Thanksgiving Pics

Here's the promised pictures from Thanksgiving week. Enjoy!


My ice princess


The first (but amazingly graceful) fall


"Mommy, hold my hand!"


Stuffing the turkey


The Thanksgiving spread


The other side


My family


I'm going to show this to Eli's girlfriends!

MIA Again

Sorry for the void over the holidays. I know you all were lost without me. ;)

I find it hard to post over the holidays. All I want to do is hang out with my family, and even though we don't "do" much, it never seems like enough visiting time.

I spent the past week and a half away from home. The first week was in my hometown. A college friend of mine got married, and we came home early to attend. It was a beautiful wedding. I absolutely LOVED the bride's dress. A stunning rose color with lots of beading detail and a lace-up back. Gorgeous. And I finally got to meet the groom. And hung out with people I haven't seen since I attended Centenary... what... seven years ago? The funny thing is, we're all music teachers of some sort now.

Then it was Thanksgiving week, and we spent it with my family. We went ice skating, I got my hair done (lopped off is what my husband calls it). I got to sleep in a few mornings, which is highly unusual. And I got to hang out at N Cahoots with my sees-ter. Also very cool. It's fun to see my sister in her "native environment" with all her friends. I can tell she's loved by them all, and that makes me happy.

By the way, pics available of all of the above as soon as I get them. They're on my Mom's camera, so when I get copies I'll post them. Because there's nothing cuter than pictures of a five-year-old's first ice skating experience.

I spent the last couple of days at my friend Steph's house. I won't go into the details, I'll just say that she just needed me. I'm glad I could be there.

But now I'm sitting at home, looking around at the impossible task of reigning in this house this week and recovering from the trip, and it's just overwhelming. And on top of everything else, Bry's out of town this week, so I have to brave the rapids alone. It's 9:30 and Eli's still up. I put him to bed an hour and a half ago, and I've been fighting him ever since about going to sleep. So far he's dumped out his toy box, used the toy box to open his door, climbed on top of the stove looking for candy, gone to the bathroom twice, and begged for water three times. Keep in mind these are all separate instances.

Yep, not looking forward to this week. I think I'm going to go fix a pitcher of pina coladas and watch Memoirs of a Geisha or something that I'll really enjoy and just relax tonight.

Oh, and shower. Yep, gonna shower.

All this crud will still be waiting for me tomorrow anyway.

Los Aeros En Fuego

Aeros v Sharks

That is the hockey game I went to last night. My first ever live hockey game. I'm not a sports fan in the least sense of the phrase, but I really enjoyed it!!! I think it could be something I could get in to (don't go buying me any Red Wings jerseys yet, Mike, I said think). And the best part was that the Aeros won 5-1. Go Aeros!

That poor Sharks goalie. I wondered how many times he wanted to turn around and flip my section the bird. He had to have the patience of Job, or he had to be deaf. Our entire section was constantly chanting.

He shoots, he scores... hey goalie! You suck!

Poor guy.

And the colors of the Aeros uniforms sparked Bryan to rename them Los Aeros. I mean, we are in Houston, but having green, red, and white uniforms is just too funny. Bill laughed about that one the whole night.

And I was outnumbered. I went to this game with three men, so I felt like I was being drawn two ways... on the one hand I felt like being super-feminine to produce more estrogen to combat the testosterone. On the other hand, the testosterone in the hockey game itself was so overwhelming I had the urge to hock loogies, pass gas, and lower my voice an octave. I went with the ultra-feminine, just because I didn't want to be lost forever. It didn't take much, I'm pretty girly to begin with.

But you know what the nicest thing about hockey games is? Besides the game itself, of course.

There was no line at the women's restroom.

Yep, ladies, you heard me right. No line. Because the majority of the fans are... you guessed it... men. So while my male counterparts had to wait in line for the bathroom, I walked right in. And then one of the guys brought me a margarita, so I didn't even have to wait in the long bar line for that. It was so cool. I wonder, though, if it was just the novelty of having a woman present at this game that made the guys super-sensitive to doting on me.

Oh, yeah, I'm going to another hockey game!

Real Estate Rant

Lately there has been a lot of traffic on the media about the rising foreclosure rate. It's because of the subprime lending in 2005-2006. I say... what idiots. The whole lot of them.

What is subprime lending? It's where financial institutions grant loans to unqualified individuals. Stupid, stupid, stupid. You're granting a loan to someone who has demonstrated that they can't pay for it. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

And what's worse is that now they're calling in the government to fix it. Why is it the government's problem? These people knew they couldn't afford these homes, and somehow they're shocked that they're getting foreclosed on when they haven't paid. And their expectation is that the government will come in and force the financial institutions to change the terms of their loan to make it affordable, and grant them amnesty against their past-due payments.

