Quick Update

We are in the thick of marching season. We will be in San Antonio this weekend for BOA SuperRegional and to eat at Tony Roma's, and to see L&R--three of my favorite activities. Then we will be back in San Antonio on Tuesday for the Texas State UIL Marching compeition, and to eat at Tony Roma's--and yes, I did vote early. Don't know if we'll get to see L&R again--that is a lot of band to non-band-parent type people. Then the next weekend we are in Indianapolis for Grand Nationals with David, Cathy, CJ and Jamie. Oh yeah, Jacob will be there, but we won't see him much except when he's on the field--you know how that goes. I do love marching season and will really miss it next year.

David is in the middle of Cinderella rehearsals, the Christmas production at the theater. It runs from the day after Thanksgiving until Dec. 23--a killer schedule during the holidays, but he loves it. I'll post pics from "Belles on their Toes" later--he was hilarious.

Hubby is reprising his role as the admiral in Sound of Music down in CLeburne. He's in the 2nd week of the run, and I'm having a hard time getting down there to see it between marching band and Cinderella. In addition to his prop building and set painting he has taken up costume making. My sewing machine now sits on a table in the infamous green room and he made the priest's robes and vestments completely from scratch and completely by himself. Tina's son ( Tina is co-owner of the theater) told her how much he loved her costumes--that she is just the best costumer ever. His favorite costume of all times was the admiral's costume in Sound of Music--the very admiral's costume that hubby designed and sewed all by himself. :)

And the most exciting, actually scary, thing in my life last week was a bacterial infection on my arm. Tuesday morning I noticed a little skin tag was about to fall off, then two hours later there was this yucky raised spot the size of a dime; two hours later it was the size of a quarter; by the afternoon the skin around it was red and infected, and by 10:00 pm (of course I was at a band competition and couldn't get to the dr.) the red skin looked like a tornado and the tail of the tornado had turned up , heading toward my shoulder. That was the part that really scared me, so I called my doctor and immediately she put me on a very powerful oral antibiotic and antiobiotic salve. Two doctor visits later I am declared healed, but there is still a red spot a little larger than a dime on my arm where the skin has to heal. I had just read an article about the resistant strains of strep, so this really scared me, but all is well.

Except I am really tired, too tired to even play my fourth game of pingpong tonight, so I am going to bed. And besides, when David turns in a complete circle between the time he hits the ball and I return it, I get very depressed. Love to all of you!

Wisconsin

Since I forgot that the story appears below the pictures, this is my trip to Wisconsin. This gigglin' cutie is Macy, Jamie's daughter.
Even though the picture is a little dark, can you tell we are having fun together. She laughed when the doggie said, "Woof!"
Sunday morning with my handsome son--this is right by his apartment.
This is at his new office. I loved the fall colors there.
Cute couple, Jamie and Christopher

All fire hydrants have a metal rod that sticks up. Can you guess why? Yep, so the snow plow doesn't run them over when it snows! I couldn't believe it! Imagine having so much snow you can't see the fire hydrants--unbelievable.
And this is you-know-who showing us another usage of a fire hydrant.
Lake Michigan--looks like an ocean, doesn't it? It is huge.
Milwaukee sits on Lake Michigan.
A beautiful fall in Milwaukee. And now for the story I thought would be first...

I went to see Traveling Man over the Columbus Day Weekend. I really enjoyed myself, and it was very hard to leave him there so far away. My plane was delayed 2 hours, so I didn't get in until after 11:00 pm on Friday, and we had the two hour drive down (or was it up?) to Appleton, but we had lots to talk about, so it was fine with me.

Saturday morning we went shopping. I thought they would have a better selection of jackets up there, and sure enough they did. I bought my first pea coat ever and then we went to Walmart to buy some toys for Macy, so I could bribe her to like me. The plan worked pretty well because once she got used to me we sat together and read, played, and she even took my hand while we were at the park. I was very pleased because rumor had it that she didn't take too kindly to strangers, but she and I got along just fine.

