on a house plan and have a builder hired for the project. That's really not that much time sitting here on May 30th. I'm really not one for keeping a whole lot but I do have things I can and will get rid of. I just had to be out of my apartment and theres some stuff I would like to see if I can sell or if my family might want.
As I sit here with boxes piled up around me and the knowledge that more boxes will be arriving daily until the Wildwood house is empty I have to admit a sense of satisfaction. It takes a huge amount of effort to hoist all your belongings onto your back and move them to a new location. In the unpacking will come more of decisions about what to keep, surprises about what's actually there that had been long forgotten, and memories of our lives-past to share with each other.
So on that note I make my promise not to question or judge any of the belongings to cross the threshold of the merged house and to keep myself open to learning what has value to Chris and add that to the combined value of us as a couple.
LOVE
It's so interesting to merge two houses full of furniture and belongings together. I feel like I suddenly have a huge DVD library. Chris found several old photo albums of his that I got to look through and relive this little piece of him and his family that I had never seen. I showed Chris the first lock of Chelsea's hair that I cut off in her first hair cut and the red plastic welfare card I had 17 years ago when I first applied for AFDC with a new baby and no job or insurance on her. There are so many fractions of our lives held within the things in our closets and garages under that which we use more frequently
Part of me (the part who's mother is a pack rat of the worst kind - sorry mom but you know it's true) wants to purge everything! Simplify, simplify, simplify! That part wants to rid the house of all that is unnecessary. If it doesn't fall within the two categories of Form or Function then why keep it around?
I think on some level it's clinging to the past. Some of it is obligation. Maybe to foster a sense of personal history or to look back and remember. When I was cleaning out my closet there against the wall was a little white dress with long sashes and beaded smocking on the chest. It wouldn't fit anyone I know but it's not only a dress that was hand made by my aunt Becky for her daughter, it's the dress Chelsea received her first communion in. Do I toss it in the goodwill pile to satisfy my sense of order and simplicity? What am I keeping it for anyway? Why do I have a 12 year old lock of my daughter's hair, or and unfinished quilt that my grandmother was making for me before she died, or a heavy box full of crystals my family and I "mined" at the crystal mine in Hot Springs Arkansas during the family reunion in 2003. What would I run into a fire to save if the place was burning down? Nothing. It's all just stuff that I box up and move with me every time I move. And every once in a while I can show these things to someone who doesn't know their history or their value and get a little fraction of my past back for a second, just to share that part of myself, my belongings.
So our walls will be covered in pictures of our family to tell our stories. That and James Bond movie poster prints (which I secretly kinda love the idea of.) We'll have two tv's that we don't know what to do with, two cork screws and cutting boards and sets of dishes and tea kettles and spice racks and dresser drawers and desks and couches and old photos and dogs. (Fortunately Honey and Stretch love each other and get along well.) We'll have to sift through the stuff, the belongings, to decide what belongs and what does not. We have to determine the value of our things and explain the value to each other hopeful that they'll see the value too.
There will be a lot we can sell. Our beautiful empty new garage where we parked for about a day is already starting to fill up and only one car can park there now. And we have only scratched the surface of Chris's house. We've given ourselves the summer to have his house empty, decide on a house plan and have a builder hired for the project. That's really not that much time sitting here on May 30th. I'm really not one for keeping a whole lot but I do have things I can and will get rid of. I just had to be out of my apartment and theres some stuff I would like to see if I can sell or if my family might want.
As I sit here with boxes piled up around me and the knowledge that more boxes will be arriving daily until the Wildwood house is empty I have to admit a sense of satisfaction. It takes a huge amount of effort to hoist all your belongings onto your back and move them to a new location. In the unpacking will come more of decisions about what to keep, surprises about what's actually there that had been long forgotten, and memories of our lives-past to share with each other.
So on that note I make my promise not to question or judge any of the belongings to cross the threshold of the merged house and to keep myself open to learning what has value to Chris and add that to the combined value of us as a couple.
LOVE
Sunday, May 25, 2008
checking in
This is just a post because I happen to have a few moments in front of a computer with internet access! I won't have long so this post will be short. Chris and I are officially moving in together this weekend and we've been packing like crazy. We have one day left before the movers get here - that's tomorrow. I'm thinking of calling for help on that one. Chris has been amazing. He single-handedly disassembled and loaded up his & Colin's beds from his house yesterday. This morning he packed Colin's legos and his massive - 6 boxes - DVD collection; plus cleaned out his fridge of everything - it's ready to go. While he did that I packed my whole desk except for the computer, plus all the towels & linens, completed the majority of the laundry, finished packing my bathroom, threw out two more bags of trash, and a few more boxes of stuff from the bedroom. My living room is now more boxes than anything else and we'll probably clear out this dining area next for piling boxes tomorrow. Then Tuesday the movers come but Chris has to work. I also have to get an appointment to switch our internet/cable service to the new place so once we move, unless I'm at work, we won't have the internet at home.