WTF???!!!!

I think I'm going to jump on this bandwagon. Basically they're saying if I don't pay my mortgage, it's not my fault. If I got in over my head, it's not my fault. Let's blame it on everyone except the people responsible. It's the media's fault for making us believe we have to keep up with the Joneses. It's the government's fault for not ensuring that these big, bad wolves called banks can't repossess something I'm not paying for. It's my parents' fault for working so hard for decades to get a nice house and then not providing me with one right out of college.

Now, I'm not justifying subprime lending by the banks. I, frankly, think it's a dumb idea. Yes, let's approve this person! Forget that they can't afford it! Surely they'll wave their magic wand and change their $700 into $1500 to meet their mortgage payment! Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I just don't want my tax dollars to be spent bailing someone out that didn't qualify for the home they're in in the first place. How selfish of me, right? It just seems so obvious to me... you don't pay, you don't get to keep it. Don't get in over your head next time, and there are plenty of apartments you can stay in until you find one you can actually afford. Learn from your mistakes, don't expect others to fix them for you, because then you never learn anything. Gimme, gimme mentality! Sense of entitlement! It's almost as bad as the government providing new televisions to people who don't have a digital receiver because television is a necessity. You heard about that, right? Yep. I think it's ridiculous, too. God forbid someone miss Days of Our Lives.

I'm sorry, I'm just waiting for the lightning to rain down from the sky.

We have recently felt like we're in over our heads in our modest home. The upkeep and repairs are killing us. But have we ever missed a mortgage payment? No. We've actually been early on every single one. Have we ever missed any bill? No. Because they're a priority and when we get in over our heads financially we fix it... sacrifice for a while. I drive an old car that is trying to die on me because we're too concerned about paying our bills to run out and get ourselves into another car payment we can't afford. I've dealt with no master bathroom for five years. I haven't had landscaping the entire time we've lived here. We haven't installed a hot tub or a pool. We've prioritized and are making do. We don't expect anyone to bail us out of our mess.

Imagine that. Responsibility. Sense. Planning.

Too little of it these days.

Off

I'm just feeling... off. That's the only way to describe it. My patience is gone, so the kids of course pick up on that and make sure they do their best to annoy me. My Jeep fails inspection, and my best friend is moving 1000 miles away.

Yeah, I'm feeling off today.

Mass Attack

I've recently become addicted to ---> this game <--- . Click on "Play" on the right-hand side near the top. It's so... addicting. Such a silly pasttime, and such a silly addiction. It's a flash game, for crying out loud! With really idiotic music that I can't get out of my head! Errrrr!

And yes, Bridget, I'm trying very hard to achieve the NaNoWriMo challenge (or is it NaNoBloMo?). Even though I'm not Canadian. Does it still count? :)

Yesterday Bry was sick, today I am. And I still can't get off this stupid game so I can go to bed. At least I'm feeling better, and I'm not about to pass out in my desk chair. That was rather amusing, earlier.

Last night I spent the night with Steph again, and we ended up drinking beer around a bonfire and playing Truth or Dare. This is a game I haven't played since grade school. My husband looked at me crossways when I told him this. I had to assure him that unlike the gradeschool version, this one didn't include any kind of makeout sessions. Some highlights included Steph chugging her beer and then attempting a cartwheel, me sliding down the kids' slide with a leg in the air, and Chris doing push-ups while saying "My booty's so hot!" Which wouldn't have been near as funny if he hadn't put such emotion behind it. We were rolling with laughter way before he'd hit the end of his dare.

I think I'm going to try to go to bed now. Good night!

A day marked by intense errand-running followed by such exhaustion that I can't do anything except stare blankly at the computer screen. Thank God it's Friday.

All-Region tryouts are today and tomorrow, which means my first four days this week were spent teaching until my eyes crossed. I could probably play the All-Region music in my sleep now. At least we'll be picking solos next, and thank you God each student will have a different piece.

I found a small music store in Town Square that carries instrumental solo music, so I stocked up on saxophone solos. Bry winced as I dragged the books to the counter. What he probably doesn't know is that the few books I bought are a small shadow of the clarinet repertiore I own. It's a starting point, though. Not having access to "the list" means I'm guessing about what pieces will be on it. So I picked a few compilation books that held famous composers, thinking that surely at least some of these songs will be on "the list."

Being so busy teaching means that I haven't had time to practice my own instruments. Thus the phone call last night from Steph:

Hey, what are you doing?

Practicing piano.

You're practicing piano at 10:22 at night?

Ummm.... yeah. When else am I going to practice?