Saturday night we met Jamie's parents at Tony Roma's, my all time favorite restaurant. The baby back ribs were so tender they fell off the fork, and the flavor was delicious. It was great to meet Jamie's parents and I really enjoyed the evening.

Sunday we went to church and Christopher took us on a tour of the company where he now works and Monday I flew home. It was so hard to say goodbye. When I think of him clear up at Lake Michigan, I just cannot believe he is so far away, but I'm really glad he has Jamie to keep him company and I'm so grateful she stayed up talking to him while he drove all hours of the night with his previous job.

Sounds of Silence

Most moms enjoy the sounds of silence after the kids are all back in school. But today, Saturday, is my time.

Hubby is in Mexico with the bishopric of the Spanish ward. They went to the temple first thing, and now are going to have some fun. But he got the shower fixed before he went, so I guess he's allowed out of the house. When he is in town he is not really in town because he is rehearsing in Cleburne for "Can't Take It With You." He's single cast, so it involves a lot of time.

J is off to band where he is very bored I imagine, since he and his crutches are sitting in the stands observing. Last night he and his friends were at a park, and according to the story I got, he was chasing a duck. ( A duck you say? IIIIIII know!) It was soooo dark that he didn't see the canal that feeds into the pond and unfortunately fell right into the cement embankment (it's not that high) and sprained his knee and jammed two toes. I never get used to those 11:00 pm phone calls that begin, "Mom, can you meet me at the emergency room?"

D is off playing basketball with friends. Currently he is in rehearsal for "Belles on Their Toes." He survived his first week in high school with flying colors, and I am happy to report, even did his homework. Seminary starts next week, so we'll see how it's going then. The count down is on--only three more years of seminary left for me ( and him). But then when will I walk?

I am looking forward to a very good school year. My schedule is such that I teach 3 classes, eat lunch, teach one class, have conference period, and teach two classes. Big classes this year--before school started we had registered 990 students. I am really liking the new administration. They seem very positive and very realistic. Teachers no longer have patio duty nor do we have to supervise the cleaning of the cafeteria tables. Yeah!!!! And I am no longer on the yearbook staff. Yeah!!! Yeah!!!!

Ahh, the door just opened. One of the males is home. I bid fond farewell to The Sounds of Silence.

My Prediction

I finished the Twillight "trilogy" the other day. Such an easy read. I really enjoyed each book. One of the literary elements I loved , which I can't remember the name of, was the way she combined two senses, ie., "I could taste his scent." To me that's very descriptive.

My prediction for book 4 is that Edward will turn into a human. I know, I know, that is not possible, according to Edward. However, a werewolf doesn't age as long as he is actively "morphing," but Jacob said that if they gain the self control to not transform and they don't transform for a long time, then they begin to age again. I think vampires must have something like that, too.

Also, I think this sentence by Edward is foreshadowing: " If there were any way for me to become human for you--no matter what the price was, I would pay it." (Eclipse, 273) That sentence jumped off the page at me! That just has to predict something in book 4. I just hope this doesn't turn into a tragedy.

I am worried about Jacob (the one in the book, not you-know-who). I don't want him the get his heart broken again and still. I was pretty mad at the way Bella treated him right before the big fight with Victoria. I also thought she was pretty selfish trying to keep both Jacob and Edward with her, while the coven and pack were all out there fighting to protect her from Victoria. Of course, we all know how that turned out.

Anyway, I would love to hear your thoughts.

And, eat your heart out, I bought another Christmas present last week. :)

Summertime, Summertime

I am loving this summer! It is pretty stressfree and low key--lots of lazy days, or at least afternoons.

Lake Powell was so much fun! We enjoyed it so much. Thank you, Karl and Laurie, for inviting us! I loved riding in the boats and watching people wake board, knee board, etc. I did not realize how beautiful LP is. And to all the cooks, the food was great and I got some ideas for new recipes. I also enjoyed playing all the games and hanging out with family. It was a great get away. Sorry we had to leave early and didn't get to help with cooking the breakfast, but when David told the doctor his pain was a level 7 on a scale of 1 - 10, I was really glad we got him there and got the medicine for him.