The new place it so great though! Since we had the beds there we spent last night at the new place and it was great to wake up this morning in the new rent house with Chris. Also, in the middle of the day we took a break and went to our new neighborhood pool. It was very cool! Lots of kids. Chelsea and Colin will love it there. In fact, I had the thought today that once we have the new house built we might actually miss the neighborhoody feel of the rent house. Our street ends at a trail along a green space and you walk 3 blocks to the park and pool. We've walked that trail every day since Friday when we got the key after the gas man showed up (not till 3:30! tho). So it's exciting and exhausting all at the same time.
I'll post up some pictures soon. Chelsea's spent the last two weekends away - last weekend was her twin friends' birthday party for the weekend and this weekend is her annual get-a-way with the Williams'. She comes home tomorrow and she's going to help pack! It sure would have been nice to have her this weekend just for her babysitting skills because Chris and I have had to have Colin with us the whole time and save room for him in loading our cars with stuff every trip. Yes, we're getting movers but there's some stuff we've taken already. Also, the movers are mostly for clearing out my place because my lease ends and the only things they are getting from Chris's are the washer, dryer, & fridge - unless we have more stuff ready. But we plan to use my living room stuff, Chris's bedroom stuff, obviously we'll need both Chelsea's stuff from here and Colin's stuff from Chris's. Anyway, we've taken several loads over to the new house already. Okay I realize I'm babbling at this point. And we need to leave. It's after 11 and we're sleeping at the new place so we have to go there. I'll be back here tomorrow morning.
Take care all
LOVE
The new place it so great though! Since we had the beds there we spent last night at the new place and it was great to wake up this morning in the new rent house with Chris. Also, in the middle of the day we took a break and went to our new neighborhood pool. It was very cool! Lots of kids. Chelsea and Colin will love it there. In fact, I had the thought today that once we have the new house built we might actually miss the neighborhoody feel of the rent house. Our street ends at a trail along a green space and you walk 3 blocks to the park and pool. We've walked that trail every day since Friday when we got the key after the gas man showed up (not till 3:30! tho). So it's exciting and exhausting all at the same time.
I'll post up some pictures soon. Chelsea's spent the last two weekends away - last weekend was her twin friends' birthday party for the weekend and this weekend is her annual get-a-way with the Williams'. She comes home tomorrow and she's going to help pack! It sure would have been nice to have her this weekend just for her babysitting skills because Chris and I have had to have Colin with us the whole time and save room for him in loading our cars with stuff every trip. Yes, we're getting movers but there's some stuff we've taken already. Also, the movers are mostly for clearing out my place because my lease ends and the only things they are getting from Chris's are the washer, dryer, & fridge - unless we have more stuff ready. But we plan to use my living room stuff, Chris's bedroom stuff, obviously we'll need both Chelsea's stuff from here and Colin's stuff from Chris's. Anyway, we've taken several loads over to the new house already. Okay I realize I'm babbling at this point. And we need to leave. It's after 11 and we're sleeping at the new place so we have to go there. I'll be back here tomorrow morning.
Take care all
LOVE
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Tidbits since the Weekend
It's been a sleepy week and busier at work than I've ever been there. I've worked overtime (read comp time) every day in the pay period that ended today. Which is okay because I need the last week of May off for the move so I can use up a fraction of my accrued comp time. I think I have 70 hours last time I looked. And I've even stopped counting the times I work through lunch. I'm now accruing comp time on top of working through lunch and it's still not all getting done. Also, just yesterday, my new boss told me that he's not going to approve hiring a new secretary even though the department already approved it and we can easily justify the need based on the volume of people my staff supports. Everyone is overwhelmed and we're not going to get any support from this administration. I'm sad about my job because I used to like it so much. I liked driving to the island and I liked the people I worked with. Now, there's a new hierarchy being established with an unprofessional woman who holds a personal grudge against me and one of my employees. The politics that ensue are driving me to reconsider my place of employment yet again and I feel like I just got there. Some of this is driven by the massive number of deadlines that have all hit at once and I'm hoping things calm down as we move into June. So, this week at work, sucked.