Such is the life. But this music store gave me a teacher discount. Ha! I'm still reeling at the fact that people think I'm qualified to do this. And now I'm getting a 20% discount on music and supplies. That is so beyond awesome.

It's the calm before the storm regarding the change I was talking about earlier. It's almost like we're sitting, patiently waiting for something to happen. We don't know what will happen, but we're waiting anyway. It's a weird merging of anticipation and boredom.

I do need some audience help here: homeschooling moms! I need tips for disciplining myself about doing homeschooling. I seem to let it fall by the wayside because I feel like I have to make a choice between having a house that I can walk through and homeschooling. Any organization or discipline techniques would be most appreciated. Thanks!

Razzle-Frackin' Son of a Monkey!!!

I can't believe it. I had a huge post on here about the Harvest Party and updates all around, and Blogger had an error when posting it.

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrr!!!!

I don't have the energy to think about what all I said, so you'll have to make do with pictures from the Harvest Party until tomorrow.


Jam Man


My ninja


My fairy princess


My costume


Closeup of my makeup - I'm not a beauty consultant for nothing!

Updates

This past Friday I went to spend the night with my buddy, Steph. We spent the entire night coming up with costumes for her husband's work party the next night. We went through all the fabric in her craft room and came up with enough fabric to make his and hers Roman costumes, and we did so without a pattern. I usually craft when I go over there, just for fun, but usually not on this level. We had a blast. We tried to make his costume without him to measure it on, since he was at work, so Steph used me as a model, figuring my chest would make up for his height. Haha.

I spent most of my time with a toga on, gluing green leaves to a wire headband. The costumes turned out very nicely, if I do say so myself. It inspired me to finish my costume, and the little things I had to do for the kids' costumes for this weekend's Harvest Party. Now we're ready.

On Saturday morning I woke up and hung around until the afternoon, when Izzy and I drove to Dallas to meet my Mom. We then had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant, and took a shuttle down to Fair Park to see the Broadway edition of the Lion King. Let me tell you, that's some show. It was very well put together, with incredible costumes and talented actors. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Izzy was tired, and kept saying she wanted to fall asleep, but as soon as the next musical number came on, she would sit up and want the binoculars.

Sunday we continued the animal theme by going to the Rainforest Cafe. Izzy was so enthralled with the animals that she didn't eat much. But it was a great experience nonetheless.

Monday Bryan stayed home from work, using one of his many sick days before the end of the year when they expire. A cold front had blown in some storms, and the extra bite in the air that is so uncommon in Houston made for perfect grilled cheese and thick soup weather.

I'm about to write down all that I have to do. It seems lately that I am booked to the gills, but that's okay. I tend to be more organized and more together when I'm really busy. And I've come to realize that my just-handle-it mentality plays a big part in this. My house may not be perfect, I may be slightly overwhelmed, but I'm doing my best and I feel good about that.

Lots of parties in the near future, lots of happy times coming. Bry has applied for four different jobs, three within the same company, and we're hoping to hear back soon. Two may mean a move, so those aren't our first choices. But one is especially promising, and in town. So, if you think about it, please pray that we get what we want and need out of this job change.

Changes

I may seem spontaneous and laid back to most, but really I hate change. And there's been a bit of it lately, and looks like more to come.

Teaching was a change, but a good one. I'm getting more involved with it now, with 9 students, more to schedule (phone tag), and the opportunity to possibly work for one of the most recognizable music places in my county. We'll see how that works out, I'm looking forward to it if it does happen.

But there's a job change on the horizon for the hubby. He can't stay where he's at, although we've been happy there. There have been some changes at his work, and he's being forced to switch departments. It's ironic, really, the way it happened. This could mean endless bad things, like a new boss who fires on a whim without any reason, no bonus next year (bonuses are based on department performance, and let's just say this one he's being transferred to doesn't make the grade), etc. Our family can't take the stress of this change. I can't live with that kind of insecurity. So he's going on a preliminary lunch with a guy from a major company today, seeking a job interview for something he's really excited about. From the job description, he'd be perfect for it, and it will keep him challenged and excited about what he does. It's more of a person-to-person role within what he already knows, and all of you that know him know how my husband thrives on person-to-person exchange and relationship-building. So please be praying that all goes smoothly, and this guy has the clout to push my hubby's info through to the right people to get a bona fide interview... and quick. His new department takes effect on the first. And if possible we'd like to have something different lined up by then. We're not opposed to something different that comes along, but this particular job sounds almost too good to be true. So we're pushing for that one.

Other than that, I'm looking forward to seeing my first Broadway production this weekend, the Lion King in Dallas. Sounds like loads of fun, and I'm so excited that I'm already packed!