I have finished a couple of books recently--thanks to a long car trip from Dallas to LP. :) I finished Time Traveler's Wife on the trip. It is a good, but sad love story. I will warn you, though, that the language is pretty worldly. I also finished Atonement, which a friend of mine from school recommended. It does not have a lot of action, but the author excels at explaining the plot/conflict from different characters' points of view. But again, you have to watch out for the language. Now I am reading Twillight and loving it! I'm only half way through it, but hope to finishe the series in time for the 4th book in a few weeks.

Surprise, surprise! CJ flew in on Thursday and is spending the weekend . He has training on Monday here, so will leave Monday night. I was so excited to see him. I had really been missing him lately, I think because I saw Music Man so many times and I could just picture him as Harold Hill.

Speaking of Music Man, the run is finally over. David hardly knows what to do in the evenings--he enjoyed being in the show very much. The theater owners claim over 8,000 people saw the show--and they did run 7 shows a week for five weeks--always sold out. But 8,000 people? Hard to believe. One of my favorite things about theater (second to seeing my family on stage) is to watch how the performers grow into their parts from opening night until closing night. They add so many little actions and expressions to make their character more realistic. It's really fun to see the growth.

I am really enjoying going to the movies with my grandkids and sometimes even out to lunch with Liz, when she can pull herself away from her studies, and I'm sure looking forward to seeing Carrie next week and then helping Cathy celebrate her birthday by going to see Mamma Mia (a tradition of sorts that we started last year by going to see Hairspray on her birthday). Tricia and I will hopefully continue our brown hot fudge sundae tradition while I am there.

And, finally, believe it or not, I actually bought some Christmas presents this week! I have to do it while I think about it, or I will forget! I know it will be a busy fall--band camp starts Aug 4, then back to school, band competitions in SA, Houston, Indy, and of course a cute new baby will arrive! Not to mention some theater thrown in there (Uncle C will audition for at least 2 I know of, D auditioning for 1).

Anyway, I love summer!

This and That

At Grapevine High School, just up the road from us, a girl is graduating with the highest GPA in the 103 year school history--5.877. You would expect her to be valedictorian, right? Wrong. She graduated in 3 years, and the district policy says the valedictorian will have the highest average "for four years of high school." So the Valedictorian is a young man with a GPA of 5.64, which he earned in the required 4 years. So they are calling her "valedictorian--three year graduate." Somehow it doesn't have the same ring, does it? Plus, she doesn't get the state scholarship for "highest-ranking graduate" that goes to every accredited high school in the state. To make matters worse, the school counselor is the one who advised her to graduate in 3 years and told her she would be eligible for valedictorian because the spirit of the rule was to prevent students from transferring in from less-rigorous schools and then winning the award. Crazy, huh?

Mark your calendars, the big Bath and Bodyworks sale starts June 2. I love love love Sea Island Cotton. But I sure hope they also have the discontinued fragrance White Tea and Ginger.

Have you seen Prince Caspian? It is sooooo good!

A Little of This and A Little of That

I don't have anything hugely exciting to post, so I'll just catch you up on what's going on around here.

"The Foreigner" is a hilarious play and C. is doing a great job in his role as Froggy. This is his 10th accent to do on stage, and he continues the British (cockney even, maybe) here at home. It's kind of funny!

D is in rehearsal for Music Man which will run most of June. He is very sad the Mavs blew it.

J has finally finished his life guard training at Carrie's former place of employment. He was one cold boy when I picked him up--literally shivering, but he did pass the test to be a deep guard. His exact words were, "If Carrie can do it, I can for sure." His Eagle project is on Saturday. Can you guess where?--at the theater of course!

18 more days of school. Need I say more? I did finally finish reading The Book Thief (Linds was right--incredible language) and Water for Elephants. I enjoyed both very much, but Water had a couple of R rated scenes--just so you know.

I am looking for a good bread recipe and a good bean recipes. All ingredients must come from items you would keep in food storage--- so no eggs (not a problem with the beans, I'm sure). Anybody have good recipes that really taste good, as in people would actually eat them, and all ingredients can be stored? Thanks in advance.