However, this week NON-work was a fabulous contrast to that. Except for the fact that we've gone out 4 times this week - including tonight. On Wednesday night we were up til about 2:30 AM and up past midnight every other day.
We are just starting to pack some stuff. I keep freaking out that we're not nearly ready enough and that we're not gonna be packed in time. To which Chris continually replies, Yes we are! I can pack like a packing fiend. I'm only cautiously optimistic that this will be an eventuality. Tomorrow we're going to get boxes in the morning after getting the cars cleaned out and an oil change.
Dawn called yesterday and she and Jim were chosen by a birthmother who is having a little girl in August. The birthmother is 22 and a red-head. She chose them because of James' red hair. Also, she is apparently adopted and thought that Dawn looked like pictures of her own birthmother. Dawn said she and Jim are very excited. That Jim can't keep the grin off his face that he's going to be the daddy of a little girl. That it's all been totally worth the wait. That it's like all her dreams came true and her prayers were answered.
I'm sure.
On Tuesday night, Chelsea had a date with David. He took her to his band banquet at the Hilton on Clear Lake. You know, the one where that crazy lady ran over her cheatin' husband after catching him with the other woman, and then backed back over his body after running him down the first time with their daughter in the SUV. That one.
Anyways, she looked absolutely beautiful as you can tell from the picture. I'm attaching two.
One is of Chelsea and Colin - he thought she should stand under this flower bush but then stood in the shot with her which is cool.
The second one is Chelsea with her boyfriend David, who seems like a nice enough kid. He's smart and good conversation. He seems to like Chelsea well enough so that's cool.
This was our appetizer at Sushi Coast tonight. And I regret not snapping a photo of the actual entrees we ordered because they arrived with such presentation it was tantalizing but at that point I had chop sticks in hand and no time for cameras. What a delight a night out for sushi is for me and Chris. I'm so deliciously full. This appetizer is called Sushi Coast Nachos and included "magic spinach" in the middle. Each piece had some magic spinach inside as well. They were tunas wrapped around spinach and encrusted with crunchy goodness and topped with spicy goodness so that in the end each one was full of goodness.
So that's it for now. I'm going to be in packing and moving mode for the next two weeks. Please forgive any one-track-mindedness this blog may take on. That or my absence.
LOVE
However, this week NON-work was a fabulous contrast to that. Except for the fact that we've gone out 4 times this week - including tonight. On Wednesday night we were up til about 2:30 AM and up past midnight every other day.
We are just starting to pack some stuff. I keep freaking out that we're not nearly ready enough and that we're not gonna be packed in time. To which Chris continually replies, Yes we are! I can pack like a packing fiend. I'm only cautiously optimistic that this will be an eventuality. Tomorrow we're going to get boxes in the morning after getting the cars cleaned out and an oil change.
Dawn called yesterday and she and Jim were chosen by a birthmother who is having a little girl in August. The birthmother is 22 and a red-head. She chose them because of James' red hair. Also, she is apparently adopted and thought that Dawn looked like pictures of her own birthmother. Dawn said she and Jim are very excited. That Jim can't keep the grin off his face that he's going to be the daddy of a little girl. That it's all been totally worth the wait. That it's like all her dreams came true and her prayers were answered.
I'm sure.
On Tuesday night, Chelsea had a date with David. He took her to his band banquet at the Hilton on Clear Lake. You know, the one where that crazy lady ran over her cheatin' husband after catching him with the other woman, and then backed back over his body after running him down the first time with their daughter in the SUV. That one.
Anyways, she looked absolutely beautiful as you can tell from the picture. I'm attaching two.
One is of Chelsea and Colin - he thought she should stand under this flower bush but then stood in the shot with her which is cool.
The second one is Chelsea with her boyfriend David, who seems like a nice enough kid. He's smart and good conversation. He seems to like Chelsea well enough so that's cool.This was our appetizer at Sushi Coast tonight. And I regret not snapping a photo of the actual entrees we ordered because they arrived with such presentation it was tantalizing but at that point I had chop sticks in hand and no time for cameras. What a delight a night out for sushi is for me and Chris. I'm so deliciously full. This appetizer is called Sushi Coast Nachos and included "magic spinach" in the middle. Each piece had some magic spinach inside as well. They were tunas wrapped around spinach and encrusted with crunchy goodness and topped with spicy goodness so that in the end each one was full of goodness.
So that's it for now. I'm going to be in packing and moving mode for the next two weeks. Please forgive any one-track-mindedness this blog may take on. That or my absence.
LOVE
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