And finally, I had the first watermelon of the season today. It was good and sweet. Yeah!!! I love sweet watermelon.

May everyone's week be as great as Carrie's was last week.... :)

Wild, Wild Weather

This past week bad weather from Wisconsin to Texas ruined our family's plans. Traveling Man came to town on Wednesday, but only after his flight was delayed due to 4" of snow. That night we were awakened by the tornado sirens at 3:30 am. We all rushed into J's room, which is in the center of the house, but alas, we found the tornado had already struck there and there was no room for us amid the debris. But on the good side, electricity was out in many parts of the city (good for us, not the people with no electricity), so we did not have to go to school. But of course, we didn't find that out until J had already left for school, and since I forgot to tell D., his alarm went off and he got ready for school only to walk out and find me in my jammies watching tv... It's hard to remember everything some days.

Well, lo and behold, Travelin Man's girlfriend was scheduled to arrive on Friday for a fun weekend at 6 Flags with the family, but due to winter storm advisories, her flight was cancelled. So, Travelin' Man spent many hours on the phone trying to get her a new flight (part of this time on the phone was during a professional basketball game he attended with youngest bro--so youngest bro was by himself inside the arena and Travelin' man was pacing out on the concourse, talking to the airlines).
But alas, it was not to be, and many hours later all flights, not just American, were cancelled due to a blizzard. So cute girlfriend did not get to come, and sad boyfriend wondered how on earth he was going to get home, because his flights, too, had been cancelled.

Friday morning dawned beautifully. But Travelin Man found a flight out and had to take it or risk not getting home at all. So, while Traveling Man boarded his flight (2 had already been cancelled), sisters boarded the new SUV and came home to see brother, who was already on the plane. I'm sure you see the problem.

Well, to make a long story short, I enjoyed seeing my children, even though it wasn't the planned for weekend. All the girls and I ( and cute baby boy) went to the bookstore, Sam Moon's, and two other stores, so we managed to somehow salvage the weekend. :) Shopping has saved many a day.

Even though there were 6 tornados in our area Thursday night, one did not set down in our neighborhood, at least that is what the National Weather Service said. You may decide for yourself when you view the pics below. All of these pics are very, very, very close to our house.


At the park two blocks away--the roof over the dugout:


You will need to enlarge the next two:

At a little store just down the street: the debris is the roof

See the dangling traffic signal? and the bent post on the left?



We were very fortunate not to have any damage other than a few branches blown down. Some people in our church were without electricity for 4 days.

I really enjoyed my family and I'm so glad I got to see all of the "away" children again. Hopefully next time the weather will cooperate. ;)

Little Update

On Sunday I thought of 3 things to tell you, but now I can only remember 2. I even jotted down a quick list, but I can't find it. Isn't that just how it goes!

Anyway--CJ is not going to be Gaston in the play after all. The original Gaston is going to be able to do the whole run, so CJ was not needed :(

Here is a quick little recipe that I remembered. Lay 2 crescent rolls out in a rectangle. Layer sandwich ham and cheese (I used 2 of each) and then cover with 2 more crescent rolls. Smush the edges together so the cheese doesn't leak out and then bake according to crescent roll directions. They should brown on both sides . Fast, easy, and tasty--my kind of recipe. You could serve with salad or yogurt or fresh fruit.

Also, the TAKS Test is over and only two of my students did not pass. One student was absent and the other one speaks very little English! So that was great news :) Now if I could just get all the research papers graded....

Happy April to everyone!

Catching Up After Spring Break

I never did finish posting my pictures from SLC or from Meeting Jamie, so I'll just add a few really quick.

Cute baby Donevan at Abuelos when we went there with CJ and Jamie a few weekends ago.
Can you tell they are brothers?
Jumping back a few weeks to Alli's wedding in SLC: This is one of my favs--Tricia and I at Spaghetti Factory in Trolley Square. We went here the first time when she came up for Liz's birth--27 years ago! We had to go back to celebrate that memory. We even got to sit in the Trolley! Trolley Square is a lot different than it used to be, though. Since the shooting a year ago, many of the businesses have closed down. The mall was almost deserted.
It took Tricia and I a long time to find this little house in Provo, but since we were going down memory lane anyway, we had to find the first little house Chris and I ever bought. We about gave up (since neither of us could remember the address) until she spotted Deseret Industries, then we knew to cut through the parking lot and we finally found it without too much trouble. I decided after that little excursion that there is more traffic in the Provo/Orem area than in SLC. One final note, it is really hard to find a Utah teeshirt. We went to two malls , two grocery stores, a sproting goods store, and two Walgreens. We decided they need a little of our Texas Pride up there!

We were hoping to visit LA on our next "sisters' trip", but our hoped for tour guide is moving to India, so we're not sure where we'll go next.

Well, back to Abuelos. Carrie and Devin at Abuelo's the weekend Jamie came down. As usual, Carrie just ordered two enchiladas. Silly Girl.
Aunt Khaki and Donny, with CJ in the background. Donny is finally becoming friends with Aunt Khaki.
Grandpa keeping Donny out of trouble.
Liz and Laura, who looks pretty happy for having just eaten a lemon.
Enjoying our family at dinner. Everyone was there except Lizzy's Chris. He and Eyan stayed home because of "the rash."

Spring Break was lots of fun. First there was the Open House in Houston. As always, it was fun to see the family and eat all the good food. On Monday morning Liz and kids and I went to Lubbock to see the two Lubbock sisters. It was a long trip as we didn't get started until 12:30 pm. But we had fun going to see Alvin and the Chipmunks and going to the Science Spectrum. We also got to eat lunch with Tricia and Kathy (Sarah was sick) and with my cousin Debbie and her daughter Shandyl. It was really great visiting together for awhile. Then we went to the Science Spectrum--which was fun but really wore me out. I do not know how Carrie managed to work 5 hours after that. Maybe being around all of those shoes gives her energy--I don't know. It was especially great to see Cathy's apartment (I'm sorry we didn't get to try the pasta chicken salad) , Cathy's newly decorated office, and Carrie & Dev's decorated house. Both of those girls really know how to decorate with pictures! I am looking forward to going back sometime soon.


Today is Easter Sunday. I was having a frustrating morning--worried about two songs I had to play at church and then J woke up pretty sick with strep throat. I was running late and thinking how hard it was to get to church by 8:00 for choir. It was like everything that could go wrong did go wrong and I was feeling kind of resentful about everything that needed to be done on a Sunday morning. But once I started playing "Jesus Once of Humble Birth" and the choir started singing, it was just so beautiful--it really calmed my heart and I could feel the peace of the Savior. So, on this Easter, I am grateful for the music that touches my heart so often and helps me feel the love of the Savior. Hope you have a Happy Easter, too!

Meeting Jamie

At his apartment.
At Abuelos. Aren't they a cute couple?
Being silly (but they really did this all the time :)
Still at Abuelos (we were there a looong time)
MMMMM MMMMMMM good!

I'm not sure where this text will end up once I get the pictures on, so just know it is supposed to be at the beginning. I have been trying to get this post to save since Sunday, but between my internet being down and blogspot not saving anything, it has been a frustrating experience.

Anyway, Traveling Man brought his friend Jamie home to meet the family last weekend. We hope she liked us as much as we liked her! They met when he gave a presentation at her work a few months ago, and we noticed over Thanksgiving that he was spending a lot of time on the phone talking to "someone." Evidentally they are still spending lots of time on the phone talking, since they were snowed in on her birthday and they told us they talked for 18 hours straight! (They live in different towns.) We had fun playing ping-pong, eating at Abuelos, and sitting around the kitchen table late at night talking.

We are excited to see them both again in April when Traveling M an comes home to play four performances as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast! We are really looking forward to that!!!!

Wedding Pics

Cute Aubrey and Grandpa Karl
Outside the temple
It was a lovely wedding cake!
The beautiful sisters. I thought it was so clever to have each bridesmaid use the same material, but choose her own pattern. All the dresses were so pretty and becoming. Good idea!
Cousins throwing kisses to cousins. We were all thinking about those who weren't there. :(

I had so much fun on my trip to Utah. I just wanted to hurry and post these pictures because I knew my girls were wanting to see the dresses and cake, etc. I'm so glad I got to attend the wedding! The ceremony was wonderful, everyone looked beautiful, the food was delicious, and the company was entertaining! I'm so glad my sister got to go with me because we had a great time together! I hope we can do it again sometime.

The Flu and Surprises

Last week found me at home 3 days out of 5 with the flu which turned into bronchitis. I didn't realize what it was in time to get Tamiflu, but when David had the symptoms, we got right in to the doctor and he had to miss only one day of school. The flu really left me weak, needing several naps a day (which was actually kind of nice). And I missed hugging and holding my little grandchildren on Thursday when they came over, but I sure hope they don't get it. I think the baby would have sat in my lap and read books quite a while, but I had to stay away from him. :(

Speaking of books, I finished Goose Girl while I was recuperating. I really enjoyed the story and am so glad everyone recommended it. It was a really nice change from Animal Farm. ;)

On Friday, though, I got a great surprise from those two sneaky Lubbock girls of mine. I had talked to both of them during the day and I thought they were in Lubbock doing their thing, when low and behold, they walked in the sunroom and surprised me Friday evening! I was sitting at the computer, and I just could not believe my eyes! It was a great surprise. We watched President Hinckley's funeral on Saturday and cried together. I will really miss him.

It was really quite remarkable that they kept their trip a secret. I went to get my hair cut on Wednesday, and my hairdresser never said a word even though Carrie already had an appointment with her so Vicki, my hairdresser, knew they were coming. And she told a fellow teacher at school when she went in for her haircut, but she never said a word either!

After the girls left on Sunday I immediately took a nice long nap. They had quite an eventful trip home, but I am sure one of them will blog about it. I'm just so grateful that they were safe and protected.

I just love surprises, don't you?

A Little Update

Has it really been December 30 since I blogged? Surely not. But it has been rather hectic around here. Gratefully that should be slowing down soon. The yearbook goes to print on Feb. 13, so I will get to celebrate that little project being finished by going to SLC with my sis to be at Allison's wedding. I am so looking forward to the trip, seeing our family at another great wedding , and spending some time with my sister and our Hancock family whom we have not seen in several years. In fact, Tricia has not been to SLC since Liz was born, so we are really looking forward to seeing our dad's family again. The only thing missing (besides the rest of my family) is taking pictures outside the Houston temple during the summer!!!

On a bittersweet note, another reason life is slowing down, is because I was released from being the Enrichment counselor in the RS. I still feel sad about it, but actually, it happened in such a neat way that it increased my testimony. Many, many times in the past few weeks I have left Presidency Mtg saying to myself, "How am I ever going to get all of this done?" "All of this" being not only church responsibilities, but mostly school related work. But I was very discouraged and one week I realized that J had asked me twice to play pingpong and once to play him a piece on the piano and I had refused all 3 times because I had "too much to do." On the other hand, it is very hard for me to say no to a church calling and I keep thinking, if I just have more faith, or if I organize my time better, or something, then things will work out. Endure to the end, right? And look at how much time Bishops and others spend on their callings.... Anyway, one Friday the RS president was talking to me about a new secretary and happened to mention that the Bishop was making several changes on Sunday. I just felt I had to tell her how things were for me, and she was very, very understanding. Then she said that the Bishop had specifically asked her about how I was doing and expressed that he was concerned about me. The next day he asked to speak to me and he was so loving and kind. He told me he didn't want me to be unhappy and that he wanted me to let him know when I was sad. Anyway, to make a long story short, I am now the choir pianist and the ward canning specialist, and I am very happy to be doing both of those callings.

On a final note, since on some of the blogs I have been reading the cold weather has been mentioned, I will just leave you with this tidbit of news. Christopher arrived home at 2:00 am Sat. morning from one of his trips. It was -4 degress outside (that does not include wind chill) only to find his apartment heater was broken and could not be repaired all weekend long. Brrrr!!! Talk about cold!

Also, I am enjoying all the blogs and "older" blogs very much. I really do love all of you.